The Curse Of Black Thorn

by Bluecatcinema

Enemy Within, Enemy Without

Starlight was walking down one of the palace's hallways, idly wondering how Day Light's talk with his father went. She walked over to a guard, hoping to get a sense of Day Light's current location.

"Excuse me, guard?" She asked. "Do you happen to know where Prince Day Light is, by any chance?"

"Yes, your highness." The guard bowed. "I, er, am sorry to say that I saw Prince Day Light being taken to the royal physician by his mother."

"'Royal physician?" Starlight frowned. "Why?"

"It appeared that the young prince was in quite bad shape." The guard answered.

"Oh, no." Starlight gasped. "Which way is the royal physician?"

"Go down the east wing, and take a left at the first corridor, m'lady." The guard instructed.

"Got it." Starlight nodded. "Thanks!"

Starlight rushed down the corridors, her mind racked with worry over Day Light.

'If anything happened, I'd, I'd... I don't know what I'd do!' She thought.

She eventually made it to the royal infirmary, almost bumping into Red Rose as she reached the door.

"Oh!" Red Rose gasped. "Hello, Starlight."

"Sorry." Starlight apologised. "I heard that something happened to Day Light. Can I see him?"

"Of course you can." Red Rose smiled. "Day Light could use a friend right now."

"Thanks." Starlight nodded. As she entered the room, Red Rose made her way to the courtyard.

What Starlight saw when she entered the room chilled her to the bone; Day Light, laid up in a bed, his body a mass of bruises and welts.

"Day..." She whispered.

"Hey, Star." Day Light smiled weakly.

"...What happened?" Starlight asked. "How did you end up like this?"

"I... fell." Day Light lied.

"You fell?" Starlight frowned incredulously.

"Yeah." Day Light nodded. "Down some stairs."

"Must have been quite a tumble." Starlight remarked, pointing out all of Day Light's wounds."

"It was my own fault." Day Light sighed. "I wasn't thinking, I just walked right into it... I brought it on myself."

"If you say so." Starlight shrugged, confused by the self-loathing look on Day Light's face. "I'm just glad you're okay. Hate to lose a new friend so soon after making one, y'know?"

"Yes..." Day Light mused, lost in thought.

"What's wrong, Day?" Starlight asked.

"You know, after an... experience like that, you start to realise what's important." Day Light declared. "And how you could leave this world without ever admitting to the truth..."

"I'm afraid you've lost me there." Starlight admitted.

"Star, there's something I need to tell you." Day Light said seriously. "Something I've been keeping to myself for a while now, for fear that it could ruin for friendship. But after what happened today, I can't keep it hidden any longer."

"What is it?" Starlight asked. "You can tell me anything."

"Well, the truth is..." Day Light faltered for a moment. He took a deep breath and continued. "Star, I... I think I've fallen in love with you."

"Haba-whaaa?" Starlight's jaw dropped.

"I've been feeling this way for the past couple of days." Day Light admitted. "You're like no pony I've ever met, Starlight. You're so kind, so sweet, so fun, so beautiful."

"Well, I..." Starlight blushed.

"You're always on my mind." Day Light confessed. "I'm thinking about you, dreaming about you... you're in my very soul. I just can't hold it in anymore. If this isn't true love, I don't know what is."

"Day, I..." Starlight gulped. "I..."

"Oh." Day Light's face fell. "You don't feel the same way?"

"Actually, I... do." Starlight admitted. "You're so gentle, and handsome, and thoughtful... when I heard you'd gotten hurt, I was so worried I'd never see you again..."

"You were?" Day Light smiled.

"Yeah." Starlight nodded. "And to be perfectly honest, I've been attracted to you since the second we met."

"You have?" Day Light gasped. "And you've hidden those feelings for all this time?"

"Uh-huh." Starlight nodded bashfully.

"But this is wonderful!" Day Light beamed. "We both share the same feelings! I know we're from two very distant countries, but I think we could make this work. We could write each other letters, maybe even come visit now and then..."

"Not so fast, Day." Starlight frowned. "I need to think about this."

"Why?" Day Light asked. "What's the problem?"

"Like I told you before, I've never been very lucky in love." Starlight reminded him. "Every close-distance relationship I've ever had has gone south, and who's to say a long-distance one could work out any better?"

"We could still try." Day Light urged.

"But what if it still goes wrong?" Starlight asked. "What if we break up, and our friendship is ruined forever?"

"I'm willing to take that risk." Day Light declared.

"But I'm not." Starlight countered. "I really like being with you, Day. I can't risk losing that over a failed fling."

"Fling?" Day Light frowned. "You just said you're attracted to me!"

"Please understand." Starlight sighed. "It'd be better if we just... stayed friends."

"Do you really feel that way, Star?" Day Light asked. "Or are you just afraid? You can't let your past romantic experiences dictate your future. I know we have something really special here. Please don't throw it away over the chance that it could go wrong."

"Believe me, I want to be your marefriend." Starlight told him. "But I just don't know if it's worth losing you as a friend. I just... need time to think it over."

"You'll have that time." Day Light told her. "All you need. I just hope you make the right choice."

Meanwhile, the others had gathered in the courtyard. Red Rose was the last to arrive, having rushed over from the royal physician's office.

"Okay, we're ready to make this work." Echo declared.

"Are we?" Chrysalis said skeptically. "I think I speak for all of us when I say I don't want a repeat of what happened yesterday."

"Don't worry." Sunset smiled. "The problem that kept us from successfully altering this spell has been located and rectified."

"Really?" Cadance smiled. "Who figured it out? You? Echo? Twilight?"

"It was... a group effort." Twilight fibbed. The three had agreed not to tell them that a mystery pony had solved the problem, for fear that the others would grow too suspicious to go along with it.

"I'm sure you're being modest about your part in it, Twilight." Flash said proudly.

"And you're sure it'll work this time?" Constell asked.

"Positive." Sunset smiled.

"That's good enough for me." Celestia beamed.

"And me." Luna agreed.

"But first, a couple of things before we get started." Echo declared. "First... Prince Nightshade, if you would remove your headdress, please."

"My headdress?" Nightshade frowned, glancing up at said headdress, "Professor Alchemy, this headdress is a symbol of Haygyptian royalty, why in Faust's name would I remove it?"

"Well, your highness, since our last attempt, Echo and I had been doing some research. He noticed something regarding your headdress whenever Black Thorn emerges." Sunset explained.

"Really? What about it?" Nightshade glanced at Echo.

"You see, after spending all night going over the equations, we have reason to believe that the headdress is artifact of dark magic." Echo declared.

"What?!" Nightshade gasped.

The others shared his feelings of surprise.

"Seriously?" Shining gaped.

"I never would've guessed..." Shine frowned.

"But... this headdress has been passed down my family through countless generations." Nightshade declared. "How could none of us have known about it having dark magic?"

"Maybe its true purpose was just forgotten about over the years." Twilight surmised. "That sort of thing has been known to happen. I heard about this stallion who had a sketchbook as a family heirloom, and had no idea that it was full of valuable art."

"I am not sure how this could have gone unnoticed." Echo explained. "But according to calculations, the dark magical energy that headdress is giving off seems to be interfering with that of the Gemini spell. If we have any hopes of successfully completing this spell, the headdress must be removed."

"Makes sense to me." Flash shrugged.

"Not to me." Sleight snorted. "But if Mr 'dark magic expert' here says it, it must be the way to go."

"I must admit, this is more than a little disconcerting." Nightshade frowned, as he took off the headdress. "This has been a symbol of the Haygyptian royal family for as long as anypony can remember. I was so proud to finally be able to wear it. And now I find that it's seeped in dark magic..."

"I understand your feelings." Luna declared. "But whether the headdress has dark magic within it or not doesn't matter. It is still a symbol of your family, a sign that its wearers are raised to be good and compassionate rulers. Don't let this revelation dull what the headdress means to you."

"I'll try..." Nightshade sighed, placing the headdress on a bench. "But I doubt I'll ever be able to look at it the same way ever again..."

"With luck, now that the headdress no longer interfering, we should be able to stabilize the spell." Sunset smiled.

"And now you'll be able to get it to work, right?" Red Rose asked.

"In theory, yes." Echo nodded. "Which brings me to point two: According to our new calculations, we will require a lot more magic to be funneled into the spell this time. And I mean a lot more."

"More?" Sleight asked. "Just how much are you expecting them to pump into that spell?"

"I'm afraid it'll be a lot more than any previous attempt." Sunset declared. "More than half of what they've got."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Blueblood held up his hooves. "You're asking them to expend over half their magic at once?"

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Dusty asked.

"Maybe." Twilight nodded. "But it's our best chance to solve this problem once and for all. I for one am going for it."

"That's my little sister." Shining grinned.

"And your wife." Cadance beamed. "Count me in."

"Is this going to totally wipe us out?" Constell asked. "'Cause I had some stuff I wanted to do tonight..."

"It will be quite tiring." Echo admitted. "But I'm reasonably sure there'll be no long-term side effects."

"That's comforting..." Chrysalis frowned.

"Calm yourself, Chrysalis." Celestia declared. "If three of the best minds I've ever known say it will work, I believe them."

"And the loss of a paltry half of our magic is a small price to pay." Luna added.

"I'm glad some of us can be so upbeat about this." Chrysalis shook her head. "Alright, let's get this over with."

"Thank you all." Nightshade smiled. "I never intended for you to have to go through something like this. I wouldn't have blamed you for saying no."

"We made a promise." Constell shrugged. "All of us. Besides, an early night wouldn't be too bad. I could always some more beauty sleep."

"Alright, now that the provisos are out of way, we can begin." Echo declared. "If you can all take your positions, please."

"Here." Red Rose kissed her husband. "For luck."

"Here goes nothing." Nightshade said hopefully.

The Alicorns and Chrysalis formed a circle around Nightshade. Echo once again spread his crystals out, the small black gems swarming around their horns and the page.

"This time, we'll be doing things a little like the first attempt." Echo declared. "But you'll infusing the page with magic sequentially."

"First Celestia, then Luna, then Cadance, then me, then Constell, then Chrysalis." Twilight ran down.

"Once you start transferring your magic into the page, don't stop at all costs." Sunset added. "Ready?"

"Ready." The royals chorused (Chrysalis with less enthusiasm).

"Okay, here we go." Echo nodded. "Princess Celestia, if you'd start us off?"

"Gladly." Celestia smiled. Concentrating hard, she willed her magic down the stream of crystals, the energy pouring into the page.

"So far, so good..." Sunset mused.

Luna followed suit, then Cadance, Twilight, Constell, and Chrysalis. They continued pouring their energies into the page, as the page in turn poured the energies into Nightshade.

"Here comes the moment of truth." Echo said finally.

As Nightshade's body crackled with magical energy, it was plain to all the onlookers that things were different this time. The magic flowing around him was smoother, more fluid.

"Please work, please work, please work..." Sleight spoke a rapid mantra.

"Nighty..." Red Rose watched avidly.

Within seconds, Nightshade's started vibrating again. An indistinct doppelganger started to come out of him, a string of dark magic connecting the two, then suddenly slipped back in, to everypony's dismay.

"Is it failing again?" Shine asked worriedly.

"Give it a moment..." Echo urged. "Don't stop, no matter what!"

"Easy for you to say..." Constell groaned, her efforts starting to tax her.

The others were also starting to feel the detrimental effects of expending so much of their magical energies. Sweat (slime in Chrysalis' case) poured down their brows, and their legs started to shake.

"How much longer are you expecting them to keep this up?" Blueblood asked. "Abort the spell, now!"

"No, not yet..." Nightshade groaned. "We're closer than we've ever been. It's different this time. I can feel it...."

The doppelganger emerged once more. Its vibrating started to slow, yet a thin line of magical energy still linked it with with Nightshade.

"Come on..." Nightshade grunted, the magical energies running through him starting to take their toll. "This time, please..."

The strand of magic linking Nightshade and his duplicate started to spark and sputter. Suddenly, it ruptured, resulting in a blinding flash.

"Ah!" Shining yelled.

"What the-?" Luna shielded her eyes.

"What's happening?" Celestia asked.

"I don't know!" Twilight yelled, covering her face with a wing. "So bright..."

"Has it gone wrong again?!" Chrysalis yelled.

"It couldn't have!" Sunset insisted.

"Did your calculations say this would happen?" Sleight yelled in Echo's direction.

"Not exactly." Echo admitted, his dark crystals forming shades over his eyes. "But it's to be expected. So much magical energies at once can make for an explosive combination..."

The light started to die down. Once it faded, Nightshade stood before them. The doppelganger stood beside him, a blank look on his face. He had Black Thorn's features, yet with a slightly darker coloring than Nightshade, and red eyes.

"Well, I'll be." Blueblood gasped. "They did it."

"I never doubted it for a second." Flash smiled.

"I was a little worried for a while..." Dusty admitted.

"Just a while?" Sleight snorted. "I thought we were in for another disaster!"

"Oh ye of little faith." Shining chided him.

"Like you were any surer than me." Sleight snorted. "I saw that look on your face!"

"Let's just be glad it worked." Shine smiled.

"At last." Chrysalis smiled. "Our job is done, and we can finally go home."

"A job well done, ladies." Celestia congratulated them.

"And not before time." Luna nodded.

"No lie." Constell slumped in exhaustion. "I am Diamond Dog-tired."

"I knew we could do it." Twilight said breathlessly.

"...Nightshade?" Red Rose asked tentatively as she approached her husband. "Are you okay?"

"More than okay." Nightshade smiled. "I'm free at last."

"I'm very glad to hear that." Echo beamed. "We all are."

"Then this must be Black Thorn." Sunset glared at the other stallion.

The other stallion remained motionless.

"Well, well, looks like Black Thorn has nothing to say." Sleight snarked, as he jabbed the doppelganger, eliciting no reaction whatsoever, much to Sleight's sudden concern. "Absolutely nothing."

"This is the first time a permanent Gemini spell was ever cast." Echo explained. "And since we just split two minds into two bodies, Black Thorn might be out of it for a while."

"Good." Nightshade said sternly. "That will make things easier for me. Now that Black Thorn is no longer in my head, he will stand trial for his many crimes, starting with the brutal assault of my son!"

"He did what?!" Shine gasped.

"His son?" Flash gaped.

"When did that happen?" Constell gaped.

"It doesn't matter when it happened." Nightshade declared, as he smiled triumphantly. "I have waited a long time for this day. The day that I would no longer suffer the consequences of Black Thorn's actions, the day I can finally redeem myself and make up for all he had done... and the day that I make him pay!"

"Pay?" Twilight asked. "I thought you were going to have him put in jail?"

"I am." Nightshade nodded. "But not before I level a little physical payback."

"'Physical'?" Constell frowned. "You mean you're going to beat him up?"

"I wouldn't use so crude a term, but essentially, yes." Nightshade grinned.

"You can't do that!" Cadance admonished him.

"Why not?" Red Rose chimed in. "Black Thorn has done far worse to others. It's time he got a taste of what he's been doing to all his victims!"

"Says who?" Luna asked.

"Says me." Nightshade snarled. "As crown Prince of Haygypt, I have the right to pass judgment on Black Thorn. Swift, brutal judgment."

"We didn't sign on for this." Shining growled. "Not even royalty has the right to flout the law like this!"

"Shining's right." Flash agreed. "You sound like you're going to torture him!"

"And would that be so bad?" Nightshade asked.

"Yes, actually." Blueblood nodded. "Look at him! He's practically helpless!"

"Which only makes it easier for me." Nightshade said coldly.

"Don't do it!" Dusty added.

"We will not stand by and let this happen." Chrysalis growled. "You try anything, and we'll put a stop to it."

"I think not." Nightshade snarled. "If any of you try to stop me, I will consider it an act of war."

"You'd risk war for petty revenge?" Sunset asked.

"Only if you force me." Nightshade retorted.

"So much for our friendly host..." Sleight said in disgust.

"I never imagined things would come to this." Echo sighed.

"Now... to start things off..." Nightshade glared at the doppelganger. "I am going to give this ghul a piece of what's to come!"

Nightshade began approaching the doppelganger, but as he did... he suddenly felt woozy.

"Oh…" Nightshade groaned, as he fell to his knees.

"Your majesty!" The others gasped.

"Night!" Red Rose rushed over to him. "Dear, what's wrong?!"

"…I don't know." Nightshade whispered. "I suddenly feel weak all the sudden…"

"You must be worn out by the spell." Blueblood surmised, "The others looked like they're tuckered out as well."

"I don't think so." Nightshade murmured. "This isn't fatigue... it's like... I've been drained or something."

"Maybe the Gemini spell fed on a little of your magic, too." Sunset suggested.

"There's one way to find out." Echo extended his crystals. "If I may?"

"Do it." Nightshade nodded.

With a gesture, Echo sent his crystals to swarm over Nightshade's horn, getting a reading on his magic. As they returned to him, Echo examined them.

"This... this can't be right..." Echo frowned.

"What can't be right?" Sunset asked.

"Yes, what?" Nightshade inquired.

"Your magic." Echo told Nightshade. "It's... gone."

"Gone?!" Nightshade gasped.

"What?!" Twilight gaped.

"Impossible..." Celestia frowned.

"How can this be?" Red Rose gasped, as she turned to Echo. "Professor, what's the meaning of this?"

"I don't know." Echo frowned. "This never came up in our research. The spell was supposed to just split the two apart."

"Then what is it?!" Sleight glared. "It's not like all that magic vanished into thin air!"

Suddenly, there was a dark chuckle, causing everypony's blood to run cold as they stared at the doppelganger. The head soon raised up and faced the crowd, the emotionless face soon taking on the sneer of none other than Black Thorn.

"Hello, everypony..." Black Thorn greeted with an evil grin.

"Black Thorn..." Red Rose seethed.

"He's awake?" Flash asked.

"And apparently, he's finding something very amusing..." Luna frowned.

"It is nice to finally meet you all in the flesh!" Black Thorn declared. "I had set a trap and all of you sprang it gloriously!"

"You..." Nightshade murmured, the lack of magic taking a toll on his body. "What... what had you done to me?!"

"Oh, I've done nothing." Black Thorn chuckled. "When you kicked me out of your mind and body, I decided to take something along with me... namely... all your magic."

"Say what?!" Constell gasped.

"He didn't!" Red Rose yelled, as she rushed to her weakened husband.

"How is that even possible?" Candace wondered.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Black Thorn sneered.

"Return Nightshade's magic to him at once!" Celestia ordered.

"Yeah... no." Black Thorn smirked. "All this magic is best used by somepony who can make better use of it."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say nothing you do with that magic can be considered 'better use'." Blueblood frowned.

"Guess again." Black Thorn sneered. "Now that I've finally been separated from that loser, I've got big plans."

"What kind of plans?" Chrysalis asked.

"You'll see." Black Thorn sneered. "But for now, I have matters to attend you elsewhere..."

"You seem to be laboring under the delusion that we're just going to let you go." Echo surmised, his crystals forming into a clamp.

"You're not going anywhere." Shining declared, his horn sparking.

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Shine added, as they advanced on Black Thorn.

"And we do." Sleight nodded, drawing his cards.

"Oh, yeah?" Black Thorn grinned wickedly. "Well, I've got something of my own to say. Listen, and listen good."

In an instant, Black released a pulse of magic that sent them all flying across the courtyard. Chrysalis and the Alicorns felt it the hardest, having been weakened by their efforts.

"Did I get my point across?" Black Thorn taunted them.

"What th-?" Nightshade groaned, as he struggled to get to his hooves. "Where did that come from? I've never had that kind of power before..."

"Of course not." Black Thorn sneered. "After all, I did happen to also take all of the magic you had pumped into you when we split apart."

"Wha..." Nightshade's blood went cold. "The Alicorns..." He glanced at Celestia and the others.

"He stole our magic too?" Twilight frowned.

"It can't be!" Celestia cried out.

"Inconceivable!" Luna yelled.

"Not cool..." Constell growled.

"Oh, it can..." Black Thorn smirked. "Even the Changeling's magic is mine now."

"My magic..." Chrysalis growled. "You thieving little..."

"Now we definitely can't let him leave!" Cadance declared. "Not with all that power!"

"Like you could stop me." Black Thorn taunted her.

"You fiend." Nightshade glared at Black Thorn. "I was so focused on separating us, it never occurred to me that you would take advantage of the situation..."

"Of course, it doesn't help that you had no idea of the power under your nose." Black Thorn laughed manically, as he approached the headdress. "Or over it, would be the better way of saying it..."

"What are you talking about?" Nightshade snarled, as Black Thorn donned the headdress. "Answer me, Black Thorn!"

"You'll find out soon enough." Black Thorn declared, as the gem on the headdress started to glow brightly. "And you can address me as King Black Thorn now."

The evil stallion cackled madly as the gem glowed ever more brightly. Only a few minutes ago, everypony present had assumed their troubles were over. But now they were realizing in horror that it was only just beginning...

Comments

[HolyCross9]

I'm hopeful that Starlight will make the right decision about becoming Day Light's boyfriend soon.

Also, with Black Thorn being unleashed, all Tartarus is about to break loose.

[danick]

Now i wonder how they going to hide black thorn from starlight