As the day was coming to a close, the moon taking the sun's place up in the sky, the Everfree Forest was as creepy as it could get, barely any light creeping through the tall trees of the wild forest. Solaris built a fire, using his new flame breath to light the wood, casting a green glow around the ruins. While he looked through his bags, he found the tent stashed away and began setting it up. When he was a colt, he always wondered what it would be like to camp out, so he had improvised by camping indoors with his uncle. He used some of his fake camping experience to set up the tent, which was built for two to sleep in.

"Boy, we're really lucky there's a tent in that bag of yours," Trill said. "You seem pretty prepared for being a cavepony."

"My uncle had this set up for me already." Solaris finished setting up the tent, making sure it wouldn't cave in on him while he was asleep. "I think he planned for us and my aunts to be traveling around a lot, steering clear of the towns and cities in case Lucifer's guards would come after me."

"Ugh. Don't get me started on that blowhard unicorn," Trill growled. While they were waiting for the past few hours, the two talked about themselves, getting to know each other without anymore conflicts. She was pretty surprised to hear that it was Solaris's "destiny" to defeat the dark unicorn tyrant. "With how he's got everypony in the kingdom scared to death, it's hard for us changelings to even find love to consume. We need ponies in romantic situations, or maybe some lusty one night stands, but because of the rowdy guards causing a ruckus, love is becoming scarce."

"Wait, 'one night stands'?" Solaris stared at Trill. "...You actually had sex with your 'victims'?"

"What!? No! I'm fourteen!" Trill exclaimed. "Just because I'm a changeling doesn't mean I'm some strange nympho who sleeps with others just to eat! I'm too young for that stuff just yet!"

"O-Others?" Solaris blushed, quickly getting his mind out of the gutter before his thoughts were clouded by his hormones. "S-So you actually stole love from others before you attacked me?"

"Actually, you were my first victim," said Trill, feeling embarrassed at her failed attempt earlier today. "I was finally allowed to leave the hive a week ago. A usual tradition for changelings deemed worthy of venturing outside our home and learning about survival by ourselves."

"Oh..." Solaris said. "...That means you're new out here, too?"

"Well, sort of. I have a bit more knowledge of locations outside of the hive, just not this far out," she said.

Solaris sat back near the fire, wondering where Trill's home was on the map. He was learning a lot about changelings, not really finding them evil in any way.

"How come I never read anything about your kind in the books I had?" he asked.

"Probably because we're considered dangerous." Trill moved a strand of her mane out of her face, leering into the fire. "We manipulate ponies, turning into their lovers or friends to feed off their love, all for the sake of survival. We're hated even more after my mother's attempt to take over a wedding in Canterlot nearly twenty years ago. It was a really important wedding too, a princess marrying the captain of the royal guard.

"Mom succeeded, changing into the bride and trapping her down in the crystal mines underneath Canterlot. Everything was planned out perfectly, even getting on the bearers of the Elements of Harmony on her side." Trill huffed, remembering the next bit of the story she had heard. "Unfortunately, one of them got too suspicious, the Element of Magic." Solaris's eyes widened, staring at Trill in shock, who was unaware of his expression as she continued the tale. "She actually knew the bride when she was little, and caught on. She even escaped from the mines with the princess, reuniting her with the groom, and in an ironic twist, my mother and her army were beaten by the power of their love."

"My mom was the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle," Solaris said.

"Huh!?" Trill looked at Solaris, sweating beading down her face as she learned of this new bit of history on the alicorn. "T-That was your mom!?...Oh jeez..."

"Your mom threw my mom down in an abandoned mine shaft!?" Solaris shouted.

"W-Wait, I didn't even know that pony was actually your mom!" Trill's eye twitched, making a very serious realization from Twilight being Solaris's mother. "...Oh no. Your aunts you're waiting for are the other Elements, aren't they?" The alicorn nodded his head. Trill's body was immediately surrounded in flames, turning into the same mare from her little prank, making Solaris tense up at the change. "Ok. I'm gonna stay like this when they do show up. If they see me, they just might kill me!"

"...I'm surprised I haven't jumped you at this point." Solaris suddenly didn't feel like trusting the daughter of the changeling queen after hearing the Canterlot wedding fiasco. "I wouldn't blame them if they did attack because of your species."

"It was for our hive's survival! I wasn't even born when that happened!" Trill leapt at Solaris's hooves, wrapping her hooves tightly around one of his forelegs, looking up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. "Please don't hate me! I didn't know! Honest!"

He looked down at her, staring at her emerald eyes. She was giving him that look a sad puppy would make if they were begging for a treat, a look he easily fell for when he met his aunts' foals. He was a victim to this look by Rarity's daughter, Gemstone, wanting him to play with her while he wasn't up for it. He gave in too soon, playing dress-up with the filly and forced to wear a girly dress that fit him. At least no one took a picture of him when that happened, otherwise he would have been in more trouble before earlier this morning.

He groaned, quickly giving in to the look Trill gave him, failing to hide the glowing blush on his cheeks. "Fine. I don't hate you."

"Yay!" Trill quickly stood up, pulling Solaris into a tight hug, nearly crushing his rubs. "Thank you! We're still buddies, right!?"

"When did we become friends again?" he asked, pulling her forelegs off him.

"While we were talking for the past few hours." Trill wrapped her foreleg around Solaris's shoulder, pressing her cheek against his. "You could use one after all the drama you've gone through today."

"...Personal space. Please." Solaris snorted, flames spewing out of his nostrils as he warned Trill.

Trill laughed nervously, scooching away from the peeved alicorn a good distance from him, fearing he would burn her. "Uhh, you figured out how you got that fire power yet?"

"I'm going to bed. I'm tired." Solaris put out the fireplace, bringing the ruins back to complete darkness as he entered the tent. Trill carefully and slowly approached the tent, poking her head in. "Do anything to me while I sleep, and you're getting bucked far into the forest."

"Couldn't we do that in here?" Solaris glared at Trill, not amused at the play on words with his statement. "I'm kidding! I knew what you meant!" The alicorn grunted, turning away from her as he closed his eyes. "I swear I was...You need to grow a funny bone."

"Trill..." Solaris warned, silencing the mare as she quickly entered the tent and laid in the empty space next to him. As much as she wanted to wish him good night, she didn't want to aggravate him further.

As Solaris opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark void, no sign of light or color anywhere except for himself. He wandered around, hoping he could find a way out.

"Hello!?" he shouted, his voice echoing all around him. "Where am I?"

"Your grave." Solaris's ears twitched, recognizing who the voice belongs to.

The alicorn turned around, only to have something in the darkness strike him through the shoulder. He yelled out in pain, feeling more sharp pains strike every part of his body. He couldn't tell where they were coming from, or what they were, but he could feel blood dripping from the wounds being inflicted upon him. The barrage of invisible stabs finally stopped, leaving Solaris wincing, moving any part of him causing some kind of pain.

From the darkness, he saw a pair of red eyes leering at him, green mist flowing out from the sides. A sharp toothed grin formed underneath the eyes, the face walking closer, revealing Lucifer out from the dark void.

"N-No. Not you!" Solaris tried to back away, but he couldn't move his legs. He looked down, finding his legs bound by dark chains, the same ones Spike was held down by. "No! Please! I don't want to die!"

"Don't worry." Lucifer summoned a mace with his ethereal magic, swinging it around to test its weight, even though it was created by his aura. "I'll make this quick and painless. Say hello to your mother in Tarterus, alicorn!"

Solaris screamed, unable to look away as he watched the dangerous blunt weapon swing hard and wide toward his face.

Solaris woke up, panting heavily as sweat dripped down his forehead. He quickly inspected himself, finding him free of any wounds and chains, realizing that it was just a nightmare. A really horrible nightmare. He tried to calm down, unable to fall back asleep after having that unicorn disturb his dreams. His ears perked up when he heard snoring next to him. He forgot that Trill was in the tent with him, still disguised as the green unicorn from her prank, her legs sprawled out, one of her hind legs twitching randomly. She made some weird chirping noises as she breathed out, almost like the crickets outside.

"Is she really making those noises?" Ignoring Trill's weird snoring, he laid back down, rubbing his eyes, wondering what time it was.

"Solaris..." The stallion's ears perked up, hearing a feminine voice calling out his name. He sat up, knowing it wasn't Trill since the female's voice sounded a lot older. "Solaris..."

"Hello?" Solaris poked his head out of the tent's flap, looking around for the sound of the mysterious voice. "Is anypony there?"

There was no sign of any other pony around. Solaris shrugged, probably hearing things. Before he crawled back in the tent, he caught a glimpse of a purple light near the entrance to the castle. He could see what looked like a pony inside the light, but he couldn't tell who the pony was. It turned away, gesturing with its head to follow it, exiting the ruins. Solaris had a feeling he should follow the light, running after it before he lost sight of it.

"Hey! Wait!" he shouted out to it. He saw it head out of the entrance, losing sight of it as he reached the bridge. He looked around, catching a glimpse of the light down in the chasm below. Looking down, he watched the light walk through a cavern that seemed to run underneath the ruined castle. "Hold on a second! How do you know my name!?"

Solaris flew down, lighting the dark crevice with his horn, running into the cave as he touched the ground. He didn't see the light or the pony in it, wondering who it was that called out to him. For some strange reason, he thought the voice sounded familiar, almost like the first voice he ever heard when he was little. He finally reached a light at the end of the tunnel, but what he saw inside made his eyes widen, staring at it in awe.

"No way..." Solaris stared at what looked like a crystal tree, the trunk etched with three different symbols: a sun, a crescent moon, and a star. Its branches held six different gems connected to it, each a different color and in individual shapes: a purple diamond, an orange apple, a red lightning bolt, a blue balloon, a pink butterfly, and a lavender star, similar to the mark on the trunk. "This is...the Tree of Harmony. And the Elements of Harmony are here too!"

He slowly approached the magical tree, hearing the story of how his mother and aunts giving the Elements up to save the tree. It needed them back after its magical reserves were drained, keeping Discord's vines from reaching it and destroying it. With the Elements of Harmony, it might be possible to stop Lucifer, but how he was going to wield them would be a problem, needing six ponies that represent each Element to use them.

Deciding how to use them at a later date, Solaris reached out and tried to grab the Element of Magic. As soon as his hoof touched the star-shaped gem, a powerful electric shock zapped him, sending him flying backward, tumbling across the ground. His body twitched as he stood up, slowly recovering from the tingles of electricity coursing through his body. The Elements in the branches began glowing, each gem shooting out a small beam of light similar to their color near the base of the tree. The lights slowly began to form into equines, matching the same body structures of the bearers of the Elements.

Solaris looked up, his jaw dropping as he saw the ethereal forms of his aunts and mother standing in front of the tree, the symbol of their cutie marks etched on their chests. The lavender apparition hovered above the other five, resembling Twilight through the glowing light around her. This was the same light he saw that guided him to the Tree of Harmony.

"The Elements of Harmony must remain within us, foal," the apparition warned. "We have lost our power after a millennium of staving off the chaotic vines of Discord. Without the Elements, we, along with Equestria, would fall."

"W-Who are you?" Solaris asked. "...A-Are you-?"

"I am not who you think I am, child." The spirit slowly lowered itself to the ground, standing in front of the other five. "We are the embodiments of the Elements in spiritual form: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic. Our bodies have transformed to resemble the bearers who used us many years ago, defending Equestria from evildoers."

"Oh," Solaris said, disappointed. He hoped that the ethereal alicorn before him was his mother, or maybe some part of her, but it wasn't. "Then, why did you lead me here?"

"A request from Twilight Sparkle, the bearer of Magic, several years ago." The five spirits slowly began to surround him, their eyes glued to him as he was unaware of their movements, too transfixed on the Spirit of Magic. "We know of the dangers across the land, a unicorn wizard with incredibly dark magic, threatens to destroy all who dare to stand in his way. Even if we were to give you our power, his magic is far too great to be contained. Celestia had made a mistake offering him mercy, putting him to sleep for a thousand years and hoping he would change. Dark magic is a barrier unicorns should never come in contact with, holding deadly spells and incredible power, even going as far as to give one immortality in exchange for their soul.

"However, there is one power that can stop him." Magic pointed at Solaris. "You have that power, young one."

"I do?" he asked, confused.

"Inside of you is a light so strong, it is able to eliminate any traces of evil." The spirit touched the star symbol on her chest. "Born from the bearer of Magic, the Spark of Harmony, the light that unites the Elements as one, rests within you. In other words, you, Solaris, are a living Element of Harmony. The Element of Light."

"What!?" Solaris shouted. "How is that possible!? I thought-"

"It is how it is. This is your known destiny: as a pony, a savior of all of Equestria, and the true heir to the throne of your kingdom." Solaris began to panic, thinking he wasn't who he thought he was. "Do not worry. You are born of flesh and blood. You only have a magical power no other pony could ever obtain through birth.

"Oh." Solaris breathed a sigh of relief. "I did not want to go through anymore surprise secrets I've been left out of the loop from. It's bad enough the past few days have been a disaster."

"Enough talk," Magic said, snapping the alicorn out of his thoughts. "I have guided you here so you may begin your journey. The bearer of Magic has given you five tests, to prove your worth in combat through skill, strategy, and strength. You must not falter if you wish to save Equestria from the wrath of the unicorn king. Be warned: with each trial you manage to succeed in, you will suffer greatly. Do you understand these terms, Solaris?"

Solaris thought really hard about what Magic explained. He didn't realize that he had to take some trials to prove he was ready to take down Lucifer. She was really vague about what he would suffer from. An ailment? Losing a part of his soul? He wasn't going to die if he managed to succeed, since she did explain that he was supposed to rule Equestria once he beat the unicorn tyrant. He had no idea what to do.

Equestria was in trouble, and his family told him that it was his destiny to save them all. He didn't want anyone else to suffer, but he had no idea if he was able to do this all on his own. All of this pressure was being thrust upon him so soon, even the Elements of Harmony want him to win. Solaris didn't want to let everyone down, or fail. Steeling himself, he gave Magic a determined look, making his decision.

"I understand. I won't let you, or anypony down," he said.

"Excellent. Now, to begin your first test." Solaris quickly lost his resolve, already beginning his first trial this early. "To test your skills, you must defeat us spirits. If you can defeat the six of us, then you will pass and receive one of five pieces of equipment to help aid your power. If you fall, then you are not truly ready to take down the tyrant." Magic's eyes glowed brightly, as well as the other spirits around the alicorn, the spirits crouching low as they prepared to fight. "Your test begins now."

Solaris was too slow to react, being struck from behind by Loyalty, moving just as fast as Rainbow Dash. Recovering from the sneak attack, he turned to face the red spirit, only to get shot at by a beam of magic coming from Generosity. Being his first actual experience in combat, it was difficult for him to win if he was getting smacked around by several opponents at once. Trying to get his bearings, he felt a pair of forelegs wrapping around his waist, hoisted up into the air by Laughter. He was thrust to the ground headfirst, suplexed hard and seeing stars.

Feeling his tail being grabbed, Honesty dragged him across the ground, spinning him around with incredible strength, screaming as his vision was a blur. The spirit let go, flying straight into Kindness, who reared back and bucked Solaris in the chin, sending him soaring high into the air. Before he was able to right himself back up, Loyalty can swooping in, speeding past him rapidly and landing several hits on him. He soon hit the ceiling of the cave, groaning in pain. He soon lost his breath as Laughter bounced up toward him at light speed, punching him hard in the stomach. The blue spirit stood on the ceiling, as random as his aunt Pinkie, pulling him out of the hole that left an imprint of his body.

It dropped him, unable to move due to the pain of trying to breathe, falling straight down to the other three Elements fighting him, Magic standing near the tree and watching the battle unfold. Solaris hit the ground hard, bouncing off the cavern floor, receiving a three way buck from Generosity, Kindness, and Honesty, the latter of the three's knocking the wind out of him even further. Loyalty came diving in, slamming down on the alicorn and began repeatedly punched the stallion in the face. He tried to block the barrage of blows with his forelegs, trying to find some way to break out of the onslaught of attacks being thrown at him.

He found an opening as Loyalty wound up its hoof for another hit, blocking it before he was hit again. Before he could get the opportunity to fight back, he was dragged across the ground by his tail again, kicked in the gut once again, feeling himself being lifted up by Kindness and Generosity. As soon as he was able to squint his eyes, he saw the barrel of an ethereal cannon, glowing the same colored light as Laughter's. He winced, hearing the cannon fire, being flung far from the powerful blast, slamming his back hard into the wall.

Groaning, he slid down, flopping on the floor, his body covered in bruises. He struggled to breathe, feeling like he ribs had been broken or cracked, especially after the magical party cannon blasting point blank at his chest. Solaris shakily got up, clutching his chest, looking up as the spirits were prepared to give him another beating.

"It seems as though you aren't really ready after all." Magic shook her head, sounding disappointed. "I'm surprised you're still conscious. It's a start, but it's not enough if you have to face several opponents. It seems like you failed."

Magic pointed her hoof, commanding the rest of the Element Spirits to charge at the injured alicorn. Solaris couldn't give up. He didn't want to fail. His family was counting on him. All of Equestria. The whole world. The fire in his gut began to form, but instead of expelling it from his mouth, he willed it to his forehooves. As they closed in on him, the stallion reared up, green flames appearing in his hooves, slamming down hard and creating a wall of fire. He punched the wall, sending the flames flying toward them, catching them on fire as they tried to put themselves out.

The lavender spirit's eyes grew in shock, not expecting Solaris to wield fire. As the flames blocking her view of him died down, he was on his hind legs, forehooves covered in green fire. He got his second wind back, finally, flaring out his wings and slamming his hooves together, sending green sparks flying around him.

"I'm not done yet." Bringing his hooves up in a boxing stance, he was ready to finally fight back, determination shining in his eyes. "I'm not giving up! Come on!"

After the five combating spirits doused out the fire on their ethereal bodies, they rushed at the alicorn yet again. Solaris was ready this time. Loyalty reached him first, flying at a fast pace and prepared to punch him. He gave the red spirit an uppercut, a deafening crunch echoing in the cave as he hit it in the chin, sending it soaring faster than he had earlier, slamming far into the ceiling. The other spirits hesitated, surprised to see how much power he was holding back.

While distracted, Solaris punched at them, sending waves of fire at them. Generosity and Kindness were unlucky enough to get hit, but Laughter and Honesty nearly avoided getting struck by the green fireballs. Laughter teleported behind the stallion, using Pinkie's usual logic breaking skills, wrapping its hooves around him again. This time, he didn't give the spirit a chance to throw him again. Solaris grabbed the spirit by the neck, his flaming hooves causing it to remove its grip around him, leaping into the air while flipping rapidly. After gaining enough momentum, he threw the blue spirit down to the ground, shooting out another barrage of fireballs raining down on them.

Loyalty dug itself out of the crater it made as it was flung into the air, rubbing its jaw as it looked down at the hovering stallion. Thinking he was distracted, it flew down, ramming into him and sending them into a nosedive to the ground. Solaris shot a burst of fire out of his hooves, flipping them around as they hit the ground, his body landing down hard on the pegasus spirit's body, shattering it to magical pieces.

He flipped up on his hooves, inches away from having Kindness try to stomp on him while he was down. Solaris leapt in the air, shooting out a burst of flames out of his hind hooves, flying at the pink spirit and repeatedly punching it as he sent it soaring across the ground. It hit the wall, shattering to pieces after another fire-filled punch straight through its head.

Generosity began shooting more beams of magic at him, the alicorn quickly dodging each shot as he charged at it next. He even punched through the beams, the flames on his hooves destroying the magic before it got through to him. He skidded to a halt, his front hooves shooting sparks across the ground, standing on his hind legs as he guided the growing flames around him. It built up in his forehooves, and with a thrust of his hoof, he shot a blaze of green fire in the shape of a dragon serpent's head. The flame roared like a real dragon, snapping its jaws down on the unfortunate spirit, the sound of it shattering echoing all around him.

Solaris turned to the remaining two spirits, Laughter and Honesty seeming a bit worried, though it was hard to tell when they didn't have a face to make expressions. They nodded to each other, rushing at the alicorn at once, flanking him on different sides. They began using hoof-to-hoof combat, but he was able to block and dodge each punch and kick they threw at him. With any openings they left, Solaris knocked them back and dealt with the other, switching back and forth until both spirits punched him at the same time.

He ducked, their hooves hitting each other's, quickly grabbing their forelegs and snapping them down to the ground. He picked up Laughter, punching the blue spirit multiple times in the abdomen, creating cracks in its ethereal body. With one swift kick, he shattered the spirit into nothingness. Solaris then turned his sights on Honesty, avoiding an attempted sneak attack, grabbing the orange spirit's hoof. He dragged it toward him, repeatedly punching it hard in the face, followed by a knee to the gut. As it doubled over, the alicorn breathed out a powerful blast of fire, incinerating the ethereal earth pony until its body shattered under the heat.

After dealing with the five spirits that had been attacking him, he turned to face Magic, having not lifted a hoof or done anything to help her fellow Elements. Magic was still in shock, staring at where the others had been before being destroyed.

"...Dragon fire..." Magic said, slowly snapping out of her stupor. "How intriguing."

"Thanks to my uncle, I believe." Solaris rubbed his flaming hooves together, slowly building up a large fireball. "I really don't know how I received his fire, but if this is a last minute gift from him before he died, then I'll make sure it doesn't go to waste!"

Keeping the massive fireball hovering in the air, Solaris thrust both his hooves forward, sending it flying toward Magic. The spirit's horn glowed, summoning a large ice wall, blocking the fireball and shattering the wall to pieces. Thrusting her own hoof forward, she sent the large shards of ice hurtling toward the alicorn. He punched through each one, shattering them into tinier pieces or melting under his flaming hooves.

He flew straight for Magic, dodging lightning strikes raining from above him and more icicles flying toward him. The ethereal alicorn began to panic as Solaris got closer, erratically shooting every single elemental offensive spell at him, only to be avoided or punched through. Before she could attempt to teleport away, he grabbed her horn, swiftly punching her in the muzzle, dispelling any spell she was about to shoot. She was unable to escape, her body struck with a barrage of hooves, punching and kicking her, making her stagger backward with each blow.

A heavy kick to the stomach caused the spirit to gasp, doubling over in pain, her body slowly cracking apart. Solaris rushed again, rearing his hoof back and prepared to finish Magic off. His body began glowing, a bright light forming in his hoof, changing the green fire into a bright white. There was even a light flashing on his flanks, brightening the dimly lit cavern even further. His hoof made contact with the spirit's face as she looked up, but as the sound of her body shattered, she didn't disappear like the others. Her body flew into the Tree of Harmony, grunting as she hit it, slowly sliding down the trunk of the crystalline tree.

Solaris stood where he was, utterly confused when he saw Magic was still whole, but the light around her disappeared. Looking down at his hoof, he noticed the change of the flame's hue was brighter and filled with light. It changed back to green, disappearing as he relaxed his fire. He looked back at Magic, hearing her groan, leaning against the tree for support.

"C-Congratulations, Solaris," she said. She got up on her hooves, slowly lifting her head up. Solaris gasped, his eyes glued to Magic's new look. She was a lavender alicorn, her mane dark purple with a pink streak running down the middle, her tail similar to her hair. He saw her cutie mark, a large purple star with five smaller white stars around it. Her eyes opened, revealing her lavender eyes, a smile on her face when she looked at him. There was also a gold halo hovering over her head, always floating level with the top of her head. Magic wasn't a spiritual entity of the Element of Magic, it was actually Solaris's mother, Twilight Sparkle. "You passed your first test."