Sunny's funeral had been done in private, with only those close to her and her best of friends there to put her to rest. Celestia did her best to hide her pain, but it was clearly written on her face for all to see. Radiance seethed with tears in her eyes during the entire funeral, sad that her sister was gone and hating herself for not being able to do anything about it. Both of them had to spend a good number of days recovering.
'And yet Celestia has requested to see me,' Teth silently thought to himself, as he walked down the hallway to her chambers, knowing full well what she wanted to talk to him about. He knocked at her door and entered when she said to, walking into the center of the room and placing his arms behind his back as he waited for Celestia to speak.
"So...this is what happens when humans can speak?" she asked him in a raspy voice from beside the window, the faintest spark of amusement in her red eyes as she looked over the suit. "You call down magical lightning bolts that turn you into super beings?"
"Only a very select few of us can do this," Adam calmly responded, but he could tell from the way she was eyeing him that she was afraid of him now. Celestia slowly nodded as she looked out the window for a moment, choosing her next question carefully.
"What is the real reason you came here?" she eventually asked him. The look she gave him told Adam that she no longer believed his initial story. "If you have these amazing powers and ended up here, then there must be a reason." Adam lowered his head for a moment before looking up at her with cold eyes.
"I was a ruler of my own nation, back on a planet called Earth. There, I protected my people and kept them safe from...almost all threats," Adam venomously said as the images of his fallen nation returned to him. "Yet, the other people of my planet feared me and my power, so they thought of a way to be rid of me. They unleashed a horrible monster upon my land and then used it as an excuse to wipe my nation off the map."
"How could they do that?" she whispered, mortified.
"You do not know humans. They will do anything to "protect" themselves, even if it involves killing millions of each other," Black Adam replied with bitterness in his voice. "That's why I was chosen to wield this power, so that I could protect them. But to answer your question completely, after the destruction of my nation, I sought to destroy those who had attacked my people. But our enemies' champions outnumbered me and I fell to them in battle, but not before killing those who destroyed my home."
'That's the side of you I'm not sure of,' Celestia silently thought before nodding for Adam to continue.
"Once they had captured and restrained me, they took me to the one who had granted me my powers, and with their combined strength they forced me into my mortal form, the human you know as Teth. Then, the wizard used his magic to seal my voice before banishing me to the farthest reaches of space. You know what happened from there." Celestia closed her eyes, feeling sorry for what had happened to Adam, but she knew that there was an important question to ask him.
"So what will you do now?" she asked as she rose to her hooves, the magic crackling along her horn not lost on Adam. "Will you use this power to rule the ponies just like you did on your planet? Or will you fly off and try to exact revenge on those who took everything from you? Because if you try either of those...I will stop you. I know you hate them for what they did, but I will not allow more to die, even if I have to fight you."
'You are stronger than I first believed,' Adam mused before shaking his head and holding out a hand. "No Celestia, I do not wish to rule over your ponies...nor will I return to my home...yet." Celestia gave him a look of confusion at his answer. "You aided me when I was at my weakest and helped me to regain my powers. I am in your debt. And Black Adam always repays his debts." He could see the doubt beginning to clear away in her eyes, slowly but surely. "And, I also made a promise to keep you and your daughters safe. And I don't break my promises.
Celestia lowered her head for a moment before looking back up at Black Adam, trust in her eyes. "Wait outside, please. There is something I wish to show you. But, I need to be alone a little longer."
S=H=A=Z=A=M
'I cannot afford to wait any longer,' Luna silently thought to herself a few days later, while she stood outside the door to Celestia's room, raising a hoof to knock. 'She needs to know what I saw the moment before Black Adam called down the lightning. She needs to know that I saw evil in his eyes.' She went to knock, but the door opened before she could. She jumped back as Black Adam walked out of the room and glared at her, crossing his arms as he did so.
"Celestia should be left alone today," Black Adam said in a calm, almost leader-like way of speaking, but Luna could hear the underlying threat in his voice. "No one is allowed to enter, not even you. Now leave." Luna spat with rage at how she was being treated, but she knew that she was no match for him. But since they were in front of Celestia's room, she was also fairly certain that he wouldn't try anything here.
"And what happens if I don't decide to leave?" she challenged, getting Adam to turn and look back at her with a cold fire in his eyes. "Are you going to kill me like you did Discord? Is that how you do things, Human, if you don't like them...you simply dispose of them?"
"He was a threat to you and your ponies. I think that you should be thanking me instead of trying my patience," he said calmly, but as the lightning crackled from his chest, Luna began to question how far she should push him.
"Yes, he was a threat, but not one that needed to be destroyed!" Luna roared as she took a step forward to meet his eyes. "But it seems that we've traded one unstoppable force for another. Don't act like you don't know what I'm saying Adam, you know as well as I do. I saw the evil in your eyes the day you turned into...this, and I saw the eyes of a man corrupted by power. You are dangerous to everypony here!" To her shock, though, Adam smirked at her before hovering off the ground slightly to look down on her.
"You believe me to be evil?" he asked her coldly and with disdain in his voice. "I have done nothing but help and protect your kind since the moment I arrived here, like the champion I am. What about you Luna?" When she looked at him in confusion, he gave her a cold smirk. "You grew jealous of your own sister and tried to destroy her, casting this land into eternal night. And yet, you call me evil."
"I-I was not in my right state of mind!" she defended, trying to think of words with which to fire back at him. "But-"
"You attacked her and endangered thousands of lives, because you were upset that ponies needed to sleep," Adam said coldly, reaching out and grabbing the Princess of the Night by her throat and lifting her struggling body off the floor. "You betrayed your own sister because you felt left out. How petty. And it shows me that you are the least trustworthy pony in this castle. Were you not Celestia's sister, I would make sure that they would throw you back to the moon so that you could never harm another again. If I felt nice..." He threw her to the floor and allowed her to gain her breath back.
"But she has lost too much recently to lose her sister again, no matter how treacherous that sister was," Adam said with scorn as Luna glared at him. "You are right saying that I am not a perfect hero, but compared to you, I am the better protector. Now leave my sight before I arrange another funeral." She scowled as he said this, but at that moment the doors to Celestia's chamber opened and she walked between them, her red eyes barely registering what was going on.
"Come with me," she said to Black Adam, who nodded as he began to follow her with one last glare at Luna.
"What are you going to show me?"
"Something that you must see. You and Radiance both," Celestia said in a tone that told him that she was not in a mood for argument. Luna took a step forward to interject but a look from Celestia silenced her, before motioning for her to follow as well. She marched through the hallways while Adam floated behind her, wondering where she was taking him. "I don't know if you care or not, but after...Discord, I have hired a new Captain of the Royal Guard. His name is Shining Armor and I would like you to make his acquaintance soon, since you both will be protecting Canterlot. He is Twilight's brother."
"Oh yes, I remember him," Adam nodded. Before the pair could reach Radiance's room, one of the royal advisors and his understudy ran up to Celestia, breathing heavily with shock written on their faces.
"Princess Celestia! It's the griffon envoy!" the advisor said between gasps. Celestia's eyes went wide at this and she took off towards the throne room, Adam floating along besides her.
"Now the griffons are going to be causing us trouble?" Adam asked her, but Celestia simply narrowed her eyes in response.
"The griffons are our most unpredictable "ally". They constantly go back and forth between attacking us and helping us," Celestia said before coming to a trot as she smoothed out her mane and took up a regal appearance. Black Adam respected how fast she could go from emotional to regal, especially with the death of her daughter having been so recent. The doors to the throne room opened and Celestia walked in, the five griffons turning to meet the pair. Their eyebrows went up when they saw Adam floating behind her, but the head envoy cleared her throat when Celestia walked in front of them, Luna taking her side.
"I do not believe that we were supposed to meet for another month," Celestia said calmly, but Adam could hear in her voice that she was still suffering. The griffon envoy stepped forward with a look of disrespect on her face, but the look was replaced with fear when Adam walked up besides Celestia, letting the lightning crackle off of his chest. "Why are you here now?"
"The griffon king desires the land closest to his border," the griffon said with calmness, but the words seemed to shake Celestia to her core. "He desires it now."
"What? But we both agreed that the land was for my ponies during our last meeting!" she yelled with disbelief. "How can he just change his senile old mind on a whim?" The griffon's feathers went up at how Celestia spoke of her king, but the guards--and Adam's glare--kept her calm.
"He also wanted to inform you that if you do not relinquish the land within a month, he will be more than willing to take it by force." The room went quiet at these words, and all of the ponies looked to Celestia and Luna, both of whom shared a glance as they internally debated what to do. Before either could speak, Adam stepped forward.
"Tell me, worm, have you and your kind heard what happened to Discord?" Adam asked in a calm manner.
"Yeah, we heard that Celestia and the Elements beat him. What of it?" The envoy and the other griffons began to back away as Adam leaned his head back and began to laugh, a laugh that caused them to look at him, unnerved.
"No. He is dead, by my hand," Adam said with a coldness that chilled all who listened. He then let the magical lightning flash across his body, allowing the envoy to get a small taste of the power he wielded. The griffons backed away from Adam as the lightning flashed, practically falling over each other to do so. "Do you understand now? My power is on a plain that you cannot fathom. So if your king, the fool that he seems to be, issues an attack, I will unleash this power upon you and your nation."
"Teth, what are you--?" Celestia tried to whisper at him, but the damage had been done. In the face of the twin princesses and the supposed god-slayer, the griffons stiffly bowed and left the room.
"That's going to come back to bite us, I just know it," Luna said with a shake of her head. Celestia also shook her head and left the throne room with the others, leaving the guards and her advisor confused. The three walked over to Radiance's room, where they found a purple and green dragon pacing outside of the door.
"Is something the matter, Spike?" Black Adam asked him, getting the dragon to jump.
"N-no, not really," he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head, but he quickly crumbled under Adam's glare. "Radiance isn't acting like herself. She spends all day now in her room tearing through her spell books. she barely eats, barely sleeps. I'm worried of what will become of her."
"I will talk to her," Adam said before Celestia could respond. Adam walked past the dragon and opened the door, only finding out there was a lock after he tore it apart. Radiance barely turned to look at him before returning to her spell books. "Radiance, your mother wishes to show us something of great importance."
"I don't care," she muttered, getting Adam slightly concerned. "Whatever it is, it can wait." Black Adam scanned her spellbook and found that it was all about the dark arts, on how to raise a pony from the dead. With a shake of his head, he sat down in front of her, closing the book so that she was forced to look at him.
"You miss your sister," he said, not needing her to answer. "It is not your fault that she died. Death claims all of us, eventually."
"But I could have done something!" she half-yelled, sobbing slightly into her hooves. "I could have--"
"Your magic could not have saved her," Adam cut her off, getting her to look up at him with tears.
"Could yours have?"
"Yes. It could have." Radiance hung her head again and sighed in defeat.
"Then, there is no way to bring her back?" she whispered. Adam looked at her for a moment before gently grabbing her chin and lifting her head so that she was looking at him again.
"What I am about to tell you does not leave this room, do you understand? I died once." Radiance was shocked beyond words as she looked up at him, doubting him at first, but his look dispelled the doubt immediately. "I have been alive for over five thousand years. In this form, I am immortal. Yet, the years still ravage my mortal form. In battle with my greatest foe, he tricked me into changing back into my mortal form, and I aged five thousand years in an instant, reducing me to dust."
"But...but then how are you--?"
"Because of my people's belief in both me and in great magic, far greater than what you can achieve," he told her. "But while it is not impossible to raise the dead back into the land of the living, I would advise against it. You would be getting yourself into a danger from which I do not know that I could protect you. Come, it is time to go." Radiance looked down for a moment before she nodded and followed him out of the room, walking out to hear the end of Luna and Celestia's conversation.
"I will not hear another word against him, Luna," Celestia ordered, causing her sister to growl in frustration. "Teth is a good man, not the evil one you describe him as."
"Can't you see how dangerous he is? And now you're taking him to see the two--" Her words died as Black Adam and Radiance joined them, Adam giving Luna a cold stare before Celestia led the way, walking out onto a balcony.
"Radiance, you can fly with me," Celestia said as she levitated Radiance onto her back. "You two, follow me." The three silently took flight and flew across the landscape. With his enhanced vision, Adam could see that they were heading for an abandoned castle at the very end of the Everfree Forest. They landed a moment later, Celestia allowing Radiance to climb off of her back before motioning for her and her sister to go ahead.
"Luna told me what you said to her back in the castle," Celestia said with a subdued fire. "You threated to kill my sister."
"She betrayed you once and tried to cast all of your land into darkness," Adam said to her face, not at all intimidated by the rage. "I warned her that I would be watching her, and if she tried again I would stop her for good. I learned a long time ago that leaving your foes alive only results in giving them another chance to bring you down...and kill all that you cherish." He turned and walked past her before she could answer, getting Celestia to shake her head at him as she followed him inside.
"Stand here," Luna begrudgingly said to Adam, as the two joined Radiance and Celestia on a circular part of the room. Luna and Celestia's magic began to glow, creating a circle around the area they were standing on and causing the stone beneath them to begin to move, sending the four into darkness.
"There is something down there," Adam growled, fists crackling as he felt the waves of magic begin to wash over him. "Something powerful." Radiance moved closer to Celestia for comfort as the slab of stone came to a stop, revealing a long hallway towards the powerful magic. Without a word, the four moved down the hallway, Adam preparing to fight whatever was at the end of the hallway. The hallway led to a room that was bare, save for two spheres that floated in the center of the room.
"In the name of Amon!" Adam whispered, as he felt the twin magical powers coming from the spheres, not sure at all what to think. The sphere on the right was one filled with black and darkness, casting its side of the room in pitch black magic that made even the invulnerable skin of Black Adam crawl. The sphere across the room from it was one of pure silver, casting a calm and caring light on its half of the room, making all of the ponies feel at peace. To Adam though, it made him snarl as its magic began to mess slightly with his own.
"These are the two greatest treasures of Equestria," Luna explained as she walked over to the black sphere. "The sphere of destruction..."
"...And the sphere of creation," Celestia finished as she walked over to the silver one, nodding at Luna. "These two spheres were found by the very first Elements of Harmony, who discovered that their power matched that of the Elements of Harmony. They believed that the spheres could be used for good, but according to the legends, the sphere of creation would not work and the sphere of destruction would destroy anything in front of it without its sister sphere keeping it at bay."
"Somehow, the changelings have caught wind of the two spheres and seek to steal them for their own army," Luna continued. "And with them, they would have the power to not only stand up to, but also possibly defeat, the Elements as well. That is why we have brought the two of you down here to see them. Radiance, as the future ruler of Equestria...as was your sister...Celestia believed it was time that you were told of them. And as for you Adam," she said with venom, "as much as I hate to say it, your power will be crucial in protecting these artifacts."
"Both of you must swear secrecy to what we have told you," Celestia finished, walking over to them and looking at both of them in the eye." Am I clear?" Radiance swore to secrecy almost immediately, but Adam spent a long moment looking at the sphere of destruction, having the sudden urge to destroy it, to blast it into nothingness.
"What would happen if either sphere were destroyed?" he asked.
"We do not know, but legend says that a war far greater than one ever seen in the history of Equestria would be waged," Luna said, giving Adam a cold look. "Why? Thinking of destroying one of them?"
"Yes." And with that he turned to leave, having much to think about. Luna followed after him, muttering under her breath about how trusting him with this information was a bad idea and that Celestia had grown soft. That left Celestia with Radiance, Celestia looking down at her to see that she was gazing upon the sphere of creation with...interest.
"How are you holding up?" Celestia asked as she sat down beside her, gently draping her wing over Radiance's shoulder. Radiance gently leaned against Celestia, her eyes never leaving the silver sphere.
"Coping. Hey Celestia?" she asked softly, getting the ruler to look down at her with kind eyes. "You seemed so strong today, almost as if my sister's death didn't affect you. How do you do it?" Celestia closed her eyes and rested her head gently against Radiance's.
"I am over a thousand years old. As sad as it is to say, I guess I'm...used to those I love dying before me," she said sadly as she opened her eyes again. "I truly feel grief over being unable to help your sister, but...she is in a better place now and she is no longer plagued with the disease that hurt her. And when I feel down, I think at least I filled her life with happiness before she had to go. Come, time to go." She helped Radiance to her hooves and escorted her to leave, but Radiance looked back at the sphere one last time.
"Hey Celestia? What can the sphere of creation do?" Radiance asked softly.
"If what legend said is true? Anything."
'Good. That's exactly what I need.'