//------------------------------//
// Harmony and Family 
// Story: He Who Wields The Lightning 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

With a sigh, Radiance watched as the Pegasus-drawn carriage pulled farther and farther away from the castle, watching as her best friend was leaving her. "Why did you have to send Twilight to Ponyville, Mom? We still had so much cool stuff we wanted to do before the year ended."

"Because, my dear daughter, Twilight needs to make more friends then you and her brother," Celestia muttered from over at her desk, where she was checking a number of letters, not liking any of them. "And with the Summer Sun Festival coming up, I also sent her down there to help organize the events. Now then, shouldn't you be studying for the Mastery Unicorn Test coming up?" Radiance grumbled to herself as she swished her yellow mane, and she turned and headed back to her desk. With a groan, she looked down at the tomes that she had been studying for the past week. 

"So, speaking of the Summer Sun Festival, are you going to Ponyville tomorrow as well?" Radiance asked hopefully, but when she saw Celestia hang her head, she knew the answer already. 'Right, this is also the thousand year anniversary of when she had to banish her own sister to the moon...shouldn't bring this topic up around her.'

"Do you know where your sister and Teth have gotten to?" Celestia asked after an hour of silence. "I told them to be back half an hour ago and they still haven't checked in." Radiance chuckled at her mother's annoyance, since the both of them knew full well that Sunny was one of the least punctual ponies on the planet, and if it weren't for Teth, she would never get anywhere on time. "Ten to one she took the wrong Canterlot train and is now in Applepalosia."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I remember the last time that happened; they were gone for two days and I was worried out of my mind," Celestia groaned as she held a hoof to her head.

"Or, there was that time she disturbed all those maticores when she visited the Everfree Forest," Radiance reminded her mother, who groaned again as she held both hooves to her head. "You gave her the scolding of her life when she got back, but from the way Teth glared at her after he had to fight them off, I don't know which of you was more furious that day. And then there was the time she almost got signed up for the army..."

"She's always had a knack for getting involved in things she shouldn't," Celestia said with a loving chuckle as she thought back on the past ten years of chaos the two fillies had caused her...but also how she wouldn't trade those memories for anything. Then the two heard loud sounds coming from the main hall and the pair raced out to see a golden pony run past them.

"Himomhisistergottaruncan'ttalk!" The two watched Sunny run past them with confusion on their faces before the doors were kicked open, and Teth stalked into the room with wrath burning in his eyes, cowing any of the guards that weren't too busy laughing at how he looked. He was covered in vines and slime, not to mention looking like he had fallen down a mountain. 

"Fun day out with Sunny?" Celestia asked with a kind chuckle as she helped remove some of the vines from Teth, while Radiance rolled around on the floor in laughter. The glare Teth gave her told the story, and the princess sighed before using her magic to remove the slime. "I'll talk to her, you go get cleaned up. I take it you had to save her again?" Teth stalked off and Celestia stifled a chuckle at the sight before she turned and headed towards her daughter's room.

"I swear, it wasn't my fault! Those venus fly traps came out of nowhere!" Sunnysmiles stammered the moment Celestia entered the room, taking shelter behind her pillow as she looked beyond her mother for Teth. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought he was going to flail me with the look he had."

"From what I saw of him, he would have had every right to," Celestia joked as she pulled Sunny into a hug. "So, aside from man-eating plants, how was your day?"

"It was pretty good up until then. I think Teth has finally gotten used to our way of life and culture," Sunny said in a near whisper, Celestia gasping with fake surprise at the thought. "I know. I caught him checking out a book on myths and magics past the other day. I think he's trying to learn how to use our magic."

"Why, at the end of the week, maybe he'll finally stop glaring at all who approach us and finally smile." Celestia and Sunny began to laugh together at the thought of Teth smiling, but the laughter quietly died down as Celestia began to think about what tomorrow would be. "But tomorrow, I want you and your sister to stick very close to Teth. I have to do something alone...a promise I made to my sister long ago, so I won't be there to protect you."

"Protect us from what? The changelings haven't attacked in years," Sunny reminded her mother, who stood up with a smile as she motioned for her sister to follow her.

"Yes, but now you need to go apologize to Teth for putting his life in danger again. Come on, no arguing." Sunny hopped off her bed and followed her mother out of the room.

"...yet for some reason, I just can't get this conversion spell to work," Radiance vented to Teth as he sat beside her, looking over the spell book she was studying with disappointment.

'These ponies have such a small grasp of magic. Why are there no spoken words in here?' he thought to himself, while Radiance tried to get the spell to work, attempting to change an orange to an apple. He silently stroked his small beard as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Radiance's spell, since everything looked to be perfect. 'It cannot be Radiance; she has an affinity for magic that I have seldom seen in my own race. Must be something about the book.'

"Argh, I wish Twilight were here. She could always make sense of this stuff," Radiance growled as she slammed the book shut and threw herself onto her bed, levitating random things around her room and making them dance. Teth frowned at her behavior and he picked up the book, throwing it onto her bed and giving her a look. "I'm just taking a break. You don't need to tell me how important this test is."

"I hope not. Just because I'm the one administering it doesn't mean that you'll get a free pass," Celestia said as she entered the room, Sunny hiding behind her mother. "In fact, I'll probably judge you harder, especially if I know that you weren't studying." Radiance gave her an exasperated groan before opening the book and flipping to the page, grumbling to herself while Sunny slowly walked up to Teth.

"Sorry about this morning, Teth," she said weakly, hanging her head at the glare Teth gave her. But after a moment of glaring, he waved his hand at her in a way that she had come to learn meant that he didn't care. She hugged his leg before falling down as she began to cough heavily. Teth and Celestia were immediately at her side as her body was wracked with coughs, which stopped after a minute.

"Are you alright, daughter?" Celestia asked with sheer horror in her eyes as she looked over Sunny. "Do you need to go to the hospital again?" Sunny shook her head while stifling the rest of the coughs, but her eternal smile returned a moment later while she stood up on her own.

"It's alright, it's just a small fit. Nothing serious." Neither Teth or Celestia believed her, but Sunny ran over to her sister to see what she was doing, leaving Celestia worried.

"It's been getting worse," Celestia whispered to Teth, who silently looked at the sisters while they messed with each other. "The doctors have told me that the medicine they've been using to keep the symptoms at bay are starting to wane, meaning that the sickness is only going to get worse." Teth could hear the fear in her voice as she said this, knowing how hard this must be for her--to be powerless while your loved ones were suffering.

"Keep a close eye on them for me," Celestia said to Teth as she turned to exit the room, leaving Teth to shoot her a questioning glace. "I have something that I must check on. My sister and I promised that we would keep...where I'm going safe. So please keep an eye on my daughters. But no matter what happens, do not leave this castle." Teth nodded to assure her as she spread her wings to take to the sky, flying off the balcony and into the rising sun on the horizon.

'Her daughter is sick and her own festival is tomorrow, yet she flies off to wherever this is,' Teth thought, not so much angry as he was curious. 'Whatever it is, it must be very important to the security of her nation if she entrusted these two handfuls to me so easily.' He shook his head to remove his thoughts as he turned back to the girls, both of whom where wrestling on the floor.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

Teth wore his famous scowl on his face as Celestia practically pranced around him, happily hopping on her hooves while both Teth and Celestia's daughters looked at her like she was crazy. 

"My sister's back! My sister's back! My sister is BACK!" she happily sang as she pranced around, ignoring the looks she was getting. "Oh, I really should go throw a party for Twilight and her new friends, I never knew that they could claim the Elements of Harmony and free my sister from Nightmare Moon!"

"Um, I'm glad that you're happy, but I thought your sister was trapped in the moon?" Sunnysmiles asked Celestia with some slight confusion as Celestia stopped prancing and pulled her two daughters into a hug. "Like, forever?"

"Only for a thousand years," Celestia reminded her as she placed them both in front of her. "I had been hoping that in the thousand years she would get over her rage, not to mention it was the only option I could think of at the time to protect her and the ponies of the land."

"That's where you used the Elements of Harmony for the first time, right?" Radiance asked. Both she and Teth were more interested in the magical artifacts than the fact that Celestia's sister was back. "The most powerful artifacts that were formed by the leaders of all the races at the first meeting of peace?"

'And here I thought you weren't studying,' Teth mused while his thoughts remained on the Elements. He wondered if their power would be enough to free his voice and return his power to him...for his revenge, of course.

"Yes, and now Twilight and her five new friends have their power. Oh, but who cares about that, my sister is back!" Celestia laughed. As if on cue, the doors to the main room opened and an alicorn with a bluish-black coat entered the room, her short, blue mane resting on a head with regret-filled eyes. Her eyes rested upon her sister with a look of sorrow, but then they rested upon Teth with shock and amazement. Before she could ask any questions, she was tackled by her sister, who pulled her into the tightest hug Teth had seen.

"Welcome back, sister Luna!" Celestia happily said as she tightened her hug, forcing Luna to push her off--if she was to breathe. "It has been so long and I've missed you so much!"

"Yes...sister it has been too long," Luna said with a regretful smile while she returned the hug much more gently. "And I see that there are some unfamiliar faces in the castle now. Who are the little ones and the..."

"Human. Teth is a human," Celestia finished for her as she pushed Teth forward with her wing. "This is Teth, a human who somehow ended up in our land. He is the protector of my little family." Celestia smiled when she saw her sister's eyes widen, when Celestia said 'little family,' and the Princess of the Sun pushed her two daughters forward. "Luna, these are my two adopted daughters, Radiance and Sunnysmiles; girls, this is my sister, Luna."

"Nice to meet you, Auntie Moony!" Sunnysmiles said with such an infectious, beaming smile that even a confused Luna returned a genuine smile as well. "I'm the cheerful one around here, in case you haven't guessed. Teth is the grumpy one, and my sister is the smart and magical one."

"I can introduce myself just fine," Radiance cut in as she grabbed her little sister by the face and pushed her back, giving Luna a formal bow before looking up at her. "But as my sister said, I am the more skilled of the two of us. It is nice to meet you, finally, Princess of the Night. Celestia has told us much about you."

"I hope it wasn't anything too bad," Luna said with a weak smile before looking to Teth, who simply stared at her with no emotion on his face. "Hello there, human...Teth. I'm sorry if I do anything to offend you; I've been 'out of the loop' for a while." The tone was joking, but Teth did not change his expression at all. 

'Yes, I know all too well about you,' he mused as he crossed his arms, Luna casting a quick glance at her sister when Teth never responded. 'And I know that I cannot trust you.'

"Oh, we forgot to mention that Teth can't talk," Celestia added. "There's a strange magic around his throat that is stopping him from speaking. We've tried for years to get rid of it, but nothing seems to work. However, we've learned to live with it and we figure Teth has as well." Teth made no indication that he was listening anymore, but Luna was aware that he had yet to take his eyes off of her, eyes that were not kind.

"So, it seems that there is a lot for me to catch up on in the thousand years that I've been away," Luna said as Celestia wrapped a wing around her sister and led her through the castle. The daughters followed them, but Teth remained rooted in place with his eyes still narrowed at Luna. But then, his thoughts went back to his voice and the Elements of Harmony.

'If there is any chance of me retrieving my voice and my power, I must speak...communicate with these Elements as soon as possible.' Then he shook his head as he looked down at Sunny, who had come back to him.

"Come on, Teth, the family's not complete without you," she smiled as she grabbed his hand and dragged him along. He let out a silent sigh as he allowed himself to be taken by her, figuring that it was a topic that could wait for another day. He didn't mind waiting a little longer, as long as he was with the family.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

"He's so scary," Fluttershy whispered while she hid behind Rainbow Dash as the group looked at Teth, who looked down at the five of them with interest as well as a hint of disdain. They were awaiting Celestia's arrival in the throne room, and so far only Twilight had been brave enough to "chat" with Teth, who was still looking at the five with disbelief. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, along with Twilight, were the legendary Elements of Harmony and wielders of the artifacts.

"Don't worry, he's a pretty good guy," Twilight whispered back. "He just never smiles."

"Or talks, apparently. All ah've seen him do since we got here was look at us," Applejack muttered.

"Total wimp. Could beat him in ten seconds, tops." Teth decided that he was not going to get along with Dash.

"Well, I think he's great!" Pinkie yelled as she tried to get close before Teth caught her and pushed her back, snarling slightly.

'And yet aside from the Elements, it seems that they are hardly any different from the rest of the populace,' Teth mused before pushing the pink one away with his foot once again. 'Except for you, Pinkie. You are a royal pain.' The moment Celestia walked in the room Teth turned and gave her a look of no faith.

"Will you just trust me?" she whispered to him before she stopped in front of the six ponies. "Hello, Elements of Harmony," she said in a regal voice, getting the six of them to bow. "Thank you for coming here on such short notice. First, let me say just how proud I am of all of you, and how you defeated the evil that was Nightmare Moon, freeing my sister."

"Where is Princess Luna?" Twilight asked.

"My sister is being shown around Canterlot by my daughters at the moment, since she needed time to catch up on what she has missed. That should be fun," Celestia chuckled. "But now, I wish to move on to the reason that I have called you to Canterlot. Ever since he arrived here ten years ago, Teth has been unable to use his voice and a powerful magic prevents us from aiding him. But if there is any magic that can break the one around his throat, it is the Elements' magic. Would you please try the Elements on him?"

"Certainly, Princess if that is what you wish," Twilight agreed before nodding to the others, each of whom took up the same stance that they had taken only a few days ago. The magic began to flow between the six of them, lifting the shining ponies into the air as their Elements began to interact with each other's. Teth felt himself growing more nervous as he saw the magic increase in power, but as it was his only chance to remove this magic, he would have to endure.

"Now!" Twilight yelled, and the six all focused the magic onto Teth, who was consumed by the rainbow light. At first he felt fine, the magic almost soothing as it felt his kind nature and his good intentions. But as it went deeper, it found out what he had done--who he was. And it knew he was a threat. Teth screamed as the magic began to tear him apart, burning his skin as it tried to destroy him there. 

"No!" Celestia yelled before using her magic to pull Twilight out of the group, cancelling the Elements' power and stopping the attack. "Teth!" she screamed as she raced to his side, where he slowly got up with his clothes smoldering. "I am so sorry! I have no idea...no, the magic on your throat must have been cast by an evil force. The Elements must have been trying to destroy you along with it."

"The Elements can do that?" Rarity asked.

"Yes, but only against forces of true evil," Celestia replied as she helped Teth to his feet, where he was forced to lean against her for support. "I am so sorry that this had to happen. The six of you may spend the rest of the day here however you want, but right now Teth needs treatment. Twilight, please show them out." She turned once Twilight nodded and escorted Teth to the medical room once again.


S=H=A=Z=A=M

"And here we are again," Celestia half-joked as she looked over his injuries, sighing in relief when she saw that none of them were that severe. "You are a tough human. Are all of you this tough?" Teth shook his head as he looked down at his hand, thoughts troubling him as Celestia applied medicine to his wounds. "Again, I am sorry about the Elements. I thought that if anything could break the spell it would be--" She stopped as Teth held out his hand and shook his head. He pointed to the door and she got the hint, leaving him alone.

'It is not your fault,' he raged inside of his mind as he flexed his hand, knowing full well why the Elements had decided to attack him. 'You said that the Elements will destroy any force of true evil...and despite all the good I have tried to do in my life, it seems that I have not changed at all. I am still Black Adam, even without my powers.' Teth shook his head as he forced himself back up to his feet and over to the window, looking out at the stars.

'There is enough blood on these hands to drown a nation, but what the Elements failed to grasp about me is that everything I did, I did for the safety of the people...of my people,' he mentally berated himself as he closed his fist, a single tear falling down his face at the thought of all who had died. 'Yet, it was all for naught in the end. I am trapped on this planet and my people are dead. I truly am a failure of a champion. Only Celestia has not seen me as a failure...she and her daughters, the only tolerable ponies on this planet.'

'But, I will prove them all wrong!' the stubborn side of his mind yelled. 'I will show those foolish Elements, the foolish wizard, that I am truly meant to be a Champion of Lightning! That I can be a savior to others! I may have failed with my people, but the wizard gave me another chance, whether he knows it or not! There is so much pain here, pain that I can prevent. Despite what I have done, the innocent have always been under my protection! These ponies will be my people now, and I will protect them as if they were my own!'

The fire was in his eyes again as he looked out at the starry sky, where he pulled his sword out of its sheath and pointed it towards the distance. 'You are wrong about me, all of you! I will show you what it truly means to be a champion! And once I have, I will show you, oh so called heroes of Earth, how badly YOU have failed.' With this new fire in his heart, he turned and left the room, ready to start again like the champion he knew he was.

"Oh, hey," Sunny said weakly as Teth practically stepped on her when he opened the door. He backed up a bit to allow her into the room, noticing that she was carrying a bag of something. Radiance followed her inside as well, Teth wondering how he hadn't seen her, and the two of them sat down on his bed, sympathy in their eyes.

"Celestia told us that the Elements couldn't return your voice," Radiance said. "We're sorry about that." Teth raised an eyebrow as Sunny began to rummage through the bag she had brought. 

"So, I made you these in the hopes that you'd feel better," the mare said with a smile as she pulled out a number of small cupcakes. "Okay, Pinkie did help a bit, but I did most the work!"

"Like the cleaning up, after the mess you made," Radiance snarked. Sunny stuck out her tongue at her sister while Teth looked at the two of them, the pair reminding him of how his children used to act. Thinking of his children and watching the two argue, he let the thinnest of smiles cross his face--a smile that neither of them saw.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

"Will you at least look like you're having fun?" Celestia whispered to Teth as a number of esteemed guests walked up to the princess and bowed before her, Celestia doing the same, while Adam's scowl made sure that they didn't stick around too long. "I don't mind talking to the ponies, but with you making that face, barely any of them are coming over here. Cut it out."

'This is a waste of time. There are more important things that you should be doing.' Teth could barely hear himself think over the sound of the music and all of the ponies talking, and it annoyed him to no end. The Grand Galloping Gala, as it was called, was supposed to be the greatest party of the year, where ponies from near and far came to party. 'And parties have never been my forte,' Teth thought with a scowl, scaring off another couple.

"That does it. I want you to go into that crowd and try to interact with these ponies without scaring any of them," Celestia said with a laugh as she walked into the crowd and began to chat with some of the party goers, leaving Teth on his own. The ponies were still staying away from him so he decided to get some air, walking into the garden where there were a significantly fewer number of ponies to bother him.

'Say...that is one of the Elements,' he perceived, as he spotted an orange pony with an odd hat behind a stand with apple products. He was feeling somewhat hungry and he graced the orange pony with his presence, who gave him a polite bow when he approached.

"Evening Teth, see something ya like?" she asked as he looked through the food on show, taking two apples before placing the amount of bits needed on the cart. "Thanks for the business, it's been a bit of a slow night."

'I bet it has,' he responded mentally when he turned to leave, but AJ kept on talking. 

"Ah'm not really here so much to party, as I am trying to make as much money as I can for my family back home," she said with a frustrated sigh when another pair of ponies walked by her.  From the looks they gave Teth, it was more his fault than anything. "This day hasn't been going the way I wanted it to. Ugh, and this was supposed to be the best night ever!" Teth rolled his eyes before placing another bit on the cart to take another apple, glad to see that this bit silenced her and allowed him to walk away.

'Thinking of ponies that are rarely quiet, I have not seen Radiance or Sunny in a while,' he mused, walking by the garden where he caught glimpses of Fluttershy trying to wrangle up the animals in some kind of trap. 'That is a task for the normal guards. But their lack of attendance unnerves me. While the changelings have not attacked in a while, I could see them only pretending to be gone to strike when our guard is down.' 

Their room seemed like the best place to check, and he ascended the castle to their chambers, looking down to see what was going on at the party. Dash was apparently not having a great time, Teth had seemed to be AJ's only customer, Pinkie was going insane (again) and Rarity looked like she wanted to kill someone.

'So, a better night than me.' He reached Sunny's chambers first and started to knock on the door, when he heard a sound that he knew was trouble, the sounds of horrendous coughing. His shoulder met the door and his shoulder won, making the door burst open as he stormed into the room, right past the stunned Radiance to Sunny, who was lying on the bed.

"TETH! Thank goodness you're here. I went to find my sister when she didn't show up to the gala, and..." Teth blocked out anything she said at this point while he placed a hand on Sunny's forehead, snarling when he felt her burning up. Her body was still wracked with the coughs that were supposed to have gone away. "I wanted to get Celestia, but I didn't want to leave my sister..." Teth pointed to her and then down to the gala, Radiance running out the door as she got the hint.

"Teth?" Sunnysmiles asked weakly, trying to get a smile on her face as Teth did whatever he could to get the fever down. "I'm not feeling too well. I'm...scared. Am I dying?" Teth couldn't respond as he was working, but with the look Sunny was giving him, he had to avert his eyes and in doing so, answered her question. "Guess...it was only a matter of time...with this cough." Teth closed his eyes before turning as he heard hoofsteps, moving to the side as Celestia ran to her daughter.

"We need to get her to the hospital," she muttered, barely noticing Teth as she lifted Sunny with her magic. "Escort the guests out. I need to deal with this." Teth barely had time to nod to her before she ran out the door and shot off, leaving the man to shake his head sadly.

'She is on borrowed time now. If only I had my power. Then I could save her.'