Set in an alternate universe Equestria where hostility has grown ever stronger, a new pony has entered the ranks of the Lunar guard: Bravery Pureblood. This stallion has always hidden his potential from society, but now that will all change....
Fear is a powerful feeling, it has led to many failures and victories among all sentient beings. Today, however in the magical land of Equestria there are those who would risk all for the safety of each other. Fear has no say in their actions. This story tells of one stallion who changed the very face of Equestria and proved the meaning of true strength and bravery....
The room was dark and glistened with the light of the magnificent stars above. Tall, sturdy lunar guards marched in orderly lines as they passed the great doors of the space coliseum. After Princess Luna had settled back into her life as the Princess of the night, she had constructed this coliseum for her Lunar guards to train new recruits and colonise her army for important events. Eventually, when he could see the end of the room, Bravery picked up his metal indigo helmet he had just recently received after completing his vigorous training and nervously trotted over to his commanding officer: Moonlight Stronglegs.Moonlight Stronglegs was a large pony with a black scar that crossed the left side of his face; at first glance Bravery was mildly intimidated by his assigned leader but he would learn to tolerate it in the future, much more important matters were at stake. "You all consider yourselves lunar guards just because you were given the honour to step into our ranks!" Stronglegs bellowed to his team. "You will not be worthy of such a name until you prove your own unique worth as a soldier of the night." he added. The sturdy stallion's words were like fire arrows to the face from Bravery's point of view, never before had he met a guard as serious as this. Bravery put on his helmet after his CO had paused between speeches and watched his fellow comrades discussing their plans for tonight's 'ultimate contingency'. This made Bravery curious as he fiddled around with his midnight blue armour, but he did not intend to ask what this was all about yet for he was still too uncertain of why he was here in the first place.... 3 months ago, Bravery was in the Canterlot castle speaking with princess Celestia about some recently discovered anomalies of necromancer magic located outside the Crystal Empire. Magic was an unfamiliar concept to Bravery, he was an Earth pony and possessed no magic or flight, this was irritating for him in his childhood since most of those he met in school were Unicorns. However, Bravery knew enough about the evil entity of necromancer magic to know that it is not to be trifled with. During his investigation he had learnt the habits of necromancer magic and what it does, none of it good. Bravery Pureblood was never one for getting involved, 12 years after his parents were killed during King Sombra's invasion of the Crystal empire, it had left his soul trapped by his guilt and tortured by the grief that still tears at his heart every day. Feeling some pony nudge at his side, Bravery turned away from his flashbacks and looked up to see Princess Luna of the night and Shining armour of the Crystal empire stand on the monumental pillar that towered over the space coliseum. The room had suddenly gone silent, no one spoke or even directed their eyes elsewhere for this was something that the lunar guard was not willing to miss. Such a silence was a sign to Bravery that even he among these elite warriors of the night had to be listening. Princess Luna elevated herself higher into the air, beating her wide, blue wings. She wasted no time in coming here; it was her who colonised the lunar guard to the space coliseum. Tonight would be the night where the lunar guard would finally know the secret she had concealed for too long. "For 1000 years!" Luna began, "We have proved ourselves strong against our enemy, however this night I shall reveal the true enemy that we face with great fear!" Luna's royal Canterlot voice was echoing painfully throughout the coliseum and Bravery dropped his head down slightly just to escape the intensely loud noise that was his Princess's voice. As Bravery lifted his head back up to look at Princess Luna she continued to bellow out to the thousands of dark, hefty stallions and mares that looked like blue ants from where she was. "Tonight brave souls of Equestria, we fight for the very survival of the lunar guard and the World itself!" Luna shouted in a brazen yet slow voice. The words that had exited the Princess' mouth took its toll on the guards. Frantic conversation immediately developed as the confused guards failed to contemplate the true meaning of their Princess' words. "Your majesty! Why do you speak to us as if the world is coming to an end?!" A male lunar guard had finally broken the scattered words in the hall and brought the attention back to Luna. Luna was not sure what to say to the objection and so she hesitated whilst struggling to hold herself in as the sudden words had angered her greatly. No guard had ever spoken negatively of the future, her soldiers were to remain loyal and resilient, it was part of their personal code and their pure origin. Despite the fact that he had no permission to intervene, Shining Armour raised his voice so it could be heard throughout the coliseum. "It's not your place to question her, but the truth must be revealed!" he said loudly in a very self-confident voice. "Necromancer Magic throughout Equestria has corrupted the minds of the royal guard and has lead to the destruction of the Crystal empire, my home and my kingdom" Shining's voice began to lower as he continued to speak, saddened by the loss of so many memories and lives Regaining her confidence to speak, Luna lifted her head high in the air and spoke with great power: "King Sombra is the source of this blight and has risen from hiding to use necromancer powers as a way of stealing the minds of all sentient life and turn them into merciless killers, bent on the demise of his enemies and guided by his deathly voice" When the distinct and fearful chatter started to fill up the coliseum again, Bravery was in a daze of disbelief and distraught. Was this his fault? Had he doomed Equesrtia to an era of tyranny? He started to get the feeling that he was responsible for this disaster. Bravery considered that his encounters with the necromancer magic had lead the entity of evil right to civilisation. With necromancer magic afoot no one was safe! The fear inside Bravery's heart started to swell up like a cactus after rainfall but was instantly cut off by an impulse of strength that made Bravery feel angry but ultimately determined. He may have caused this disaster but he would NOT allow it to hurt any pony else, his world had suffered enough, now was the time for change, an era of strength and hope for the good. With the strength of the lunar guard, his princess and captain of the royal guard alongside him, Bravery felt stronger than ever. What was once the feeling of uncertainty and fear was now replaced by the spirit of a warrior in his heart. "Then we fight him!" Bravery finally shouted. No one shred of regret was felt by this newly found stallion as all eyes around the coliseum fixed their eyes on him. Princess Luna and Shining Armour quickly looked down into the audience where they finally located the speaker, he was a stallion of medium size with a blue streak in his dark mane. Neither had seen this one before but they could not help but constantly look at this greyish stallion that had shown no fear to the words spoken. It was clear to Luna, that Equesrtia needed more ponies like this one so she flew down from the pillar towering over the coliseum and landed in front of Bravery. "What is your name, Earth pony?!" Luna demanded, sure he was brave but how did she know this was not just another mockery amongst her guard, disobedience would not be tolerated. Luna's words did not halt Bravery's actions and so he spoke in a deep, smooth voice to the princess before finally meeting Luna's sparkling eyes. "Your majesty, I am Bravery Pureblood, born of the Crystal empire and a former lieutenant of the royal guard!" Bravery bowed before his princess and looked back up shamelessly to see the look of surprise in Luna's face. "Why do I know that name?" Luna whispered silently to herself, she had heard the story of an earth pony known as 'Bravery Pureblood' who was rumoured to be a god of strength from another universe but that was only myth. Alternatively, necromancer magic was rumoured to be part of Equesrtian mythology but it was attacking the minds of every living thing as she spoke. It was not impossible but she still did not fully believe this one earth pony was a god like her. "Forgive me my princess for my interruption, but for too long have we lived in fear of Sombra's wrath" Bravery exclaimed in a very expressive manner. Luna could not agree more with Bravery's statement for it was all too true. For over 1500 years King Sombra's hateful pursuit for power had placed Equestria in state of delirious fear and hostility, Equestria's society was crumbling under the weight of Sombra's lust for power and violence. Using his magical powers to teleport down from the pillar, Shining Armour materialised in front of Bravery, eager to hear more from this newly found soldier. "I'm assuming your great ambition means you have some kind of plan in order to carry out such a task, Bravery". This earth pony certainly had some guts even for Shining Armour's quality, King Sombra was now the most feared adversary in all of Equestria and Shining did not the intelligence or magical strength to outmatch this kind of evil. He had found this out the hard way only a few weeks back when he was confronted by Sombra on his way to Canterlot, where evacuation was in full swing. That battle had been a tough one to forget, Shining had tried to hold off Sombra and protect the running families from his deadly use of magic. Shining had lost that day and the families had died unintentionally after Sombra blinded Shining and impaled the innocents in an attempt to distract and kill Shining. Fortunately, Shining escaped the chaos with his sister: Twilight Sparkle when he finally reached the Canterlot castle and left for Ponyville, the only safe place left. Returning to the present, Shing shook off the memory so that he could listen to Bravery. "I have a plan indeed, it will however require a great deal of resources." Bravery said. "I know of a stronghold outside of Las Pegasus that will prove useful to our fight against Sombra, if we can retake it. It used to be look out for royal guards in Las Pegasus, but now Sombra's new army has converted it into a defence tower." Shining Armour began to puzzle for a few seconds. "Why there?" he thought, Las Pegasus was a city of lowland mostly, it would provide very little for King Sombra. Most of its major resources for trade were food, clothes and textile products, a tyrant such as Sombra would have no need to capture a city like Las Pegasus. As Bravery continued to explain in detail, he could see other lunar guards around him murmuring different things to one another, "He's insane, we can't defeat this tyrant by fighting.", "Who let this guy in to the guard?" These words angered Bravery, but there was no need to let go now, his knowledge could have been one of the last hopes Equestria had left. "Then again soldier, how do we actually get there without getting spotted?" Shining Armour quickly said, Sombra's army was few in numbers but even one of them where just as dangerous as the tyrant himself. These soldiers were emotionless killing machines developed from recently deceased animals which were physically and psychologically moulded into dark minions of the tyrant himself. Princess Luna and Shining Armour had experienced combat with Sombra's soldiers when the invasion started around 4 months. They were eventually defeated and destroyed but half of Manehattan had crumbled under the destructive battle. Many lives were lost that day, never had Luna or Shining seen such barbarism and destruction in their lives. Whilst Bravery continued to discuss his plans with Shining Armour, Luna looked back to that fateful day and her imprisonment on the moon, those times shared the same emotional impacts on the princess of the night. Both saddened her and terrified her because she was afraid that they might happen again. Furthermore, Luna started to think, why had one common stallion among all her predecessors stood out and shown an abhor approach to Sombra's tyranny? Luna was vulnerable to her emotions and had been blinded by fear since her 1000 years on the moon. This Bravery Pureblood had something she would never have, hope, hope for a brighter future, free of tyranny and violence. Bravery was still consulting with Shining Armour as they started to debate how they could find a way past the canyon outside Las Pegasus; it was deep and very wide, this natural land form was a vulnerability point for the lunar guard, they would easily be seen with their inappropriate colour for armour. "The lunar guard cannot reach Las Pegasus wearing this armour Shining, we must find another way." Bravery explained with frustration. Shining considered, the lunar guard seemed very unprepared due to their lack of military resources but the royal guard base based in Ponyville had everything they needed along with the best flyers Equerstria had to offer: the Divinity bolts. They were the ideal ones for scouting, their ability to turn invisible, harness destructive solar magic and fly at great speeds would be the best way to aid in this contingency plan. "Bravery, there is a base in Ponyville where the royal guard have taken refuge, we can use the resources there and convince the Divinity bolts to help us out with the defences outside Las Pegasus." Shining said, it was a great risk but this had to be done, some pony had to stand up to Sombra and end his tyranny once and for all! Shining Armour's noble words filled Bravery's heart with happiness but fear once again began to interfere. He had promised to allow no innocent to die because of Sombra's terrible deeds, he could not allow his beloved lunar guard comrades and the honourable royal guard to suffer losses because of this, so much regret he feared would be felt during the endless battle against the raging darkness, many deaths would be brought and much suffering would be felt in this time of war. Bravery's fear soon led to words and he spoke with a spike of anxiety in his voice: "Do not burden yourself and your soldiers with this fight, Shining. I have seen enough innocent blood spilt because of this conflict, no more need to die because of this." Suddenly, before Shining Armour could talk back to Bravery, a flash of pure white light burst throughout the space coliseum and out of the blistering light rose the all powerful Princess Celestia of Equestria. Her enormous white wings were radiating with magical solar energy and the lunar guards stepped back in awe as Celestia lowered herself in front of Bravery. As Celestia finally touched down on the cold metal floor, Bravery stood upright trying to give a good impression of himself as the most magical being in all Equestria stood before him, her chest proturding from the rest of her body and her alibastar face showing signs of anger and fear. "This will not be a burden, Bravery." Celestia said in bold and firm tone, "This will be an honour, an honour that we will take with us into battle and use to take down the merciless tyrant that had seized control over our precious land!" Celestia had losses that neared heavily upon her, her home in Canterlot, her friends even the elements of harmony. Failure to protect her home had made Celestia feel powerless which led to hiding until Sombra has destroyed the Crystal empire, the home of her adopted daughter: Princess Cadence. Cadence had survived but was left traumatised as Sombra mercilessly ravaged her home. All leaders of Equestria were left with heavy burdens of the heavy losses they suffered during Sombra's invasion. Now that some pony was strong enough inside to defy Sombra, Celestia had immediately journeyed to Bravery to find him and prepare herself for battle. "Join me Celestia, in the fight to take back Equestria and free your people from the tyranny that threatens them all." Bravery said with a determined expression on his face. "With pleasure, soldier!" Celestia instantly shouted "I agree to follow you too, Pureblood" Luna also shouted with her royal Canterlot voice, mildly surprised by her sister's unexpected arrival. "They follow you so I follow you! Shining boldly said after Luna's voice stopped echoing throughout the coliseum. "To victory, to freedom!!!" the lunar guard suddenly shouted with great passion and determination. And with those words, Bravery Pureblood began his impossible quest to take down the most dangerous tyrant Equestria had ever seen with all Equesrtia's bravest and purest souls and hearts behind him......
The winds that carried the white ash of destroyed homes and cities, blew past Bravery's face as he and 2 of the Divinity bolts along with 3 lunar guards and royal guards waited for the scout who was the other Divinity bolt to return to their position. The royal guard and lunar guard were scattered throughout the large patches of trees that opened up the entrance to the canyon outside Las Pegasus. In the distance, Bravery could see the dark red glow of evil eyes which belonged to the patrol guard at the top of the canyon. Nothing could get past those eyes without a distraction, if even one of the team was caught out in the open, they would die before before they noticed their mistake.
A swift sound of light wings animated from behind Bravery and his team as something laid itself down at the bushes just behind them. It was the Divinity bolt, he had returned from his scouting unseen and unharmed. "They are close, we must remain low" the white Pegasus whispered with urgency. "How many brother?" said one of the other Divinity bolts. Bravery kept an eye out through the bushes to ensure they were not being followed or tracked; his heart was thumping with anxiety and his breathing became heavier than ususal. "Two in a cross-eyed look out at the entrance of the canyon and three more in a triangular position another two-hundred and fifty metres along the canyon walls, we cannot simply sneak through." the scout explained in an aggravated way.
"I have an idea." Bravery quickly whispered ignoring the fear in his heart, "You report back to Shining Armour and I shall distract them." The Divinity bolts looked puzzled, how would he 'distract' them without being seen himself, it all seemed close to madness at this time, but they all had faith in Bravery after what they had heard from their commander: Shining Armour. He seemed stronger than they were inside and felt that they could trust this earth pony. "What will you do to distract them, Bravery?" said the Divinity bolt known as 'Skyrise' out of interest. "Symbolism" said Bravery, "During my investigations into necromancer magic, I noticed that Sombra uses a specific symbol to guide it or bound it, in the midst of this symbol, all magic seems to be depleted after a short period of waiting." Bravery did not know this for sure but I what could he say. This world needed hope and he would give it anyway he could, hope would be the end of Sombra's oncoming regime.
After Bravery carefully drew the symbol into the ground, he tried his best to stay low so he could not be seen by the watchers. Once he had finished drawing it out, he instantly made a silent dash for the undergrowth where his team had started to move east to Shining Armour's position. Bravery made it to the forest again and rejoined the lunar guard as they all prepared to make the teleport jump where two royal guard survivors defending Las Pegasus were awaiting them.
The first troop made it through the jump and stood on the other side of the canyon dazed and confused, teleportation was difficult to recover from and sometimes resulted in mental or even physical damage to those went through its rigorous process.
When Bravery was in position, Shining Armour pulled him aside for a second, "You need to stay with me Bravery, the Princesses say you are a vital asset in this fight therefore you need to be protected" Shining Armour said with patronisation in his voice. Bravery stood a little embarrassed by Shining's remark but was willing to do what his Princess wanted so he followed Shining Armour to a nearby ridge where they were hidden from the rest of the soldiers. "Shining, how can I get to the other side if I have no magic, I could only slow you down, that's how I lost my family, I was never fast enough to save them" said Bravery, disappointed by his inability to use magic. This was another disadvantage Bravery had back in his childhood, no magic meant less mobility and learning according to his family. He could never catch up with them, his family was always learning new things about magic and going to new places this was all because they had magic and he did not. Both the memories and his physical disadvantage began to dishearten Bravery until Shining Armour gently stepped over and put his hoof on Bravery's shoulder. Feeling pity for Bravery's recent statement Shining said "I will get you there myself, but that doesn't make you weak Bravery, I didn't what a true soldier was until I saw you speak out against King Sombra, besides nothing could have stopped the death of your family that's why we are doing this, to end the terror that Sombra has brought upon our beloved Equestria."
Shining Armour had once again filled Bravery's heart with hope which allowed him to put aside the grievances that gnawed at his soul. With that Shining Armour put his other hoof on Bravery's other shoulder and they both disappeared into purple void which disintegrated after they were gone, the battle for freedom was about to begin......
Bravery and Shining found themselves standing on the other side of the canyon where they could see Las Pegasus, practically untouched except for the town hall that was smoking with fire. From his position, Bravery could see the blood of fallen soldiers and to his horror he could make out the heads of the fallen lieutenants of Las Pegasus on the spires of the town hall. Bravery felt a feeling of disgust and anger deep in his chest, the very sight of such cruelty made him furious inside but Bravery kept himself restrained, he would need to save his anger for the real fight that lay on the horizon.
As Bravery stood firmly by Shining Armour he heard the flap of Skyrise's large wings touch the ground along with his fellow Divinity bolts right next to him. "Remember this day Shining" Bravery said trying to sound courageous, "For it will be ours to savour for all time." Shining nodded and turned to his royal guard as Bravery turned to his fellow lunar guard.
All the soldiers stood tall with the power of magically enhanced spears, swords and shields in their graspe. The bright indigo and golden sparkle of the helmets reflected the light of the rising sun presenting a brilliant flash of white light over the city below. "Get ready friends, for this is the day that we find our purpose and the day when he dies!" Shining shouted in his loudest voice. He raised his glowing shield into the air and the royal guard reared themselves up and made an enormous war cry that echoed throughout the landscape. "Prepare yourselves protectors!" Bravery quickly bellowed to his fellow lunar guard, "Today the sun will rise and so shall we, today the tyrant will fall and shall die on his knees in pain." Bravery's voice was like supernova as he shouted, very similar to that of Princess Luna.
"Through torturous day, through deadly night, in every condition we will fight." Bravery shouted, then all the lunar and royal guard joined in. "Those who harm innocents on sight, behold the power, of Equestrian might!"
After that, all the soldiers screamed out their hearts and ran straight for Las Pegasus where they would confront King Sombra and his army of necromancy. Their powerful hoofs clobbered the ground whilst the wings of the Pegasi guards and the Divinity bolts beat heavily in the air as the two armies charged to the entrance of Sombra's stronghold. The Divinity bolts brought down bolts of crackling lightning as they swiftly flew in front of Shining Armour and Bravery Pureblood.
Whilst he was running, Bravery noticed Princess Celestia and Luna appear above the Las Pegasus ready to fire on any opposing force. This was war and nothing could stop it until one side eventually won! Bravery could see the great rage in the Alicorns' faces as solar radiation began to radiate off Celestia and dark weapon constructs materialise around Luna.
"Let's do this Bravery, for this is where the magic happens...." Shining said to Bravery who was panting heavily but reamaining on target, his inner self forcing him to continue and not give up.....
From the edge of the canyon outside Las Pegasus, a mysterious figure wearing black and white armour was watching the battle, his knee at a ninety degree angle and his chest poking out over the rest of his body. He was tall, robust and young as well, from two narrow compartments in his spiked forearm gauntlets he pulled out two pointed chains coated with dry black blood of the unfortunate necromancy soldiers of King Sombra. Cracking his neck, the figure spread his arms and prepared an huge black and white cape that had been dangling at his sides all that time due to its enormity. As he revealed the cape, he jumped off the edge and glided down to where the action was happening, his eyes fixed on the soldiers slashing at the fearsome barbaric army of Sombra that lay before them.
Like a black torpedo, he launched himself faster to the ground, preparing his pointed chains in the process. The chains gleamed like silver in the sunlight as he finally touched down five metres away from the carnage that was tearing up the baron landscape.
Bravery fell to the ground in shock and pain as a spiked club destroyed his armour and brought about a massive gash across his body. The club was raised above his head ready for a killing blow when the necromancy soldier started to express an evil laugh and grin. However, before the club reached his head, Bravery saw that the guard had been knocked aside by what looked like a sword on a chain! Out of the fuzziness of his headache, Bravery could make out a tall figure wearing black and white apparel easily dodging oncoming attacks and countering them in the most strategic fighting style he had ever seen. The necromancy soldiers fell to the ground holding their noses, stomachs and writhing on the ground in pain as the fighter delivered swift but non-fatal blows to the attackers.
A titanic necromancy soldier towered over the fighter and brought its fist up to deliver a killer blow to its opponent. But the fighter in black and white jumped a tremendous jump to the right letting out a powerful roar afterward, at the same time the fighter quickly reached into his belt and instantly pulled out a device that launched three retractable claws at the titan's shoulder. The titan only flinched at first from the impact but then a sudden burst of electrical energy went up the chain that was attached to the claws. The electrical shock stunned the Titan and it fell to its knees for a brief moment from the pain it felt in its shoulder. With that the Titan growled loudly and the fighter used the device to pull himself up to the Titan's broad shoulders. In an attempt to throw the fighter off, the Titan tried to grab its opponent but its actions were ceased when the fighter ducked under and dropped to the ground from an eighteen foot drop. Enraged, the Titan roared furiously and chargd at the fighter, its giant teeth beared with fangs and incisors. Just before the Titan could reach the fighter, it noticed a sudden heat on its back and two explosions came from its shoulders which severed its arms and left it on the ground screaming and dying in pain.
All soldiers had looked away to see what had just happened, all were standing speechless at the mysterious figure wearing black and white. The mystery fighter looked away with a stern expression on his face and ran to Bravery in order to check his condition.
The necromancy soldiers of Sombra had stopped fighting and they all suddenly disappeared in a cloud of ash and dark purple light. When they had disappeared the surviving soldiers got up and rushed to aid the wounded and using healing magic along with bandages to heal their teammates. There were limbs everywhere, the land had been painted with red and black blood with guts sprawled out all over the battlefield.
Bravery tilted his head up to see the figure looming over him with a long black cape brushing against his front legs. The figure offered its...... whatever it was and Bravery used it to pick himself up from the blood and dirt. "You are safe now lunar guard." The figure said in the deepest voice Bravery had ever heard. This one was scary, really scary looking but he was clearly not an enemy lucky enough. "Sombra's army will not allow you to reach the innocents still in the city now they know I am here, so you and your comrades must continue the fight without me." he continued noticing princess Celestia and Luna landing behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Luna said in shock and disbelief, "We watched you die, you should be dead!" Celestia explained, she was feeling her sister's disbelief, this mystery fighter she thought was dead had somehow survived the assault that Sombra had brought on Canterlot.
"Forgive me my princess." Bravery quickly interrupted, "How do you know of.... well him? From that Celestia lowered her head and turned to her sister who nodded in agreement at her sibling's wordless question, he had a right to know. They all did, especially in these times where the truth was never considered real.
"This is the Apex Protector." Celestia began regretfully, "He is the one responsible for us, he has saved me, my sister and all of you countless times from death and conflict in the past but we thought he died the night the invasion started."
Bravery looked at this Apex Protector and recognised the species of which this adversary was. This adversary had two sturdy legs, a tiny nose and five fingers like a monkey, it could only be one species no matter how silly it might have sounded. "Is he a hu- human?" Bravery asked Celestia, "Yes I am" came the same deep voice behind him, "And I will tell you the truth of what this conflict really is." the Apex Protector said as Bravery walked closer to listen to him...........
Bravery noticed the Apex Protector jump silently over the rooftops while he and his team slipped past a narrow alley between two destroyed buildings. As he and his team slipped through, Bravery and his team could smell something rotting but ignored it since he had idea of what it was. All of a sudden, Bravery heard two familiar voices in his head as he move out of the alley and remained close the wall. "We're close Brvaery, find me at Alpine street and I will give you your next direction." said the voice, it sounded like Shining Armour's and Bravery could hear the second voice in his mind that was in more sophisticated and deeper voice. "Do not fear these voices in your head Bravery, the voices belong to me and Shining Armour explained the Apex Protector in Bravery's thoughts. "Your princesses have given all the soldiers and me a physic link that has connected us all through thought. We are one in this fight for freedom, good luck friend"
Eventually, Bravery and his team of four lunar and royal guards came together to Alpine street where Shining was hiding himself behind an invisibility spell. "Has the human reminded you of our mental link, Bravery?" Shining whispered so that he would not attract any unwanted attention. "He has Shining, it will surely prove useful in our infiltration." Bravery whispered back; he and Shining were crouched down with all four of their legs bent down to keep themselves covered behind the debris at Alpine street.
"Look out, we got company!" said one of the lunar guards using the mind link. Bravery and his team turned their heads around to see the snarling air patrols high in the sky hovering above a burning structure just fifty metres away from the team. "Quickly soldiers, form up on me!" Shining ordered loudly in his mind. Bravery and his team obeyed and moved instantly close to Shining Armour, they then heard some kind of crackling magic sound and found themselves to be invisible. Shining Armour was using his invisibility spell to keep the team in veil from Sombra's necromancy soldiers. As the monstrous creatures passed overhead, Bravery could feel Shining's sweat touch his body as he struggled to keep the spell established, Bravery did not know how he could last with five other ponies. He dropped his down hiding the fear in his eyes, if Shining could not hold it then it was all over.....
On his excessively large throne, Sombra used his satanic magic to levitate the necromancy commander into the air and throw him violently against the wall in anger. "HOW IS IT THAT THE MORTALS HAVE GOT THIS FAR WITHOUT ME KNOWING, ANSWER ME OR FACE YOUR DEATH SOLDIER!!!!" Sombra bellowed in his demon voice. The dark tyrant was wearing a pitch black chest plate and devil red cape that touched ground when he walked on all fours. The intimidating and pupilless look in the tyrant's blood red eyes was fixed on the crippled commander on the floor who was struggling to answer his master's question. Finally he summed up enough courage to respond to his master and croaked through a punctured lung: " They had help my lord, the Princesses have returned from hiding and have given them the resources to fight us." Sombra frowned and turned away from the commander surprised by Celestia and Luna's sudden reappearance. "So now they return, but how did the enemy get into Las Pegasus if the princesses never aided them in battle soldier?" Sombra demanded after thinking. "My lord, the...human has also returned, he was the one who brought about their victory in halting our army." the commander explained trying to recover from the injury as he slowly stood up on his brownish zombie-looking legs. "The Protector? Do you mock me soldier? This is war, he does not fight war he fights what comes before war." Sombra growled in disbelief and frustration. The human had always been an obstacle to him, he would never give in to hate and was too resilient to fear, the human was an unfamiliar adversary and Sombra had always been unprepared in the past.
" However my lord, it was not he who inspired this United army of both lunar and royal guard." explained the commander in his original gruff and sinister voice. "This army is the result of one earth pony they are calling Bravery Pureblood."
Sombra lifted his head and turned back to the commander, "WHAT!?" Sombra suddenly shouted, surprising the commander a little bit. "That name is nothing but fiction to me" Sombra continued still shocked however at this new found name.
"I see only lies from your statement soldier but I have anticipated the times that the mortals should retaliate." Sombra said directing his eyes to the top the gloomy window that looked out over a ruined part of Equestria. Times were changing, fear was not enough to maintain his power in this land. Despite this incursion of his power, Sombra the decided it would be best to capture this new hero and turn him away from the immortal fools who called themselves 'princesses' and redirect this new one to his side, should he deny or retaliate he would die before he could know a mistake had been made.
"Find this Bravery Pureblood and bring him before me, should he end up dead then you will soon join him afterward, understand commander Cerberusa?" Sombra evilly said to his second in command.
"Understood master, I will see to it that he kneels before the might of your very lordship!" Cerberusa said loudly whilst he knelt on one knee before his master and jumped out the open window were he landed on the rocks below on all fours. He would not fail his master as he did his brother.......
Nearing the rooftops, the Apex Protector used his spiked chains as climbing hooks and leaned out from the building so that he could look out over the besieged city like an ape in a tree. The sight saddened him, he had failed his mistresses: Celestia and Luna in protecting the land he loved, Equestria was just as beautiful as they were and he was willing to give his life to protect it and if today was that day, so be it.
The Protector heard urgent speech of distress in his head through the mind link, it belonged to Bravery and Shining Armour's team and the tone fear and desperation rattled around in his head as the cries grew louder in his head. The cries were quite painful and the Protector nearly lost his grip on the building but he then let go so that he could glide his way down to where the cries came from.
"Pain! So much pain, Fortaaancus, help me. My team will otherwise be seen! Bravery can guide you, follow his voice!" Shining armour shouted through the link.
After a few minutes the Protector known by Shining Armour as: 'Fortaancus' touched down on the rooftop and could just about see Bravery and his team hiding behind the subtle shine of an invisibility spell. Bravery saw Fortaancus and said to him through the mind link: "Shining Armour is about to give away but I cannot let you be seen, stay there." Fortaancus would not stay he had to help them but as he was about to respond to Bravery, Fortaancus felt a massive sting on his back that made him collapse and stiffen with agony. Bravery saw his mistake and watched a hideous necromancy soldier jump down onto the human with bladed limb held high above his head.
"NO!" shouted Bravery as he ran out of Shining's spell with an act of supreme strength of heart. He realised he had completely disobeyed orders but what use were orders in these times? Nothing could hide from Sombra's evil forever so he would be better off dying than living one more day fearing the day would come when they minions of Sombra would bring his life to a painful end.
Bravery's shout echoed between the ruined buildings and the patrol above caught Bravery running East. The necromancy soldier produced an ear piercing war cry from his deformed mouth and reinforcements appeared over the horizon.
Shining Armour finally let go of the invisibility spell and threw his head armour down angrily and ran to take cover with the rest of the team behind him. Whilst Shining and the team remained veiled behind a concrete pile, Bravery was climbing up to get to Fortaancus and help him. At least that was what he intended to do, now that he had foolishly attracted unwanted attention to he and his team, he was struggling to get to the top so that he would not be confronted at close quarters by one of Sombra's minions.
Finally Bravery reached the top, he quickly glanced down to confirm his team's condition. The necromancy soldiers were drawing ever closer, even from that distance it did not seem like it would take them long to arrive. Concentrating on his self-established task, Brvaery rushed over to Fortaancus lying on the ground where the necromancer soldier was still standing with the blade at the human's throat.
"Brave as you may be mortal, you were unwise to sacrifice your team's safety for this thing who calls himself a 'protector'" croaked the hideous mass of a soldier. Bravery kept his distance but at the same time showed no fear to the disgusting thing that stood in his way. "I am not afraid of you or your master, your time is over and you are in my way!" growled Bravery, the low and loud groans of Fortaancus were poking at his ears as he spoke. Bravery considered, the soldier was not moving but provoking it might lead to the death of the innocent and severely injured human that lay on the ground in agony. Fortaancus might not have been like Bravery and his kind but he had saved him once, he would not dishonour this hero by making him die.
The necromancy soldier looked down his victim beneath his massive, deformed hoof with a devious grin adorning his face. "Ourtime has only begun mortal, you and your kind cannot stop us even if my master dies. You will never understand the true purpose of what we have wrought, besides you will not live long enough to find out anyway." he growled with his blade now pointing to Bravery.
Bravery's expression changed as the colossal blade neared the front of his muzzle. It was raised high in the air and was about to cut Bravery in two until a powerful bolt of magical energy knocked the necromancy soldier off the rooftop. Bravery looked behind him to see that Shining Armour and his wife: Princess Cadence of love standing on the neighbouring rooftop.
Looking back to Fortaancus, Bravery rushed over to him and knelt down to see his face. Fortaancus slowly stirred and sat up holding the poisonous wound on his back. "Protector, you are hurt let me help you." said Bravery in a concerned tone. Fortaancus looked up and turned his face away from Bravery in frustration. "You should not have done that Bravery, it was my mistake and now I have put lives of brave soldiers at risk because of my unacceptable error." Fortaancus whispered through the pain that was eating him up. Bravery stood up in disagreement, "That was not you, that was just an unintended consequence, and w-" said Bravery until he was cut off by the stamp of multiple hooves nearby.
"Bravery Pureblood." came a graceful but agitated voice behind him. It was Cadence who had been the disruption, she was standing in front of Brvaery with a trace of anger on her face. "You disobeyed orders and put my husband's life at risk and for that I've been instructed by your princess to take you away from here and deliver you to her." Cadence explained at slow pace.
Bravery's heart started to fill with shame as he closed his eyes and dropped his head downward. Before he could walk away however, Bravery felt Fortaancus' hand on his shoulder. Shining Armour was behind him and pointing his horn at Fortaancus' wound in order to heal it with a healing spell. As Shining's magic did its work Fortaancus stood upright with his hand still on Bravery's shoulder.
"With your permission your highness I shall go with him, I have something to say to princes Luna as soon as possible." Fortaancus said now fully healed and more determined than ever.
After an hour of tiresome travelling out of the city of Las Pegaus, Bravery and Fortaancus reached the ruined suburbs as instructed. Bravery stood a couple of metres from Fortaancus and then asked: "What do you think brings us here Fortaancus?" Fortaancus stared at the sky and then looked to Bravery in a blank way. "To be honest Bravery, for the first time in my life, I have no idea." said Fortaancus keeping his voice quiet and shameless. Bravery then diverted his gaze to the source of sudden flash above him. It was princess Luna. The indigo aura around her body was enough to grab Fortaancus' attention as well as Bravery's. "Why do arrive outside Las Pegasus to hear that you have been excluded from the battle Pureblood?" Luna asked in a sort of compassionate tone. Bravery was too busy thinking of what to say to maintain eye contact with Luna, he turned to Fortaancus who slightly nodded to him in suggestion that he told the truth. "Understand my princess, I did not mean for my team to be exposed, I never meant for them to be hurt...." Bravery explained before pausing for a few seconds. "...but he was going to die, defenceless and innocent." Bravery continued turning back to Fortaancus.
Fortaancus looked up a little bit more after Bravery had finished speaking in surprise. "I'm sorry my mistress, Bravery speaks the truth but he should not have been taken from this. I am to blame for this incident, I let my guard down when it was needed most."
Luna glared at the human behind the mask and armour and noticed a large scar on his back, she could tell he was telling the truth as well. She glanced at Bravery and Fortaancus for a few moments while she started to reconsider her words. These two were not all obedient for sure, but their wisdom and courage would prove useful in these times. Luna had seen Fortaancus past actions in protecting her subjects and approved of his noble actions. Also Bravery Pureblood had proved himself stronger than that of all the ponies she had seen in her immortal life, not to mention his selfless act to save Fortaancus. Together, Bravery and Fortaancus would be the solution to ending King Sombra's tyrannical rampage.
"Rise Bravery and Fortaancus!" Luna shouted in her royal Canterlot voice, "Your actions if not rebellious are the actions of true heroes, I feel that you are the key to Equestria's freedom." she continued slowly lifting herself off the ground with her wings. "I will allow you two to return to battle as a favour, you both have given me and my sister hope of a brighter future for Equestria and look forward to seeing the flag of unity planted on top of this city's tallest monument." Luna said in her voice again this time with less of a volume.
Bravery and Fortaancus looks at eachother humbled and amazed at the same time. They bowed down before Luna in acceptance and Luna brought their heads up to look at her.
"No need for worship my friends, because as of now, the lives of all who inhabit Equestria are with you now. Our lives, are yours from today to tomorrow." Luna said.
The sun had set, the luminous moon hung over the land like a giant eye only to be blotted by the thick clouds of smoke and death. The magnificence of the night had been soiled by the mists of fear and sorrow that floated across the land like a poisonous gas, infecting the very air of Equestria. Slowly placing his helmet on his head, Bravery started to crouch and sneak across the precarious drop that lay below him whilst he trotted on a flimsy beam supporting the remains of a destroyed skyscraper. Fortaancus was waiting for him on the other side and was holding the beam to support Bravery's descent. Fear was at its peak within Fortaancus and Bravery as the terrifying sounds of necromancy soldiers and roaring fires grew louder and more constant by the second. Bravery tried to ignore all he heard and concentrate on reaching the other side. All of a sudden, Bravery quickly lost his footing and started to fall until Fortaancus launched a small retractable claw that caught on Bravery's armour. Bravery hung by his right hind leg as Fortaancus struggled to pull him up, Bravery's armour made him heavier than usual and was starting to slip off.
"Swing yourself Bravery" Fortaancus whispered loudly, if Bravery could create enough momentum, he would swing directly up to Fortaancus. Bravery started to move himself to create a pendulum motion and as time went by Bravery found himself swinging right into Fortaancus' arm waiting to catch him.
Fortaancus successfully caught Bravery and pulled him up with both arms, "You should advise the lunar guard to find a lighter material for that armour" Fortaancus said huffing from the effort of lifting Bravery up.
"Thanks Fortaancus and I will keep that it mind as well" Bravery said smiling for the tiniest moment, feeling relieved of the heat and fear he was feeling before.
There was no time to lose, they could not afford to fail this task. Bravery and Fortaancus had been instructed by Princess Celestia and Luna to find a way into the command and control centre of the necromancy soldier's. When they said 'command and control' they were talking about one tall black crystal which contained weaponry, armour and by rumour prisoners. However, it was the necromancy portal that was the objective. If it could be captured then then Bravery's allies would have the upper hoof in this battle; the portal was designed to transport soldiers to the exact location of King Sombra according to the archives of Canterlot from which being unprepared could provide an opportunity to strike the tyrant down.
Bravery and Fortaancus jumped down from the building into dustbin that broke their fall. The giant black shard that towered over the destroyed city was now within sight. Fortaancus took hold of Bravery and launched his claw to the top of narrow building where they could both see all there was to see. The noise made by the claw was silent but sudden and sharp enough to make Bravery jump a little in surprise, then he realised they were being instantly pulled up to the roof within a matter of seconds. When they quickly reached the top of the building, Bravery pulled out an enhanced telescope and observed the foreign obstruction that lay before the ruins.
Bravery was intrigued to see that there were no patrols or guards positioned anywhere around the black shard not even those who could fly were to be seen. "We continue to run out of time Bravery, what is out there?" whispered Fortaancus as he slowly crouched down looking at the base of their vantage point. "Nothing but this unbearably prominent shard that you see in front of you, there is no form of security what so ever Fortaancus" Bravery whispered back. Bravery gave the telescope to Fortaancus and took up Fortaancus's position as the evigilator. "You speak the truth Bravery, but I do not like this, there is too little activity for this shard to still have its significance." Fortaancus said quietly folding up the telescope and handing it back to Bravery.
Suddenly, after Bravery stood up he and Fortaancus felt an agonising sting in their heads and they both fell to the floor in unrelenting pain. Bravery and Fortaancus endured seconds of the pain until they heard a deathly and ominous voice in their heads speaking to them both simultaneously.
"Your attempts to save your unworthy kind and land will lead to more death and suffering including yours. the voice said sounding very angry and hateful "For too long did you underestimate the power of fear and death, by the end of this day those powers will rip you apart and leave your rotting carcasses and drying blood on the very soils of what is to be my new empire!!!! the voice continued slowly raising in volume by each word. "Out of superiority and hatred I will slaughter the arrogant leaders you call Celestia and Luna, I will have their heads along with the fool Fortaancus who thinks he can stand in the way of death itself, I will slash at his chest, tear out his heart and singe it into my throne where it will rot there for all eternity, as will all of you if you dare to stand against my will!!! the voice boomed inside Bravery's and Fortaancus' where it finally died down into a sort of whisper. "Your choice will determine your fate ponies of Equestria, submit to me......or DIE!
Bravery and Fortaancus shook their heads vigorously , trying to block out the forbidding voice and the agony that clawed at their minds. Finally, after the voice had disappeared for a along moment, the pain was rendered null and void.
"Sombra is not holding back Fortaancus, no mercy is going to be shown this time, to any of us" said Bravery weakly as recovered from the trauma whilst multi-coloured dots invaded his vision. "What mercy was shown before Bravery, the value of mercy means nothing to that tyrant, from life Sombra learned only hate and fear, nothing else." Fortaancus remarked fumbling with his black and white gauntlets. "On that I agree, but now it would be wise to seize the remaining time we have left, for it could be our last." Bravery responded with an increased presence of urgency in his tone.
As the sun began to slowly rise over the raggedy mountains, Bravery and Fortaancus were nearing the shard surrounded by nothing but air. None of this seemed right. This was the enemy's command and control yet they left it completely unsupervised. Bravery and Fortaancus were both curious as to why this was but another unexpected feeling of fear and uncertainty started to grip at them. Their comrades and family were dying by the actions of Sombra's greed and his unrelenting army of soulless wraiths and demons. As they continued to run to the shard, Bravery smelt something, something sweet and warm almost like freshly-baked bread but there was no bakery or any kind of building from where he and Fortaancus were. They had stepped into a wide expanse of cinder and ash that surrounded the shard.
"Fortaancus stop!" Bravery whispered loudly, "I smell something, but it almost seems impossible to be real." he continued now that they had stopped running.
"I smell something too, it smells familiar but....." Fortaancus said before trailing off. Fortaancus suddenly then felt the anxiety in his heart turn into mild panic and frustration. Bravery could not be allowed to continue breathing then, he had smelt this smell before and realised what it really was.
Bravery started to feel another pain in his head but this time it was more of a sluggish feeling. "Fortaancus, wh- what, why wh-, everything is every..where, what is- *cough* going on?" said Bravery who was very much unable to speak. He felt like he was free-falling in an endless void of nothingness; the landscape around him was dissolving and changing shape with Fortaancus' figure twisting and transforming into ripples of visual distortion. Bravery felt extremely faint and swayed about rubbing his widening eyes from the feeling of psychological instability.
Fortaancus started to shout mildly into Bravery's ear to bring him out of his self-induced trance. He reached for his mask and from the sides slide two metal plates around his mouth to protect himself from losing it and reached into his belt to grab a mask for Bravery. If Fortaancus had hesitated even for another five seconds then his friend's mind would be lost forever as would his soul. Fortaancus quickly placed the mask over Bravery's muzzle and held him close.
Meanwhile, Bravery had noticed the landscape returning to normal as he stopped falling and landed on stain glass platform surrounded by vast emptiness of space. Bravery stood upright and spotted a dark circle nearby, it was not moving only hovering stationary above the glass platform. Bravery did not think to approach it for he knew nothing of what might happen next. As Bravery continued to look around he heard the voice he and Fortaancus were hearing earlier. It spoke only ancient gibberish at first but soon turned into a lighter and more powerful voice and in the process the black circle started to change into a exceedingly bright ball of light. It resembled Celestia's sun in many ways but it was white and was not radiating any heat.
As the divine voice grew louder it started to speak normally and direct its speech to Bravery.
Bravery Pureblood of Equestria, the courage and wisdom that you have shown to the world in the past and present have brought you here not by choice. The tyrant who calls himself Sombra embodies the worst of all sentient life, for too long have I seen dark magics and necromancy plague and defile the magical land of Equestria. As a long dead God I have been unable to correct the mistakes that fate has brought upon Equestria, so it was until this day that any hope of returning it to harmony had been lost."
Bravery was concentrating his full attention on the bright light that had expanded itself to surround him fully. He was quite lost for words but was able to bring himself up to speed.
"What is this? How do you know my name? Or most importantly, who are you?" Bravery asked, he was now talking to another white void just not falling through it this time.
"I would answer you if more time was available for us, but you must listen to me now!
the voice continued, now with an increasing tone of urgency. Bravery calmed himself and stopped to listen to the voice, there was nothing else to do except that.
"In order to fix the flaws that Equestria has suffered over the long, excruciating years, it had to be done out of the beliefs and hopes of a pure mortal, which happens to be you Bravery, for this is the destiny that has awaited you ever since you were born."
said the divine voice now using a bit more emotion towards Bravery.
Bravery was standing in place, bewildered by the words thrown at him. This conflict was never supposed to be about him, what he did was for the greater good of Equestria.
"But mysterious one, I am no special warrior, I am just another pony trying to relive himself of the fear that currently eats away at the souls of my allies and friends. Speaking of that I must get back to Fortaancus, there is a task left for me and him in Equestria. I must complete it!" shouted Bravery, hopefully trying to get a word in edge ways as the voice grew louder in volume. The voice was louder than that of even princess Luna's Canterlot voice.
"No Pureblood, since the day your mother held you in her hooves I have watched you and your friend Fortaancus when he first came to Equestria and I saw the meaning of heroism and selflessness inside you. You have been the one to overcome physical fear and strike at the heart of evil with great force. With the human Fortaancus at your side, you and he can free Equestria and finish what I could not."
said the voice as the white circle started to turn into a tall, white and midnight blue alicorn that approached Bravery with enormous curtain-like wings trailing behind.
"Now go Bravery, join Fortaancus and save your beloved friends and home, show no fear, the light of hope will guide you to victory as I Zenita Eror Nesira will grant you and Fortaancus your path"
said the alicorn who instantly disappeared and brought Bravery back to the same ruinous landscape where Fortaancus was holding a mask around his muzzle and wearing a mask of his own around his face.
"Bravery, what happened?" Fortaancus quickly asked fearing for Bravery's condition. "I am fine Fortaancus, but what I saw before has made me question myself constantly." Bravery whispered trying to pick himself up. "What did you see, who were you speaking to?" Fortaancus questioned afterward.
"Him, our creator, or in specific my creator.......and what looked like Celestia's father" said Bravery.
Dark and foreboding, that is what it looked like up close just like the rest of Equestria, but if this task could be completed all the fear and hate that had enigmatically tormented the land could be undone. Bravery and Fortaancus stood before the shard still wearing their masks from before. "This is it. The so called stronghold." Bravery said randomly. He realigned his armour plating and pulled out a a shield attached to his apparel using his teeth. This battle may have had a calm beginning but when he would stand before the tyrant himself all hell was going to break loose.
Fortaancus examined the tall shard and prepared his spiked chains and broad cape. This fight was one he had prepared to face for years, years spent training and perfecting the tactics needed to destroy the entity that threatened all of Equestria's innocents and royalty.
They both stood there in confusion, there were no visible entrances anywhere around the structure of the shard. The earth pony and human looked up to see if there was an entrance above, there was not.
After sometime, black clouds of smoke and dust swept in very close to the ground blotting out the sky and sunlight. Bravery and Fortaancus were mildly distracted by the clouds until they both came up with a similar thought on how to enter the shard. "Fortaancus, you do not suppose the entrance is physical do you? Bravery asked, "No it cannot be, it has to be the one thing that granted Sombra power Celestia and Luna." Fortaancus replied now realising that he and Bravery were thinking the same thing. "Hate, hatred for something or anything, the only way to enter the shard is to feel hate." Bravery explained. Hate would now aid him on his journey to free his home, it was not the way he had wanted or expected it to be, but if it meant defeating the tyrant then it had to be done.
"It has not been long since anypony has felt that emotion Bravery but it has to be controlled lest we all turn on eachother and fight individually." Fortaancus remarked. He felt a sense of surprise regarding Bravery's thoughts being similar to his but also feeling a sense of pride and honour knowing that the fight for freedom would soon be over and he was allied with the bravest pony he had ever known.
Both of them looked deep into their souls for a memory or experience that influenced the emotion of hate; soon after few seconds they both pushed against the shard and saw themselves moving through the walls of the shard. Noticing that Bravery's theory had worked, they pushed themselves through the walls and were mentally stabbed by visions of the thoughts they had before they passed through the walls.
The visions in Bravery's head were ravaging his mind as he saw his parents on the burning ground with a black flaming sword in their chests and a figure that looked very much the tyrant himself hovering over the chaotic landscape and laughing as ponies were being consumed by the relentless purple fires of hate. The images made Bravery scream at the top his lungs and then he found himself and Fortaancus on another stain glass floor, similar to what he saw earlier.
Bravery and Fortaancus dragged themselves up from the floor and they both stood up in a massive, gloomy room that did not resemble the roof of the shard.
"Fortaancus I think is it........Fortaancus?" Bravery said. Fortaancus was standing right next to him but he was not moving until he suddenly dissolved away into darkness.
""In here you heroic fool, nothing but death is with you now, your human friend will not last where he is now and your insignificant head will decorate this room with your blood as the paint!" came a terrifying robust voice.
Bravery looked around to see the hateful tyrant King Sombra float down to the floor in front of him, his black and red robes stained with the blood of sodiers and innocents, a gigantic white sword materialised in front of him that made a ear piercing clang when it touched the ground.
"Your soul is mine little pony and no one is coming to save you, ever AGAIN! shouted Sombra.
"Why are you doing this?"Bravery asked the tyrant before he took another step closer. He was not entirely sure what to do from this point on, he made it this far and had no idea what to do when he actually faced the unstoppable foe that stood and smirked before him.
"Questions, questions little one, that is all I ever receive from simple talking." Sombra growled, maintaining his evil smile and exposing his long grey fangs. "Only in death will you find your answers, the deity in my favour known as Hades in Tartarus awaits the remaining souls to torment for all eternity. He will use the memory of your approaching failure to emotionally torture you till the end of time!" he continued.
Bravery was now feeling a rising anger inside from Sombra's frequent mockery. He pulled out his shield and made a crouching battle position, awaiting for Sombra to attack. "Enough of this, you hideous psychopath!" Bravery roared who could no longer control the rage burning up inside him. The hero who had come all this way, walked forward at a slow and steady pace towards Sombra whilst making loud clanging sounds with his shield trying to distract the tyrant.
Sombra gave a quiet chuckle and brought his glowing sword up to chest height, readying it for battle. "I have been longing for a moment such as this earth pony and now I have it, there is no escape from fear any more, FIGHT! Sombra suddenly shouted before charging at Bravery with immense reflexes.
Bravery noticed Sombra's charging motion and evaded the attack when Sombra's huge blade just nicked the end of his tail. After swiftly dodging the frontal attack, Bravery attempted to slam the rim of his shield into the side of Sombra's neck from the side. Sombra used his magic to instantly teleport away and materialise behind Bravery, he let out a terrifying roar as he jumped to slam his sword into Bravery's back but Bravery blocked the attack with his shield and staggered backward from the impact absorbed by his shield.
The sword was too powerful, the length and magical power it possessed gave Sombra the advantage. Sombra was the only evil force in this room, no reinforcements would come to his aid from where Bravery was fighting. Then again, he had to find a way to separate the tyrant from the weapon therefore making him less of an opponent. There was no turning back now, there were two ways in which this battle would end, either he died or Sombra did.
"Your life is mine, mortal" said Sombra whilst smiling another evil smile. "You should keep your dirty paws off it before you do something you will regret, tyrant." Bravery replied returning a smile of confidence in Sombra's direction.
Sombra and Bravery then both charged at the same time and letting out fearsome cries of hate. As metal hit metal, the sound of the clash echoed throughout the room and the fighters were stationary and grunting as sword was pressed against shield.
"Your rage fuels my power you fool, as long as you show hate or fear I will grow ever stronger and you will eventually fall before me." Sombra hissed at Bravery.
Bravery pushed all his weight forward which caused Sombra to slip, giving Bravery the opportunity to strike. Bravery lurched forward again and smashed the face of his shield into Sombra's chest and then brought it back to strike the tyrant again around the right cheek. Sombra stumbled back therefore dropping his white sword from the blows and held his chest which was now dripping black, venomous blood.
Seeing that he had incapacitated the tyrant, Bravery galloped forward again to deliver the final blow. However, he had rushed into the attack and Sombra swept his legs from the ground using his front legs, he then kicked Bravery in the ribs with his back legs after Bravery was flung into the air.
Bravery fell to the floor with a light thud, he seriously was not able to stand. His side was screaming with pain and he felt something burning his forelegs. Sombra's blood was apparently extremely corrosive and it was gradually eating away at Bravery's flesh. Bravery lay on the floor, eliciting loud occasional grunts of agony whilst Sombra reclaimed his sword and held it above Bravery's head.
"You put up an admirable fight mortal, but there is nothing more powerful than me now." Sombra said as he pinned Bravery's hooves to the glass floor.
Bravery closed his eyes, he had failed, rage had got the better of him and brought about his defeat.
"Fortaancus was right, rage has to be controlled or else the consequences can be severe." Bravery thought now even sadder knowing that he had failed his newly found human friend........ wherever he might have been.
"Farewell little stallion, your end is here."Sombra said holding his sword above Bravery's head, ready to sever it and claim his sweet but easy victory.
Sombra then brought the giant blade on Bravery, but it was suddenly halted by four curved blades that seemed to be attached to gauntlets, Fortaancus!
Fortaancus had Sombra's white sword trapped in his gauntlet blades and used them to break the sword in two. Sombra backed away as Fortaancus recovered and slowly circled him, "You never fail to impress me human, courageous but easily misguided." Sombra laughed.
"This ends here Sombra, every last bit of it, the killing, the torturing and the destroying, all of it." Fortaancus growled, keeping his eyes fixed on Sombra's. Sombra was a formidable opponent even without the sword, head on attacks were not ideal.
Sombra dived in Fortaancus' direction in an attempt to impale the human with his long, red horn. However, Fortaancus was quicker than Sombra and easily evaded the attack then grabbed Sombra's neck and smashed his heel into Sombra's knee. Sombra grunted a little bit from the pain and began levitating himself off the ground.
Sombra thought he could take out Bravery and Fortaancus at the same time from his flight advantage but then Fortaancus deployed a smoke screen and Bravery threw his shield at Sombra's forehead. The shield hit directly in the face and black blood started to trickle from his nose. The smoke screen filled the room and Sombra started to make out any signs of movement.
After a few moments, Sombra felt something latch onto his chest plate and felt himself being pulled down by a three-bladed retractable claw. When Sombra then saw Bravery standing up, another powerful blow was delivered to his face as Bravery drove his hind legs into Sombra's face in bucking motion. Sombra was flung back and crashed down onto the glass floor with great force. Sombra slowly picked himself up from the ground noticing his severely bleeding face and nose. He wiped traces of putrid blood off his face and furiously looked back at the two adversaries that stood before him.
"Submit to your fate Sombra, this battle is lost for you." Bravery said as he walked closer to Sombra, assuming the injuries had weakened him.
Fortaancus followed and prepared one of his spiked chains from behind his back for any possible countermeasures. "Understand this though tyrant, if we do not finish you, some pony will, as long as Equestria knows you live, you will have take them all on, no pony will rest until you and your reign is destroyed." Fortaancus explained, he was not going to kill the tyrant, such a deed belonged to one who had suffered dearly because of the madness this monster had brought on Equestria.
Sombra wearily smiled again and said with a feeble voice: "You are fools to think you can stop me, as long as even one of my soldiers live, I live as well, they are a part of me, they follow me because they are me, the body is just a vessel, energy from my very soul is what fuels them, this battle of necromancy and magic is one that your kind cannot win."
"This land belongs to me, mortals, now prepare to-" Sombra was then suddenly cut off by a massive crash in the ceiling. A huge hole had been made in the craggy roof and murky sunlight started to flow through. Out of the light came the Divinity bolts who were glowing with a golden aura and there eyes glowing light blue.
Behind the Divinity bolts was a large number of lunar and royal guard Pegasi with weapons and wings at the ready.
"Forward comrades! Operation:Destroy King Sombra!" shouted Skyrise.
Sombra stared at the countless numbers of Pegasi that swarmed in through the gaping hole in his castle's ceiling. Never had expected the enemy to have this much support at this time, but now he was surrounded by at least fifty Pegasi with Bravery and Fortaancus standing with them.
"Bravery my friend, we were able to find you and your friend through the mind link, but when you would not respond we grew worried and tirelessly searched for you" said Skyrise as he landed next to Bravery. His Pegasi legion were surrounding the tyrant from the air and ground, he could not escape punishment this time, this time Sombra would learn the folly of his barbaric actions, fear would be Sombra's to experience for once.
Skyrise and Bravery stepped forward with shields at the ready, they would hand the monster over to Celestia and Luna where he would be judged and hopefully destroyed for the atrocities he had been committed for past years. "Sombra of tyranny, you are outnumbered and overmatched, you will yield and stand before the princesses of Equestria in the name of freedom and harmony, lest you face the combined wrath of the royal and lunar guard.' Skyrise said expressing a look of pure hate on his face.
Fortaancus realised Skyrise's mistake, he ran forward to Skyrise and silently explained: "You cannot show hate Skyrise, it will not help." However Skyrise was having none of it and ignored Fortaancus' warnings s if he were invisible. Bravery was not in the mood for arguing, but Fortaancus' remark had reminded him of Sombra's ability to recuperate through the hate of others. "Skyrise stop for a second, me and Fortaancus were in combat with Sombra and have discovered that his will is powered by the hate of all, we must feel no hate and use willpower and hope instead to fight him." Bravery quickly said just before Skyrise was about to lay a hoof on Sombra.
Skyrise considered for a brief moment and understood the point Bravery was trying to make. "Of course, rage strengthens fear but willpower and hope are the keys to overcome fear. After all this time, we had not realised our mistake until now, we fought Sombra out of rage and hate but that must have made he and his army stronger than ever."Skyrise said in his head. He had to warn his legion before they made the greatest mistake of all.
Unfortunately, they had all realised to late when a flashing explosion of black and red energy erupted in front of them. Sombra was high in the air and the roof of the castle was gone, exposing the murky, orange sky of a gloomy midday.
"This is why you never win, your rage is what brought about your demise, not me, the growing hate you all felt all those years ago freed me from the void and fuelled my magical power. Your everyday hates and dislikes along with the resentment you gave towards the gryphon kind is what me made strong again!" Sombra shouted who was glowing with a burning red aura and a slim black sword.
"Now you foolish mortals, your lives are all mine!"Sombra bellowed with an evil laugh afterward.
Bravery, who was now only able to walk on three legs, slowly stood up and noticed that Fortaancus and Skyrise were on the floor unconscious and all the Pegasi were grounded and crying in fear and agony. Bravery looked back at Sombra in horror, this was it, after all the sacrifices, all the defiances against the tyrant that had destroyed his home, it would end in a humiliating failure.
However, as Bravery felt himself going numb, he saw that time had slowed down and the intensely bright light he had seen before reappeared and the figure he had seen before: Zenita Eror Nesira along with princess Celestia and Luna materialised in front of him.
"It is time Pureblood, the time of your ascension, your ascension as the God of strength and willpower."
Zenita softly told Bravery. For a moment Bravery thought he was dreaming again, but he could see that this was all real, the three immortals stood above him and looked down at his small figure.
"I do not understand, what I am, why I am so important?!" Bravery shouted amongst the halted chaos "The God that speaks to you is the father of me and my sister." Luna said trying to help Bravery understand the current situation. "He came to me and Celestia just after you and Fortaancus set out to find Sombra and told us the truth about you. You Barvery Pureblood, are the reincarnation of the God of Spiritual strength and Selflessness known as Orpitheus the Pureblood, the spiritual guardian Equestria before our father." Luna continued seeing the great surprise in Bravery's face.
Celestia rose above her father and her horn glowed an immaculate, golden aura and Zenita and Luna did the same. Their horns unified and a blue and green light originated from the centre.
"Now Bravery, prepare for the moment that your entire life has been leading up to. Become a God and save us all." Celestia said as the light from the alicorns shot out and began surrounding Bravery.
Bravery watched the magical waves enter his body and felt a immense surge of strength rattle his entire body. His eyes glowed blue and white and he was floating in the air. Bravery felt all the muscles in his body shift and grow whilst a pain his forehead was created by a blue horn growing out of it. As the magic continued to swirl around him like a tornado Bravery felt light-headed and closed his eyes whilst the magic continued its work......
When Bravery noticed the magic had disappeared as did Celestia, Luna and Zenita, time began to return to its normal speed. All eyes including Sombra's were on Bravery since he was flying without wings and his eyes and body glowing with a blue and white aura. He was twice his original size and wore black and white armour similar to that of Fortaancus.
At that one point in his life, Bravery knew he was and always and had been...a God!
Bravery approached Sombra whilst still floating in the air. All around him were gazing in awe at his transformation.
Fortaancus and Skyrise looked at each other for a brief moment in disbelief before turning back to Bravery, who was now standing in front of Sombra in an unusual manner.
"You slaughtered the innocent out of greed Sombra, you unjustly tried to gain full dominance over Equestria without regard for others." Bravery said angrily, only this time Sombra felt nothing from Bravery's words. He was not feeling anger, only will, the emotion to overcome fear. "The peanlty is clear, your corrupt soul shall be cast into Tartarus where the Lord Hades and Kronos will feed off your soul energy for all eternity. A dark killer such as you belongs in the dark and light, the light shall be your torture and the darkness shall be your prison!" Bravery continued before Sombra once again pulled out his death-bringing weapon and swung it at him.
Sombra growled and rays of red energy radiated off his body. His triumph would not be denied, not when Equestria was nearly his.
"YOU CANNOT STOP ME! I AM RAGE INCARNATE, I AM THE KING OF FEAR, AND EQUESTRIA SHALL BE MINE!!! Sombra screamed at Bravery from which he jumped an enormous jump and brought the blade crashing down on Bravery's head....
Everypony covered their eyes as an explosion of red engulfed the room. When all looked back, Sombra's blade was split in two and it de-materialised into oblivion. Bravery had not budged, he was still glowing the same aura and looked down at Sombra who walked backwards from noticing what had happened.
"There is no place for rage or for you here any more Sombra, your time has come to an end." Bravery said as he once again approached Sombra without hesitation.
Bravery used his new horn to lift Sombra into the air and shot a light of bright green energy at Sombra when he was still in the air. Fortaancus and Skyrise felt a warmth in their chests and noticed a light softly glow on each one. Fortaancus' chest glowed a colour of white and blue and Skyrise's glowed with white and jade from which the two lights burst out in a long line at where Bravery was directing his magic.
At that point, Zenita, Celestia and Luna appeared in the air above all and said with voices like steel:
"Through torturous day, through deadly night, in every condition we will fight, those who harm the innocent on sight, witness the power of Equestrian might!!"
Sombra screamed as the bright lights expanded and he started to slowly vanish into nothingness.........
The lights had faded, the dust and smoke were clearing and Sombre was nowhere to be found.
"It is over, at last" Bravery finally said with great relief and pride.
Back in ponyville, Shining and Fortaancus placed the injured soldiers on individual casualty beds and started greeting the civilians back to their homes. "Who'd have thought it" Shining said as looked backward to the horizon. "Thought what?" Fortaancus asked "That fate would give us this victory." Shining continued as Fortaancus started to remove parts of his armour and sticking them in a rucksack. "Fate did not bring us this victory Shining, it was Bravery who brought us our salvation." Fortaancus explained whilst he sat down bandaging his bleeding forearm.
Shining felt so happy and relieved, a sensation he had not experienced for several years. It was almost as if fear and anger itself had followed Sombra into the underworld, nothing but happiness and bravery he saw when he looked around, even the injured were showing the slightest of smiles. The sky looked happy as well as the sun started to disappear over the horizon producing a beautiful orange and white glow. Rivers were glistening like jewels as the sun's rays reflected off the crystal-like water and the mountains caught the remaining sunlight as the boundary of day and night started to light up the landscape.
"You still think about him and them, Fortaancus?" Shining asked to Fortaancus' surprise. "Bravery? Sometimes, he was such a powerful friend, he brought out the best in equine along with you and Canterlot royalty." Fortaancus replied peacefully. "But what about them? Shining asked again "Them? You mean, my......family?" Fortaancus asked quietly Shining gave him no words but lightly nodded his head. Fortaancus did not feel like talking anymore but this did not just apply to him, Shining had a part in this too. "Always, I do what I do today to ensure that no other sentient has to suffer such a loss, but I failed." Fortaancus sadly said with a tear forming behind his cowl. "What about you? Do you still have the visions of your, *ahem* father?" Fortaancus asked feeling shocked by what he had said. Shining noticed the shock in Fortaancus' face and put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him. "It's alright, I can take it." Shining said not wanting his friend to feel that way, "Yeah I still do, but like you they're what drives me to keep on moving, to keep on fighting fear, to make him proud wherever he may be."
Fortaancus smiled from his friend's spirit, "You equine have proved to better than my kind, so much wiser about using and feeling emotion, your world is a gem in a lonely, desolate universe." he said.
Shining smiled back from Fortaancus' warm words and felt two hooves touch his shoulders. It was his wife: Cadence of love, she kissed the back of his neck and rested her face on his white back.
Fortaancus looked up to see Princess Luna of the night float down behind him and take his bandage, "Here, allow me to help you their hero." Luna said as she used her magic to heal the deep cut on Fortaancus' forearm. Fortaancus did not budge during the process and eyed the beautiful alicorn repairing his damaged arm.
"We're very proud of you two, for all the help you gave and the lives you helped save." Cadence said as she continued to caress Shining Armour from behind.
"We now request your presence back in Canterlot so that you help out there." Luna said as she approached Fortaancus and put her right hoof on Fortaancus' cheek,slowly removing his cowl. Fortaancus reluctantly halted Luna's action, such a moment could not be wasted, but revealing his face to royalty was against official Equestrian law. "I am sorry, my mistress but remember the law?" Fortaancus said to Luna's gorgeously blue face. Shining and Cadence could see where this was going so they decided not to intervene and decided to smile and watch at Luna's slight affection to Fortaancus. "I grow tired of treating you like a slave Fortaancus, as of now you are now a part of our society, you are free to choose the life you desire." Luna said as she faced looked into Fortaancus' kind, granite eyes. Fortaancus put aside his petty nervousness and allowed Luna to remove his cowl so she could see his face. Luna, Shining and Cadence satred at Fortaancus with surprised eyes, he had brass-coloured hair and smooth, oval-like face. He looked so young, yet so wise and peaceful. "You look, so young Fortaancus, but at the same time so wise and kind. Luna gasped with a hint of intimacy in her voice. Fortaancus started to sheepishly smile as he noticed that every other pony were beginning to eye him. "Are you not negatively surprised at my appearance? Fortaancus asked Luna "No, I just never expected a boy to be such a powerful adversary and such an amazing individual." she said as she sat beside him and moved her head over to his chest in loving manner. Fortaancus settled down and held Luna close to him whilst he ran his hand through her wavy mane, "Luna, can we stay here, just for a short period of time?" Fortaancus asked quietly into Luna's ear. "Of course, my hero." As Luna's horn started to glow a purple aura, the sun disappeared and the moon was lifted high in the glamorous night sky of stars. Every pony sat down and watched the night pass by, savouring every beautiful moment of it as this was the first time in several years since they saw something as amazing as this.....
Bravery watched the ponies and human in Ponyville lie down and look up at the night sky. He was at the very tip of Equestria's atmosphere, he circled the planet at lightning speed and teleported before materialising on a mountain top.
Zenita materialised next to him and stood beside him as they both looked out over the landscape.
"I have missed nights like this Bravery, your victory has brought happiness and hope to all of Equestria." Zenita said as he smiled from happiness himself, the first smile he had shown in centuries.
"I have to my lord, such beauty must always be savoured." Bravery replied happily.
"Bravery, I never seized the opportunity to say something" Zenita said as he looked at Bravery. "And what is that,my lord?" Bravery asked the omnipotent deity "Thank you" Zenita said as they both teleported back into space where they flew off in sun's direction
Bravery followed, knowing that his life was finally complete.
