Chapter 14: Blinding Light
He woke up in a field of white silence.
"Oh, so you got here," came a familiar voice. "I'm glad. It took you long enough."
He recognized the face of his friend almost immediately. But for him to be here... he had to be in one of two places.
"Is this...?" he asked.
"The Realm Beyond?" his friend finished. "Yes and no. Apparently I acted like a complete callous fool near the end of my life and you... Well... you're lucky to have made it here after everything you pulled."
He had important information he needed to impart on his friend. "It's Glare! He.."
"I know," his friend interrupted. "I've been watching..."
"You've been watch-" He was incensed. "You told me to tell you when this happened! It's not exactly easy getting here you know and it will be much harder for me to get back! Why did you waste my time-"
"Because you're one of the very few ponies I could talk to after everything fell down... After I lost them... And lost myself," his friend smiled. "True, sometimes it felt like talking to a wall..."
"Oh, ha ha...,"
"In short, you're the only one I can trust who I was sure could hear me..." His friend turned to face him. "Tell me. Right now. Is it them? Are they the ones?"
"Well you've been 'watching'," he said dryly. "You tell me."
"I want to hear it from you."
The look in his friends eyes was one he had seen before. As much as he'd joke, as much as he'd fob off all things with thinly veiled sarcasm, he knew exactly how serious the situation was. "If it's anyone," he said. "It's them."
His friend smiled. "I believe you."
There was an awkward silence. "We should find a way to tell Twili-"
"Not yet," his friend interrupted. "Glare has put a test before them. A very important one. We're going to let the test finish, then we'll tell her. Or if she fails..." His friend trailed off, not wanting to think about what would happen after that.
He sat down and sighed. He had a question he needed to ask his friend. In his heart, he already knew the answer.
"Have you seen her?"
His friend gave him a sad smile. "Oh come on, old friend," he said softly. "You know she wouldn't be here."
Twilight looked stunned at the pony Glare referred to as "Blinding Light."
She was an Alicorn, like her. But her coat had changed to a glowing white, her mane and tail were a deep gold, much like Glare's skin. She had an intense glow all around her. Shining like a fallen star...
But none of that was the curious thing.
The Blindfold the pony wore was somewhat unusual. It was jet black, with the constant markings of flame all around it. Even though she couldn't see them, she could feel Light's eyes. Burning with a hatred that matched the flames on their shroud.
Glare's old laughter filled the room once more. "Tell me... princess," he spat. "What do you see?"
"She's...," Twilight knew the answer. "She's me..."
Twilight was bowled over by her counterpart. "Don't insult me by comparing myself to you!" Blinding Light shrieked. "You nightcrawling worm!!!"
"Calm down, Light...," Glare said softly. "In a sense she's absolutely right. She is you, Princess Twilight... but you perfected."
"W-what do you-?"
"Oh," Glare interrupted. "I think it would be much easier for me to show you, than to explain. Daughter?"
"Yes, Majesty," Light responded sharply.
"Show her the light." Glare let out another icy laugh.
A stream of magic shot from Blinding Light's horn, to Twilight Sparkle's.
And she saw everything Glare wanted her to see.
She saw Rainbow Dash lose the race and not set off the Sonic Rainboom. Thus tearing apart the lives of six fillies. Or, worse yet, not getting them started.
She saw there be no one to answer the call to stop Nightmare Moon, and she watched the world plunge into Nighttime Eternal.
She saw the Crystal Empire rise again, and with it came the Tainted King. Both bringing a darkness of their own.
She saw two who were once so close become bitter enemies. She saw a war tear Equestria apart.
She saw young Twilight Sparkle, a failed mage, look at all the books in her library for a solution. To save the world from the never ending Darkness. She saw her find the light in an old legend called "The Alicorn King's Glare."
She saw a ritual, and she saw the Alicorn King himself. Her refuge. Her savior. And she saw Twilight Sparkle see nothing from then on out. Glare's light was too glorious to behold. She became his. One of many. The Blinded. His children. Tasked to walk forever in Seraphim Glare's light, an so cursed never to see it.
And one by one, she saw those who would be her friends give up to the worst of themselves. Betrayal. Despair. Cruelty. Greed. Delusion, And finally, blindness.
Twilight thought about what she had seen for a moment. She knew what Glare wanted. Glare wanted to change her perception on the way the world was. Change how she saw her life and her friends. Change how she saw her chances of success.
In a way, it had worked.
Because before now she was never more happy to have the friends she did, and she was never more assured of her victory than this moment.
"Oh, wow...," she said. "You're what? Five thousand years old? I would have thought you'd become to old for a strategic error that massive."
A burst of magic came from Twilight larger than anything that she had attempted since the day she got her Cutie Mark. It hit Blinding Light squarely in the face. She flew off of Twilight and landed a few feet away.
A few moments later a strip of cloth fluttered to the ground.
"Interesting," Glare said, more confused than angry. "I would think after what you saw..."
"I'll tell you what I saw," Twilight smiled. "I saw proof that everything I've done up to this point was right. I saw validation in every life choice I've ever made. I saw proof that a simple friendship can change the course of history for the better. I saw proof that my friends are some of the strongest ponies I know. But here's the most important thing... I saw. I can still see. And guess what? Right now, I see right through you."
"Light," Glare sneered. "End her. I grow weary of this ceaseless prattle."
"F-father..." Blinding Light said shakily. "I... I can't. I..." She let out a whimper of pain.
Twilight looked at her counterpart with some pity. Her blindfold was gone. She was covering her eyes and wincing in pain. Cracks were coming from her eyes and moving down her cheeks. "And without my friends," Twilight said. "This is what I come to..."
"His light will guide me," Blinding Light said desperately. "His bring me to my salvation... All darkness will turn to ash upon the pyre... His light makes me see without seeing... His light..."
"You of all ponies should know," Twilight sighed. "Light can show you the way. Light can help you see. Light can also leave you blind."
"Daughter," Glare said sternly. "She is evil. A creature of darkness. Stop stalling and end her!"
Blinding Light tried to take the hooves off her eyes, but she screamed when she did and covered them again. "I- I can't... It's..."
"What's the problem Blinding Light?" Twilight asked calmly.
"Girl...," Glare was starting to lose his patience. "You will do as I ask."
"I'm going to ask again," Twilight said. "You can end me any time you want to. I won't even bother to put up a fight. So again, what's stopping you."
"i-it's," Blinding Light sobbed. "It's..."
"Say it."
"TOO BRIGHT!!" With that the cracks covered her body and she soon burst. The only traces of her being her cloak and her blindfold.
With that Twilight was left alone in the room with Seraphim Glare.
"Well," Glare said after a few moments. "That was..." He seemed to choke back the rage in an effort to keep a regal composure. "Unexpected to say the very least. I don't like it when things don't go as planned. I find it quite bothersome... Killing you self would be too quick... i prefer to take my time, you see. And I would... have too much fun too early. That's simply something I can't control. I'll admit. I'm at a loss for what to do..."
"My advice?" Twilight said through gritted teeth. "Start running."
Glare's ice cold laughter filled the throne room once again. "Oh, the Mage would be proud of his little successor," he said mockingly. "All that confidence. All that bravado. All for naught. Give me a reason girl. One good reason why I should be afraid of you."
"A reason?!" Twilight Sparkle letting rage out through every pore of her body. "You have hurt so many ponies, some of whom I call friends. You have been a tyrant to anyone who's ever had the misfortune of being under your hoof. And now, you've managed to do it. You've manage to anger the most powerful ponies in the history of Equestria. The ponies who have always overcome every obstacle put in front of them. Every single time that some maniac like you has come spitting their rhetoric they were there.
"You want a reason?" Twilight snarled. "I can give you six!"
With that Twilight heard a crashing noise from the roof above her. Eventually she saw the figure of Rainbow Dash crashing through the ceiling.
"One," Dash panted.
"Two!" said Pinkie Pie, leaping from seemingly nowhere.
"Three," said Fluttershy from behind Twilight. A look of pure determination on her fae
"Four!" said Rarity grandly, leaping to Twilight's side.
"Five!" said Applejack, seemingly falling up from the floor.
Twilight smiled. "Six," she grinned as she unfurled her wings. "This is who we are Glare. Six reasons that you should just run."
It took the moment of silence for Twilight to realize that Glare was trembling, and as much as Twilight would have liked it, it wasn't out of fear. "Well," the Alicorn King said calmly. "You have spent some time explaining who you are... Should I tell you who I am?"
And then the roof of the Crystal Palace exploded, leaving the throne room exposed to the starry night. Several chunks of the ceiling and roof hovered menacingly overhead. Glare's harsh glow was more intense than ever now.
"I am speed," Glare growled, his voice distorted. "I am heat. I am time. I am the bane to all Darkness. I am the only true King of Equestria. I am the spirit of all consuming flame. I am the death of all who would dwell in shadow. I am the only 'right' there is in this world. I am the closest thing you will find to a god. I am Seraphim Glare, the first and final light!
"Now watch as your world ends in fire."
It's been a while since I wrote Glare's dialogue... I think I still got it.
That's the end of Act II folks! I'mma take about a week off, but after that chapters should be coming out MUCH faster. Say... no more than three days between updates?
Also, I need some feedback from you guys, I haven't done Glare since... Like... JULY. So tell me if he's still written as well here, okay?
Please rate and comment!
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Keep going! THIS STORY IS FLAWLESS!
5688925 *counts the three grammatical errors in this chapter alone* No it's not. But thank you for reading!
5688949 Grammar is not something I use to rank stories. Stories can be good without good grammar. For me, flawless means that a story compensates for it's few flaws (grammar or others) more than enough through it's story telling, world building, dialogue and ideas.
1. That discussion in purgatory.....WHAT?
2. That ending to Light...satisfying.
3. That schedule.....appealing.
4. Glare's dialogue.....still want to rip his horn of and jam it up his #@!$, so I think you haven't lost your touch.
5683215 WELL THEN, WHAT THE HELL ELSE IS THERE?!?!
Glare is written perfectly here. This chapter could've been drawn out more, but it's still great. I'll look forward to the next chapter!
5723183 1) Thank you!
2) Seraphim sounded cool.
3) No no... No self inserts, no. No no... No.
4) Actually, the reason I came to FiMFiction was to write this story. So the story itself inspired the User Name. Actually, getting back to point 2 Seraphim's original name was going to be Triumphan (light from heaven) I changed it to Seraphim because it rolled better off the tongue.
5) Well if that happens MCCARTHY'S GONNA OWE ME BANK!
I think this should be Seraphim's theme:
5726692 1.
2.
3. Kind of vaguely GERMAN actually...
4. It's the name of an order of Angels. Specifically the Choir of God.
Oh, and you wanted his theme song?
Boom.
5726722 Well, damn. That's a good song!
5726722 1.) I DEMAND THIS STORY UPDATED!!! YOU WILL MISS YOUR DEADLINE, SIR!!!
2.) Okay, a hint of German (I'd rather go with British or American, though. That's my personal preference.), but overall, what can one expect when hearing him speak?
3.) So, he's an absolute monarch who, from what I could gather, hates the darkness as it threatens his power. He wants to be the one and only Equestrian ruler. The darkness gives ponies relief from his light. Seraphim wants nothing more than to see ponies cook in his glory, and when people speak out, he goes Hitler on them.
I think I just solved this nut.
WHAT ARE YOU, GREG?!?! THIS IS FREAKIN' OUTSTANDING!!!! I DEMAND AN UPDATE!!!
First, that is perhaps the best way to turn a plan of anyone that claims to be light against them.
Second, I think there are a couple of grammar errors in that section:
Instead of a period, a question mark should be used.
The first "i" should be capitalized.
Well, I'm certainly not any sort of reviewer, but as far as I can tell he's still the same arrogant, self-important jerk that he's always been. I'd say he's written about the same.
p.s. I fell asleep in the middle of typing this comment from my phone. How can I make it up to you for not posting it sooner?
Opposite of friendship is blindness?
THIS IS PERFECT
I called it! His own creation was used against him, just not in the way I was expecting. Also, since Blinding Light had a blindfold on, all she saw was black. How would that not make her a Creature of Darkness? Just think about that.
5875247
How is blindness being the opposite of friendship perfect?