A Son Redeemed

by FirstClassBroconut

A Fading Memory

Moonless Night stumbled backwards and fell to the ground as he stared up at Twilight Sparkle. Her warm, purple eyes looked deep into his own. How could she be here?! She was dead!

Night shook his head and slowly stood back up. Twilight stood there and silently watched him with a loving smile. The stallion bowed his head as he whispered, "You're dead...I...I saw you..."

Twilight's smile slowly vanished as Moonless Night raised his head and looked her in the eyes, "I saw you dead on the stage, Twilight Sparkle."

He took a deep breathe as a tear rolled down his cheek. They stared at each other as Night became angrier and angrier with her loving eyes...the eyes of a mother.

"NO! You are NOT MY MOTHER! YOU ARE DEAD!!"

The purple unicorn burst into mist, twisting and shrinking till it fused together to form a small purple stone.

Night turned around and was met by a hoof to his cheek. Night quickly regained himself and was expecting to see Princess Luna standing in front of him, but instead, it was Princess Celestia seething with as much anger as he was. Luna, who seemed just surprised as him, yelled, "Celestia Caeli Ardentis!"

The white alicorn blinked and looked down at Night who was putting as much anger into his stare as possible, so much so, the stub of his horn was beginning to glow.

Celestia shook her head, "I'm sorry...I don't know what came over me." She turned and sat next to Luna who was gawking at her, but quickly recovered as Hemshela regained consciousness.

Snow Flake, who had been beyond confused this whole time, moved to look at the purple stone lying on the floor. It was smooth and kite shaped, she could easily see her reflection in it. She picked up the stone, which felt warm and seemed to vibrate in her hoof.

Hemshela, who seemed to fade in and out of reality, pushed the spell book towards Luna. Luna bent over and squinted, trying to translate the old writings. "I haven't seen these spells since when i became Nightmare Moon...I remember a little of the language so bear with me."

She silently read for a few moments then spoke, "It seems, tha the spell that Hemshela performed, took the soul of Twilight Sparkle and brought it back to this world. But she didn't resurrect her, that is impossible...But she found a way to anchor the soul of Twilight to something in this world." She looked up at Night, "It is like a boat in a storm. If your anchor is gone you will be taken away, but if the anchor is strong you will be safe. In other words, Hemshela used the one thing Twilight has left in this world as the anchor...the soul of Lucent Dawn. As long as his soul exists, hers will remain until Lucent-" She scowled at Night, "the real Lucent, releases her, or his soul dies. Also, it says that her image will become clearer when the anchor is stronger. So the stronger his soul is, the more easily she can be seen....and it says nothing about purple stones."

"How convenient." Night headed towards the door.

Snow quickly stepped to his side but they stopped when Celestia spoke, "Where are you going?"

Night turned his head, "Ponyville. If there is any evidence to where to search for Vilis then we will find it there...unless your guards have already ruined all the tracks. Take care of Hemshela."

Celestia took a step forward, "Night..."

The stallion turned around, anger still evident in his voice, "What?"

Celestia let a tear fall, "If you find him...tell Lucent that I am sorry."

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The couple emerged from Everfree Forest and headed down through the campsite to Ponyville. They hadn't talked since they left the cabin, the only event that occurred was Snow giving Night his cloak back after she was dry. He had excepted it silently and, after he tied it on, threw up the hood.

Snow had many questions in her head, but she refused to ask since he was in such a bad mood...but there was one she had to ask, "Night..."

The stallion grunted in response.

"Why are you so disrespectful to the princesses? They are the queens of night, day and all of Equestria...why so you treat them like regular ponies?"

Snow waited for Night to answer as they walked down the road towards Ponyville. The sun was getting lower and Snow guessed they had only a few hours of sunlight left.

Finally he spoke, "When a unicorn's horn is broken, or a pegasus' wings are snapped, they become outcasts. Forgotten. Tossed aside like a bad apple...even though they are still the same pony...After my horn was snapped, i joined those outcasts. We are exiles in our own land. And so since I am an exile, I am no longer a subject to their rule. They can not order me around like a servant and i need not bow before them, for they are not my queens anymore."

Snow turned to him, "Then why are you doing this mission if you don't want to and you won't have to?"

Night sighed and lowered his hood, she could tell he had been silently crying, "Even though I am an outcast, they pleaded with me on an equal level...they never once ordered me to do this mission."

Snow thought for a moment, "So you are doing this out of respect for them because they understand what you are?"

He nodded.

They continued into Ponyville where Moonless Night immediately started to search for leads on which way to go. The guards who were cleaning looked at him strangely and one large guard stepped up to Night who was staring at the ground, "Oy! You can't be here right now! We're tryin' to clean up this mess!"

Night spun and drew a baton, magically holding the weapon atoms away from the guards snout who's eyes were wide, "My and my companion are on Royal business and if you have any more gripes you can take them to Princess Luna and Celestia."

The guard stepped back as Night lowered his baton. Snow decided to step in now, "Alright! You heard him! In the name of the Royal Pony Sisters, I order you to leave this area immediately till we are done!"

The guards stared at her, as did Night.

"NOW!" she screamed when none of them had moved.

Stumbling over each other, the guards raced out of the area and towards the camp.

She turned towards Night who chuckled, "Well that was unexpected."

Snow smiled sadly, "Two sisters living together. It can get loud...Maybe that's why all the creatures stayed away."

Night laughed and returned to his search, walking slowly as he searched for any hint of a lead.

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The sun was close to setting and Snow couldn't tell one hoof from another...as if she ever could. She finally gave up and sat down, watching Night as he continued to search the dirt. How can he keep going when there is such little chance of finding anything?

She sighed and turned to look at the sunset. It was an amazing spectacle, beyond description. Snow Flake knew that Celestia would pour her heart out in this sunset, in memory of Ponyville. Snow looked around, finding it hard to believe this was once a place where happy ponies thrived. Where they shared stories, memories, where young foals laughed and ran about. Where Blizzard had friends and would come for parties...Snow sniffed and looked at the ground. So many stories, so many lives...gone. How could somepony ever do this?

She stared back at the sunset and choked back a tear, she must keep searching...for everypony. She got up and started to walk around, searching the hoofprints again.

Night looked up at the sound of wings and turned to see Luna and Celestia landing beside him, "Night! We just got word from out patrols that a dragon is heading this way. We are guessing that it belongs to Vilis and is the same one that burned down Ponyville."

Snow looked up and Night who threw off his cloak, and hoofed it to Snow, "Take this and head to the camp."

"No! I wanna help!"

Celestia shook her head, "You can help by staying in the camp. We don't need and unharmed pony to worry about, I'm sorry."

"But..."

Night stepped forward, "Snow! Please! I don't want you to get hurt!"

The mare looked between Night and the alicorns. Night took another step, "Please."

Snow finally nodded; she quick hugged Night and whispered in his ear, "Please be careful Night...I can't loose Blizzard and you."

Night backed away, "I promise."

Snow Flake turned and ran towards the camp on the hill, Night's cloak billowing in the wind.

The stallion turned to the Royal Pony Sisters and saw Celestia's horn aglow.

"She's stopping the sun from setting so we won't fight the beast in the dark," Luna said.

He turned and noticed the sun rise a little from it's resting place. It finally stopped and he looked back at the alicorns, "When will it be here?"

"Very soon. The guards were traveling out to relieve the first shift when they saw it flying over head and teleported back here to raise the alarm."

"Do you know if it's actually under Vilis Malum's control?"

Luna shook her head, "No...but Ponyville was on very good terms with the nearby dragons. All we really know is that after the attack a dragon burned down this town, and we will see that it is punished for it."

Moonless Night nodded, "Which direction is it coming from?"

Celestia turned west, "West, we are thinking that it was trying to hide within the Sun's blinding light and so catch us with out saddles down."

The sound of hundreds of hooves on dirt and metal clinking together made Night turn around and stare upon a large amount on armed guards racing towards them, bearing swords, shields and spears. "Is all this really necessary? Can't you just magically rip it apart?"

Luna smiled, "I like your thinking, stallion. A lone dragon would be an easy thing to handle with two alicorns here. But dragons also have a strong tie with magic, and if Vilis truly is controlling the beast, he will have strengthened it beyond measures."

"So what's the plan?"

Celestia sat down, "We plan to not use our magic on offense, we will protect our soldiers as they attack and try to get at it's under belly were it is defenseless. If we can get there with even a dagger, we will win. The soft under belly of a dragon is a non-magical area."

Moonless Night nodded, "Since i can't hold a weapon, i will be the bait and try to get it to show it's weakness. Please don't let me dance too long." He quickly jogged to the front of the soldiers, but something nagged at him, if the dragon was under control, then it shouldn't be murdered for the sins it did not truly commit.

You were.

He shook his head, not now!

She believed him over you. You were punished for the sins of another.

No! I was punished justly!

Moonless Night could see the misty face smiling in his mind, Well then, this dragon should be punished just as justly.

The stallion stood in front of the guards, he could see the dragon's silhouette against the sun. It was large, he could tell it was a full grown dragon. As it got closer he heard the captain's and princesses shouting orders; he watched the large, muscular wings flap up and down as they carried the large mammal through the air. Night stood his ground as he heard the dragon roar a battle cry, and he stood tall as he heard a few soldiers scream in fright.

The dragon raced towards the small army and dived at the ground, pulling up at the last second and landed with a resounding boom which sounded like thunder. It roared again and looked over the knights, hungrily. Night stepped forward and stared at his foe: it's scales and spines were black that seemed to suck a pony in. He stared into it's eyes and saw only hatred, hatred beyond this world. Night looked deeper and noticed something swirling in the large eyes...also along the scales.

It was like a spiderweb that spun itself around the dragon and held it together. They all spun towards the back of the behemoth's neck where, Night could only guess, was something that was controlling him.

There was only one way to find out.

Kill it, whispered the cold voice.

No! It wasn't by choice!

And neither was your...accident. And yet you were exiled. Became an outcast. Your family betrayed you Moonless Night! If you believe you were judged correctly, then there is only one thing you can do for that dragon. KILL HIM!!

"NO!" screamed Night as he dashed forward at the dragon, ignoring the shouts of the princesses and the soldiers. He stopped a few yards from it as it took notice of him,

"A colt versus a dragon?! Better still, a colt with a broken horn! Aha! I will enjoy feasting upon your warm flesh, then on the rest of your friends!"

Night smiled, eat me! Eat me!

He took a deep breathe and opened his jaws. Night lit up his horn and prepared for the fire. He grabbed what magic he had and formed a small shield in front of him. He knew it wouldn't last long, be he hadn't really thought that far ahead.

The magic flame spewed out of the dragons mouth with such ferocity that it knocked Night back a little as it swept against his shield. He could already feel it giving way as the flames drew closer and closer to his face.

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Snow Flake sat on the hill and watched in fright as the large, black dragon landed and roared, intimidating the knights. It waved its head back and forth as they all stood staring at each other. Suddenly, she saw Night sprint out of the group and charge the dragon!

"Night!" she screamed as she stood. She almost ran down the hill when something inside the cloak was...vibrating. She stopped and swung off the large black clothe and rummaged through the pockets till she pulled out the small, purple stone. She stared at it as it vibrated and shook.

With a yelp, she dropped the stone as it quickly got white-hot and it started to glow. She stared at it, but a burst of flame made her look up and at the fight. The dragon was shooting flames right at Night! She watched helplessly as his shield grew smaller and the flames inched closer...and closer...

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Moonless Night pushed against the flames, but no avail. The torrent seemed never ending and the heat ever increasing. The fire edged ever closer, he could feel extreme on his forehead, then, it was gone!

Night looked up and saw a large white shield looming in front of him. He looked behind him and saw Luna and Celestia standing behind him with their horns glowing brightly, all the guards standing awestruck.

The dragon ended the flames and laughed, "Your magic may have saved you from flames, little foal. But they can't save you from tooth and fang!"

Night took a strong stance and waited as the his opponent reared his head and shot forward, straight for him, with jaws wide open. But instead of warm blood, his tongue received a large amount of dirt. He roared as he lifted his head and looked around, trying to find the pony.

Right before the dragon had struck, Night had jumped up and clamped his mouth on one of the large spines.

The dragon swung his neck violently trying to get rid of the pest, "Get off and fight me like a real stallion!!"

Night used the momentum to through himself over the ridge of his neck and straddled the think neck of the beast. Right underneath a large, beating gem. It was deep red like and and pulsed like a heart. He saw all the spiderweb like spells meeting in the center of the stone. It was molded into a clasp and apparently welded onto the dragon's neck.

The stallion reached for his magic, but found non. He had put too much into the shield!

He raised his hoof and slammed it as hard as possible into the gem again and again. But it was too strong for physical strength alone.

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The silvery-blue mare watched as Night threw himself onto the dragon's neck and started beating at it, what does he think he is doing?!

She stepped forward but was stopped by the stone raising in the air right in front of her nose. She stared into the beautiful purple and could have sworn she saw a eye stare back. But before she could look again, the stone flashed and flew at the dragon.

"Wait!"

But it was gone.

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The dragon whipped it's neck back and forth, almost throwing off Night twice but he managed to stay on my gripping another spine in his teeth. He continued at beating the gem but it still did nothing.

His hoof was bloody and smeared the large stone, but he continued beating, stopping randomly to bite onto the spike again.

He knew he was running out of time so he drew back his hoof once more, but before he could bring it down, something grabbed it. He turned his head and saw Twilight Sparkle floating behind him...smiling. He tried fighting her but her grip was like iron. Her horn glowed and she nodded, releasing his hoof. Confused, Night reached for his magic and found something strange. There was magic there...more than he ever had. But it wasn't his. It felt strange, yet familiar.

He decided to ask alter and took hold of the magic and wrapped it around the stone, encasing it and willed to crush it. At first nothing happened, but he tried again and the stone cracked! He thrust tendrils of magic into the cracks and with all his might, ripped the gem apart.

The stone exploded and he flew backwards off the dragons neck.

He waited to hit for the feeling of his bones smashing against the hard ground, but it never came. Instead he felt himself slow down and warm, like he was in a bubble. He opened his eyes and stared at Princess Luna who's horn was glowing and she was smiling.

He relaxed his muscles and rested as Luna flew and carried him along. When they arrived, Night was slowly lowered to the ground and was instantly surrounded by a gaggle of guards cheering and slapping his back.

Now that all his adrenaline was gone, he noticed how much of a headache he had gotten from his shield. But before he could do anything else, he felt forelegs wrap around his neck so tight that it cut off his oxygen. He pushed Snow Flake back,

"Told you I'd be fine," he smiled at her.

She returned the smile, "Thank you...oh! Where is the stone?! When you started to fight it vibrated and got really hot, then it flew at you!"

Luna stepped forward, "Don't worry, I picked it up when i grabbed Night."

She magicked the stone to Snow who grabbed it and put it into Night's cloak and gave the cloak back to its owner who gladly excepted it and threw it over himself.

They smiled again and Night headed through the crowd to the dragon who had apparently been knocked unconscious. He looked around and saw Celestia laying beside the dragon's head, her horn glowing as she smiled, "Good job, Moonless Night. You freed him of Vilis Malum, which cause him to black out since the magic embed in that stone was attached to his mind. I'm trying to wake him up an- Ah! He's awaking!"

Her horn stopped glowing and she walked back to her sister who was, strangely, silently giggling.

The stallion turned his attention back to the sleeping dragon who stirred and slowly rose to a sitting position. The black seemed to drain from his scales and spikes. They turned to a dark purple and his spikes to a dark green. Moonless Night stood stunned, not believing what he was seeing. The dragon groaned and opened his eyes, which also drained and were replaced by bright green irises. The large beast looked up and spoke, "You majesties!" He threw himself down and bowed, he then opened his eyes which fell on Night, "D! It is good to see you!"

Night fell onto his rump and took a second to speak, "Hello Spike."

Comments

[-Brutus]

This story...is great! I hope he will finally admit that hes really son of Twilight Sparkle and sing his name aloud.

Five stars and tracking!