My Lightning Pony

Chapter Six

Princess of the Night, Meet the Prince of Lightning

Cole was absolutely sure he no longer wanted Twilight to be the only one to talk to him.  Sure, she was nice and all, but if she was his only company, he would surely go mad after only a week.

“Are you quite done?” he asked as she rambled on about proper Canterlot etiquette and socializing with royalty.  “I realize you’re trying to help, but I can’t know all of this right now.”

Twilight sighed: maybe it was best if Cole did just ‘wing it’, as he certainly wasn’t going to remember everything she was telling him.  “Just be polite and I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she said through a somewhat forced smile.  “Just don’t ask about Nightmare Moon: that’s history you don’t want to know.”

“Well, okay,” Cole said, unsure why the unicorn even mentioned it if she didn’t want him to talk about it.  “So do I just walk in the front doors or introduce myself to the guards?”

Twilight winced: things might not go as well if he thought that.  “You must introduce yourself: if not, the guards may try to restrain you.”

“Good luck with that,” Cole thought, not bothering to say it aloud for fear of further flustering the purple pony.  He looked out the window to see the sun beginning to set: it was almost time for the meeting.

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way,” he said, exiting the library.  “Thank you for your help, Twilight Sparkle, and wish me luck.”  With that, amidst a great gust of wind, he soared into the sky and headed off for the cliffside castle of Canterlot.

Twilight just stood there, shaking her head slightly.  Now maybe she could pour over her notes and see if she wrote down anything that could start a chapter in her new book.  Before she could, a knock at her door interrupted her thoughts.

“Hello?” she said, opening the door.

“Twilight my dear, may I come in?” Rarity asked, standing outside the library with a small but fashionable saddlebag resting on her flank.

“Sure, Rarity,” Twilight said, stepping aside to let the fellow unicorn in.  “What brings you here at this time of day?”

“I’m glad you asked, my dear,” Rarity said, headed straight to the book section on dragons.  “I’m worried about Spikey-Wikey: he’s been acting different since that Cole arrived, and I don’t know what to do.”  She picked up a book on dragon physiology and opened it, leafing through the pages.

“What do you mean, different?” Twilight asked, picking up several other books with her magic and neatly placing them back in the shelf.  “Has he been stealing things again?”

“No, I’m afraid it’s nothing as serious as that,” the white unicorn replied.  “He’s grown almost six inches taller since Cole arrived and I’m worried that kirin may be affecting him somehow.  Fluttershy told me to come to you, that you might have an answer.”

She finished turning a page and exclaimed: “Aha! Here it is.”  Slowly perusing the page, she began to read out loud.

“As with any creature with a very long lifespan, dragons are unusual in their manner of aging.  Some, when left alone, appear to age very slowly, though they may seem to have experiences far beyond their years.  This is especially true with young dragons, as they may be several decades old but only appear to be children.  It is hard to tell, as many age within the egg but fail to attain physical age when outside of a dragon-heavy environment.  Perhaps the most notable case would be that of the egg hatched by Princess Celestia soon after the defeat of Discord.  This dragon, named Onyx, appeared to be a baby when born, though in reality he was far older than any pony when he hatched: his egg had been in her possession for nearly a hundred years.  He never seemed to grow past a juvenile stage in life until he was sent to the dragon lands as an emissary.  Upon his return after a week, he had nearly tripled in size and apparent age.  The princess realized he would continue to grow larger and therefor had him sent as a permanent ambassador to the dragons.  From then on, many of the dragon eggs raised in Equestria were his children.”

“Interesting,” Twilight said.  “I never heard that story before.  Is it possible this Onyx is Spike’s distant ancestor, like a grandfather or something?”

“Hush my dear,” Rarity said, causing Twilight to roll her eyes.  “There’s more.”

“Further studies conducted in the land of the kirins established the fact that dragons respond physically to others similar to them, even if they are not purely dragon.  An example of this would be Onyx’s sister, Sapphire, who responded the same way he did, but in the presence of kirins and fire drakes.  It seems the morphological and lineal differences are rendered moot when there is contact between species of a common ancestor.”

Rarity looked up from the book at Twilight.  “Twilight, how long was Spike an egg before you hatched him?” she asked.

Twilight furrowed her brow and thought hard.  “If I remember correctly, he was a relatively recent arrival: only around twenty years as an egg.  When I hatched him, Princess Celestia told me as such, but I never realized the significance until now.”

“So according to his book, Spike could grow to his full maturity when Cole is here?” Rarity asked, sounding a bit worried.  “What if he becomes a monster like last time?”

“I don’t think that will happen,” Twilight said, patting her friend reassuringly on her back.  “Remember, that monster was brought out by greed.  Spike has been raised around magic, friendship and nearly everything that are completely opposite of normal dragon behaviors.  We won’t know how things turn out until they do.”

“I hope you are right, Twilight my dear,” Rarity said, biting her lower lip as she closed the book.  “I just wonder what else will happen when Cole is here.”

Meanwhile, off in a distant cave...

Thoughts swirled in the mind of the dark pony as she strode around the cave.  Her plan had been foiled and her armies were dispersed for now: how in the world would she take over Equestria?

“My queen!” said one messenger, kneeling before her feet.  “I bring news!  A new creature has been spotted in Equestria, one with power to rival any of the princesses!”

A cruel smirk etched the mouth of the Changeling Queen.  “Excellent; you are dismissed.  I must have silence to digest this news.”  With that the Changeling minion flew away, the buzzing soon fading into the interior of the cave.

Meanwhile, in the distant mountains of Equestria...

He awoke to the sensation of pain.  It was as if his entire body had been torn apart and smashed back together without any conscious thought or direction.  But it did not matter to him, the harbinger of doom: he had already experienced this pain before.

As he looked down at himself, he realized he was no longer the same.  His old body was gone: in its stead, a terrifying amalgamation of what could only be described as mythical creatures was under his control.  Part hydra, part manticore and part griffin, with bits of other creatures thrown in for good measure: he was truly what his new name had represented.

A Beast.  Raising his head towards the sky, he let out a ferocious roar, shaking the very hills around him with his fury.

Off in the distance, surrounded by a large and spacious garden, a statue moved.  Its body was chaotic and random, with parts from every creature known to pony kind assembled somehow.  A small crack formed along the chest, and that was all it took: a shadow flew out from the hardened stone and slithered across the ground, headed right in the direction of the distant mountains.  Its time had come, and this time no pony would stop him.

Meanwhile, at the grand city of Canterlot...

Cole gently flew down to the ground as to not cause much of a ruckus.  As he looked around, he noticed no ponies were in sight.  Then again, at this hour most had retired to their houses and were likely preparing for bed.  His long jaunts amidst the buildings of New Marais and Empire City at night had left him with a high tolerance for low levels of sleep.  Then again, it didn’t hurt to have powers that kept him rejuvenated long past the exhaustion point of normal creatures.

“I guess the meeting would be this way,” he thought, walking towards a large pair of doors leading into the castle.  Before he could take another step, a pair of winged ponies blocked his path, their armor still glinting in the fading sunlight.

“Halt!  Who goes there?” they said in unison.  Cole sighed: better safe than sorry.

“It is I, Cole MacGrath, here to speak with the princesses.  They invited me,” he added, hoping to not sound impatient or rude.

A voice drifted in from the doors: “Let him in, guards.  You are free to leave.”  With simultaneous motions the guards bowed and opened the doors.  Nodding in return, Cole strode in: sooner than he expected, the large wooden doors slammed shut behind him.

“Please, do come in,” the voice said, leading Cole through another hallway past what only could be a throne room.  Now that he thought about it, it had to be Celestia’s voice.

“Hello,” he said, rounding a corner.  To his surprise, he found Celestia sitting in what appeared to be a rather large bedroom.  Sitting next to her was a smaller, dark blue pony just like herself: the crown signified it was likely Luna, her younger sister.

“Please shut the door behind you, Cole,” Celestia said.  As he did so, Cole couldn’t help but wonder why he was here.  I mean, he had already met and earned the favor of Celestia back in Ponyville: maybe Luna wanted to meet him as well?

Sitting down in front in them, he bowed his head as he remembered Twilight showing him the proper manner for greeting royalty.  “Hello, your highnesses,” he said, looking at each princess equally.  “May I ask why I was summoned?”

“Summoned?” Celestia asked, looking at her sister.  “I simply asked you to come: we wish to discuss with you the living arrangements in Ponyville and the responsibilities that go along with them.”

Cole blinked in confusion: he was going to live in Ponyville?  Sure, he had given it some thought, but he had always assumed he would live on the outskirts of the city, sort of like a hermit.  “I’m not sure what you mean, princess,” he said.

“Well, since you will live in the village, you must acquaint yourself with all the other ponies,” Celestia continued, explaining it as she would to a young colt.  “It would be best for your introduction to be as seamless as possible, so as to not ruffle anypony’s mane, as they say,” she said, chuckling slightly at her own joke.  “Then I suppose we will have to find you a job.”

“Well, this is going rather fast,” Cole said, unsure why the smaller pony had not yet responded: she just kept staring at him.  “Is there anything you had in mind?”

“Well, now that you mention it, the mail-pony Derpy Hooves has been busy of late and the old delivery-pony Thaddeus Express is about to retire, so I was hoping you could deliver packages in Ponyville.  You seem like a strong enough kirin to be up to the task.”  She smiled when she said this, as if knowing it was a job he had plenty of experience with.

“That...That would be great,” he said, unsure whether to be surprised or grateful for the offer.  “Where will I live, in the meantime?”

“With the one called Twilight Sparkle, in her tree library,” Luna suddenly said, her voice seemingly amplified by some unknown force.  With a glare from her older sister, she spoke again, albeit softer and more relaxed.  “Sorry, force of habit.”

“It’s quite alright,” Cole said, noticing the blush creep along her face when he looked at her.  Oh great, another pony who was nervous around him.  “Is there anything else?”

“Not for the moment, though I would greatly enjoy you making friends among the ponies,” Celestia said.  “I also hoped you would come to the Grand Galloping Gala in the coming weeks: it’s only the biggest party of the year and I would hope to introduce you to many of Canterlot’s elite.”

Cole inwardly groaned at the prospect of meeting snooty, stuck-up rich ponies, but he couldn’t refuse a favor.  “I’ll be sure to be there,” he said.  “Goodbye, your highnesses.”  With that, he walked over to the open window and flew out, circling once before headed off for the dim lights of Ponyville.

Celestia turned to her sister, a mischievous smile on her face.  “So, sister,” she said, in an almost nonchalant manner.  “What do you think of Cole?”

Her sister blushed and nervously shuffled her hooves.  “I...I like him, sister,” she said, looking out the window.  “When may I see him again?”

Celestia felt the giddiness from before rise up inside her: the plan was working perfectly.  “How about we wait until the party, sister of mine?’ she said with a slight yawn.  “Now, I must retire: keep a watch on Ponyville for me, would you?”

“Of course, sister” Luna said, looking out her window at the village in the distance.  A lone figure soaring through the air was her main focus, anyway.  “Of course.”