The Lonely Prince

by Caladis

Chapter 11 - The Power of Loss

A month had passed, and Twilight was finally getting into the swing of being a mom, but she couldn’t have done it without her husband. She wasn’t sure how any mare raised their foals alone, let alone held down a stable job while doing so. Relying on friends, family, and co-workers seemed to be the answer for most of them but she just didn’t see how it worked.

As for her own little family, Celestia had offered them personal servants, even a full-time nanny, but Twilight declined. She wanted to raise the filly with her husband like normal parents without the trappings of royalty. It helped that Twilight didn’t have much in the way of royal duties and that Blueblood had gotten accustomed to handling both of their shares. Blueblood had admitted that very little extra in the way of duties had been added for Twilight to do, given that Twilight had been expected to continue to serve Equestria as the Element of Magic, which was more or less her full-time job as a ‘working noble’ even before she got her wings and became royalty.

Spending time with her filly eased the burden of knowing that she wouldn’t ever have another one, but the thought still brought her sadness. The medical staff had been sworn to secrecy. No pony had been told about Twilight’s inability to bear more foals, not even the other princesses, Twilight’s parents, or her friends. It was a hard secret to keep but she really didn’t want any extra pity. Her husband did a good job of being stoic on the matter and provided her with all the support that she needed without any false platitudes.

Be that as it may, taking care of her filly was the important thing to Twilight right now… except for getting more sleep. Twilight was running on fumes most days, like most new mothers seemed to be. Buying a breast pump to pump fresh breast milk to put into foal bottles so Blueblood could feed Velvet Dawn had been the best idea of the last 2 weeks. It allowed him to feed her and bond with her while Twilight caught up on some much-needed sleep. As hard as her husband worked, taking care of a newborn was more than a full-time job.

Still… things were finally settled and all that was left was to have a boring uneventful day off with her husband. Even better! Cadence was in town and Twilight couldn’t wait to spend time with her sister-in-law.

There was a knocking on their chamber door and Twilight rushed to answer it. To her disappointment, it was a Royal Guard. “Can I help you?”

The guard bowed. “Your Highness… Your presence has been requested in the throne room by Princess Celestia.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

She closed the door and mentally prepared for the meeting. Even being an alicorn princess herself didn’t soften the presence of her mentor, despite Twilight now being her niece. Did Celestia find out about Twilight’s barrenness? Could she lie about it if asked directly? Did she want the problems that came from lying about something this important…

She called to Blueblood. “Beloved… our Auntie has called me for the meeting in the throne room. I’ll be back soon.”

A loud raspberry on the tummy of a squealing filly was her answer. She smiled at her husband and daughter, playing on the floor without a care in the world. She knew that Blueblood had put in a lot of extra hours this week taking care of his work, her work, and even being proactive on other issues so that he could have one full day off to spend with his family. She didn’t need to be the princess of love to know that his love for their family was absolute.

The trot to the throne room wasn’t nearly long enough to put her mind at ease but she walked into the room with the grace of a princess. Celestia turned to her and sighed.

“Thank goodness you’re here. I need to bring you up to speed on what’s been happening.”

Twilight was taken aback by that phrasing and hedged a reply. “I haven’t been gone that long. What’s happened?”

Celestia stepped forward. “Lord Tirek has escaped Tartarus. He is a villain of Equestria’s past that in many ways was worse than Nightmare Moon. He is capable of absorbing ponies’ magic, and he grows in strength every time he captures more magic. Since you’ve been on maternity leave, I sent Discord to handle him… but Discord has betrayed us. I am afraid that we no longer have the induvial power to stop him… so to prevent Tirek from getting our magic, we must relinquish it.”

Twilight gasped. Of all the things to happen… this had to be the worst possible thing. While the thought of Discord betraying them didn’t actually surprise her much, the idea of losing her magic was terrifying. Magic was her talent. The one thing apart from being a Princess that made her what she was.

She bowed. “Of course… if you believe that it will keep Equestria safe… I’ll gladly give up my magic.”

Luna shook her head. “You misunderstand us. Magic cannot simply disappear… it must be hidden for safe keeping. We need you to take our magic and keep it safe.”

Twilight’s level of concern was growing. “I can barely control my own Alicorn magic, and I didn’t have a lot of chance to practice while I was pregnant. Are you sure this is wise?”

Cadence stepped forward and nodded. “You are the Element of Magic. I can’t think of anypony more capable of this.”

The encouragement of her sister-in-law did help, and Twilight nodded in acceptance. “Alright. I’m ready.”

The three other princesses took their places and infused Twilight with their magic. It honestly didn’t seem like it should have been that easy to transfer Alicorn magic and yet it’s as if the runes needed for the transfer were already craved into the floor as if Celestia had foreseen the need for this. The magic infused with Twilight, and she was twitching from the extra power. Celestia, Luna and Cadence looked drained.

Twilight tried to steady herself. “This feels… weird. I wish I had time to slowly acclimate to one extra set of powers at a time instead of taking all three sets at once. If I must face Lord Tirek directly… do you have any instructions?”

Celestia was barely able to manage a nod. “With all the rest of the magic of Equestria at his disposal, he will be a difficult foe to defeat if battle is necessary, but he should be beatable as long as he doesn’t take Discord’s magic too. If he does take Discord’s magic… even the power of four Alicorns probably can’t defeat him. It may require a diplomatic solution at that point.”

Twilight twitched again as magic surged through her again. “I don’t think he’ll be willing to negotiate if he thinks, or worse, knows, that he can’t be beaten. I suppose vested with all the Alicorns powers in existence, except for my daughter’s power… I’ll have to see what happens.”

Luna nodded weakly. “Ideally, we’d like to see him re-imprisoned in Tartarus… but if you find a way to kill him…”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Luna!”

Luna glared back weakly. “No sister. Mercy has its place, but Tirek is irredeemable. If he so chose to, he could have used his freedom to return to his homeland but instead he chose to attack us again. We don’t have the time or power to keep facing the same threats over and over again. And worse still is Velvet Dawn!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What about my daughter?”

Luna looked back at Twilight. “Unicorns use their magic automatically and subconsciously at an internal level during the first six months of their lives to keep themselves alive while the rest of their vital organs stabilize. It’s a problem unique to unicorns. However, your daughter as an Alicorn, may or may not have the same magical dependency. Nonetheless, there is a fifty-fifty chance that if Lord Tirek steals your daughter’s magic, that not only will he gain the power of an alicorn… but the sheer loss of her magic may kill her. Tread carefully, Twilight Sparkle, for your daughter’s life hangs in the balance.”

Twilight’s face took on a look of shock that fell into a painful determination. “I’m going to retreat with my family to Ponyville. Should I tell Blueblood?”

Cadence shook her head no. “I don’t believe that would be wise. He stands no chance against Tirek so you shouldn’t give him any reason to make Blueblood want to confront him. Just convince Blueblood to watch over Velvet while you do the fighting, like always.”

Twilight took her leave from the throne room and quickly returned to her family quarters. Spike was staying in the castle also, but he had his own accommodations now. Fortunately, Spike was there in the main chambers with Blueblood and Velvet when she came back.

Blueblood smiled at her. “So, how did it go?”

Twilight shook her head. “No time to explain. We need to get to Ponyville now and start preparing for battle.”

Spike’s eyes widened. “Like… right now, rig…”

A flash of purple magic engulfed the whole room and a couple of blinks later they were standing in the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville.

Velvet giggled and made a motion to ask for more. Twilight smiled grimly. “I’m sorry Velvet… I can’t play with you right now. Mommy has an important bad guy to beat.”

Blueblood shook off the magic. “Which bad guy this time?”

Twilight looked towards the door leading out to Ponyville. “Tirek.”

Blueblood froze in place and then nodded. “Very well then. Off you go. I’ll make preparations.”

Twilight turned to face her husband and saw that he was already drawing a rune on the floor. “What is that?”

Blueblood didn’t break eye contact with the chalk. “Shield Rune. Tied into my own magic, I’ll have a shield stronger than your brothers. My horn will shatter, and my heart will stop before I let anything harm our daughter.”

Twilight gulped. “What are you talking about?”

Blueblood’s brow creased with focus and sweat started to form. “I’ve read extensively on the villains of Equestria’s past. I know what Tirek is capable of. If he takes Velvet’s magic, she’ll die. I won’t let that happen. So long as I draw breathe, she will be safe. Now go. I can’t activate the shield until you’re outside.”

Twilight was torn at this moment, but she had to know. “How do you know for sure?”

Blueblood looked into her eyes and seemed to peer into her very soul. “Call it fatherly instincts. Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to protect her. I know I can’t directly face Tirek and I would never stand in your way or make this harder on you. If I can give you the peace of mind of knowing that Velvet is safe, then you can focus on the battle and you can win. Go. Do what you do best and know that I love you.”

Twilight closed the distance and gave her husband a hug and kiss. “I love you too. Keep your head down once that shield is up. Let’s not take any chances.”

Twilight headed outside with Spike and Owlowiscious. Twilight had originally regretted leaving Owlowiscious in Ponyville, but this was his home, and he had a right to not go to Canterlot with the rest of the family. She turned to both of them.

“Okay, Tirek will be coming soon. Owlowiscious… I think you should go hide in Whitetail Woods. Spike… you should round up the girls or go hide in Sugarcube Corner, either way, keep yourselves safe. Please.”

They both nodded and took off, acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. Twilight flew up to the balcony of the library and used the telescope to try to spot Tirek. Unfortunately for her, Tirek spotted her around the same time that she spotted him.

Tirek charged up a gigantic ball of red magic and shot it directly at her. She barely had the chance to leap out of the way of the blast only to realize that she realistically should have put up a shield to protect herself and the library behind her.

She looked back at the library to see a smoking ruin. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sheer amount of destruction.

The entire top half of the tree was gone. The front door looked intact, but just barely. From the now exposed top of the open roof, she could see the faint golden glow of Blueblood’s shield.

It flickered. And failed.

The shield failed.

The shield… died.

Blueblood was dead. Velvet Dawn was dead. Her only foal…

Twilight just knew that the worst possible thing that could have happened had come to pass.

She heard a gut-wrenching scream that just tore the soul out of her. Never in her life had she ever heard such a sorrowful sound. The pain… was vivid. Like the world was ending. She looked around herself for the source of the scream only to realize that she was the source.

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. The five stages of grief.

Denial… no… they can’t be dead.

Anger… how could Tirek just randomly destroy a building that might have ponies in it?

Bargaining… she would do anything to have them back.

Depression… there was no bringing them back… they were gone.

Acceptance…

Acceptance.

No Acceptance.

Revenge. Yes… revenge was the only answer.

Twilight felt a shift in herself and looked at her reflection in a nearby window. She was on fire with dark flames. Her mane flowed with unstructured magical power. Her eyes were slits that reminded her of Nightmare Moon. With a cackle of raw dark power, she knew who she was, and she knew what she had to do…

She was Dark Sparkle… and she was going to kill Tirek.

#2132111 - safe, edit, editor:lyinx, twilight sparkle, alicorn, pony, armor, crown, female, flying, horn, jewelry, mane of fire, nightmare twilight, nightmarified, not daybreaker, older, older twilight, princess twilight 2.0, rapidash twilight, recolor, regalia, simple background, solo, spread wings, tail of fire, transparent background, twilight sparkle (alicorn), ultimate twilight, wing armor, wings - Derpibooru

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Author's Note:

I tried to add a picture of 'Dark Sparkle' but the best I could do was add the link.

Comments

[Sudrian Engineer]

Welp... bye Tirek...

[StarzGecko]

Run Tirek

[Fun1901]

Your dead now you dumb Centaur

[DatGuy1st]

Dear Discord

Once Twilight is done with Tirek. You're next