//------------------------------//
// Unfinished Business 
// Story: A New Begining 
// by Emeris Moonglade 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 13: Unfinished Business

Fire streaked the sky, in parallel strokes. It was like a giant claw had ripped the heavens, leaving fire in its wake. The air began to broil. Thick heavy sweat rolled down the brows of Equestria’s only defenders. The seven of them were now standing at the city edge, looking out over the expanse of burning vegetation.
“Bearers of the Elements. Are thou ready?” Each of the six friends nodded their heads nervously, as if they were reconsidering their choice to be a part of this. “John, the Elements please.” John obeyed and handed the box to her; her magic gripping it. John stood well away while she opened the box. Inside gleamed the golden jewelry. The ponies picked their Elements and put them on.
Twilight’s element was a golden tiara with a purple gem in the shape of a six pointed star. Fluttershy’s was a necklace with a pink butterfly at its center. Rarity’s was also a necklace with a purple diamond shaped gem. Rainbow’s was a red lightning bolt. Pinkie’s was a blue balloon. And finally, Applejack’s was an orange apple. Each of their gems matched their cutie marks. A sense of relief washed over them as they put them on, but also something else, something wrong. The ponies frowned as they each noticed.
“Somethin’ doesn’t feel right.” AJ stated.
“Your right, something is different.” Pinkie put in. “I feel all tingly.” She giggled.
“What do you suppose it is?” asked Fluttershy.
“In this final battle,” Luna shouted, snaring the attention of the confused ponies. “the bearer will proceed first. This is however our land, our world. And we will be the first ones to fight for it if necessary.” She turned to look at John, who was still standing well away from the group. “It is nothing against you. You have your customs, we have ours.” He nodded his head in understanding. “Ok then, when he comes, it’s up to us to finish him. Good luck my little ponies.” The ponies held ready. Each one by each other’s side, no pony moved, they just stared straight ahead, waiting for death itself. A black aura surrounded John, slowly getting thicker and thicker.
“He’s here.” He said and soon after followed a deep throaty chuckle.
“That’s right John,” spoke an unseen voice. A swirling vortex of fire scorched the land behind them. They all turned around, and standing there, not fifty yards away, was Arak’arahm. “So I see you made some friends. Why do you bother, you know they’re going to die anyways.” He grinned, showing off his rows of razor sharp teeth. “So, I’m just guessing your here to fight me, and in hope to defeat me. How thoughtful to give me a challenge, however small. John, tell me, why are you clear over there and not with your friends? I would have thought...” he was distracted by a flash of rainbow colors coming from the ponies. Floating mere feet off the ground were the six ponies. Their eyes burned a fiery white. They smiled as a wide rainbow arched from them to Arak’arahm. Reaching its target the rainbow swirled around the beast. There was a bright flash of light, but the ponies were knocked back. “Hehehehe. That tickled.” He scoffed.
“APPLEJACK!!” John shouted as he ran by her side. Arak’arahm smiled deeply. 
“See what happens when you make friends John? They eventually die, by me.” He laughed.
The ponies were still breathing, but they were unconscious. But what caught his attention was the glowing elements around the ponies’ necks. Each one grew brighter and brighter. Arak’arahm was still laughing, spinning around so he could take a good look at the world he would destroy next. Anger boiled inside John; he drew his sword. The intense brightness emanating from the Element finally caught Arak’arahm’s attention. 
“What is this?” he asked. He was unsure what was going on, and backed away a step. Then he smiled once more. “Finally a challenge.” Lights of pink, purple, orange, and red beamed out of the Elements. They swirled around overhead, creating a whirlpool of color. Luna watched in awe. The spinning became faster and faster. It soon became a narrow column right above John’s head. It absorbed itself within John and he screamed in pain. There was another flash of light and then there was nothing. The light had vanished and the once vivid color the Elements possessed faded to black. John stood there, arms hanging to the ground, head bent down toward the ground with his long black hair draping over his face. He stood up straight, and with one hand, pushing aside the hair that obscured his vision. It was John’s turn to smile. And that smile sent chills running down Arak’arahm back.
John’s sword lengthened and glowed a magnificent white. So intense that you wouldn’t have even known it was a sword, then eventually faded to a faint glow. John opened his eyes, and behind those pale eyelids was pure magical rage. His eyes seemed to have been replaced with glowing white orbs. Magic streamed off of them into the air. Arak’arahm was surprised at this turn of events. He wielded his own magical sword. 
John uttered only one thing. “You should have made friends.” With raging fury, Arak’arahm lunged himself at John, sword sweeping in for an uppercut. John dodged it with ease and planted a few strokes himself. Arak deflected these blows, sending sparks of red and white in the air. The battle felt like ages. He barely notice his friends sprawled along the ground. Right now he was one on one with his lifelong enemy. Luna watched as they danced across the courtyard, each move as graceful as if it were a ballet. 	
“I’m getting tired of playing with knives John. Let’s bring it up to where I’m most superior.”  His sword vanished in a furry of flames, leaving his hands free. John however, kept his. A ring of fire appeared around Arak, flames licked the ends of his robe and crawled up his arms. He threw the massive fiery missiles at John, but they vanished before they could reach him. Arak was getting tired of this game.
“Com’on John.” He spoke venomously. “Let’s see what you’ve got.” Arak stood there, the ring of fire still remained. John firmly planted his feet, he glanced over to the ponies laying there to the right of him. They were awake, their eyes glowed in wonder and eagerness, considering the situation they were in; they were in awe. Arak’arahm let loose a roar in a bid to intimidate him, but all it was doing was readying John for the next inevitable step. Arak reached for the sky to call forth lightning. It struck his palm and the land around him. John concentrated on his new power and he felt righteous indignation against Arak’s destruction. His fury over everything he had lost rose in tandem with the Elements power. He could feel it blaze through him. This is it, this is the time to end this once and for all! This mindless destruction must end! 
Arak’arahm laughed as lighting struck around the ponies, causing them to squeal in fear. That did it. “THEIR LIFE,” he felt his entire being rush through him and into his sword, “IS NOT YOURS TO TAKE!!”
As Arak’arahm let loose another blood-curdling roar, John weapon burst into a corona of magnificent glory. It screamed through the air as his power flowed into a deadly force of revenge. It pierce Arak and unleash wrath upon him. Thunder boomed, not from Arak’s lightning, but from the force the power had. Bone and tissue fell from the might unleashed in the concentrated arc, before detonating into a tremendous force which knocked back the body had dared to try to ignore John’s decree.
The forces subsided, John felt his power waning. He weakly sheathed his weapon, then collapsed to the ground. So tired. Unconscious overtook him, and John drifted off into a dark dead world.
~*~*~*~*~

“Look, he’s coming to.” Spoke a muffled voice. It echoed in his mind. He thought he remembered the voice, but he was unsure. He tried to sit up but failed. Every muscle burned and ached. “John, stay lying down, you’ll hurt yourself even more.” He turned his head to face the mellifluous voice. It was Fluttershy, she looked at him worriedly. “Come on, lay down.” She repeated. She chuckled softly to herself. “There you go again. You’re healing very quickly again.” She touched his forehead, and the look she gave was satisfactory.
“Hey Fluttershy.” John said weakly. “Did we win?” he smile; and she smiled back. 
“Yes,” Rarity walked in through the large double doors leading to his room. “And might I say, that you’ve completely ruined the Elements of Harmony. According to Celestia, they now reside in you.” She grinned as the remaining four friends walked in through the door. It was nice to see them all okay. It gave him a warm feeling, something he hadn’t felt in a long while.
“Nice ta see yer awake John.” AJ said. “Had us worried there fer a bit.” John tried once more to sit up. Fluttershy’s eyes widened with surprise at his success. “Um..should ya be doin’ that? It was only yesterday ya had that tussle with Araka...whatever his name was.”
“Yup, ah’m fine.” He grunted. “This is the second time ah’ve woken up in somebody else’s bed.” He smirked as he recollected memories. “So, where is he?” The six of them gave him blank stares. “Arak’arahm, kinda wanna know if he’s actually dead.”
“Oh ya.” Pinkie Pie chirped. “He’s in a bunch of itty-bitty pieces all over the palace gardens.” She laughed. “I bet we won’t be seeing him for a while.”
“Hopefully not ever.” Added Twilight as she paced over to him. “I’m curious however. What happened with the Elements? Celestia says they’re within you now. How can that be? It doesn’t say anything like this in the books.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I might have to do some research on that.” She walked away, giving AJ room to walk up to him. 
“How ya feelin’?” she asked quietly. 
“Fine, how ‘bout you?’
“Dandy. Now, if ya ever need a place ta stay, ya come over to the farm. Ok.” She gave him a level stare. “Don’t try doin’ it all on yer own.” She trotted off, leaving John to gawk at her. What the hell was that? He thought to himself. He almost didn’t see Rarity walk up.
“Here, I made this for you.” She handed him a black cowboy hat. It nearly resembled AJ’s. “Take good care of that hat. Especially around Applejack.” She smiled and gave room for Pinkie Pie, who bounced. 
“When we get back to Ponyville, I’m going to throw you the biggest party ever!” she squealed. “Ooh, ooh, I’m going to need streamers, and balloons, and...” she bounced off excitedly while naming off party supplies. It was Rainbow turn. She fluttered over to him.
“One of these days you’re going to have to grow wings and race me.” She stated. “If you can pull that off, who’s to say you can’t have wings?” she gave him a light punch on the shoulder. “Get well.”
“Ok Everypony, it’s time to leave so John can get more rest.” She said but her friends weren’t looking at her; they were looking at something behind her. She turned around to find that John was standing, and getting dressed too. “Oh...what’s the point of me being here?”
John bent over and patted Fluttershy’s shoulder. “It’s fine Fluttershy. Ah bet it’s because of you that ah’m even able to walk right now.” 
“Ya, well, I guess so.” She flew off next to Rainbow. Together the six friends stood side by side, all looking back at John. They all smiled at one another.
“So what’s next John?” asked Twilight. “Are you going to try to find a way back to your world?” John thought about the question for a while. He smirked when he came up with his answer.
“Really no point.” He answered. “My world is dead. Can’t even breath there without an oxygen tank. I might just stay here.” The six ponies cheered and Pinkie bounced everywhere. John couldn’t help but laugh. After so many years he now has a home, a family, and friends. He finally could stop worrying and enjoy the rest of his life. 
“Let’s go home.”