Drawgren, Spear of Fire. Doland, Light of the Sky. Sisha, the Immolating Force. Gravewing, Firedrake of the Depths.
She had obtained these Flames of Death over her journey in this land, and it wasn’t an easy task to even get one.
Sunset Shimmer felt she had come far, standing at the bottom of a mountain of ash. Above her, a towering black spire overlooked her spot and the sea surrounding her, with a blazing lance of bright fire shooting up from it into the eclipse hanging in the sky.
The Throne of the Fallen Hearth.
This was it. This was her final mission. Everything she’d struggled to accomplish led her to this very moment. She was so close to getting home now, she could feel it.
All around her, there was no sound, except for the throbbing and pulsing of the fire ahead. There were no bird calls, no insects, nor did the sea’s waves make any sound. Around the sea hovered a black mass of darkness, writhing and slithering as though it was alive. She was back in the Abyss again.
According to the others, this was where the Abyss had originated, somehow emerging from the Throne of Flames as its fire had began to die out, with the Flame of Disparity now giving fuel to this dark creation.
And that was what she had come to do. To stop the Flame of Disparity and rid the world of the Abyss.
Holding her moonlight greatsword tightly in one hand, Sunset began to make her way up the ashen mountain, her greaves crunching in the pale dust beneath her feet.
Of the whole mountain range Sunset could see from Fyrlon, only the one she was standing on was devoid of trees. The other mountains on the various islands on the sea had forests, whether they were caked in ash or not.
As she got further up the slope, the flaming pillar’s brilliance increased in intensity, and it was almost too blinding for her to look at. Sunset had to look away as she trekked up, careful not to slip on the ash and tumble back down to the beginning. It was quite the steep climb, with Sunset having to hold on to some swords and rocks jutting out of the mountain surface to keep herself from falling. She didn’t know why there were swords here, but perhaps they belonged to others who journeyed her in ages past.
Eventually, it got too steep for Sunset to go any further, but with a few throws of her star sword, she soon found herself at the top of a cliff, wondering why she hadn’t thought to do that sooner.
Now that she was at the top, Sunset could see that the next area was a plateau, with nothing but the spire on it, which was smack in the middle. The ash around the spire was black, so dark that even the flaming pillar’s brilliance was not reflected off them. The black ash got more dense towards the spire, making it look like a sea of tar around it.
There was a bonfire just in front of her and Sunset took this chance to rest up from her climb up. Nothing stood between her and the spire, which meant she was going to be in for a fight of her life pretty soon.
She took this time to reflect on her adventure thus far, and also on the friends who had helped her get to where she was now. Rainbow Dash had been the first one she met, even directing her to Fyrlon the first time. She had given her life so that Sunset might be here today, and she was never going to forget how loyal she was. Then there was Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. The two of them had helped her on many occasions, be it in an actual fight or just a talk. They were rooting for her back in Fyrlon with Sandalwood, Flash and Twilight.
Then there was Applejack and Rarity. They were still stuck somewhere down in the Abyss, hopefully staying safe. They too, had helped Sunset out on more occasions than one, even having to make sacrifices to ensure she could keep going, but at least now, their friendship had been mended. She just hoped they would make it out fine once she stopped the Flame of Disparity.
There were more, like Vinyl, Maud, and even that random owl with the goods. If not for them, her journey would certainly be harder indeed.
Sunset knew all this to be true. She would never have made it this far on her own, but it was because of her friends, she was close, so very close to saving them all and returning home. A single tear slid down her eye as she contemplated how privileged and honoured she was to have friends like that. It gave her the resolve to win this and end the Abyss’ corruption once and for all.
“This ends today…”
When she was rested well beyond her need for it, Sunset got up and made her way towards the spire, expecting a tough fight to come. The ash crunched under her footsteps as she walked along the flat plane, getting closer and closer to the towering spire. As she got closer, Sunset could make out rows of windows along the length of the structure, all the way to the top. Through them, she could see the burning pillar within, coming from the ground level of the spire, emanating from something in the center.
With the intensity of the fire getting hotter and hotter as she went on, Sunset had to fight the urge to run away. This was much hotter than the Underisle of Fire, but she had to end this, or else no one was going home. Only she had the power to end this, and she had to do this, now or never.
With one more step, Sunset arrived by the giant doors to the spire, which she had to push open with all her might. She only got a fraction of it open, but it was enough to allow her to squeeze through to get into the structure.
Once she was inside, Sunset saw that it was a throne the flaming pillar was coming from. There was nothing else in the room, but a single throne, positioned near the rear of the tower, with two steps leading up to it. Even through the blinding flames of the pillar, Sunset could make out a figure sitting atop the throne.
It was human in shape, wearing some kind of dark and ancient knight armor, with its visor down to cover its face. By its left hand, a flaming sword rested against the throne, its blade as black as the ash around her feet.
Suddenly, behind Sunset, a wave of fire erupted from the black ashy floor, blocking her way out as the figure stood.
This was it. This was the Flame of Disparity. Her final challenge.
The Flame picked up its fiery sword and stepped down from the throne, its right arm outstretched. The flaming pillar behind it began to shrink, no longer touching the sky as wisps of it filled the Flame’s hand, slowly turning from orange to blue. A shape began to form in its hand and in no time, a brilliant blue spear now rested in its palm, the speartip almost as long as the sword blade in its left.
The Flame of Disparity gave her one earthshaking roar, its flames around itself a mix of orange and blue now. Then it approached her, taking slow but huge steps.
“Here we go…”
Sunset removed her moonlight greatsword from her back and held it in both hands, its green blade gleaming in the light. She too, approached the knight slowly, ready to do battle.
The Flame struck first, suddenly dashing forward and stabbing forward with its spear. Sunset twisted herself to the side and parried the attack, though the end of the spear released a blast of blue flame out its speartip, which would’ve vaporized her if she had still been in front of the weapon. She swung her blade at the knight, but it deflected her attack with its sword, then thrust its weapon down at her. Sunset did a combat roll and gained distance between them, building up magic within her greatsword.
Sunset broke into a run, her weapon raised. The Flame of Disparity slammed its spear into the ground, unleashing a ring of azure flames that expanded toward Sunset. With a flick of her weapon, she released a wave of magic, dispelling the ring of fire and knocking the Flame of Disparity back a step as it got hit in the shoulder.
But it quickly recovered and waved its blade at Sunset, who was suddenly seized by a desire to dodge. So she threw herself to the right, narrowly missing being flattened by a huge chunk of half-molten rock that had come crashing down on the spot where she had been standing.
Using her momentum to keep moving, Sunset spun around and slashed with her greatsword, sending another wave of magic barreling into the Flame, who took another step back as it hit it. Holding both spear and sword up, it advanced and began slashing them at Sunset in quick successions, forcing her to move to avoid them, looking almost like some sort of demented dance routine.
The blue spear nicked her in the thigh and her skin was instantly ablaze with the icy grip of the blue fire, sending Sunset falling to one knee. The Flame leapt high and aimed its spear down at her, but Sunset was quick to roll backwards, at the same time, throwing a fireball up at it. A fiery explosion ensued and singed the ends of Sunset’s hair, but otherwise she had gotten far enough to down an estus flask to restore her strength.
The Flame of Disparity left the ball of fire and swung its two weapons at her, with Sunset deflecting what she could and dodging the rest. She blocked one strike from the Flame’s sword, then spinning around, Sunset bent lower and avoided the thrust of its spear, at the same time, spearing her greatsword back into its right shoulder, piercing right through its old armor and shattering its right pauldron.
The knight fell back a step and its spear dissipated. Sunset thought she had dealt a finishing blow, until the blue flames whipped around behind the Flame and formed brilliant flaming wings. Flaming feathers flicked off of them and in a flash, the Flame of Disparity was upon her, grabbing Sunset around the throat and launching them both up into the air so fast that she felt her eyes were going to burst.
Sunset kicked at the Flame, then swung her greatsword, but it let go of her and slashed her with its fiery sword. Sunset spun out of the way, but the blade still sheared off her left pauldron, also burning away a portion of her chainmail as it passed. She threw a fireball at it, but the Flame moved quickly, flying around her with its blue wings.
With no other alternative as she fell, Sunset sheathed her moonlight greatsword and retrieved her star sword, tossing it at the Flame of Disparity as hard as she could. The Flame of Disparity rolled in mid air away from the thrown weapon, leaving Sunset to teleport up just out of reach. She tried it again, but this time, the Flame swatted her weapon downward, sending Sunset teleporting closer to the ground.
“Oh no,” Sunset muttered as she plummeted down to earth. She landed on the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of her, but the floor was so coated in ash and soot that it didn’t hurt nearly as much as she thought it would. It also helped that her armor had also blunted the impact.
“Okay,” Sunset said, climbing back onto her feet. “Now, I’m mad.”
The Flame of Disparity gave no indication that it had heard. It raised both arms to the sky and several circular runes appeared behind it on the ground. From within the circles, ghostly blue figures emerged, standing in rows of four. Then each of them raised a greatbow and fired at Sunset in unison.
Sunset dodged under the first arrow in the volley, deflected another great arrow with her sword, but doing so knocked her off balance long enough for another lance to pierce her through the shoulder. The projectile carried enough momentum to blast her backwards, trailing blood in the air as she fell. The only mercy here was that the rest of the arrows went right over her head. For the second time in a few moments, Sunset lay face-up in the ashes, this time surrounded by a pool of blood.
The girl groaned and pushed up, drinking another estus flask to restore her energy. This wasn’t going to be a walk in the park at all. She needed to use her head if she was going to survive this.
The Flame of Disparity surged at her, propelling itself on blazing blue wings, with more spectral archers firing their arrows at her. Sunset dived to the left, kicking up more ashen clouds. Her opponent had left a burning aftertrail in its wake, and as she recovered, the knight leapt into the air and brought its weapon crashing down at Sunset, intending to crush her. With a throw of her weapon, Sunset was behind the Flame, and with a spin, she slashed it across the back, ripping through more of its ancient armor and sending fragments of it falling to the floor.
But her satisfaction was short-lived. One of the flaming wings reached out and wrapped itself around her sword arm as she swung it. The blazing wing burned icy cold against Sunset’s vambrace, and she saw frost begin to creep across the metal. So she did the only thing she could. Sunset cut through the leather straps holding the vambrace in place and slipped her arm out.
Taking advantage of the split second that she had while the Flame of Disparity was still gripping her empty armor, Sunset slashed with her moonlight greatsword, releasing a crescent shaped wave of power that slammed into the knight, knocking it down. The blue wings exploded in a ring of fire, sending her tumbling back as it rose back on its feet, again stretching out its right hand as the blue fire converged into a ball around its palm. From it, the Flame of Disparity removed a long greatsword of its own, sporting a familiar hollow blade, though this one was made out entirely of blue fire.
The knight raised its weapon over its head and charged at Sunset with tremendous speed, its feet making puffs of ash rise up. Sunset reacted instinctively by throwing her star sword back to gain more breathing room. The Flame of Disparity’s blue sword cleaved the space where Sunset had been standing, but just as she thought it was safe, a swarm of small blue fireballs jumped from the weapon and flew at her. She blocked what she could with her moonlight greatsword, but one got through her guard, burning her on the right forearm.
Sunset scrambled back and patted the fire out, already missing her vambrace.
It’s an amalgamation of all the Flames of Death. Sunset realized. That means, once I defeat this form, the next will be… oh no.
The Flame advanced, slashing both swords at her, with the greatsword having too long of a reach now, forcing her to switch back to her star sword to take to the air. Sunset hurled an orange fireball of her own at the Flame, but it raised its weapons and blocked it.
With a spin, the Flame of Disparity cut at the ground with its blue greatsword, spurting up ash into the air, obscuring Sunset’s view. The knight itself took a step back and disappeared behind a veil of ash, leaving Sunset standing alone, looking around and keeping an eye out through the ash. She didn’t know where the Flame was now, but she could guess it would try to attack from a different angle now that it had the element of surprise.
All was quiet around Sunset. There was not a hint of footsteps or armor clanking together. All she could hear was her own heartbeat in her ears as she watched for the Flame’s attack.
And then there was a faint buzz. Sunset only had half a second to register it as a wisp of fire, ducking just as a blue flaming blade passed by over her head, barely missing her. Anticipating the next strike, Sunset rolled to the side as the fiery blade came crashing down from above, setting the immediate area ablaze, forcing Sunset back as she threw a fireball out of the ash cloud towards the sword’s origin. There was a glow of orange from beyond the cloud, but in only a second, the flaming blue blade slashed across the expanse again, forcing Sunset into a roll.
Just how do I beat this thing?!
Deciding if was enough, Sunset requipped her star sword and threw it out of the ash cloud, teleporting to it, safely away just as another sword slash sliced through the cloud. With a wave of both weapons, the ash dissipated into waves of blue and orange as the Flame charged towards her new position, weapons at its sides.
Sunset held her moonlight greatsword back, and when it was ready, slashed it forward, sending out a beam of turquoise magic, cutting towards the Flame like a shark’s fin through water.
The Flame of Disparity plowed through the wave and thrust its left hand weapon at Sunset, who barely backed out of reach. The tip of the sword just nicked a groove in her breastplate, scorching a line across the leather piece.
Dancing back, Sunset exchanged blows with the Flame, trying to find a way through its long greatsword and quick longsword. It was tiring work, and Sunset didn’t know how much longer she could actually keep this up. She was tempted to drink her white estus flask, but she didn’t know if she had it in her to end the fight before its power waned. Saving it for the next phase seemed to be the better idea.
Stepping to the left, Sunset ducked under a horizontal slice from the greatsword, and then leaning back up, she parried the orange sword away, before spinning back and thrusting her moonlight greatsword straight for the Flame of Disparity’s chest.
The tip punctured right through the knight’s armor, but it leapt back before it could deal any serious damage, cutting out with its own greatsword at the same time.
Sunset had to teleport out of the way with her star sword, or she’d probably be in two pieces by now.
She was quickly running out of options. She had to try something more drastic.
Readying a fireball, Sunset sprinted to the Flame, pulling her arm back as she opened her palm to hold the pyromancy. She threw it when she was closer, and just as the Flame was about to attack with its blue greatsword again. Its weapon connected with her fireball and triggered the explosion, covering the area in a ball of fire and smoke. But Sunset didn’t stop there. Still running, she readied the moonlight greatsword in two hands and leapt through the smoke.
The Flame of Disparity was caught by surprise as she flew in over it, plunging her weapon down right through its helmet. Ripping her blade out, Sunset kicked off its shoulders, and then slashed a beam of magic at it, shattering the visor of its helmet completely, revealing only fire within it.
Her enemy dropped its weapons and sank to its knees, the blue greatsword exploding into a scatter of icy cold fireballs.
This was it. Sunset knew she was close now, but this next bit, if she guessed correctly, was going to be much harder than the last three phases.
The flames of death swirled behind the knight now, and when they were close enough, they sprang to life, igniting in long flaming spikes behind it, forming into large tendrils which swirled together, resembling dragon wings.
From its broken helmet, the fire within flashed from orange to blue, then extended and formed into a huge gaping maw, complete with a roar which shook the ground beneath their feet.
“Now or never…” Sunset whipped out her white estus flask and drank all of it.
Feeling the might of the white estus flask fill her and transform her body, Sunset gritted her teeth and sprinted towards the Flame of Disparity, holding her weapon out in front of her face. The Flame emitted a monstrous roar and exhaled a churning torrent of blue flame at Sunset. At the last second, Sunset leapt, using the strength granted to her by the white flask to clear the cone of fire.
However, the Flame of Disparity was not out of tricks. While Sunset was airborne and unable to change direction, it clenched its fist and a flaming blue javelin appeared in its grip. Sunset’s eyes widened, but could do nothing as the Flame hurled the spear at her, effectively sniping her out of the air with an explosion of plasma.
Sunset hit the ground in a puff of ash that got into her mouth and nostrils. Spluttering, she staggered to her feet and looked around for her opponent.
“Oh, Celestia,” she said quietly, for there was a veritable tidal wave of blue flame bearing down on her.
With her added strength, Sunset held the star sword in her other hand and threw it, getting out of the way of the fire, then slashing with her moonlight greatsword in her main hand before landing in a roll. She didn’t stop, sprinting around the Flame and launching beams of moonlight at it, knocking more pieces of its breaking armor off.
The Flame of Disparity seemed to be unable to keep up with Sunset’s speed, but after its left pauldron shattered, it beat its wings and took to the sky, holding its sword pointed upwards. Rays of light gathered at the sword’s tip, coalescing into an ever growing orb.
Sunset was contemplating whether she should throw her star sword up to engage when the Flame swung its sword downwards, the orb exploding into dozens of miniature shooting stars that flew in arcs and loops, but were all homing in on Sunset’s position. Sunset teleported herself around, running when she could to avoid the projectiles as they began blowing up parts of the spire, raining debris down on her as well. At the same time, the Flame flew after her, breathing fire down from above.
With so many attacks coming from so many directions, Sunset did the one plausible thing and got away from the ground, throwing her star sword high. She kicked off from debris to debris, using them to shield herself from the stars as well. Out from behind an explosion of fire, the Flame of Disparity swooped into her and grabbed her around the neck with its free hand, its flames of death burning coldly on her exposed skin. It smashed her into the side of the spire and dragged her along it, breaking it apart even more.
Kicking a foot against the wall, Sunset spun herself around and stabbed both swords through the Flame’s chest armor, only to be rewarded with a burst of icy flame from the holes. Sunset recoiled back, but with its orange flaming sword, the Flame slashed her across the chest, cutting right through her leather, plate, chainmail and even skin, then threw her back towards the ground as it breathed down a torrent of blue fire.
Mustering her strength, Sunset threw her star sword to the opposite end of the arena, rolling to a stop on the ashen ground as she downed an estus flask to heal her wound. She only had two left, and she didn’t know how much longer her white estus waa going to last. She needed to press her attack and force the Flame on the defensive.
The Flame of Disparity banked left towards her, still breathing down its fire at her. Sunset stood up and ran, then dropped her star sword behind herself. As the Flame passed over it and was about to burn her to a cinder, Sunset materialized back to where her sword was, and now behind the Flame, where it was safe.
With her white estus flask power running out, Sunset looked up at the Flame, which was still circling the arena. She wouldn’t be able to land a solid hit head on. She would have to use her wits and be tricky. If the Flame was emulating Gravewing, then victory must be near. Determination filled Sunset's heart. She did not come this far only to fail now.
As the Flame wheeled around for another pass, Sunset watched its flight pattern. For such an unbalanced weight, the thing was making good air time. It came back for another round, breathing fire down towards her.
With only one way to get up to the Flame, Sunset ran again, waiting for the right moment. Her time was running out, so it was now or never.
Dropping her weapon behind again, Sunset teleported to it as the fires passed over it and before it could catch up to her, Sunset was by her star sword once again, this time, wasting no time in throwing it up towards the Flame as it flew on. But the flying knight must have seen it coming, as it suddenly ascended out of reach, showering the area with fiery spears that it shot from its wings.
Sunset landed in a crouch. This just kept on getting tougher and tougher. How had she defeated Gravewing the first time around? Of course, she had used that glass shield to block some of his attacks and attacked the weak points on the dragon’s back. But there were no weak points this time, at least no obvious ones. And she did not have her shield any longer.
But she did have the power granted to her by her white estus flask, and maybe one or two pyromancies left.
The Flame of Disparity swooped down low at Sunset, a cluster of shooting stars gathering on its wings. Sunset swallowed. This would require perfect timing and a lot of pain on her part, but she saw no other way to win.
Diving so as almost level to the ground, the Flame sped at Sunset, sword outstretched as if to skewer her on its point. Waiting until the very last second, Sunset then lightly tossed her star sword up, just a meter.
The Flame screamed past, nicking Sunset on the shoulder with its blade, but she teleported up and landed on the Flame’s back. Sunset grabbed hold of the bases of the Flame of Disparity’s wings with her hands, ignoring the burning cold that permeated through her skin and bones as she did so.
Using her enhanced strength granted to her by her white estus flask, Sunset pulled with all her might. She could feel the transformation beginning to fade, but she soldiered on, pulling with every last ounce of strength that she knew she didn’t have left, Sunset pulled.
There was a burst of icy heat as Sunset pulled the wings free. An awful screaming noise came from within the Flame’s armor, and both of them tumbled out of the air and smashed into the central throne, reducing it to rubble.
Sunset lay there among the debris. Her pony ears and tail dissolved into sparkles, and she felt like she had been run over by a train. If the Flame was still alive, then she had no more power to fight back any more.
Somewhere close by to Sunset, there was a rumbling sound. Sunset felt despair seep into her spirit. How could it still be alive, after all she had done to it? It didn’t seem fair that she had survived everything this world had thrown at her only to fail at the last hurdle.
Her fingers groped around for her star sword, which was thankfully just right next to her. With some trouble, Sunset sat up.
The Flame of Disparity was standing in the rubble of the throne, but it wasn’t attacking. Blue flames poured form its joints, spiralling upwards into a pillar of fire.
Just above it, the top of the pillar formed into a ball of darkness, so black that the flames around them did not reflect on its surface. The blue flames seeped out of the Flame of Disparity and entered the ball, which hovered ominously above the scene.
With her strength gone, Sunset stowed her star sword and held out her moonlight greatsword in both hands, just in case.
When the last of the blue fire entered the black ball, it spun in the air a few times, shrinking at the same time. With a burst of energy, it dissipated into a shower of sparkles, disappearing amongst the ashes as the Flame of Disparity returned to its orange glow. The knight’s armor began to break apart now, floating up above its form and disappearing from sight.
Its head turned to Sunset and words suddenly entered her mind. “O’ Chosen Flame, a great feat has been accomplished today. With your victory, the control of the Abyss is no more, and I am free. There shall be disparity no longer. The Flames of Life must flow now and with them, so must I. Thank you.”
All around her, the black ash began to float up as well, and the darkness that blanketed the surrounding area also began to recede, allowing Sunset the view of the clear skies once again, which were still orange from the eclipse in the air.
When at last, the greaves of the Flame broke away into the air, the rest of the orange flames followed suit, and Sunset was left by herself, standing there in the center of the ruined spire.
She did it. She won.
I won! I actually won!
Sunset fell on her knees and laughed with relief. She had never been so happy to finish a task. She had beaten the Flame of Disparity and cleansed this world of the Abyss once and for all. Her friends here were free. She was going to be free! She was going to wake up!
Drinking an estus flask to remove the aches and pains in her body, Sunset fell back and sat herself down, so relieved it was all about to end and she would be home with her real friends once more.
With the Abyss gone, the Applejack and Rarity in this world would also be free and she owed them that much for getting her so far through her journey. She owed it to all of them.
Sunset closed her eyes, hoping to see the real world again when she opened them, but after a few minutes of doing so, opening them still produced the orange and ashen landscape she was still in.
“Hello?” Sunset called. “I’m ready to wake up now! Anyone?”
There was no reply, but the sky suddenly grew darker, and thunderheads formed over the Throne of the Fallen Hearth, spearing out from beyond the eclipse and spanning across the entire sky.
“Oh, you’re not ready to wake up just yet,” a sinister voice boomed from the heavens. “The Nightmare churns unending, and all the world a dream, is mine to command!”