Darklight

by snoninja7

Chapter Sixteen: Justice

Twilight tried not to be distracted by the reflections off the numerous, mirror-like crystals that surrounded them on all sides. She focused on getting through as quickly as possible. Derpy continued to follow close behind, she had never been in the Crystal Caves before and was worried that they would get separated if she didn't keep up.

There was another light coming from the next chamber. Twilight diminished her light spell until she saw who it was coming from, then she began to charge her horn for a powerful attack spell.

"Twilight, what are you doing?" cried Derpy in a worried whisper, "Mister Blade told us not to attack him yet!"

Prometheus seemed like such an easy target. He was standing there, in the middle of the unusually large chamber, alone and with his back to them. Light orbs hovered overhead and provided plenty of illumination to properly target him. It's so easy, Twilight thought to herself, I can end this all with one shot. I've fought and beaten enemies much more powerful than an ordinary unicorn. I'm more than a match for him.

Prometheus suddenly turned around and greeted them joyfully, "Why, Miss Twilight Sparkle, I'm so glad that I finally get to meet... oh is that really necessary?"

Twilight roared his name in fury and fired a powerful horn blast straight at him. A shield block protected him from the attack, and Twilight suddenly found herself counterattacked by several spells at once. She used several swiping blocks, but a levitation spell caught both her and Derpy by their tails and lifted them into the air, carrying them towards Prometheus. Derpy flapped her wings to try and get away, but the spell prevented her from getting into flying position. Twilight arched her body to try an aim her horn at him for another shot, but the spell jerked her back and forth making it impossible to do so.

"I hope this isn't how you greet all of the stallions you meet—oh my, isn't this fun, I feel like a tamer playing with a snake! Well, my little cobra, how do you ever expect to get a coltfriend if you greet everyone like this, especially being as plain as you are."

Twilight was about to shoot off her own tail, but the spell released her and dropped her painfully to the floor. She quickly got up and prepared to fire point-blank at Prometheus, but when she looked up she found herself staring down the shaft of a red crystal wand, suspended in the air and pointed straight at her face.

“Incredible, is it not?" he said with pride, "The greatest scholars of magic tried... "

"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP!" screamed Twilight. "I don't have time to waste on you! I'm going to tell them EVERYTHING! Princess Celestia is going to know that you've been torturing and manipulating her son into thinking she is some kind of tyrant so you can have your revenge! I'm going to find Darklight and tell him who he really is, and that you were the one that killed his real father! I'm going to expose you for the fraud that you are, and everyone is going to learn the truth!"

Twilight was expecting anger, defiance, and rage from Prometheus in response to her words. She was not expecting joy. "Oh, you don't know how refreshing it is to finally talk to somepony who can at least approach my powers of intellect. You probably don't know it but I have been following your remarkable progress for years, I know everything there is to know about you. I'm surprised you don't appreciate all of the hard work it took to get you here: writing a spellbook that perfectly matches your tastes and planting it in the Canterlot library just where I know you would find it, and don't get me started on how much work it took to modify the mana-streams so that your long distance teleportation spell would take you to where Darklight was staying. The very least you could do is thank me for bringing the two of you together, Prince Solus really is a magnificent specimen of stallion hood, and you should be grateful that he would fall in love with a mare of your lesser status and physical attributes."

"Twilight... " said Derpy in a scared voice.

Shapes began to move from behind the crystals that surrounded them. They were palace guards, and Twilight knew the names of every one of them, but they completely ignored Prometheus, and looked at her with a vengeful satisfaction.

"What... what is going on?" said Twilight in surprise when she saw them moving to surround her, "Why aren't you arresting HIM?!"

Prometheus continued his cheerful dialog, "You didn't expect me to try and get into Canterlot without some kind of help, with all of the ponies looking for me? Plus, they were SO looking forward to seeing you again, Miss Sparkle, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't give them the closure they wanted. But enough about them for now, I have so much I want to talk to you about, and don't you worry, nothing is going to happen until I set things in motion myself, so we will have all the time we need. I am sure that a student of history such as yourself can appreciate the opportunity you now have to learn from a pony of my renown."

The crystal wand remained pointed at Twilight and remained as a deterrent to any move Twilight or Derpy would make, although it moved away a few feet. "As I was saying before your rude and inconsiderate interruption," continued Prometheus, "The wand you see before you is one of my greatest creations. The gem is called a Diablo bloodstone, and generations of practitioners of the dark arts, all of whom were far greater than that Starswirl the Bearded character that you seem to idolize for some reason I cannot fathom, have all tried unsuccessfully to create them. However, I was able to master the craft at a remarkably young age. I'm sure from it's wonderful, deep, rich crimson color that you can guess what the most important ingredient is. I am also sure you can appreciate the difficulty I had initially with raw materials, but I was fortunate enough to find the perfect opportunity when my parents named my worthless older brother as the family heir."

He looked thoughtfully at the three wands now floating near himself. "It's better than having them in person. I really cannot understand why Celestia would have a problem with bloodstones, they are so incredibly useful. I can cast any spell I want with these wands using nothing but my own thoughts, I don't even have to waste a levitation spell to keep them aloft. Not only can I see what they see, but they can also record it."

A giant disk of light surrounded one of the wands, and a picture of Celestia materialized on the disk. She was standing in her courtroom, passing judgment on an unknown pony. "Magnificent, isn't she? Would you be surprised if I told you that I once asked Princess Celestia for her hoof in marriage? It was one of the first, great injustices that I suffered during my life when she turned down my generous proposal."

On one side of the princess stood General Blade and a large, crimson colored alicorn stallion with a flame colored mane. "If only she had not succumbed to the lackluster charms of that traitorous idiot Ignitus, our pairing would have been such a perfect alliance. Still, I was able to get an excellent bloodstone from him, after all I had to do something to stop Celestia from reviving him with a life spell. I will give you one guess as to who is wearing that bloodstone right now."

The scene shifted to another view of Ignitus, who was then mortally wounded and barely breathing, lying in a pool of his own blood. Droplets of blood began to float into the air and gather in one place until there was a flash of light and a large red crystal formed in its place, one that was exactly like the one Darklight wore. Another shift showed General Blade and several palace guards critically injured and unconscious. A mare's voice, Celestia's, was screaming through the door for Prometheus to spare her son. There was a newborn alicorn foal, terrified and crying, and a long, sharp dagger.

"Now, about what you said earlier about 'truth'." Prometheus continued, "I'm surprised that a student of history such as yourself, Miss Sparkle, would not understand that this word by itself is meaningless, and that it is the 'perception' of truth that is really important. Take Darklight as an example. All it took was a cryptic letter and a blood stained blanket to convince everypony that I had killed Prince Solus the same way that I did his father. Everyone forgot about him and I had a valuable acquisition, one who's only desire was to work hard to earn my love. Really though, how should I be expected to feel about the living embodiment of my own crushed dreams, for the son that by right should have been mine!"

Prince Solus, now in the guise of Darklight, was shown being hit by several horn blasts at once during a training session. He looked no older than Applebloom or Sweetie Belle.

"Fortunately," he continued, "My intolerable state did have its rays of sunshine. I was able to secure the patronage of his majesty the Emperor of the Dragon Spear Kingdom, who also had his own grudges against Celestia and his problematic neighbors the Barbaroi, and he graciously allowed me to conduct my research using a few of the undesirables plaguing his kingdom.

A group of smaller golems with impassive red eyes, corralling a hundred earth pony peasants. The ponies looked terrified, and huddled together in family groups. Then there was a blinding flash of light...

The horror on the faces of both Twilight and Derpy had been steadily building, much to the delight of Prometheus. His cheerful, conversational tone never changed, but in his eyes could be seen a glint of malice and triumphant joy.

Twilight began to stammer, "You... killed... all of those ponies... for your research?!"

Prometheus feigned surprise, "What? You make it sound like that was a lot. I only used them for the prototype. I could have cleared Ponyville with the ponies I used for version two... but enough about that. You see, I'm curious about what you saw when you cast that life spell to save Darklight—oh don't look so surprised, after all I have a complete record of your trip."

Several scenes in rapid succession. They saw the golem attack on the Village of the Moon, from the monster's perspective: the huge fists smashing away at the defensive wall and buildings, swarms of Barbaroi pegasus ponies firing arrows, stones fired from trebuchets, all useless against the golem. Then the perspective shifted to a pony in flight firing magic attacks at the golem, and Twilight realized it was from the point of view of Darklight's amulet. Then there was a large meeting hall filled with ponies, with six stallions and mares on high stone platforms in a circle around Darklight. It was Darklight's trial.

Twilight felt a cold chill run down her back when she saw the next few scenes. She saw herself, injured and almost unconscious, being lifted up by a levitation spell onto Darklight's back. She saw herself waking up and meeting Darklight for the first time, conversing with him, fighting the golem to save Derpy, the meeting where they discussed plans to fight the golem, the training sessions with Raven's Wind, the trip to the Village of the Moon, the final fight with the golem, and the life spell that she used to save Darklight. This monster before her now, the source of the true darkness that Raven's Wind had spoken of, had seen everything. That was why Raven's Wind had looked defiantly at the amulet (she saw that scene too), and had led her outside to talk to her, so that Prometheus would not hear what she had to say.

"Since you seem unwilling to answer my question, please allow me to offer my own guess as to what you saw. You probably saw some scene from Darklight's childhood, maybe even heard me speak. I already know what you would have heard: something about his important mission to bring down the tyrannical rule of Celestia the Demon Queen, how he is the only one who can stop her because of his monstrous nature and whatnot. I said the same thing over and over again, it was all stuff and nonsense really, but you don't really need logic if you apply sufficient force now do you?"

"Then why force him to do it if it was all based on lies?!" cried Twilight. "If you’re as powerful as you say you are, why are you sending Darklight to defeat Celestia if you can do it yourself?!"

"Why do you assume I believe that Darklight can defeat Celestia?"

Twilight started, and for some reason she thought about the link on Darklight's amulet.

"I see from the expression on your face that you are starting to catch on," Prometheus observed. "I admit, there is a SMALL chance that Darklight will actually succeed in defeating Celestia, but despite the arrangements I have made to, let's say, level the playing field, I think we can both agree that she will have the upper hoof in any combat situation, she is a goddess after all. Really, it doesn't make much difference either way. You see, and this will answer the question I know was on your mind earlier," the scene of Twilight's investigation of Darklight’s amulet began to be shown, "The magic link is set to release when either Celestia or Darklight are about to die, I would have had to override it had you not used that Life spell. If Darklight wins, the last thing Celestia will see is the son who killed her. If Celestia wins, and there will be a kind of poetic justice in this outcome I think you will agree, she will know that she was the one that killed her own son. Either way, I win!"

"No!" said Twilight defiantly, "I'm not going to let either of those things happen! I'll find Darklight first! I'm going to tell him everything you just told me!"

"Unfortunately," Prometheus replies with a hint of pretended sorrow, "I guarantee you won't get the chance, but you really can't blame me for that. If Darklight were to follow my advice, it would be easy to find him as you would only have to follow the trail of blood as he slaughtered every pony who got in his way, I trained him well enough that he is more than a match for the palace guards, including your brother. However, knowing my 'son', he will do everything he can to limit the body count, taking the most stealthy route possible, which also means that he will be impossible to find until it is too late (he really is so much like his parents, it's disgusting). I can tell you right now where he is if I wanted to, he is much too far away to know that we are even having a conversation together, let alone hear you scream."

Twilight's eyes narrowed, "Why are you really telling us all this?"

"Because!" Prometheus said with a mocking laugh, "There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop any of it! I think you can see that I am the undisputed master of perceived reality. All it took was a few vague letters, some rumors, and a few altered memories (including your little pet dragon) to make all of Equestria believe that I or 'Erebus' has used mind control to turn you into an evil killing machine. It doesn't even matter that Darklight is completely unaware of the Erebus legend, let alone that he has been tied to it, or that I haven't even taught him how to use mind control spells (it would be a wasted effort anyway for a pony like him), or that you are more of a decoy than an equal partner in my plans—what really matters is that not one of your friends will ever trust you again. Even the Elements of Harmony in your saddlebag there (oh, don't try and hide that, I know you have them) are little more than antiquated jewelry without their help. And as for you," he finally acknowledged Derpy's presence with a condescending sneer, "Other than your ability to fly long distances to deliver letters and your access to interesting bits of machinery from that half-brained 'Doctor' you call your coltfriend... well, I think you and I can both agree that you are hardly worth mentioning. You are both completely useless to any other pony with the exception of myself, and whether or not you understand this yet, Miss Sparkle, you really have no other choice than to do exactly want I want you to do."

"We will do NOTHING to help you!" yelled Twilight, "Don't you dare underestimate us! We will find a way! Darklight already knows the truth about Equestria from our shared memories! He will listen to me! He... "

"Did I forget to show you our 'family trip' to Equestria?" he replied. "Oh, forgive me for such an oversight on my part, it is a piece of artistry that I am especially proud of, and I am certain you will enjoy it yourself."

The wand that was showing the images slowly descended until it was touching his head. The disk of light expanded above their heads, preparing to show the spectacle in his own mind. The cheerful tone continued as always, but Prometheus had a frightening smile on his face as he watched the reactions of the two mares. The images began.

"I knew the trip was starting out right when we came upon a pile of foals who had starved to death recently in Ponyville. Then we were privileged to see a mare get hacked to pieces by palace guards for stealing a moldy loaf a bread for her starving child—I made sure that Darklight had a front row seat for that, though he didn't appreciate it the way I did, and it was bothersome cleaning the blood off of him afterwards. Next we saw one of Celestia's many forced labor camps, quite brilliant on her part—using the ponies who were too tired to keep working as part of the building material. If I could only describe to you the SMELL!" he took a long sniff like he was a connoisseur, "Truly it was a feast for the five senses! Still, as wonderful as it all was, none of it compared to the grand finale when we were honored with the presence of the Dark Queen Celestia herself at one of her public executions. I have a newfound appreciation for her now, I never realized she could use that horn of hers to kill ponies WITHOUT the use of magic (and it took such a long time too). I was such a good father that I would allow Darklight to have that experience, although you don't know how annoying it was being woken up every night for a month by his screaming."

Twilight and Derpy saw all of this, and a great deal more. Derpy covered her eyes, unsuccessfully, with her hooves and whimpered "Please stop, please stop... " over and over again. Twilight forced herself to watch. The only thing that kept her from going insane was to think about Darklight, wondering at how he was able to stay as good as he was with such a mentor.

The final image of the Dark Queen, the twisted likeness of Celestia with the terrifying demonic gaze that mirrored that of Prometheus, was magnified and remained suspended in the air as a backdrop for his speech. He continued with a mocking tone, "Now, imagine that you are a young and impressionable colt like Darklight. Would such an experience as this make a big impact on you? Would you not commit your life to trying to help those ponies, to stop the monster who is causing such sorrow and misery? And let us not forget the sounds I arranged for him to hear in his dreams the whole time he has been living under my control. I doubt that anything you or that ridiculous shaman mare that Darklight seemed so attached to could even compare to such an experience. And that includes the vision of Ponyville that was, in your own words, 'quite a dream.'"

Twilight was emotionally exhausted now, she struggled to even speak one word. "Why... "

"Why?" he replied, somewhat puzzled, "Now what kind of a vague question is that? Well, why not? Because I want to, because I can. Really, Miss Sparkle, all I want is justice, that is all any pony really wants, and it is justice that demands sacrifice." The scene switched back to the trial, and focused on Celestia. "Celestia took away my chance to have a family, justice demands that I sacrifice hers! Celestia took away my chance to have my kingdom, justice demands that I take away hers!"

"But what about all of the ponies you killed or hurt in the name of your justice?" cried Twilight, who was slowly regaining her energy. "Was what you did to them just as well?"

"Are you still complaining about them? History never remembers the names of the little ponies who get caught in the wheels of history, so why should I? You should take care that you do not get caught yourself. Even you have your limits, Twilight Sparkle. How long can you, or all of the Elements of Love and Harmony, stand against an unstoppable force."

The scene faded, and the wands hid themselves once again in the depths of his cloak. "Before I go, you must know that I have no ill feelings against either of you, but I'm afraid that my colleagues would be very disappointed if I were not to uphold my contract and allow them some time with you."

The guards surrounding Twilight and Derpy began to close in on them. The orbs of light began to fade, but they could still clearly see the smiles of triumph on their faces.

Prometheus cast a teleportation spell, but he still had a few final words for them "And in case you feel a little too overconfident in your monster fighting skills, let me just say that the golem you fought was only the prototype."

He laughed maniacally as he disappeared. All at once, green columns of light shot up around every guard, revealing their true forms. The changelings had scarcely transformed before they lunged in unison at the two mares. There was almost no light now, but their fearsome shrieks were deafening. Twilight was forcibly pushed to the ground, her head striking a rock or crystal. She felt sharp teeth dig into each of her legs as she was pinned to the ground. A hoof pulled her horn back to expose her neck. As the light faded completely, she glimpsed the gleaming, white teeth of a changeling mouth moving towards her throat.

It was not the same fight as before, but Twilight was different now too. She shot a horn blast point blank into the face of the changeling holding her horn, and launched the attacker backwards with a concussion blast. The explosion freed one of her front hooves, which she used to smash the face of the changeling holding her other hoof. She used a beam attack to take out the changelings holding her back legs and shot several pulses to drive off the ones biting into Derpy's wings and legs. Derpy used her free limbs to punch and kick the changelings clinging to her. Twilight continued firing both to drive back the swarm and create light to see what to shoot next, and where the escape route was. They both ran together towards the tunnel under the light of a freshly cast light spell.

Ahead of them was the abyss. Twilight had used the old mining cart to get across when she was trapped there with Cadence, but there was no cart there to help them now, and three changelings were flying towards them. Derpy grasped Twilight with her hooves and flew as fast as she could, but her wings were injured, and the changelings were gaining on them. Twilight couldn't turn around to get a clear shot. She tried to ricochet her horn blasts off the crystals around them, but they were way off target.

Then, the attack stopped. Three pulses of red light, and the shrieks stopped entirely. They were alone... maybe.

The Doctor's voice crackled from the transporter box in Derpy's saddlebag, "Derpy? Derpy, are you there? We've got a very big problem! I'm detecting massive interference across multiple spectra... "

The voice turned to static and went dead, but the quiet did not last long. The two of them felt the low rumble of a long earthquake, followed by evenly spaced, increasingly powerful, and very familiar tremors.

Author's Note:

Where did I get the inspiration for Prometheus? From "The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout. Nuff said?

Comments

[DreadedCandiru2]

WOW!!
This guy is channeling dead crazy ponies. I mean, some of the baddies are out there but I kept expecting him to talk like Victor Von Doom.

[snoninja7]

3415378 Yeah, Prometheus is pretty intense when he wants to be. A lot of the villains in MLP:FIM look dark and scary, but I wanted to create a different kind of villain for this story. Real evil is often hidden, blending in so we can't see how it influences us. Prometheus looks and usually acts just like any other upper class pony, but deep down he is a psychopath who enjoys killing. His reasoning for wanting to destroy Celestia's kingdom is pretty shallow, and in many ways he's like the Joker from the Batman movies: he just wants the world to burn.

[LoyaltoRainbowDash]

DUDE I LOVE THESE STORIES. i cant wait till the rest come out. In really excited to continue :)

[Greninken]

THAT GUY IS FLIPPING INSANE I HOPE HE DIES IN THE PIT OF TARTARUS

[Giltor]

Twilight roared his name in fury

..and my palm meet the face.
It's official now: all the problems in this story are from incredible stupidity.