The Return of the King

by MisterEdd

Ascension

From the private diary of King Carnelian, Sovereign Ruler of the Crystal Empire
(Recovered from the site of the Crystal Empire's disappearance)
~*~
Dated February 14th, 1421 PES (Post-Equestrian Settlement)

Today, I write this entry not as a king but as a father, even if the subject of my dictation is not of my blood or even of my species. Tourmaline has grown up to be a fine young stallion, a paragon of virtue that embodies the best traits of the Crystal Empire, which is tragic and somewhat ironic given his background. As a colt, he was so warm and friendly to everypony, no matter their social status or age and I can't help but wonder if it was a result of the Crystal Heart altering his memory or my wife's influence on him. Aquamarine and I catered to Tourmaline's every whim, showing the absolute warmth and love towards him as if he were our own flesh and blood. It's actually astounding that he didn't grow up to be a spoiled ponce like much of the Crystal Empire's elite upper class.

When Aquamarine delivered Garnet, we had feared that little Tourmaline would be plagued by envy and fury, bitterness at having a newcomer stealing his parents' love. To our absolute amazement, however, he tenderly kissed Garnet's forehead and smiled, "I love you, baby sister." From then on, he rarely left his sister's side, always playing with her or keeping an eye out for anything that might cause the filly harm. And Garnet thought the world of her elder sibling. Whenever she played with her friends, she would always brag about how amazing or magically skilled Tourmaline was. It is truly a wondrous and rare bond the two share to this day and it fills my heart with deep love at the sight of them, which makes concealing the truth behind Tourmaline's past all the harder to bear.

There was a time when I'd felt awestruck at being associated with Queen Concordia, marveling at her poise and inner strength. However, following the Massacre of Dravite Hill, Aquamarine and I have shared feelings of wariness and even disgust at the thought of our alicorn ruler. The ignominy of her callous genocide of both the Draconequus and Umbrum races have left us to regard a close former friend as a cold-hearted creature wearing the form of a pony. Despite this, she is still our monarch and regardless of whatever she's committed, we are duty-bound to serve her for the good of Equestria.

I may have regarded Queen Concordia with distain, but her two daughters were a completely different story. Celestia, the elder of the pair, was fair and dignified, the very image of a princess. She was also warm and kind-hearted, and when Concordia first broached the idea of wedding her to Tourmaline, I almost immediately agreed with the match-up. In order to bring the pair closer together, Celestia was often brought to the Crystal Empire and as a result, Aquamarine and I came to regard her as a second daughter and Garnet treated her as a big sister. I have watched Celestia's growth from filly to mare and I can say with the utmost confidence that I wouldn't have anypony else wed my son.

Luna, the younger daughter, was a different story altogether. It wasn't that she wasn't worthy of our attention nor was she distant and unfriendly. In fact, she was sweet and very bright, spending many hours speaking of art and poetry and it seemed that she preferred the company of adults than those of her own age. That, coupled with her patience of Discord's antics, painted the picture of a good-humored and well-adjusted mare. The issue was that Celestia was simply around us more and thus I felt a stronger connection to her than with Luna. I hope to change that someday.

Now that Celestia is closer in age to Tourmaline, the two have finally agreed to be married and preparations for the wedding are under way, making it the largest event in recent memory. The entire kingdom has become infected with joy and all of the excess love has made the Crystal Heart shine brighter than I've ever seen it. If you had told me twenty years ago that the umbrum colt I was harboring would one day be the source of so much adoration and positive change in my life and in the Empire's, I would've thought you insane and have you thrown into an asylum. I know, I know, Tourmaline and Celestia have been spending time exploring their feelings for one another but I almost wish that they'd get married already and give me grandfoals. It's a tad selfish on my part, I'll admit but is that such a bad thing to wish for?

"Father?"

I turn and find myself face-to-face with my adoptive son.

"Tourmaline, come and take a seat."

Taking his place at the opposite end of the table, he peered over the chess pieces laid out in front of us. I couldn't help but smirk. He'd taken to the game like a duck to water and it was a pretense for him to share information. A blue aura surrounded a white pawn piece and pushed it forward.

"I'm nervous about the wedding."

I moved my pawn and nodded. "Really? Is that all?"

A white knight rode out to meet my forces and I replied with a black knight.

"Don't get me wrong! I love Celestia and I want to marry her but I feel..."

"Like running away and hiding somewhere?" I suggested, earning me a chuckle. "Believe me, I went exactly the same feelings as you are when I was betrothed to your mother."

"Really? That doesn't sound right." Tourmaline seemed puzzled. Our pieces kept moving but my attention was focused on my opponent. "I mean, you and Mother are so madly in love with one another."

"That is true but we weren't always like that. Unlike you and Celestia, we didn't have time to get to know one another. Our families arranged the union and I didn't meet Aquamarine until the day of our wedding." I sighed nostalgically, recalling arguably the greatest day of my life. "I stood there, limbs spasming, arguing with myself as to whether to run or not. Then this beautiful, vibrant young mare came walking down the aisle and those feelings went away."

A nearby servant, an indigo earth pony mare, was sweeping the floor but was not-so-subtlety listening in to our conversation. Normally, I don't condone this behavior but I found myself not caring as I was in such a good mood. Ignoring the sudden pain in my head, I continued with the story.

"I was captivated by the bride. She had to be just as scared as I was and yet she was much calmer. And then...she smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back. We may not have started out in love but that night was the stepping-stone to our relationship." I noticed Tourmaline's contemplative expression. "It may not be a fairy tale romance, but then again, life hardly ever is. The point is this: uncertainty can plague any one of us regardless of the situation. It's how we handle that uncertainty that matters. Do you understand, son?"

Tourmaline beamed. "I do, Father. And I also understand...checkmate!"

I blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Checkmate," Tourmaline repeated and I sat up. Lo and behold, one of his knights had my king up against a wall while my forces were scattered. "I'm sorry but I couldn't help but take advantage of our little heart-to-heart. I really was anxious but I figured that I could use that to my advantage and I was right." He held a hoof out. "Excellent game."

I smiled despite myself. Yes, it was ungentlestallion-like of him to use my emotions against me, especially in a moment of father-son bonding but it just showed how bright he was. I went to shake his hoof when I stepped forward and nearly collapsed upon the table. I felt dizzy and out of breath, as if running for many hours.

"Father? Are you alright?"

Gripping my head with both hooves, I swallowed and nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the servant-mare pass by me and I caught a flash of green in one of her pupils. I slowly rose and nodded.

"It's nothing, just getting old is all." I slowly turned one of my discarded rooks around on the table so that it pointed behind me and indicated the figure making her exit. Tourmaline nodded solemnly and cleared his throat.

"You there, servant-mare!"

The earth pony nearly went toppling forward as she abruptly stopped and then turned.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

Tourmaline's horn slowly flickered to life. "The king isn't feeling well. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

The mare gulped. "O-of course not, Your Highness. Why-why would I?"

"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind taking it up with the guards?"

As he spoke, two armored Royal Guards approached the mare, their spears pointing almost accusingly at her.

Muttering something under her breath, the mare vanished in a flash of green flames, revealing a sinister black being straight out of a foal's nightmares. It resembled a pony, only more insect-like and with large, sharp fangs. The changeling hissed and flew high above our heads, evading the spears of the guards. Bolts of green energy fired at Tourmaline, who conjured up a crystal pillar and redirected the bolts. The changeling dodged the first of the rebounded bolts but the second struck true, smacking the bug-horse in the stomach and sending it plummeting into the freshly-swept floor.

Struggling to upright itself, the changeling hissed challengingly at Tourmaline and a stream of green flames darted towards the stallion. Just as the deadly missile was about to strike its target, a sky blue wave crashed forward, engulfing the green pillar and spitting out a violet bolt. The changeling was violently thrown across the room and collided with a wall so hard that I thought it had died upon impact. Instead, it rolled onto its side and before it released an ear-shattering screech as it rocked back and forth. I limped over to Tourmaline and cocked my head.

"Wh-what did you do to it?"

"I took the love that you'd been feeding it and amplified it with my own," Tourmaline explained as the guards plunged their spears into the changeling's carapace and its screeching gradually faded until the thing went limp. "Fill a goblet with too much wine and it overflows. It essentially drowned in good memories." I have to admit, I would never have thought of that.

"Your Majesty!"

I turned and found myself transfixed. Tourmaline was surrounded with a silver-gold aura that lifted him into the air. Streams of light generated off of him as the aura expanded, its light intensifying to the point of being blinding. A popping-crackle later, and he was gone! I tried reaching out with my magic but I couldn't locate him.

Then, I felt it. A strong pull, as though something was grabbing a hold of my horn and urging me forward. I instinctively knew that something monumental happened and though I wasn't entirely certain what it was, I did know that it involved a great transference of magic. There was an explosion of light and the familiar image of three crystals in a crown appeared overhead, though it'd been momentarily transformed into the likeness of a black crystal cradled by a crackling purple flame. This was troubling but I pushed it to the back of my mind at the arrival of a bright light with little scintillating stars.

After a minute and a half, Tourmaline dropped from the light source like a stone, his hooves thudding against the floor and echoing throughout the hall. The light soon vanished and all was calm as it was before. Apart from some slight wobbling, he appeared in good health and gave me a reassuring half-grin.

"You nearly scared me to dea…-"

The words died in my throat as two large gray appendages made themselves known, unfurling behind Tourmaline like great, windswept banners. By Malachite's horn, they were wings! I could've sworn that in that very moment, my heart was torn in two by a shared mix of both prestigious pride and immense fear at the unexpected sight. He was an alicorn. My foster son-the secret umbrum-was an alicorn.

Faust help us all.