The night could not get any worse for Twilight! First, Celestia was missing which was already stressful enough for her to handle, then Nightmare Moon showed up and basked the world into eternal night which will prove to be a disaster for everyone's schedule over time and the agriculture business.
But the most horrific problem of them all stunned her the most. She foalnapped a colt!
“Darkloud!” Miss Cheerilee shouted, eventually stopping to a halt along with Twilight.
“You know him Miss?”
“Not really, he was a foreigner I helped take to Town Hall. Oh, how scared he must be…”
Twilight would be inclined to agree, but having seen what the foal could do, she had doubts. This Darkloud, a colt probably at her age when she got her cutie mark, stood face to face against Nightmare Moon without any sense of agency and used unfamiliar magic… without his horn!
Twilight shook her head frantically, “don’t worry Miss, I'll try with all my power to get Darkloud back, you can count on me!”
And with that, Twilight galloped back to Golden Oak’s Library with urgency. No pony, let alone a foal, should be in Nightmare Moon's hooves if she had anything to say about it, so she knew her next course of action. Find the artefacts that sealed the mare of the night in the first place.
The Elements of Harmony.
Lux was ejected from the fog's hold and would’ve hit a wall face first if he didn’t tuck and roll, slamming into it with his back. Pain shot up his body once he slumped to the floor, but the colt pulled himself off the concrete, concentrating on his breathing while stretching a few limbs for signs of lethal injury.
No sprains or cuts, just a bruise. That’s manageable
He turned his focus to his location. From what the colt could gather, he stood in a regal castle and he could notice that whoever lived here hadn't returned. Roots and vegetation encapsulated the stone pillars holding the crumbling ceiling from falling under gravity's call. The windows lost their glass with only pieces of the frame being the only evidence of their existence and at the end of the hall, there lay a circular podium but with nothing on top of it.
Lux walked up the steps and stood in the middle of it to look through the framed window, his most obvious and biggest escape route, only to notice that he was about 6 floors high judging by the number of windows from a distant tower.
He frowned. “Doesn’t matter what I do, I always end up back in this damn forest one way or another…” Darkloud turned to face the open staircase on the other side, “though, broken castles must mean some sort of knowledge. Perhaps I can find something new before Nightmare Moon-”
“Leaving so soon little colt?” The air ran cold and Lux steeled himself to meet the sound of his perpetrator who bent her neck to meet him at eye level, their muzzles so close to connecting with each other.
Lux scoffed, smirking at her. “Well, being held captive against your will doesn’t induce a lot of hospitality in a guest.”
Nightmare Moon’s widened her smile, revealing her sharp teeth. If Lux didn’t know better, he’d assume she was a carnivore. “Royalty don’t need to follow the intricacies of our subjects, besides you should be honoured foal. You are in the presence of the most powerful creature in all of Equestria.”
“Most… powerful?”
To Nightmare Moon's surprise, the colt didn’t look afraid of that fact, nor did he laugh like it was a nonsensical joke. He was looking at her with a gleam of respect and…admiration?
“Ahem, obviously little one. Now I believe you hold something valuable that I must seek,” she returned to her formal stature, averting her gaze to the window behind her, “that archaic magic you demonstrated before me, how did you acquire such magic, foal?”
Lux waited like a statue with his eyebrow raised and hoof on his chin, pondering his next move.
So she took me for my alchemy skills…maybe she wants to learn it, but if I give her the information then she could just kill me. And if I refuse, it could lead to the same outcome. There really is no winning here…unless.
The colt broke from his position and prostrated himself in front of the mare. “I apologise, your majesty but to do so would most likely spell my demise by your hoof, yet I don’t wish to upset you so how about a compromise.”
Nightmare Moon peered at him, her slit pupils narrowing to wander deeper into his very being. “Very well, speak.” She commanded and so Lux obeyed.
“You see, I need to get stronger, I know that with all my power at this moment, it won't be enough to combat the threats that will come my way. Without strength, I’m no help at all… so here's my ultimatum! If you could teach me magic, I can teach you my skills. We both get what we want and I don’t lose out, is that satisfactory?”
She shut her eyes as if deep in thought. “No”
“What?”
“Your magic does seem impressive but it holds no candle to the might of my magic! For a colt to have such arrogance is almost amusing,” she chuckled coldly, grinning at Lux menacingly.
“A life of servitude added to such an ultimatum shall suffice. Your demise, as you put it, wouldn’t be a particularly fitting end for you, so I do encourage you to take this deal.”
The mare cooed, circling around him as he followed her gaze. “Think about it colt, you will be able to do anything under my hoof. Money, power, it shall be yours. All that's required of you is to listen and obey my orders. My words are your life and you will be wise to follow it, I do not tolerate disobedience nor cowardice.”
She stopped circling him and cupped her hoof to his chin, as if scanning for any hint of defiance. “Your answer is obvious colt, yet I need your word.”
Lux gazed into the abyss and took to the confines of his mind for an answer. On one hoof, he would gain a vast amount of knowledge and power merely by serving Nightmare Moon and despite her rather destructive entrance, she did look like a fair ruler if he stayed on her good side. But what about the other ponies? He pondered. If she's serious on maintaining eternal night, no sunlight will be available, which means no photosynthesis, no plant growth and no food for everypony. So unless they convert to carnivores, which I highly doubt, there could be world wide chaos! I…I can’t do that to them. I help people, that's been my entire life, and I refuse to do the opposite.
Nightmare Moon frowned, like she could read his thoughts and tossed him to the side. “Foolish foal, so much vigour and pride, yet no hunger for what's necessary. And here I thought you were different.”
Expanding her wings, she glided towards the window and saw 6 ponies in a courtyard with a podium holding various spherical stones.
“Observe, and I shall show you the error of your ways little colt.” she leered as her horn emanated a blinding white glow, forcing Darkloud to shut his eyes and wonder what she plans to do.
Twilight snapped to reality, picking herself up and quickly scanned the unfamiliar surroundings to find both the colt and Nightmare Moon who had the stone covered elements hovering around her while cackling fiercely.
She inaudibly gasped at her monstrous form but turned to see the colt, who she knew as Darkloud. Just like before, the colt stood stone faced in the heart of danger. She couldn't imagine the volume of recklessness that was on display but she couldn’t think of that now.
“Release the colt Nightmare Moon, your problem is with me!”
“And if I refuse. What could you possibly do?”
Twilight furrowed her brow and skidded her hoof along the concrete like a bull ready to charge. Her horn sparked to life.
“...you can’t be serious.”
The two proceed to charge towards each other while Darkloud watched. That was until Twilight teleported to the stone elements, confusing the mare of the night for just a second before she stirred backwards.
Her horn glowed again, grasping at the stones that sparked with pink electricity as they interacted.
“Just one spark, come on…”
But it was for naught as Nightmare Moon phased in front of her and sent her flying. She would’ve taken a nasty skid across the floor if Darkloud didn’t catch her mid air with his own magic. Sweating from concentration, he let go, resulting in Twilight landing on her flank.
“Sorry, I'm still working on it.” He said with an apologetic smile.
Twilight gave him a gentle smile of her own. “Thanks for the help Darkloud. Besides, I think we’re done here.” The stones became electrically charged, connecting to each other…
Until they didn't.
Nightmare Moon smirked and with a stomp, broke the stones into several pieces. The world turned upside down in Twilight's eyes. The 6th element didn’t appear and Nightmare Moon had won.
She failed to save Equestria.
She failed to save her teacher.
“You little foals, thinking you can defeat me!” The mare boomed, her voice echoing along the hall. “No matter what magic you throw at me, without the elements, you will never see your beloved princess nor the sun. For the night shall last forever!”
Twilight's ears drooped in defeat, yet he instinctively had her foreleg blocking Darkloud from Nightmare Moon.
“I guess it’s do or die!” He called, grabbing more of those runic pieces of paper from his bag and going into a battle stance. Twilight couldn’t help but marvel at the colt’s undeterred bravery, so young yet so strong. It was infectious.
She steeled herself and stepped forward, ready to do whatever she could to stop the looming threat.
That was until they could both hear numerous voices calling for Twilight, ascending the staircase.
“Uhm, are they your friends?” Darkloud commented to Twilight. And it all clicked, her eyes dilated and shone with determination.
“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?” She smirked, proudly facing the mare of the night. “Well you’re wrong, because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!”
The 6 ponies confidently smile at her while the shattered shards glow a multitude of colours and hover in the air, separating and floating towards each of them.
“Applejack who reassured me when I was in doubt represents the spirit of honesty,”
“Fluttershy who tamed the manticore with her compassion represents the spirit of kindness,”
“Pinkie Pie who banished fear by laughing in the face of danger representing the spirit of laughter,”
“Rarity who calmed the sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of generosity,”
“And Rainbow Dash who could not abandon her friends for her own desire represents the spirit of loyalty. The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenger you threw at us!”
Nightmare Moon growled in annoyance. “You still don't have the sixth element, the spark didn’t work!”
“But it did. A different kind of spark,” Twilight turned to her friends and Darkloud behind the group, who was still confused about the whole situation shifting to the power of friendship trope,
“I felt, at that very moment, I realised how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realised that you all… are my friends!”
At that moment, a purple light shone from above her, revealing a sixth element with her cutie mark etched in the stone.
“You see Nightmare moon, when those elements are ignited by…the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it brings the sixth element, the element of…Magic!”
Well that was… something.
Lux was incredibly perplexed about what just happened. The 6 ponies he met at town hall appeared out of nowhere, gaining strange jewellery which they called the Elements of Harmony and blasted Nightmare Moon into nothing with a super powered rainbow beam.
Lux smiled at them as they slumped to the floor, recuperating from the mega rainbow blast. He felt encouraged by his decision as he found a new form of magic even stronger than whom he was going to align with, though it would be a whole new story trying to unlock such strength.
He mentally noted it for another time and knelt down to the one called Twilight, lending a hoof.
“That was quite the sight to behold, you doing okay?”
Twilight peered upward, still groggy from the sudden energy, but had enough to smile, taking the gesture and standing up. “Thanks Darkloud. You’re a brave little guy standing against Nightmare Moon like that, you should be real proud of yourself.” Twilight said, patting Lux’s head to the colt's bemusement.
Meanwhile, the others conversed about their new jewellery they acquired which led Applejack to speak.
“Jee Twilight, I thought you were spoutin’ a lot a hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship.”
“Indeed you do.” A new voice called, which took Lux by surprise, jumping backwards and igniting his horn, but when looking at the mares, they didn’t look alarmed at all.
Do they know this voice?
Suddenly, light enveloped the castle interior as the sun rose back in place. A white light descended from the day and shot into the room before it vanished to reveal another alicorn.
Lux thought she looked like the exact opposite of Nightmare Moon, and if the bowing mares told him anything, he could successfully assume that she was Princess Celestia, the pony who was expected to show up at Town Hall.
However, Lux didn’t want to bother with the pleasantries of Twilight's conversation because he caught a glance at something that broke from Nightmare Moon’s armour. It was an alicorn smaller than Celestia with blueberry fur and a sky coloured mane. She looked both stressed and tired with how she struggled to stand, so he walked over to her.
“Need a hoof Miss?”
“You…you are-”
“Darkloud yes, though it’s in your best interest if you stand. A fragile stance does nopony any favours.”
So with slight hesitation, she took his hoof and rose from her position.
Jeez, is everypony gonna be taller than me?
“Princess Luna…”
And immediately, the serenity Luna held vanished in an instant once she saw Celestia. “It has been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this.” Celestia said, standing in front of Luna while Lux watched from her side.
“Time to put our differences behind us, we were meant to rule together, little sister.”
The mares gasped in shock while Lux nodded to himself. It did make sense to him as Luna and Celestia were both Princesses, a family title, and their cutie marks of the day and night resembled only of the alchemic signs he knew of that combined two existing ones. Pondus.
“Will you accept my friendship?”
Everypony was on the edge of their seat, awaiting her response while Lux, feeling the tension from Luna’s face, placed a hoof on her wing. She snapped back at him in shock but with a nod and a smile from the colt, she returned the gesture, dashing towards her sister.
“I’m so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister…”
“I missed you too.”
Witnessing such a tearful embrace almost brought Lux to tears. He never could imagine what having siblings would be like but he had held many friendships in his old life that he’d refer to as brotherly or sibling bonds. But he immediately broke from the joyous trance.
Crap, I forgot all about my mission with Mayor Mare! I better dash.
Lux crept along the hall and was two steps down the staircase until he was assaulted by a pink blur.
“Oh my god, I don’t remember seeing you around here little fella!” Pinkie Pie squealed, bouncing as she held onto his shoulders. “You must be new to Ponyville, this calls for a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party along with our ‘Welcome back Princess’ party!”
“T-thanks for the suggestion uhm… Pinkie, but I really gotta talk to the Mayor.”
“There is no need to rush little colt,” Celestia interrupted, “if it isn’t much trouble, I am fairly intrigued on how you ended up here”
Twilight decided it would be the right time to bring her side of the story. “You wouldn’t believe it Princess Celestia, Darkloud had used some form of ancient magic! It was probably why Nightmare Moon took him here. I didn’t know what to think about it.”
“Ancient magic,” Celestia questioned, “is this true Darkloud?”
“Y-yes your majesty. It's not that impressive though.”
“Not that impressive…” Rainbow Dash zoomed in Lux’s face, squishing his cheeks in excitement, “that was awesome! Spewing those gusts of wind from those paper thingies without a horn threw Nightmare Moon through a loop. That alone makes you pretty cool in my books.”
Lux noticed he was how hard he was blushing from embarrassment and pushed Rainbow away. “Please stop that, it’s embarrassing.”
“Anyhow I believe we should travel back to Ponyville before the denizens get worried,” Celestia called, teleporting multiple carriages linked with guard ponies, everypony hopped on a carriage, leaving only one carriage that had room which was where Twilight sat..
“Come on now Darkloud, your parents are probably awfully worried. Don’t want to keep them waiting.”
…
This gonna get awkward soon
Inside town hall, Lux sat on a chair, finishing his gruelling tale in the Everfree Forest. He put all his effort into focusing entirely on his voice, not bothering to see the mane six who were listening behind him.
“So yeah…Dad’s gone, his last words were to send me to you. I would’ve been here earlier but the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco took up most of my night.”
Mayor Mare was on the opposite side of the desk, her mouth agape and her eyes watering with tears.
“Oh…oh my dear, so you were his son,” Mayor Mare cracked, wiping her tears under her glasses, “Heatwave was such a lovely stallion, helping anyone who needed it. To think he’s… oh sweet Celestia”
“Oh you poor thing!” For the first time from Darklouds perspective, Fluttershy spoke, latching onto Lux’s chest in a tough, tearful embrace. “It must have been tough living in the Everfree Forest for so long...”
"ack! uh- c-can you, ugk."
“Now hold your horse's sugar cube, y’er breakin’ the poor foal,” the solemn-faced Applejack said, pointing to Lux whose skin was slowly losing colour, “believe me, Ah’m just as upset as the next pony. To think Heatwave was all bright as rain a few days ago…”
“Oh. I-Im sorry…”
Fluttershy released her deadlock grip on the colt which allowed him to breathe life into his organs for a few seconds.
“Phew anyway, as I was saying, I want to know what will be done with me since I’m technically on my own,” Lux sunk into his chair, preparing himself for whatever tedious task that would most likely be thrown at him, “I don’t mind living alone though, I’ve done it a few times so you won't have to worry about me, then again, I don't know if you'd allow that…” The frantic colt continued to mutter to himself as Mayor Mare consoled him.
Meanwhile, the mane 6 huddled together in a circle, all having pity etched on their faces.
“W-we can't just leave him can we?”
“The poor darling has clearly gone through enough in his foalhood, as much as I trust the caretakers of Canterlot Orphanage, I’m still concerned with his health.”
“Well then, what options do we have, adopt him ourselves?”
The 5 stared at Rainbow Dash like she just solved the most convoluted puzzle of all time.
“What?”
“That’s a super duper adorable idea! I bet either of us would make great moms.”
“Pinkie please, we don’t even know if the lil’ colt would want that. His ol’ man would rather come back from the grave than let Darkloud live in worry…”
“I certainly think so, just look at him.”
Pinkie directed their eyes back to Darkloud who had his hooves squishing his cheeks. “Please ma’am, I don’t care about the living conditions or such. If it has a roof and some food, I'll be set. Just something about an orphanage doesn’t sit right with me.”
“I’m sorry dear but I can’t do that, you’re too young to live in your own home. I’m afraid we will need to hand you over to the caretakers. Trust me Darkloud, they are very lovely ponies who’d love to help you.”
“Aight then, point taken, but who's gonna do it?”
“Not me! Don’t get me wrong, he’s really cool and all, but I can’t bring him to Cloudsdale with me. Cause unicorn and all”
“I’d love to, but Sweetiebelle is strenuous enough to take care of, let alone a colt so fool-hardy”
“Oh oh, I can do it! But if anypony else wants to, I won't argue. Taking care of a foal does sound like fun but I’m not sure how well I’d be.”
“And I don’t know if the lil’ guy would appreciate life at the farm…Twilight, Fluttershy. What about y’all?”
“I-I don’t know, I've never taken care of a foal before a-and if the animals don’t like him, I wouldn't know what to do.”
“Me neither, I don’t want to leave him like that, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for such a responsibility.”
On the other end of the room, Lux had stopped chatting with Mayor Mare a while ago, raising his ears to listen to their conversation. It warmed his heart to know that they wanted to help him but at the same time, he didn’t feel like he wanted to be raised again. His first parents were a mere memory to him and his next breath of parental love died out before a year passed. He sighed at the emotional weight placed on him, at the moment, and jumped off the chair to face the mares.
“Really girls, you don’t have to burden yourselves with this. I know I’m strong enough to handle a measly orphanage for a few years, and all of you must have lives you gotta get back to. So again, thank you for rescuing me but I'll get out of your hair.”
All of them looked torn as they saw the colt wandered towards the doorway and opened it with magic and a bit of effort, but on the other side was surprisingly Princess Celestia.
“Darkloud, please wait a moment. I believe your fate has yet to be decided.”
Lux tilted his head at the Princess, frowning. “But they all have a reason not to take me, I'm not going to burden them with handling me.”
“But they didn’t say no… Twilight,” she turned to her pupil with a gleam of motherly intent in her gaze, “if I were to choose, I think you would be the best candidate to care for Darkloud.”
“W-what?” Twilight jumped in surprise. “But I have no experience taking care of ponies, I wouldn’t be prepared at all! Can you imagine the amount of lists I’d have to make to stay on track?”
“From what I’ve seen from Darkloud during our travels, he has quite the fascination for magic as well as his affinity for an ancient form of it. I predict that after a few days, the two of you will be quite fond of each other. Sometimes it takes just a few moments for a bond to bloom, planned or not.”
Darkloud and Twilight glanced at each other, but while Twilight was lost in thought, the colt leaned into her barrel.
“U-uhm Darkloud?”
“To be honest, I wouldn’t mind that at all! That magic I saw in the castle is too good to pass up and I do want to get better at my craft, so who better than the student of one of the strongest ponies in Equestria!” He cracked his head upward to meet Twilight, his face brewing with electricity and passion. “I don’t care what you wanna see me as: son, brother, student, either way I get to live with somepony and that's all that matters. So what do you say?”
Twilight stood silent as the room beamed with tension but in the end, she smiled down at him.
“Well, if the Princess believes in me, how can I not?”
Almost everyone in that office cheered and on that day forth, Lux would be able to live in Ponyville and live a life of peace and harmony. And he would intend to keep it that way with all his power. Yet one thing still bothered him which needed to be corrected for the near future.
“Hey, can I ask a favour?”
“Of course what is it?” Twilight responded
“Can I be called Darklo instead? It's like a nickname of mine… it just feels more natural to me.”
Everyone nodded in understanding to which Lux…no, Darklo smiled. Throughout his whole experience, he didn’t know what to think about himself. Darkloud was somepony else and keeping the name would be like identity theft in his eyes and Lux was the name of a human long gone now. His story ended so it was time for a new beginning, so a new name would feel much better. Something that was passable enough as a nickname while straying away from the identity the body once held. It was his journey and he was going to use it to the best of his ability.
Let’s see what else God has in store!