Darklight

by snoninja7

Chapter Twenty One: Love is (also) Magic

The beam shattered the bloodstone into hundreds of pieces that tinkled as they fell to the ground. The gold chain broke away from his neck and fell to the floor with a prolonged clink.

Twilight’s voice broke the silence that followed, “Is this the first time that you have seen your true self, Prince Solus?”

Tears of happiness that Celestia never thought she would shed began to fill her eyes, “My... son!”

Darklight no longer, Prince Solus looked into a decorative mirror placed nearby on one of the walls, and saw a stranger staring back at him. Then he sank to the ground. The foundations that his whole life was built on for him were crashing down. He had no anchor, no reference point, nothing to help him make sense of anything.

Twilight removed the hero's talisman from her saddlebag and walked up close to Prince Solus. It was like he didn't even see her. "I think you are ready to wear this now," she said tenderly, and placed the talisman around his neck. "I know this is a lot for you to sort out, but I want you to know that I am here for you, and I will help you make sense of everything."

Solus' eyes began to focus again. He looked at her and at the talisman, then he began to stammer, "I... I don't... what does this all mean?"

"It means that you failed," said a new voice, "As I anticipated that you would. You were always such a stupid boy. You should have taken advantage of the distractions I provided for you instead of trying to help Miss Sparkle and jeopardizing my alliance with that disgusting creature Chrysalis."

Twilight, Luna, and General Blade flew back into their defensive positions in front of Celestia, but none of them could react in time to stop the powerful spell that Prometheus cast. A wave of red light swept through the room, leaving everything in a darkness illuminated only by a grim red light. It was a repulsor field spell, the same one he had cast when he kidnapped the prince.

Outside, the door began to glow bright red, and the ponies trying to break in were flung against the back wall.

The windows also glowed red, and the force of the spell knocked the flying ponies and the airship back. Rarity and Shining Armor lost their footing and fell off the airship. Cadence launched herself into the air and swooped down towards her husband, catching him before he hit the ground. Rainbow Dash caught Rarity at the last moment. When the unicorn ponies began firing on the windows again, their shots were amplified and reflected back at them. There was now nothing that the ponies outside could do to help.

Prometheus was about to begin his grand speech to Princess Celestia, but Solus interrupted him, "Was it all a lie?! Was everything you told me a lie?!"

"Now, do I look like a pony who has the time to go through your entire, meaningless life just so you would know what was or was not a lie," he replied in an annoyed tone. "You failed, therefore, you are irrelevant."

Prometheus turned away to face Celestia. "Don't you turn your back on me!" shouted Solus. "I demand an answer!" The only answer his one-time father gave was a blast of lightning that stunned him and flung him across the floor.

"Insect," Prometheus said under his breath, before transforming back into his overly-friendly self again. "Princess Celestia! It has been such a long time, too long actually. I hope you will forgive the lateness of my visit. As you can see, I had so much to do to prepare for this day as I wanted to make it extra special for- OH COME ON!"

General Blade drew three knives from inside his armor and flung them at Prometheus, who blocked them with a quick shield spell. "Why are all the ponies I meet today trying to interrupt me when all I'm trying to do is give them a friendly greeting?"

"It's worth it to get you to shut up," replied Blade.

"That will be all, Blade." said Celestia. She was still very weak, barely able to keep herself in a sitting position, but her commanding presence was returning. "My judgments against you still stand, Prometheus, and you will have a great deal more to answer for when I bring you to trial."

"I'm afraid you will need more than the mana potential of a newborn unicorn foal to back up your words, Celestia." replied Prometheus, "And quite frankly, I am hurt that you would say such things when I have done so much for you! Did I not take your own son into my care? Did I not teach him everything that he now knows? So tell me, Celestia, while you were basking in luxury and the adoration of your subjects, did your son even cross your mind?"

"I have never forgotten my son nor my husband, Prometheus. I love them more than you can possibly understand."

"Well, if you really do love your son, as you say you do, how would you respond if I showed you what he has been up to since you last saw him?"

He again used one of his crystal wands to show her some of the more horrific scenes from the life of Darklight. He watched her reactions as he showed her the forced nightmares, the torturous training regiment, the nightmarish, fabricated visit to Equestria. He had hoped for the same reaction from Celestia that he had received from Twilight, but he found himself disappointed. Thought she watched everything, there was little evidence of emotion in her face. Luna and Blade had the same reaction. Prometheus masked his surprise with growing anger.

"Are you disappointed that you can no longer use my emotions as your plaything?" Celestia said with contempt. "I feel nothing but pity for you, because you cannot see past your own empty soul. Otherwise, you would have known long ago that you have failed. You spent your whole life trying to destroy me by destroying two of the ponies who I deeply care about, but you only helped them to grow stronger. Despite your own efforts to break them, humiliate them, and ruin their reputations, both Solus and Twilight have shown that they are more than a match for you, and I am very proud of them both."

Prometheus was fuming now, "Well, what difference does it make anyway?! I am here to finish the job that I set out to do years ago when you banished me. I will have the justice I demand, and there is nothing... "

He was suddenly engulfed in a maelstrom of fire, so hot that the other ponies had to back away and shield their eyes. When the fire cleared, Prometheus was still surrounded by a protective shield, and he looked annoyed. Prince Solus took his place beside Twilight and faced him.

"Rather quick to change sides I see," said Prometheus, "I was right to question your loyalty to me, Darklight."

"I am Prince Solus!" he corrected, "I am the son of Princess Celestia and the Fire Duke Ignitus! I may not fully understand what that means, but it is enough that I know who my family is, and I am going to stop you from hurting them!"

Prometheus responded with a condescending mockery that gradually evolved into psychotic rage. Bolts of lightning cracked around him, growing in strength as he spoke. "Oh, foolish boy. Oh, foolish, stupid, STUPID boy! Do you think you can take on ME?! THE ONE WHO TAUGHT YOU EVERYTHING?!!"

He reared into the air and cast aside his cloak, revealing the six crystal wands he had concealed. The wands floated and circled around him, and all at once began to fire.

Prince Solus responded with a blazing hot wall of fire that circled around him, protecting him from the lightning bolts. The amulet had been repressing his mana potential, feeding off of his magic, but he was free now and the full power of his family heritage was manifesting itself. His eyes glowed, his fiery red mane turned to flame, and he counterattacked with a storm of fire and horn blasts.

This was not the time for a fair fight. Twilight was already joining the fray, attacking Prometheus with her own horn blasts, teleporting this way and that, trying to catch their enemy off guard.

It was not going well. Prometheus changed his tactics quickly, using attack spells that Solus couldn't block with his flames. He fired shots that shattered into fragments when hit by a swiping block and sliced into their flesh. He overwhelmed their shield blocks until they shattered. He anticipated where Twilight would teleport to and opened fire on her as soon as she reappeared. Shots from either one of them were redirected towards the other. Twilight and Solus could each only fire one shot at a time, but Prometheus had his six wands in addition to his own horn, and he made skilled use of all of them. Soon the two protagonists were so overwhelmed with the onslaught that they could do little to stop the steady stream of attacks aimed at the still weakened princess.

Blade and his two swords danced and twirled, swiping a storm of pulsed hornblasts aimed at Celestia. A wand powered up and fired a beam attack almost as strong as one from a golem. Luna blocked it with her horn, but the force of the blast pushed her backwards, her silver shoes sparked as she dug her hooves. The two of them were able to keep the majority of attacks on Celestia at bay, but they were beginning to tire and couldn't keep up the frenetic pace forever.

Prometheus laughed mockingly, "Is this the best that Equestria has to offer?! Four ponies against one is rather pathetic, Celestia. It took me only three minutes to kill your husband, how long do you think it will take me to kill your son?!"

Twilight and Solus were being worn down as well. Something had to change or it would all be over for them. They began to coordinate their attacks. Twilight varied her teleportation so Prometheus couldn't adapt, and Solus tried to do the same. They dug deeper into their memories and called up every obscure spell they could think of.

Then came their first big break. Prometheus was distracted by a powerful series of attacks from Solus, and Twilight used this to teleport into the air and cast a sword spell. The blade fell on one of the wands, shattering it in mid air, but Prometheus merely scoffed and refocused his attacks on Twilight. He became less confident when Solus broke another wand with an identical attack, and responded by focusing everything on the two ponies on the front line. This gave Luna and Blade an opening, and they counterattacked with barrages of their own spells.

Then it happened. Those who watched from outside but did not understand what was truly happening described it later as a blur of fiery ponies teleporting and firing on all sides, smashing wands at every opportunity. For Twilight, it was no longer a fight at all. Months before, she had seen Cadence and Shining Armor use their love for each other to dispel the Changeling invasion, and Twilight had wondered if she would ever feel the same way. Now, she knew what that love was like. She felt that love for her friends, her family, and for Solus, and she knew that he felt the same way for her. It was a love strong enough to save the world.

The last wand fell to pieces on the floor, and Prometheus prepared to make his final stand, but something else happened. An explosion of powerful magic filled the room, breaking the barrier spell he had cast, undoing everything he had prepared, and froze him in place. It was Celestia, her power had returned, and she had used the distraction to her advantage, but her attack, fueled by an anger for the pony who had almost destroyed her family, was only a distraction in itself, and Prometheus realized too late that a long distance teleportation spell was opening up at his feet.

"No! NOOOO!" he cried, bolts of lightning flying at Solus, who was trying to focus on the teleportation spell he was casting. "I will have justice! I WILL HAVE JUSTICE!!"

He disappeared in a flash of light, and all was quiet again. Her energy completely spent, Twilight fell to the floor in an exhausted daze. She hardly notice the pony who was standing next to her.

"Thank you, Twilight," said Solus, tenderly, and he helped her get back on her feet. "Thank you for stopping me. Thank you, for saving me."

He turned to Princess Celestia and bowed. It was the low, submissive bow of a conquered pony. "Your Majesty, I do not deserve your forgiveness, nor am I asking for it. I submit myself to whatever punishment you decide for me."

"There is no need for punishment, my son," replied Celestia, "And there is nothing to forgive. I only wish to better understand your journey, if I may?"

Solus looked up in surprise, and nodded. Celestia walked up close to him and touched her horn to his. The details of his bittersweet life swept through her mind. She saw his lonely childhood, the struggle to be accepted by a pony who knew nothing of love, the terrifying dreams, the tortuous training regiment. Then she saw his journey home: the healing process that began with his stay among The Unconquered, his fateful meetings with Twilight and Derpy, and the attack on Canterlot.

Celestia was crying, and so was Solus. He saw through her memories his own father, his real father: majestic, powerful, yet compassionate and full of love. He felt the love that his mother had always had for him. He had come home.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you, my son," said Celestia, who was almost sobbing. "I never wanted you to go through this kind of suffering."

"It's okay," he replied. "I got to meet a lot of amazing ponies along the way. And it gave me the chance to meet Twilight."

"Of course," she said, and she turned to look at Twilight. "Thank you so much for all that you have done, Twilight. You risked everything to help bring my son home, and to restore my family back to me." Then to Luna, "Thank you, my sister, for helping to protect me after enduring so much yourself."

General Blade stepped forward before he could be thanked as well. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I had to disobey your orders in tellin' Ms Twilight and Ms Derpy about Prince Solus and his father. I am also submittin' myself for your judgement."

Celestia smiled, "No, I was wrong to keep this a secret. Seraphim warned me that I needed to tell others about what had happened and how I felt. I just... didn't know what to say."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Although," she added, a little playfully, "If you break your promise again, I might have to tell others your real name."

"And thank you for the added incentive, Your Majesty. It was a pleasure getting the chance to help protect you again."

"Excuse me, nephew," interrupted Princess Luna. "I am curious to know the location that you sent the traitor Prometheus to with your teleportation spell. I fear that he might show up again very soon if it is not far enough away."

"Well, actually," replied Solus, "That will take a little bit of explanation. When we were fighting I glanced at you... sorry, it just sunk in that you are my aunt... and I couldn't think about much because I was getting hit by lightning bolts at the time, but I thought about a night not too long ago when I was stargazing and I was impressed by how the shadows were playing on the Apennine mountain range on the moon. So, I guess, that is where he is right now."

"I did like those mountains as well," said Luna, thoughtfully, "He is welcome to use my house."

Celestia spoke again, "I do have one minor request for you, my son."

"Anything, Your Majesty."

"Well, two things, I would also like for you to call me 'mother.'"

"Certainly, Mother."

"I think that there are a lot of ponies outside who are very worried about what is going on, so I would like you to do something about fixing my door... "

Comments

[Greninken]

well that escalated quickly