//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Final Confrontation // Story: The Blade Chronicles: Book One // by boykingkilla //------------------------------// Searing Staff and Shield Stabber climbed up and out of bed as they watched the sun begin to rise up from the horizon. Their eyes watered as their gazes were brought up along with the sun, they had lost track of time. An hour had passed before they remembered why they had gotten up early, the mare and the stallion trotted out of the room, closing the door behind them. The two quickly trotted down the hallway and into the lobby of the inn where a very bored looking receptionist mare sat behind the desk. The unicorn stallion blinked a bit as he and the earth pony mare approached, he cleared his throat and spoke to her. “Excuse me, ma'am, is there a blacksmith nearby?” the receptionist blinked quickly and jolted upright with a startle, she had been one of the only few staff members that had gotten onto their shifts during the night, and to be approached by a customer who wasn't checking into or out of a room was surprising to her. She brushed a stray strand of her blonde mane away from the side of her face as she calmed herself down, the sound of surprise came into her voice as she responded. “A blacksmith? I don't think that we have one around here anymore... we have a shop just down the street where you two can buy weapons and armor, if that is what you are looking for?” Searing Staff and Shield Stabber looked to one another as confused expressions came over their faces. The stallion looked to the receptionist as he said in a confused tone. “Wait... there are no blacksmith's? How is that possible?” the receptionist put a hoof on her forehead with a small grunt of annoyance. she took a moment to clear her head and responded, “No, there aren't any blacksmith's here. As I have said, sir and ma'am, we have a store down the street that sells both arms and armor. The place buys from off planet from someplace within the galaxy. So, if you are looking for weapons and protective armor, that would be the place to go. I personally do not enjoy fighting, so I hardly go there...” Her voice was calm as she spoke to the two, she didn't want to let her anger get the better of her as she gave a smile to them. “Just go down the left side of the street as you leave the inn, and you should be able to find it.” the unicorn and the earth pony both nodded as they turned and trotted out the front door, turning to the left as they trotted out of sight. As Searing Staff and Shield Stabber exited the inn and trotted towards the shop that they were informed about, they had passed by the street that Discord and his small class of ponies had been walking and trotting along. He stopped his students as they all pressed up against a nearby wall to hide their presence. Discord had met Shield Stabber before, only she didn't know it. He looked to his class as he changed his shape into an middle-aged unicorn stallion, his hair was a soft brown color as his mane and tail were both gray. “Alright everypony, I need you all to stay here and wait for me to come back. I just saw somepony from my past, and I need to assist her and her special somepony with something.” he said with a cool and collected tone in his voice. The class let out a collective sigh as they nodded. Apple Bloom blinked as she spoke up. “But, Discord, who all will be in charge while y'all are off dealing with y'alls friend?” she asked with a worried tone in her voice. Discord blinked at that, his right fore hoof came to rest against his chin as he looked to the foal's. “Well.” he said. “Honestly Apple Bloom, you know how to handle bad situations... you also do show signs of good leadership at times, but I'm going to leave you and Rumble in charge while I am off dealing with what I must. If something happens that causes you all to have to flee, then flee to the inn, and I shall be there in due time. I know that Seeking Blade and his family are there, so, they should be able to protect you. If worse comes to worse... I need to catch up to his parents and assist them.” He gave Apple Bloom and Rumble assuring rubs to their heads, messing up their manes in the process as he quickly galloped after the two down the street. Apple Bloom and Rumble fixed their manes as they trotted around and took in the scenery. Searing Staff and Shield Stabber entered the shop and blinked as they noticed the various types of new weapons and armors. Shield Stabber had seen it all before, ever since she was following Seeking Blade around as a ghost pony. Searing Staff, however, was having trouble processing everything that he was seeing in front of him. He had been under Cthulhu's control for years and was unable to get used to the weapons and armors. His body became rigid and stiff as he mumbled and stuttered a bit, his special somepony rolled her eyes as she nudged him forward with her forehead. “Come on, stop gawking and let's go up to the counter and see the merchant...” she said with a laugh. After a few moments of nudging, she had managed to get him to move towards the counter where a sun pony was sitting at the cash register. She had been jotting down some notes on a small, square device that had a screen built into it. Her hoof moved fast as she typed in the numbers and letters onto the screen, only to turn her head up and away from it to notice the unicorn stallion and the earth pony mare. “Greetings! How may I help you on this fine morning?” she had a friendly smile and her voice was chipper as she spoke, pushing a strand of her black and curled mane away from the side of her face. Shield Stabber gave a nod as she blinked a bit, she looked to her calmly and was unsure as to if they'd find what they were looking for. But she had to try... “Yes, we are looking for a durable but strong dueling sword, and some heavy armor that can withstand a bomb blast. Do you have anything like that, by chance...?” she said in a relaxed manner. Searing Staff was still in shock at how far Everglow's technology had come during their absence. The mare that was behind the counter gave a nod as her eyes looked to the nearby rack that held swords. “Ah, ripper dueling swords and golemforged plating? Yes, we have those! Though together they will cost you a fair amount.” The receptionist said, her tone became that of a more professional one as she began to punch the numbers into her pad. Shield Stabber gave a nod as she looked to the sun pony, she flicked her mane back and onto her back as her left hind hoof tapped the floor softly. “Great, we'll take them!” she had taken a small bag out of a pocket, causing Searing Staff to look to her. “Did you sneak that from our son?” he asked in a worried tone, causing her to nod a bit. “Yeah, but it's to get him armed and protected again.” she said in just as worried a tone. “If we don't do this, then he could end up in serious trouble...” Searing Staff lowered his head a bit with a nod. “Yes, I agree, however... you could have asked him to borrow the gold.” As he had responded in a somewhat worried tone, the door to the shop had opened up once more. Into the shop trotted Discord as he looked to Searing Staff and Shield Stabber, he felt his nervousness and anxiety rise a bit. He was in a pony form, but he knew that if he divulged who he really was, they would begin to attack him. Despite the nervousness and anxiety hitting him like a ton of bricks, he trotted over to them calmly. His gaze moved from the three ponies, and down to the bag of gold. “Shield Stabber, Searing Staff, What is with the bag of gold?” he asked them in a relaxed, but semi-nervous tone. The unicorn stallion and the earth pony mare blinked as they looked to one another for a moment, then turned their attention to the stranger that had somehow known their names. “Who are you, and just how do you know our names...?” Shield Stabber asked in a concerned tone as she slipped the bag of gold back into its pocket. Discord gulped a bit as he gave a reassuring smile, his voice was shaking as he exhaled and nervously began to explain. “My name is not important right now, but I am the owner of the orphanage that Seeking Blade grew up in. Is that his gold, by chance? And just HOW did you manage to return to life? The both of you!? This is quite a interesting turn of events.” he said with a nervous chuckle. She stared at him, her eyes squinted as she stepped towards him... her tone suddenly became one of aggressiveness as Searing Staff joined her. “How exactly did you know that we had come back to life? You aren't a minion of one of The Great Old Ones... Are you...?” the draconequus took a step back in his pony form, he felt a bead of cold sweat form on the side of his face as it rolled down his neck and dropped onto the wooden floor. “What? ME a MINION to The Great Old Ones?!” he said in a cocky tone as he brought his paw and his claw up in front of him defensively. “I wouldn't be caught working with THOSE jerks, even if I were married to them! Besides, I wouldn't let either of the material planes get THAT corrupt.” Shield Stabber grabbed Discord by the neck with both of her hooves as she then slammed him hard against a weapons rack. The sudden rush of strength caused Discord's earth pony facade to drop. His body had become taller, slender with his various animal parts able to be seen by Shield Stabber and Searing Staff. They both glared at him, now. And the unicorn stallion had begun to call upon his magical abilities... As the foal's were wandering about, Rumble had gone off on his own like he so often would whenever he needed time to himself. As he passed by the weapons and armor shop, he heard the sounds of voices, and then, the sound of somepony being slammed up against a rack. The gray pegasus foal peeked his head in through the door and saw that Discord was up against the wall and weapons rack, being pinned by a earth pony as a unicorn charged up his magic. Rumble's eyes went wide as he rushed in and pushed the mares hooves off of his teachers chest. “Please! Don't hurt our teacher!” the foal yelled. “He didn't do anything to you two, we came here to Everglow for a field trip! Please, just listen!” he pleaded to the two ponies, Shield Stabber motioned to Searing Staff to stop, and as he had dropped his focus they looked to the small foal. “Your a teacher? But, aren't you The-” she was about to inquire as to if he were The Unspoken, when Discord interrupted her. “Oh please, I'm not The Unspoken... every single time that I come to Everglow, you ponies always mistake me for that joker!” he then gave the two chaos hunters a sincere smile, he had managed to calm down as his tail carefully lifted up a sword that had fallen to the floor as he placed it back on the weapons rack. His tone was one of assurance and confidence. “Yes, I am Discord... Teacher of Equestria's Alternate Realities class, and also the “pony” that took Seeking Blade into the orphanage on the night that you both were killed... you see, during our field trip, my bus had a issue with the engine, and I had to change it out with a new one. We made our way here to Cerulean Tides. That is when I saw the two of you, and I wanted to meet the both of you in person.” Discord extended his lions paw to Shield Stabber and Searing Staff. “Please, I want to help the two of you and your family.” the two chaos hunters looked to one another for a moment before Searing Staff spoke up, he sounded like he was worried and unsure about the whole situation. “If what you say is true, Discord, then we shall aid you and not allow harm to come to you or your students. But, you can understand why we were worried that you came to harm us... right?” he asked, his gaze soon moved to the gray pegasus. He had thought back to a time long ago about how he once knew a stallion with similar attributes and a similar type. Discord gave a nod as he held his paw in place. “Yes, I understand that. There are many terrible things out there in both this reality and my class and I's own. But please, let us help you? There is another way to assist Seeking Blade without having to use his gold, and I can be of assistance with it.” Shield Stabber and Searing Staff both looked at one another before they turned their heads back to Discord. Their hooves came to rest on his paw as they nodded. “Alright then, Discord. We'll put our faith in you and will help you, if you need it.” the mare said with a gentle smile. She and her special somepony had taken their hooves from the draconequus's paw and rubbed the back of their heads. “Well, let's return our sons gold to him and we'll get to work with our new friends help.” Searing Staff said in a much more calm tone then when they first encountered the draconequus. Shield Stabber gave a nod as she trotted outside of the shop, Searing Staff and Rumble followed behind her. Discord tossed a small gold coin to the receptionist before he too exited. The group made their way back towards the inn. As they walked down the street, they met up with the rest of Discords class and introduced themselves. The mare and stallion gave one another a smile as they watched the foal's and their teacher talk. After a few moments, the now bigger group arrived at the inn. Shield Stabber looked to Searing Staff as she spoke in a playful tone. “Well, why don't you stay here and I'll be back. I need to get back to the room and deal with this gold.” Searing Staff gave a nod as he watched her trot out of sight. Searing Staff turned to Discord as he blinked. “So, this thing that you can make Seeking Blade. What is it, exactly?” he asked in a relaxed tone, his eyes locked with the draconequus own as he gave a cocky grin. “Why, it is only the best weapon that I have ever designed! It is a sword that is able to slice through steel in one swing, a sword of immeasurable power that when it hits will sometimes create the sound of a chicken clucking! But it mostly is of immeasurable power and made out of a material that even I don't know what it is.” Discord chuckled as he grinned, his tail flicked behind him as he thought out loud. “Hmm... a sword without armor is quite unfitting, so I shall even make him some armor that will benefit him. Should anything unforeseen happen.” Discord, the foals and Searing Staff all nodded as they talked among themselves. As she made her way out of the bedroom, Shield Stabber blinked as she noticed that Serene Morning had been standing out in the hall, she lightly tapped a hoof to the floor as the door shut and the two mares stood face to face with one another. “Serene, I...” Shield Stabber began to speak, only to be given a warm shake of the head from her daughter-in-law. “No, it's okay... I know that you stole the gold, but I was wanting to see what you did with it. I am a bit annoyed about it, but you returned it to Seeking Blade, and that is good. It goes to show that you didn't lose your senses of right and wrong.” Serene Morning said in a compassionate tone, she stretched her wings out as she yawned. “I also saw you and Searing Staff return with quite a group of intrepid adventurer's... I can't say that I've seen anypony like them, a group of foal's and a... What is he, exactly?” She asked as she stopped yawning and her wings folded against her sides once more. Shield Stabber rubbed the back of her head with a hoof calmly and shook her head in response. “They are just travelers who want to help, and I was going to use the gold to buy him some new armor and weaponry, but the travelers that came with us can make it themselves. They said that they'd do it to help.” Serene Morning gave a nod, and then a playful smile. “Then, let's do it before Seeking and the foals wake up. Everypony will be up in a hour or two, so we had better hurry up. Lead the way!” She said in a excited tone, her hooves stomped the ground softly as she looked to Shield Stabber with extreme excitement. She had been ready to get a update on her special somepony's wardrobe... weapons, armor and all. The tailless mare rolled her eyes as she let out a hearty laugh, her voice was full of excitement, just like Serene Mornings own. “Alright, let's go, then. We'd better hurry!” The two trotted to the lobby, soon going into a full on gallop as they returned to Searing Staff, Discord and the foal's. The next two hours seemed to have passed by quickly as Discord had withdrawn into a small inter-dimensional pocket space where he had worked on designing some new armor and weaponry for Seeking Blade. The suit of heavy armor he had conjured up was black with a silver and magenta trim along the sides, he waggled his lion's paw and created large, purple wings appearing on the back of the armor. The wings had a transparent quality to them and they matched the silver and magenta trim that was on the armor. “Hmm... this should allow him to be able to fly, if the need were to arise. the armor will be doing most of the protecting, it's up to him and the sword to do the majority of the work.” He said to himself as he set the armor in the air, it floated next to him as he then used both his paws to conjure a beautiful, curved blade into existence. It was jet black in color with a bright yellow hilt. The Draconequus put a paw on his chin as he then grinned in excitement. With a wave of his paw, he had infused magic into it, causing the blade to glow a unearthly blue. “Discord, you are SUCH a genius! Seeking Blade will love this sword and armor, but I fear that it only has the one spell within it...” As he worked his magic on it, he continued to talk to himself. “Besides, Disintegrate is a spell that should be able to destroy Bleeding Heart, once and for all... hopefully.” Discord gave a pleased smile as he had finished up the sword and armor, he clapped joyfully as he looked his work over. “Discord, you most have certainly done it again! You'll be saving everypony here in Everglow, as well as everypony in Equestria from a terrible foe.” The Draconequus carefully picked up both the armor and the sword, his tail opened up a hole in the side of the inter-dimensional pocket space that lead back to the outside world. He took leave of his temporary workspace, the hole closed behind him. Five hours passed by as everypony had been prepared for battle and they headed off to Vilja town. The journey was somewhat quick as they made their way through shortcuts and hidden pathways that nopony else had known about, all due to Duk's guidance and Apple Bloom's knowledge of the roadways. It took them a hour to reach Viljatown, their eyes went wide from shock and surprise. The group had seen what lays ahead of them, what once was a sprawling and lively town, was now a dead necropolis. Seeking Blade looked to the others, then to Duk. “Duk, I want you and the foal's that came with our friend here to stay out of sight.” Seeking Blade said as he motioned to Discord. “I'm going to head into Viljatown to the heart, where Bleeding Heart is more than likely hiding... I plan to end this, once and for all.” Searing Staff, Shield Stabber and Serene Morning all gave a nod. “Yes.” said Searing Staff. “And we will go in with you... I think that Sun Spot and Night Eye should stay behind and assist Discord and Duk with protecting the others. Just in case worst comes to worst.” Searing Staff gave a nod as he fixed his white robe, a hickory staff rested on his back. Shield Stabber and Serene Morning both gave a nod at Searing Staff's suggestion. Seeking Blade took a moment and looked to his two foals. “Well, what do you say? You two up for watching our flanks while we deal with the source of all of this trouble?” He said with a calm tone in his voice, he watched Sun Spot and Night Eye as they exchanged glances. Their heads then turned back to their fathers own, cheerful smiles came over their faces as Sun Spot said in a cheerful tone. “Sure thing, daddy! We can handle things here!” Seeking Blade chuckled softly as he trotted up to them and embraced them in a tight hug. He let go of them and looked to Discord, a playful tone came into his voice as he spoke to the Draconequus. “Hey, make sure that you keep Duk out of trouble, ok? If things get too hairy out here, then fall back with everypony to Cerulean Tides and inform the other Chaos Hunters. You might want to be transformed into a Pony, so that they won't mistake you for The Unnameable One.” Discord gave a nod, he began to talk when Duk flew into the air and hugged him around his stomach tightly, causing him to get the wind knocked out of him as he tried to pry the mallard looking pegasus off of his stomach. Seeking Blade, his parents and his wife had all began to make their way into Viljatown. To the heart of the problem that had recently begun to plague Everglow... The four made their way cautiously, slipping into the shadows and waiting out passing patrols as the need arose and fell. They had been making their way towards the center of the city when Searing Staff casted Scrying and grunted a bit. “He's in the castle, just a bit past the town hall a few minutes away... in his throne room, currently. If we keep going, we should be able to get to him in no time flat.” He said quietly to Seeking Blade and the others, who nodded in return as they continued to walk. Searing Staff had stopped casting his spell as they made their way calmly towards the location of Bleeding Hearts castle, they had been very lucky to have made it this far and not have been caught by any of the patrols. However, Seeking Blade ended up not noticing a wire as he stepped on it, causing a alarm to go off. There was a sudden howling of the damned as he looked to his parents and his wife. “Come on, cover's blown!” he shouted to them and began to gallop alongside them towards their destination. Their destination soon came into view and they could see that the doors were wide open. “It looks like a trap...!” Serene Morning said, her eyes narrowed as she grunted. “I like it when they play dirty, makes me feel less worried about our chances, because they think that they can beat us...” she laughed softly with a smirk. Seeking Blade, Searing Staff and Shield Stabber galloped alongside Serene Morning into the castle as a horde of undead soldiers began to charge at them as they came from around the street corners. The front doors of the castle slammed shut, barring the soldiers from entering. As the front doors shut, the four ponies looked around the foyer. Where there would usually be staircases leading up to a door, there were not in this castle. Let alone a second floor or even a third. They looked straight ahead, where they could see the far off form of a lone stallion that was sitting on a single throne. He had a glass of what appeared to be red wine in his right hoof, tendrils and tentacles rested at his side as the four approached him. They readied their weapons as the transparent wings on Seeking Blade's armor extended and began to glow. They all were ready for this fight, and they knew that they were in for one wild ride as they had soon entered the throne room. Seeking Blade glared at Bleeding Heart as he stepped forward, a angry tone came into his voice as he spoke. “Monster, you don't belong here... you have taken many lives, injured countless innocents and nearly destroyed Port Mareheart.” Bleeding Heart gave a laugh as he drank more of the wine before he responded. “Yes yes, and you were supposed to have stopped me right then and there, before I had the chance to throw you into the currents... though, I am curious as to how you managed to survive. But, either way, I don't quite give two shits about it. I hope that you had fun with life, because I am going to end you, personally... and I will make sure that the job is done right, this time.” Bleeding Heart said as he threw the glass and its contents to the floor next to his throne, breaking it as he soiled the ground. The stallion stood up as his tendrils and tentacles extended, sharpening to where they were sword-like. Bleeding Heart and the four ponies lunged at one another, their swords and staff connected with the wicked stallions own. Searing Staff and Serene Morning jumped back as Seeking Blade and Shield Stabber leaped to the sides, narrowly avoiding two of Bleeding Hearts tendril swords. The two looked to one another and gave a nod, their swords met the sides of the wicked stallions body. He let out a grunt of pain as he quickly turned and gave a hard kick from his hind legs onto Shield Stabbers face, knocking her backwards a few feet and to the ground. Seeking Blades movements were calm and collected as he slashed downwards at one of Bleeding Hearts tendrils, the smooth strike managed to hit and sent one of the strange stallions tendrils flying through the air and to the ground. Blood began to drip out of the wound as he yelled out. Shield Stabber managed to get up as she charged him. Bleeding Heart moved out of the way and laughed as the mare rammed into her foal, sending them both sprawling to the ground. “Hah! Don't you fools see? I am going to win, and you all will perish. Along with your planet falling under Shub-Nigguroth's control!” Searing Staff and Serene Morning both glowered at him, their weapons at the ready as the unicorn stallion began to cast a spell. The pegasus mare flew at Bleeding Heart, with her movements becoming fluid and fast, she managed to weave in-between two of the tendrils and brought her daggers through them. Severing them to where they fell to the ground. The unicorn stallion was given enough time to prepare his spell, his horn glowed a bright red as he unleashed the spell he had prepared... a fireball launched from out of his horn and hit the stallion hard in the face, exploding as he yelled out loudly from rage and anger. They had only just begun the fight, but outside there was yet another fight raging... Discord and his class stood face to face with the undead guards who had their weapons drawn and leveled at Discord. As his class huddled close to their teacher, he gave a cocky and confident grin to his students. Discord's tone was playful as he smirked. “Ah, don't worry about them, everypony. These poor fools think that their weapons will actually harm us!” he laughed as he flicked his tail a bit. “Well, they won't be able use their weapons... If they are rubber chickens!” Discord then clapped his paws, the undead guards watched as their swords then vanished, only to be replaced by rubber chickens! The group laughed as the guards stared in confusion, they had then turned their attention from the rubber chickens to Discord and his class. They snorted and began to advance, though a loud crack like thunder resounded from the sky. The Draconequus looked to his class and backed away slowly, his voice had changed from cocky and confident, to semi-nervousness as he spoke. “Oh boy... Class, get behind me and wear these blindfolds.” he conjured blindfolds around their heads to where their eyes were covered, the foals had no idea as to why they had been blindfolded. They trusted their teacher and his judgment, though. As Discord looked to the undead ponies, he saw that they were backing up and leaving an opening. Then, that was when a bolt of black lightning slammed into the ground in front of the guards. In that spot, stood a ebony skinned Pony Satyr female, her upper half was covered by black armor that glowed in the light. Her lower half was covered by black leggings that hid her glowing green fur, her hoofed feet had sterling silver horseshoes. Her glowing green eyes locked onto the draconequus as she drew her hands up in front of her. Her hair on her head was long and flowed in the air, a wicked tone came from her as she spoke. “Ah, Discord... It is truly a pleasure to see you again! And you brought me some sacrifices too!” she motioned to the foals, however, he shook his head. “Mm, no...” said Discord in a protective tone. “They are not sacrifices, and you WILL refrain from calling my students that... Shub-Nigguroth!” Shub-Nigguroth laughed as she placed her right hand underneath her chin, she kept her distance from him. She knew that she would end up having a tough time dealing with him, so she decided to play it safe... for now. “Oh, your students? why, the last time you were here, you told me that you weren't interested in becoming a teacher.” she giggled and waved her left hand in front of her face, looking away for a moment. Discord shook his head as he grunted. “Eh... that was back before my reformation! I'm happy that I was reformed, it helped me realize that there is more to life then causing chaos, destruction and unhappiness!” he laughed as he snapped his lions paw, causing a pamphlet to appear in it. He took a moment and folded the pamphlet into a paper airplane, flying it over to the eldritch horror. Shub-Nigguroth blinked as she took the folded pamphlet and unfolded it, she opened it only to be greeted by a miniature Discord that was doing the electric shuffle. She rolled her eyes and tore the pamphlet to shreds. “Oh, come come now Discord... you used to be so crazy, so awesome. So slick and attractive~!” he blinked a bit at her flirting and laughed, his tone took on a more playful but assured tone. “Oh, yes. Well, I'm sorry... But I have a girlfriend who WON'T leave me for dead, after I was turned into a statue for all of that time!” Shub-Nigguroth smirked as she looked to him. “Oh? And whom might that be?” she asked in a overconfident tone, she took a step towards him, only to find herself face to face with an alicorn mare who's body was pure white. The mares mane and tail were long and flowing, the colors of the mares mane and tail were that of a rainbow and her violet eyes were narrowed in agitation at the eldritch horrors advances. Discord couldn't help as he grinned, his voice was playful and his sing-song tone to his voice was one of warning. “This mare is my girlfriend, Shub-Nigguroth... if I were you, I'd start running or apologize~.” He said with a laugh, his tail swished back and fourth. Shub-Nigguroth's eyes widened from fear as she was face to face with the mare, she had not realized that Discord had opened a small opening to where the mare could hear. She wondered when he had done it, she wondered if it was when he conjured the blindfolds over his classes eyes and around their heads. She took a few steps back, as did the undead guards. The mare looked to Discord and spoke to him in a curious tone. “Discord... Is this that monster that you had told me about a few nights ago when you planned this field trip?” Discord gave a soft nod as he spoke to the mare in a playful tone. “Why, yes, it is! Princess Celestia, if you would do me and Everglow the honor of sending her back to the edge of the galaxy to sleep for another couple thousand years, then feel free to do so!” Princess Celestia gave him a nod and glared at Shub-Nigguroth. The two stared at one another for a couple of seconds, she also noticed the the eldritch horror had begun to turn and high tail it out of there, along with the many undead guards. Princess Celestia's horn glowed a bright white light as the tip flowed with magic. “You aren't going anywhere, monsters! Now... feel the might of the sun!” she yelled out in a protective tone. She unleashed her magic, sending a wide beam of light from her horns tip and flooded the streets with it. The sounds of undead and eldritch screams filled the air as some of the buildings crumbled. As soon as Princess Celestia had stopped using her magic, she looked to Discord and the foals. A kind smile came over her face as she spoke gently to them. “Are all of you alright? Nopony was hurt?” Discord rubbed the back of his head as he sent the blindfolds back to whence they came. “Well, we're fine... but Seeking Blade and his family, except for him and Serene Mornings foals... are facing off against somepony of great strength.” He said with a worried expression on his face. Discord couldn't take his mind off of Seeking Blade and the others, as they faced off against Bleeding Heart. She nodded and looked over the foals, her voice became one of curiosity. “Will the foals of these Seeking Blade and Serene Morning please step forward?” Sun Spot and Night Eye both nodded to one another as they stepped forward, they bowed their heads to the Princess and bowed down on their right front hooves as their father had taught them before their journey. Princess Celestia blinked a bit as she giggled at their motions and shook her head as she spoke. “Oh, please! You don't need to be bow down to me! My name is Princess Celestia, and I am from Equestria. Please, stand back up and tell me your names.” Sun Spot and Night Eye looked to one another, they stood back up and smiled to Princess Celestia. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Celestia! I'm Sun Spot, and this is my sister, Night Eye!” the pegasus colt said with a sweet smile. The earth pony filly gave a nod. Princess Celestia gently rested her front right hoof on top of their heads one at a time, her wings stretched a bit as she looked them over a bit. She spoke to them calmly as she folded her wings against her sides. “Sun Spot, Night Eye... Where is your family at? Surely they are here?” Sun Spot nodded as he pointed to the castle with a wing. “Yeah, they're all there... fighting against the stallion that is trying to take over the world...!” A wave of powerful magic flowed across the now empty streets of the city and caused the foals to fall to the ground. This wave of powerful magic got the alicorns attention, her head turned to the castle as she suddenly dashed off towards it. Seeking Blade watched as Searing Staff, Shield Stabber and Serene Morning were knocked down and against the wall. His magic had began to build up again as he could feel it surging through every fiber of his being. Having seen his parents and his wife get knocked out and thrown against the wall, it only caused his magic to rise quickly through his body. The stallion let out a loud scream of anger, causing a wave of powerful magic to race out from the area around the castle and towards the edge of the city. Seeking Blade launched himself at Bleeding Heart, his eyes snapped shut as he focused on taking the both of them up to the top of the castles exterior. The two stallions soon found themselves up on top of the castles roof, their bodies slammed against the ground as they quickly scrambled to their hooves. Bleeding Hearts tentacles and tendrils had been sheared down to where only one remained. Then there was Seeking Blade, his armor had cracked and the wings vanished, he knew that his armor was about to break... the chaos hunter took his armor off and listened as it hit the ground with a thud. Bleeding Heart laughed as he clopped towards Seeking Blade, a dark grin came across his face as he spoke with a malicious tone as his foes magic subsided. “So... what made you decide to teleport us up here, Seeking Blade? Are you scared that I'll kill your precious family and friends...? Oh, you are such a naive and very stupid pony!” Seeking Blade shook his head and grabbed his sword that Discord had crafted and given to him just the other day, the blade swirled with mist and dark matter inside of the blade. “No...” he said in a tone as calm and serene as he took a defensive stance. A sudden and soft wind began to blow across the city, the wind wrapped around the two stallions. He noticed a strange looking pony that was galloping towards the castle, his gaze returned back to Bleeding Hearts. He wasn't going to lose this fight, no matter the cost. “I teleported us up here for one final showdown. bring out your sword and let us finish this... Bleeding Heart!” With that, Bleeding Heart had torn out his last tendril and formed it into a short sword. The two swung their swords at one another, the blades connected and that is when Bleeding Heart realized just what sort of sword it was that Seeking Blade had. The stallions grunted as they backed away from one another, only to charge one another and swung their swords once again. The two brought blow after blow down upon one another, the resounding clashing of their battle echoed through the now empty city as they dodged one another in the midst of their flurry of blows. Seeking Blade managed to find a opening in Bleeding Hearts defenses and took the chance, he bolted to the stallions side and brought his sword across the wicked and cruel stallions side, causing his flesh to rip and tear. Blood began to flow out of Bleeding Hearts wound, a shout of pain and rage filled the air as Seeking Blade kept on slicing away at his opponent. He wasn't going to let this villain get the better of him, and he noticed that his sword had began to glow brighter and brighter with each swing as the dark matter built up with each passing second. In a last ditch effort, Bleeding Heart swung his sword at Seeking Blades face, there was a sickening sound of flesh and bone being sliced through... and the soft slicing of an eyeball being yanked out of its socket as it went with the sword. Seeking Blade continued to slice away and had chosen to fight through the pain. This did not make Bleeding Heart happy as he brought his sword once more into the air and sliced at the one of the chaos hunters fore legs. There was a loud yell of pain as the chaos hunter felt his right fore leg was cut off and away from his body, he had began to fall. Seeking Blade let out a loud bray of victory as he stabbed Bleeding Heart one last time in the stomach. The blade of his sword suddenly exploded inside of his opponent. A few seconds after the blade exploded, a dark beam had appeared leading up and into the sky to a black hole. Seeking Blade laid there on the castle roofs exterior as he watched Bleeding Heart. The two of them had been fighting for what felt like hours, the villain had no more strength to fight as he dropped his sword. The two stared at one another as Bleeding Heart grunted from pain, he had begun to be pulled up towards the black hole. His body left the castle roofs exterior and he stared at the stallion that had bested him. He had felt anger at having been defeated, though he was unable to say anything due to the pain and the speed of his ascent becoming quicker and quicker. The villain had watched the world as it gradually became smaller and smaller... he looked up to the black hole, and knew that once he was gone, so would go it as well. He reached the black hole at a pace that was becoming faster and faster as he sighed, he had lost the fight... and he could do nothing to prevent his demise. Seeking Blade watched Bleeding Heart as his vision dimmed and began to fade out of his remaining eye. He had managed to defeat the villain, managed to stop the eldritch horrors from taking over Everglow... Seeking Blade watched as Bleeding Hearts body was soon consumed by the black hole, and with the black hole, vanished. He ended up passing out soon after, and was unaware that the strange pony had reached him shortly after. His bleeding had been stopped and he had been carried down to the ground by somepony. His tail was limp, and as Princess Celestia carried Seeking Blade to the entrance of the castle, her wings were extended as she landed carefully so as not to harm him anymore then he already was. Serene Morning, Searing Staff and Shield Stabber rushed up to Seeking Blade and their eyes went wide as they saw the damage that Bleeding Heart had done. Discord and the other ponies had arrived, as well. Night Eye and Sun Spot noticed their fathers now missing eye and his missing fore hoof as tears welled up in their eyes. They rushed forward in worry and ended up caught in a tight hug by their mother as they broke down into tears. Princess Celestia carried Seeking Blade on her back carefully as she galloped over to Discord, her voice was soft but calm and reassuring as she spoke to him and his class. “Discord, everypony, I need to take this stallion to the nearest hospital as quickly as I can. I need you all to make sure that Sun Spot and Night Eyes family get back to their home safely.” the draconequus gave a assuring nod as he responded to the alicorn mare. “Of course, your highness, We'll make sure that they get home safely and that they are looked after until you can inform them and us about Seeking Blades status.” Princess Celestia gave a nod as she lifted up off of the ground and took flight to look for a hospital. The rest of the journey back home for Serene Morning, Sun Spot, Night Eye, Shield Stabber and Searing Staff was quiet and they were worrying about Seeking Blade. They were worried that he wouldn't make it and that he would end up unable to be saved. However, little did they know that they were wrong. As they had all made their way back to Kailani, after assisting Discord and his class with their magic schoolbus and boarding, they had reached their home on Kailani in a matter of seven days. As they were traveling, Princess Celestia had gotten Seeking Blade the help that he needed and paid the doctors the gold that they had asked for, she had also asked the staff if they would allow her to stay with him, that way if he woke up he would have a friendly face and some assurance that he was alright. The medical staff, despite being hesitant, reluctantly agreed to allowing her to stay as she had asked. Two weeks had passed as Seeking Blades family had watched him fall, or at least, they were worried that he had fallen. It was mid-afternoon and everypony was in the living room trying to take their minds off of their worries. Discord and his class had stayed with the Blade family along with Barnaby and Duk. As everypony was trying to take their minds off of things, Discord had been carrying a couple of trays that had freshly cooked baked goods on them that Duk had made a couple of hours before. The draconequus stopped halfway as he noticed two familiar figures trotting towards the house. He smiled happily and carried the trays to the coffee table and set them down with a happy whistle. Discord had walked into the kitchen and waited for the knock as he watched the two figures soon approach the front door of the house. After a few moments of worry and hesitation, Seeking Blade looked at Princess Celestia with a somewhat nervous chuckle, he brought his right fore hoof up and knocked on the door. He had gotten a cybernetic leg that replaced the one he had lost in the battle, he also had a patch over the eye socket where he lost his eye. A long, deep scar going down that side of his face was able to be seen. He had a new suit of silver armor on his body, a gold crest in the form of a national emblem was able to be seen, as well. After a few moments, the front door was opened up by Night Eye. As she saw her father, she let out a surprised squeal of relief and excitement, leaping up as she hugged him tightly. Upon hearing the squeal of excitement and surprise, Sun Spot trotted to the door and shouted out in pure joy. “Mom! Grandma! Grandpa! Daddy's home!” he embraced his father's left side of his body tightly. Searing Staff, Shield Stabber and Serene Morning rushed out of the house one after another as they welcomed him back home. “They all had gone through a lot during this journey, and their journeys and adventures have not ended here... as the next few months passed, Seeking Blade had become the leader of a chapter house of Chaos Hunters in Everglow that was built on the island of Kailani. Seeking Blade and Serene Morning ended up with a house by the ocean due to the new chapter house of Chaos Hunters that Seeking Blade had become the leader of.” Discord said as he walked across the classroom to the other side, his eyes looked out the window and he gave a kind smile to his class. His voice was joyful as he let out a playful laugh. “Well, there is more to this story, but for now... it is probably for the best that we allow time and fate to tell that portion.” as the bell rang, the students got off of their chairs and pulled their saddle bags up onto their backs, trotting off and out of the door. However, Rumble stopped before he reached the exit. His pupils dilated as his eyes grew wide, he felt his legs shake a bit as he ended up mumbling something under his breath. “The Mother is always watching...” Discord's ears twitched as he heard Rumble say something, he couldn't quite tell what he said. He had walked over to his desk and set a small book on top of it, then he made his way to the pegasus colt and knelt down next to him. A expression of concern came over his face as he spoke to him in a concerned tone. “Rumble, what did you just say...?” Rumble repeated once more to the draconequus, fear filled his voice as he gulped loudly. “The Mother is always watching...” Discord gulped as he put his lions claw in front of Rumble and shook his head. “Come come now, Rumble... don't let that horrible thing get into your head, you're stronger then that!” he then snapped his fingers on his lions claw, the colts expression returned to normal as he felt his knees continue to shake. He looked at Discord and blinked a bit, shaking his head. “What happened?” he asked in a confused tone. The draconequus gave a assuring smile as he gently patted the colts head. “Oh, nothing at all! Now, why don't you hurry and run home before your parents begin to worry about you?” Rumble gave a nod as he quickly trotted out of the classroom and out into Ponyville. Discord took a breath and exhaled as he stood up, he placed his lions claw on the side of his face. “Oh... this is just perfect...” the draconequus then snapped his fingers and vanished as he teleported to Princess Celestia's castle, to warn her about what the pegasus colt had said.