It Is Always Best Forgotten

The Final Eve

It had begun to rain outside; the Pegasi had scheduled a pouring rain for the evening. Illuminous looked out the window pane in nostalgia, glumly sulking up atmosphere that surrounded him. Although depressing, it still brought him a bit of unexplainable joy being able to relax on his own, tending to the increasing thoughts within his mind.

There lay passively in his mind the inedible truth that he was a weapon of destruction. He could not inch away from the thought. Illuminous was too far into denial. He didn't want to believe and as much as he tried forgetting, it was obvious, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He had been the most malignant being in any recorded history of Equestria. His powers were unnatural; he was no longer just any ordinary earth pony. He was a Luminesciant, an apocalyptic pony that destroys life for power. His abilities consume light and life itself to be able to wield a power incomprehensible to even the Alicorns.

This fact brought thousands of questions to his mind. Questions he knew well that could never be answered. What would he do if this power overwhelmed him? He broke out into a cold sweat as he started to breath in deeply trying to reorganize his thoughts but where instantly shattered as the truth settled in. The Nightmare had been right all along... the question is... why had she taken Rosy? Why didn't she kill him when she had the chance? He knew well that The Nightmare was bent in destroying him because of him and his power... but things didn't make sense... she had spent her lifetime chasing after what he now held... a life time of chasing... which meant that ponies before him wielded the power of a Luminescent.

The thing is, why had he been the only one attacked? Why only now was the Nightmare so bent in destroying him if she hadn't gone for his father... The vision of the past flooded him. She had... when the nightmare tried destroying his mother and father in that chase.

His father looked... young... so very young. Apparently he had been reincarnated at that time and managed to tap the power within him to avoid harm's way. The spell he placed then after was the one Princess Celestia spoke of. He had slowed time itself... to be able to raise an inheritor. It was his last will... and he had finally given up his powers to him, then he sacrificed himself to what he would believe would be salvation...

Illuminous lowered his head in shame and pity... he wasn't any of that... no... He wasn't able to do anything. How could he? How could he have known that his father's life would be brought to an end because of him? How could he possibly face the Nightmare when the best he could do was stall off an Ursa Major...

Live on...

This was the request his mother had given him. Why though... his mind was hazy, another thought and it would have surely placed him in a long and deep sleep. He was both mentally and physically exhausted.

The vision back in the chamber had left him drained aside from the light show that the room had made him perform. It had been different though. So much different than any he has had. It felt like it wasn't a vision at all. As if someone truly spoke out to him. The voice left a stain upon his very essence. It cursed his very thoughts. He sighed and closed his eyelids in attempts to dream it off.

Luna paced back and forth awaiting any response from the regal princess who held an unbreakable line of sight towards the grand book in front of her. She was hard at work trying to uncover whatever still lay decoded within it.

There will come a day when the next ruler will come.

Life will end, everything will die. It cannot be stopped.

The death will approach, darkness incarnate.

What the world knows is a lie, which will be their demise.

He shall be reborn. He shall be embo-

"Tia, do you think Illuminous will ever be like... Sol?" Luna asked, interrupting Celestia's deep concentration on the book.

Princess Celestia finally withdrew her thoughts and attentions from the book towards her sister. "No, he could never be..."

"You sensed his powers didn't you...?" Luna looked down, keeping her eyes busy towards the floor. She hesitated before speaking again, trying to break the uneasy silence. "They felt... evil..."

"I have faith that he'll be able to pull through to whatever they hold within him. We just need to trust he will know what to do if anything is to happen."

"Yeah but if you say it like that, what if he can't?"

"Why would you doubt him Luna?" Princess Celestia began wondering after all the contradicting questions.

"It's because..." Luna's cheek grew into a lighter shade of pink, her voice fading a little. "I know him a bit better than anyone else." Her voice low and muffled. Her expression grew more serious and her demeanor changed completely. "I don't doubt him... but I do know that he isn't ready... you've seen his cutie mark?"

Even though no one had given any real mind to it, the truth was that Illuminous' cutie mark was one shard away from being complete.

"What is it that your insinuating Luna?"

"He hasn't found himself yet... back when he fought off the Ursa Major, his power felt more... pure... more like himself. Yet... it wasn't fully there. I don't believe he can be ready until it's finally... there."

"Well we can't let him face this alone."

Luna simply nodded in a reply, thoughtful in her own mind.

"So you say you know him a bit better than anypony else? Why would that be?" Celestia seemed to have suddenly slipped out of her own serious mood.

This cut Luna pretty off guard. She blushed up a mad man and quickly took a book from the bookshelves and dug her face in it, unfortunately she made the mistake of grabbing a very small filly's book. "Why are there nobles like this in here?!"

"They are the books from when we were kids, whats so wrong about them?" Celestia giggled at the urgency to change the subject of her little sister. "So what about it?"

Before Luna could sway the conversation elsewhere, she suddenly felt a surge of power that made her lower her head in pain. It was familiar... but increasingly more powerful. Princess Celestia could sense it too, her face was grave with seriousness and she quickly walked out from the hidden library.

Luna trialed behind her, and as they walked past a corner of the halls, two Pegasi guards flew quickly at their side.

"Princess Celestia thank goodness we found you!" They said between breaths.

"What is going on?" She ordered in a demanding voice.

"The citizens... they suddenly turned against us... they started tearing down the city, in attempts to stop them some of the other guards have gotten gravely injured. Since we can't fight back, all we could do was retreat. The hostile civilians are different though... their eyes are... red... it's unlike anything we've dealt before."

Another guard suddenly broke through the glass door and swooped down to the ground and landed on the floor with a heavy thump, he looked beaten and battered. Luna quickly began casting healing magic to aid him.

"Princess... there is too many of them... they are heading towards the castle... you must stop them..."

"Luna, I need you take care of the wounded soldiers, I'll go see what is going on and try to hold them back, if anything is to happen, I need you to evacuate everypony to safety. I have faith in you." Princess Celestia's horn began to glow in a golden light and instantly vanished as she blinked away.

Luna was momentarily baffled. Her sister depended on her... it felt nice... but it was no time to waste time. She quickly made her way towards the injured that were being housed at the door step of the castle and were being dropped in from windows by some of the other Pegasi guards. The guard she fully healed went to go join them to help the other wounded.

Princess Celestia appeared in the front doorstep of the castle, and like she had been expecting, the mass of civilian ponies of Canterlot were gathering at the footstep. Some of the unicorn guards were casting a shield onto the entire castle to prevent any further step but there had been too many of them, the Pegasi were dashing straight on towards the barrier and the unicorns were throwing magical dark beams. They were quickly being overwhelmed as the shield began to drop.

Princess Celestia did the only thing she could do, her horn began to glow and a powerful wave of golden magic ran through everypony. She tried dispelling them all, Luna had warned her about the corrupted versions of the ponies and this fit their very description.

It had no effect. They were still rampaging towards the magical barrier that stood between them and the castle. But why?! How?! The only possible explanation would be that they were being controlled by a more powerful pony with magic way beyond even Princess Celestia's. That couldn't be true...

Without anything else she could do, she began to cast a reinforcement spell to hold up the wall. It seemed to stall them, but just as many more began to arrive and the wall was slowly being degraded. Without second thoughts, Celestia began to pray to Illuminous. Whether he was ready or not, he could be the only one to do anything.

Please... save us all

Just this one last time...

Illuminous... I need you

Illuminous awoke suddenly, Princess Celestia's voice fresh in his mind. What was this? A sudden panic ran through him for some unknown reason, he could sense an unnatural power. It was familiar... he quickly ran outside into the hallway only to be greeted by a white unicorn.

"What in heavens is going on?" Rarity asked him.

"I was about to ask the same thing."

"I kept hearing such awful shouts and screaming out my doorway and I came to ask you."

"I'm going to go find out, Rarity, go gather up everyone else... whatever this is it isn't good. Please I'm counting on you." He said urgently, the white unicorn nodded and began to run towards her friend's rooms.

Illuminous could feel the direction of the power; he kept following that through corridors and hallways and was finally greeted by the grand hall leading towards the exit, the throne room on the opposite side of the hall. He quickly spotted Luna tending to injured guards. They were beaten up pretty good and many of them were groaning as other nurse Unicorns treated them. He galloped to her side and she turned to see him running into a hug as he approached her.

"What is going on?"

"The townsfolk of Canterlot are being possessed... it feels... it feels like..."

"You don't think it is finally making its move?" he asked her slowly.

"You have to do something Illuminous." her eyes were serious with determination. "But please... come back safe..." she said as she kissed him and returned back to tending the wounded.

"I will." and like that he turned to run outside only to be greeted by the grand magical barrier that loomed over the entire castle, being held by multiple unicorns and even Princess Celestia.

He ran to her side and she spotted him. Her pained expression turned into a smile of relief but just as she had taken her focus off the shield quickly dispersed and thousands of ponies began to flood the steps. Illuminous stood his ground awaited the oncoming crowd.

The thundering noise of a hundred galloping ponies drew to a stop. Suddenly all the corrupted ponies stood still a few feet before him. They were staying their distance away from him.

The crowd suddenly split and out came a small white pony with a crimson mane.

Rosy stepped out of the crowd before him.

(Author's Note:I lied. The next chapter is the final one. I feel bad for lying :( But.... its fine right?