Son of Sombra

by Stargazer42

Love Sweet, Love Forever

“Lock Light? LOCK LIGHT?” Applejack shook Lock Light’s spent and wrecked form. White Lightning’s final blast of magic had done its work and a huge hole, the exit wound, was about the size of a dinner plate. The spell punctured his lungs and several arteries, four of them major, as if by a spear thrust. He was bleeding profusely and had slipped into unconsciousness.

It was then that Princess Celestia flew over, her huge angel like wings, majestic against the new dawn morning which always followed in her wake “Step aside Applejack,” she said “I may be able to do something yet.”

“But,” she said in a barely audible whisper and beginning to sob “he’s gone.”

“Not if we can help it,” said a voice from behind Celestia.

“Princess Luna?” they all exclaimed.

“Yes,” she said trotting quickly over “Lock Light has been of great service to both my sister and I. We owe him a great debt of gratitude which we can now repay.”

Applejack began biting her toenails in nervousness, but first Twilight, then Rarity, then Rainbow Dash and the rest embraced her. She tried not to cry, and she soon had her emotions under control, but her body, still recovering from the aftershock of White Lightning’s three day torture, her own high levels of anxiety and exhaustion caused her to collapse in a seizure. In a panicked voice Twilight called “Princess Celestia!”

In a flash Celestia was there assessing the situation “Poor Applejack, I was too busy attending to Lock Light that I didn’t see your own wounds. I was a fool. Sister,” she said jerking her had towards Luna “can you handle Lock Light for now?”

“Yes,” I should be able to,” she said “I’ll need your help for the more difficult magic sister, but you help Applejack for now.”

“I can help with Applejack too Celestia,” Twilight said stepping beside her.

“Good, then we’ll work together,” with that, their horns and eyes glowed with a bright white light, a sphere of blue encircled Applejack as her body contorted from the seizure, it then formed her silhouette as she was raised from the ground and she absorbed the dark blue light. Her eyes then went white and were rimmed with blue fire, her mouth opened and a stream of black poison left her body and vanished into the bright sky of day.

Applejack collapsed after Twilight and Celestia ended their spell. Rainbow Dash darted over to support her. Eyes rimmed with lack of sleep, Applejack asked “What happened?”

“You fell into a near cardiac arrest,” stated Pinkie Pie grinning “probably from eating too many cupcakes!”

“No,” said Celestia “it was when you were poisoned by White Lightning while he tortured you.”

Applejack shuddered “I’m so plumb tuckered out, I could go to sleep right now.”

“Then rest dear one,” Celestia said “go and sleep.”

With that, Applejack walked slowly over to Lock Light, gently rested herself against his neck, pulled him close, and fell asleep. Twilight was touched by Applejack’s devotion to Lock Light, yes, they’d been through a lot together now, but Applejack had never professed her love for anypony, let alone a Prince of Sombra’s. She wanted to ask Celestia about, but she was busy right now and thought that it could wait. Celestia meanwhile had trotted back over to Princess Luna and they had used their magic to heal the deep wounds caused by White Lightning’s dark magic. Before Twilight’s eyes, the wounds began to sew themselves with their own flesh and the bleeding began to stop. It was slow, but it was working. She would have helped herself, but she didn’t know the magic spell. Sensing this Celestia, her eyes still alight with white glory, turned to her and said “I will give you the spell you must say, we need your help Twilight.”

Instantly Twilight knew what to do. She stood next to Princess Celestia and together they accelerated the healing process. In a few minutes it was all over, and Lock Light, although still unconscious, was breathing quietly. As if feeling her next to him, he curled up in a perfect embrace in her arms and they both continued to sleep. Celestia breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The others did too.

“Awe,” Pinkie Pie said breaking the silence “they look so cute together!”

“Shhh,” the others except Luna and Celestia said turning to her.

“We don’t want to wake them up,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a harsh whisper “we need them to rest as much as possible!”

“Indeed,” Luna said equally quietly as she and Celestia trotted away “but you are right Pinkie Pie, they do look cute together.”

“Shouldn’t we get them a blanket or something?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

“I think I know where to place them,” Twilight said and knowing what she meant, Luna and Celestia helped carry the two sleepers with magic to Sweet Apple Acres, up the stairs to Applejack’s room, and tuck them under the covers.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said “they do look cute together. I hope it works out.”

“It will,” Celestia said “but Twilight. I believe you have some questions for me?”

“Yes,” Twilight said awkwardly “I’d been meaning to ask you a few questions about Lock Light’s past, but we were busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“All very fine and well,” Celestia said “let’s first go outside though and sit on the grass. It’s a beautiful day, and it shouldn’t go to waste. We also wouldn’t want to arouse them with our voices.”

They all went down stairs and were greeted by Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Big Mac.

Applebloom bounced up to Celestia “Is my big sister okay?”

“She’ll be fine little one,” Luna said regally “she simply needs rest now. She’s been through a great ordeal.”

They all then gathered in a circle in the lawn on the left side of the house. Granny Smith was rocking in her chair and knitting silently, and Applebloom and Big Mac were sitting in the circle as well in front of Luna and Celestia began Lock Light’s story.

Celestia looked at Twilight and nodded for her to ask her questions. She started “Well, first, I would like to know what you mean by his being a Prince of King Sombra’s, and second, I’d like to know why he is an Alicorn. I thought that only Princesses could be Alicorns, Sombra wasn’t an Alicorn, he was only a unicorn, so how come Lock Light is an Alicorn? Also how come he is the heir to the Crystal Empire? I thought that was given to Princess Cadence?”

“Lock Light,” Luna began “was the second son of the evil King Sombra of the Crystal Empire. He wasn’t always so though, he was made King Sombra’s son through magic. He actually isn’t related to Sombra at all, it’s simply a title.”

“I’m confused,” Applebloom said “how can you be someone’s son but not be someone’s son?”

“Oh dear,” Celestia said looking at Luna “I guess we’ll have to go all the way to the beginning, it’ll be a long story though.”

“Oh please,” Applebloom said “we’d love to hear it!”

“Alright,” said Luna smiling “We’ll begin at the very beginning.”

“Lock Light,” Celestia said “was born at the time when Discord was still ruling Equestria, before we banished him the first time and encased him in stone. His parents were poor, as most pony’s were during that time, because Discord didn’t allow for anypony but himself to prosper during his reign of chaos. His father was a farmer, and his mother died at a relatively young age. He had a younger brother, but he died of one of the sicknesses which was brought by Discord. His mother, an Earth Pony, died of grief, and his father, a Pegasus whose name was Frost Saber, refusing to suffer the same fate, fled to the Crystal Empire where he could raise his son in relative peace. As he grew, he found that he had inherited his mother’s wings, speed, and love of flying. He helped his father build their home, they had a small garden, and were able to grow food for themselves to survive the harsh winter. Discord, too absorbed by his narcissistic pleasure of controlling the ponies in lower Equestria and the Crystal Empire, never really noticed them. After we overthrew Discord, they were some of the few ponies who were relatively unaffected by Discord.

“We then held an election in the Crystal Empire. It was for the people to decide who should be a ruler over them. We exempted ourselves, because we needed to govern all of Equestria and not just the Crystal Empire. There were two large parties, those in favor of Princess Cadence, and those in favor of King Sombra. Lock Light’s father became attached and a favorite of King Sombra. At the time, Sombra was viewed as a bringer of order and prosperity. After the reign of Discord, he was seen as a savior to the ponies in the Crystal Empire. His father admired King Sombra greatly, and rose through the ranks to become a prominent officer, a field marshal in King Sombra’s military and was given the title of Baron. They had a happy new life under King Sombra’s reign. Sombra admired Frost Sabers cunning, resourcefulness, daring, and above all, his loyalty.”

As Princess Celestia took a breath Luna continued “He was raised in the court with the other noble foals. One day, the foals were led by two chaperones, one of them, was his father. Frost Saber became a military pony of great renown. They had fought against the Yaks of Yakyakistan in several campaigns and had beaten them so badly that year, that King Sombra gave his all of his soldiers two weeks off for rest and recreation. Field Marshal Frost Saber, decided, for the first time in two years, to spend this time with his son. He volunteered to act as the second chaperone for the group of foals.

“In a high mountain pass, after about two hours walk, they were attacked by chimera. Frost Saber valiantly fought the beast, though he was clearly outmatched. The children and the other chaperone fled to a small cave that was beside the trail and hid themselves. The chimera slashed left and right, but Frost Saber taunted him, trying to lead him away from the foals. When the chimera caught sight of easier pray and stalked towards them, Frost Saber head butted him and stent him skidding across the trail. There was still some snow fall above the cave roof, so Frost flew up and kicked it down in a small avalanche, which protected the foals. Lock Light, desperate to help his only family, tried to dig his way out of the snow, but the other foals and the chaperone held him back. He screamed, he bit, he fought, and kicked, but nothing would make them let go. The snow had only partially covered the entrance, and a small hole, big enough for him to poke his head out was open. He did so and saw his father still fighting off the Chimera. His father met his eyes and worked his way to him so that his back was almost touching the snow wall. He then said to Lock Light ‘Remember this my son, I’ll always love you, always protect your friends and family!’ Lock Light screamed ‘Dad!’ and Frost Saber was cut in the back from behind. The Chimera roared in triumph as Lock Light screamed in terror.”

Celestia now took up the narrative “Lock Light saw the chimera die that day. His father, recovering from the slash across his back, recovered and head butted him in the ribcage again, but his momentum took him over the cliff’s edge and the chimera, sensing what could happen, latched onto Frost Saber’s wings, preventing him from flying away. Lock Light saw his father’s head disappear over the edge, and he never saw him again.”

Silence followed this portion of Lock Light’s life. Applebloom started to sniffle as Granny Smith put her knitting down and pulled Applebloom up on her lap. Rainbow Dash spoke next “What happened then?”

“Perhaps,” Luna said “it would be best, if we showed you.”

She closed her eyes, and a pool of air spun to reveal a young Lock Light, his sloppy mane folding over his forehead causing him to constantly brush it away, his eyes brimming with tears as he struggled and fought out of the tiny hole to go to the cliff’s edge. He stared downwards, but he saw nothing. He tried to keep a stiff upper lip, but eventually, he broke down in tears. The next pony to follow him, was another Pegasus, he was black, except for bolts of white lightning on his hoofs and in his mane. He trotted over and asked him “Are you alright?”

“No,” Lock Light said “my dad is dead.”

“I’m sorry,” the other foal said putting his arm around him “would you like some help?”

“I don’t know how you can help me,” Lock Light said “I…”

“LOCK LIGHT,” a harsh voice said from behind the snow barrier “get back here this instant! Step AWAY from that edge!”

“I won’t go!” Lock Light said standing up indignantly and wiping away his tears “my dad died protecting us, and this is where he fell. I wanted to see...”

“There could be another Chimera about,” the chaperone said also coming out “you will stay with the rest of the group. We’re going back to the Royal Palace.”

“I’ll go when I want to go,” Lock Light said glaring up at his chaperone, who was also his teacher “my dad died today, don’t you get it!”

“I understand your grief,” the chaperone said “but we’ll ALL get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry Miss Prim,’ said the pony next to Lock Light “I’ll see to that father doesn’t punish any of us.”

“Your majesty,” said Miss Prim “I doubt that your father…”

“Could see reason from his own son?”

“Well,” Miss Prim said “you’re only a foal…”

“You forget your place ma’am,” the pony said “I AM your superior. You swore fealty to my father and therefore to me. YOU will do as I say, whether you like it, approve of it, or desire of it or not.”

“Yes, your highness,” Miss Prim said sheepishly.

The prince turned to face Lock Light “What would you like to do now Lock?”

“Could we just wait here a little bit? I’d like to spend some time…”

“I understand,” turning to face the rest of them “we’ll wait here for a few minutes until Lock Light has recovered, and then, he will lead us back down.”

Lock Light looked up at his new friend “Thank you. What’s your name?”

“White Lightning old chap,” he said lifting his hoof as Lock Light shook it “and don’t worry, as I said, I understand.”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said bringing them all back to the present “so, White Lightning wasn’t always a mean, malicious, scumbag?”

“No,” Celestia said “quite the opposite in fact. He once was a very kind and thoughtful pony. He and Lock Light became best friends over the next several years. White Lightning convinced Sombra to let Lock Light live in the Royal Chambers with White Lightning and they had fun together. White Lightning helped Lock Light to remember his father but to forget the tragedy which caused him so much heartache. They both enlisted in the Officers Academy, with Lock Light graduating second in his class. They became inseparable in their early year, when they were like Shining Armor. They became King Sombra’s top officers, not Generals, but great field commanders. They led their troops into dire circumstances and always came out victorious.”

“So what changed all of that?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

"I will show you," Princess Luna said. They were shown snap shots, snippets of Lock Light's life. His becoming an Alicorn, his father showing him more attention than White Lightning, the feelings of jealousy which deepened and grew. After a short while, they all understood. They knew Lock Light's entire story, and great sadness at the loss of his father, the revelation made to him by Princess Celestia, and when remembering the death of his brother, they wept, but solemnly. They then left when they were told to, and Granny Smith took Apple Bloom up to her room and was followed by Big Mac. The rest left for their respective homes.

Lock Light tossed and turned in his sleep, images of his past recurring as nightmares. He was running towards Applejack, trying to save her, but she was always just out of his reach. Then she suddenly stopped and his horn accidentally went straight through her. She gasped, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She then changed from her distinctive light orange to a jet black. It was White Lightning. His eyes closed and his he exhaled his last breath. Lock Light tried to remove his horn, but it took him a long while, a lot longer than he wanted, and when he tried to clean his horn, the blood wouldn't come off. He rubbed and rubbed and rubbed, but the blood which started to pool around White Lightning's body never reached the floor, but always found it on his horn. When the rooster crowed he sat up startled, eyes wide and his forehead sweating. He felt himself, and realized he'd been sweating all over, and that the sheets were damp with it. He tip toed down the stairs and checked in the kitchen, Applejack was there making breakfast and she saw him out of the corner of her eye.

Looking at him she said "Come in Lock Light, you must be hungry."

"What about yourself?"

"I'll be fine," Applejack said "but first there's a few things you and I need to talk about."

"Okay..."

"And there's no better place to talk about it than at breakfast," she said and slid a plate to him "eat up sugar cube."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"First things first," she said pulling up a chair "I got to know something, why have you helped my family for so long? I mean, I saw how much gold you placed every night and that was enough to buy Sweet Apple Acres ten times over. So why did you do that and help out with the chores?"

"Well," Lock Light said through a mouthful of apple fritter "As I told you earlier, I've known your family for a long time. I knew your Auntie Apple Rose quite well in fact, and though she and Granny Smith went their separate ways, I helped first their family and then, when I saw how much your Granny Smith and her family were struggling before they got the Zap Apple trees planted, well, I just felt that I'd better act as a little cushion for you in case anything should ever go bad."

"But what about me," she said "you've obviously done more apple buckin' than me, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Would you have listened?" Lock Light retorted "I understand your independence Applejack, it's why I admired you from the start. It's just, I know that you don't mind having the world on your shoulders, and though you have your friends to help you, who do you think helped out with the farm when you were gone on all of your quests and adventures? The work still needed to be done."

"“So hold on a second,” Applejack said “I’m confused about this whole timeline thing. How then did he meet my Auntie Apple Rose? She’s not a thousand years old.”

“Oh,” Lock Light said “well, actually, it didn't happen a thousand years ago."

"What?"

"It's complicated, just like the rest of my life," Lock Light said "but let me explain. The reign of King Sombra was so dark and evil, that most ponies just wanted to forget it out right. Celestia, not with magic, but by manipulation of history, changed Luna's Rebellion to happen a thousand years ago, or at least to appear that way in the history books. This would make King Sombra's reign seem like even longer ago in the past...when in reality, it was only several decades ago."

"Wait," Applejack said "you mean, even Nightmare Moon..."

"Was only seventy five years ago," Lock Light said.

"Why would Celestia do that?"

"Do what?"

"Change the timeline," Applejack asked "I mean, don't we ponies deserve to know the truth."

"Sometimes," Lock Light said "something that's evil in our lives is so difficult to accept, that it's just easier to forget rather than make it a part of your life."

"Then how old are you really?"

"Would you like to guess?"

"Well," Applejack said "no, I'm just curious."

"Go on," Lock Light said smiling "take a shot."

"Fifty," Applejack tried.

Lock Light looked at her as if to ask really?

"Okay," she said "seventy."

He gave her the same look.

"Ninety," Applejack tried again getting a little exasperated.

"Nope," Lock Light said grinning.

"You can't be one hundred!" Applejack blurted out.

"One hundred and twenty," Lock Light said matter of factly.

Applejack blinked, usually, when someone talked about being immortal, she would have thought of somepony like Celestia or Luna, who have lived for, well, what seemed like thousands of years, always raising the sun and moon. However, this threw a whole new light into the picture. Was she really attracted to an old pony?

"Okay, but another thing then," Applejack quizzed "was that you who came to me in my mind while I was being held captive by White Lightning?"

After a pause, where he was staring very fixedly at a crumb, Lock Light answered "Yes."

"Why did you say 'One who care's deeply for you, but one whom you also despise'" she asked "instead of telling me who you were?"

"I thought you were still bitter towards me over the death of your parents," Lock Light said "you would have preferred it be Princess Luna or even your friend Twilight, so I disguised myself to look similar to Princess Luna so that you might think that it couldn't have been me because I was still angry at her for becoming Nightmare Moon when we reunited again. She loathes herself sometimes, as you saw often enough before, but I decided I'd play on the last emotions you experienced with us which might be there to further enhance my disguise. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," Applejack said her head cocking to one side.

"Let me explain," Lock Light said "Let's say that you hated Rarity and liked Twilight, if I was Rarity and wanted to send you a message and possessed the magic to do so, I would disguise myself as Twilight so that you'd be more open to receiving the message because visually I look like Twilight even though in reality, I'm Rarity."

"So you basically cause an illusion and switch places?"

"More or less," Lock Light said "yes. It's rather complicated and there's no simple way of explaining it."

"But I don't dislike or despise you," she said "it took me a while, but I realize what you had to do was for the best, and that you actually WANTED to help. It was the one of the toughest decisions you had to make when you had to leave my parents to their fate just to save me. I understand that now, is what I'm tryin' to say."

Lock Light nodded and, when he was finished with his food, and he wiped his hooves. Applejack reached over and held his hooves in hers. Looking straight into his eyes, she asked "Did you really give up your immortality for me?"

After another long pause, and after looking down at the floor, Lock Light answered "Yes."

"Why did you do that? You'll grow old and die!"

Looking back into Applejack's eyes he said "Applejack, as I told your friends, I would give up my wealth, my fame, my reputation, my power, my influence, my magic...and my immortality for you...because....I love you."

Applejack's heart skipped a beat, but Lock Light went on "I have lived a hundred years and have never loved as I have loved you now, you are the pony that I would give everything up for, that I would do everything I could to live for. Immortality is great, but only when you don't know love. I want to live with you Applejack, yes I'll grow old and eventually die, but I want to grow old and live out all the rest of my days with you. I want to live with you right here under this roof and on the fields of this farm. I want to have foals and watch them grow up and have families and make friends just as you and I have done. I want you to be at my side when I am awake and when we fall asleep at night. I want us to have joy and happiness...and I know that we can give each other that."

After Lock Light was finished and looking a little awkward Applejack walked over and kissed him, the sweet gentleness of her lips mixing with his as a spark of lightning jumped from his lips to hers. Lock Light closed his eyes and enjoyed it. They held it for a while, and when Applejack stepped back, she gazed into his eyes and said "That's what I hoped you'd say."