Sleep, My Radiant Tear

Friendship is such a confusing aspect. But then again, friends weren’t important in my previous life. All I had was my mother, father, A.I Pinkiana, and her.

Chapter 1: Not of This World

Deep into the cosmos of dark space, within the void of eternal night, there is a system of planets that surrounded the middle star of the Orion Belt, called Alnilam. Six planets surrounded that star and the 4th planet is my home. That world is named, as you now know if you have skimmed through the library, Nevaeh. It was in a safe distance to receive the sun’s solar rays so that conditions on our planet would be livable. But, Nevaeh isn’t like the fun, gleeful atmosphere that Equestria contains, nor did it have the kind of leadership the Twin Princesses uphold. It was a planet of savagery and slavery.

The Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Ponies were placed in three sections throughout the planet, torn apart by hate and separation. They all contain malice of each other, but they all had a hate for one place where all the evil minds come from. That section was the City of Evil and Luxury, as I recall. It was a grand metropolis surrounded by walls of steel and magic so that no peasant would enter or exit except for permission or taken prisoner. Only the most malevolent of ponies could enter and live there. That was also where the lineage of kings ruled over all of Nevaeh. They had only one goal: to keep the lineage alive and keep dictatorship over all the denizens of Nevaeh.

***

“Were those kings called the Dread Family? I skimmed through that book of called Lineage of Kings and noticed that most those rulers had that title.” Princess Celestia questioned. Radiant smiled and nodded.

“Indeed. Their goal was to keep it alive AND pure. It may sound pitiful and disgusting, but a fun fact about this lineage: only unicorns and pegasus were the kings at the beginning of the timeline. But soon, they made a hybrid. The Alicorn.” He rested his chin on top of his hooves as he spoke. Princess Celestia and Luna looked at each other in worry. “Don’t worry, you are loved and not feared. But, I saw through the surveillance cameras that you were reading about the last king.”

“Surveillance cameras? You mean those things that take pictures?” Fluttershy asked, cocking her head.

“We’re getting off topic. I’ll answer that later…so…about that last king…” Radiant continued the story.

***

The last king went by the name of Lord Dread-Light and his reign lasted for a few centuries. But those centuries were very harsh for every pony because of the slavery and harsh treatment they were forced to endure. He gathered many strong slaves for his army, smart and experimental slaves turned into scientists to increase his power and malice, and the very weak were used as maids, butlers, and/or "stress relievers". He was very malevolent and he knew that even his subjects in his city hated him, but he fed off of that hate and it made him more powerful. It was that information that forced the Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies to drop their grudges against each other to eliminate Lord Dread-Light, before his power becomes overwhelming.

***

“Was he that evil?” Twilight expressed her shock.  Radiant rolled his eyes from the interruption and thought for a moment.

“So evil, not even Nightmare Moon and Discord combined could reach that potential.” He responded. “All that you know of those villains pale in comparison to the evil Dread-Light committed. But what Discord and Dread-Light had in common was the power of mind manipulation. Discord transformed you six to the opposite of what you were.” Radiant began to list what they transformed into. “Applejack was honesty, and then she became a liar. Rarity was a generous pony but she became greedy. Pinkie Pie was full of laughter until she grew into hate. Fluttershy was kind but Discord turned her into a pony of cruelty. Rainbow Dash was loyal and dependable, but she turned lazily into sloth. Twilight, as she perceived all these events, lost the will to keep going and faltered into normality. Discord found me and…” He stopped there and shook his head. “Ahh! Sorry, I digress. Let’s get back to the story.”

***

As the three leaders unleashed the rebels toward the City of Evil, there was an ancient artifact found within the Animosity Desert, a barren desert a bit far from the City of Evil. My father, a pegasus named Radiant Stars, and my mother, a unicorn named Lunar Tear, found that artifact. It looks just like my steel home, except it was made out of stone and had alien artwork across the spherical anomaly. Two large but different shaped holes were embedded on the top and bottom of the strange artifact, as if two gems of certain cuts could fit in it. My parents each had heirlooms that lasted since civilization was born on Nevaeh. They were different gems; the Radiant family had an amethyst jewel that was heart-shaped cut while the Lunar Family had a diamond in a briolette cut.

Both of them placed the gems in the places that would fit, and then a purple and white light glistened around the stone structure. It exploded and separated into many pieces, revealing a black spherical jewel surrounded in a destructive aura. Radiant Stars got up close and tried to touch the artifact, but it did a small explosion that propelled him a few feet away. Lunar Tear tried conducting magic to extract the gem, but it surged back to her horn and shocked her. The onyx gem just floated there in mysticism. As they both got up and stared at the structure, confused on what to do, they didn’t notice that some pony landed behind them.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” a voice came from behind. They both froze and looked slowly behind them to see their ruler, Dread-Light, smirking at their fear as he arrived. “This is the fabled artifact that shall bring out the apocalypse. I spent part of my time sending out scientists to find it, but then they’d die if they couldn’t find it.” He chuckled at the sight of my parents tensing up when they heard the word “die”.

“Wh-what will you do now? Kill us?” Radiant Stars growled through his teeth as he stood in front of his wife in order to protect her. Dread-Light couldn’t hold in his laughter and doubled over in his sick humor.

“Muahahaha! Ahh…you two amuse me. No, unleashing this artifact is the purpose of my arrival.” Dread-Light stood up and smiled as his black horn glowed brightly and shot an unknown spell that swirled around the black jewel. The jewel absorbed the spell and the aura glowed brightly, tearing away anything within the aura in a noisy catastrophe.

“Let’s get out of here hun!” Lunar Tear yelled at her lover. They both ran for it, but Dread-Light used his magic to pick both of them up, flying away. He carried them to an outpost a few miles away from the gem and let go of them as they landed on top of the watchtower that overlooked the station and the entrance to the desert. They all looked out in a distance and watched it explode brilliantly, vaporizing the half of the barren wasteland and nearly blinding its spectators.

“What the…?!” both my parents whispered in awe as they were able to look at the horizon. The black jewel shot into space with that destructive aura trailing behind it. It kept going up into the sky until it disappeared to the blazing light of the sun. The soldiers at the outpost went back to their posts and patrols, although shivering from the sight of their lord smiling evilly.

“Hmhmhm, you two are commendable for your work on this. You’ve done me a great service.” Dread-Light smiled evilly. “From now on, you shall work for me on building up the strength of my soldiers to end this silly insurrection.”

“Hold on! We are not working for you!” Lunar Tear protested.

“You are evil and corrupt! I...WE...will not tolerate working with you!” Radiant Stars gritted his teeth. Dread-Light smirked and simply surrounded them in the same magic bubble he swooped them away in. He flew away and brought them to the City of Evil, which was now being attacked by the rebels. The magic barrier broke and shattered into pieces as Dread-Light neared toward the city, aiming his gaze at his humble abode. A large grey-bricked castle decorated in black evil-eyed banners and a river of boiling blood surrounding the castle came into view. It lied in the middle of the city and was very big; bigger than what any pony thought it was.

“Be grateful I haven’t taken your lives. This is the first time I’m being generous.” The evil dictator stated, letting my parents go as he landed on the balcony of the tallest tower. They both dropped hard on the floor and glared at him. “Rebels are trying to break in the city in an attempt to take my life. Experiment with what we have here in order to increase the strength of our soldiers and the growth of food.” He opened the door that lead from the balcony to a small laboratory. On the wall on the right, there was a workbench and a few tools, many vials of chemicals, and scientific apparatus. A bed large enough for two ponies was far in the corner. On the left side of the room, there was a glass cage that held a weak and frail prisoner. “Experiment on that slave…and when you-“

“No.” my father spat out. "I am not working for anyone of the likes of you!" Dread-Light looked at him in a bored expression and looked at my mother, smiling devilishly.

“Oh come now…we don’t need for this to be violent, right? Think about it…” Dread-Light shot out a magical substance out his horn and it stuck Radiant Stars to the floor. He tried to get out of its grip but couldn’t. “Would you like it if your lovely mare-friend became a widow already, belonging to me?” my father’s eyes widen at those scenarios. He couldn’t let it happen to her. He sighed and shook his head. The substance around his hooves disappeared and Dread-Light smirked, licking her cheeks before walking toward the balcony.

“Good boy…I expect this drug to be done quickly. I know your works with the rebels and my former scientists tried recreating them, but failed. Do your experiments and you shall be rewarded handsomely. Time is of the essence.” And with that, Dread-Light flew away to another part of his castle.

Many days passed and my parents did a tremendous amount of work for the dark and evil overlord. They increased the strength of his soldiers, created rations of food for the citizens of the evil city, and created new arsenal for the pegasus and unicorn soldiers. It was an impressive feat, even to their master whom has forced them to work. Dread-Light was true to his word and reward them with money and scrumptious food. It was unexpected to my parents, but it was a nice reward. The slave that they had within the cage was also given food in secret. But it was folly since he died on one of the experiments.

Soon, soldiers were running out and the denizens were forced into a militia, crudely trained but dangerous individuals. The rebels finally broke in after weeks of the city under siege. The rebels and the militia were in a standstill in within the city, fighting in a spectacular massacre. My father was in the middle of making a weapon on a workbench when Dread-Light opened the door and trotted to the balcony, gazing upon the battle that is taking place. My father slipped the sharp weapon under his right wing carefully and trotted up to Dread-Light and sat by his left side. My mother was napping in the bed, unaware of the situation that was about to transpire.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Dread-Light said as he smiled at the massacre. He chuckled and sat down, witnessing the battle below. "Hahaha...magnificent is my favorite word. It's almost spelled like...malignant!"

“How is this war magnificent? Millions are dying and you’re finding delight in this!” my father said in disgust. Dread-Light laughed maniacally and calmed down a few moments later.

“I find delight in pain, whether it’s physical or mental. Preferably mental pain.” He grinned. “You see, when I was young, I was interested in what goes on in other ponies’ minds. So I attempted to make a spell that releases my soul and dive into another’s mind and see what lies within. It worked after some miscalculations. But afterwards, I never felt more alive and powerful. I delved into many ponies’ minds and absorbed their intelligence, beliefs, and experiences. I met an assassin who, after I absorbed his experiences and such, aided me in the murdering of my parents.” Radiant’s eyes widen as he slowly stared at Dread-Light. “That is, after I ratted him out and saw him executed.”

“You are a sickly child! A freaking megalomaniac!”

“I know, but what about you? Your past in the Radiant Family? It must’ve been a hard childhood, trying to live up to the family name.” Dread-Light cooed, laughing as he hit a weak spot in my father’s mind, leaving him stunned a few seconds until he looked at him angrily.

“…shut up…”

“Why? You were in love with your mare-friend, who was in the Tear family; which was the rival family.” The evil mad-pony kept going on.

“Shut up…”

“And even through all your accomplishments, you never shared a shed of the beliefs your family had and you were shunned by them. How cru-”

“SHUT UP!!!” Aeons passed as the evil deed done by my father was quick and swift. The blade flawlessly sunk into Dread-Light’s chest and momentarily, pierced his heart. Gasps escaped my father’s mouth as he realized what he has done; but he smiled nonetheless.

“…heh…heheh…hehehehahahaha…” Dread-Light cackled roughly through the pain he felt. Blood squirted out through the wound and he started coughing up the crimson fluids.

“That…was for me, my love, and every pony you killed throughout your whole reign and life! BURN!!” my father yelled in furious anger as he pushed the weapon deeper.

“Heheh…” he coughed and chuckled. “…urgh…don’t worry, the…lineage shall…live on. You’ll see…” Dread-Light cackled as his horn glowed tremendously. “Suffer my curse!” he yelled as he blasted magic and blood into my father’s body. Both of them were blown away from the explosion; Radiant Stars slammed into the wall next to the bed while Dread-Light plummeted to his death with the shambled balcony following him.

Many hours passed after my father was knocked into unconsciousness and my mother was frightened as she concluded that he wouldn’t wake up from his painful slumber, believing him to be dead. But as he awakened, the doors slammed open as the rebels broke into the laboratory. They looked around the workbenches, vials of chemicals mixed together, the new slave that was in the cage, and my parents tending to each other. They surrounded my parents trying to help tend to his wounds. A big stallion with a tattered beret with a red plus sign stapled against it pushed away the ponies in his way.

“What the…Radiant? What happened here?!” the head of the rebels asked as he made his way through the crowd. My father, chuckling as he stared past the rebels and out the window to the balcony, simply smiled.

“Colonel Skyblaze? Heh, well…Dread-Light…is no more. He has fallen…literally…” he responded as he pointed his hooves toward the balcony. The pegasus ponies galloped off the edge and flew down to investigate. Minutes later, they had with them the body of Dread-Light, broken and misshapen by the fall and impact of debris. Gasps escaped from the mouths of every pony and Radiant laughed a bit, feeling victorious. He retold his story from the time he and my mother found the artifact to that moment he got blown away from the magic curse from the dead king.

“Ha…you are full of surprises. Here, let’s patch you up. Soldiers! Go out there and bring the news to every pony! Tell it proudly, a new era has begun!” Col. Skyblaze yelled loudly and the soldiers cheered, galloping out of the castle and yelling out victory. As my mother and Skyblaze tended to his wounds, he looked at Dread-Light’s dead body and eyed it suspiciously.

“What did you curse me with? Bad health, imminent death, what is it?” my father thought to himself before he and my mother were lifted up by the pegasus ponies by surprise. “Whoa what are you guys doing?!” he yelled aloud.

“Showing you to your subjects…” Skyblaze responded when the pegasus group flew them around the city, showing the soldiers on ground the ponies responsible for overlord’s death. They flew to the walls of the entrance where the city militia was being dragged out by the rebels.

“Subjects?” my parents finally responded with eyes wide open as the moon.

“FELLOW SOLDIERS, DREAD-LIGHT HAS BEEN DEFEATED!! WE WILL BEGIN A NEW ERA!! SO WITH THAT, OUR NEW KING AND QUEEN, RADIANT STARS AND LUNAR TEAR!!” cheers rang out around the city as they all hailed their new king and queen from Skyblaze’s announcement. My parents looked around in awe and stared into each other’s eyes. They smiled and began to think about the future, making Nevaeh a now better place for all pony kind.

***

“After many years of rebuilding…” Radiant continued, a bit sullen now. “…civilization was back up on its feet and the new era began. It was an awakening of knowledge, a Renaissance if you would. Every pony learned new things, made different cultures; lots of things were being invented. Music, art, food, anything you can imagine. Even technology advancement jumped a hundred years. It made difficult tasks trivial.”

“So, what ever happened to the City of Evil? It can’t just disappear like that.” Rarity asked.

“Well, my parents and many other ponies rebuild that city and the castle was redecorated and turned into a university. It was now a city full of sophistication and benevolent ponies, from all over Nevaeh. My parents, well, they could barely take the pressure of king and queen. They distributed most of their power to trustworthy friends, but they still kept the title of king and queen.”

“Wait, doesn’t that make you royalty?” Twilight gasped. Radiant choked up a bit and coughed a bit. He chuckled a bit and drank from a new bottle of apple cider.

“In a sense, yes; but Nevaeh…never saw me as that. When my mother gave birth to me, my parents were very happy to see me as a unicorn. But…they…saw another thing…something that made the doctors tried murdering me.” He shivered a bit, hearing his friends look at each other frantically.

“W-why would they do something like that?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. Radiant Tear stood up from his chair and sighed, shivering from nervousness.

“I…promise me you won’t fear me…or treat me like royalty…after this…” he said softly.

“But-“

“Promise me!” he cut off Luna abruptly. She looked at him in surprise and nodded with every pony. He sighed and his cape started to lift up. It wasn’t magic that lifted the cape; it was his wings that sprouted up. His wings were a combination of organic structure and light metallic alloys. His feathers were the only normal part of his wings. Forever passed Radiant Tear as his eyes held sorrow and he walked to the right of the desk, sighing and choking back his sobs. He breathed in and opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to say words. His head hung low; feeling shame and regret for revealing his true self.

“They’re pretty…” Fluttershy said, not scared at the fact he’s just like Princess Celestia and Luna. Radiant gasped and looked up, surprised by the compliment.

“Metal wings! Gosh, I want that!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“R-Really?” Radiant asked brightly, his tears flowing down his cheeks.

“Those are beautiful wings that you have. I don’t know why you would be ashamed in having them.” Princess Celestia spoke.

“You shouldn’t be, no matter who or what you are Radiant, despite all the things that happened in your life. You’re a good pony, nothing like Dread-Light.” Twilight said. Every pony nodded in agreement.

“You truly are a mystic stallion dear. Don’t let it all change who you are now.” Rarity added to the sentiment. Radiant was deep in thought hearing his friends sharing him the wisdom of friendship. He smiled, for a little moment before frowning.

“All of you are truly amazing on taking the tale so well. Any pony else would’ve freaked out or laugh in disbelief. But, we’re delving deeper into memories I don’t want to remember. It hurts greatly…” He whispered the last sentence before climbing in his bed and pulling the blanket over him.

“Wow…you don’t feel like telling anymore?” Pinkie Pie asked, wanting him to keep going with the story.

“At least show us the way to the guest quarters…” Twilight said. Radiant got a flask of something in it and a few pills from across the room with his magic and popped the pills and drank his flask.

“A.I. Pinkiana will show you the way to the guest quarters…or need be, the exit. I would…love to keep reading…but…it……hurts…” The pills took effect as he slowly drifted away to sleep, leaving Pinkiana to continue on with his life story.