• Published 13th Jun 2014
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Prince of the Sun - TornadoBlitz



A young man with surprising leadership skills meets the most important day of his life, his death. Many would expect that to be that however fate has other plans.

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Meeting with the Goddess

As mother walked towards the solar chambers, the place I assume that mother called where she rested during the night, something had occurred to me. I had been so caught up in the actions of the day’s previous events that I had overlooked an important question. At the time I hadn’t given it much thought, but now that I was focused on it, I realized its magnitude and importance. More than that though, it stuck with me like that niggling doubt you get on an important day that must be perfect otherwise it turns horrible:

Why me?

Why am I getting this new life and purpose? I wasn’t that important in my old world. I was a section-coordinator in a supermarket, one of probably millions around the world. My decisions only affect the other 12 members of staff and now, when I get older, I will be governing a country with thousands, if not millions of ponies watching my every move. Why made that deity lady choose me? She probably would have had greater success with finding someone like a president of the supermarket chain I worked at or maybe someone from the government. You know, somebody who actually had experience in governing the lives of millions of people at a time.

“Mythic,” Mother said softly, jogging me out of my train of thought. I looked up at her to see her smiling at me, “We are here.”

Looking around the room, I saw it like every other room I had seen so far was huge. The room was an inviting shade of purple with banners of the sun dotted around the place. Finely crafted white wooden furnishings sat immaculately on the finely carpeted floor, like the vanity mirror, the table and Mother’s four poster bed, which also had fine purple drapes hanging from it. However, what confused me was the fact there was a wardrobe present. Or it did until I remembered that Fancy Pants was wearing a suit, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that mother had some nice dresses that she put on for special occasions. Although from what I had seen, clothing in this world was entirely optional.

The only other thing to stand out from the trappings of the room was a white cradle at the end of Celestia’s bed. Like the rest of the furniture, it was white yet it had yellow sheets laid upon it rather than mother’s purple. At one end of it, it had a sun emblazoned upon it with the letter ‘M’ placed directly in its center. Were I to look upon the other side, I would feel fairly certain that I would discover the same insignia placed upon the other end of it.

Seeing that made me wonder how much planning went in when it came to my birth. I never had a child in my previous life, mainly due to my inability to be able to afford to take care of one properly so I really didn’t have any kind of frame for reference. However, going by the reception I received from the population, I judged that planning must have started from the very moment that mother announced her pregnancy to Equestria.

I was interrupted from my contemplating when Mother used her magic to place me into the cradle. Using her hooves, she lifted the blanket around me and tucked me soundly in. Looking down on me, she smiled in that motherly way, undoubtedly thinking how cute I looked. She then leaned down to place a kiss behind my horn and between my ears before nuzzling me.

“Sleep tightly, my little dawn,” she said whispering, beginning to rock the cradle gently to and fro.

I have to admit I always thought the idea of rocking children to sleep seemed a little silly, but now that I was on the receiving end of it, it was surprisingly soothing. I found my eyes begin to fall heavily, my final sight being my mother smiling upon me as I drifted into slumber.

I remember reading something once about lucid dreams, dreams in which the dreamer is aware that he/she is dreaming and can control it. I never experienced one myself, but finding myself floating as I was in that blueish space, I couldn’t think of anything else it could be. After a second or two of this, I found the color began to shift to a much darker shade of black. I opened my mouth to yell something, anything really, but my voice merely came out sounding as childish gibberish.

“Hello there, little one,” a kind, yet powerful voice said from behind me. It had a motherly tone to it, but it wasn’t Mothers. Yet, I recognized that voice from somewhere. After a second of recollection, I realized who that voice belonged to. It belonged to her! The Deity!

I turned around to the source of the voice to be greeted by the vision of millions of stars greeting my vision. As I began to wonder if the voice had only been in my head, several of the stars began moving to some focal point in the sky. It seemed for a second as though they had planned on forming a massive supernova, but that thought was quickly snuffed out when they flashed in a brilliant explosion. When I managed to open my eyes again, I felt my mouth drop open at what I suspected to be the Deity’s true form.

She revealed herself as an alicorn with a shimmering white coat that would’ve put Mother’s to shame. Her mane and tail seemed to be a combination of Mother’s and Auntie Luna’s, the orange and purple coloring seeming to shine as it reflected the stars around us. Her wings were perhaps the most impressive, seeing as they were not only much larger than any I had seen so far, but were also tipped with bright billowing flames that never seemed to waver. As her two shimmering eyes met mine, a gentle smile rose from her lips.

As I was staring at her, I realized that she was tall. Not that surprising really, seeing as I was still in a child’s body, but looking at her I realized that she was even taller than Mother was. Looking over her, I noticed her cutie mark was a supernova placed in the center of a spiraling galaxy. Seeing all of that, I had no trouble believing that she was the very Deity lady that placed me here in the first place.

“I assume by your slack jawed expression that you’re more than a little surprised to see me again,” she said, her voice seeming to echo in the nothingness. Although now that I heard it again, perhaps voice was the wrong word choice. It sounded more akin to something powerful, like a raging storm or a powerful earthquake. It wasn’t until about three eternal seconds later that what she had said hit me.

I blinked a few times, realizing that I was obviously staring and quickly sought something else to do. Snapping my jaws shut, I quickly bowed to her, my nose nearly touching what would’ve been the floor had there been a floor to touch. I heard her chuckling at my display.

“Raise your head, little one,” she said, not bothering to mask her amusement, “Although I do appreciate the gesture, it’s not necessary.”

As I raised myself from genuflecting, I felt myself visibly relax. However, I felt myself shrink as she gazed at me. Somehow I could feel her gazing into my soul. Granted, she had already seen my soul, for lack of a better word, but it was still eerie. However, her smile seemed to widen. “I must admit, you turned out better than I thought you would.”

I opened my mouth to speak again, however it merely came out as gurgling. My face dropped into a scowl. My chance to finally ask what had been on my mind and I couldn’t even participate in it. There were simply no words adequate enough to describe how frustrating that was.

“My apologies,” she said, her horn alighting in an orange aura, “I forgot that you were unable to speak. Fortunately, I know your mind is still as sharp as it was when I found you, so we’ll use that.”

I found my head was being surrounded by that same aura before my ears were filled with a popping sound. I looked around, not seeing anything different about… well anything really. “So, what happens now?” a childlike voice filled the air. After a moment of shock, I found myself asking, “Is that my voice?”

“In a manner of speaking,” the Deity replied chuckling behind her hoof, “You see, that is what you will sound like when you do start speaking. And it happens to suit your personality and cuteness very well, darling. I understand you go by ‘Mythic Light’ now.”

I nodded my reply, still getting use to the shock of my ‘voice.’ Her smile seemed to widen. “It fits you well,” she stated approvingly.

“Who...who are you?” I asked, still getting used to the sound my thoughts made. After a day or two of almost complete silence, the idea of my thoughts making sounds was a bit jarring.

“I doubt you could properly pronounce my true name,” she stated, straightening herself out, “However, for the sake of convenience, you may address me as Faust.” Her demeanor seemed to shift, becoming more business-like. “I understand that you had something you wanted to ask me?”

I felt my spirits drop as my thoughts from earlier began to take root once more. “Yes, I do,” I replied, looking at my hooves, “Why did you choose me for this destiny? I mean I know I’m not anything special. I was just a lowly worker in a supermarket chain, one of perhaps thousands the company employed. Any decision I made only affected perhaps a dozen people at any given time, and even then anything I decided could be overturned by the higher management.

“Now, practically overnight, I became heir to a kingdom, where thousands, if not millions, of ponies will be affected and I have the final say. I mean that is a huge responsibility and, personally, I can’t understand why you would pick me for this when there are plenty of other people better suited for it. So, why pick me over someone like a president or a prime minister?”

The second I saw Faust’s eyebrow raise, I immediately regretted asking. I mean she was generous enough to give me a second life and here I was second guessing her. What if she took it the wrong way? What she decided to send me back? Would that even be possible? And if it was and people thought I was a zombie, would they freak out and kill me again?! And if they did what would happen to me then!?!

Before anymore thoughts along those lines could continue, I felt something soft pull at my right side. Looking at it, I saw a white wing draped at my side, the tips of flames far from my flesh. Looking to my left, my eyes trailed up to Faust’s face as she smiled fondly down at me. “Do you really think I’d send you back just after bringing you here?” she asked in a knowing tone.

“You heard all of what I was thinking earlier, didn’t you?” I asked, mentally facehoofing myself.

“Yes, I did,” she said more softly, the hint of a smirk in her voice, “and I promise, you have nothing to fear from me.”

I felt myself relax as she said that. For some strange reason, even though I felt she could probably destroy the whole of reality with little more than a thought, I felt comfortable around her. It only increased as she tightened her wing around me, the warmth of her radiating into me as she leaned closer to speak.

“To answer your question: it’s true,” she said, leaning closer as her voice dropped, “I could have picked one of those kinds of people for this task, however one of the problems with that is those persons you suggested oft times are slow to respond to any given situation outside of what they consider normal. To them, leadership is more of a chore than a talent, whereas you are different. You have the instincts of a true leader and have displayed talent far surpassing your ‘qualifications’ as you put it. Here, let me show you.”

As Faust’s horn lit once again, I was temporarily blinded by another flash of light. Upon its return, I found myself in a classroom. There were people, actual human beings, gathered around a table and arguing over some documents.

“Do you recognize this?”

I was about to respond I didn’t until it hit me that I remembered some of the people at the table. Seeing as this was the case, as well as the fact that they failed to react to the pair of ponies in the corner of the room, I realized this was some kind of memory viewing or specialized time travel.

“This is my old classroom at the university,” I replied, my thoughts heavy with nostalgia. What I saw next made me actually gasp audibly.

A tall, thin, ginger haired young man entered the room looked upon the scene and shook his head. I could live for a thousand years and still be able to recognize my old human self. As soon as my old self had set his stuff down, he (or is it I) strode to the table and did the only natural thing: got everyone’s attention.

“Hey, hey!” he said, managing to catch the eyes of the arguing parties, “Let’s all take a breath and calm down. Now, what’s going on and how can I help?”

“I remember this,” I said, still stunned by what was playing before me, “A friend of mine was doing a film project and it started going downhill. People started quitting, interviews were being cancelled left and right, and the whole production was becoming a giant mess.”

“Indeed, so what did you do?” Faust asked, undoubtedly knowing the answer as well as I did.

After I had heard about everything that had happened, I had offered my services as a producer on the film. I remember working for weeks, through the night most of the time, in order to get things done. I managed to get the crew organised into roles that would better suit them and made certain that the equipment was properly handled and everyone was trained to use it correctly. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of hours I spent arranging interviews and doing various odd jobs making sure that everything was on schedule. More often than not, the crew started calling me the ‘glue holding the project together.’

Two months later, the film had been completed and the hard work had not only received top marks from the lecturers, but somehow managed to receive a prestigious award from an established film festival. I don’t remember much about the festival itself, but I do remember how much it had meant to my friend. Upon receiving the award, my friend gave a small speech about how much of an honor it was, yet it was the last part that surprised the audience the most.

“...Out of everyone who helped on this project, the one who deserve the most thanks is my best friend,” he said gesturing to me, causing the whole of the audience to turn in my direction, “He basically put this entire project back on track when it was in near ruins and made the project what it is today. He took on the brunt of the project and the complaints and never asked for a thing to do it. He is truly the person that should be up here today and I can’t thank him enough for all of his work.”

As the crowd was led into a round of applause led by my friend, I remember feeling self-conscious as it was directed at me. I had nearly forgotten about that whole ordeal, it was just another project to me. However recalling it now, a small smile crossed my lips.

“You didn’t have to get involved in your friend's film,” Faust stated, pulling me in closer with her wing, “You could have easily turned away and minded your own business, but you didn’t. You displayed a sense of charity, compassion, and devotion to your friend. You inspired others during every stage and showed great ability in dealing with problems. In participating in that project, you showed many qualities that a good leader should have.”

My expression grew thoughtful as I processed what she said. As I did, my smile grew wider. However, I was brought out of my thoughts as she spoke again.

“However, this is but one of the reason I chose you. Here is another.”

The scene changed to a drastically different setting. In front of me was a crashed boat somewhere in the middle of a rainforest. For the second time today, I was shocked for this was a memory that I recalled all too well.

At this time, one of my science classes was in botany and during the semester, an opportunity for a trip to Ecuador came up. It was a unique opportunity to see those exotic plants growing in their natural state. Naturally, I practically jumped at the chance.

Everything had been going fine until about a week before the expedition ended. Somehow, the guide had lost control of the boat and crashed it. Next thing anybody realized was that the entire group was stranded in the wilderness with our only mode of transportation useless.

Naturally, that’s when everything went sour.

A few of the members began arguing, namely on who was to blame for the current situation. Mostly everyone else stayed out of it, sitting on whatever there was that wasn’t covered in mud and doing their best to stay unnoticed. After a few minutes of this, just about when it was getting ready to come to blows, I finally lost it.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” I roared, the area becoming deathly quiet around us. As all eyes in the area became trained on me, I was doing my best to maintain control on what little temper I had left. After a moment of calm breathing, I finally managed to regain control enough to speak again.

“Look, I get it. Our boat just crashed and right about now we all wish we were somewhere other than here. However, fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to help anything. Accidents happen, they’re a part of life. It’s how we react to them that determine what kind of people we are. I don’t know about all of you, but I am not going to wait around here to die. Between all of us, we have the skills, training, and equipment to get ourselves out of this mess. So, who’s with me in getting back home?”

Everything went silent. Had there been a pin handy, you could’ve heard it drop. I wasn’t sure how long it lasted until pretty much everyone there agreed with my sentiments and finally got active.
After gathering anything useful from the remains of the boat, it was simply a matter of following the river to our final stop. It was difficult traveling and the terrain was against us every step of the way. I don’t know how I managed to keep that group going in spite of how scared it undoubtedly was, but I did. I wrote it off as them knowing as well as I did that if they gave up, they wouldn’t see home. It wasn’t until two grueling days of intensive hiking in the Ecuadorian humidity that we finally saw the end of our expedition.

Once we were in the safety of our destination and happily eating something without the possibility of unexpected animals joining for dinner, I got called to the administrator's office. Turns out the accident was caused by the boat’s rudder getting caught in the riverbed due to an unseasonably dry season. The guides both admitted that had it not been for me, the group would undoubtedly be stuck in that rainforest for a lot longer than two days.

Not only had I received a hardy handshake from the administrator, one of the guides gave me his armband. “Take it,” he insisted, “you more than earned it. Keep it as a souvenir, if nothing else.”

Once class was back in session, I was a big deal for about a week and a half. Even managed to get a special decoration from the university along with a certificate. At the time I had shrugged it off, but looking back on it, it was perhaps the proudest moment of my life.

“I could bring up another dozen more examples, but I doubt that it’s necessary,” Faust said, the scene shifting back to the starry night, “With every challenge that came up, you showed compassion, benevolence, sincerity, and courage with your words and your actions. It is for these reasons, in spite of all the shortcomings you believe you have, that I chose you for this.”

I moved my hoof to my eyes to wipe the tears that threatened to fall as she pulled me even closer. “To you, leadership is a second instinct and I will have need for a leader like you in the future. For now though, you are still young and have much to learn about the world and yourself. When the time comes, I have no doubts that your talents will shine like your namesake and that you will do great things in the future.”

I could not measure the amount of worth those words filled me with. “Thank you, Faust,” I said, sniffling slightly, “Thanks for everything.”

“You’re welcome, little prince,” she said, releasing me from her prison of feathers, “Now, it is about time for you to return. I know not when we shall meet again, but know that you are never far from my thoughts.”

I nodded in understanding. She took several steps away from me, her head shifting slightly as though in preparation for a spell. I was ready to return when a sudden thought entered my mind. “Mind if I ask you something else?”

Faust’s eyebrow lifted, as though she weren’t certain to be amused or slighted. “I shall make an exception this one time only,” she said, her tone leaving no room for question.

I nodded that I understood, as I stepped forward and prepared my question. I was taking a big chance asking this and I knew it, but I had to know: “Faust, are you Celestia’s and Luna’s mom?”

She blinked. Twice. Her face remained frozen until she broke into a fit of giggling that made me think of preteen girls in a schoolyard. If I hadn’t been seeing it myself I wouldn’t have believed it.

“Oh, you are an absolute darling,” she said, merriment in her voice, “However, that’s a story for another time. Farewell for now, Mythic Light.”

My eyes were filled with a bright light and before I realized what had happened, I had returned to my crib. It was still dark as I searched about the room, but I did notice my mother grooming herself at her vanity mirror. When she noticed I had awakened, she smiled at me as she approached.

“Good morning, my little foal,” she whispered, as though she were hesitant to break the spell of silence over the castle, “I hadn’t expected you to be up this early. However, it does allow for a unique opportunity.”

Her horn was lit in a golden aura as she lifted me from the soft caress of my blankets, and placed me upon the safety of her back. She strode gently to the balcony, the slight chill of the night wind at our coats as we exited the bedroom. She glanced to a tower to her left, causing me to look and see Auntie Luna upon her own balcony. She nodded her acknowledgement to us, Mother doing the same as they turned their attention to the horizon.

Luna’s horn lit in a sapphire aura, the moon moving in accordance. This was the second time was witnessing the impossible. I saw my own, seemingly fun-loving Aunt Luna moving the moon with little more than her mind. It was truly awe-inspiring.

However, that was merely the prelude to what followed.

Mother’s horn lit once more in her golden aura, her eyes closed in concentration. As she did, the sun rose in response. As the aura intensified slightly, the sky was filled with the reds, oranges, and golds of the dawn. I felt my eyes widen, my eyeballs threatening to fall from their sockets. It was in that moment I knew that Mother hadn’t been exaggerating in the slightest when she said that she moved the sun.

However, what truly surprised me the most was how normally Mother seemed to act. To her, it didn’t seem any more of note than a stroll through the garden. It seemed that my mother was one of the most powerful being in Equestria.

Slowly my shocked face widened into a face splitting smile. Seeing the sun rise as it did gave me new perspective. I did truly belong here and nothing would change that. This was a chance to truly make a difference, to rectify any mistakes of the past, and to help the ponies of my future kingdom. In that moment, I believed I could be a great leader.
That was before my weariness began to overtake me once more and I yawned, slowly sinking into the almost unyielding softness of Mother’s mane. I tried to keep my eyes open, but they also rebelled against my wishes. The last thing I remember was a soft kiss at the tip of my horn as I heard a soft whisper

“Sweet dreams, little foal.”