A Light in the Night

Night's POV

Night flew down to Canterlot Castle, hoping to talk to his sisters to see if they had any clues on the Chest. The guards let him into the castle and he found his sisters in the throne room. Celestia was currently talking to an assistant. "…and then schedule that meeting when I have an opening," Celestia finished, sounding tired.

"Night! It's good to see you!" Luna shouted as she ran up to Night and hugged him.

"Good to see you too," Night said, hugging back.

"Night. You're here already?" Celestia asked then checked the time. "Oh, right. Sorry, my sense of time has been put off lately," she added.

"It's alright," Night said, trying to keep the annoyance he felt down.

"I'm afraid though I haven't found anything on the Chest. I've been more focused on some rumors going around Canterlot," Celestia said.

"What kind of rumors?" Night asked, curious.

"That there's a pony who can shine a light brighter than anything ever seen. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find any evidence," Luna answered.

The way Luna described it got Night thinking. "I wonder… what if this pony is an Elemental?" Night questioned aloud.

"It's possible, but like Luna said, we have no proof," Celestia said.

"I can check it out," Night said.

"You don't have too. I've let my guards do so," Celestia told him.

"If there's even the slightest chance that this pony is an Elemental, I have to find them," Night protested. Celestia looked like she wanted to argue, but sighed instead.

"Alright. I can see I won't be able to stop you anyway. Just be careful," she said.

"When am I not careful?" Night asked as he started to leave the room. Celestia gave him a questioning look while Luna looked amused. "Don't answer that!" Night shouted as he quickly flew off.

Night entered the streets of Canterlot, looking for any clues to the potential Elemental. As he passed by an area where a rumored sighting was, Night saw a small filly suddenly burst out an alleyway and ran away from him. Behind her were three foals who looked around before following her. "Come on," one of them said.

Night didn't know what that was all about and his curiosity got the better of him. He followed the four ponies and saw the three foals corner the filly. Night then got a better look at the filly, which drew his attention more than the other three. She was a yellow unicorn, but her horn looked like it was damaged. She also had a yellow mane and bright golden eyes. "Why can't you guys just leave me alone?" the filly pleaded.

"Because it's more fun not too. I mean, look at you. With that damaged horn, there's no way you could possibly do magic. And you want to be a powerful magic-user? How pathetic, right guys," one of them said, probably the leader. The other two let out their two-cents of agreement. The three laughed at the filly.

"I am capable of doing great magic! You're just jealous!" the filly protested. That only made the foals laugh more.

"Jealous? Of you? Oh please. Everyone here knows you aren't capable of magic. I mean, that's why your parents hate you," the lead foal said.

"They do not!" the filly shouted.

"Since you're so defiant, maybe we should teach you a lesson," the lead foal said as the three stepped closer to her and the yellow filly yelled out in fear.

"Hey!" Night shouted, stepping out so the four could see him. "Back off. Now," Night ordered.

"You're not our parents, so don't tell us what to do. We're just teaching this optimist a lesson on reality," one of the foals said. The three were then about to attack when Night used his magic to pull them into a wall.

"I told you three to back off. Now, I'll give you one last chance to run off and leave this poor girl alone," Night told them. He then released his magic on them and the three ran off. Night then stepped up to the filly, who looked fearful. Night couldn't blame her. "You alright?" he asked, bringing himself more to her level, so she didn't have to look up at him.

"I am now. Thank you," she said.

"What's your name?" Night asked. "I want to address you by your name."

"It's Shining Star," she answered.

"Night Storm, but you can call me Night," he told her. Her eyes widened in recognition and she looked at his sides to see his wings.

"Oh… I… I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you sooner, your highness," Shining said, bowing. Night put her hoof on her chin and made her stand.

"Hey, do you see a crown on my head?" he asked her. Shining shook her head. "Then forget the 'your highness' stuff. I'm just another pony right now," he said, standing up. "I assume you want to head home. I'm sure your parents will be worried," Night guessed.

"Probably," Shining answered half-heartedly. Night didn't know what to make of that. Shining then headed off, presumably to her home.

Night continued looking around but found nothing for the rest of the day. He was about to head back to the castle when he saw a flash of light. Since it was getting dark, Night could see it clearly. He flew over the buildings to the source, but it didn't appear again. When he arrived, he saw a few ponies covering their eyes like they hurt. "What happened here?" Night asked one of them as a few guards came up.

"Ugh… I'm not sure. One minute I was walking down the street when a flash of light suddenly blinded me," he answered, eyes closed tightly.

"I think I've got something!" one of the guards called out. Night ran up to see him with another pony who likely caught the light. "Can you tell us what you saw again?" the guard asked the civilian.

"Alright. So, I was watching my store when I saw two ponies arguing about something. I guess one of them said something bad, and the next thing I knew, a bright flash emitted from one of the ponies, and I was blinded," she answered, starting to flicker her eyes.

"We've found the blindness is temporary, your highness. It seems to come back after a bit," one of the guards told Night.

"Did you see what either of the ponies looked like? Anything that stood out?" Night asked the witness.

"Um… both ponies were unicorns, but one of them looked like they had a damaged horn," she answered. Night's thoughts immediately went to Shining Star, his suspicion raising.

"Did you see which one created the light?" one of the guards asked as the witness' sight returned.

"No. It all happened too quickly, but I'm guessing it was the unicorn with the alright horn," she answered. "Oh! They were both fillies, around school age, I'd guess."

"Well, that's better than anything we got at previous sightings," one of the guards said, a Lieutenant. He then turned to Night. "You want us to investigate?" he asked.

"Yes, but wait until morning. The answers will still be the same then," Night told him.

Night then headed back to the castle and managed to enjoy some time with Luna before she had to go raise the moon and watch over the dream world. As Night drifted off into sleep, he woke up in a void. "What is this?" Night asked himself.

His eyes were then drawn to a light that shined out. As he squinted his eyes to get a better look, he saw what appeared to be a pony in the light. "Help," Night heard faintly. He couldn't recognize the voice.

"What was that?" Night asked it.

"Help… They're hurting me…" the voice said.

"Where are you? Who's hurting you? I need you to answer," Night called out.

"Please… somepony help me…" the voice said faintly. Night started to run towards the light, but the distance never seemed to close. The light then started to fade.

"Wait! Come back!" Night called out, but it was too late and the light faded away, the pony inside it gone. "Damn it," Night cursed.

"Well, that was odd," somepony said. Night turned to see Luna enter his dream, the dark void being replaced with a starry night sky.

"How much of that did you see?" Night asked.

"Just the ending. I hope you can figure out what it means," Luna answered.

"As do I. But I felt like I knew that pony, but I couldn't recognize the voice," he said.

"Well, you're smart. I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time," Luna told Night confidently. Luna's head then rose like she heard something. "I'd better go. It sounds like someone's having a nightmare," she said. She disappeared and Night's mind then went blank. When his eyes opened, the sun was starting to shine through his window.

"Welp. Better figure out what all that was about," Night said to himself. After breakfast, he headed back out into Canterlot and found nothing during the course of the morning. As he was eating his lunch at a local cafe, he saw Shining Star run past with what Night thought were tears in her eyes.

Night then heard laughter behind him and saw some other ponies laughing in Shining Star's direction. "Did you see that little baby run?" one of them asked.

"Oh, you bet I did. "Mommy! Mommy! Help me!" What a baby!" another said, mocking Shining. That really infuriated Night and he decided he would find Shining to see if he could help her.

He followed her trail as best he could and saw another bright flash as he did so. He ran up to the source, wondering what he would find. When he rounded the corner, he saw two ponies lying on the ground, hoofs covering their eyes. "What happened here?" Night asked, but the ponies didn't answer him. Night then heard what sounded like crying.

He followed the sound into an alleyway and he eventually found Shining Star in a cutaway, weeping into her hooves. Night put his hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Shining lifted her head, looked at Night, and surprised him by hugging him, crying into his shoulder. Night hesitantly wrapped his wings around her. "I'm sorry," Shining said.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything. You've done nothing wrong," Night told her, confused on why Shining would be apologizing.

"Because I can't do anything right. I'm useless," she wept. Night then heard some commotion behind him and saw two guards looking at him with confusion. Night moved his wing a bit so they could see Shining before motioning them to leave them. They nodded and left the alley, likely standing guard just out of his view.

"Come on. I'll take you home," Night told Shining.

"O… Okay," she muttered, wiping her tears away. Night led Shining out of the alley and the two guards he saw earlier were standing on either side of it.

"Your highness, what's going on?" one of them asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be taking this one home," Night told them, referring to Shining. The guards looked at each other and shrugged, but they left the Storm Prince alone. "Can you show me where you live?" Night asked Shining. She nodded sadly and told Night the directions. He followed them and ended up in some of the lower homes of Canterlot.

"My home is right over there," Shining said, pointing to one of the homes. Night noticed that as they got closer, Shining got more and more fearful, which got Night wondering what was going on.

Night knocked on the door and a dark yellow mare answered it. "Yes?" she asked.

"Hi… mother," Shining Star said from Night's side, sounding scared and sad.

Shining's mother looked at her with a scolding look. "Where have you been? What have I told you about wandering around!" she scolded. She then looked at Night. "I'm terribly sorry for anything my daughter did. I'll be sure to punish her appropriately," she told Night, glaring at Shining as she said the last bit and Shining lowered her head.

"She didn't do anything. I just found her upset and decided to bring her home," Night told her.

Shining's mother looked unnerved for a bit, but regained her composure. "Well… that was nice of you," she said. Night thought it sounded a bit forced. "Anyways, thank you for doing so," she said, pulling Shining inside somewhat forcibly. She then slammed the door shut, raising Night's suspicions further. He walked away from the house and when he was sure he was out of sight, he ducked into an alley and cloaked himself. He then carefully flew back to Shining's house and managed to find a window open on the side. He looked inside and saw it was probably the living room, but didn't see anyone there.

He continued looking and found another window on the next floor. This one looked like it was Shining's room, based on the toys and child-like theme of the room. Night then heard some commotion and saw Shining forcibly dragged into the room by her mother and followed by another pony, who was dark grey and was probably Shining's father. "You snuck out again. That is completely unacceptable," Shining's father scolded Shining, who was cowering on the floor in fear.

"And what's worse, you were seen and had to be brought home. I'm sure that the pony who brought you back was furious with whatever you destroyed or damaged," her mother added. Shining looked like she wanted to protest, but she didn't say anything. "Well? What did you do?" Shining's mother demanded. Shining remained silent.

"ANSWER YOUR MOTHER!" Shining's father screamed, causing both Shining and Night to jump. Night quickly checked himself to see if he was visible, but he was still hidden. He ended up missing Shining's answer, but it clearly wasn't what her parents were expecting. "Liar!" her father yelled, hitting Shining across the face. "Tell us the truth!" he demanded. Night flinched when he saw this. Unable to watch, he went back to the castle, having to think about what he saw.

When he got back to the palace, it was dark outside and a guard met him. "Your highness, we believe to have found a lead on who's causing the flashes of light," she told him.

"Very well," Night said. The guard led him to a room in the palace where there was one other guard. Night recognized him as the lieutenant who he saw yesterday.

"Prince Night is here, sir," the guard who escorted him reported.

"Ah. Prince Night, I'm Lieutenant Hammer, I'm in charge of investigating the light disturbances," he introduced himself.

"You have something, Lieutenant?" Night asked.

"Yes. We managed to triangulate a possible location on where the pony who's causing this is living. The Canterlot slums," he answered, showing Night a map of Canterlot, which had red pegs in the locations of light sightings. A red circle was around the slums.

"Any potential subjects?" Night asked.

"None that we can narrow down. There are just too many of them," Lieutenant Hammer answered.

"Well, keep working. Hopefully, we can find this out quickly," Night said. He then left the room and went to bed, his mind going over what he saw at Shining's home.

When Night awoke the next morning, his mind still was thinking over what he saw. "I shouldn't get involved. It doesn't concern me and who am I to tell somepony else how to do things," a part of Night thought as he wandered around the halls of the castle. "But you can't just sit by and do nothing," another part argued. Night's mind went back and forth on the subject, and he eventually decided that he wouldn't do anything about it. Besides, he had other things to worry about.

Despite that, Night felt terrible. His mind just wouldn't let it go as he wondered around Canterlot again, with no flashes of light to take his attention off the subject. Night eventually ended up back in the castle, wandering the halls again. He finally stopped at one of the stain-glass windows. This one showed Night's birth into the world, his mom and dad looking over his baby self as the sun and moon were under where he was. As he looked at the window, a small amount of light went through the window and went past Night to another window. This one showed one of the hardest choices that Midnight Eclipse had to make.

A group of dragons had been attacking a group of ponies outside Equestria's borders, and Midnight wanted to interfere, but the Dragons said that since the ponies were in their borders, they were free to do as they pleased and Equestria should stay out of it. Midnight did interfere in the end, but only because he couldn't stand by and let that happen. Seeing this window made something click in for Night.

A few days later: Shining Star's POV

After what happened a few days ago, Shining was locked in her room for days with very little to eat. Her parents were furious when Shining told them the truth, but she was sadly used to it. Her parents wouldn't know the truth if it hit them in the face. She was eventually let out, but only to eat and drink. She didn't even go to school because her parents feared she'd embarrass them since she couldn't do magic. She had spent most of her time in those days to cuddle her favorite stuffed rabbit that she had since she was a kid, hoping things would get better.

On the day Shining was let out, she was getting a glass of water when she heard a knock on the door. "Shining. In your room, now," her mother ordered. Shining obeyed without protest, not wanting to get hit. As she climbed the stairs to her room, she heard the door open. "Hello, can I help you?" her mother asked.

"Ma'am. We have reports that you and your husband are committing domestic abuse, we're here to search the house," a voice answered.

"Absolutely not! You have no authority," Shining's mother protested.

"Actually, we do. We have a warrant for the search," the voice said. Shining didn't hear anything else as she entered her room and closed the door behind her. She was then surprised when she heard the door to her room open and her father walked in with a belt. Shining tried to run, but he was blocking the door.

"What did you do?" he demanded, hitting her hard with the belt. Shining screamed in pain and, as a result, she was hit again. It hit the same spot as before and she screamed louder. There was then some commotion downstairs.

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHTS!" her mother screamed as somepony climbed up the stairs. Shining saw another pony walk into her room, catching her father about to hit her. The new pony turned out to be a royal guard, based on the gold armor he wore.

"Sir, you're under arrest for-" he started when Shining's father tackled him into the wall and threw him down the stairs. Shining watched as her father kept attacking the guard and trying to force him and the guard holding her mother out the door. Once the guard that was holding her mother was thrown off, she started fighting the guards as well. It didn't last long when Shining could have sworn she heard lightning go off, and her parents were hit with it. Shining was stunned when she saw Prince Night Storm walk into her home, looking furious.

"Thank you, your highness," the other guard said, standing up. He then turned to her parents, who were lying on the ground in pain. "You both are under arrest for domestic abuse, assaulting a royal officer, and resisting arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can, and will be used in a court of law. You will have an attorney. If you can't afford one, it will be provided to you by the government," the guard said as he and his partner escorted Shining's parents out.

Night's POV

After Shining's parents were escorted out, Night let out a sigh of relief. "Shining? Are you here?" he asked, starting to head up the stairs. He then saw Shining at the top of the stairs, looking terrified. "Hey Shining," Night said, keeping a smile on his face.

"Are they… gone?" Shining asked fearfully.

"Yes. They are," Night answered. Shining slowly came down the stairs and over to Night.

"So… what happens to me now?" she asked, concerned.

"Do you have any relatives you can stay with?" Night asked her. Shining shook her head. "Well, you can stay with me in the meantime," Night told her, offering his hoof to Shining. Shining accepted it and the two headed back to the castle.

As they approached the castle, two guards got Night's attention. "Your highness, Lieutenant Hammer has a report on the light disturbances," one of them said.

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment," Night replied. He led Shining to his room. "If you need anything, let me know okay," Night told her. As he was about to leave, he felt Shining pull on his tail.

"Prince Night. I know what's causing the light disturbances," she told him.

"You do?" Night asked, his curiosity peaked.

Shining hesitated for a bit. "It's me. I'm what's causing it," she told him. Night's face turned serious. "You… probably are going to turn me in now. I know I deserve it," Shining added, looking at the ground in shame.

"Come with me," Night told her as he left the room. He didn't look back to see if Shining was following him, but he knew she was. Night led her to the training field. "Alright then. Let's see it," Night told her.

Shining looked nervous. "I don't know if I can. I've never done it on purpose. It normally happens when I get scared," she told him.

Night put his hoof under her chin. "I believe you can do it, Shining. So show me what you can do," he said with a smile. Shining nodded and concentrated. Night couldn't see any magic taking effect, but the crack in her horn started glowing brightly. Night quickly shielded his eyes as the light reached its full intensity, but surprisingly, it wasn't blinding. Night let his eyes see the light fully and his eyes weren't hurting. Shining was inside the light as it glowed brightly. That attracted the attention of several guards but Night used his wing to signal them to back off, which they did. Night then walked up to Shining and got her attention. The light then faded and Shining looked shocked.

"I didn't know I could do that. What is it? I know it isn't normal magic," Shining asked.

"That is something special, Shining," Night answered. He then told Shining everything he knew about the Elementals. "That is who you are. And although your power is untamed and wild, I can help you control it," he finished.

"Really?!" Shining asked, putting on a big smile for the first time since Night met her.

"Really. You're one of a kind, Shining. It'd be a crime to not train your power. Who knows what you could do with it," Night told her.

"Well, it appears that that problem is solved," Celestia commented as she came up to Night. Shining immediately bowed. "You can rise, Shining," Celestia told her and Shining did so slowly. Celestia then turned to Night. "And I can't think of a better teacher to train her." Night smiled at her confidence in him, some of his anger he felt leaving.

When Night returned to Ponyville, he wrote what happened in the journal. While my trip to Canterlot didn't reveal anything about the chest, I found something far more important. The discovery of the Light Elemental. While I was initially willing to let the injustice against her stand, I was reminded of the time my father faced a similar challenge. And while the stakes may have not been the same, I've learned that letting things go isn't the best thing when you can do something about it. Even if it's a small thing. Getting involved in that took a lot for me, but feel that it will be worth it in the end. A few weeks later, Night stood at the train station in Ponyville with Twilight by his side. The train from Canterlot pulled in, and Shining Star stepped off the train happily.

"Thank you so much for everything, Prince Night," Shining said as they entered the Golden Oak Library.

"Shining, you don't have to call me that, okay. It's just Night," he told her.

"Still, I want to give you something," Shining said, pulling out a stuffed rabbit. "This guy has always been there for me when I needed support, now I want you to have him," she said.

Night was surprised. "Shining… thank you," Night said, somewhat hesitant on taking it, but Shining's face made it hard to resist. He set it on a shelf in his and Twilight's shared room before heading off the help Shining settle in.