The Lonely Prince

by Caladis

Chapter 12 - The Return of Harmony

Dark Sparkle had a goal and a target. Tirek. She was going to show that homewrecking, foal murdering centaur why you shouldn’t mess with an alicorn. Let alone a dark one.

She was poised as she closed the distance on Tirek, however her thoughts were getting the better of her.

Luna became ‘Nightmare Moon’. Celestia is rumored to have the ‘Daybreaker’ alter-ego. And now I’m ‘Dark Sparkle’. I wonder what Cadence would become if pushed too far? Equestria forbid that it ever must happen. I suppose it doesn’t matter what Velvet Dawn could have become… she was too young to be anything but a baby… my baby. My little filly!

Dark Sparkle’s anger continued to overtake her as she became close enough to teleport. She reappeared directly under Tirek and looked upwards. He didn’t seem aware of her presence, which wasn’t a surprise because he was as arrogant as most villains. Looking for a point of attack, she instantly found her target… his massively proportionate stallionhood.

Blasted thing is as big as a house. Still… the weakness at the base of the scrotum and along the sheath is the same as all equines. Every mare who ever took a self defense class knows where to put the knife to create a gilding if the situation calls for it. I’ll just have to use magic… and I need to ask Luna about getting a sword to keep in a magical storage portal for emergencies. Not that this will ever happen again. Oh well… if I can’t have foals then neither should he.

Her normal lavender magic was tainted to a darker royal purple with black tendrils interweaved as the beam launched and focused at the exact point of no return, lobbing off the huge piece of meat. Tirek screamed as he jumped back, exposing Dark Sparkle to the light of day and leaving behind a very obvious piece of equipment.

He roared, pain and displeasure overtaking him. “What are you doing!!!”

She smiled at him with a look of evil triumphant. “What does it look like? I’m having a weenie roast! You can have the first bite once the summer sausage has finished cooking.”

His eyes widened at what he was seeing, and he even took a moment to look underneath himself to verify the truth of his situation. He roared in pain, anger and disbelief as his counter magic forced her back, but only for long enough for her to redirect another high-powered energy spell that when met by the force of Tirek’s magic, caused widespread destruction.

The part of her that was still Twilight Sparkle was grateful that the battle was taking place way outside of Ponyville. For better or worse, the library was the only building in town damaged or destroyed by the initial attack.

Content to allow Tirek to wear himself out while she tested the limits of her power, she was surprised that he had the power to use her to punch a hole in a mountain and she was even more surprised that all it did to her was tickle.

She would have never known that pain could be ticklish. Maybe there was something to say for Minotaur mating habits after all.

Having gained a better appreciation for pain, she decided that it was time to properly inflict some. Teleporting back into place, she focused her magic into a condensed beam that would inflict a massive amount of damage to a small, precise spot. Aiming and firing, she shattered the top part of Tirek’s left horn. To her disappointment, he could still use his magic, but doing so seemed to now cause him pain.

He very well may have been an even match or even stronger than her as a regular alicorn, even with the power of four princesses, but as a ‘darkness’, he was overmatched, and they both knew it. He drew out his last trump card.

“Princess… do you want your friends to be returned to you safely? Surrender your power.”

All five of her friends and Discord were encased in bubbles, waiting to be set free.

First my family and now my friends. I won’t allow this to continue.

With a scream of rage, she yelled “NO!!!!” and powered up the mother of all magical beams, launching it into Tirek.

He raised a shield that held for a few moments before starting to weaken. Left with no choice, he released his six captives and redirected the magic he had been using to encase them to reinforce his shield.

It did no good.

He was being pushed further and further and closer to defeat. Left with no other choice, he opened his mouth to try to absorb her power.

Unfortunately for him, Dark Sparkle was no fool and knew what he was trying to do. Ending the magical beam, she cast a spell to reverse the polarity of Tirek’s magic, causing him to expel all the magic he had absorbed so far.

Discord regained his chaos magic. Pegasi could fly again. Earth Pony strength returned. And Unicorns regained their spells.

And Tirek… Tirek got smaller and smaller as his magic released. In no time at all, he was a feeble old man as small as a colt.

Dark Sparkle walked up to the powerless old Centaur. “Tirek. For crimes against pony-kind, as a Princess of Equestria, I sentence you to death. Do you have any last words?”

Tirek snorted. “You wouldn’t dare. No true princess would.”

Dark Sparkle snorted. “I am a darkness. Now die!”

With the cast of a teleport spell, Tirek vanished. Only Discord looked directly at the sun and gulped.

She walked towards her friends. “Sorry to keep you ladies waiting… but I had business to handle.”

Rarity shook her head. “Twilight?”

Dark Sparkle shrugged. “I am Dark Sparkle. I was Twilight… before Tirek killed my husband and daughter. Anyway. Equestria is safe. Magic has been restored and Tirek is gone.”

Rainbow Dash looked around. “Is he coming back?”

She snorted. “No. I sent him to the sun. He isn’t coming back.”

Pinkie Pie started jumping around in circles, excited. “Ohhh, Darky, so you imprisoned him in the sun for the next 1,000 years like Celestia did to Nightmare Moon?”

Dark Sparkle looked at the pink mare with a slight blush. She wasn’t expecting her friends to casually acknowledge her new form as a darkness without some pushback.

“No… I simply sent him to the sun.”

Apple Jack rubbed the back of her head. “Ah’m afraid that ah don’t understand the difference.”

Discord cleared his throat for the first time. “Dark Sparkle teleported Tirek to the surface of the sun, where he was cooked alive and reduced to less than ash. He is as dead as dead can be and he will never ever bother Equestria again. Tirek was right when he said a Princess of Equestria wouldn’t do something like that… but a villain would. Tirek failed to realize that Dark Sparkle, despite being a ‘villain’, was willing to call herself a Princess and not a Queen or Empress.”

She looked at him. “I am a Princess. I shall always be a Princess…”

Her smile became something feral, and she called out to him sweetly…

“Disssscorrrdddddd… You have betrayed us… We have business to settle, you and I.”

Discord gulped and he turned to Fluttershy. “I am sorry for how I betrayed you. You deserved all of my friendship and I just never really seemed to understand what I was given. They say that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence… what they never say is that the grass might be fake. Remember me fondly…”

He gave Fluttershy a hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning back to Dark Sparkle. “I am ready.”

Dark Sparkle raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

Discord paused. “Yes?”

Fluttershy spoke up. “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?” She hid her eyes behind her mane, but she very much wanted to stick up for Discord, despite his misdeeds.

Dark Sparkle embraced Fluttershy. “Shhh… I could never do to you what he did to me. This will be painful, but fun to watch.”

She turned back to Discord. “I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to something far, far worse. I’m going to tolerate the shit out of you. I’m going to smother you in friendship. I’m going to spend so much awkward time with you that you will regret ever having betrayed us. And then. Once you think it’s finally over, I’m going to use my magic to turn you into a filly and I’m going to dress you up in my daughter’s dresses. And we’ll play together, and I’ll feed you my breastmilk in foal bottles, and change your diapers, and love you like you’ve never been loved before. Doesn’t that sound lovely?”

Discord blinked, snapped his fingers, and vanished.

Dark Sparkle raged. “DISCORD!!! YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER!!!!”

Discord replied, although remained invisible. “I’m not going to hide forever. Just until you regain your senses. Maybe you should go check on the town?”

She huffed, lowered her head, and started walking.

Her friends fell in step with her. Nopony had anything to say. They all understood the ramifications of Twilight Sparkle now being Dark Sparkle, but they also understood how it happened. They all had respected Blueblood in their own way, and they all adored little Velvet Dawn. The idea of them being gone just didn’t sit well. Losing your entire family could push anypony over the edge, alicorns included.

As they entered the town proper, it was a ghost town. Everypony was still in their homes, fearful of leaving. Dark Sparkle regretted her part in the fear they still felt but she could do nothing. The wind seemed to carry a filly’s laughter and a stallion’s chuckle.

How dare the elements taunt me with the memories of the sounds of my happy family playing outside.

She turned the corner and looked at the ruins of the library, only to freeze in place.

Blueblood and Velvet Dawn were playing together outside the ruined library, the door having been forced open. The scene was surreal, but they were too solid to be ghosts.

She cried out. “Beloved!!!”

Blueblood looked up and smiled. Velvet Dawn also looked up and smiled. Blueblood used his magic to place the filly on his back and he rushed to close the distance, meeting her halfway.

He nuzzled her. “Dearest. I’m so happy. You look different… did you do something to your mane?”

She barked a laugh but returned the nuzzle. “I fell to darkness… I thought I lost you. I saw your shield fall…”

Blueblood kissed her. “Me and Velvet hid in the basement. We kept our heads down, just like you told us. When the magic beam destroyed the library, it destroyed my shield rune too… so I had to pull the shield back to better protect us. I’m sorry if it looked like it failed. I didn’t mean to worry you, dearest.”

Tears pricked her eyes as she openly cried, Blueblood doing his best to comfort her.

She wailed. “How am I supposed to fix this? I can’t be a loving mother as a darkness, can I?”

Blueblood stepped forward. “I can fix it.”

She looked at him. “You can? How?”

He smiled a calm smile. “Kiss me.”

Dark Sparkle kissed her husband and a peace washed over her. When she opened her eyes, nothing had changed.

He looked disappointed. “Ah. I thought I could fix it.”

She couldn’t bring herself to chastise him. After all, love did win the battle against the Changelings. There had to be something…

“Mama”

She looked down at Velvet, eyes widened at her daughter’s first word. The filly held up a shiny rock. It was pretty and the filly was offering it up to her as a present. It may have been an ordinary rock, but to Dark Sparkle, it may have been the greatest treasure ever.

As she took it into her grasp, magic seemed to wash over her, and it shined into her eyes.

Apple Jack asked quickly. “Is that the last one?”

She nodded. “I think so, let’s go find out!”

Dark Sparkle placed her filly on her back as they raced to the Tree of Harmony and presented the shiny rock to the chest. It transformed into a key and unleased a mighty power. All five of the girls took on a more powerful shine and it cleansed Twilight Sparkle of her dark form. All of the Alicorn Powers released from Twilight, only leaving her own, and it freed the other Princesses from Tartarus. And a castle seemed to grow from the ground in Ponyville…

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Princess Celestia introduced Twilight to her new castle and dubbed her, officially, the Princess of Friendship. The townsponies came out and the girls sang a song about friendship. Rebuilding began and all was right with Equestria… except for one thing…

Twilight Sparkle called to order the first meeting of the council of friendship.

“Okay. Everypony is here. So… umm. I feel like I have a lot of explaining to do but I don’t know where to start. Anypony have a question?”

Apple Jack called out. “Ah have one. I can understand how losing family is hard… but I don’t understand how it drove you into darkness. Can you explain that?”

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And Twilight Sparkle explained her condition that prevented her from having more foals.

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Apple Jack sighed. “I’m sorry I asked…”

Twilight raised her head. “No. It was a honest question that deserved an honest answer. I’m sorry that I didn’t say something as soon as I was told about it, but I didn’t want pain to overshadow what was supposed to be joy. I love my daughter and I love my husband, but she is going to be my only one and the thought of losing them…”

Rarity interrupted. “We understand, darling. Nopony would want to see what would happen if I lost Sweetie Belle. I trust that this is a secret you want to keep?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. I don’t intend to tell my parents or the other princesses, but I do want to try to fix my condition. I would like to ask you girls for help. I need to study healthy reproductive organs and I’d like to study at least one set earth pony, pegasi, and unicorn both before and after birth, if possible.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “You can study me all day, and my mom would probably help too… although she might be older than you want to work with.”

Apple Jack piped up. “Both me and Apple Bloom would be glad to help in your research. As to Earth Pony moms… Mrs. Cake or Cream Heart could help you.”

Rarity spoke up. “Sweetie Belle and I would gladly help you but there are no unicorn moms in Ponyville…”

Twilight sighed. “I guess I could ask my own mom for help, but I don’t want to tell her…”

Fluttershy spoke up. “A mother’s love is absolute. You know this…”

Twilight’s eyes teared up. “You’re right…”

Pinkie Pie tried to console Twilight. "Aww. Don't be so sad... we have a huge summer sausage to eat!"

Twilight smiled awkwardly. "Knock yourself out.... I'm not eating that."

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Comments

[Ciphers]

Apple Jack called out. “Ah have one. I can understand how losing family is hard… but I don’t understand how it drove you into darkness. Can you explain that?”

Really AJ, did you remember that Luna drive into darkness because ponies don't like night?
to some people, family is everything they had so it makes sense for Twi to "drove into darkness", even without that

[Caladis]

11633643
This may have been clumsy on my part but I needed an icebreaker to allow Twilight to tell her friends about her not being able to have more foals and to ask for help with the research she plans on doing to try to fix it.

[Sudrian Engineer]

11633763
Here is my confusion with things... The doctor said she MAY not be able to have others, didn't he? It could just be a thing about Alicorn Biology, and her reproductive system is perfectly fine, couldn't it?

[Caladis]

11633868
He said that there was a 99% chance that she would not be able to have more without some type of treatment developed, a miracle, or it healing on its own. A large part of the story in the next couple of chapters will be Twilight deciding that she needs to do more research on this because she made a promise and she doesn't want to wait for it to heal on its own or someone else discovering a cure... especially since it's been secret, no doctors have been doing research on it.

[Sudrian Engineer]

11634063
Ah, okay, thanks for explaining

[Caladis]

11634064
It was a good catch on your part. I do my best not to have conflicting dialog in my stories, or typos, or anything overly confusing unless it's intentional for a plot point or drama. Like, I'm surprised that people didn't call me out for Blueblood supposedly dying in Chapter 11 given that he is the main character of the story.

[Sudrian Engineer]

11634066
I didn't say anything because I had a feeling you were going somewhere with it, plus you never said she saw the bodies...

[StubobNumbers]

I'm enjoying this story, and I look forward to reading more of it.