Inverno in F Minor

by CrackedInkWell

12: Defiance in C Minor.

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Inverno’s mind was restless. For hours, his thoughts had refused him sleep until those questions were satisfied. They demanded answers that the unicorn couldn’t give. He rolled over on his bed. He had lost count of how many times he had done this since he got under the sheets. Inverno tried to distract his mind by focusing on thoughts of his favorite music to drown them out.

He focused on the kind of music that soothed and relaxed him. Perhaps, a few lullabies would keep his demons away.

His mind drifted over to the familiar sound of his pipe organ, back to a memory of him playing a lullaby that sang out a soft, warm sound, a sound of the dark. Yet, as the melody played on, he noticed that the song morphed from the pleasant music of the organ into the disjointed song of moans and cries.

Inverno opened his eyes to find that he was back in the crowded torture chamber with his father again. This time, however, Inverno found himself neither hung from the ceiling nor tied up. He wasn’t the one who was about to be given pain.

Instead, he was standing right next to his father, who was holding a knife in his aura. In front of them hung Shining Armor, or at least, what was left of him. His mane was ripped out, his white coat dotted in bruises, and his mouth was stuffed with an old rag. Inverno saw that his left eye was blackened and swollen so much that it was forced shut. He could only see Shining’s right eye, shining out from under heavy brows, silently pleading for this to stop.

“Today’s the day,” Sombra grinned, “It’s about time for the Grand Initiation.”

Inverno looked between Shining and his father, “Papa? What’s going on? What initiation?”

Sombra knelt down in front of the colt. “Inverno, I believe it is time that you undergo a rite of passage. Today is the day you take my place as King, but before you do, you must complete this one, small task, so that you may become a stallion.”

“What’s that?”

“You see this?” Sombra pointed at what remained of Shining, “It has been a very bad slave. You see, this thing has done something so shameless, that It deserved something severe to pay the penalty. That punishment, as you can see, is pretty much over. But the problem is that he has too many bruises, broken bones, and… hold on for a second,” Inverno watched as his father went up to the Prince, turned around, and bucked him hard in the chest. The colt, in his shock, heard the sickening “Crack” and Shining’s muffled sobbing scream.

“And a few fractured ribs,” Sombra continued, “This means that this filth is too weak and beaten to work. So before I did anything further, I had a wonderful idea. I thought to myself that this would be the perfect opportunity for you to enter adulthood, and take your rightful place beside me.” He levitated the knife over to his son. “Inverno, for your initiation, I want you to finish It.”

“What!?”

Sombra raised an eyebrow, “Problem?”

“Papa… I, I can’t do this.”

“Of course you can,” Sombra cooed, “Trust me, this animal has suffered quite enough as it is. Plus, the suffering that It’s facing is a little too much. After all, a king must learn when to show his strength as well as his mercy. I can assure you; this is the height of kindness for the pig. Look at him, all It asks is to be put out of Its misery. Take it.”

Even being over the zenith of fear, Inverno took the knife into his own magic.

“But Papa, I-I’ve never killed a pony before.”

“It’s not as hard as you think,” Sombra said, “Killing a pony is unsettling at first, but after a while, you get used to it. It’s pretty easy. With that knife, you can finish him off in many ways. Such as a slice at the neck, or a stab in the heart, anywhere on the abdomen, or just simply making him bleed would do nicely. Get creative if you wish. Now go on, make your Papa proud.”

Sombra nudged him towards the pony in agony. Knife still in his ruby aura, he gulped as he slowly leveled the long, sharpened piece of steel towards Shining’s heart. Shining, with his only good eye, shut it tightly with a few more tears trailing down. Inverno looked at him, then back to his smiling father.

“Go on, you can do it,” the King urged on.

Inverno looked at Shining again before closing his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he hesitated. How could he go through with this? Sure, Shining wasn’t his father, but he didn’t do anything wrong either to deserve this. He and his wife for all this time have done nothing but look after him.

Opening his cat eyes, he pulled the knife away, “No.”

There was a sudden Clip-Clop of hooves where Inverno turned to find his father, glaring down at him. “Excuse me?” he said darkly.

“N-N-No P-Papa,” the colt answered nervously. “I-I won’t do it.”

Sombra narrowed his eyes, “Inverno, be a good colt, and do as you’re told.”

“Not like this,” Inverno pleaded, “Not with him.”

“Inverno,” his father said in a warning tone, “Do it, or make me very angry.”

Inverno, even though he was afraid, looked at Sombra in the eye and said, “No.”

Sombra slapped him, knocking the colt down on the stone floor.

His father snorted, “Fine then if you’re going to be this weak, I’ll have to take care of this myself.” Sombra levitated the knife that Inverno had dropped.

Even in pain, the colt felt nothing but the urge to spite his father. He looked over at the knife, and the blade shattered before Sombra could plunge it into the beaten unicorn.

“Don’t you DARE HURT HIM!” Inverno yelled in defiance, his eyes locked on his father, their surfaces glimmering with tears. Sombra dropped the hilt of the blade as he felt pressure around his neck. A crimson light shone as cracks started to form, and Sombra found it hard to breathe.

“Son,” he croaked out, “Stop!”

“Cease and desist!” A voice rang out. Suddenly, all around him, everything Inverno saw cracked and shattered like a hoof to a mirror. The young unicorn covered his head as the pieces fell all around him to reveal the stars of the sky. Above him was a full moon from which a shadow descended, and out of the light of the moon came a familiar looking alicorn.

Inverno blinked, “Luna?”

“Tis so,” the Princess of the Night replied, landing in front of the colt. “We suspected thou might have a nightmare tonight from what Prince Shining has told us. By the look of things, our suspicions were correct. Art thou alright?”

The young unicorn took a few deep breaths, his eyes returning to normal, and he wiped away the tears in them. “I don’t know.”

“We have witnessed what hath happened here, child. For we art somewhat torn by thy actions here.” She laid herself down on her stomach, “On the one hoof, thy courage hast been noted when thou resisted something that thou knows was wrong.”

“Courage?” Inverno questioned, “What courage? I was scared when I disappointed Papa.”

“An act of courage is not about having no fear of anything. For that is the definition of stupidity. The courage thou hast shown was that even when thou were afraid, the bravery to say ‘No’ to thy father is something to be admired. However, thy attitude for what happened afterward is something that we art more concerned about.”

“And that being?”

“Thy anger,” Luna answered, “We sense usage of raw dark magic, one that has a lack of form but can still be extremely dangerous. For magic based in Fear, like thy father was using, or the consuming effect of envy was tamed compared to thy demonstration. If left unchecked, it could be a threat to not only those around thee, but for thyself as well.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Anger, in a sense, is like unto fire – for when used wisely, can be a great servant. But when done incorrectly or not looked after, it can lead to disastrous consequences. Trust us from our personal experience; anger can have an effect on ponies that could take years to recover from.”

“I know,” Inverno slumped, “Papa has already told me this before. But… But sometimes it’s just so hard. How could I not get angry whenever something bad happens? Even when Papa almost…” the unicorn trailed off.

Luna got up and put a hoof under his chin. “Thou still cares about thy father, does thee?”

“He’s… Why would he do this? I couldn’t see how Papa would do anything like that, but…”

“Everypony has a dark side to themselves,” Luna said, as she began to stroll down the path of stars, urging Inverno to follow. “In life, this is unavoidable; the two natures of good and evil are inseparable in everyone and everything. Nothing can exist without having at least the slightest element of the other. For not everything is in black and white. Good ponies have a touch of darkness within themselves, as do evil ponies have a touch of light.

“In the end, all it matters is what thou doest with thy light and thy darkness, to use them creatively, or to leave behind a path of destruction. Thou can be a beacon to lift others up, or a hammer to beat them down. It’s a lesson, we confess, that we’ve learned the hard way.”

Inverno tilted his head, “The hard way?”

Luna sighed, “We admit, there was a time where not only jealousy, but anger too have clouded our thoughts, driving us to an end we later regretted. Looking back on our disputes that could have been resolved with a clear mind, we can only remember them with embarrassment and regret. Besides, turning to dark magic wasn’t exactly the best choice either.”

The Nocturne Princess put a wing over the unicorn, “Besides if thou could take anything from this dream, remember this: Thou art not like thy father. Thou art an innocent colt, whose courage is like that of a lion. But like a lion, such anger must be tamed as well. This is why we art sending a teacher over to do precisely that.”

“What teacher?” Inverno questioned.

“One who has a knowledge of music throughout the ages, a master at the keys, and although his methods we art told are provocative, they have proven positive results in both his student’s skills and attitude.”

Before Inverno could ask anything further, the world around him quivered and shook, and the Princess of the Night took flight.

“What’s going on?” Inverno asked.

“Thou art waking up,” Luna said, flying backward into the moon above. “Fear not, we shall be watching thee when thou needest the most.”

Light and shadowed rippled violently until brilliant light had him blinking the sleep from his eyes.

Yawning, he looked around, only to find that he was in his messy bed in his new room.

“Why do I keep having these weird dreams?” Inverno asked himself.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Great chapters. All these were interesting events. Great job and good luck with the next chapter.

[SageBrony07]

Great chapters. All these were interesting events. Great job and good luck with the next chapter.

[PrinceCelestia]

wait wait wait wait wait.... would this teacher's last name be Trotavari?

[CrackedInkWell]

6046413 Master at the key's?

[PrinceCelestia]

6046444
oh wait...... nevermind im not smart...