CHAPTER XVI: ASTRALLIONS
We all just stared at the fiery wreckage of Cloudsdale, a wonder turned into ruins. Rainbow said, “Well, that sucks. It’s going to be a pain to reload on Spectra.”. Rarity, appalled at the reason for Rainbow’s disappointment, said, “That is all you cared about? The stupid Spectra?”.
Rainbow said, “That’s all that was lost. Cloudsdale was abandoned years ago, once we found a different area to settle a new city.”. Cold as it may seem, I too worried about the Spectra. Spectra are expendable, and we would have needed a lot to take down Silemn. Considering how reliant we are on it, I do not believe we could last much longer on such a relatively small batch.
I said to Rarity, “Rainbow is right. Our most powerful magic relies on enormous amounts of Spectra. For one Forbidden level Ultima spell, it takes 175 vials of Spectra. Same goes for Forbidden level Apocalypse spells. Now that our Spectra are limited in number, we need to rely on our weapons. And we cannot rely on these weapons… We need more powerful ones.”.
Luna said, “I know of a place you can go to find weapons of legendary power, but it is not a place I expect you can survive. It is called Desolation, the realm of unnatural power that was cast from Equestria in Ancient times. When war was removed from Equestria, and weapons were destroyed, five weapons were cast to the forgotten world of Desolation. A rifle, a sword, a chakram, a staff, and a spear… the weapons each of you have mastered.”. I asked Luna, “What is the weapon I am to have? What lies beyond Apocalypse and Ultima in power?”.
Luna responded, “Apocalypse embraces the power of darkness, as it destroys the light it touches. Ultima embraces the power of light, as it heals the darkness it touches. These are push and pull, light and dark, good and evil… When their powers combine, the light shall consume the darkness as the darkness shall consume the light, and the pure essence of magic shall form. That power is indescribable, and shall shame all weapons and all magic. But the cost is high… very high.”.
Scootaloo said, “Why don’t we spread our targets? Send five of us after Silemn to try and reclaim the Elements, and one of us to retrieve the weapons? Silemn needs the blood of each of us to make his plan work.”. Rainbow Dash said, “If we are to carry out that plan, I will retrieve the weapons. Of the group, I have the most powerful weapon as of now and I have the best Armarium skill.”.
I stated, “Risky as this sounds, we have to do it. The missing pony from his plan will give enough time for us to be able to compose a good plan. Spitfire, Scootaloo, Rarity, and Applejack, you are coming with me to face down Silemn. Luna, I’ll need you to go with Rainbow and guide her through Desolation.”. And with that, Luna and Rainbow prepared to head through a portal to Desolation, leaving the rest of us to track down Silemn.
CHAPTER XVII: RAINBOW ACCOUNT
“Me and Luna had stepped into Desolation, and it appeared as if something out of a horrible nightmare. The world was dark and barren, not graced by either a moon or stars. I saw no life in sight; the realm consisted of nothing but endless fields of blown dust and ash with mountainous walls looming over everything, deepening the insufferable darkness with a cold, frosty shadow.
Luna stated, ‘Be careful. What little life exists here is beyond fathoming in power. The most vile and wicked of banished beasts exist here. Do not expect to see the weapons unguarded… all treasures worth having are well protected.’. I didn’t respond, because I frankly didn’t need to. I had too much on my mind, and the weapons were the last thing I was thinking about.
Luna, noting my foul mood, said, ‘Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?’. I just coldly responded, ‘Yes, but nothing I’d share with you’. I spent most of my life in a selfish vacuum of careless and self-centric emotion. I feel that it is now time I keep an altruistic purpose within. I don’t need to raise a banner… I just need to know what I am going through pain for is worth fighting for: Redemption.
Desolation was endless and terrifying. I felt every ounce of hope and peace being taken from me with every step in this ruined world. Every step in these fields of ash, of void lives and failed promises, troubled me and reminded me of what I was and where I came from. I have failed everyone I have ever known… my parents, my followers, and even my friends.
Death and pain have been brought to so many because of my inaction and my ego. My self-worship led many to destruction, none of whom deserved it except for me. I have earned every one of these scars, I have justified these wounds, and I have many times over deserved every misfortune that has happened to me.
Yet for all the destruction I have had inflicted upon my body and soul, it is not enough to justify all those ponies who lost their lives because of me. Because of me, innocents have died in scores… and I had all the power in the world to stop it from happening. Were I not such a selfish being, I would have trade my life to save them.
Luna said to me, ‘I know what troubles you. I have heard of the bombing from seven years ago. I tell you the truth, no life will be in vain if there is a sacrifice to balance the scales.’. Not a word this alicorn speaks makes any sense… but I figure for every cryptic riddle, there is a prophetic grain of truth.
We soon entered a large valley, the end of which held a great monument of black marble and stone. Above it rested a massive beast, with a byzantine body molded in the form of a colossal four-legged beast, the likes of which I had never seen before. Its neck and head were much like Silemn’s in colour and form, but the neck was many times longer than the head and had sapphire fronds lining its backing. Outstretching from the middle of the neck where two great and monstrous mangled claws of a mossy emerald colour, with spikes of turquoise protruding outwards from many parts of the arms. From the back of the same part of the neck sprawled draconic wings of a worn and dull silver, hundreds of feet wide, at least one hundred feet tall, and probably thirty feet thick.
We approached the center of the valley, but upon seeing the beast awake, we stopped. The beast leapt to the ground, creating a ferocious quake that tore the surface of Desolation. He stood erect, looming hundreds of feet above us, and said, ‘Do thee, mortal horsefolk, come to raid that which I guard? Hath mine home and mine kin not been taken by thy insipid and weak kind? Hath my whole not been stripped of all dignity and cast like a dog to the oblivion world of space? Why rob mine last treasures?’.
I said to the great beast, ‘We come to find that which will save our world. We have no fight with you.’. As I attempted to walk towards the weapons, the beast slammed his hand down in front of me and said, ‘Thy kind is who I wish to eradicate… for what thy ways hath done to mine life.’.
Luna said to the creature, ‘If we do not destroy the threat on our world, he will destroy not only us, but everything. He is the embodiment of the End as we know it. Tell us your name, that we may reason with you.’. The beast said, ‘Mine name is Levaresh. But knoweth in full, little ones… I do not wish to reason.’, and he pulled from a mountain in the side of the valley a massive sword that was little but a massive, wide slab of steel on a hilt.
Levaresh let the end of the bladed behemoth drop to the ground, creating a scar in the earth it laid in. Levaresh said, ‘Boldly face me… thou art dust and ash that shall be forsaken in this world for all time.’. With those words, he swung the blade towards us, but the mere weight of the slow juggernaut Levaresh held gave us quite some time to take to flight.
I yelled out to Luna, ‘Keep my body safe from Spectra overdose! I’m going to pepper him with some Meteor, Flare, and Holy!’. As I loaded up five vial arrays of Meteor, Flare, and Holy, me and Luna dodged the massive sword of Levaresh the best we could. I fired off Meteor at the shoulders and neck of Levaresh, slowly weakening him and killing off his ability to use the sword.
Levaresh soon dropped the sword and proceeded to swing at me with his mammoth claws. Whenever he took a shot at me, I channeled High level Flare through my sword and let loose, tearing his arms apart with firestorms of my creation. I then leapt to the ground and used a Forbidden level Meteor on Levaresh’s entire body, pummeling him with meteors to the point where he nearly had been killed.
Levaresh said, ‘And it is in thy mind that I have been bested… Know for sure, urchin, I shall end thy life if it means taking mine as well!’. Levaresh lifted his head skyward, and I saw a massive tempest form above as Levaresh drew to his breath all the magical life force of Desperation, and a great foaming fire appeared in his mouth. He lowered his head towards us, eyes blazing and mouth frothing with pure magical energy. He released the energy and sent a great fireball our way, one bigger than even an Ultima spell.
As the fireball neared, I put the rest of my white Spectra in, all twenty four, and I pointed my hand to the center of the fireball. I waited and waited, as it drew closer, and when it was starting to consume the rock and the dust around it, I fired a Ascended level Holy spell.
The fire of the magical blast and Holy collided, and fought against each other with all the power they had. The powerful heat and energy of the great fires torn wounds in me, and I began to bleed rivers from many small holes that peppered my skin. As the duration of Holy grew near its end, I said, ‘Come on… Come on! The fate of Equestria relies on this spell!’. In the final waning seconds of Holy, the spell erupted explosively, sending the great fireball towards Levaresh, and upon impact the fire consumed him and tore his mountainous body apart.
When it all was said and done, me and Luna traversed the valley and proceeded towards the weapons. The weapons stood in grand cases, each ornate and bearing a plaque at the back. We walked first to the gun, which was named Kohai. The gun had a vibrant blue barrel of crystal, and the grip and stock were made of blackened rock. Upon the pedestal was written:
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Kohai is the destroyer of lands. In ages surely now past, it was forged from sacred materials as an unholy weapon of war. It was made from the healing crystals of the temples used to heal the sick and pained, and from the fertile volcanic rock upon which food for the poor and destitute was grown. It mocked charity and kindness by using the tools of holy purposes to spread its abhorrent ways of massacre and violence. It was made in thoughts of hatred, when one pony named Abbot decided the petty conflicts of the world could not be settled in ways pleasing for him except through violence. For many years he used Kohai to rain hatred upon the world, but the weapon struck back in time. The holy materials in the weapon cried out in anguish from the blood they were forced to shed, and Kohai exacted the life of Abbot as a way to avenge the lost souls it was forced to take. Kohai is a sentient weapon, and if its user is not just in their ways, it shall take their life.
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I looked to Luna and said, ‘Luna, go ahead and take these while I’m reading these plaques. This information could be valuable to us later in our journey.’. After Luna picked all five out, I moved on to the sword. The sword, as I had seen, was a long black rapier, much like Silemn’s, but with a far sharper blade. Upon the plaque read the name, Oblivion, and the inscription:
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Oblivion was born in the Astral Plane, far from any of the mundane realms of existence. It was begat in Apocalypse and blessed by ruin, the elements it embodies. It was formed from an unknown metal, presumably something native to the Astral Realms. In the destruction of the realm it inhabited, it was cast away as a worthless token of the Astral Plane. Centuries later, it landed in a field far from any village or town that was known of. It rotted for many centuries more, neglected and alone, taken slowly by overgrowth and grasses. It grew rueful of its fate, and vowed the death of any who dare take it as a treasure of luxury, for it loathed those of better fate. Many ponies tried to claim it as a trophy for their luxuries mansions, but Oblivion instantly killed every single one of them, as it promised. After a long time of wrath, a homeless soldier came to lean upon the weapon. The weapon did not know what to do, for it had not been taken, and it clearly saw the one leaning on it was dying. It was someone just as neglected… and Oblivion allowed the soldier to keep it. On the soldier’s deathbed, Oblivion abandoned the planet to search for a better home. It is a bitter sword, and will allow itself in no hands but those of the utterly miserable.
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It sure sounded the part for me… So I’m glad I got the sword that happens to be as miserable as me. I moved on to the next weapon. According to the plaque, the name of this weapon was Firebrand. Unlike Rarity’s previous weapons, this appeared to be only a single ringblade. It appeared to look like fire, but it was metal that was the same colour and shape as flames. Its inscription read:
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Firebrand is the blade of fury, born in anger and pain. Long ago, a baker had a thief take every single thing from his store. When the baker found this out, he was in complete rage. So he used his oven as a forge to make a weapon, one that he poured every last drop of malice and bloodlust in his heart into. He did not know how to make blades well, so he bound the blade together by dipping it in a souvenir he got from a friend in Cloudsdale: red Spectra. The weapon was graceless and malicious, make so quick it barely had set. The baker tracked down the thief and sliced a mortal wound in the thief. The baker confronted the thief, and the thief explained sorrowfully that he only did it because he needed food for his family to survive. The baker did not listen, nor did the baker care. The thief begged for his life, tearfully apologizing to the baker and saying he would give anything the baker wanted to make things right. The baker said to the thief that if he killed him, only that would make things right. Right then and there, he murdered the thief in cold blood, and Firebrand became a weapon of murder. Eventually, the baker was hanged for his wicked deed, and Firebrand was sent far away, so its evil could never rise up again. Firebrand embodies death and violence, and if it goes a week without blood, it will kill its wielder.
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The more I read these, the more I started to realize that if any of us deviated from where our mission was, these weapons would kill us. I walked over to the fourth weapon, which was named Okos. It was a great wooden staff with bands of metallic studs lining it, and its inscription said:
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Okos was born in shame and fear, away from the civil world. It was crafted by a vicious band of ex-mercenaries, and each would take turns using it to lay waste to caravans that carried great shipments of gold and jewels. Eventually, one of the mercenaries realized it could be used to eliminate his associates, making the amount of money for him as high as possible. So in the night, he clubbed his comrades to death, and he set out to raid caravans alone with his potent weapon. For decades he brought terror to caravans, each of which fell despite having fortified armaments and incredible defenses. This continued until the mercenary retired in wealth, and he mounted the weapon as a trophy above his fireplace. But Okos grew agitated with its disuse, because it desired the feeling of greed. So one night, when the mercenary sat in his favorite chair at the fireplace, Okos broke the hooks it was mounted with and it crushed the mercenary’s spine, killing him. The weapon then passed from thief to thief until one wielder battled in too difficult a fight and was slain, leaving Okos abandoned. Okos is an avaricious weapon, and it will only fight with one who has prosperity or riches to gain.
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I kind of laughed at that one. Spitfire sure has a LOT of money to gain with her line of work. I walked over to the final plaque, and saw the last weapon was named Sefyr. It was a long platinum rod adorned with thin golden bands studded with four rubies each along it and a double-barbed spearhead made of diamond at the end. Its inscription read:
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Sefyr was forged in the icy mountains, in remote parts unknown. It was formed from treasures, and made by time in a cave. It was forged slowly as the parts comprising it were frozen so much that the permeating frost bound them together permanently. It laid in the cave for an unknown length of time, before a climber took it and decided to take it home as a treasure. Along the route home, he was attacked by a band of highwaymen, but instead of using the weapon in battle, the climber took it and ran away. He escaped unharmed, but Sefyr was enraged by his cowardice. It did not feel it was right to patiently wait for a hero when it was taken by what it saw as a weakling. So Sefyr punished his cowardice by freezing him solid for all eternity, a fitting punishment for his deeds. The weapon was later recovered by an adventurer, and it passed from hero to hero until was lost at the remote death place of its last wielder. Sefyr is a weapon of courage, and if it is wielded by one without the heart to fight, it will freeze them as an eternal punishment.
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Luna looked to me and said, ‘Ready to go, Rainbow?’. I hesitantly said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready, Luna. Let’s go back to the others.’. With that, Luna opened up the portal to Equestria and we were on our way back to help Twi and the others. I had a bad feeling help was going to mean rescue, however…”
CHAPTER XVIII: DEUS EX MACHINA
The last few hours felt like a blur… I remember running to find Silemn, but passing out without explanation. The world had become dark, and I saw clouds of miasmic smoke pass over us as my failing vision blurred, slowly drawing me to the drowned darkness of unconsciousness.
When I awoke, I found myself in a field, unable to move, chained to a machine that had forced many needles into me. When I looked around, I saw my friends had met a similar fate. Silemn stood in the center, taking pride in this brutal machination and upon noticing me awake, he said, “I see you are awake… That is good. It shows my Sleep spell was not too powerful.”.
I said, “We… know what you are. We have heard the tale of the Lendario.”. Silemn laughed heartily and said, “Oh, have you? Let me tell you, you know so little of the tale. I am not some mere priest of Loas… I am the king of the Hay’zhhm… the only one powerful enough to withstand the destruction of the Planet.”.
Silemn continued, “I drew power from the eight stars of Loas, indeed, but there was no supernova that destroyed Loas. When I exhausted the stars, I started consuming the lives of every Lendario… and in time, the planet itself. I wandered the universe, and found this planet of yours in time. I brought much of this world to ruination, but the Elements of Harmony soon were created in a unified effort to completely destroy me. They left me weak and nearly powerless, and I was banished to a meteor for my actions. Now I come to make all right.”.
Spitfire said to Silemn, “What have you made right? All you have done is destroy!”. Silemn turned to her and said, “I have come to eviscerate this wicked and evil planet.”. I said, “We aren’t wicked! All we practice is love, kindness, and peace!”.
Silemn said, “I have come to abolish the unholy concepts you practice: Love, tolerance, peace, kindness, compassion, and mercy. Through the coddling of souls, no one is made stronger. I shall bring strength to Equestria! I shall bring forth the rain upon this planet! And your blood shall grant me that power… The power to heal this land!”.
Clearly he had a very different system of good and evil. Was this in his nature or was this the way of the Lendario? I am not sure, but I knew our time drew thin, as Silemn extracted vials of our blood from test tube racks in the machines, and he poured the blood on his flesh, presumably to integrate it with his body.
Silemn then breathed in, as his veins blazed a fiery red with the blood of me and my friends. Silemn exhaled slowly and said, “The power I have is soon to be complete and whole. I shall save your kind from its ungodly ways… save you before it is too late. In the blood of you and your friends shall dawn a golden age.”.
Silemn walked to a combine that was in the field, and ripped the blade clean off of it. It was a crude yet brutal weapon, a four bladed sword of malice and pain. Silemn walked to Scootaloo and said to the helpless pegasus, “And who shall be the first victim? You.”. Silemn then buried the combine blade into Scootaloo’s head, killing her instantly. Everypony stared in horror at the nonchalance this brutal killing was delivered with, and Silemn said, “The weak do not belong in my world… they are rejects in my vision. This was the first time this worthless child was still enough for me to eliminate her.”.
Spitfire yelled at Silemn, “You’re wrong! My daughter was strong… and she had every reason to live! You had no right to take her life!”. Silemn cut the chains on Spitfire and said with his blade to her neck, “Prove me wrong, then. Let the worthy live, let the weak die. To the victor lies the right to judge.”.
Spitfire grabbed her pole from the side and tripped Silemn with it, before going on a merciless attack against him. With every moment, Silemn responded with perfection. As the battle wore on, Silemn said, “A fight born in rage is one where mistakes abound…”, and when Spitfire missed a strike, Silemn threw his blade at her, impaling her and pinning her to the combine out in the field.
Silemn said, “Do not feign a sense of power. You are not fighting a simple beast; you are fighting a being forged in the fires and flames of murder, genocide, and war. The least of my kind could have enslaved your planet… And you face me, the mightiest of the Lendario. So bid farewell to your planet, for it shall be your grave!”.
As Silemn finished, I saw Rainbow Dash and Luna rush in to save us, throwing the legendary weapons they found in Desolation at our chains, freeing us. Rainbow Dash held Oblivion in her hand and told Silemn, “It ends here and now. I will not have a second of mercy in this fight.”. Silemn gazed at the blade of Oblivion and saw its extraordinary aura. The blade was one of desolation and pain, and it drove Silemn to rage. In his explosive anger, he felt his risen form come to the surface, and he was driven to madness by the emotional power of the sword.
Silemn’s facial twitch resurfaced, and his anger was only indicated by an explosive roar of vicious wrath as he transformed before our eyes into the monster he was before. Silemn slowly walked towards Rainbow Dash and looked at her. Me and Spitfire motioned to the others not to attack, as we had no idea what power Silemn held.
Silemn flew into a rage and picked up Rainbow by the chest, crushing her with his hand. As he tightened the force of his grip, electricity ran through Rainbow’s body, slowly killing her. Silemn said heartlessly, “Vous être vil ... vous vous tenez comme un monument de les péchés de votre espèce, lorsque j'avais présenté la lumière! Je vous ai donné le monde à votre type, et que vous rejetez à poursuivre vos maux!”.
The very power around Silemn was indescribable. As his rage furthered, the power he released summoned a massive cyclone of Aeroja, which began to uproot whole slabs of the earth around us. As Silemn drew the lifeblood of Rainbow Dash into his veins, his scales became black as soot and blood began to flow from his mouth as he said, “La force est que en vie en no Coeur… En on… en on ça en tout mon corps!”.
When he finished uttering those words, Silemn blasted Rainbow away with Ultima and he turned to walk back to Canterlot. Rarity said, “If you wonder what he was saying… he stated that the end has begun. Our world shall soon be destroyed… because Silemn shall become a god.”. At this, we all headed for the Tower of Canterlot.
CHAPTER XIX: ABADDON HAS COME
When we arrived at the top of the Tower of Canterlot, we saw Silemn floating above the ground, the Elements of Harmony orbiting around him. Applejack said, “Shoot, we’re too late!”. Unfortunately, I realized that was the truth… Silemn had everything he needed to transcend mortal form: The Elements of Harmony and the blood of those who bear their ways.
Silemn said, “You are correct, child. And you now shall echo in time as the failures of your race, should I ever divulge to my other victims the details of your existence. How suiting it would be if the torch carriers for those who erased my name from history should become but forgotten dust and ashes themselves. Now… now you will witness true power!”.
Silemn drew the power of the Elements of Harmony into his blood, and as the symbols and glyphs drew to the core of his heart, Silemn became a blur of light. An explosive flare blasted outwards from him, setting the air ablaze. When we could see once more, we beheld the form of Silemn in godhood.
His sinew had become the thick twisted bark of a yew tree of ancient times, he developed eight great wings of azure crystal, and his veins became cyan crystalline vines that twisted and sprawled across his being, carrying blood made of pure magic. His teeth, eyes, claws, and the membranes of his wings became the same crystalline forms, and he bore an aura of Apocalypse about his body. Everything about him was of nothing less than pure power and magic.
Silemn stayed silent for many moments, giving no indication as to what he would do. Finally, after a long time, he spoke the words, “Il est fait. Le pouvoir de tout coule en moi. Je vais prendre sa revanche sur votre genre, et je vais vider votre course pathétique ... Il ne vaut rien économie. Il doit être nettoyé tous les rééquilibrer l'univers.”.
Silemn drew the power and life of Equestria into his body, leaving all to ruin and waste. In this, he killed the Sun and the Moon, the animals of the world, everything… from the greatest of dragons to every last blade of grass. The world was turned into the world of Desolation, as the barrier between Desolation and Equestria was eviscerated by Silemn’s power.
When Silemn drew all the power he could, he released the most power spell of them all… one simply known as The End. As the world was being destroyed, Silemn laughed and said, “Insensés! Insensés! Quels imbéciles que vous êtes horribles! Je suis assez puissant pour anéantir cette planète en clin d'œil ! Si vous ne contre-attaquez pas, je vais la réduire en poussière !”. In a brilliant flash of light, we had witnessed the death of everything we knew…
END OF PART FOUR