//------------------------------// // Chapter 33 - Crimson and the Power of the Sun // Story: Fire and Brimstone, Book 2 // by BluePhoenyx //------------------------------// A loud explosion brought Crimson from his unconscious state. With his eyes slowly opening up, Crimson looked up at the sky to see pebbles falling from above. He covered his eyes with his hoof to protect them as he looked around to figure out where he was it. He was in a small hole near the bottom of the hill. Massive amounts of rock and stone surrounded him. He tried to remember the last thing that happened. He rolled over, then got to his hooves. He felt his shoulder was a little achy. He lifted a hoof to feel the wound, but found a bloody leather bandage wrapped on his shoulder. He inspected in closely, then recognized its source. His head darted back and fourth, but his sister was nowhere to be found. He reached up and removed the bandage to inspect the wound. The gaping hole that was in his shoulder was almost healed, thanks to the strange and powerful armor that was given to him. He walked out of the hole to see that the battle was not going well. Virtually no pony was standing - friend, ally, and foe alike. His eyes eventually locked on his brother, who laid on the ground with a huge hole on the right side of his chest. He clearly saw the bones of his ribs, more than a couple broken. His right wing was mangled and deformed, with the lower parts of his muscle blown away. He had seen wounds like this during his war days, and he knew this would ultimately be a fatal one less he received immediate medical attention. Crimson walked up to his brother, then looked upon him with a sense of prideful pity. "Why did you not surrender, brother?" The rays of the sun beamed on the gravely wounded king. He looked up at the sky, squinting from the intense light. "Do... You still not... Understand?" The king asked in gasping breaths. "I... fight for our survival." "Fought," Crimson corrected. "It is over, brother. You have lost." "No, my brother." The king looked up at the sky clearing sky. "It is finally time..." He stared up at the sky, and at the rays of light that illuminated the lands. He grinned, seeing the bright ball above now fully visible. With the brightness of the sun, Temethyst seemed to grow in confidence. "Look up, infidels. Stare at the roof of this world, and gaze upon your doom." On queue, every head in the area looked up and saw the sun slowly darken. "How fortunate that this world had a core of flames on the ceiling." A ray of red shot down from the sky and surrounded the mighty king. The Elements of Harmony floated once more on their own, then began to circle the king. It pulsed in power as the king started to get lifted from the ground. "King Temethyst," Princess Celestia announced as she got to her hooves. "Do not draw the power of the sun." "Silence, failed goddess!" Temethyst boomed. "I shall draw power whereever I wish." He floated in the air, his arms stretched out to the side. "The power of the sun is not something to tamper with!" Celestia implored. "Believe her, my wayward child," Luna agreed. "If you truly wish to fight for the survival of your people, don't do this." Crimson blinked in confusion. He then looked up at the ball of light from the sky. "Fire from the sky," he whispered to himself, remembering something that his sister said to him after they reunited. "Fire from above..." He looked at the sun through squinted eyes, then his gaze fell upon his brother, who was floating and basking in the bright white light. Luna and Celestia brought their horns down and fired a duel magic blast towards the king. The power of shadow and the power of light combined. Their aim was true, but their attack was split in two as the aura of the light protected Temethyst. "Your powers... They mean nothing now." Temethyst's voice sounded with a deep reverberation, as if another entity was speaking for him. His eyes were glowing white, and beams of light erupted from inside his mouth whenever he opened his mouth. His major wound also glowed a brilliant white light. "This is true power!" He opened his mouth and a beam of pure energy shot out, sundering the earth in a line of destruction. Luna and Celestia moved out of the way, feeling the raw power from that simple of an attack. "The elements," Celestia said, noticing that the Elements of Harmony that orbited above the mighty king's head were no longer glowing black. The princesses lowered their horns once more and tried to hit the elements, but their combined powers were stopped once again. "Oblivious awaits!" Temethyst lifted a hoof, then lowered it. A moment later, a pillar of flames shot from the sky, blasting the castle's protective barrier. "My brother," Crimson shouted as he watched the barrier slowly break. "This is not the way. Abandon your misguided ways, and let us save our kind together!" That gave Temethyst pause, and the pillar of solar flames stopped. "Ah, my poor brother," he said as he turned to face Crimson. "Do you not see?" He looked up at the sky. "Do you not see the power I have attained? Now, witness the birth... of a new GOD!" He lifted his hooves, as if victorious, and the flaming pillar shot down once more at the castle. He started to laugh maniacally. "Mua ha ha ha ha haaah!" * * * Every pony stared in absolute horror at the sight before them. The six friends huddled together, totally helpless to help the many lives of Canterlot. "Twilight, we gatta do something!" Applejack exclaimed. "Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You saw what that thing did. It stopped Princess Celestial AND Princess Luna's combined magic." "He is so angry, I don't think we can reason with him," Fluttershy added. "Such a waste of beauty," Rarity commented. Twilight stared at the barrier, knowing her brother was the sole pony who was protecting Canterlot. Her eyes looked up at the king, then locked in at the Elements of Harmony. "Girls!" She exclaimed, then pointed at the king. "Look!" When the girls looked at the king, they went back to Twilight with confused expressions. "The elements, they're not black," Twilight explained. "Does that mean..." Rainbow Dash started to say. "I don't know. But let's give it a try!" * * * Crimson stayed calmed while the complete destruction of Canterlot loomed over everyone's head. "My brother, you have not seen what I have seen. I ask, for the last time, for you to stop what you are doing." "Tell me, boy..." The king turned towards Crimson while the pillar still continued to rip through the shell around the castle. "What did you see?" "I have seen your fate, brother," Crimson said. "And I have seen your demise." The king smirked. "And how, pray tell, does that happen?" The Elements of Harmony pulsed, then started to fly away. "Like this," was all Crimson answered. The gems spun in air, then eventually separating from one another. They stopped next to a pony, each of which were standing in a circle around the mighty king. The gems glowed a vibrant color relative to their natural color, then a blinding flash from each made every pony blink. When their sight came back, the gems were set in five necklaces and a crown. "What is this?" The king demanded as he looked upon the Elements of Harmony. "The end," Crimson answered. The six's eyes glowed white, much like Temethyst's eyes. Then, beams of various colors shot up into the air, and arched downward toward the king. He was bathed in a rainbow of bright light - a light that grew brighter and brighter. After a flux of power, a nova of blinding energy erupted. After many heartbeats, everyone's vision gradually returned to normal. The king looked unharmed. He still floated in his protective solar shell, and the barrier around the castle started to fail. Beams of flames shot through the barrier, destroying various parts of the great castle. The king snickered, then bellowed in a victorious laugh. "Pathetic! Truly pathetic." He continued his roar of laughter, but stopped suddenly as a crack in his skin formed in between his eyes. White light poured out of the newly created canyon on the mighty king's skin, as Temethyst stared blankly in pure confusion. "I am truly sorry, my brother. This is where we say farewell." More cracks started to appear, then more. Eventually, his entire body was covered in cracks. "Noo. NOOOOO!!" In a flux of energy, the great pony exploded, his skin crystallizing from the explosion. Everyone covered their eyes at the nova of crystallized destruction. The pillar of solar flames stopped, and the sun returned to its normal color. Crimson stood tall and valiant on top of the hill, the sun's natural rays of light illuminating him and giving him a natural aura. Every pony erupted in shouts of cheer and victory as the threat to their home, land, and very existence was removed from their lives. "Now is not the time to celebrate!" Princess Celestia shouted. "Every able pony to Canterlot to help the citizens! The rest of you, tend to the wounded here." The armies of Canterlot went with all speed back to the burning castle as Crimson looked around at his surroundings. The six walked up to him, as he realized someone was missing. "Where is my sister?" Twilight looked up to Crimson with telling eyes. "I don't know... how to say this..." Her eyes went towards the painful direction where Crimson saw the leather robes of his sister on the ground. In an instant, he leapt over the girls and ran as fast as he could. He stopped, then stared down at the lifeless body of the mare he and his family adopted. Twilight walked up beside Crimson in sympathy. "She asked me to tell you something. She said, 'I would have been honored to be your lila’vah.'" Crimson gasped at the message, then moisture started to build in his eyes. "What... does it mean?" Twilight asked. "lila’vah... A companion bound by honor for life." He knelt down, and brushed her mane to the side of her face. "I believe..." He sniffled, trying to regain some composure. "I believe you would call it a 'wife.'" He sat down and put the mare's head in his lap. "How I have wished... I have always wished for that to be... My lila’vah."