Sunset Shimmer knew what to expect behind the door. The final Flame of Death. Finally, she was here, but at the same time, dread filled her chest as she tried to anticipate what she’ll find in there.
Gravewing, Firedrake of the Depths. His name alone was enough to tell her he was some kind of dragon. And he was from the depths, which was probably speaking about the Primordial Grotto, which was pretty deep down, but other than that, the rest of it was going to be a surprise. She just hoped it wasn’t going to be too unpleasant.
“Ah, who am I kidding?” She shook her head. It was definitely going to be quite unpleasant.
When she was finally feeling up to it, the girl pushed herself up to her feet and walked along the rocks to the waterfall, careful to keep her footing on the slippery moss covered rocks. She didn’t mind going for a dip right now, but removing all her armor was too troublesome and she didn’t want to bother with doing that right now.
She was close and she wanted to see this through as quickly as she could.
Arriving beside the torrent of water, Sunset made her way past it and to the rock wall behind it, where the fog door swirled and churned, unending; She didn’t know where all this fog came from each time.
Reaching a hand out, Sunset parted it and pushed through, arriving on the other side with an echoing sound, almost like that of a person breathing.
The area on the other side was cylindrical in shape as well, even with a waterfall to mirror the previous room. Moss covered the rocky floor under Sunset’s feet, much like the previous room as well, but the ones here were more yellow than green. The ground was more uneven here, with two spots in the room raised to about Sunset’s waist. In the center of the room lay a massive shape, and when Sunset thought massive, she really meant massive.
What looked like a dragon lay in the center, its head resting on its forelegs, eyes closed. The dragon looked like it was about double the size of the snake monster from earlier, its nostrils about three heads taller than Sunset.
It was of a shimmering grey colour, its scales reflecting off some kind of light from some unknown location. A massive orange horn stuck out the front of its head, a stark contrast from the rest of its body.
Gravewing, Firedrake of the Depths.
He looked a lot more imposing than Sunset had imagined, but she wasn’t surprised. Of course it would dwarf her expectations. This world seemed to keep throwing enemies that got harder and harder as she got closer to her goal.
“Welcome, Bearer of the Flame of Life…”
A voice echoed in Sunset’s head, low and slurred, old and powerful.
Before her, the giant dragon opened its eyes, an orange glow casting shadows across the cavern. Two massive black slitted pupils zeroed in on Sunset and stayed unmoving.
It’s head reared up from its forelegs, rising higher and higher above her, revealing a long neck of plated scales, each one glinting off that unknown light source.
“You have finally come. For so long I have waited for you. I have dreamt of you, I have sensed you… I have tasted your flame… It calls out to me from afar, and now, it will be mine..”
Gravewing’s voice didn’t come from his unmoving mouth. Instead, Sunset really could feel it in her head, almost like something was creeping in through her ears.
Sunset sighed and readied her weapon. “You know I can’t let you have it.”
“But I will have it. One way or another. Come, Bearer of the Flame of Life. Face your end at the breath of Gravewing, Firedrake of the Depths. Bearer of a Flame of Death, Burner of Countrysides, Burner of all Peoples.”
Rising to his feet, Gravewing spread his wings out to his sides, covering almost the entire room’s radius as he gave them an almighty flap. Wind rushed all around Sunset, blowing her back into the fog wall that had materialized behind her, and then with one deafening roar, Gravewing charged.
It took all of Sunset’s willpower to keep her nerves from freezing as the giant dragon stomped closer and closer. With a throw, her sword was at the dragon’s left shoulder. She cut along it, but her sword barely put a dent in Gravewing’s scales.
She fell back to the ground, barely missing being crushed by Gravewing’s foreleg. The dragon looked down at her and swiped at her. The claw did not penetrate Sunset’s armor, but it threw her a fair distance away. She bounced twice on the floor and rolled to a stop.
“Ow…” Sunset groaned.
Sunset opened her eyes properly just in time to see Gravewing’s tail come down on top of her. There was no time to dodge.
“Oh shi-!”
WHAM.
“-t!” Sunset gasped as she sat bolt upright. She looked all around herself. It was dark, and no sign of Gravewing. Next to her, a familiar bonfire blazed away merrily.
It took a few moments for Sunset to realize what had happened. It seemed Gravewing was going to be a lot tougher than she had anticipated.
The trek back wasn’t all too difficult. The humanoid creatures with the big heads were back, but thankfully, the giant bull and snake were gone. All Sunset had to do was run on back to Gravewing’s chamber, taking out whatever creatures she could on the way; even the fallen ceiling in the snake creature’s cave had somehow patched itself up, making it a straight shot back to the waterfall area.
In no time, Sunset found herself back at the fog gate, more mentally prepared for the fight this time.
“Okay, Gravewing. Round two.”
Sunset pushed through the fog. There was no dialogue from the dragon this time, only a deafening roar as it charged the girl. Sunset dived aside, rolling to her feet just as Gravewing’s tail came smashing down right next to her. She cut at the tail, which whipped around, swatting Sunset into a pile of rocks.
Sunset pushed a rock off her leg and stood up shakily. Then a talon-tipped hand the size of a bus came down onto her face, crushing her flat.
“Nooo!” Sunset screamed, jerking upright again. She looked at herself. Then at the bonfire next to her. “Ah, horseapples.”
She was going to have to approach Gravewing differently. Jumping at him head on was getting her nowhere, or more accurately, back to the bonfire.
The bull and snake creatures were big and seemingly unbeatable as well, but Sunset had found their weak points: those orange growths atop their heads. What if Gravewing had one too?
Sunset didn’t know what else to do, so that was a plan she was willing to try. First, she would need to get to his head.
Heading back, Sunset arrived at Gravewing’s chamber once again, this time, refraining from just charging in. Gravewing rose, his orange eyes eyeing her hungrily. He wanted that flame, but unfortunately for him, he would never have it, whether he killed her or not.
“You still live, Bearer of the Flame of Life. You will not give me that which I have sought for so long.”
Sunset shook her head. “I told you, I can’t. I need to get home. I need yours.”
“And so we shall battle. Give me a fight that will be remembered, Bearer of the Flame of Life.”
Gravewing charged, his orange horn gleaming and ready for the kill. Sunset dived aside and threw her sword, getting the extra distance when she teleported to it. The dragon’s scales seemed much too tough for her to slice through them, but perhaps there was another way she could wound him.
As she teleported again, higher this time, Sunset spotted a line of orange growths along the dragon’s spine, starting from his neck and going all the way down to the end of his massive tail, where four orange spikes shot out near the end like a stegosaurus tail.
Bingo.
She now knew where to start, but unfortunately, getting there wasn’t going to be easy.
As Gravewing turned around, his orange eyes glaring at her, his mouth widened, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. Sunset counted at least three rows, before a jet of flame launched out from the darkness of his maw, flooding the chamber with a sea of fire.
Sunset only had a second to teleport herself high, the flames going right under her and splashing against the waterfall on the side, releasing steam into the air.
With another throw, Sunset got herself closer to Gravewing, but it wasn’t enough. Her leg dropped a little too low, falling into the wave of searing fire. The girl winced and shrieked in pain as she got herself higher again, this time grabbing on to the side of Gravewing’s scales on his torso.
Sunset downed an estus flask, but she also had to quickly move again, as the dragon slammed his claws on his side where she had just been.
Getting up on her feet on top the dragon’s back, Sunset faced the first of the orange growths and frowned at it. Without a second thought, she charged at the thing and plunged her sword deep into it.
The dragon’s roar shook the cavern as the growth burst, leaving behind only a small hole along the dragon’s back; the scales around it began to turn black, losing their shine.
“You dare?” Gravewing’s voice entered her head. “Do not be foolish, girl.”
“I dare. To be foolish.” Sunset gripped her blade harder and ran down his back, spearing her star sword through the next growth, hard enough to burst it, covering her in orange slime. “Gross…”
“Enough!” Gravewing’s four-pronged tail lifted like a scorpion’s and slashed down at his back.
Sunset dodged the first swing, then threw her sword to the side and teleported to it to avoid another. Gravewing was gigantic, but she knew she could do this. She now knew where his weak points were and she was going to win this.
Throwing her weapon again, Sunset grabbed the end of Gravewing’s tail, catching on to one of his glimmering scales as his tail swung about in the air, now trying to dislodge her.
“No you don’t!” Sunset speared her star sword into the growth all the way at the end, bursting it and sticking her sword into the wound, using it to stay on as Gravewing’s swinging got more intense.
In the end, it wasn’t enough and Sunset got tossed off hard enough to break boulders. Fortunately, with a toss of her star sword, she landed in a roll safely on the cavern floor.
Gravewing reared up on his hind legs and breathed down a torrent of fire, sending it towards her like a tidal wave. Sunset only had enough time to get her shield up when the fire hit, but to her surprise, it helped her withstand the brunt of Gravewing’s fire breath, with the fire washing right over her and to her sides.
Sunset had to keep her arm held up, which was beginning to get harder as time went on, but fortunately for her, Gravewing stopped breathing fire and she was able to get away before he started again.
The roar of fire came as Sunset sailed through the air towards the waterfall. She kept her shield up as the fire reached her, launching her into the waterfall, where it was put out by the falling water. A blast of steam was pushed out into the air and Sunset used it to mask her approach back towards Gravewing’s tail.
Approaching the four-pronged tail, Sunset drew her arm back, then cut forward as hard as she could as she ran a few steps. Her blade went right through one of the dragon’s tailspikes and went right through it like it was made of butter.
Gravewing roared and slammed his tail down dangerously close to her, forcing Sunset to throw her sword to the side to avoid it.
“You are becoming quite the inconvenience for me, Bearer of the Flame of Life.”
“So are you,” Sunset retorted.
Seeing the tail as a problem, the girl threw her sword right back to it, watching the blade stick into one of the burst growths, appearing beside it in a flash. Climbing up to the next growth, Sunset slashed through it twice, watching it shudder once before exploding, covering part of her face in orange goo.
“Gross…”
Gravewing’s bellow shook the cavern and rained more rubble down, but Sunset ran on, making quick work of two more growths. The next one was somewhat bigger than the rest and it didn’t explode with just a few attacks. Throwing her sword high, Sunset aimed her blade down at it and did a plunging attack, pushing it down with all her might as it pierced the tip of the orange thing.
With an ear-popping burst, the growth exploded, sending Sunset flying back and crashing to the ground near the waterfall. The girl got up and rubbed the stars from her eyes, but also spotting Gravewing tumbling forward, his tail severed at the spot the larger growth had been at.
He opened his mouth and growled at her, forcing Sunset’s hands to her ears. More debris fell from the ceiling, forcing Sunset to perform a few necessary combat rolls to get away from them.
“You will regret the day you faced my fire, Bearer of the Flame of Life.”
One more roar preceded a tidal wave of searing fire, with Sunset bringing up her shield again. The flames hit her hard, almost forcing her off her feet, but thanks to the souls she had accumulated from her defeated foes, she had strength beyond a normal human and she held on strong, though that strength could only keep her shield up for so long.
Something glinted in the corner of her vision and Sunset’s eyes were drawn to Gravewing’s severed tail. There was something green sticking out of the tail’s stump, giving off some kind of magical glow. It looked like a blade.
What could that be?
Deciding on her next course of action, the girl took off running as soon as the dragon’s fire had died down. Gravewing charged, but with a teleport and a roll, Sunset avoided getting trampled and slid on the rocky ground to the tail.
She fished her hands inside, put off at first by the sticky meat and blood inside, but once her hand found a handle of sorts, she drew the weapon out and held the blade up to her face. It was a large sword, with everything below the guard made of gold. The blade was of a green mineral unlike anything Sunset had ever seen. It somehow felt… magical. It wasn’t that heavy in her hands, but it wasn’t all that light either, but she felt power within it and somehow, it reminded her of home, of Equestria.
“My guiding moonlight…” Gravewing’s voice growled in her head. “You think to take from me?”
Gravewing seemed to dislike that.
The air around the cavern suddenly felt heavy. Sunset took a wary step back and readied herself. Something was coming from Gravewing. Something big.
And then for a second, everything seemed to stop. The heavy air around her seemed to hold her in place, and then with a rush of wind, Gravewing’s scales burst into blue fire, more evident on his wings where he didn’t have scales. As for his body, fire roared out from under his scales, and his eyes had turned into a frosty blue, as did his bulbous growths along his spine.
The cold of the Abyss began to increase until Sunset began feeling her bones shaking under her skin. It had been a while since she had felt the cold of a Flame of Death.
She gripped on to the glowing sword harder. Instead of being intimidated by Gravewing’s flame, determination filled her eyes. She was close now. Gravewing was all that remained in her path home. She was going to end it. She was going to end the nightmare.
Fishing around in her pack, Sunset removed her white estus flask and looked at it. She would only have a limited amount of time once she drank it, but she knew she could do it.
Downing the white liquid, Sunset’s eyes flared white and she assumed her half-pony form. The sword in her arm became lighter and its glow intensified, its power ringing in her ears.
“Use it, Sunset Shimmer… The moonlight greatsword is a gift. Use it at your disposal and end all nightmares…”
“Moonlight greatsword, huh?” Putting her star sword back in its sheath, Sunset readied her new weapon with two hands and eyed the firedrake. “Let’s dance, Gravewing.”
A voice continued to speak to her from the sword, almost like it was alive, but it wasn’t quite words that came from it. Sunset didn’t know how to explain it, but it was like information about it was transmitting straight to her mind as she charged at the dragon.
As Gravewing swiped a clawed hand at her, Sunset leapt clean over it and slashed down with her new weapon, with the blade going right through his scales and drawing blood.
The dragon bellowed and breathed blue fire down at her, but Sunset lifted her shield and parted the fire, readying her greatsword behind her, its blade glowing in intensity.
When the fires had died, Sunset pulled her shield back and slashed her sword forward, releasing an arc of luminous magic that cut through a part of Gravewing’s chest. The impact of her combined magics was strong enough to knock even a giant like him down.
Not wasting time, Sunset propelled herself up with a combustion, then drove the moonlight greatsword deep into the dragon’s chest. The blade could only sink in so far into his huge frame, but it seemed to be doing decent damage to him.
A wave of icy fire erupted from Gravewing, sending Sunset flying back, but with the white estus flowing within her, she peeled her star sword from its sheath and threw it back at Gravewing’s head. In a flash of sparks, she was on his snout, swinging both swords at his long orange horn.
In a flash, the horn was falling away, sliced cleanly through by Sunset’s weapons, with a spout of black liquid bursting out from where it had been.
Gravewing swiped a clawed hand up at his wound and tried to crush Sunset, but the girl was running along, cutting along his head with her new weapon.
Digging the moonlight greatsword into his scalp, Sunset channeled its magic and cut up with it, sending a wave of green energy down his head and neck, causing a line of the dragon’s growths to pop.
“Stop. You will stop this and die.”
More fire erupted from Gravewing’s scales, but Sunset wasn’t going to stop now. Breaking into a run, she dodged and leapt over the firedrake’s blue flames coming from under his scales, then raising her shield as he turned around to breathe fire down his back.
Sunset teleported lower down his back, slashing through another growth as she kept her shield up, deflecting the icy fire of the Flame of Death. Gravewing turned his head to release a torrent of fire, but Sunset kept her shield up and ran down his back, dragging her sword down the dragon’s spine, destroying all his orange growths along the way.
“Raaaah! You attack me with my own moonlight?”
Gravewing spread his wings out and took to the air, rising as he belched out waves and waves of blue fire. As he spun, Sunset slipped off his back and would’ve fallen if she didn’t have the white estus empowering her senses.
The girl held on to one of the dragon’s scales and with a flick, she pierced her sword into his underside and dragged it along, using it to keep herself from dropping back to the ground. At the last second, Sunset yanked her weapon free and threw her star sword ahead and up, teleporting back up and around Gravewing’s body, charging the moonlight greatsword at the same time. Just as she landed on his back, she replaced her star sword with her shield and blocked incoming fire, then slashed hard, sending a wave of moonlight magic into Gravewing’s face.
It hit him hard and sent him sprawling into waterfall, dousing his flames for a second, enough time for Sunset to continue down his spine, tearing through scale and flesh as she destroyed the remaining orange growths.
The firedrake bellowed and flew out of the waterfall, breathing fire all around him, until the air was covered in an icy grip of death. Sunset didn’t know how much longer her powerup was going to last. She had to end this fast, or she risked having to start all over again.
With all Gravewing’s growths destroyed, the only weak point she could think of was the remains of his horn. She had to try.
Readying her greatsword and shield, Sunset kicked off the dragon’s back and ran up along his scales, using her shield to defend herself from the fire coming from within him, along with the fire that was coming down from the sky with Gravewing’s continuous streams of flame breath. However, the firedrake must’ve caught on, spinning around and diving back towards the ground, now breathing fire up at her.
Sunset leapt over a gout of flame, coming down with her shield beneath her feet. Riding the circular shield like a snowboard, she hurtled along the drake’s massive length before kicking it out from under herself. Gravewing had just turned his head to look at her and the shield crashed into his eye, shattering the glass surface into a sparkle of thousands of pieces, some of which embedded themselves in the dragon’s eye.
With that moment of distraction, Sunset raised the moonlight greatsword high in both hands and descended on his horn’s stump. With a yell and a mighty push, Sunset stabbed it down right through the orange remains, feeling the sword sink deep. With a burst of moonlight magic, Gravewing roared and crashed into the ground, sending Sunset flying off and rolling to a stop a few meters away, her right side going numb from the impact.
The firedrake got on his feet and gave his wings one final flap before his entire snout exploded in a spray of orange goo, blue fire, scales, meat and bone. He fell on his side and then gave Sunset one last look before his head dipped into the pool of water, ceasing all movement.
“The end will not come as you think, Bearer of the Flame of Life. With my flame, the way to the Throne of the Fallen Hearth will be open to you…” Gravewing’s voice echoed in her head. “But beware… the nightmare knows what has transpired. The Flame of Disparity waits… It is not over…”
Sunset pushed herself up, panting and exhausted. Her estus flask had worn off some time ago, but thankfully, she had survived the ordeal. As Gravewing’s body began to flake away, a well of relief came upon Sunset harder than anything she’d faced so far. She had done it. She had defeated the fourth and final Flame of Death. She almost couldn’t believe those words in her mind as she watched a tiny blue flame emerged from the dissipating corpse, but Gravewing’s words echoed in her mind.
There was still more to come. She didn’t know how much more, but she knew it wasn’t going to be a straight shot home.
Downing an estus flask to regain her strength, Sunset stepped towards the Flame of Death and held her hand out. The flame danced into her palm and floated there, cold to the touch. She had seen their corruption all the way to where she was right now. These flames promised power, but that power came at the cost of sanity, family, friends, and even oneself. Perhaps it was her Flame of Life protecting her, or maybe she was just adamant to ever getting power like that again, but Sunset didn’t feel the call of the Flame of Death.
Stowing it in her pack, she pressed on, finding a small alcove at the back of the cavern that definitely wasn’t there before. A bonfire had lit itself in the back of the small cave, burning warmly and soothingly. The sway of it was enough to make Sunset crash beside it, glad to be in the comfort of a bonfire after the fight she had just gone through.
“The nightmare knows what has transpired…” Sunset thought about Gravewing’s words again.
The Lord of the Waking Nightmare. Fake Emerald Edge had mentioned that name. Whoever this was, he knew Sunset was close. She knew it herself too. She was approaching his endgame, but as to what it was, she didn’t yet know.
“Flame of Disparity,” Sunset breathed. Gravewing had mentioned that too. She remembered the tales of the Throne of Flames’ corruption by the Abyss. It had turned the life-giving flames there, warping them into something more sinister.
Whatever was in store for her, she knew the Lord of the Waking Nightmare was going to make it far harder than anything she’d face yet. But Sunset wasn’t going to sit down and go hollow now. She needed to get home. And the friends she’d made her relied on her to rescue them too.
Applejack and Rarity were down here in the Abyss. By stopping it, she could free them, allow them to return to Fyrlon. They needed her to see this to the end.
Reaching a hand for the bonfire, the world around Sunset began to bend and warp as the location around her changed. She needed to end this. Not just for herself, but for all her friends too.
Looking down at her new weapon, Sunset couldn’t help but feel this was another gift from the Spirit of the Rite of Kindling.
The moonlight greatsword.
It made Sunset think of Equestria, just like the artifacts of Star Swirl the Bearded. This sword was from Equestria, she was certain of it. How that magic had entered her nightmare, she wasn’t sure, but she was glad it did. There was still more to do, but she was glad to have a weapon of home with her on the last leg of her journey.
Whatever this Flame of Disparity was, no matter how much power it had, nothing would ever be strong enough to take out the Magic of Friendship she had. After all, there was nothing stronger.