//------------------------------// // Chapter 42 // Story: War in Equestria: The Tale of Bright Blade // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// Chapter 42: Goodbye Bright Blade and Tikara Balak stood absolutely still. Bright Blade stumbled backwards, revealing a bloody gash across his chest that pierced through his armor. The young alicorn breathed heavily, the air passing over the shard of Excellion that was still in his mouth. Every rise and collapse of his chest as he breathed caused him pain, to the point that he wondered if he was going to be able to keep standing. Tikara Balak grinned wickedly once again, but only for a brief second. The shard of Umbara that he held in his mouth snapped and fell to the ground, at the same time a large slash wound opened up, starting at the middle of where his wings met and finishing across and under his chest. The wound erupted blood as the dark alicorn dropped the rest of the blade shard and began to cough up blood. His legs began to tremble from the sharp and sudden blood loss. His vision was blurry, but still he continued to stand, not wanting to show weakness to the one who defeated him. "*cough*It would seem that you are the winner*cough*and I the loser…" Bright Blade dropped the Excellion blade shard and began to pant for a minute, after catching his breath he spoke. "No, there is only one loser here, and it is only you Tikara Balak!" "What are you*cough*going on about!?" "That moment, when our energies erupted, I felt it. It was only a glimmer, a speck of light in the darkness, but I know it was him! Arion still lives!" Bright Blade declared. Tikara Balak started to laugh evilly, which was a mixture of wet, gargling, cough noises. "Is that so, well then if that's true then you have just killed him! My life force fades and he and I are connected! Once I die so will Arion, there's no magic you or anypony can perform to save this life! I will drag the Star Prince's soul into the DARKNESS!!!" "No you won't!!!" Bright Blade gathered what remained of his Elemental powers and focused them into his wings. Sparkling particles of golden light started to swirl around Bright's wings. With a single flap in Tikara's direction the golden particles became a whirlwind that rushed passed the evil alicorn. Tikara felt something happening to him, like his body was being ripped apart from the inside out. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? STOP THIS, STOP IT NOW! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" When the golden particle windblast died down another alicorn was standing amongst them. His body was somewhat transparent, but you could still make out the details. He stood tall and proud, a strong stallion with a shining platinum colored coat, wings, and horn. His mane and tail had multitudes of stars, quasars, stardust, and spiraling galaxies, as if it were a window into the universe itself. And his eyes, no longer the piercing, gleaming, evil filled globes that they were before, they were now a warm amber-gold color that only radiated compassion and a strong sense of honor. He had returned, Arion the Star Prince. "I'm…I'm free, after eons of being trapped I'm finally free!" Arion shouted joyfully. "Thank Epona…" Bright Blade returned his attention to what used to be Tikara Balak. What remained was a withered husk made of shadow. The being before them seemed hollow and brittle. "No…what have you done to me…!?" The husk of Tikara Balak started to trot towards Bright Blade, with a single hoof outstretched. "Give it back…give me back my light…I need it, I haven't fulfilled my masters task," pleaded the shadow. Bright Blade stared, his gaze showing little if no mercy for the pathetic creature that was once Tikara Balak. "Shade begotten of evil return to the darkness and fade from this world!" Bright Blade's eyes shined along with his horn, releasing a ray of golden light that made the shadow break apart, but it still kept walking forward. Its outstretched foreleg began to dissolve, the creature stopped and watched as parts of its body were slowly being broken down. Yet it still moved forward, trying to get to the light it so desperately wanted. "The light…I want it…give me that light…" "BEGONE!!!" With that the shadow of what was once Tikara Balak had dispersed, blown away like the ash that was falling down around them. Arion, trotted up to Bright Blade, the ancient alicorn towered over him as he looked down at the young alicorn Construct. Bright Blade, with some difficulty, bowed before the Star Prince. "Welcome back your Majesty," said Bright Blade. "Neigh, I bid thee rise Bright Blade, for it is I who should bow to you." Bright Blade was stunned at what the royal alicorn said, and was even more stunned when he actually did bow before him. The young alicorn was embarrassed to say the least, but did feel a sense of pride from the act. "Thank you Prince Arion, but please that's not necessary, besides…" Arion rose up and looked upon Bright Blade solemnly. "I beg thy forgiveness, if there was anything I could do to –" "ARION!!?" Bright Blade and Arion turned their heads in the direction of the voices. There before them stood their friends and family. Celestia and Luna's lower lips quivered as their eyes glistened with the beginnings of tears. Noticing this, Bright Blade quietly trotted away to join his friends with a smile on his face. The royal sisters started to slowly canter towards their long lost brother, their real brother. All three alicorns were about a foot away from each other, Celestia and Luna scanned his form, looking for anything that would tell them that this was too good to be true. "Arion is that really you," asked Celestia, her voice trembling. Arion closed his eyes and unfurled his large wings, and bringing both his little sisters in for a hug, letting this wings arch around and rest on their backs. Celestia and Luna found their heads resting on Arion's broad shoulders. "Yes Tia, Lulu, it's me." Both Celestia and Luna brought up one foreleg each and wrapped it around Arion's neck, hugging him fiercely and sobbing happily. Their brother had returned; the real Arion had been brought back to them. Although it was only his spirit this moment right here, to them, was the best thing that could ever happen to them. As the once torn family celebrated their reunion, Bright Blade was busy celebrating with the others. Rainbow Dash and Applejack refrained from giving him a pat on the back or a punch on the arm seeing as how he was already covered in gashes. It also made it hard for Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie to give him a hug for the same reasons. "Way to go bro, you did it," said Spike. "Never doubted ya for ah second sugarcube," said Applejack "That was totally amazing Bright Blade! You were all like slash, clang, whoosh, and Tikara was all like grrr, clang, slash! And then you two went *mmmfhh fhhmf*" Pinkie Pie then found herself silenced by Rainbow Dash's hoof. "I think he gets the point Pinkie, but seriously B, we're glad you won," said Rainbow Dash. “Heh, told ya you’d look good with a battle scar across the eye.” The others let out a light hearted laugh, remembering when they had that conversation a long time ago. Twilight's attention shifted between Bright Blade and the royal alicorn siblings, who were still in the mists of their collective embrace. "I can't believe you actually freed Arion. Look at them, they're so happy," said Twilight. "Yeah…they are, aren't they?" Suddenly Bright Blade’s body glowed with golden light. The others took a step back, wondering just what exactly was going on. Celestia, Luna, and Arion cut their reunion short upon seeing the glow being emitted from Bright. The others seemed confused at what they were seeing, but Arion and Bright Blade knew what this meant. And it was something that Bright Blade knew might happen. "What-what the hay is going on here!?" Scootaloo asked. "It's time…" answered Bright Blade. "Time, time for what," asked Rarity. "He means that the Element of Hope's mission has been completed. The evil that threatened the world no longer exists, so now the Element of Hope is removing itself from this world," said Arion. "WHAT!?" they all shouted at once. Parts of Bright Blade's body began to turn into wisps of golden particles that floated up into the air. "Prince Arion's right…" "NO! That can't be true!" Twilight yelled. "Twilight…did you know about this," asked Fluttershy. "It was only a theory we both had, there was no proof that it was going to happen! This – this just can't be happening!" "It's alright." All eyes fell back to Bright Blade, all of them letting out a collective gasp. Bright Blade, despite what was happening to him smiled. "That's why your memories of me were fake, why the writing in Twilight's journal is fake as well, they weren't meant to be permanent. It was set up this way so that when I left there would be no memory of my being here. Six Elements of Harmony are enough to keep Equestria, the world, safe and protected from evil. The seventh was just a failsafe, in case there was an evil too great for only the six to handle." "But-but that's not fair! Why do ya have ta leave!? You're our friend, you should stay with us," said Apple Bloom. Spike walked over to the Prince and Princesses with a pleading look in his eyes. "Please isn't there anything you can do!? I mean the three of you have some divine power in you, right!? Can't you use that to stop this!?" "I'm sorry Spike, but the Elements have their own set of rules. And neither Arion, Luna, or myself can influence what they do," explained Celestia. "No matter how much we may want to," added Luna. Bright Blade trotted over to Spike and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "It's fine Spike, I knew that this might happen if I defeated Tikara Balak." "But it's just, you can't just…" Spike began to let the tears flow freely now. "Spike," the young drake turned his attention to Bright Blade, "take care of Rarity alright, you were finally able to tell her your feelings and now you two are together. So don't mess that up okay 'Dragon Breath?'" Bright Blade gave Spike a playful tap on the shoulder, to which Spike returned the gesture, only softer for fear of making him dissolve more quickly. Bright Blade went over to the rest of the group who now were starting to cry as well. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash, I hope the two of you become very happy together." "We will," said Applejack. "Count on it," said Rainbow Dash. "Pinkie Pie, good luck with Pumpkin and Pound Cake, they'll need you." "I-I won't let you down!" Pinkie Pie responded. "Fluttershy I –!" Bright Blade was then cut off by Fluttershy rushing to hug the golden alicorn. Bright Blade let the timid pegasus hug him tightly. "I'll miss you," said Fluttershy. She didn't know why she had said that, her memories of him would be gone and there would be nothing to miss, but still she said it anyway. "Me too, Fluttershy, me too…" After Fluttershy released him from the hug she sobbed hard, prompting Rarity to come over and console her the best she could. Bright Blade moved on to his young friends, the fillies-turned-mares formerly known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. All three tried to keep a brave face on for him, and for themselves as he approached them next. "Girls…I just…" "We-we understand, sorta, this was gonna happen one way or the other, but still, we owe ya one," said Apple Bloom. "It was thanks to you we were able to realize what our special talents were," said Sweetie Belle. "Even if – Even if you're gone, these cutie marks we have will still be here, we'll always have a part of you with us Bright Blade," said Scootaloo. With that four former Cutie Mark Crusaders had one last group hug. Now came the hard part, his body had lost most of its resolution, most of his body had been changed into particles of golden light. Twilight was at the back, not wanting to see Bright Blade, crying over the fact that there was nothing any of them could do to stop this from happening. Bright trotted close to Twilight, both didn't make eye contact. "Bright Blade –!" "Twilight –!" The two of them began at the same time, but stopped. "You…you go ahead Bright Blade." "Twilight…ever since I met you I had always thought you were a beautiful, smart, and kindhearted mare. And ever since this war began I've started to…well…Damn it you'd think this would be easier!" Bright Blade growled. "Bright Blade what exactly are you trying to say?" Twilight asked. Well do something, he thought. This is the last time you're going to see her ever again! Without thinking Bright Blade leaned forward and pressed his lips against Twilight's. Twilight's eyes grew wide in surprise, as too did everypony else's. Twilight, however, didn't fight it, nor reject the advance. Instead she leaned further into the kiss. Now it was Bright Blade's turn to be surprised. They continued like that for what seemed like minutes, but in reality it was only for a moment. They separated from each other and looked deeply into each other's eyes. "Twilight…I love you…" Hearing that made Twilight's heart skip a beat, but it only took those three words to confirm her own feelings, she no longer had any regrets about saying what she truly felt. "Bright Blade I –" "It's time," said Arion. After saying that Arion's body started to transform into a large wisp of silver particles that began to rise up. Upon hearing that Bright Blade backed up from Twilight, and with a content smile his body dispersed into billions of tiny golden particles that rose up along with Arion's. The giant dust cloud that hung over the ruins was now letting the sun peak through it, showing the now closing tear in the sky that their combined attack caused. The silver and gold particle streams became a double helix and split apart, staying parallel as they continued to rise into the air and towards the tear in the sky, flying for the stars above. The Princesses cried for the second loss of their brother, the others cried for the loss of their dearest friend. But none felt the loss more strongly than Twilight, having not been able to speak the words she had been long hiding within her heart. And now… she would never get the chance to do so. After a while the sun had finally broke through the dust cloud and shined brightly across the battlefield. All cheered as the Elements of Harmony, the Valkyries, the mighty dragon Spike, and the Princesses cantered through the ranks. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, dragons, griffons, and buffalo alike shouted out cries of victory, the fight was done, the war was won. Peace in Equestria, and the world, had been restored. Many stories would be told of this war, passed down from parent to child, and from grandparent to grandchild. No stories, however, would be told of the one who appeared from realms unknown, of the golden warrior who wielded a mystic sword, and was the hidden seventh Element. But a few will remember a nameless alicorn who fought side-by-side with the Elements of Harmony, that that warrior was a stallion. Such a thing would spread across Equestria, but none would know of whom they spoke of. To you who have heard and seen these events unfold, you will know, yes you my dear reader! You shall forever know, for you have bared witness to The Tale of Bright Blade…!