Chapters The handle of the door clicked shut behind Moonless Night as he stepped out of the Hoofbeat Inn into the warm summer’s night. The air was still and the crickets sang in the grass. Night rubbed his suddenly aching head, the pain started at the base of his horn and led into the core of his brain. It wasn’t terrible, just annoying, but he knew it would go away in an hour or so.
He looked up at the near full moon, hiding behind a think blanket of clouds. It was a beautiful creation; the silvery disk sat ruling the night on its throne of darkness with its servants, the stars, being completely blackened out by the overwhelming clouds.
The stallion thought of Princess Luna, Queen of the Night, how amazing it must be to rule over such a beautiful event! He shook his head, he didn’t have time to dream about the night and such, he had to get to Everfree Forest and get out as soon as possible. He loathed the idea of being so close to...Ponyville
As he walked his mind flashed with the images he had tried, and failed, to forget for so many years. They exiled you, you foal! His mind whispered, they broke your horn and forced a terrible and dark life upon you with banishment! He scrunched up his face in frustration as he tried to quiet the voice and push back the memories.
He countered the voice, no! I asked for it! That was what they judged, and it fit the crime!
But the voice called back from deep within his mind, its words like a slippery snake sliding through his heart, you were curious, that is no sin. That pony got in the way of you becoming who you are…you were meant to carry power! All ponies should fear your name! Then it said it, your mother abandoned you, Moonless Night.
He had to escape the voice, be anywhere but there, so he broke into a gallop as fast as he could down the dirt road. He ran and ran and ran, forcing his body to the extreme. He heard a loud, evil cackle to his right; he turned to see a wave of dark mist swirling towards him at a terrific speed. The mist suddenly took shape of Moonless Night running beside him, still laughing. “You can’t escape the past, Moonless! ”
The wind blew the stallion’s hood off to see his broken horn glowing again, his head ached even more and anger blazed in his eyes as he raised a baton and took a swing at the doppelganger, hoping that the vile image would dissolve. The weapon swished right through where the head of the pony should have been and instead whipped the wet mist which around which reformed after each swing. The copy roared with laughter, “I'm not going away that easily! ”
He continued sprinting down the dirt road, loosing track of where he was and the time, but it didn't matter, all that did matter was getting away from the mist! He swung back and forth trying to injure the wretched, laughing pony who enjoyed himself by dispersing and reappearing on the other side of Night right before the baton hit. Night’s heart was filled with adrenaline, but more importantly, hatred.
His head felt like it was about to split open from the pain.
The doppelganger swirled and flew above him, laughing down at him as he fled. Moonless Night had enough. With all the strength he had left, ignoring the pain tearing about his skull, he screamed, jumped and flipped onto his back. He sailed through the air from his momentum as he swung as hard as he possibly could at the mist, putting the most of his magic into the baton while screaming as loud and as commanding as possible, "GO AWAY!!". But right before the weapon hit, his head smashed against something VERY hard, he crumpled to the ground and as everything faded to black, he saw the evil smile of the mist as it faded away…
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A scared grey colt looked up at the seven ponies in front of him, glaring. He turned to his right and saw five small ponies also glaring at him, tears swelled in his eyes, but he couldn’t let them show.
He looked to his left and saw a stallion holding a crying mare. The tiny colt had never seen such hate fill a pony’s eyes. They bored into his soul, seeking to rip out his heart.
He felt tears come to his eyes again, but he stared up at the seven ponies with defiance as he stood straighter. His fate was decided, he could only will his despise to show through his eyes.
One of the ponies took a step forward and spoke, the disgust easily heard, “You have been found guilty of all charges! You are hereby exiled.” A mare stepped forward; she grabbed his horn with her magic and tore it off. Pain filled the colts head as he screamed, his head was being ripped in two! The tears rushed down his face as what felt like white-hot, barbed spears tore through his very soul and mind!
Moonless Night bolted into a sitting position, gasping for air and covered in sweat. He slowly shook his head and looked around, where was he?
He was in a rather small room, on a bed in the corner covered in blankets. He removed the blankets and stood, he suddenly fell back down from a wave of nausea. He groaned as a sharp pain stung his head. He reached up and felt a bandage wrapped around his skull. He waited until the dizziness left him and he slowly tried standing up again.
When he got to his four hooves he looked around the small room which he realized was actually just a small hut. There was a small fire place that looked like it doubled as a stove, a few cupboards on the walls, and a table with three chairs sat in the middle of the room.
He walked over to the door and noticed sunlight coming through the crack under it. He gingerly prodded the door open to slowly let sunshine in so as not to blind himself. As he looked outside, the sunlight wasn’t as bright as he was expecting, he understood why. The hut was located in the woods and the cover of the trees blocked most of the sun, but still letting in enough to make the seen absolutely beautiful. The forest floor was covered with many different, brightly colored ferns and flowers, tall trees stretched to the sky in a desperate race for sunlight. It was painfully quiet through, it made Night uneasy, where are the birds? There was a porch attached to the hut and a dirt trail led away from the door and disappeared around a bend some yards away. He breathed in the cool air and cherished the sweet scent of moss.
He was suddenly made aware of the sound of water moving nearby; he turned towards another trail that led down a hill. He slowly walked, trying to be as quiet as possible but eventually giving up because his cloak dragged leaves with him.
The decline wasn’t steep and the trail was well worn so it made it easy for a stallion who still had a little problem with his dexterity because of his injury. He easily made it to the bottom and the sound of water grew louder as he followed the trail and stopped in some tall bushes, looking out at a small clearing. A bubbling stream made its way across the center of the clearing, maybe two feet wide; the water sounded like small ponies laughing...it made him smile and remember a day when he walked past a daycare and saw four ponies play a game of tag.
His ears perked up as a noise rose over the sound of the stream...humming. He turned to his left to see a silvery-blue earth mare with a white mane emerge from the trees. He drew back in the bushes, watching her intently. Is she the one that brought me here? She hummed a sweet and slow song as she walked along the stream. The mare was a little older than he was maybe by about two or three years. He took notice of a large white snowflake on her rump.
After a moment, he took a few steps out of the bushes; she turned and smiled, “Oh! You’re awake already! Good!” Her voice reminded Night of a wind chime, blowing in the breeze.
He took another step forward, rubbing his bandaged head, “How long was I knocked out?”
“Only about half a day.” she got close, their snouts centimeters apart, and stared into his eyes. Her eyes were gorgeous! They were a cold, icy-blue; yet they seemed to melt away all of his worries and fears. He blinked and smiled awkwardly. She finally stepped back, “you don’t have a concussion. Your pupils are dilating perfectly.” She turned back to the stream and once again began humming.
He stepped next to her, “Thank you for helping me, miss?”
Without looking up she says, “Snow Flake. And you are? Wait! Let me guess…um...Hazy Day?”
He smiled and bowed his head, “Moonless Night. Please, call me Night.”
She laughed, “Alright, call me Snow!”
Snow sat down and started to take a drink from the stream, the stallion felt parched so he lowered himself onto his belly and took a small drink of the water. It was cool and very refreshing; he started gulping it down until he felt satisfied. He looked over at the mare who had her eyes shut and still hummed her song. He looked around the clearing again then asked, "This place is amazing! What part of Equestria is this?"
"We are deep within the Everfree forest, just a couple miles from Ponyville."
Night's eyes went wide, "THIS is Everfree Forest?? I was always told it was dark and scary and filled with all sorts of foul creatures like hydras and stuff!"
Snow Flake stopped humming and stared at him.
"What?" he asked, her eyes making him feel like he said something stupid.
She immediately burst out laughing.
The Sun Doesn't Set In The East
--I do NOT own the song in this chapter! If you want to hear it --> The Best Is Yet To Come - MGS --
"I'm sorry!" Snow Flake chokes out between gasps for breathe, "But your face was just so funny!"
Though he finds the outburst of laughter a little strange, Moonless Night can't help but smile and chuckle. Half because he can kind of imagine what his face must have looked like, and the other half was that the mare's laugh brought a little happiness to his heart.
After the silvery-blue earth pony calmed down, she sat down and smiled, "Yes the Everfree Forest is filled to the brim with dangerous monster...in most areas. But there are places like this that they do not traverse, and so beauty grows and can be enjoyed. Oh, once in a while something will come by, but it's easy to hide in someplace you've always lived."
"You were raised here?"
She nodded, "Yeah...When i was old enough, i moved to Ponyville, but i missed the forest oh so much...I could never stay away from all of this," Snow Flake swept her hand across the clearing. The sun had risen to the highest point of the sky, signaling noon. The mare stood, went over to a tree and removed two apples. She dropped one at Night's hooves as she bit into hers and sat down again. She stared into the stream and Night could tell she was lost in the past, so he let her be. He took another gulp of water and raised his fore-hooves to his head. His headache was gone so he thought he might as well ditch the bandage. He slowly unwrapped his head and placed the bandage in a pocket under his cloak. He reached up again and felt a large bump on his head which was very tender to his touch. He winced and quickly drew his hoof away quickly.
He tried not to think of the mist; it had happened before, but this time it was much clearer. Maybe because he was getting so close to Ponyville...again. He quickly shook his head, not wanting to ruin this fine day with his problems. His ears perked up at the sound of Snow humming again. The slow song echoed in his ears and made him sleepy. He scratched at the dirt and asked, "That's beautiful...what song is it?"
"The Best is yet to Come. My mother would always sing it to me before I fell asleep..."
She swayed with the beat of the song, Night sat and watched her. He silently ate his apple whole and smiled as it filled his hunger. Finally he decided to ask her, "Hey Snow? Could you sing it?"
She stopped humming, blush and smiled, "I...could try...but i don't near the voice my mother had..."
Night chuckled, "Don't worry, my voice it a lot worse. Some guards, when i was visiting Stalliongrad, tried to cut my tongue out when i started to sing with them at a bar."
Snow Flake seemed to be encouraged by his embarrassing story, "Alright, i guess i can give it a shot..but it's in a different language so bear with me..." She quickly took a drink of water, breathed a little and shut her eyes. Night laid his head on his hooves and closed his eyes. Waiting. After a silent moment, she began:
"An cuimhin leat an grá Crá croí an ghrá Níl anois ach ceol na h-oíche Táim sioraí i ngrá Leannáin le smál Leannáin le smál Lig leis agus beidh leat Lig leis agus beidh grá
Cuimhne leat an t-am Nuair a bhí tú sásta An cuimhne leat an t-am Nuair a bhí tú ag gáire"
His eyes snapped open, her voice was like that of an angelic choir! He raised his head and gawked at the beauty of her voice...golden vibrations echoed through out the clearing. Her voice seemed to meld with the bubbling sound of the stream and a breeze through the leaves, creating a majestic symphony. The stallion knew the language, it was a dialect of the northern regions of Equestria. He mentally translated it as best as he could.
"Tá an saol iontach Má chreideann tú ann Tug aghaidi ar an saol is sonas sioraí inár measc
Céard a tharla do na laethanta sin Céard a tharla do na h-oícheanta sin An cuimhin leat an t-am Nuair a bhí tú faol bhrón
An cuimhin leat an t-am Go sioraí sileadh na ndeor an ormsa nó orainne a bhí an locht
Ag mothú caiite s'ar fán Cén fáth an t-achrann is sileadh na ndeor Tá áilleacht sa saol Má chuardaíonn tú e Tá gliondar sa saol Creideann sé"
She took another deep breathe to repeat the song, but this time when she started, Snow Flake noticed a deep, melodic voice with hers. Singing perfectly in tune and in English while she sang in the foreign tongue.
"Do you remember love
Recall the times
Life is wonderful
What happened to those days?
Our feelings grew faint
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Snow Flake and Moonless Night spent the rest of the day talking beside the stream. Laughing and enjoying the stories each told. Night thoroughly enjoyed the conversations, as did Snow who was glad she could talk with a pony around her age for once. Night found out that she very rarely traveled out of the woods, and when she did it was to just to grab something that wasn't in season in Everfree, otherwise, she lived off the forest and everything in it. He also found out that Snow had a sister, Blizzard, who lived with her but had gone off to Ponyville because of some big party she had somehow caught wind of.
They probably would have stayed out there all night, but their hunger got the best of them. They headed back to her house where she promised to make Vine and Honey pasta, Night thought that sounded terrible so she wanted him to try it.
When they started up the trail, Snow quietly asked him, "So you know all about me now. What about you? Where are you from?"
The stallion knew she would ask, so he planned to use one of his usual fake home's like a small village south of Stalliongrad or on a lake near Manehatten. But he decided to be more open with her, remembering to keep a few details hidden, "I'm from Ponyville originally. But i left when i was a very young colt and haven't really returned since."
The mare kicked a rock off the path, "Why'd you leave? Whenever I stop there it seems like a wonderful place to live."
Night smiled, "It was great...but I just was a lone wolf from the start, i gue-" They had reached the porch and the sun had completely set, but something was strange...Night's head was facing east and his eyes were narrowed.
"What is it?" Snow Flake looked try to see what was so enticing. Then she saw it, a strange red-ish glow over the tops of the trees and a dark cloud above it. "It's just the sunset, Night."
The stallion took a step forward, "The Sun doesn't set in the east."
Snow Flake understood perfectly, fire. She gasped, "Ponyville!"
Immediately, Moonless Night shot into a full gallop towards the flames. Snow Flake did her best to keep up but with the dense trees it was hard to stay right behind him. Though she did her best to remain calm, she couldn't help but worry for her sister at the party. If anything were to happen to her, Snow Flake would have nothing to live for...Their parents had died when she had moved to Ponyville. She returned to find out they went out to pick some fruit and they never returned. Her sister had been her strength during that hard time, they stuck together from then on...until this morning, when she left for town.
Nothing was in Night's mind besides 'run'! He forced his legs to go into overdrive as his adrenaline started to kick in. He leaped over fallen logs and rocks, doing his best to stay straight with his destination. Snow Flake had said they were a couple miles from Ponyville; he sped up.
They continued galloping for what felt like hours, until finally they spear headed out of the forest and stood looking at the town from a hill...
All of Ponyville was ablaze.
Night took off down the hill, now with Snow Flake beside him. They reached the main road and Snow noticed something, Where are all the ponies? When they got closer to town she got her answer, but she wish she hadn't...dead ponies were all over the town. It had been a massacre...the bodies were mutilated by cuts and burns, some with crossbow bolts sticking out of their flesh. The two ponies ran through pools of blood over the road, splashing it on their coats and Night's cloak. Moonless could here Snow screaming, "BLIAZZARD!! BLIZZARD!!!" But no answer came.
They quickly went through the town, all the buildings were as he remembered from his childhood...but now blood covered the walls and flames licked at all things it could reach. It had all happened recently. What happened here? He turned and headed towards the center of town. The stage was the one thing that wasn't burning. He saw things on it but he was too far away. He started to get closer, silently dreading what he was about to see. He crept closer, as if somepony was alive and able to hear his steps over the sound of the roaring flames.
The stage was covered with blood and in the center were six poled stabbed into the boards of the building and on top of the poles were- "NO!" Moonless Night fell to the ground, "NO! NO NO! MOTHER!!!" he beat the ground with his hooves so hard they started to bleed. "YOU SICK BASTARDS!!!" He puked and started to hit the ground harder, he could hear Snow Flake also puking beside him.
On top of the stakes were six severed heads. The heads of the Legendary Six.
Their tongues hung loosely out of their mouths and their eyes had been gouged out...their manes had been shaved and their ears cut off. They hardly even looked like ponies.
Night continued to beat the ground and puking. Snow Flake eventually came up to him, her voice quivering, "Can you help me find Blizzard? Please?"
Night looked into her eyes and choked back the tears. He had to help her, maybe Blizzard was still alive...
He slowly stood, mentally fighting the image of the dead ponies with all his might. They turned down a road and began searching for the mare's sister constantly calling her name, "BLIZZARD!! BLIZZARD WHERE ARE YOU?!?!".
They searched every part of the burning town. When Snow Flake suddenly called out, "Night!" He turned around and raced to her, praying she was not in danger. He came around what was left of the school house and there, swinging from some quickly made gallows, were the New Bearers gently swaying in a gust of wind.
This was too much...first his mother and now his best friends! But he couldn't cry now...Blizzard could still be out there. He was about to turn and leave to continue searching, but one of the legs of the New Bearers twitched. He ran up to the gallows and used magic to release the rope, the use of the magic gave him another terrible headache.
The body fell and Night caught it in his fore-legs. He looked at the pony and finally recognized her, it was Apple crisp! The bearer of the Element of Honesty! She was barely alive and both Night and Snow knew they couldn't save her. All of a sudden, Apple's hoof, shot up, grabbed the stallion's mane and pulled him close enough to hear her almost inaudible whisper, "Find...Zecora..."
With that, the Element of Honesty died in Moonless Night's arms. He set down his friends body and stood, staring at the wreckage he once called home. He would make the ponies who did this pay. He would make them suffer.
Night's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of wings and voices, he turned around and looked up, drawing his batons, expecting to see the ponies coming back for more. But he was wrong.
Hundred's of royal guards descended out of the smoke, closely followed by the two Royal Sisters.
The moment the royal guards touched down, they started putting out fires with massive tanks of water they magicked over and searched for survivors. Princess Celestia and Luna flew down and landed in front of Moonless Night and Snow Flake,
"What happened here?!" cried Luna.
Night stepped forward, once again fighting back his tears and anger so he could explain, "We don't know what happened. We got here only few moments before you did..."
He turned and saw Snow had fallen to the ground, tears streaming down her face while whispering, "Blizzard...Blizzard..."
Celestia finished looking over the scene of utter destruction, "Are you two alright?"
The stallion nodded, "Yes. Everypony we've come across is dead...but we cannot find her sister, Blizzard, who came here for a party."
The Princesses nodded and spread their wings, Luna nodded down a road, "Some guards are putting up tents outside of the town, we will help put out the fire and search for living ponies. You two should get rest."
Right before they took to the air, Night took another step, "Wait! The New Bearers and the Legendary Six are all dead...the New Bearers were hung by the school house and the Six are on the town stage..."
Night watched as the Royal Sisters gasped and stepped back as if they had been punched. Celestia shook her head, "Go rest you two, but first...what are your names?"
Moonless helped Snow Flake to her hooves, "This is Snow Flake and I am-"
"Moonless Night," the Moon Princess interjected.
They stared at each other a moment, the sounds of guards barking orders and burning buildings in the background. Finally Celestia spoke up, "We will talk later, stallion. For now, take the mare to rest...you as well." They took to the skies and Night helped Snow Flake out of the burning Ponyville; he almost had to carry her there...
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Moonless Night had found a tent for Snow and waited for her to fall asleep before he headed out. The camp was on the same hill that he and Snow had exited Everfree Forest from, which gave him a tactical view of the town. He sat and watched as guards slowly put out the burning buildings and dragged its dead inhabitants out to be buried.
Now that he didn't have to worry about his companion and he was alone, he let a tear fall. After it hit the damp grass, the rest followed. Tears streak Night's face as he sat, watching Ponyville go up in flames. He choked back a sob as the smell of smoke got stronger, the think, black cloud smothering the moon.
He fell to his stomach and wept as his mind thought of the Legendary Six on the stage and the New Bearers in the gallows...dead and cold. Night felt a warm wing being placed around him and heard the other alicorn land behind him.
Through his sobs he chokes out, "Have you found Blizzard?"
Princess Luna scooted closer to Night and sighed, "Yes...She's dead. We can tell she was raped many times, then she was beaten to death...."
Night wiped the tears from his face and stood. He took a deep breathe and walked over to Snow's tent. The alicorns turned and watched him.
Night pulled back the tent flap and went in; Snow was awake again and whimpering. She sat up when she saw him and stared into his purple eyes, "Did they find her??"
"Yes."
A smile erupted on her face, but it slowly died away when she noticed the somber look upon the stallion, "What's wrong?"
He closed his eyes, not being able to look at her, "She's dead..."
The mare seemed to be unaffected by this statement, but then it hit her. Her sister, Blizzard, was dead. She stood, "How?"
He opened his eyes and took a step forward, "She was stabbed through the heart...and died instantly."
Snow fell back onto the bed and burst into tears. She called out for her sister, "Blizzard! Oh, Blizzard!"
Moonless Night went over and sat beside her, placing a fore-leg over her shoulders as she fell into his chest and wept. After a while, she cried herself back to sleep and Night slipped out of the tent silently.
The two royal alicorns were still there, talking silently. Princess Celestia turned to him, "Are you alert enough to talk with us?"
He nodded.
He followed them to a large tent in the middle of the camp. They entered and Night looked around, the inside was very bland for what he had expected for a royal's tent; In the center there was a large table with map of Equestria and a smaller map of Ponyville, along with eight seats surrounding it. In the far back there were two large yet simple thrones made of wood. There was also tunnel connected to the tent next to the thrones that most likely led to the sister's temporary chambers.
The Royal Pony Sisters went and sat on their thrones, they looked down upon Night with a look of disturbance and anguish. A chair was magically brought and Moonless gladly sat in it.
Celestia's horn glowed as she asked, "May i take your cloak?"
He nodded again and his cloak flew off to a coat hanger. The Princesses silently looked him over: he had a few long scares on his left side and his mane was unkempt, but his eyes were an amazing purple, they look so much like her's... thought Celestia. But what attracted Luna the most was his bare flank, how could this stallion be a Black Flank?!
Celestia took a breathe, "I'm sorry we are doing this now, after everything that's happened. But this is of the most importance." Night could tell she had been crying...hard.
"It's alright, im used to not sleeping at night," the stallion smiled. How can you smile at a time like this?!
Celestia nodded, "Good...straight to the point...we know who you are."
He was confused, "Pardon me?"
"We know who you really are, Lucent Dawn."
Silence fell on the tent as Night closed his eyes and a tear slipped down his cheek.
"That's not my name, your majesties," he whispered.
Luna leaned forward, "You are Lucent Dawn. Son of Twilight Sparkle."
Night opened his eyes. "That's not my name," he said stronger.
But she continued, foolishly, "You are the New Bearer of the Element of Magic. Passed down to you from Twilight when you were born of her!"
Moonless Night glared up at them, "My name is Moonless Night...I am no son of Twilight Sparkle. And I am not a New Bearer. They are out swinging in the gallows," he held back a choke and put as much authority into his voice that he could muster , "and Twilight Sparkle is dead on the stage!" Tears streaked down his face like a fountain, he had always mentally told himself that, but this was the first time he had to ever say it.
Luna threw herself forward with her wings and landed nose-to-nose with Night, "How DARE you spit on their memory, you foal!!" she roared. Tears continued to rained down from his purple eyes as he stared into Luna's.
"Sister." Celestia whispered.
They turned to see the Sun Goddess with her eyes shut and a tear trailing down her royal face, "Calm down. There has already been enough bloodshed."
Luna neighed angrily and flew back to her seat. After a moment of silence, Night spoke up, "I am Moonless Night,
"Son of non?"
Night turned to see Snow Flake walking up, her eyes were red and puffy from crying.
"Snow...Why aren't you sleeping?"
She sniffed, "Can't sleep...I don't want to be alone."
Moonless looked upon his friend with such sadness, he could see the pain in her eyes and the fright. She sat in a chair beside him that Celestia had summoned.
"Why are you the son of non?" she asked again.
He stared into her blue eyes, "Long story..."
Celestia spoke up, "Moonless Night, son of non. If you truly aren't Lucent Dawn, son of Twilight Sparkle and New Bearer of the Element of Magic, then just listen as a pony who feels the same pain as my sister and I at the hands of this tragedy."
Night looked up at her as her voice quivered, "The Legendary Six and the New Bearers have been slain. The Elements of Harmony that have long been protecting Equestria are now useless without their wielders. All of Ponyville has been slaughtered by an unknown group led by..." she choked and Luna finished her sentence, "led by the unicorn, Vilis Malum."
Moonless Night stood, "How do you know?"
"The gallows only held four ponies. Only yo-...I mean...Lucent Dawn and Vilis Malum aren't swinging. And that fire was dragon flame, which means whoever did this has control of a dragon and the only unicorn strong enough to control a dragon would be him."
Night stared at them, "What makes you say that? He's only one unicorn!"
Snow had to ask, to keep from crying again, "Who is he?"
Night turned to her again and spoke softly, "Vilis Malum is the New Bearer of the Element of Generosity, the son of Rarity."
Luna turned back to Night, "Ever since you were banished,"
"You mean Lucent." interjected the stallion.
She sighed, "Yes, when Lucent was banished, Vilis made it his duty to try and retrieve the Element of Magic, believing that he was always stronger than Lucent, and so, thought he had more right to it. He also had faith in the idea that the Elements were not to be handed down through generations. Instead that they should have the Elements chose their carriers. The Six rejected this theory with the fact that a zebra, Zecora, had a vision that all of the offspring of the Six had their mother's Element, respectively."
Celestia stood and walked over to a window in the tent and looked out at Ponyville, now with almost all the fires extinguished, "Vilis anger fueled his magic and so we watched as he progressed in his skill, surpassing that of even my student Twilight Sparkle during her advanced years...and now it seems he has bested her and all the Elements. We were blinded by the idea that those carrying an Element couldn't betray their closest friends." She stared at the ground now, silently.
Snow was confused, she sniffed and asked, "So that's it? He won and now he controls all the Elements of Harmony?"
At this, Night could have sworn he saw Celestia smile, "No, my dear Snow Flake. Though he does have the Elements in his possession, he can not use them to their full power because they are not being wielded by the New Bearers they chose. That...and he doesn't have all of them. He is still missing his golden prize, the Element of Magic. The unicorn, Lucent Dawn, still holds it's power, and as far as we know, he still lives."
Snow thought for a moment, "So if he was to return...could he beat Vilis Malum and take back the Elements?"
Luna nodded, "Very much so. For there to be harmony, something or somepony must rule and keep justice, it is the same with the Elements. Though they are equal, they need a leader...the Element of Magic is their proverbial leader. It is stronger than the rest, yet it will be five against one. We would fight him, but we are servants of the Elements just as much as anything else. Only another Element has a chance against Vilis."
"And this is where you two come in," Celestia softly said as she returned to her throne, "We want you to find Lucent and have return to help Equestria."
Moonless Night, who hadn't said a word since the tale began, spoke up, "And what if he doesn't want to return or we can't find him?"
Luna stared at him, anger on her face, "Well then i guess you will have to buck some sense into him."
Moonless knew, no matter what, he couldn't say no to an order from the Royal Pony Sisters, no matter how foalish it was. He decided to play along, "Where should we start out search?"
Celestia nodded out another window facing Everfree, "Find Zecora."
Night's memory flashed as he saw him holding Apple Crisp under the gallows as she whispered, "Find...Zecora..."
He stood and turned to leave, and Snow followed
"What now? she asked.
"We wait till morning when we are well enough to travel." he grabbed his cloak off the coat stand and folded it, balancing it on his back.
They silently walked back to the mare's tent. He could tell she was exhausted and, obviously, emotionally torn to shreds. After she went in, he bade her goodnight and turned to leave, but was stopped by the mare, "Wait! I don't want to be alone tonight...please stay.."
Night turned back, her eyes were brimming with tears again and the icy-blue irises pierced his heart. He sighed and walked in. Snow crawled into the bed and the stallion followed, pulling up the covers over her and tossing his cloak to a corner.
The crushed mare snuggled up next to him and started to silently cry again. Night held her as she slowly succumbed to the peacefulness of sleep. Night stayed awake for a little while, thinking of all that had happened, replaying it in his mind. It had started out a fabulous day and ended in pain. He knew no matter how hard he tried, he was stuck with this mission till the end.
The princesses chose him because they thought he was the stallion he wasn't...hey chose him because of his past...his past chose him.
Snow Flake slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head. A small streak of light trespassed into the dark tent through its flaps, gently lighting the space. Her brain finally registered an oddity: Moonless Night was gone, but his cloak was still folded in the corner on the ground.
The mare sat up and groaned, her body stiff from the extreme stress of the night last. She then stood and tried not to think of Blizzard. Before she could fall down and cry, a breeze blew open the tent flap and she caught a glimpse of Night sitting a little ways from the tent, looking over Ponyville, his head bowed and shoulders slumped.
She walked out of the tent and went up to him. When Night heard someone draw near, he raised his head high and straightened his shoulders. The stallion turned and saw Snow walking up, looking as tired as his heart was heavy.
"Good morning. How do you feel?"
Snow Flake sat beside him and quickly kissed his cheek, "Better...thanks for staying with me. I really needed it..." She smiled as Night nodded and turned back to Ponyville. All of the fires had been put out but Ponyville had already sustained too much damage, only one or two buildings still stood tall and even those would need a good amount of repair.
Tears welled up in her eyes again as she saw piles of dead ponies being carted out of town and over to a large field filled with-
"Graves," Night said.
She sniffed, "I wonder if she's already buried." She hung her head when the unicorn placed a hoof over hers.
"She was this morning...but I talked with the princesses this morning, and they said we could hold a short memorial for her. We will hold it right before we set off to find Zecora."
She looked at him and smiled, "Thank you, Night...That means a lot to me." She sniffed again and rubbed her stomach as it growled, she then remembered they hadn't eaten since the day before at noon.
Night smiled, "I'll take you to the Mess Tent. You won't believe what they've got for lunch."
Snow Flake turned to him, confused.
He chuckled, "Vine and Honey soup! Since we are next to the Everfree Forest, the chef was itching to try the recipe."
They laughed the rest of the way to the Mess Tent.
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After a good and satisfying lunch, the two ponies set off to retrieve Night's cloak before they went to the funeral. They walked silently through the busy camp when Snow took notice of three long, white scars along the left side of Night's stomach. She tried to imagine what happened until at last she built up the courage to ask, "How did you get those scars?"
Night looked at the scars, and scowled.
"I'm sorry..if you'd rather not talk about it then don't."
He sighed, "No, no...I was visiting a small village after a long day of stress at a job i had just been fired from. I went into the local pub and got more drunk than i should've...Next thing i know I'm beating a mare."
The stallion lowered his head and kept walking, "I was out of control and the guards were called...but before they got there, a local farmer stepped in for the mare. He had a pitch for and threatened me with it. I was to drunk for reason so i didn't stop. He swung his fork and sliced open my side. At that moment the guards arrived and took me away to patch me up and throw me in prison for a couple of weeks. When i was released, I went and apologized to the mare and gave her my money pouch. Ever since then, I refuse to drink anything besides water."
He raised his head again as they reached the tent. Snow watched him silently as she found it hard to believe such a kind stallion could ever do such a thing, but he doesn't drink now and he paid her so he's made his mistakes and righted them.
"Where did that come from?" asked the mare as Night reemerged from the tent wearing a black cloak.
The stallion shrugged, "Princess Luna thought this would be more suiting for the funeral and our mission. And before you ask, there was a letter sitting on top of it from her...shall we be off?"
Snow nodded and walked with Night as he led her to the burial site. But instead of heading to the open field, they headed into the Royal Princesses tent.
The alicorns sat on their thrones as the two ponies entered. Snow bowed as Night stood and thanked Luna for the new cloak.
"I also added all the extra features exactly as they were in your old cloak."
"Thank you, princess. I believe it's time...Snow Flake?"
The silvery-blue mare nodded again and watched, confused, as the horns of the Royal Sisters lit up and surrounded them. Instantly, everything flashed white and instead of being inside the tent...they were at the clearing next to her and Blizzard's hut!
Snow looked around, yup this is it! But why are we here? She got her answer as she looked across the stream that she and Night had sat by and talked just hours before. Implanted into the sand, was a large, stone tablet, something white was on the ground in front of it. She stepped over the stream and went for a look.
The white substance was snow! White, fluffy snow covered a large part of the sand which was large enough for-...a grave.
Luíonn anseo Blizzard, grá deirfiúr agus cara, faoi an sneachta is foirfe Equestria.
She read it again and again as Moonless Night and the princesses walked up. Night stood next to her and read, "Here rests Blizzard, beloved sister and friend, under the purest snow of Equestria."
Snow choked as Celestia placed a large, warm wing over her. She bent down to whisper in her ear, "That snow will always stay there, even past the end of time. That is our gift to you for not being there to save her."
Snow looked into her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek, she nodded and sniffed. The alicorns stepped back and Night sat down in front of the grave, "I have always been on the road and so never experienced death till now. I can not say i know how you feel, i can't say it'll be alright because i don't know for sure and i can't make all the pain go away...but i can be there for you whenever you need me, no matter the circumstance or inconvenience. I will always be here." With that he stood and head across the stream where the princesses were and sat beside them, watching Snow as she sat down and talked with her sister.
Suddenly, the sun was gone, Night looked up and saw a massive rain cloud blocking it out. Others followed and soon the sky was all dark and gray. Night turned to the royalty beside him. Luna shrugged, "There wasn't supposed to be rain today."
Celestia closed her eyes and smiled, "While you were gone, sissy...I made a discovery beyond others. That Equestria itself can act on it's own free will at times...many times i have seen strange things i like to call miracles. And often...it is the weather that acts on it's own accord..."
A rain drop fell and hit Night on the snout and Celestia continued, "Equestria is crying."
Snow Flake fell to her stomach as rain started to fall upon her and the trio. She cried for her sister and her parents. Wept for all the times they had together, and all the times they won't. She cried for the world, how it is filled with pain and sadness. She cried for all the pain that will come. She cried for everything, but herself.
As the rain increased, Night felt a tear roll down his wet face. More followed as he though of his dead...mother and friends. I will avenge you. If it the last thing my body does in this world. He let the tears flow as he stood strong in the rain, he tried to hide it, but he knew the princesses saw. He also noticed them crying.
The rain hit the sand with a light thud, sounded like the tap of a hoof to a slow song. The stallion closed his eyes and swayed to it. Eventually he opened his mouth and sang silently,
"An cuimhin leat an grá
Cuimhne leat an t-am
He then heard the princesses join in with their singsong voices. The trio sang silently, once in a while being interrupted by chokes or sniffs.
"Tá an saol iontach
Céard a tharla do na laethanta sin
An cuimhin leat an t-am
As they reached the last verse, a new voice joined in, not Snow Flake who was quielty crying in front of Blizzard's grave, but a deep and rhythmic mare's voice. Moonless Night turned his head as another cloaked pony walked up and sat beside him, her hood was up, but he could see flashing green eyes in the dark of the hood. He turned his head back to the grave and continued singing.
"Ag mothú caiite s'ar fán
Once they the small choir finished singing, they stood and headed back to the hut, leaving Snow by her sister's grave. They slipped a little climbing the small hill from the mud, but eventually they reached the hut which they entered to get out of the rain.
Once inside, Night, Luna and Celestia turned on the stranger. Night being the first to speak, "Who are you?"
The pony lowered her hood, a mess of black and white striped mane fell out. Night stared at her, she was a young zebra with bright green eyes. She had golden rings around her neck and in her ears along with one in her eyebrow.
"My name is Hemshela, daughter of Zecora."
Hemshela bowed low to the royal princesses and smiled, "Hail great Luna and Celestia, queens of Equestria."
They bowed back, shook her head, "I was not aware that Zecora had any offspring. But it is glad news, indeed. We would very much like to know though, why have you come?"
Hemshela smiled again, "Simple requests are easier yet, when filled with welcome and not hate. I bring the news that Zecora was slain by a dragon, who's reasons i could not name. But before she died she told me this, find Moonless Night and and lead him to dawn's light. Though i do not rhyme like my mother, she gave to me her power; so that i may lead Night into his journey tonight."
The zebra turned her head to Night, who bowed his head, "I am sorry for your loss Hemshela. I also know that a zebra's power does not lie in rhythm but tradition, so do not be sorry for the lack of your mother's words."
The alicorns bowed as well, Luna let a tear fall, "After my release from Nightmare Moon, i spent many nights with your mother...she was a wonderful mare and an even more amazing alchemist and story teller."
The all smiled while Hemshela laughed, "Yes yes i know, but now is no time to morn. Where is the mare? She must be present before knowledge is shared..."
"I will go and retrieve her," with a flash, Celestia teleported to the bank to fetch Snow Flake.
A few silent moments went by when finally the missing pair walked in through the door. Snow was shivering from the cold and soaked to the bone. Moonless Night quickly threw his cloak over her as she smiled, her eyes red again.
Hemshela nodded, "Now we can begin. I won't try to rhyme so it is easier to understand. Vilis Malum is a dark unicorn indeed. And certainly you all know only another element will bring around his downfall."
The group nodded as they sat down and prepared for the zebra to continue.
"Lucent Dawn is the only New Bearer who truly remains, since Vilis fell to evil. He must be found and brought back to fight against Vilis."
Luna spoke up, "Where should they start their search?"
Hemshela smiled, "I haven't the slightest idea, your majesty. But I will get to that in a moment...Lucent Dawn is being held captive, by his own past. He is ashamed of his past sins. Only one pony can help him find forgiveness...himself. You two will help him, along with one other pony."
Night and Snow Flake were confused, who? But before they could ask, the zebra turned to the alicrons, "If you two could lend me your magic, it would make the spell a lot easier."
They looked at each other and finally nodded, their horns glowing.
Hemshela drew a book from under her cloak and opened it on the ground, Night noticed arcane symbols and letters belong to dead languages written within it's pages. Hemshela nodded to the sisters and they flowed their magic into her, making her glow as she started chanting in a language that hadn't been heard in centuries. She spoke faster as more magic was put into her and she lifted off the ground, her eyes glowing white.
Moonless Night stared at the scene unfolding, a million questions in his head, just like Snow Flake's mind.
Red arcane lines formed on the floor and a blood curdling scream burst from no where as the lines blazed into magic fire. The fire surrounded Night as he quickly stood and Snow dashed away, her eyes wide with fear.
The flames were warm and licked at his coat, but no harm came to him. It felt like his soul was being stolen as he stood in the flames. Like he was being drained of energy each time a flame touched his skin.
Finally, Hemshela screamed and fell to the ground, the flames faded and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. The stallion was more confused then ever as he looked around the room.
Hemshela raised her head and gulped for air. She puked and whispered, "I...did it...mother.." Her head dropped into Luna's hoof who made sure she was a live.
Snow turned to Snow Flake who was wearing an extreme look of confusion and seemed to be on the verge of crying. He turned to the princesses who smiled and nodded, "The spell worked." Luna pointed a hoof behind Night.
He turned and before him stood a purple unicorn. Twilight Sparkle.
Moonless Night stumbled backwards and fell to the ground as he stared up at Twilight Sparkle. Her warm, purple eyes looked deep into his own. How could she be here?! She was dead!
Night shook his head and slowly stood back up. Twilight stood there and silently watched him with a loving smile. The stallion bowed his head as he whispered, "You're dead...I...I saw you..."
Twilight's smile slowly vanished as Moonless Night raised his head and looked her in the eyes, "I saw you dead on the stage, Twilight Sparkle."
He took a deep breathe as a tear rolled down his cheek. They stared at each other as Night became angrier and angrier with her loving eyes...the eyes of a mother.
"NO! You are NOT MY MOTHER! YOU ARE DEAD!!"
The purple unicorn burst into mist, twisting and shrinking till it fused together to form a small purple stone.
Night turned around and was met by a hoof to his cheek. Night quickly regained himself and was expecting to see Princess Luna standing in front of him, but instead, it was Princess Celestia seething with as much anger as he was. Luna, who seemed just surprised as him, yelled, "Celestia Caeli Ardentis!"
The white alicorn blinked and looked down at Night who was putting as much anger into his stare as possible, so much so, the stub of his horn was beginning to glow.
Celestia shook her head, "I'm sorry...I don't know what came over me." She turned and sat next to Luna who was gawking at her, but quickly recovered as Hemshela regained consciousness.
Snow Flake, who had been beyond confused this whole time, moved to look at the purple stone lying on the floor. It was smooth and kite shaped, she could easily see her reflection in it. She picked up the stone, which felt warm and seemed to vibrate in her hoof.
Hemshela, who seemed to fade in and out of reality, pushed the spell book towards Luna. Luna bent over and squinted, trying to translate the old writings. "I haven't seen these spells since when i became Nightmare Moon...I remember a little of the language so bear with me."
She silently read for a few moments then spoke, "It seems, tha the spell that Hemshela performed, took the soul of Twilight Sparkle and brought it back to this world. But she didn't resurrect her, that is impossible...But she found a way to anchor the soul of Twilight to something in this world." She looked up at Night, "It is like a boat in a storm. If your anchor is gone you will be taken away, but if the anchor is strong you will be safe. In other words, Hemshela used the one thing Twilight has left in this world as the anchor...the soul of Lucent Dawn. As long as his soul exists, hers will remain until Lucent-" She scowled at Night, "the real Lucent, releases her, or his soul dies. Also, it says that her image will become clearer when the anchor is stronger. So the stronger his soul is, the more easily she can be seen....and it says nothing about purple stones."
"How convenient." Night headed towards the door.
Snow quickly stepped to his side but they stopped when Celestia spoke, "Where are you going?"
Night turned his head, "Ponyville. If there is any evidence to where to search for Vilis then we will find it there...unless your guards have already ruined all the tracks. Take care of Hemshela."
Celestia took a step forward, "Night..."
The stallion turned around, anger still evident in his voice, "What?"
Celestia let a tear fall, "If you find him...tell Lucent that I am sorry."
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The couple emerged from Everfree Forest and headed down through the campsite to Ponyville. They hadn't talked since they left the cabin, the only event that occurred was Snow giving Night his cloak back after she was dry. He had excepted it silently and, after he tied it on, threw up the hood.
Snow had many questions in her head, but she refused to ask since he was in such a bad mood...but there was one she had to ask, "Night..."
The stallion grunted in response.
"Why are you so disrespectful to the princesses? They are the queens of night, day and all of Equestria...why so you treat them like regular ponies?"
Snow waited for Night to answer as they walked down the road towards Ponyville. The sun was getting lower and Snow guessed they had only a few hours of sunlight left.
Finally he spoke, "When a unicorn's horn is broken, or a pegasus' wings are snapped, they become outcasts. Forgotten. Tossed aside like a bad apple...even though they are still the same pony...After my horn was snapped, i joined those outcasts. We are exiles in our own land. And so since I am an exile, I am no longer a subject to their rule. They can not order me around like a servant and i need not bow before them, for they are not my queens anymore."
Snow turned to him, "Then why are you doing this mission if you don't want to and you won't have to?"
Night sighed and lowered his hood, she could tell he had been silently crying, "Even though I am an outcast, they pleaded with me on an equal level...they never once ordered me to do this mission."
Snow thought for a moment, "So you are doing this out of respect for them because they understand what you are?"
He nodded.
They continued into Ponyville where Moonless Night immediately started to search for leads on which way to go. The guards who were cleaning looked at him strangely and one large guard stepped up to Night who was staring at the ground, "Oy! You can't be here right now! We're tryin' to clean up this mess!"
Night spun and drew a baton, magically holding the weapon atoms away from the guards snout who's eyes were wide, "My and my companion are on Royal business and if you have any more gripes you can take them to Princess Luna and Celestia."
The guard stepped back as Night lowered his baton. Snow decided to step in now, "Alright! You heard him! In the name of the Royal Pony Sisters, I order you to leave this area immediately till we are done!"
The guards stared at her, as did Night.
"NOW!" she screamed when none of them had moved.
Stumbling over each other, the guards raced out of the area and towards the camp.
She turned towards Night who chuckled, "Well that was unexpected."
Snow smiled sadly, "Two sisters living together. It can get loud...Maybe that's why all the creatures stayed away."
Night laughed and returned to his search, walking slowly as he searched for any hint of a lead.
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The sun was close to setting and Snow couldn't tell one hoof from another...as if she ever could. She finally gave up and sat down, watching Night as he continued to search the dirt. How can he keep going when there is such little chance of finding anything?
She sighed and turned to look at the sunset. It was an amazing spectacle, beyond description. Snow Flake knew that Celestia would pour her heart out in this sunset, in memory of Ponyville. Snow looked around, finding it hard to believe this was once a place where happy ponies thrived. Where they shared stories, memories, where young foals laughed and ran about. Where Blizzard had friends and would come for parties...Snow sniffed and looked at the ground. So many stories, so many lives...gone. How could somepony ever do this?
She stared back at the sunset and choked back a tear, she must keep searching...for everypony. She got up and started to walk around, searching the hoofprints again.
Night looked up at the sound of wings and turned to see Luna and Celestia landing beside him, "Night! We just got word from out patrols that a dragon is heading this way. We are guessing that it belongs to Vilis and is the same one that burned down Ponyville."
Snow looked up and Night who threw off his cloak, and hoofed it to Snow, "Take this and head to the camp."
"No! I wanna help!"
Celestia shook her head, "You can help by staying in the camp. We don't need and unharmed pony to worry about, I'm sorry."
"But..."
Night stepped forward, "Snow! Please! I don't want you to get hurt!"
The mare looked between Night and the alicorns. Night took another step, "Please."
Snow finally nodded; she quick hugged Night and whispered in his ear, "Please be careful Night...I can't loose Blizzard and you."
Night backed away, "I promise."
Snow Flake turned and ran towards the camp on the hill, Night's cloak billowing in the wind.
The stallion turned to the Royal Pony Sisters and saw Celestia's horn aglow.
"She's stopping the sun from setting so we won't fight the beast in the dark," Luna said.
He turned and noticed the sun rise a little from it's resting place. It finally stopped and he looked back at the alicorns, "When will it be here?"
"Very soon. The guards were traveling out to relieve the first shift when they saw it flying over head and teleported back here to raise the alarm."
"Do you know if it's actually under Vilis Malum's control?"
Luna shook her head, "No...but Ponyville was on very good terms with the nearby dragons. All we really know is that after the attack a dragon burned down this town, and we will see that it is punished for it."
Moonless Night nodded, "Which direction is it coming from?"
Celestia turned west, "West, we are thinking that it was trying to hide within the Sun's blinding light and so catch us with out saddles down."
The sound of hundreds of hooves on dirt and metal clinking together made Night turn around and stare upon a large amount on armed guards racing towards them, bearing swords, shields and spears. "Is all this really necessary? Can't you just magically rip it apart?"
Luna smiled, "I like your thinking, stallion. A lone dragon would be an easy thing to handle with two alicorns here. But dragons also have a strong tie with magic, and if Vilis truly is controlling the beast, he will have strengthened it beyond measures."
"So what's the plan?"
Celestia sat down, "We plan to not use our magic on offense, we will protect our soldiers as they attack and try to get at it's under belly were it is defenseless. If we can get there with even a dagger, we will win. The soft under belly of a dragon is a non-magical area."
Moonless Night nodded, "Since i can't hold a weapon, i will be the bait and try to get it to show it's weakness. Please don't let me dance too long." He quickly jogged to the front of the soldiers, but something nagged at him, if the dragon was under control, then it shouldn't be murdered for the sins it did not truly commit.
You were.
He shook his head, not now!
She believed him over you. You were punished for the sins of another.
No! I was punished justly!
Moonless Night could see the misty face smiling in his mind, Well then, this dragon should be punished just as justly.
The stallion stood in front of the guards, he could see the dragon's silhouette against the sun. It was large, he could tell it was a full grown dragon. As it got closer he heard the captain's and princesses shouting orders; he watched the large, muscular wings flap up and down as they carried the large mammal through the air. Night stood his ground as he heard the dragon roar a battle cry, and he stood tall as he heard a few soldiers scream in fright.
The dragon raced towards the small army and dived at the ground, pulling up at the last second and landed with a resounding boom which sounded like thunder. It roared again and looked over the knights, hungrily. Night stepped forward and stared at his foe: it's scales and spines were black that seemed to suck a pony in. He stared into it's eyes and saw only hatred, hatred beyond this world. Night looked deeper and noticed something swirling in the large eyes...also along the scales.
It was like a spiderweb that spun itself around the dragon and held it together. They all spun towards the back of the behemoth's neck where, Night could only guess, was something that was controlling him.
There was only one way to find out.
Kill it, whispered the cold voice.
No! It wasn't by choice!
And neither was your...accident. And yet you were exiled. Became an outcast. Your family betrayed you Moonless Night! If you believe you were judged correctly, then there is only one thing you can do for that dragon. KILL HIM!!
"NO!" screamed Night as he dashed forward at the dragon, ignoring the shouts of the princesses and the soldiers. He stopped a few yards from it as it took notice of him,
"A colt versus a dragon?! Better still, a colt with a broken horn! Aha! I will enjoy feasting upon your warm flesh, then on the rest of your friends!"
Night smiled, eat me! Eat me!
He took a deep breathe and opened his jaws. Night lit up his horn and prepared for the fire. He grabbed what magic he had and formed a small shield in front of him. He knew it wouldn't last long, be he hadn't really thought that far ahead.
The magic flame spewed out of the dragons mouth with such ferocity that it knocked Night back a little as it swept against his shield. He could already feel it giving way as the flames drew closer and closer to his face.
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Snow Flake sat on the hill and watched in fright as the large, black dragon landed and roared, intimidating the knights. It waved its head back and forth as they all stood staring at each other. Suddenly, she saw Night sprint out of the group and charge the dragon!
"Night!" she screamed as she stood. She almost ran down the hill when something inside the cloak was...vibrating. She stopped and swung off the large black clothe and rummaged through the pockets till she pulled out the small, purple stone. She stared at it as it vibrated and shook.
With a yelp, she dropped the stone as it quickly got white-hot and it started to glow. She stared at it, but a burst of flame made her look up and at the fight. The dragon was shooting flames right at Night! She watched helplessly as his shield grew smaller and the flames inched closer...and closer...
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Moonless Night pushed against the flames, but no avail. The torrent seemed never ending and the heat ever increasing. The fire edged ever closer, he could feel extreme on his forehead, then, it was gone!
Night looked up and saw a large white shield looming in front of him. He looked behind him and saw Luna and Celestia standing behind him with their horns glowing brightly, all the guards standing awestruck.
The dragon ended the flames and laughed, "Your magic may have saved you from flames, little foal. But they can't save you from tooth and fang!"
Night took a strong stance and waited as the his opponent reared his head and shot forward, straight for him, with jaws wide open. But instead of warm blood, his tongue received a large amount of dirt. He roared as he lifted his head and looked around, trying to find the pony.
Right before the dragon had struck, Night had jumped up and clamped his mouth on one of the large spines.
The dragon swung his neck violently trying to get rid of the pest, "Get off and fight me like a real stallion!!"
Night used the momentum to through himself over the ridge of his neck and straddled the think neck of the beast. Right underneath a large, beating gem. It was deep red like and and pulsed like a heart. He saw all the spiderweb like spells meeting in the center of the stone. It was molded into a clasp and apparently welded onto the dragon's neck.
The stallion reached for his magic, but found non. He had put too much into the shield!
He raised his hoof and slammed it as hard as possible into the gem again and again. But it was too strong for physical strength alone.
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The silvery-blue mare watched as Night threw himself onto the dragon's neck and started beating at it, what does he think he is doing?!
She stepped forward but was stopped by the stone raising in the air right in front of her nose. She stared into the beautiful purple and could have sworn she saw a eye stare back. But before she could look again, the stone flashed and flew at the dragon.
"Wait!"
But it was gone.
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The dragon whipped it's neck back and forth, almost throwing off Night twice but he managed to stay on my gripping another spine in his teeth. He continued at beating the gem but it still did nothing.
His hoof was bloody and smeared the large stone, but he continued beating, stopping randomly to bite onto the spike again.
He knew he was running out of time so he drew back his hoof once more, but before he could bring it down, something grabbed it. He turned his head and saw Twilight Sparkle floating behind him...smiling. He tried fighting her but her grip was like iron. Her horn glowed and she nodded, releasing his hoof. Confused, Night reached for his magic and found something strange. There was magic there...more than he ever had. But it wasn't his. It felt strange, yet familiar.
He decided to ask alter and took hold of the magic and wrapped it around the stone, encasing it and willed to crush it. At first nothing happened, but he tried again and the stone cracked! He thrust tendrils of magic into the cracks and with all his might, ripped the gem apart.
The stone exploded and he flew backwards off the dragons neck.
He waited to hit for the feeling of his bones smashing against the hard ground, but it never came. Instead he felt himself slow down and warm, like he was in a bubble. He opened his eyes and stared at Princess Luna who's horn was glowing and she was smiling.
He relaxed his muscles and rested as Luna flew and carried him along. When they arrived, Night was slowly lowered to the ground and was instantly surrounded by a gaggle of guards cheering and slapping his back.
Now that all his adrenaline was gone, he noticed how much of a headache he had gotten from his shield. But before he could do anything else, he felt forelegs wrap around his neck so tight that it cut off his oxygen. He pushed Snow Flake back,
"Told you I'd be fine," he smiled at her.
She returned the smile, "Thank you...oh! Where is the stone?! When you started to fight it vibrated and got really hot, then it flew at you!"
Luna stepped forward, "Don't worry, I picked it up when i grabbed Night."
She magicked the stone to Snow who grabbed it and put it into Night's cloak and gave the cloak back to its owner who gladly excepted it and threw it over himself.
They smiled again and Night headed through the crowd to the dragon who had apparently been knocked unconscious. He looked around and saw Celestia laying beside the dragon's head, her horn glowing as she smiled, "Good job, Moonless Night. You freed him of Vilis Malum, which cause him to black out since the magic embed in that stone was attached to his mind. I'm trying to wake him up an- Ah! He's awaking!"
Her horn stopped glowing and she walked back to her sister who was, strangely, silently giggling.
The stallion turned his attention back to the sleeping dragon who stirred and slowly rose to a sitting position. The black seemed to drain from his scales and spikes. They turned to a dark purple and his spikes to a dark green. Moonless Night stood stunned, not believing what he was seeing. The dragon groaned and opened his eyes, which also drained and were replaced by bright green irises. The large beast looked up and spoke, "You majesties!" He threw himself down and bowed, he then opened his eyes which fell on Night, "D! It is good to see you!"
Night fell onto his rump and took a second to speak, "Hello Spike."
"It was Spike?" Luna asked, her mouth slightly hanging open.
Celestia lowered her head and nodded, "Double Edge!"
A large stallion slowly walked up, his armor clinking and his weapon slightly raised at the dragon, "Yes, your majesty?"
"Take the soldiers back to camp...give them all extra food and start with night shifts as soon as they are finished eating."
The general bowed his head and ordered the ponys off, they almost ran back to camp. After it grew silent, the dragon looked around, "By Discord's horns...where are we?"
Moonless Night sat and stared at the ground, Snow Flake watched him and yearned to go to him, but she noticed his body was tense and his eyes were slammed shut.
Princess Luna stepped forward, "Spike...this is Ponyville."
The dragon almost started laughing...then he looked at Celestia who face was just as grave as Luna's.
"What...what happened?" he dragged his eyes over the burnt village again, this time noticing familiar landmarks.
Luna continued, "You...you burned down Ponyville after Vilis Malum killed everypony."
"How can you say such a thing?! Ponyville is my home! My friends, my family! Tell me the truth! I will rip that demon's heart from his chest!!" his eyes flashed with anger as he bared his teeth and growled.
Celestia raised her head, "Spike...Ponyville was attacked and everypony was murdered ...then you burned down the town."
The dragon roared, "I didn't burn down Ponyville!! Search my memories, Celestia!"
The Sun Goddess nodded, "I have Spike...thoroughly...but you didn't do it knowingly. Vilis Malum took control of you with a gem."
"Vilis?! You are telling me a New Bearer did this!! D! Tell them how absurd this is! D?"
Moonless Night shook with anger, "Vilis...took over your mind with a magical gem...he ordered you to incinerate everything here."
Celestia stood, "The gem was linked directly to your mind and Vilis'. He basically possessed you, Spike. And whatever he did when he was you would only be recorded in his memories, not yours. You are innocent."
"As if..."
The group turned to Moonless Night who was shaking with anger.
Spike lowered his head close to Night's snout, "D?"
The stallion jumped up with such speed the dragon pulled away in fright, "How could you, a mighty dragon, be overcome by a mere unicorn?!"
The dragon was flustered for a moment, Celestia spoke again, "Vilis power grew almost daily, Night. If he could take down the New Bearers AND the Legendary Six, he could easily control a dragon, let alone one he knows so well."
Night's anger grew more, "So? You said yourself that dragons were very magical creatures! Spike could easily have crushed Vilis before he used he got hold of him! In fact, I bet you are working WITH him!!"
Celestia and Luna starred, dumbfounded at the stallion.
Instead of shrinking back, Spike rushed forward, "You actually think that I would attack my HOME?!? Don't be a foal, Lucent!"
"STOP CALLING ME LUCENT, SPIKE!!" screamed Night.
Spike's head loomed closer as he stared seemingly into the stallion, "You have a scar above your left eye from when you fell of the library ladder and smacked your head against a table. You are a blank flank, your horn is snapped in two and your eyes are just like our mother's. You are my brother, Lucent Dawn!"
Night reared back on his hind legs and slammed down his fore-hooves, The dragon pulled his head back and Snow shuffled a little back, terrified at the scene before her.
Celestia and Luna watched as the dragon and stallion glared at eachother.
"I may have burned down a village, Lucent. But atleast I will never deny my family!"
Spike spread his massive, leathery wings and took to the sky, flying towards the mountains. Roaring in sadness and anger till he finally disappeared behind a snowy cap.
=================================================================================================
"I'm worried about him," exclaimed Snow Flake as she laid next to the princesses a few yards away from Night who sat staring at the full moon about to set. "He hasn't moved all night since the dragon left."
Celestia sighed, "Moonless Night is a sad and lost pony in need of some answers."
Snow turned to her, "Is he really who everyone keep saying he is? Lucent Dawn?"
The white alicorn nodded, "Yes...in body only sadly."
"What do you mean?"
Luna snorted, "That he's a nut case."
"That's enough Luna," snapped Celestia.
"Sorry, but I've never known a pony to be so foalish."
Celestia shook her head, "I can name one."
"Alright, alright," breathed Luna.
Snow Flake turned to the moon, "So is he insane?"
Celestia chuckled silently, "No, my dear. He is just lost in the past. He can't face who he was so he runs from it, becoming a whole different pony."
"What made him want to do that? How could anypony want to forget their family?"
Celestia sighed again and laid down next to the small mare, "Because he is ashamed of his past...he is punishing himself."
Snow closed her eyes, "Why? What did he do?"
"Actually, he didn't do anything...he just believes he did."
Snow Flake looked up at her princess, "What? Why?"
Celestia turned to her, "Maybe you should ask him."
Snow took a deep breathe, "I have another question...why am I here? I just bumped into Night one day and now we're on an adventure to save Equestria..why me? Why not you two? Or even Double Edge?"
Instead of answering to her, Celestia turned to Luna, "I believe you are better suited to answer this question, sister."
Celestia stood while Luna sat down on the other side of Snow. Snow watched as Celestia walked over to Night, who still hadn't moved.
"Let me tell you a small story...Many years ago, a few years before you were born i believe, there was an evil mare who wanted to rule Equestria herself instead of Celestia...do you know who I speak of?"
The silvery-blue mare nodded, "Of course. Nightmare Moon...you."
Luna stared at the radiant, white disk in the sky, "Correct...I was blinded by jealousy and hate. I was ready to kill my own sister to get power...but do you know what saved me?"
"The Legendary Six with the Elements of Harmony."
Luna smiled, "Many ponies also believe it was the Elements themselves, but that is not true."
Snow looked up at the goddess of night, "It wasn't?"
She shook her head, "No...it was friendship. All the Elements really did was channel the magic, they have no other power besides that. It was truly the Loyalty of Rainbow Dash, the Kindness of Fluttershy, the Generosity of Rarity, the Honesty of Applejack, the Laughter of Pinkie Pie, and the Magic of Twilight Sparkle. Friendship is the most powerful thing there is, Snow Flake. It is stronger then me and my sister combined."
"I still don't see how I can help Lucent."
Luna rubbed her snout against Snow's forehead, "In the end only he can choose to be free or not, but you must give him the key. You will give him the choice of freedom "
Snow Flake looked up at Luna and smiled, "I will do my best, princess."
Luna returned the smile, "Please, call me Luna."
=================================================================================================
Moonless Night continued to stare up at the moon as Celestia drew close and sat beside him.
She breathed slowly, "It is beautiful isn't it?"
If you came to scold me about how I reacted to Spike, save your breathe. I fell no shame in what i said."
Celestia sighed, though his hood shrouded most of his face in darkness, she could still make out a small tear trail down his cheek, "I came to tell you that I know where Vilis is."
"How? Read that traitorous dragon's mind?"
She shook her head, "After you shattered the gem, the same wave of magic that blasted you backwards also hit me. When it did i made contact with Vilis' mind and saw a few of his more recent memories. One of them was where his camp is, he has apparently placed numerous spells to make it sound proof and invisible."
Night rubbed a hoof against his face, secretly trying to hide the tear stains, "Where?"
"In a plane in the Everfree Forest, a few miles from here," she answered.
As the moon touched the horizon, Celestia's horn grew, and he could only guess the same was with Luna, as they lowered the moon and brought forth the sun for another day.
Night stretched as Snow and Luna walked up. He lowered his hood and turned to Snow Flake, "We know where Vilis is..ready?"
The mare nodded, "Whenever you are."
Luna bent her head, "Remember why you are here Snow...and good luck to you both."
Celestia nodded, "May fate and fortune gallop with you."
Snow Flake smiled, turned and walked away with Moonless Night towards Everfree Forest.
=================================================================================================
Moonless Night could easily smell the rain that was coming, but the thick tangle of branches above him blocked any view of the sky except for a few rays of sunshine to illuminate the trail. They had been walking for a while now, only stopping whenever they heard something coming close. Night wasn't really worried about the creatures in Everfree, but more rather he was paranoid of being caught by a group of Vilis' soldiers.
Snow looked around cautiously, all the while thinking about what Luna had told her. How could she give Night the key if she didn't know what truly held him back? She wanted to ask, but she didn't know where or how to begin...they had never really talked about Night's past, whenever she had tried, he had always somehow flipped the question around on her. She sighed and lowered her head, how can i be a friend if he won't let me?
Night turned his head, "You okay? Want to take a break?"
She nodded and sat down, as did Night.
She turned to the stallion, "Who is Spike?"
He cocked his head, "You don't know about the dragon Spike? I'm surprised! Everypony has! He was the assistant of Twilight Sparkle ever since she was a filly, he helped them on all their adventures as the Elements of Harmony, he once grew rapidly on his birthday from greed and attacked Ponyville, but he regained his common sense and changed himself back."
Snow smiled as she heard the excitement rise in the pony's voice, maybe this won't be so hard.
He continued, "He also was the same dragon that saved Manehatten from that attack by saltwater Hydras a few years ago. Spike was always funny...and kind...he was always there. I remember one time wh-"
The smile fell from Night's face and he coughed, "I mean, I remember hearing stories about him in pubs..."
SNAP!
Night raised his quickly raised his head and stared in the direction of the noise, only his eyes moving...back and forth. Snow lowered herself as low as possible, trying to blend in with the dirt, her silvery-blue coat making it 110% impossible.
After a few long and agonizing seconds, Night raised his head higher and immediately lowered it again.
"What do you see?" Snow whispered.
Night squinted, "Five spear heads slightly poking up in the brush right behind us...about thirty yards away."
"What are we going to do, Night?" The mare's heart started to beat faster, sweat formed on her forehead.
"Whatever you do, don't move till I say...and for sweet angel's sake don't make a sound."
Snow nodded, oh princesses! Protect us!
Night continued to watch as the sharp tips crept forward silently among the dense brush.
Twenty yards...
Twenty...
Fifteen...
Ten...Just a bit closer!
Five...Almost! He gritted his teeth.
Two. Five black snouts appeared, slowly poking out of the brush, NOW!
Night took hold of his magic, grabbed as much loose dirt and sand as he could in his magic, and flung it at the ponies, hitting them straight in the eyes.
They cried out in fright and threw their hooves up to their eyes as Night and Snow galloped as fast as possible off the trail. As they ran in started to rain, something he would have liked to have sat and enjoyed if they weren't running for their lives. Night could hear a pony yell behind him, "Stop! In the name of Vilis Malum, New Bearer of Generosity!"
A patrol? We must be very close to his camp.
The rain picked up and soon their were drenched but they didn't stop, till Snow looked and noticed a small cave to her right. She called for Night and fled towards the opening, hearing Night following. They ran into the dray cave and shook, throwing as much water off as they could. Night pulled of his cloak and laid it across a large rock and looked around their shelter, it only really had room for about five ponies, it had a low ceiling only two feet above his head and the back of the cave was about twenty feet from the mouths which rain poured in front off like a liquid drape.
Snow Flake sat and and looked at Night who was holding his head, "You okay?"
"Headache...don't worry, I get them all the time."
"Why?"
Night sat down as well and slightly smiled, "A unicorn using magic with a broken horn is like a pegasus flying with two broken wings, it is possible, but hurts a ton. I only really have enough magic for little things such as my batons or tricks like what we just did."
She walked over to him and stared into his purple eyes, "You should get some rest, we can't really go anywhere with all this rain and i can see how tired you are."
"No really, I'm fine."
Snow stepped forward, "Go to sleep."
Night smiled but stopped when he locked eyes with her ice-blue eyes, he felt his insides go cold and he backed up a little in fright. He lowered himself to the ground as she continued to watch him sternly. He closed his eyes and was almost immediately taken away by his dreams.
Snow smiled and sat a few feet from the front of the cave, somepony had to keep watch after all.
After a few seconds, the cave tinted purple and Snow turned her head to see Twilight Sparkle walking up beside her and also sit down. They both smiled, she could see the loving compassion in the purple unicorn's eyes.
Twilight looked over at the sleeping Night, "I see you have The Stare. Just like Fluttershy."
Snow reared her head a little in recoil, "You can talk?"
Twilight giggled, "Yes, my little pony, i can talk. There has just hasn't been a reason to till now."
Snow nodded, "I guess I agree, Miss Sparkle."
"Please, call me Twilight. I never really liked "Miss Sparkle" even when i got old enough for it. They giggled and Snow looked back at Night, "Is he really your son?"
She nodded, "Yes. He is my son."
"Why does he deny it?"
Twilight smiled and stared out into the rain, "He does not think he is deserving of the title, that and he hates me."
"Why?" Snow started to get excited, hopefully now she would get some answers.
"He must tell you that."
The young mare lowered her head, defeated again, "Do you still love him?"
A tear fell from Twilight's purple eye, "Yes."
"Even though he hates you?" Snow knew she starting to over step her bounds, but she wanted to know.
The unicorn sighed, "No matter what happens, I will always love him. When you have children, Snow Flake, you will understand."
They sat their quietly for a while, listening to the rain.
Twilight Sparkle spoke, "I must thank you."
Snow looked at her, quizzically, "Why? I haven't done anything?"
Twilight smiled, "You are my son's friend. You have been with him through this time."
"He is a great stallion, Twilight. He is my best friend..."
Twilight chuckled, "Lucent always was a gentlepony, a little rough around the edges, but he was always kind to the mares. I remember once when he accidently threw a rock too far with his magic and hit a filly square in the head. She was fine, a few tears, but there was no damage. But little Lucent was distraught, he told her that he would be her slaves for two weeks to make up for it." Twilight laughed and continued, "Little did he know what he set himself up for! She made him do some of the funniest things, but no matter what she told him to do, he did. They later on became the best of friends, never leaving each other's sides for more than to sleep..."
Snow couldn't help but smile as she pictured a little Moonless Night galloping around Ponyville doing different stunts and tricks for the mare. As she continued to think, she noticed a thin layer of fog creep in through the veil of water and wrap around her legs. She stood and turned to Twilight Sparkle who was also standing, the smile vanished from her lips.
It suddenly constricted and pulled her legs out from under her, she screamed as she fell to the hard cavern floor and was drug to the rear end of the cave.
"Night!" the mare screamed.
Moonless Night shot up and looked around, spying his friend on the floor he ran to her, but before he could reach her, Twilight Sparkle jumped in front of him, blocking his way.
He stopped for a second but leapt forward, and instead of sailing through the ghostly image, he smack against a wall that shimmered where he hit and was thrown back. He rubbed his head and tried again, with he same consequences. Twilight Sparkle laughed, but it wasn't a cheerful laugh as expected, instead, it was a dark and wicked laugh that chilled Snow's bones.
She watched as Twilight's purple coat turned to a sickly grey and her mane and tail writhed and turned to silver. Large gashes appeared over her body and blood flowed out, her mane fell off and an eye fell out. She screamed and twisted as the image faded to mist, but quickly returned in an exact copy of Moonless Night.
"Hello, Moonless Night," the mist said with a devilish smile.
Night lowered himself into a battle stance, "What do you want?"
It laughed again, "What I've always wanted! To pester you and fight with you until you cry and make my whole day!"
Night neighed angrily, "No! What do you want with Snow?! She has nothing to do with this! Let her go!"
"Oh reeaally Night? I believe she has EVERYTHING to do with this, you dragged her into it too...just like some other pony not to long ago."
"Shut up! Let her go!" Night growled.
"Or what?" the mist sneered, "You gunna beat me up with those sticks again? Ha! I bet Snow Flake would love to know why she is a part of this, and your past, don't you darling?"
Night looked at Snow who was lying on the ground, wrapped in mist, her eyes full of terror, but Night could also see a little interest.
The doppelganger smiled, "You see, dear Snow Flake, Night here killed somepony! Simple as that! Or is it??" he laughed again.
"Yes! It is!" yelled Night.
"Oh? What about Vilis Malum? He played a pretty good part, causing you to use more magic than you wanted and so killing-"
"No! I miscalculated! It's all my fault! She wouldn't have died if i hadn't tried it!" Night interrupted.
Snow finally found her voice, "Who?"
Night lowered his head, "My best friend..."
The mist smiled and twisted it's head all the way around, "And who might THAT be? Hmm??"
The stallion lowered his head further, "Radiant...Radiant Spectrum."
The image put a hoof to its ear, "Sorry didn't hear that...who?"
Night's head shot up, "Radiant Spectrum! Daughter of Rainbow Dash and New Bearer of the Element of Loyalty!!"
The mist smiled and laughed, "See? Wan't that hard now was it??"
Snow looked at Night who lowered his head again, "What...what happened?"
"Well you seeeee, little one-"
"No...I will tell her..." Night interjected.
The mist seemed confused, but regained himself and smiled again.
"When I was a colt, me and Radiant went to a cave so I could she her a magic trick I had just learned...Her and Lucent hid there because my mother had told me Lucent not to try this kind of magic. It was meant to simply allow her to hold her breathe longer...Lucent had done it to himself and so I wanted to try it on Radiant...Well he miss used to much magic...and...and i killed Radiant Spectrum...after that Lucent's horn was broken and he was exiled."
Snow listened to the story, trying to understand it as he switched between third and first pony. What's happening to him?
His identities are clashing, she heard Twilight's voice answer, he will either choose to forever be Moonless Night, son of non. Or Lucent Dawn, New Bearer.
"But that's no the truth is it, Night?" cackled the mist.
"It was all Lucent's fault! I should have known to listen to his mother!" Night's horn began to glow, "Just leave me alone!"
It smiled, "You know i can't do that, Night. I gotta be stuck to somepony!"
Sow raised her head. she had to save Night...she couldn't let him live forever in sorrow and regret, "What about me?"
The twins looked back at her, one smiling the other completely dumbfounded. The mist was the first to speak, "If you are willing, I can free Night."
"No! You can't do that Snow!" yelled Night.
Snow looked up at him, "If it frees you from this ghost, I will gladly give up my life to make you happy."
Night stared at his friend, she was willing to give up her sanity to remove his demon. He could be free. Free to roam the world without fear of being haunted by his past...
Night...either you can let Snow take your past away and you will become Moonless Night forever. Or you can face the mist and become Lucent again, a calm, smooth voice whispered.
Who are you?
Make your choice, stallion.
His eyes grew wide, Radiant?!
He looked back at Snow who seemed rather calm, considering what she was asking for....she had been with him this whole time. She was his best friend...the time he had spent with her was the greatest time of his life.
Yet.
How could he go back? Lucent had killed his best friend by doing something absolutely foalish! There was no excuse for what happened...
No. Snow was his friend. He wouldn't let her take the punishment for his past. He had to take responsibility.
"Well, Night? Do we have an accord?" the twin smiled.
Night raised his head, he looked deep into Snow Flake's eyes...he loved those eyes. He had to do this, for Snow Flake, for Twilight, for Equestria.
"No."
The mist seemed stunned by this, but quickly smiled again, "Oh then you wish to fight me again? Beat me up with your sticks?"
Night took a step forward, "I'm done with you haunting me."
"You brought me here, Night! Not my fault!"
Another step, "You hurt my mother."
Psht. That's only a misty image, no pain." worry appeared on the doppelganger's face as he took a small step back.
Another step, "And most of all...you hurt my friend!"
Night shot forward and slammed into the mist.
=================================================================================================
Moonless Night opened his eyes, instead of seeing the cave, he was in a huge all white area.
Where am I?
He looked around, "Snow? Snow Flake!"
No answer.
He turned his head and in front of him stood Twilight Sparkle, smiling. Their purple eyes locked for many quiet seconds when Night finally walked to her and lowered his head to the ground, "I'm sorry...I-"
Twilight shook her head and put her forehead to his, "I forgive you."
Tears burst out of Night as he wept with joy at the tough of the purple mare. He wrapped his arms around her and cried. His warm tears running off her smooth coat which he had longed to feel for years. He nuzzled his snout into her neck, feeling the warmth he missed oh so much.
"I love you Lucent."
"I love you mom."
They sat holding each other for what seemed like hours till Twilight Sparkle spoke, "Somepony wants to talk with you."
Moonless Night pulled away, "Who?"
"Me, silly." answered a confident voice that reminded Night of the wind.
He turned around in fright and instantly fell to the ground shying away, utter fear and shame in his eyes. Before him stood a cyan-blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, and deep green eyes: Radiant Spectrum.
The stallion backed away on his hooves, "Ray!"
The mare smiled, "I ain't a ghost. No need to act like a scared filly."
She took a step forward and Night responded with another one backwards. Twilight looked to the pegasus, "Radiant..."
Radiant shook her head and sighed, "Oh alright...Cent, you know I don't hate you for what happened.'
"But I killed you!" Night stammered, fresh tears trailing down his cheeks, "How can I forgive myself for murdering you! For making you suffer!"
Radiant took another step, this time he didn't move back, "There is nothing to forgive...accidents happen to everyone. I knew the risk I was taking whenever I agreed to let you practice magic on me."
He stared at her, "If you knew, then why did you-"
"Stick around?" interrupted Radiant as she laid down in front of Night, "Because you were my friend. I loved being with you, going on our adventures around Ponyville. Magic was just another adventure."
"And look at what happened!" protested the unicorn.
She shook her head, "Death is natural, Cent. I died doing what I loved the most, being with you and going on our adventures. I wouldn't have traded any of our memories together for even a chance to lead the Wonderbolts. You are my best friend, nothing can take that away, not even death...I learned that while I've been here."
The stallion bowed his head in shame as Radiant scooted closer to him, she laughed when she saw another tear fall from his cheek, "You are almost as bad as Lily Petal! Do you remember when she found a Parasprite and how her mother Stared her into returning to the forest?" Radiant rolled onto her side laughing and eventually Night was chuckling with her, the memories returning.
"Or when we once gave Spike some peanut butter right before a big presentation he had to give to all of Ponyville??"
Night rolled on the ground, as well, holding his gut as his mind flashed to the image of the purple dragon trying to speak with his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth in front of the whole town. He had kept the memories hidden for so long, that when they returned he felt like he was reliving them again.
They continued to laugh as they reminised their old pranks and whatnot. After they had calmed down, Night looked into his best friend's eyes, he missed those eyes, they were always so full of life.
"I met somepony back home...she's a lot like you."
Radiant giggled, "Snow Flake?"
Night crunched his brow in confusion, "How did you-"
"What? You think when you die you just sit in a grave and what not? Actually it's awesome! It's lik-"
"That's enough, Radiant," the ponies turned their heads and looked at Twilight walking up, "You should know the rules better than me, young mare."
The pegasus rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah...Sorry, Cent! But apparently we can't tell anypony what it's like here...you'll have to wait to find out yourself."
Night's ears perked up, "There's more?!"
Radiant laughed, "'Course! You thought this was it?? A large really really bright white room with your mom and your best friend?! Don't be so foalish! It looks a lot more lik-"
"AHEM!" Twilight coughed, "Sorry, but you need to go back now Lucent...Snow Flake is starting to get worked up."
Night looked at her questioningly, but before he could ask, Radiant began to glow white, "Good bye for now, Cent! Remember rule number three!"
He laughed as he remembered their special "rules" for magic practice:
1) Look cool.
The pegasus floated a few inches off the ground, and burst into a shower of sparks. Night turned to his mother who had also started to glow, "Mom...When will I see you again?"
Twilight Sparkle smiled, "Oh Lucent...I am always with you." And with that she exploded into sparks.
=================================================================================================
"Night! Moonless Night! You can't die! You can't! I need you Night!!"
The stallion's eyes shot open and he leapt to his feet, preparing for whatever was there. But instead of an attacker, he was being smothered by Snow Flake who had flung herself around him, crying.
"I thought you had died! Don't you do that to me ever again!" she nearly yelled and started to beat his chest.
"Hey! Stop it!" laughed Night as he wrapped his forelegs around his blue friend, pinning her arms between them. She cried into his shoulder.
After a few moments, she stopped crying and he let her go, "How long was I out this time?"
Snow wiped a tear away, "Only a few minutes...but you weren't breathing so I thought you had died...After you collided with the mist, you collapsed and I heard a loud scream of pain which I thought was you. But then the fog seemed to slither out of the cave...are you okay, Night?"
The stallion stretched, "I'm fine! You?"
The mare flicked her tail, "I'm great...just about had my best friend DIE but otherwise great...What happened?"
He smiled, "I freed myself...Thank you Snow, for everything you have done. You have brought Lucent Dawn back to this world."
Snow Flake bowed low to the ground, "I did what anypony would do, your majesty."
The stallion laughed, "Whoa! Don't call me "your majesty" I am no royalty...and if anything, I should bow to you." He bent his head and knelt on the ground in front of Snow who giggled,
"Stand, Sir Moonless Night!"
The dark grey unicorn stood, "Please...call me Lucent.
Snow giggled again, "Alright, Lucent. What now?"
Lucent's brow hardened, "We find Vilis and stop him."
The silvery-blue earth pony nodded and headed towards the cave entrance. She looked up and noticed that it was near twilight and the rain had stopped, leaving the forest uncannily quiet. She searched the tangle of trees for any sign of life other than themselves, but luckily she found none.
Lucent threw on his now dry cloak and, with Snow Flake, started walking towards where he thought Vilis' camp was.
As they walked, Snow decided it was time for the truth, she had waited long enough, "Lucent, can you tell me exactly what happened to you?"
Lucent sighed and nodded, lighting his horn, "Alright. But I think it would be better if I showed you."
"But won't that give you a real bad headache? I can't let you do that then watch you face Vilis, already worn out," the mare stepped away from him, trying to block out his magic.
Lucent smiled, "The truth is always more important than you fight, for a single true statement can topple entire kingdoms. You need to see this, cause if I die, you need to spread my side of the story, starting all the way back to the beginning."
He reached into his mind then Snows, linking them as he relived the full memory for the first time since it had happened.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Hey! Cent!"
Lucent Dawn raised his head from his spell book and looked around the Ponyville park, seeing nopony. He had been sitting there, studing up on transformation spells after a long day helping Spike in the library reorganizing,
"Hello?"
"Up here, you foal!" answered the voice.
Lucent looked up and was greeted by a bucked of water being poured on his face. He sputtered and shook his head, "Hey what's the big ide-"
He stopped shouting as his eyes locked onto a certain pegasus laughing hysterically in the air above him, holding a large and empty bucket.
"You should have seen your face! Priceless!!" laughed Radiant Spectrum as she rolled in the air, dying of laughter.
The colt bounced up and down, "Ray! You can fly!! When did that happen?!"
The pegasus calmed down and used her wings to do a few not-so-graceful spins in the air, "I finally got off the ground this morning! Aren't they awesome, Cent??"
Lucent watched with jealousy as his friend flew in the air above him, twirling and shooting through clouds, laughing all the way. Eventually she landed softly beside him and smiled broadly, "I was planning on floating behind you and scaring you, but then I saw you reading and decided that this would be sooo much cooler!"
The dark grey unicorn shook his mane out and laughed, "I agree! Now, let's see how good you are!"
Lucent laughed as he mentally picked up some small pebbles and shot them towards Radiant who clumsily dodged, being hit a few times. They laughed together as she progressed and eventually dodged everything he threw at her. She then charged down and rammed into the colt, which sent them sprawling over the green grass.
The ponies then began to wrestle, Lucent Dawn having the upper hand with a little magical help. He pinned the filly and helped her up to her hooves, simply glowing with joy at the victory over his athletic friend.
"Well, well...This is most unbecoming of New Bearers," a cold, scratchy voice said behind from them.
The friends turned and watched as a colt step out from behind a tree, Lucent growled, "What do you want, Vilis?"
The colt Vilis Malum had a tan coat and a dirty-brown mane and his horn seemed larger than what it should have been for a unicorn his age. He walked with a royal feel and his nose held high, which disgusted Lucent, "I said, what do yo-"
"I heard you, Lucent. And I don't want anything...except for Radiant Spectrum to come and share a lunch with me," Vilis answered as he bowed low to the mare who took a step back.
Before she could answer, Lucent placed himself in front of her, "She's not hungry. Now leave us alone."
The tan unicorn raised to his full height and stepped forward, "I think she can speak for herself...Radiant?"
The mare stepped around her guardian who continued to glare at the colt, "Sorry, Vilis. But I ain't hungry."
Lucent smiled as he saw Vilis Malum's shoulders drop a little, then quickly return, "Fine. Do what you wish, foal."
Lucent lit his horn and stepped in front of Radiant again, "Don't call her a foal!"
Vilis smiled maliciously, "Or what? You going to throw pebbles at me? We have done this countless times and we know I always win. you don't want another scar do you?"
Lucent's horn glowed brighter as Vilis lit his own. The rocks around Lucent shook and rose in the air around him, but Vilis just smiled and waited. Lucent was about to throw the first stone when suddenly, a rope appeared around him and he fell to the ground, struggling as a golden brown blur shot around him. He opened his eyes and found himself hogtied, with Applejack standing over him, "That's enough now! I am sick to ma stomach of you two go at each other all the darn time!"
Lucent glared at Vilis who was standing free, "I am sorry, M'am. I was merely defending myself after I asked Radiant Spectrum to lunch and Lucent tried to bite my head off, so to speak!"
The older farm pony turned to him, "It's alright, Vilis. You go run home, now."
The purple colt smiled, turned tail, and ran back to Ponyville. Applejack turned back to her prey, "As for you, Lucent. You need to work on that there temper of yours." She released the ropes around him, rolled it back up and placed it into her saddle bag. "You two run off now, and try stay away from Vilis. I don't want to attend a funeral anytime soon."
Lucent's head lowered to the ground as he walked away with Radiant. The pegasus bumped him, "I thought you were very brave..."
He sighed and looked around the park, it was a beautiful day to be taking a walk with friends, not one for fighting. He always got into fights with Vilis, and it was he who was always blamed even though only about a fourth of the time it actually was his fault.
"Sooooo....know any new magic tricks??" asked Radiant, trying to make her friend happy. Magic was his favorite thing, and he always showed her first if he had learned anything new.
It worked, his head rose and a smile grew on his face, "Yes I did! And I already tried it on myself so it's safe."
Radiant smiled, "What is it?!?"
"I learned a way that I could enlarge your lungs so you could hold your breathe longer! I was sick of not being able to swim under water for too long so I found an answer!"
"Sweet! To the cave?"
"To the cave!"
The ponies turned sharply and started galloping as fast as their little hooves could take them too Everfree Forest and, eventually, their special spot.
=================================================================================================
"Do...you think...we were...followed?" panted an exhausted Lucent Dawn as he laid spread eagle on the cool stone floor in their cave.
"Nope!" answered a barely worked up Radiant, pegasus were always as fit as a fiddle.
"Phew! I was afraid Vilis would...after he saw us running." said Lucent as he finally caught his breathe.
Radiant bounced up and down, "So ready for the spell??"
The colt stood and laughed, "Give me a moment!"
The pegasus smiled, "Sorry...I'm just so excited! I wonder how long I will be able to hold my breathe! Hours?! Days!!"
Lucent lit his horn, "It's not THAT much of an improvement, just by a minute or so. Now hold still as I do this...and Radiant?" A thought had been nagging at him ever since the fight with Vilis, and for some reason he couldn't make it leave...
She stopped bouncing, "Yes?"
"Will...do you think? Will we always be friends?" asked an embarrassed colt as he scraped the ground.
She smiled, "Always...cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" answered Radiant as she did all the appropriate hand motions with the promise.
Lucent smiled too; they were best friends, and always would be. He shook his head and surrounded her with magic, "This will take a little longer than the other times. Ready?"
"Ready," Radiant breathed as she relaxed inside the warm, magical bubble. She had done the procedure many times before with the unicorn, and she knew it would be fine this time, like always. Lucent never made a mistake when it came to magic, he was too much like his mother, just as she was. He was very cautious and articulate, she knew that he had thought about this for atleast an hour straight till he had decided it was safe to use it on her. He would never be able to hurt her.
As Lucent Dawn concentrated on his magic, he wrapped it gently around her lungs. He could feel her lungs expand and deflate faster than usual as she sensed his magic. He slowed down, not wanting to hurt her, he planned for hours to try this,, first doing it on himself and a few small toads.
He gently grabbed hold of the organs and ever so slightly pulled out, expanding them. Teh magic tickled Radiant but she did her best not to move, any distractions and she knew this could end badly, but she trusted him. Lucent had to pull very slowly to make sure he didn't rip the soft organ. It was farely simple, you just needed patience and being as protective of the little pegasus, he would take all the time in the world to make sure he didn't hurt her.
Just gotta focus...she'll be fine. Now this one goes here...and that stretches...just a little mor-
"AHA!!"
Lucent Dawn yelped as he was suddenly thrown off his hooves to the ground after a large object rammed into him. He looked up at Vilis standing proudly over him, "Caught you!"
Lucent turned back to Radiant and tried to reconnect with his magic, but it was like trying to hold tight to a mess of spaghetti noodles, and they were quickly falling apart.
Vilis kicked him in the side, "Stop using your black magic on her! Stop!"
"I'm-tryin-to he-!" he coughed out.
Too late.
The magic holding the pegasus disappeared and her body fell to the ground, hard.
"RAY!" Lucent screamed.
Vilis kicked him harder, "What did you do?!?! Tell me!!"
Radiant was starting to convulse and Lucent tried to get up but couldn't because of Vilis. Hatred boiled and he reached for his magic, putting as much into it as he shot a force at Vilis, blasting him back and smacking him against the opposite wall. Lucent shot up and over to his best friend, who had started to cough of blood, a lot of blood.
Vilis stared at the friends as Radiant sputtered, coughed, and seized next to Lucent who was screaming at him, "Vilis! Go get help! Now!"
He kept staring at the filly, not moving at all. Lucent reached for his magic again, summoning all he could, he placed it around Vilis, thought of the Ponyville Library, and teleported him away. Oh Celestia! Please help Radiant! his mind screamed as he watched his friend slowly die.
Radiant stared at Lucent and flung a bloody hoof up at him, he grabbed it and squeezed it tightly, "It'd going to be okay, Ray! You're going to be fine!!"
Tears started to fall as he reached into her with his magic and looked over her lungs: they had been torn in half from his magic!
What have I done?!
There was a bright flash and suddenly Nurse Redheart, Nurse Tenderheart, Rarity and his mother were surrounding Radiant Spectrum who was now lying in a large pool of blood...her own blood.
Ponies were screaming were yelling but Lucent didn't hear them, he just held onto his friend's hoof and stared into her horrified eyes. He put as much love and hope into his eyes as possible, hoping she would be comforted by it...she was going to be fine. With two unicorns helping the nurses, she would live. Radiant wasn't going to die.
Suddenly all the sound came back when Lucent started to kick and scream as strong, scaly arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him away from Radiant who only got more scared the farther away he was pulled. Lucent screamed to be let go and he beat at Spike's arms, only to get scratched on the sharp scales. A few feet from the cave, Spike spread his wings and took off, flying over the forest's trees, holding the unicorn tightly, "Stop fighting, D! Or I'll drop you!"
"No! Take me back! Take me back, Spike! I have to help her!!" Lucent protested.
He kept fighting all the way till the dragon landed on the balcony of the Library, where he released the struggling unicorn who turned around and started to beat Spike more.
"D! It's alright! I'm here!" the dragon softly spoke as he wrapped his arms around his brother again, this time gently.
Lucent Dawn wept into his brother's shoulder and eventually cried himself to sleep.
=================================================================================================
"Lucent Dawn, son of Twilight Sparkle and New Bearer of the Element of Magic, you have been charged with the crimes of dealing with black magic and murder." Princess Celestia, son goddess and ruler of Equestria announced as she sat on her throne in Canterlot along with four of the Legendary Six and her sister, Pincess Luna, goddess of night and fellow ruler of Equestria.
The colt looked around at the four faces: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, all of which were glaring down at him, disgusted with the colt before them.
It had been three days since the death of Radiant Spectrum, daughter of Rainbow Dash, and New Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Since then, Canterlot's royal hall had been turned into a courtroom, open to the public, for Lucent's trial. The rumor of a New Bearer murdering another spread like wildfire and all came to the hall to see the outcome.
The princesses didn't want to kill the colt. They knew that a young unicorn had very little control over their magic, and Lucent was a very curious colt. Accidents happen, they were hoping they could just strip him of his Element, lock him away for a few years and that would be it. But, Lucent had other plans...
He had spent the last three days locked up in his own room, on his own accord. His mother and brother watched as he spun down into a pit of denial, blaming himself for what had happened. Thinking that only death would bring justice, life for a life.
The colt stood straight and glared back at the judges in front of him, putting as much hatred into his eyes as possible. He turned his head and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was weeping on Big Mac's shoulder. He turned his left to his right and there sat the New Bearers.
Lily Petal looked back at her friend, tears glistening in her eyes. She was a lot like her mother: kind, loving and peace loving. But she was much more brave, usually the first one in a dangerous spot if Radiant wasn't there. Her cloud white coat and pink mane seemed to glow in the faint light of the fading sun shining through the stain glass windows.
Apple Crisp spread her wings and shook her head at Lucent. She was probably the most mature one of the group, being as she had great responsibility on the farm with the rest of her family. Her sour-apple green coat had always caught his eye, it just stuck out so much.
Pavlova Pie looked more grim than all the the others combined. Her head bowed, dirt all over her coat, extremely skinny from not eating for the past few days and her eyes were horribly blood shot from lack of sleep. Lucent couldn't figure out why this was hitting her so hard so as to drive her to not eat or sleep, he let a tear fall...it was just another dead pony.
He straightened back up when he glared at Vilis who merely smiled back. His eyes burning with victory. The unicorns stared at each other for a while before Lucent had to turn away, or else he would have shot forward and beat Vilis to death.
He looked back at his sun goddess, "I murdered Radiant Spectrum."
Hundreds of gasps escaped from the audience as the colt stood alone, finally speaking out. The grin on Vilis face grew broader, but he tried to hide it.
Celestia was shocked, "Lucent, was it an accident?"
He shook his head, "No. I murdered her."
Luna stepped up now, "Child...we all know that a young unicorn has little control over there magic."
Lucent reared up and slammed his hooves down, "I killed her! I-I ripped her lungs apart!" he chocked back the tears, "I watched as she drowned in her own blood!!"
Louder wales escaped from Rainbow Dash as Big Mac picked her up and drug her out of the hall. The New Bearers watched in horror as he spat on Radiant's memory, but Vilis was just tickled pink inside. Luna shook her head, "This is pointless, sister! He's obviously guilty!"
Celestia turned on the alicorn, "He has no power over his magic, it was an accident!!"
Lucent's rage exploded, he growled as he summoned the tiara of magic, given to him by his mother. All eyes were on him again as he threw it to the ground, reared up for a second time, and crushed the purple stone int he crest under his hoof. Immediately he fell to the ground, feeling like all his energy was drained. Blood flowed from his nose as he raised his head, gasping for breath.
"Lucent!"
There was a flash of light and Twilight was next to the downed colt. He stared into her loving eyes and could feel hatred growing again...hatred for what he had done, for who he claimed to be. He slammed his eyes shut, "Get away from me."
Twilight's smiled faded, "What?"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" Lucent screamed as he pushed himself to his hooves, almost falling over but caught by his mother. He pulled himself away, "Stay away from me you...you..you bitch!" Tears fell from his eyes and melded with his blood, creating a messy puddle on the floor. He had to continue...he couldn't be let off easy.
Celestia reaed back and flung herself forward, "YOU FOAL!!!" Her Royal Canterlot voice echoing loudly in the hall, scaring everypony within. Her eyes were white flames and her mane flowed wildly in the non existent wind.
Twilight Sparkle stared at her son, who stood his ground against the large alicorn before him. What happened? Who was this pony before her being so defiant? She watched as Lucent stepped forward towards the raging princess; the whole hall silently watching the event.
Celestia glared at the colt, "Kneel before your princess!"
"Lucent please!" Twilight pleaded, still a little dumbfounded by her son's actions.
"Celestia! Calm down!" Luna pleaded with her older sister. She knew the power the princess held, and how short her temper was when it came to disrespect. Twilight Sparkle was her favorite student, Lucent had made a horrific mistake saying that.
Twilight stepped between the princess and ehr son, knowing Celestia couldn't hurt her no matter how hard she wanted to.
"Step aside, Twilight Sparkle." Her voice was like that of a stern mother to a rebelling child, and it stung Twilight like a whip.
"No! Princess stop this! Lucent didn't mean anything by it! Forgive the colt!" she cried, her eyes wide.
The alicorn's anger slowly started to subside, but Lucent couldn't let that happen. He spat blood out of his mouth, grabbed his magic, wrapped it around his mother, and with tears raining from his eyes, he threw her across the room into a wall. Her body fell onto the hard floor and she didn't move. He had only meant to move her a couple feet, but his rage enlarged his magic to an immeasurable amount, magnifying it.
Celestia's anger returned with a vengeance, she screamed, gripped the unicron's horn with her own god-like magic and snapped it in two.
Lucent let loose a scream that shook the ponies to their soul. His very mind felt as if it was being pierced by a thousand flaming, serrated blades. He could feel the magic leaving his horn, like salt being poured on an open wound. He cried out as his whole body shook and quacked uncontrollably and his whole coat felt hot as flames. His spine turned cold as he fell to the ground, lying in a small pool of tears and blood.
Luna flew forward, "Celestia! What have you done?!"
The sun goddess stepped back in fright at what her horn magic had done. She had just cursed a colt with a life of rejection and hardship. Of pain and sorrow. Of hatred and fear. How could she have broken a COLT'S horn?!? She disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the whole hall extremely quiet.
Luna stood back up by her thrown and sighed, "Lucent Dawn. You are exiled from Ponyville and Canterlot. There are guards outside willing to esco- Lucent!!"
But the pony had forced himself to his hooves, turned and sprinted out of the hall into the night, never to be seen again for ten years.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
<>
Snow Flake fell to the dirt floor of the forest, holding her head in her hooves; her coat was covered in sweat and the dust and leaves clung to her. She could feel the pain in her head like it had actually happened to her, like she had just endured all that Lucent had endured…but in reality nopony could ever endure the same thing.
She groaned as she tried to stand, but found her body had stiffened up. She tried again and felt Lucent Dawn put his forelegs around her, steadying her as he half carried her to a log and helped her sit down. Snow could hardly see, like she had suddenly been flashed with a thousand bright Hearth Warmth lights. After a couple seconds of blindness she examined her surroundings, apparently she had kept walking for se noticed they were deeper into the woods that before the memory.
Snow turned to the cloaked unicorn who sat silently beside to her, holding his head as well like everything was about to fall apart. She nudged him with an elbow, "Is that what you feel? That…pain…when you use magic?"
Lucent exhaled slowly and nodded, he turned to her and gave her a sad smile, "A bit toned down, but yes. Now you know how this all began."
Snow looked at the stub of his horn and frowned, “I thought that when a unicorn loses its horn it can’t use magic anymore…why can you?”
“Well since I am the Element of Magic it goes without saying that I have a little more magic than most unicorns, nothing like my mother did though…” He stood and sighed, “When I use magic, I am not actually using my horn. Instead the magic is channeled through the Element and my horn is just the point it chooses to exit my soul from.”
“Your soul? What do you mean?” Snow inquired. Unicorn magic was the greatest mystery of life next to where Celestia and Luna had come from.
Lucent threw back his hood so as to let Snow be able to see the horn better, “A unicorn’s magic is not just some…talent we are born with. It’s not like we can tap a well of magic somewhere in some other world. But instead, magic is our very soul turned into a visible and usable form, that is why each unicorn’s magic is a different color. The horn is a physical tie between our souls and our physical bodies much like a door is the median between one room and the next. The Element, on the other hoof, is like a soul itself. It fuses itself with its wielder’s own soul so that there is more magic. The gem in the crest is like my horn, the exit point, the door. But instead of using that, the Element has chosen to exit out of my horn, or what’s left of it anyway, instead. It doesn’t change anything about the magic at all.”
Snow grabbed her head again, "As if I didn’t have a big enough headache already!"
The stallion chuckled, "I know what you mean, when I was first told that by my mother I just stared at her like she was a freak. Yet she was the wisest pony I ever knew…”
Lucent’s eyes seemed to glaze over as he pictured him and his mother playing, learning and experimenting. Snow knew he was distraught over the death of Twilight Sparkle, but even now as he reminisced about her, she could not help but smile. She stared into the bright purple eyes of her only true friend besides Blizzard. Over the last few days Snow had grown so close to Lucent, like he was the brother she never had. She felt naked and vulnerable when she wasn’t by his side. The mare didn’t wonder if Lucent felt the same way, she knew he did. What she did wonder about, though, was what was keeping him away. Snow could sense a chasm between the ponies like no other. Was it still his past? Was he scared he would hurt her? It didn’t matter, she would have his back whenever he needed her whether he wanted it or not. He was all she had now.
Lucent Dawn snapped out of the memory and immediately his eyes were locked onto Snow’s. He stared deep into the icy blue eyes; though strong on the outside he knew there was tenderness and compassion beneath. They were like Radiant's...free and unforgiving. She was so much like her, it was unnerving. The pegasus had meant so much to him and he had killed her. Maybe this was time giving him another chance, and he wasn’t about to fail again. He would protect her like nothing else mattered. She was all he had now.
Lucent coughed and turned his head away, "I ah...guess we should go find Vilis."
Snow sighed, "Yeah...which way?" Although she had lived in the Everfree Forest all her life, the trees here looked exactly the same to her. She had never traveled this deep before.
The stallion started off through the dense undergrowth and light fog, "This way."
"How do you know?" Snow asked, awed by how he seemed to always know how to get anywhere.
"I don't. But hopefully the patrol following us will," Lucent whispered as he started walking, throwing his hood back up.
The blue earth pony resisted the urge to look behind her and followed after the stallion as he headed deeper into the dark forest, "How do you know somepony is there?" she whispered back. She could sense a presence near them, but this was the Everfree…who knows what could be in the next bush.
He shrugged, "Just a hunch. That and armor isn't very easy to sneak around in. But we'll find out soon enough."
Snow Flake perked her ears as they walked. He was right; she could occasionally hear the sound of metal clinking together from a little ways behind them. She smiled and followed her friend who seemed to be leading them in circles. She wondered if he was doing this by accident or if he was trying to annoy the ponies behind them enough to cause them to show their snouts.
But whatever the reason, she didn't have to wonder too long, for after about fifteen minutes of walking in circles Lucent stopped, “Theory...proven.”
Snow Flake looked around as lightly armored unicorns carrying spears and swords in their magic charged forward out of the bushes and surrounded the travelers. Their armor was as black as night and tarnished down so as not to reflect light. It covered their backs, necks and shins but not their underbelly. Their helmets covered every single inch of their heads except their horns that were all jutting out of holes cut out of the metal. They didn’t even have eye slits which made them look more like unfinished statues than ponies, though it did look a little frightening.
One of the masked unicorns spoke up, his voice echoed from within his helmet, “State your business, ponies.”
Lucent bowed his head, “Pardon us, sir. But we are ambassadors from the Royal Pony Sisters to the New Bearer Vilis Malum to discuss terms of surrender of Canterlot.”
The guards all gasped and looked at each other; Snow wondered how they could see at all. This time a different pony spoke, Lucent noticed it wasn’t from one of the members of the patrol,
“Now why would the princesses ever give up their precious castle so easily?”
Lucent looked around, searching for the new inquisitor, “They understand that even alicorns are no match for the power of the Elements of Harmony. So they wish to step down silently and save as much bloodshed as possible.”
Finally, the stallion came into view. He was a unicorn with a brilliant white coat, least Snow Flake thought he had an orange coat since she could only see small patches through his armor, and cream mane; Lucent wondered at how they hadn’t seen him sooner. The unicorn wore the same black armor except that it seemed to be made out of links that could easily twist and turn together with ease. The armor covered his whole body like a black shell; the only thing that showed was his cutie mark: a half eaten apple. His head was uncovered and his eyes were a liquid green, exploding against his coat.
“Understandable. The Greater Vilis could easily wipe life itself from Equestria if he so wished. But all kings need subjects,” the unicorn smiled.
Lucent returned the smile, but it was a hollow act, “Will you take us to your master, sir-“
“-Harvest Glow.” the unicorn interjected, “And yes…I believe Vilis would very much enjoy chatting with you two. What were your names again?”
Snow Flake stepped forward, “I am Snow Flake and this is Hazy Day.” The unicorn smiled wickedly as he stared into her eyes, she could feel darkness creeping into her mind and a cold shiver ran down her spine. There was only evil in those green eyes, Snow could sense it.
“You look very familiar, Flaky. Do you by chance have a sister?”
The mare looked over at Lucent who suddenly became interested in a rock next to his hoof, “Yes…but she’s dead now.”
Harvest smiled, “Part of our Ponyville Massacre? You can put your weapons down now, stallions.”
The soldiers lowered their spears and swords, moving quickly into formation around Lucent and Snow as Harvest Glow started to lead the way through the labyrinth of trees. After a few moments they came to a small stream, Lucent found this creation of nature a little strange. Instead of water running down a self-made trench, the liquid was red and its course had obviously been dug out. Lucent pushed the thought that came to his mind away, but he knew it was the most logical.
Harvest stepped forward, bent his head and took a drink of the liquid. He closed his eyes and gave a moan of enjoyment as the liquid entered his mouth and traveled down his throat. After a two gulps he wiped his face clean and turned to Lucent Dawn, “Drink. You cannot enter the camp unless you drink.”
Lucent Dawn slowly walked forward and bent his head, he sniffed at the stream and smelled must and decay, alone the smell almost caused him to jump back, but he staid firm. He opened his lips, closed his eyes and took a drink of the strange substance. He had been right.
Blood.
He nearly puked as his mind registered what was now flowing down into his stomach but he held it down. Unwillingly and suddenly his mind flashed the image of the Legendary Six with their severed head on the pikes in Ponyville. How their tongues hung loosely from their open mouths that crawled with flies. Their eyes bleeding and empty after the eye balls had been plucked out. And their manes, shaved so low it had cut into their skin. Lucent shook his head and tried to think of something different, but the image kept returning, making him relive that terrible moment when he saw his dead mother’s head. The unicorn fought for control over his mind, thinking of Vilis, thinking of what he had to do. He tried everything to remove the memory, suddenly he though of Snow Flake.
Lucent’s eyes snapped open and he gasped for breathe; he realized he hadn’t been breathing since he swallowed the blood. He sometime had fallen to the ground and was now covered in sweat. He leapt to his four hooves and looked around at Snow who was on the ground, quaking uncontrollably.
He tried to rush to her side but two guards stopped them with crossed spears. Harvest Glow smiled as he watched Snow wither, “That stream surrounds the whole camp, you must drink it to enter, but it makes the drinker relive the most terrible time in their life…I wonder what she is thinking of right now.”
Lucent tried to push through the spears but stopped the moment a sword, covered in an orange glow, placed itself on his throat.. He turned to Harvest who was still watching Snow Flake twitching in the dirt with a smile that sickened Lucent. He was enjoying it. The orange unicorn’s horn glowed bright as the sword slowly moved across Lucent’s neck, “It gets so boring out here…that blue coat…that flank.”
“Captain!”
The stallion’s sword flew away from Lucent Dawn’s throat and embedded itself into the chest of the guard who had just spoke, “What is it, foal?”
The guard, whom Lucent couldn’t tell had been with them originally or not because of the their helmets, gave out a cry of pain and began to cry as blood poured out of his chest and onto the ground, creating a pool around him, “Vilis-“
Harvest Glow twisted his sword, jerked it out of the dying pony and, it one quick motion, sliced off the guard’s head.
“I hate it when ponies interrupt my play time…It appears the Greater Vilis already knows of your presence, Hazy Daisy.” He pointed to two guards who seemed indifferent to the fact that one of their own had just been killed in front of them, “Carry the mare. The rest of you form up around this guy.”
Lucent glared at Harvest Glow, “Her name is Snow Flake and you will call her such.” He had been disgusted by the pony at how he stood and watched Snow shake on the ground and lusted after her. Hatred grew in his heart as the opposing unicorn placed his sword back against Lucent’s neck.
“Oh…did I insult your marefriend? You know only one pony is needed to deliver a message…” The sword slowly across his throat and Lucent could feel it bite into his skin but he continued to glare at the stallion.
“Stop,” Snow Flake said as she slowly stood, “We don’t want any trouble, Harvest Glow…we are just messenger. Forgive my friend, he is rather protective.”
Harvest lowered his sword, “Foalish is more like it…” He turned around and headed for the stream of blood, stepping over it and disappearing the moment his whole body got to the other side. The guards around them drank in some of the blood and surrounded the friends again, forcing them across the line of blood.
Immediately as Lucent’s last hoof set down on the other bank, the world around him seemed to implode and he was somewhere entirely new. Lucent had to shield his eyes for a moment from the sudden brightness, even though the sun was still covered by rain clouds. Eventually he removed his hoof and stared out over a large plain that extended for miles, they had teleported out of the Everfree Forest and now Lucent had no clue where he was.
The immediate plain before them was covered in neat rows of white tents. About three yards into the rows of tents a hill protruded above the ground. Lucent looked around at the residents of the encampment, all of them doing what you would expect to see in a military camp. Ponies were eating, washing their armor, exercising, sparring and practicing drills, and all of them had the exact same armor either on or in their hooves washing it.
Snow flake came up to him, “How did he get so many? Better yet how are we going to deal with them all?” The grey unicorn gawked at the large amount of ponies, "If he can control dragons, then it must be easy to control ponies. Yet they all seem to be acting like regular soldiers."
“Guards! Form up! The Greater Vilis Malum wants to meet the messengers ASAP!” barked Harvest Glow as he strutted up to his patrol. The soldiers regrouped around Lucent Dawn and Snow, leading them through the camp towards the hill in the center. Snow Flake could see a large, red canvas tent staked on the hill and guessed it was the war room.
When they reached the peak of the hill, they halted and Harvest stepped up to two very large stallions guarding the tent entrance, they were wearing the same armor as the rest of the soldiers except that they had a ton more on to cover their large bodies. Harvest lazily bowed before them and shouted, saying the words slowly as if speaking to a two year old “I have messengers from Princesses Celestia and Luna!”
One of the guards stamped a large hoof, his whole suit of armor moving strikingly smoothly, “We aren’t deaf, you foal! How many times must we tell you this?!” The pony then stepped into the tent for a few moments as Harvest walked back to his group with a smile on his face.
Seconds later the pony exited the tent and returned to his position on the right side of the door, “The Greater Vilis Malum! Weilder of the Elements of Harmony!”
Immediately all the soldiers fell prostrate before the tent door, out of which stepped a blazing white unicorn with a straight, cream mane wearing a deep blue cloak. His eyes were as blue as his coat and Snow Flake would have found them beautiful had they not belonged to the pony who had murdered her sister.
Archangel shook his head, his mane flowing around him, “What a glorious day it is, my friends!” His voice sounded like a thousand nails being dragged across a chalk bored and Snow had to stop herself from covering her ears. The high pitched, innocent voice of the colt Archangel was gone. His teeth had been filed down to sharp points and his horn was a little large.
The pure white unicorn flashed his sharp teeth as he slowly walked towards Snow, “And what, pray tell, does dearest Celestia and Luna wish for you to tell me? Offering terms of surrender already? My thirst for blood isn’t quenched quite yet…”
Snow Flake shuddered, what could have driven a pony to such madness?
“Oh I am not mad...,” the unicorn grinned, “Snow Flake, sister of the great Blizzard Tail, right? Your sister is a well known hero all throughout Equestria! Are you not aware of the tales, my dear?”
Lucent Dawn stared at the mare who seemed about to explode, Blizzard Tail?! It was possible, but he had just never thought about it.
Archangel turned to his troops who were still all prostrate, “Stallions! Brothers! You all know of the powerful Blizzard Tail, do you not? Ruler of the cold winds and queen of winter? The same mare who slew two dragons endangering Equestria with only her blade, Frost Bite ? How abou when she defeated Fire Mane in a…heated battle in Cloudsdale?!”
He looked around hopefully at his troops who seemed utterly lost, when he didn’t get the reaction he was expecting Archangel turned back to Snow, “I ask again, what message do the princesses have for me?”
Lucent had o stay hidden till the opportune moment, he could only hope Snow would give him one.
The blue earth pony raised her head proudly, Lucent knew she was fighting back tears, “Princess Celestia, queen of the morning and goddess of the day, and Princess Luna, queen of dusk and goddess of the night, offer you a final chance. Surrender now and you will all be given a fair trial. Continue this rebellion and you will all die!”
The plain was deathly silent as they stared at Snow Flake, eventually Harvest Glow stated to chuckle along with Archangel. They started to laugh harder and the rest of the soldiers started to laugh as well, soon the whole army was busting a gut around Lucent.
Snow Flake looked around at all of the stallions, “What is so funny? Tell what you find so hilarious!”
The soldiers eventually quieted down and Archangel smiled maliciously, “Why you, miss Snow Flake! I know for a fact that Celestia and Luna would never give up Canterlot! Besides! It’s not the city I want, not even their throne. Cause you see…”God!! ”
The unicorn shot backward to his original position, laughing hysterically, “And now! You will die!”
A black light that seemed to suck in the light around it encased Snow Flake and lifted her off of the ground. As the mare was lifted into the air, Lucent Dawn saw as the magic began to compress, squeezing Snow. Lucent lit his horn and through his own magic between Archangel’s and Snow’s body, releasing the pressure for the moment. But immediately the magic started to crush harder, so Lucent put more of his magic into trying to push the magic away. He held it still for a moment, but then it grew stronger and his magic started to weaken and Lucent felt himself loosing concentration. If he failed, Snow Flake died.
Mother, help her!
Suddenly Lucent felt something tingle inside of him as his magic grew exceedingly stronger and force Archangel’s magic back, slowly releasing all pressure on his friend’s body. Lucent threw more magic into it and watched as the black cloud of magic dissolved around Snow and the mare fell back onto the ground unharmed. She shook her head and smiled to Lucent, mouthing the word thank you.
The blindingly white unicorn laughed again, and Snow once again had to stop herself from covering her ears, “Well I nearly forget that you were here! I haven’t had such a challenge since facing Twilight Sparkle! Pray tell, what is your name unicorn?”
Lucent Dawn used his magic to throw off his cloak and stand defiantly before Archangel, his childhood enemy.
“The son of Twilight Sparkle.”
Archangel took a step back in surprise, “Y- you’re dead!”
Lucent shook his head, “You broke my horn, you made me run from my own self, you drove me away from my family and my friends…but you never stopped my heart.”
Lucent turned around to all of the soldiers, “My name is Lucent Dawn, New Bearer of the Element of Magic and son of Princess Celestia’s favorite pupil, Twilight Sparkle! The offer still stands, surrender and receive fair trial, or die fighting!”
Archangel laughed viciously, his laughing was starting to get rather annoying, “What power do you have?! You have a blank flank and a broken horn! I have all the power of the Elements of Harmony which gives me a fathomless pit of magic that colts like you could never possibly even begin to understand! I have three hundred soldiers at my disposal, waiting to do whatever I ask! What do you have?!”
Lucent grinned and looked at Snow Flake who smiled back at him. For the short time they had been together they had fallen in love; a love that went deeper than just between a stallion and a mare, a mother and her child, or even a ruler and their subjects; a love that could never be undone by even the strongest darkness no matter what it did; a love that could only be described in one word,
“Friendship.”
The unicorn growled, and screamed out to his stallions, “Kill them! Kill them NOW!!”
All of the ponies in black armor raised their weapons and started towards Snow Flake and Lucent Dawn. Lucent just smiled as Snow stepped closer to him, “What are we going to do?”
“Do you know how to fight?”
Snow nodded, “I may have not been the hero my sister was but she taught me a few things.”
Lucent Dawn looked to the sky as the soldiers drew closer, Archangel watched as his troops slowly descended upon his enemies to crush them.
“I will beat Archangel, you will stay safe, and the princesses will handle the soldiers.”
Snow Flake was confused, “Princesses? What are yo-“
Suddenly a large bolt of lighting shot down from the storm clouds and struck in front of the troops, causing them to jump in fright and look up. Immediately the cloud cover was pierced by a rain of golden armored pegasi streaking through the clouds led by Princess Celestia who apparently was wearing golden armor and her eyes wear shinning with brightness that even a sun would envy.
But what really scared the troops was what shot past all of the pegasi and the sun goddess and smashed into the army of Archangel’s soldiers, soon followed by Celestia and the pegasi. A large purple and green dragon emerged where it had crashed into the earth, flailing its claws and tail. Lucent could hear the bloodlust and hatred in his voice as Spike roared, “I will teach you foals what happens when you anger a true dragon!!”
Archangel’s soldiers turned and started to fight Celestia’s pegasi. Lucent knew that the pegasi alone were no match for the army, but then there was a large battle cry that seemed to come out of nowhere till suddenly a large army of unicorns and earth ponies appeared out of thin air right where Lucent and Snow appeared from. They then charged the flanks of Archangel’s forces led by Princess Luna.
Archangel stared at the battle raging around him, and smiled, he loved war and these ponies meant nothing to him, “Harvest! Rid us of these flies! I have a wasp to swat down.”
Harvest Glow gave a bark of laughter as he summoned his sword and charged off into the fray.
Lucent Dawn turned to Snow and was about to tell her to find shelter but stopped when Celestia landed next to him. The princess was terrifying with her magical flames and her armor. The princess cast her blade, Impotent, which was a sliver of pure sunlight causing anything to look at it go blind.
Next came Luna who wore silver armor and her wings, mane and eyes were shrouded in magical black flames, causing her to look all the more terrifying. Beside her floated her sword, Crescent, a sliver of the moon that seemed to suck you in.
The alicorns and Lucent turned to Archangel who yawned and sat down, watching the princesses lazily. Celestia lowered herself and flared her wings, “Let us end this.”
Immediately she charged the unicorn who leapt backwards at the last moment and deflected the onslaught of slashes from Impotent with what appeared to be a force field around him. Celestia advanced upon Archangel who smiled as her sword bounced off of his shield, the alicorn swung again at the unicorn but added three times the magic to it, trying to crush him under the sheer force of the blow. But instead of Archangel getting squashed like a pancake under Impotent, the sword suddenly stopped right before his face and Lucent saw four saw blades stacked on each other holding the sword back.
So he doesn't have a shield at all, he just moves the blades so fast you can’t see them!
Archangel took the moment to start his offensive against Celestia. He moved each of his blades with perfect accuracy and control, shooting them at his opponent from all directions. Celestia could barely block them all when suddenly she choked and missed one of the blades as it went for her side. Inches from her coat the blade stopped, held back by Crescent .
Luna sent out a burst of magic which she and Celestia used to throw themselves back to land gently next to Lucent and Snow who had watched the whole battle happen in under a second. Archangel took the magic full on and used it like the princesses to gain distance. He flipped through the air fluidly and landed silently on his four hooves, his blades floating beside him.
“Well…that was fun!” Archangel exclaimed as he made his blades disappear into an invisible shield.
Celestia lowered herself again, “Lucent! Get Snow and yourself away from here! I have unicorns waiting to protect you both!”
Archangel sat down again, looking straight at Lucent, “Running away again, are we? You came all this way and I don’t even to take a swing at you?”
Lucent Dawn stepped in front of Celestia, “No, princess. I must face him.”
Luna turned to the unicorn, her flaming eyes difficult to look at, “He will kill you. You are the Element of Magic and so we must protect you.”
Lucent sighed, “Correct, I am the Element of Magic, and so my place is here…between Equestria and an evil like no other. The Elements chose me, I must do this.”
Luna stared at the unicorn, “You are a true stallion, Moonless Night. But you are right.” The moon princess placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, “Celestia, we must lead out troops. We do not belong here.”
Celestia growled at Archangel who merely yawned again, but the princess stood tall again and turned to Lucent, “You are truly your mother’s son.” The princesses were about to return to the battle when Lucent stopped them,
“Luna, will you keep Snow Flake safe?”
The moon goddess nodded, “Like she was my own filly, Moonless.”
“Luna.”
“Yes?”
He smiled, “My name is Lucent Dawn.”
Princess Luna smiled, “Come Snow! We have a battle to win!”
Lucent then turned to Snow Flake who hugged him, “Stay safe, Lucent. You are all I have left.”
Lucent grabbed his batons with his magic and turned to Archangel, “Thank you for letting me finish.
The unicorn shrugged, “I’m going to kill you…whether it be now, in five minutes or five hundred years. I will kill you. So I decided I could be courteous just this once...after all…it was you who ran off and left me to grow in my power and take over Ponyville with relative ease. But I was wondering…” The unicorn shot forward with his extreme speed again, his four saw blades shooting in front of him, Lucent beat three away and crossed his batons to hold the fourth one back as Archangel reached him, coming so close their muzzles almost touched, “why didn’t you stay away!?”
Lucent shoved them apart, “When I saw Ponyville burning, my mother’s and her friend’s heads severed on the stage and the New Bearers flowing gently in the wind, I just thought I’d find you and ask why.”
The blades shot at him again and Lucent blocked one by one as they came. “It’s rather simple, Lucent. I’m surprised even your simple mind couldn’t figure it out.” Archangel threw two blades from the right and two from the left, Lucent answered by knocking one out of the air while dodging one, he then blocked another and used his batons to grab the last blade and in a quick fluid motion he threw it at his opponent who deflected it with another blade and grabbed it with magic again, “Power. I wanted power!”
“But you HAD power! You are the Element of Generosity!” Lucent yelled as he blocked a saw going for his legs and swung at Archangel who blocked the attack with a foreleg and flung himself backwards, immediately shooting forward again, his blades melded together and took on the shape of a long, curved sword with wicked serrations along it’s edges. Lucent had to double block it again as their weapons locked together, he grunted under the force of the attack and could feel his legs giving out under him. The extreme use of magic had caused a very large headache that was beginning to take away his concentration.
“Generosity isn’t power, foal! You don’t give in order to gain. You just take!” The white unicorn pressed harder with his magic, pushing Lucent lower to the ground, he knew he was about to break, it was almost over.
“Besides…why have only one when you can have all six!” Archangel suddenly threw tens times the magic into his newly formed blade, causing Lucent’s magic to shatter under the sheer power.
Lucent Dawn cried out as his magic broke and he was thrown to the ground; his batons fell beside him, each one of the hard, black wood sticks broken into two. Archangel’s blade continued forward from inertia and sliced a long gash under Lucent’s right eye. Blood splattered the ground and the white cloaked pony raised his sword at his fallen enemy.
“You are no match for my power Lucent Dawn. Look! Look at how quickly I have bested the Element of Magic! And after I kill you, your friends will die as well…you, Celestia and Luna will die quickly for you are worthy opponents. Spike will become my pet once again. Snow Flake, on the other hand, will become my bride. She will quench my thirst for other…pleasures.”
Lucent laid his head to the ground which had turned to mud from the light rain that had just begun, the mud stuck to his coat and the gravel ground against his skin. Was this it? All that Archangel said would come true and Equestria would burn under his reign. Everypony would suffer, and nothing would ever be able to stop him.
I’m sorry mother…
All of the adventure over the past days had been for nothing…no, not for nothing. They brought him back, if only to fall, but they still brought Lucent Dawn back from the grave. But Archangel was just too powerful; he had trained all his life for when he would make his move against Equestria. He had planned for years exactly what to do and when to do it. He had succeeded in retrieving all the Elements, and now he was unstoppable.
Lucent felt all of his strength drain out of him, like when he had smashed the Element of Magic. He looked up around him and everything slowly began to fade to black.
Giving up already? That’s not like you. Radiant Spectrum’s voice called out.
Lucent Dawn looked up at Archangel who was facing the battle and still talking, but no sound came out of his mouth. No noise came from the horrific battle not thirty yards away from them. Not even from the rain as it the same mud the New Bearer now lied in.
He’s too strong…how can I beat him when I don’t even have a horn?
He heard Radiant giggle, a noise that haunted his dreams for years, but now he welcomed it, weren’t you the one that always told me to keep trying at flying whenever I thought it was too hard?
Lucent’s mind flashed back to the memory of the first time Radiant had tried flying. She had failed miserably and had started to cry. Lucent told her to try again and again while he looked for a spell to help her. Eventually he found one, but it was too complex for him so he had asked his mother to do it. Twilight had said no because pegasi are supposed to work hard at flying, that’s why their wings are so strong. Lucent didn’t give up though; he spent days finding a spell that would help and all the while being with his best friend, helping her along.
Or how about when I didn’t think I could buck a tree hard enough? You told me to never give up.
Apple Crisp. The faithful pony always wanted to be just like her mother. She would stand and back at a tree for hours, not getting a single apple off. But when she finally gave up, Lucent Dawn showed up and told her not to give up yet and he went and bucked with her. The two of them finally bucked hard enough that two apples fell. They shared those two apples in honor of their victory.
Even when I thought I could never throw a party for my mom! You made me super-duper happy!
Pavlova Pie. Pinkie Pie had gotten really sick for reasons that not even Nurse Redheart could explain. Pav wanted to throw her a party but she didn’t know how to so Lucent traveled to Canterlot with his mother and searched a whole night in the library for a book that explained parties. Eventually he learned that you can’t learn how to throw a Pie party from a book, you have to feel it inside yourself and let it flow out of you into others.
Lucent you showed me not to be afraid of the dark when we had that slumber party.
Lily Petal. The New Bearers had their first slumber party at the Ponyville Library one night and Lily Petal was terrified of shadows, just like Fluttershy. But Lucent was there for her, whenever she saw something scary he would shine his magic light on it to show her it was nothing but a stack of books or a branch against the window.
You even showed Archangel what a true stallion looks like when you carried him all the way back to Ponyville when he broke one of his legs, even though you two hate each other. Radiant’s voice said. You taught each one of us something about ourselves, now you must learn who you are.
The world faded in front of him and he was now lying in the same white room he was when he had faced his Moonless Night. With a flash of twinkling lights his four friends appeared in front of him. Lucent watched as they smiled down upon him and one by one stepped forward, Lily Petal leading,
“Lucent Dawn is always there for you.”
Pavlova did a back flip,
“Lucant Dawn never says never.”
Apple Crisp tipped her mother’s hat, the sign of a true Apple family mare,
“Lucent Dawn is always ready to lend a hoof to anypony.”
Radiant Spectrum flicked her tail and winked,
“Lucent Dawn will never let you down.”
The four ponies stepped together; he looked at his friends who meant the world to him. Even though he had failed them when they most needed him, they would be there when he most needed them.
Suddenly Twilight Sparkle stood before him,
“Lucent Dawn never gives up!”
Archangel was still talking when Lucent forced himself to stand, his legs shaking and blood running out of his snout. His whole body ached but he forced its mouth shut. He was Lucent Dawn. If he died, he died for his friends. If he lived he lived for his friends.
The rain had strengthened and begun to pelt his dark grey coat with icy droplets of water. Lucent grunted from the pain shooting through his head, centering around the base of his broken horn, where he noticed had split a little and a trickle of blood flowed from the crack. Lucent placed a hoof against his head and took a deep breathe.
Lucent Dawn looked out over the battle field, at the golden and black armor mix. This was a fight for light and darkness, a fight that Archangel and Lucent Dawn started a decade ago. Fate chose him as Equestria’s champion. He would fight for the ponies. For Equestria.
No pony should have to suffer for the sins of another.
The white and cream unicorn turned around, his eyes downcast expecting to see Lucent still lying in the mud and not on his hooves ready for another fight, calm in his eyes.
“How many times do I have to kill you?” growled Archangel.
The bleeding unicorn smiled weakly, “I keep going down yet you waste your time talking.”
His opponent grabbed his sword and sneered, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Lucent lowered took his fighting stance, his shoulders and head low while his flanks high, “You won’t be given a third chance.”
The rain made it difficult to see the unicorn coming, but Lucent was ready for the lunge, Archangel was so predictable sometimes. Lucent leapt to the side and rolled behind the stallion who slipped on the mud, but caught himself in time to twist around. Lucent slowly started to circle his childhood enemy who flashed his fangs and copied his movements.
The rain came down and the battle raged beyond them, but they didn’t hear or feel any of it over the sound of their own heartbeat and deep breathes. Nothing else mattered besides the fight, even when they were colts nothing else mattered. When they fought almost nothing could break them away from each other. Now they would not be interrupted. Now they could finish what they had tried so many times before…to kill each other.
Lucent Dawn flung himself forward, charging his sword wielding opponent. Archangel fluidly slid to the side and swung his blade, aiming to rip a gash along Lucent’s right side. But Lucent saw the blade and through himself over it, flipping through the air landing on his hooves again, sliding a little on the wet earth.
“Where did you ever learn to fight, Lucent? All of the bars no doubt,” the Element of Generosity sneered. He raised the tip of his blade and pointed it straight at Lucent’s heart, envisioning it slicing through the thick muscles and releasing all of the blood within. How beautiful it would be, indeed…
Lucent shook his mane out of his eyes, the magnificent purple slightly glowing in the faint light of the stormy day, “Good guess. I joined the military for a few years but got dishonorably discharged. My captain insulted my mother.”ickle fit and go cwy ?” A bolt of lightning arced across the sky and he took the moment of confusion to shoot forward into a blind swing. The sword passed through thin air where the warm flesh of Lucent’s neck should have been. He looked around, begging the light in his eyes to clear. When it did he looked to his left and his jaw was met with a hard punch from Lucent’s right hoof.
Archangel staggered backward and looked up just in time to see another hoof coming at his snout. It hit him dead center in the face and an uppercut met his chest, rearing him back. Before he could react, Lucent Dawn’s back hooves rocketed themselves into Archangel’s sternum with enough force to throw the stallion into the large tent where the pony hit the center pole, breaking it and he felt the whole canvas building collapse on him.
“Actually I shoved a parasprite down his throat,” Lucent spat blood out of his mouth, the bitter-sweet taste stained his tongue and made his stomach twist, but he pushed the feeling aside. He was ready to finish this. After ten years the time had come.
“You slaughtered my family, murdered my friends and burned my home. My trial was ten years ago and Celestia was my judge. Your trial begins now and I am your judge.”
<<<< Hail Loyal Readers! >>>>
I am searching for cover art for this story when it gets revised
<<<< For the NLR >>>>
Princess Luna, Queen of the Night and Goddess of the Moon, surveyed the battle field from right beneath the storm clouds swirling above the plain. The princess had been in countless battles before, most when she had been Nightmare Moon; she was a skilled warrior and even though her sister had a thousand years more practice than her, Luna was quite sure she could beat Princess Celestia if she wanted to.
Her dark eyes racked the field covered in armored ponies fighting for their lives. The Equestrian army was trained well and they had the advantage in numbers, but defeating three hundred trained unicorns was a very difficult task that caused Luna to feel nervous. The black armored unicorns could use anything around them as a weapon as long as they have concentration, while earthponies can only use hoof-to-hoof combat, Luna didn't doubt their ability to fight, but it was difficult to tackle Somepony who was constantly throwing objects at you with frightenig precision. The pegasi on the other hoof were a little better at fighting, their natural dexterity gave them the annoying ability to dodge most attacked, and they could manipulate the weather rather well, but their weakness was that they were very, very fragile. Unlike earthponies that could take as much damage as a stone, pegasi could be killed by simply injuring one of their wings and then watch as they plummet to the earth.
Alicorns, though, were perfect. Crafted for battle. They carried all the traits from each race of pony all rolled in one powerful being. Death awaited nearly any pony that challenged a god, though Luna knew a few ponies that even she would worry shot fighting, Twilight Sparkle being the second highest right under Archangel.
The dark blue alicorn turned her attention tithe hill where she saw Lucent Dawn and Archangel battle ferociously. Archangel had held his own against Celestia herself, and now Lucant seemed to be Doug just as good, which was quiet an achievement for a pony, not many could rival a god so Luna placed Lucant as the new number two on her list. Though she didn't want to admit it, Archangel was infinitely stronger than Lucent Dawn, even though he was the Element of Magic.
A spear flew past her head, barely missing her ear. Luna shook her head and turned back to the battle field, spying the unicorn that had foolishly attacked her. The enemy threw another spear straight at her heart, but Luna lazily ripped te spear from the unicorns magic and shot it back, impaling the original throwing straight back. The projectile flew true and struck the pony in the throat and sailed all te way through from the force of power Luna had thrown it with.
Another unicorn threw knives at the goddess, but Luna easily evaded them and sent a bolt of lighting arcing down and burnt the pony to a crisp. Luna flew a little higher and searched the field, hunting fo- There! The alicorn pulled her wings to her sides and shot into a dive. She pulled up at the last second and landed with a loud thud, shaking the plain. A spear flew at her but she used Crescent to bat it away and sent her sword of energy slicing threw the enemy unicorn.
"Snow Flake!" the princess called out over the battle field and in a flash the earth pony was beside her, a bloody sword in her mouth.
Princess Luna looked the mare over, she had a small cut on her left flank, right below her cutie mark, but otherwise she was completely unharmed, "You must remain hidden, Snow Flake! I can't help our soldiers and keep you safe!"
"Hard to hide on a battlefield, princess!"
Luna ducked out of the way of three long daggers flying for her throat while she sent Crescent after the unicorn, pulverizing him with the pure power. Luna turned back to see Snow Flake as if she hadn't moved, but two black armored ponies blood out on the ground beside her.
Luna smiled, "Your sister taught you well!" She had to almost scream the words to be heard over the sound of Spike roaring as he crush two ponies under his mighty tail.
Snow Flake stabbed her sword into the ground, "It's not something I am proud of, princess. I despise killing."
"But it is necessary, for the good of all Equestria," Luna interjected, "Your sisters talents saved our kind from a great evil, now it is your turn."
"How fitting!"
Snow Flake turned her head to see Harvest Moon standing a few yards away with his sword floating in a cloud of orange magic, a sly smile upon his face.
Luna raised Crescent , "Time to die, traitor..."
But Snow Flake stepped in front of the alicorn.
"Princess, go and help the other forces," the blue mare said over her shoulder as she lowered herself into a fighting stance.
Harvest laughed and Luna was taken back, "What do you think you are doing?!"
"Taking my turn."
The black alicorn closed her mouth and nodded, understanding the mare perfectly. The moon goddess turned and flapped her wings, shooting into the air and deeper into the battle.
Harvest Moon continued to laugh, "Well! This will be fun...the sister of Blizzard Tail! You know I thoroughly enjoyed killing her."
Snow Flake bit down on her sword again and charged the unicorn, swinging her sharp blade so as to dismember his front left leg. Harvest quickly leapt to the side and swung for her flanks, but Snow threw herself into a roll and sprung back up and parried a stab for her throat. He was fast, but he was predictable.
The unicorn swung down and Snow answered with un upper block, locking their swords together. Harvest's eyes glowed with joy as the surge of battle filled his body, "She called for you, Flaky. As I raped her and beat her, she only called for you. A hero like her calling for her weak sister?"
Snow Flake screamed behind her clenched teeth and used her earth pony strength to push the blades apart, she quickly charged forward. Before she reached him, she jumped through the air over Harvest and swung her sword. Harvest Moon moved quickly and raised his blade to protect his face from being sliced in half. His block knocked the sword off its original path and pushed it off to the side where the sharp tip of Snow Flakes blade sliced off Harvest's right ear.
The blue earth pony landed, rolled and shot up again, waiting for the injured unicorn's charge. But instead of screams of pain and anger, she heard chuckles. Harvest Moon raised his bloody head to the sky and roared with laughter as blood continued to flow down the side of his head.
"Cangrats, Flaky! Now you get to see a real treat!"
Snow Flake watched in horror as the blood coming out of Harvest's head stopped flowing and slowly started to return to the hole from where it originated. After all of the blood had returned, a bulge appeared over the whole and in a matter of secdonds, a new ear sat upon Harvest Moon's head.
"I forgot how much that tickled. You outta see your face! You look almost as surprised as Blizzard Ta-"
Snow Flakes anger returned at the sound of her dead sister's name, "Don't say her name!! I don't care how long it takes, I WILL KILL YOU!!"
"Oh you think it is only me that is immortal? Watch this trick!" Harvest spun and threw his sword into a black armored unicorn's chest, killing it instantly. The royal pegasus that had been fighting it now dead enemy pony stared at his fallen enemy, shrugged and turned to another unicorn and proceeded to to try to kill him.
But the pegasus was a foal, for seconds after the unicorn had fallen and a pool of blood had formed around it, the blood seeped back into the wound and the unicorn stood and ripped out Harvest's sword, throwing it back him. The reanimated unicorn then swung his halberd and decapitated the royal pegasus.
Snow glared back at her opponent who started to laugh again.
"Did you really think the Greater Archangel would be so foalish enough as to try and over take the world with merely three hundred unicorns?! No, he knew he needed a trick, one that even Celestia and Luna would be surprised by!"
A devilish grin spread onto his face as Harvest whipped his sword around several times before lowering it at Snow Flake, "Now! Where were we, my dear Flaky?"
The earth pony lowered herself and prepared to charge, but suddenly the sound like a tree cracking filled the air and she turned to the hill to see the large tent falling and Lucent Dawn standing before it.
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Lucent Dawn looked over the rubble of the large tent where in the middle laid the still body of Archangel, New Bearer of the Element of Generosity. The rain continued to pelt the grey unicorn's coat softly as he slowly fell to the ground from the brain splitting headache. His vision was blurred by a bright red streak from the pain and his face was smeared with blood ffrom the cut under his eye, but he didn't care. The war was almost over.
"Oh it's not over yet."
Lucent looked up as the destroyed tent blasted away from the body of Archangel who slowly stood, blood running down his nose and five of the six Elements of Harmony floated around him, each giving off a small golden glow. "Did you honestly think a god could die?"
"Yet you believe you can kill Celestia and Luna rather easily," Lucent stated as he caught his breathe.
The blood from Archangel's nose suddenly stopped flowing and shot back up his nostrils, "They aren't gods...they are children. Now move aside, Lucent. While i still feel generous."
"No. I won't be pushed aside anymore!" The grey stallion slammed a fore-hoof down, "Here is where I stand!"
Archangel stepped out from what was left of the tent and lit his horn, summoning his sword, "And that is where you will fall beneath my hooves. When i wrench that accursed Element from your cold, dead grasp, i will take the throne of Canterlot and, in a short amount of time, all of Equestria!"
Celestia, sun goddess and ruler of the daily heavens, slammed into the white stallion, rocketing him into the first few ranks of soldiers, "As long as even a single memory of me remains, you will never lay a hoof on that crown!"
Luna landed beside her and glared at Archangel as he stood and walked up the hill. He shook his head and groaned, "That's going to bruise," he then took notice of dark blue alicorn, "What? No stirring speech about how you will strike me down? No cheesy good bye line as you sacrifice yourself for Equestria? I am almost insulted!"
Luna shrugged, "If I must say something, then I will say this and this alone: I dare you to fight us, colt."
Lucent was about to tell the princesses to back off again, when he suddenly felt something pulling him towards the battle raging behind him. He slowly turned around and searched the field.
Snow.
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Snow Flake shoved Harvest Moon's magic shrouded sword away, "Look around you, Flaky! You can not win this fight! Equestria will bow under the Greater Archangel's hooves! Give in like your sister!"
The mare's nose was bleeding and she was exhausted. Immediately after the tent had fallen, the orange unicorn had seized the moment and struck at her; swinging wildly yet fluently. Harvest Moon's tactic was to overwhelm her with precise strikes that came on her like a wave, and it had worked.
The unicorn dived forward with his blade, aiming for her heart. Snow had no energy left, she coulnd't dive out of the way so she merely lifted her sword, praying that it would deflect the lethal strike. Their swords met and her prayers were answered, Harvest's sword ricochet off to the side but the force of the blow on Snow's sword caused it to shatter at the hilt, sending sharp pieces of gleaming metal into the battle around them.
"Finally! I was starting to get bored!" Harvest raised his sword to Snow's chin and stared into her eyes. "You had no chance at winning, Flaky! Look! The end of the sun goddess' tyranny has at last arrived! And the fall of the traitorous moon sister has begun!"
Harvest's sword bit into her skin and she felt a small trickle of blood run down her neck, but she wasn't scared. She was too exhausted to be scared.
Blizzard Tail had died fighting for Equestria and its ponies, just as Snow was about to. Twins to the very end. Snow's mind flashed to the grove where her sister's grave now sat in silence, a thin layer of white covering the dirt where her sister's body now lied. She wished she could have seen the grove one last time.
Harvest Moon raised his sword for the final blow, "Pitiful...just like your sister! Atleast you aren't crying like she was! Blubbered like a foal! Can you believe that?! The great and mighty Blizzard Tail, acting like a new born babe! Doesn't matter now though...time for you to go, Snow Flake! Say hi to your sis for me!"
The sword started to make its descent, time slowed...all sound died away. The blue mare turned and looked up at the hill where her eyes locked unto Lucent's. Though they were fifty yards away, she could see the pain and dread in his eyes as realization dawned. A tear ran down as her cheek as she continued to look deep into his purple eyes for the final time.
Snow closed her eyes and watched her life return to her in flashes. Times when Blizzard Tail and her would play in the woods around the cabin with their parents. Times when Blizzard would take Snow hunting and teach her how to track. The image of her and Lucent laying by the creek and laughing. All of they time together...their adventures, their memories returned to her and she smiled. Her heart at peace.
Suddenly Blizzard Tail's voice whispered in her ear, "I leave you a gift, dearest sister. May it keep you safe since I no longer can."
Immediately, Snow's heart skipped a beat. She her body fill with warmth as her cutie mark flashed a brilliant blue and smoke. The sounds of the battle began to return and time sped up again.
"DIE!" Harvest screamed as his blade shot forward.
Snow Flake raised her sword and stopped her executioners tip with the flat of her blade.
What blade?
"What? How?!"
The earth pony opened her eyes to see a scimitar made of ice, emitting a soft blue glow, floating between her and the sword aimed for her throat.
Frost Bite
Snow Flake coughed out a chuckle, then she smiled and another laugh escaped her. Before long she was roaring with laughter as the everything became clear. They were going to win.
"What's so funny, slut?!" Harvest Moon screamed as he ripped his sword away from the sharp icicle.
"You can't win this! It's impossible for you to win!" the mare laughed.
The orange unicorn cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Why do you think that, you crazy bitch?"
"Because you and your 'god' are fighting an entire army of disciplined troops, two centuries old alicorns and all of the Elements of Harmony!"
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Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun and queen of the day, ducked under a swing from Archangel and struck back with Impotent , but her sword was lazily blocked by the serrated edge as it returned from swinging at Princess Luna. The two alicorns, who had thousands of years of experience fighting, were being defeated by a lone unicorn. She was eventually forced to stop offense as she grew tired and Archangel's blade seemed to swing faster and faster.
How is he so fast?! cursed the alicorn.
The white alicorn started to sweat and her muscles began to ache from the extreme use of magic she was using to ward off other projectiles being sent their way from the battle around them and any loop holes Archangel found with his serrated sword. Many times already she should have sustained damage, but she had quickly created a shield over the exposed spot to stop her opponent's sword from touching her coat. She could feel Luna dying off faster, she was, after all, a thousand years behind Celestia in power.
Celestia and Luna swung at the same time, throwing all of their power behind the attack. But Archangel raised his blade and stopped them, holding the powerful blades in air,
"Oh...you shouldn't of done that, alicorns."
His horn flashed black as a massive wave of energy blasted from him and sent the two gods flying to the ground. They crashed into the mud and slid a few feet before finally coming to a stop. They panted heavily as their swords disappeared and the light around them returned to normal.
Archagnel landed softly on the earth in front of them and observed his downed opponents.
"Honestly, how many times do I have to tell you? You cannot beat the Elements of Harmony! They carry so much power...more than anypony could ever dream of!"
He raised his blade which he super heated and transformed into a metal spear, which remained white hot, "The Greater Archangel, king of Equestria, god AND god-slayer!"
Before the spear pierced the flesh of Celestia, Lucent Dawn quickly stepped between the ponies, "Stop!"
"I'll be with you in a minute, lad. Daddy's got work to do."
The hornless unicorn shook his head, "Archangel! It doesn't have to be this way!"
Celestia tried to grab Lucent with her magic, but found her own wells of magic empty, "Run! You are this worlds last chance! You have to live!"
Lucent turned his head to them, "Sorry But I am an outcast and I don't have any allegiance to you! Now shut up."
Archangel stomped a hoof which caused a small crack to rip into the earth, "Wow...friends turning on eachother! I would like to sit with some popcorn and enjoy this, but I don't have the time. Got a world to conquer!"
"Don't do this, Archangel...I won't want to kill you."
The pony laughed, "Kill me? Kill ME?! Even two alicorns couldn't make me sweat! Goodbye Lucent Dawn, son of Twilight Sparkle!"
He raised the spear in the air and it shot forward, aiming for Lucent's skull. The unicorn bowed his head.
But before the hot metal struck the pony, it stopped with a loud clang and large wave of energy shot out of Lucent. The energy blew Archangel back and it knocked over the first few rows of soldiers.
"I am reeaally getting sick of that," Archangel groaned as he rubbed his head and looked up to see a bright white wind whipping around Lucent and the tiara of Magic set upon his brow. The purple stone within the golden crest glowed brightly as, bathing everything in a purple hue. The fighting around them died away as all eyes turned onto the hill.
The grey unicorn was slowly lifted off the ground and floated above the princesses who where still lying on thr gound, but their mouths hung open as they stared at the unicorn. Lucent Dawn opened his eyes and blinding light shot out of them, causing all to turn away besides Archangel and the alicorns.
Dark grey wings sprouted out of Lucent's back and a large grey horn extended out of the stub on his head. The wind died down and his wings began to flap, sending a small gust of wind at Archangel, causing his mane and tale to flap.
The new alicorn landed on the earth and glared at Archagnel, who laughed, "So what?! You look like an alicorn and you have one Element! I have defeated two alicorns and I control five Elements!"
"Wong, Archangel," Lucent replied, "You never controlled any."
Suddenly ghostly images of the New Bearers and the Legendary Six, save for Lucent and Archangel, appeared behind the grey alicorn, their eyes glowing like Lucent's. Immediatly all of the Elements around Archangel shot towards Lucent, when the necklaces reached him they transformed into large golden pieces of armor and attached themselves to the alicorn and the tiara upon his head lifted into the air and transformed into a large, gleaming broadsword. The tiara was replaced with a golden helmet that sat majestically on Lucent's head.
When the armor had finished placing itself, the New Bearers and the Legendary Six all shouted,
"Behold! Lucent Dawn! Element of Harmony!"
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Sand and dirt whip through the harsh windstorm as a lone, cloaked stallion makes his way to the door of The Hoofbeat Inn. He raises his hoof and opens the door, quickly stepping in and leaving the storm behind him. After shutting the door, he surveys the room, it was rather small compared to what he was used to, but this was a small town.
The room had four round tables at which sat four earth-ponies each. To the right side there was a crackling fireplace and to the left a staircase leading to the rooms upstairs. Straight ahead was the bar whisc he headed straight for and sat on a bar stool. The barpony, a tall unicorn with a short, green mane and braided tail. His light blue coat was dirty from the day and covered in sweat, you could easily see the exhaustion in his eye.
The cloaked pony turned to the tender, "Water, kind sir."
"Any salt?" replied the blue pony.
He shook his head and while the barpony went to the back room, he turned his eyes upon his fellow late night drinkers. At one table sat four mares of older age all gossiping silently and throwing quick glances at him. To the right of that table sat four older stallions, probably the sad husbands of the mares, playing poker. To their right sat two young couples a little older than him enjoying a couple drinks and a salt lick. Finally, to their left, sat four off-duty guards, their magically embedded armor made them all look exactly the same, but he could tell one was a mare and that was about it.
The barpony returned with a large glass of clear and cold liquid and set it down in front of the lone stallion. He nodded to the pony and through back his hood, a gasp was heard from the girls in the corner which caused everyone to turn. His mane was long, dirty and black which matched his coat except the fact that it was a dark grey. But what was the cause of all the attention sat upon his brow, a horn broken off four inches from it's base.
Suddenly their was a great commotion, the off-duty guards quickly stood and surrounded the pony, the two couples ran upstairs and the mares ran to their husbands who paid them no mind and just watched the guards. The barpony slipped into the back room and could be heard telling himself it was alright.
One of the guards finally said, "Pardon us, sir...but would you mind coming with us?"
The stallion raised his glass with his front hooves and took a drink, "Yes i would, i like it in here out of that windstorm." His voice was smooth and a little deep, and if used correctly could control practically anypony.
Another guard, the mare, spoke up, "Whats your name?"
He took another drink of his water and turned around, "My name is Moonless Night." The guards stepped back when they saw his eyes, a vibrant purple that seemed to see into even the guard's minds.
The mare was the first to recover, "What's your business here, Moonless Night?" The other guards shook out of their trance and stepped forward.
"I was prefer being called Night...and I am just passing through on my way to the Everfree Forest to pick some ingredients for a medication." Which was true. Although he loathed the idea of being so close to Ponyville, he was ordered to retrieve roots of a plant that only grew in Everfree
Another guard, who was slightly shaking asked, "Why is your horn broken?"
Night turned his eyes on the young and frightened guard, "I was ponynapped, and my capters broke it so i couldn't get away...luckily enough, some royal guards who had been reported to about a missing pony, somehow found me. They just happened to be a few seconds too late...now if you will excuse me, barpony! I am in need of a room for the night..."
The blue and green pony, trying not to look scared, came out of his hiding spot with a large key, "Room 13, s-sir! H-Have a good um...night!"
Night nodded to him, withdrew a few coins from a pouch, placed them on the counter and headed upstairs. The stairs were spiraled and when he reached the top, he saw most of the doors in the long hallway shutting quickly. He slowly walked down, reading the numbers when he reached his at the end of the hall, Room 13. He placed the large key in the hole, turned it, and headed inside for the night.
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As the sun set over another summer day, Hefty Tip sighed, time for rush hour. And as if planned, the quests of the win started returning from their day of whatnot and sat down at the tables: the gentlecolts playing poker, the two young couples, the gossiping mares and the four off-duty guards. Then Night, who Tip hadn't seen a hair of all day, came down the stairs, still wearing his dirty cloak. He ordered a water, took a bar table-chair and sat in a corner by the warm fireplace with his hood up.
Hefty Tips was having a fairly good night, all was quiet unlike the night before...until two large Stallions walked into the bar and straight up to Hefty who thought, not some more strange ponies!
The large ponies sat and threw their feet onto the counter, the short one slapped his hoof on the counter, " 'ey give us some drinks on da house!"
Hefty Tips looked at them nervously, "Sorry boys, no free drinks." His eyes darted to the swords attached to their belts around their waist.
They laughed and the larger spoke up, "Oh come on! Me and Scythe have been a workin' all day for dis!"
The barpony nervously smiled, "Than you should have enough money to pay." Another glass at their swords.
Scythe leaned forward, " 'ey man, you give us dose drinks, or me and Sickle here will be makin' ye's close up shop."
The guards appeared behind the thugs stallions, the mare spoke up and Night smiled at her boldness, "There a problem here boys? No money no drinks, get it?"
The stallions stood slowly, "Yeeaah we get it." They stood still for a second like they were from and suddenly, with rather amazing speed, they turned and drew their swords placing them against the mares exposed neck. "Now i don't think you gets it though."
All the guests excpet Night, the guards and Tips screamed and ran for the stair, Night sat there quietly, the guards drew their swrods and Tips ran for the backroom again.
Night stood, lowered his hood and spoke loudly, "Before someone gets killed, here, take some of my money." He grabbed his pouch with a hoof and placed a large amount of coins on a table next to him.
Sickle and Scythe lowered their blades and smiled, "I like this guy, Scythe! We should tail him and keep takin' money..." Scythe chuckled, "Or we could take his whole pouch now, whatcha say 'bout that Sickle?" They both laughed maliciously.
Night smiled and the larger thug practically screamed, "What's so funny, colt?? Think your broken horn scares us?!"
"I was just wondering...how you two will ever get any mares if you keep acting like two foals with sticks?"
Sickle glared angrily, "Your whore of a mother seemed pre-" he never got any farther. Scythe looked at the stallion who fell to a large heap on the floor as blood started flowing from his head. Scythe's eyes looked at Night who's broken horn was glowing and a long, bloody baton floating in the air beside him as anger burned in his purple eyes.
"You killed him!!" Scythe roared. He swung his sword down at Night who clinched his teeth and raised his baton to block the furious attack. He stopped the strike and raised a second baton which he used to whack the stallions front-right leg, breaking it.
Scythe screamed in extreme pain as his broken leg crumpled under all the weight he had on it from the wild swing. As he fell, Moonless Night swung his baton again and smashed the other fore-hoof in two.
The broken thug stallion whimpered as he lay in crippled in a pool of his friends blood. He looked up at the dark grey stallion staring down at him through his piercing purple eyes. He tried to raise his sword again, but his concentration was lost when Night stomped on one of his shattered legs.
"Never. Insult my mother you son of a bitch." He holstered his batons under his cloak and walked to the guards, "the larger one is dead and Scythe will be crippled for life." He turned his eyes upon the mare who sat on a bar stool staring at the bloody mess, "That was very bold standing up to them."
Moonless Night walked to the door of the Inn, raised his hood and walked out into the young night hours.
