//------------------------------// // Years/The Final Battle // Story: Sun's Fire // by Discordia5 //------------------------------// Years/The Final Battle It had been a long time; too long in fact. Eris floated just below the clouds and looked down at the world she created. The clouds above her were all made of cotton candy, the landscape below wasn’t made of grass, sand, or rock anymore, but instead, of all kinds of textures and colors and patterns. She even made a living chess set out of an entire town. The citizens of the town being forced to play as living chess pieces, knocking other ponies down and trying desperately to get to the other side and leave, but then the “board” would reset and they would have to keep playing. She giggled every time somepony was knocked down. Eris had even changed the ponies to suit her tastes. Pony coats were changed from short to long, long to short, white to black, different colors, patterns, different horns (if they were even turned into other horns), different wings (if they were even replaced with other wings). She never took notice of the miserable or fearful faces that looked at her as she passed. For the past few years she never noticed. For the past few years she had only been looking for one face, one face that she hoped would smile at her and laugh with her again. However, after the huge show last time that dream slowly started to fade… After taking over the castle changing Equestria was easy. Her power stretched further and further across the land and nothing could hinder her. Nothing tried and if something or somepony even thought of stopping her, she soon changed their minds. Although this fact only made her more frustrated and twitchy, she didn’t even feel his presence anymore, but she knew they still lived. The sun and moon rose and fell as always, no matter when she made them rise or fall herself they always rearranged back to their proper places. They were still out there and having their own little act of defiance against her. Eris now looked to the sun and growled venomously at it. Its gentle rays that used to soothe and comfort her now burned and rejected her. The moon gave her a melancholy stare every night as if it pitied her. She didn’t want to think of them that way, but after so many years of ruling Equestria with pure chaos it was hard to not see their faces in that last moment, staring at her with a mix of betrayal and sadness. She wondered now where they were and what was taking so long for them to come back to her… Solaris and Artemis continued to walk through the deepest part of the Everfree. Solaris didn’t know how long they had been searching, but he knew it had been too long. They were both tired and wandering around this forest had taken its toll. Artemis’ resolve had only strengthened with the months, but there was something else that had grown inside of him something that felt wrong, bitter, and was growing stronger by the day. Any longer and Solaris feared that he would lose his brother to something that wasn’t a physical threat and wouldn’t be easy to fight off. He flipped through another page of the book and tried to find something useful, but he had read and reread the entire thing from cover to cover and it was still the same thing: “the Elements of Harmony are held in the wildest location in Equestria.” Solaris closed the book with a frustrated slam. It wasn’t like this escapade wasn’t affecting him either. Slowly his hope was starting to fade as well, it seemed like the Elements were what they seemed to be, a story, a myth, a legend lost to the world. Solaris looked to Artemis who had a hard glare plastered on his face. “Perhaps, we missed something?” Solaris said. Artemis didn’t respond, but he kept walking. “Maybe if we backtrack-“ he tried again. “They’re not back there!” Artemis snapped. “The only place we haven’t gone is forward, so be quiet and focus on the task at hand!” Artemis huffed through his nose and his walk became more determined. They hadn’t left the forest, not once. It seemed they had both underestimated how big it actually was. They didn’t want to risk missing anything either so they kept to the ground. It was too cramped in the forest to fly around in anyway. The feeling of the forest had started to weigh on them a long time ago. Sure their castle lay inside the forest, but there was a clear path, they could fly out, or they had their castle for refuge against the melancholy and the terror. Now they were very downtrodden and were giving up hope fast. They just had to find the Elements of Harmony, they just had to. After all the trouble they went through, all the monsters they fought, the entirety of nature seemingly turning against them. “Wait!” Artemis whispered frantically. He paused in his determined walk, his ear perked up as if he had heard something. Solaris’ own ears perked up to try and search for what Artemis had heard, but he heard nothing. “Do you feel that?” Artemis asked and started to creep off in a different direction. Solaris stopped and listened carefully. Turned out there was something, something that couldn’t be heard, but he felt it like a tickle against his coat. He followed close behind his brother and kept at the same pace. Slowly he could feel the tickle grow more and more until it felt like a physical tingle. Solaris and Artemis’ pace grew faster and faster until they broke into a full gallop. Slowly something that had a strange light could be seen in the distance. It had to be the source of the physical presence of power that they felt. They broke through the tree line and froze at the magnificent sight. A great tree stood in the middle of a clearing and looked like it was made of pure diamond or crystal. It radiated with so much power as if the sun itself had landed right inside its crystallized bark. Artemis stepped forward cautiously and stared up at the massive trunk. “What is it?” he asked. Solaris walked towards it as well, but started to make a wide circle around it, trying to get a view from every angle. “I think…” he started. “I’m not sure, but I think Milky Way mentioned it before. The Tree of Harmony.” “The Tree of Harmony?” Artemis asked. Solaris nodded. “It’s the central force of the Everfree Forest and it keeps everything in balance even outside of the forest itself,” he explained. Artemis looked over at his brother suspiciously. “How do you know about that?” he asked. “Milky Way told me about it, I only just remembered,” he said. Artemis still looked suspicious. “Is this what we were looking for the whole time?” he asked. Solaris furrowed his brow and looked back at his brother. “I’m not sure,” he said and pulled out the book again. “The book didn’t say anything about the tree.” Artemis glared at his brother and with a small energy blast knocked the book out of view. “It stands to reason that the Elements of Harmony should be within the Tree of Harmony,” he stated blankly and stepped up to the tree. Solaris watched his brother inspect the tree up close and felt a little put out by having the book blasted out of his grip. “Hmmmm,” Artemis hummed thoughtfully and poked at the tree with a hoof. “There has to be a way.” Solaris looked up into the branches and saw that five jewels hung at the very tips of the branches and then another jewel sat at the center of the trunk. They must’ve been the Elements of Harmony. They just had to find a way of extracting them. “Brother look!” he said and pointed up to the gems. Artemis looked up and squinted at them curiously. “Are they it?” he asked. “They must be,” Solaris said. “We just have to get them down.” Before they could formulate a plan however, they heard something approaching. The noise became louder and closer. The ground shook underneath their hooves, grunts and roars could be heard as whatever creature it was got closer. The thing broke through the trees and roared mightily shaking the air around them. “Hydra!” Artemis cried. The two brothers scattered in different directions and looked up at the many glaring heads. Really it only had four heads, but even then it would be a formidable enemy. Its skin was a sickening brown and looked rough in texture. The heads were all identical, glaring green eyes, sharp spines from forehead to back, and sharp white teeth. The heads all growled and split off, going after the two brothers. Solaris and Artemis galloped away and dodged every attack as the Hydra furiously snapped at them. “How is it here?!” Artemis called. “I thought they only frequented watery areas!” Solaris couldn’t figure out the reasoning either. Usually most creatures in the Everfree needed to be provoked before they attacked. The Hydra had come out of nowhere and struck without warning. Something wasn’t right. The brothers landed back on the ground and stood next to each other, observing the beast. It had now inserted itself between them and the tree. The two made identical expressions of suspicion and disbelief before looking at each other. “Do you think?” Artemis asked. “Perhaps,” Solaris affirmed. The brothers flew up as two heads tried to grab at them. “We have to defeat this beast before we can reach the Elements!” Solaris said and charged toward a head. Before he could reach it something slammed into his side and sent him soaring straight into a tree. The offending head laughed uproariously as Solaris flinched and groaned as he got back up. Artemis tried his own attack and released an energy blast at one of the heads. It opened its mouth and swallowed the blast effortlessly. It burped loudly and licked its lips in satisfaction. Artemis’ eyes widened and another head knocked him back as well. “Augh, Now what?” he groaned and shook himself off. Solaris looked around the clearing and then back to the Hydra as he tried to come up with a plan. “Attacking alone and head on obviously isn’t going to work,” he mused. “We have to work together.” Artemis nodded decisively. “So what’s the plan?” he asked. Solaris leaned in and whispered hurriedly in his brother’s ear. Artemis continued to nod and he smiled with confidence before they again split off in opposite directions. “Hey, swamp breath!” Artemis called to the Hydra. “You want this nice little snack?!” Two of the heads snarled furiously and charged at Artemis. Solaris whistled at the other two and started waving his tail at them. “Come on, you slimy lizard!” he called. “I’m right here!” The two remaining heads charged at him as well. The brothers dodged and looped in and out of the tangled mess of heads until, finally, they glanced at each other and with a shared determined nod, charged directly towards one another. A single second before impact, the brothers simultaneously raised their front hooves and presented them to each other. They both used the others force to slow down and change direction resulting in both of them making a leap either side of two of the hydras now limp, and unconscious, heads. Artemis and Solaris laughed generously at their brilliant plan. Unbeknownst to them one of the gems on the tree started to glow. The Hydra roared with outrage and the other two heads redoubled their efforts and went after just one brother. Artemis cried out in surprise as they rushed at him. He flew away and tried his best to stay out of reach, but was gradually losing that race. Solaris tried to catch up, but then he thought of another idea. “Arty stop!” he called. Artemis looked back at his brother in horror. “Are you crazy!” he cried. “Trust me!” Artemis gulped and stopped in mid-air. The heads flew right past him and into two tree trunks. Solaris cheered in victory and Artemis sighed with relief. Two other gems started to glow on the tree. The Hydra tried to gather itself back up, but it was thoroughly dazed and confused. The brothers landed in front of it and their horns glowed brightly. “We should dispose of it!” Artemis growled. Solaris shook his head. “No, brother, it was just doing its job,” he said. His horn glowed brighter and a soothing light shimmered around the creature. Artemis nodded. “You’re right,” he said and his own horn glowed. Slowly, the Hydra was starting to collapse from exhaustion, its eyes closed and it started to snore loudly. “We’ll take it to where it belongs then figure out how to get the Elements down,” Solaris said and his horn glowed again making the beast levitate. Before they could walk away with it, however, all the gems on the tree glowed brightly. The brothers turned around and watched as the light grew brighter and brighter until it was absolutely blinding. They closed their eyes and tried to shield out the garish light. Then it was gone. Solaris lowered his leg and looked over at the tree to his surprise the gems were off of the branches and at the base. The Hydra was nowhere to be seen. “What?” Artemis asked. Solaris walked over the jewels and touched them gingerly. “This is it,” he sighed. “The Elements of Harmony.” This day felt different somehow. Eris couldn’t put her claw on it, but she felt like that day was going to be a special day. She paced around the castle and looked out at her kingdom every so often and even though things were exactly the way she had wanted them, something was amiss. She stood next to the big double doors of the throne room and looked around the room. Two guards stood at the door and stared ahead with vacant expressions. “I think I’ll take my floating throne around the kingdom,” she mused to no one in particular. “Very good, my goddess,” one of her soldiers droned. Eris rolled her eyes. “Honestly is that all you can say?” she taunted. “Yeesh, taking over you guys was more fun than having you praise me all the time.” She snapped her fingers and appeared outside of the castle on her throne that was very high-backed and had antlers sticking up proudly. It floated around on a piece of earth and its destination was anyone’s guess. She looked out at her perfectly chaotic kingdom and smiled with satisfaction. Everything was perfect. The land was paved with different colors, fish swam in the air, and birds flew in the water, pieces of the earth floated high above the ground like the clouds that now covered the floor like plushy bushes. No one was around though to share in her delight, all the ponies tended to hide themselves away whenever she flew by. As far as she could tell it was just another boring day. Now she had to liven it up a bit. Eris snapped her fingers, but nothing happened. She had intended for the moon and sun to be up at the same time, but they didn’t obey. She tried again still nothing. Indeed, it was going to be a very special day. Once they got out of the forest the brothers looked around and were horrified by what they saw. Everything was different. Nothing was the way it was supposed to be. It was absolute chaos. “She did all this?” Artemis asked. Solaris shook his head in disbelief. He didn’t want to believe that Eris would do all of it. He didn’t want to think that his friend might truly be lost to the element she created. Artemis watched his brother and frowned deeply. This was going to be very hard for them both. Before they could take a step out into the new, chaotic world a blockade of soldiers were already on them. “Halt!” one of them called. “Prince Solaris and Artemis you are trespassing in the kingdom of Eris, the Goddess of Chaos, by order of her supreme rule we are to apprehend you and take you to her at once!” Solaris and Artemis stared at their once loyal and strong soldiers, now slaves to Eris’ control. They looked at each other with deep regret before they looked back at their guards and charged headlong into the fray… “My Goddess!” a soldier called as he galloped into view. Eris turned to him with a bored expression, but it was soon replaced with one of surprise when she saw his condition. The soldier looked beat up and looked like he was about to collapse, but he managed to stay on his feet long enough to bow before the Goddess of Chaos. “What happened?” she asked. “Solaris… Artemis…” he wheezed before falling down. “They’re back.” Eris could’ve sworn her heart stopped. They were back? Truly that could’ve been the only explanation for the behavior of the sun and moon and the feeling she had all day. They had returned and much more powerful than they were before. She growled defiantly and her throne floated away from fallen soldier. He would live, so it wasn’t any of her concern if he stayed where he lay. She floated out into a clearing and took out a bag of some black seeds as she saw two specks in the distance approach her slowly. This was going to be fun… Solaris and Artemis walked proudly and determinedly toward Eris who had her floating throne turned away from them. Solaris’ heart wouldn’t stop hammering inside his chest. It had been a few years and the time spent away had shaped both of them, obviously not for the better in Eris’ case. What was he going to say to her now? Before he could answer though, Eris turned around to face them. She chuckled maniacally and held herself up proudly as well. “Oh-ho this has been so much fun!” she laughed. “You should come around more often, princies!” The two brothers glared at her. Eris sniffed at their stoic expressions. “Too bad I didn’t really prepare to have guests, but I think we can make up a few games of our own,” she said. “Oh, I know, how about a game of pin the tail on the pony?!” Eris lifted up her lion paw and revealed that she had stolen Solaris’ tail! Solaris looked back at his rump in horror to see that indeed it was his real tail in her paw! He growled with frustration and continued his approach. “Play time is over for you, Eris!” he cried. Eris fished around in the bag of seeds and started to munch on them. “Oh I doubt that,” she said bluntly before stuffing her face with the seeds. “Mmmm, hungry?” The brothers weren’t amused and barely reacted as seeds bounced off their heads and onto the ground. Eris shrugged and continued to eat. “Eh, suit yourself,” she said. Solaris glared at her and stomped his forehooves down in frustration. “Eris!” he shouted. “This has gone on long enough, release your hold on Equestria and I promise that your punishment will be light.” Eris chuckled and then laughed loudly. “Punishment?” she asked. “Oh Shiny, you really think you’ll be able to punish me? Or do you not remember the last time you tried that?” The last line was delivered with so much venom behind it Solaris cringed and flinched back. “You couldn’t even get a hit in!” she continued. “Meanwhile I got all of chaos on my side.” She snapped her fingers and the earth moved beneath them as it split and another section of earth rose up into the sky. Eris laughed uproariously. Solaris had had enough, he had tried to reason with her, entreat her, please her, and it was all for naught. Nothing would change her mind now. He looked over at Artemis and he nodded. Solaris and Artemis’ horns glowed and the Elements flew out of the saddlebags they had carried them in and circled them. Eris looked up and stared at the gems with interest. “Ooo, what have you got there?” she asked. “The Elements of Harmony,” Solaris said gravely. “With them we shall defeat you,” Artemis finished. A force field flew up around them and a great source of power started to build and build around them. Eris had never heard of something so ridiculous! Elements of Harmony, what kind of children’s story book was this?! She laughed very hard and held her ribs as they started to ache. “Oh, you should see yourselves right now!” she cried. The brothers weren’t deterred and they focused all their energy into the Elements. “The expressions on your faces, so intense, so sure of yourselves!” she laughed. Suddenly a bright rainbow spiraled up and out of the field and arched its way down to where Eris sat. Solaris watched in fascination and horror at the change that befell his former friend. “Hilarious!” she cried and continued to laugh. The rainbow struck her and a light started to encase her. Something started to grow around her body. It started to envelope her, freezing her into place, and freezing the delighted expression on her face. Soon enough the power dispersed and the gems fell to the ground, spent. Solaris and Artemis walked up to Eris and inspected her closely. “Stone,” Artemis said and knocked his hoof against her. “They had turned her into stone.” Solaris couldn’t speak, he didn’t know what he could say now. There was so much that he hadn’t been able to say that would come pouring out if he didn’t say it then and there. Artemis looked at his brother and frowned in sorrow. He knew that this was hurting him deeply. They hadn’t known what the Elements would do and this seemed like a horrible punishment even after all she’s done. Solaris still held onto the hope that he would’ve been able to change her. “We have to go,” he said and started to walk away from the statue. “We have to fix all the damage she has done.” Solaris only nodded absently. Artemis frowned deeply, but said nothing and flew off. Solaris stared at the Eris statue and felt tears coming up to the surface of his eyes. He closed them and they came spilling out. He leaned his head against her now hard, cold flesh. “Eris, I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I wanted to save you…”