//------------------------------// // Intervention // Story: The Temporal Shattering // by There Is Nothing Here //------------------------------// Black Flare began to strain as he struggled to maintain control over Rainbow Dash. While she was physically exhausted, it was nearly impossible to break her will. Black Flare saw now why Alphion had such difficulty with her in the nightmare. The cyan Pegasus lifted one hoof and took at step closer to the human filly. Rainbow Dash's will wouldn't let her, she pulled herself back and stepped away. Black Flare was growing impatient, was it really worth it at this point to make Rainbow Dash kill her? His instructions were to wipe out the human ponies, not torture Rainbow Dash. Black Flare's horn stopped glowing and Rainbow Dash regained her will. She stood there, breathing heavily. She looked up, into the black soulless eyes of Black Flare. He smiled at her. The six shadows that restrained her before again reached out of the ground and held on to her hooves and wings. "Well Rainbow Dash, it appears your will is too strong to be broken. Since you won't harm them, I will have to do it for you." Black Flare's deep black eyes began to glow a light blood red color. He looked at one of the human ponies, standing on the right side of the line. The human pony looked up in fright into the alicorn's eyes. He tried to look away, but something was forcing him to stare into Black Flare's glowing red eyes. Every other human pony started staring at the other human pony. They watched in horror as blood began to drip from his eyes. His eyes disintegrated, leaving him with blank eye sockets. His skin began to melt away and dissolve. Soon, nothing was left of him other than bones. The skeleton collapsed to the floor and the human ponies shrieked in horror. Black Flare's eyes stopped glowing. He looked at Rainbow Dash and chuckled. The cyan Pegasus stood there helpless. She wasn't even looking at Black Flare's victim, she was staring at the ground. She was too exhausted to move her head. Rainbow Dash stood with her head held low. Black Flare would occasionally say something but she wasn't listening. She didn't care about what he had to say. But every time she heard the terrified shriek of a human pony, she knew what he was doing. And it killed her inside to know that these innocent humans were turned into ponies, and were being killed for no good reason. And at this point, there was nothing Rainbow Dash could do to help. She knew she was doomed as well, but she hoped Blitz and Anne would make it out ok. "Hey Rainbow Dash, look up. There's still one left. Come on, don't be a downer." "P..p...please don't hurt me." When Rainbow Dash heard the soft voice of a little girl, her head popped up. Black Flare had saved the little human filly for last. She looked into the light blue eyes of the little filly. She saw tears streaming down the sides of her face, which made Rainbow Dash begin to cry as well. "I...I'm so sorry." Black Flare merely chuckled. "Aww how cute. What kind of monster would hurt such an innocent little filly. Oh that's right! I would." Black Flare's horn began to glow a sinister purple. There was a bright purple flash, and Rainbow Dash was blinded. Then, everything went silent as a loud screech echoed in the area. But... it wasn't the screech of a filly. The purple flash cleared, and sprawled across the floor, was Blitz. She had been waiting there, undetected the whole time. And now, she sacrificed herself for this human filly. "Well it seems as if we have a visitor. Or had a visitor for that matter." "No! Blitz!" Rainbow Dash struggled to get free from the shadows gripping her, but it was useless. They had sucked her dry of all her energy. "Now, lets get back to business." Black Flare's horn began to glow once again. Rainbow Dash was too busy weeping over the loss of her friend to care. "Got something to say Rainbow Dash?" "Be quiet. An just finish it already. You've put me through enough already, just kill me now and we both get what we want." Black Flare smiled. "As you wish. She goes first," he said as he pointed to the human filly, "Then you." Rainbow Dash growled lightly. Just as Black Flare was ready to cast his spell again, suddenly he fell forward and smashed his face on the ground in front of him. Standing behind him was Anne, she had followed Blitz back here and took the perfect opportunity to take out Black Flare. The alicorn stood up, his right jaw was completely shattered, and it hung off his mouth. He was no longer able to speak. A faint mumbling noise left his mouth. "Y..ou.... bitch..." He raised his horn once again, preparing to launch a spell of some sort at Anne. He fired a dark beam at the human pony, who quickly jumped out of the way and dashed towards RD. Black Flare followed her with the beam. Anne jumped over Rainbow Dash and pulled her away from the shadows. They didn't loosen their grip but they were pulled out of the ground and became exposed to Black Flares attack. The beam struck the shadows and Rainbow Dash was free. "Ugh. Thanks Anne." "No problem. Now come one, lets finish this excuse for an alicorn off." Black Flare lifted his head and paused his attack. He picked up his hoof and put it near his jaw. The two Pegasi looked away in disgust as he cracked his jaw back into place. "Go get the human filly and get out of here Anne." Rainbow Dash whispered. "What about you and Blitz?" "Don't worry about me, he's alone now. I can handle him." Anne dashed forward and scooped the human filly onto her back. She ran towards the mountains in the north. Hopefully she could hide the human filly there long enough so Rainbow Dash could defeat Black Flare. Black Flare raised his horn, prepared to attack Anne. "Hang on there Black Flare. Let's play a game." Black Flare laughed. "Hmph. Ok Rainbow Dash." "I beat you right here right now, me, Blitz and Anne go free. You win, you can kill all of us. No resistance." "That's not very fun. Do you know how boring it is to kill someone when they don't resist? But I like your style. Lets god, my turn first." As soon as he closed his mouth Black Flare flapped his wings and launched himself into the air. Rainbow Dash immediately followed. He stopped his ascension high up over the clouds. Rainbow Dash and Black Flare stared at each other for a minute, neither of them saying a word. Black Flare charged at Rainbow Dash with extreme force. The cyan Pegasus easily dodging his attack, grabbed his by the wings and attempted to throw him to the ground. Black Flare wasn't as experienced at fly as Rainbow Dash, giving her an advantage. "If I can't fly faster than you, I guess I'll just have to kill you how I do everyone else." He launched a flurry of dark beams and missiles at Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus was twirling left and right attempting to dodge the spells. Eventually, her wing power was beginning to fade and her technique became sloppy. A missile struck her port wing, and she spiraled towards the ground. She landed hard into the cold gray soil. Black Flare descended to the ground and landed next to the body of the Pegasus. "You lose." he said softly. But just then, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She quickly jumped up and stuck Black Flare in his jaw, the same spot where he had broken it before. She then hovered above him, and kicked him on the top of the head, ramming his face into the ground. Blood poured out of the alicorn's mouth, staining the soil. His body faded away, back into Alphion's Nightmare. Rainbow Dash rushed over to Blitz's body, hoping to find her still alive. She turned her over, and stood in shock. Blitz's eyes were open, unblinking, and her body didn't move the slightest. Rainbow Dash put her hoof over her heart, no heartbeat. Blitz was dead. "No. No it can't be! Blitz!" Rainbow Dash sobbed over the corpse of her dead best friend. "Oh poor Rainbow Dash, left alone yet again." The cyan Pegasus turned around. Behind her, stood the dark lord Alphion. Simply being in his presence gave Rainbow Dash the chills. "It's a shame what happened to Blitz. But, it brings me one step closer to my goal. Once I eradicate you, every single pure pony will have been wiped off the face of this damned world. And don't worry about Anne and that other human pony. They'll be joining you in hell soon." Alphion raised his right hand, preparing an attack to finish off Rainbow Dash forever. But suddenly, the ground began to shake vigorously beneath them. Rainbow Dash was knocked to the ground. "What's going on here? There should be no earthquakes, time has stopped." The ground split open, separating Alphion and Rainbow Dash. Angealla's predictions were coming true, with no one governing time, Equestria was going to shatter, until nothing remained. Alphion was never going to have a world to rule, the world was about to end.