//------------------------------// // The Light of Destruction // Story: The Eternal Sphere // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// The group exited Vanilla’s house while the bunny began packing up whatever he could take with him. Anything else that was bolted down, like his workshop, he would have to leave behind. As thanks for showing him a way to make money through the artisan’s guild, but mostly because he couldn’t find anyone willing to buy the thing, Vanilla gave Twilight a book that looked like the one she found in the Shrine of Kaddan. This one had a ‘two’ on it. Once again, the book only had five words: ‘second in vanquished face to’ The group, now led by a taller bunny named Sophia, felt their way through the steam once more as they made their way back to the bunny-faced door. Some more undead tried to stop them, but at this point, they were hardly worth mentioning. They exited through the door and were able to see what was in front of them once more. With nowhere else to go, the group returned to the door that was blocked off by volcanic rock. Instead of blasting the rock, as Lyra considered, Twilight grabbed the rocks that were blocking the door in her magic and tossed them aside. Cliff whistled in awe. “Impressive, how much can you lift with that power?” “I lifted a bear the size of a house one time, but that was a long time ago. I’m not sure how much I’d be able to lift now,” Twilight answered with some modesty. Of course, Lyra knew that her magic had grown much stronger since she ascended. The rocks gave way to a carved stone door that was large enough for people to pass through. A slightly green tint on the door indicated that the door was composed of more than the volcanic rock that composed the caves. “This is probably the place,” Sophia figured. “That Marquis’ lair is probably on the other side of this door.” “Get ready, everyone,” Fayt said. The double doors opened easily and allowed the group into a very large room with a slightly rough stone floor. A set of carved stone steps elevated a platform in the back of the room that drew attention to a large relief on the back wall. However, the attention was instead drawn to a massive rust-colored dragon that appeared to stand still. “It’s huge…” Fayt commented. “Now that’s just too big,” Maria added. Of course, Twilight had seen bigger dragons in Equestria, but this dragon was about at Spike’s height as he was now. “I can see why they call him the Marquis. Impressive,” Cliff said. “I really hope he’ll go along with our proposal,” Nel said. “It won’t be that easy, fool,” Albel countered. Nel glared at the edgy warrior, “What did you call me!?” Fayt noticed the dragon beginning to twitch, as if it were beginning to wake up. It then suddenly spread its wings, revealing a wingspan that was larger than its massive body. The dragon stretched its body a little more before it shouted, “Who dares disturb my sleep?” “Whoa! The dragon talks?!” Cliff shouted. “...Another ill-mannered human, I see. Do you believe that you are the masters of all creation? Why are you so surprised that other creatures can speak,” The dragon answered with irritation clearly in his voice. “You act as though you know everything. Ages pass, and yet you humans never learn.” The dragon scanned the group and immediately noticed the ponies, especially his master who had assigned him to guard the temple in the depths of the caverns. Of course, since she wasn’t saying anything at the moment, he figured that she was keeping her true identity a secret for the time being. For his master, he would play along. Nel moved in front of the group and kneeled before the dragon. “I’m Nel Zelpher, agent of Aquaria. We’ve come to request the Marquis’ aid, Your Excellency.” “A maiden of Aquaria? Speak your purpose.” “Yes, Your Excellency. A great threat is menacing these lands. We need Your Excellency’s help to stop it.” “I sensed the restlessness outside. What would you have me do?” “We’d like you to bear the runological weapon we developed, so that we can deal with this threat.” The dragon paused and growled softly in thought, but that was a cover as he formed his thoughts, knowing that his master would read his mind. “What is the meaning of this, master?” “I am so sorry, Crosell. The Vendeeni forces have their interests set on several of the children among us as well as the ID.” Twilight psychically explained. “We can’t let them get either and we need a distraction to get off world, knowing that the Vendeeni will be sending their entire fleet on us.” “So, Azure Lazer’s treachery reveals itself. I warned you that she would become a threat at some point. I have noticed that she was working in the shadows and has been trying to access the secrets of Project Valkyrie. She has been unsuccessful so far.” “What!? But why? Why would she deliberately act against me? I told everypony and everyprotoss that only those I have authorized are allowed to know the secrets of that project!” “Is it not obvious, princess? Azure has been trying to con her way into your company’s inner circle from the beginning. I know not what she intends to do with Project Valkyrie, but whatever it is can’t be good. “I will help you get off this planet. But first, I’m in the mood for a good fight to work out some kinks in my body and help me get ready to face the Vendeeni. I ask that you honor me with this.” Twilight couldn’t believe what she was reading from Crosell. Azure Lazer was a traitor? Sure, she and her chief of security didn’t see eye to eye often, but she always performed her job well and she never showed any signs of open hostility. There had to be an explanation. On the other hand, if Crosell was right, then she came so close to delivering the secrets of the project to an enemy. She needed to confront Azure. She had to be sure. The psychic conversation was quite fruitful to Sophia. She learned that whatever Project Valkyrie was, it was something important enough to be kept under tight wraps. She also learned the name of someone who would most likely be a future enemy. Crossell then roared loud enough that the entire caverns shook. “Did you honestly think that I would bear something made from humans?! Do not insult me humans! I am ancient and you are nothing.” Nel got back on her feet and placed her hands on her hips, keeping them near her weapons if a fight would break out. “Even so, we cannot leave until you agree!” “I could not care less.” Cliff pounded his fists together. “Nel, forget it. Turkeys like this need to be smacked around a bit before they’ll listen.” “Now that’s a first. We’re both of the same opinion,” Albel added. “I agree that humans are nothing special, but maybe you’re not as great as you think you are,” Maria said. “Perhaps you need a lesson in humility.” “Your Excellency…is there no way that you will cooperate?” Fayt asked. “None,” Crosell said with finality. He was glad that things were escalating, since he was hoping for a good fight. “Looks like it came to this after all,” Sophia said. “Alright, Crosell…” Crosell looked at Sophia in slight shock and she picked up on that. “Yes, I’m a mind reader like Twilight and Lyra. Anyway, you will have your fight. However, you will be facing my cousin Thanatas, one on one, in a duel of dragons.” Crosell looked at Sophia in confusion, as did everyone else but Thanatas. “Foolish girl, a duel of dragons can only be between two dragons of equal stature and she looks nothing like a dragon.” Sophia herded everyone but Thanatas to the door where they would witness what was about to happen. Thanatas smirked, “It doesn’t take a mind reader to know that you were hoping to see something like this, dear cousin.” She giggled which turned into slightly maniacal laughter and her smirk turned into a maniacal smile. “Well then, let’s not disappoint the audience!” Thanatas’ transformation started when her skeletal wings emerged from her back. She slowly began to grow in size. As she grew, a large skeletal tail emerged from her rear end. The armor shifted and grew with her. Her flesh soon peeled away, revealing nothing but bones beneath the false flesh. Her skull transformed and grew elongated, revealing long rows of razor-sharp teeth and a pair of long horns that curved backwards and continued curving until the ends pointed forward. The hands of her gauntlets receded back to her wrists to become a pair of bracers while her claws became razor sharp. The same could be seen from her boots. Her eye sockets glowed an icy blue. Her very presence gave an uncomfortable chill to everyone in the room. Her transformation stopped when she was equal to Crosell in size. Thanatas unleashed a draconic roar that not only shook the caverns once more, but sounded unnatural. “Do you have any more objections?” Thanatas asked in a gravely yet feminine voice. “You expect this to be a fair match with you wearing armor?” “You have your scales while I’m all bones,” Thanatas countered. “I think it fair for me to use my armor,” Crosell growled softly, “Very well, you shall be my opponent.” The two rushed toward each other and immediately began to slash at each other with their claws. Crosell could only slash at the armor as his claws couldn’t find much purchase against the draconic skeleton. Meanwhile, Thanatas’ claws slowly tore away at Crosell’s scales. Thanatas’ problem against this opponent was that she had to hold back a lot of her abilities because she was not supposed to kill him. Because of this, she was forced to fight Crosell like an ordinary dragon. Crosell took a deep breath and prepared a powerful fire breath attack. Noticing this, Thanatas prepared a breath attack of her own as the biting chill of her runic magic gathered within her skull. The two released powerful breaths of fire and frost respectively. Neither gave an inch to each other. Both moved closer to each other and punched each other in the face, diverting the two attacks to the side. Thanatas used the momentum from the punch she received to spin around and smack Crosell in the chest with her bony tail while a skeletal wing slapped him in the face. Crosell tackled Thanatas and slammed her into a wall, causing the caverns to shake and some rubble to fall from the ceiling. Thanatas countered by grabbing Crosell’s head and releasing a stream of frost on his face, forcing the living dragon to back away. He then released a stream of flame on the wall but Thanatas dove aside and closed the distance to her opponent before she slapped her tail against his knee, causing Crosell to yelp in pain. Crosell then spread his wings and lifted himself a few meters off the ground. With one flap, he sped his way toward where Thanatas was getting up, slamming into her and barreling at high speed toward another wall. Thinking quickly, Thanatas encased herself and Crosell in a block of ice. The caverns shook once more as the massive ice block crashed into a wall. “This is insane!” Cliff shouted. “At this rate, those two are gonna make the whole place come down on us!” Twilight placed a shield around everyone. As she did so, she silently thanked her long-dead brother for teaching her his secrets to shield magic. Sophia and Lyra assisted by grabbing rocks in their telekinetic hold and tossing them aside. Thanatas broke free from her icy prison while Crosell took longer to do so as he didn’t have the same adaptations to ice as she did. The bone dragon took advantage of this by jumping up, performing a somersault and slamming her tail downward on Crosell, shattering the ice and cracking his scales at the impact point. The caverns shook once more. That was when Crosell realized that he had enough. “Stop! I yield!” He slowly got back up to his feet and felt his cracked scales, knowing that he was going to be in a lot of pain later. “You have won and I shall assist you in this endeavor.” The others approached the battered Crosell. Sophia and Adray did the best they could to heal some of the damage that he sustained in the fight. They needed him to be ready quickly. To expedite their return to Aquios, Crosell offered the group transportation on his back. Of course, there were too many to carry, even for one of his size so Thanatas had to carry some of them. The trip was going to be uncomfortable for anyone who rode Thanatas though, even though she created a plate of ice on her neck so the riders wouldn’t be sitting on her uncomfortable spinal column. The two dragons lifted off and flew through a hole in the ceiling and set course for Aquios. The flight lasted ten minutes before the two dragons arrived. Many Aquarians freaked out at seeing the two giant dragons, even more so for the skeletal dragon. The two dragons soon landed in the courtyard of Castle Aquaria and let everyone disembark. Thanatas enveloped herself in an opaque icy cocoon which quickly dissolved into snow and revealed nothing of the death goddess until it was nearly gone, revealing her in her human form. Nel addressed the nearby onlooking runologists and ordered them to get the Thunder Arrow prepared for equipping onto Crosell. She then addressed Queen Romeria who, along with King Arzei had entered the courtyard to investigate the commotion. “I have returned, Your Majesty.” “You have done well,” Romeria replied. “To think you were able to capture him…” Arzei added. “No one captured me, foolish king,” Crosell bellowed. “I am merely fulfilling my end of a wager,” he lied. Nobody who was not in the know needed to be aware of his connection to his master. “Hmph, it matters not. So Romeria, who shall ride the Marquis?” “I was hoping that you could find someone from the Dragon Brigade to aid us,” Romeria figured. “That is unacceptable!” Crosell bellowed. “Only those who have personally requested my assistance may ride me.” “It’s for the best,” Arzei said. “The Dragon Brigade is currently being reorganized since all of the commanding officers are dead.” Thanatas whistled innocently. “And they’re already being taxed from forming a unit bearing runological weapons.” While the group was deciding on who would ride Crosell, Twilight received a new notification on her communicator, informing her of three new inventors. First on the list was a child prodigy named Mishell. He is apparently a boy genius who loved to read books; a child after Twilight’s own heart. His skills were focused on the art of literature and was a skilled writer. Of course, he was the type who tried to behave like an adult and wanted to be treated like one. Still a boy of his talent will likely want to be financially compensated for his services. He was often seen wandering the streets of Aquios. The next entry was a muscular blacksmith named Gusto who specialized in forging swords. He left on an adventure after Kirlsa’s mine yield dropped. According to the entry, he competes with dragons for mineral resources. He was currently in Peterny and was another individual looking for financial compensation for his services. He was lauded by the guild as an exceptionally skilled blacksmith. Twilight smiled when she saw the next entry. Vanilla wasted no time joining the guild once he realized that his home wasn’t safe anymore. However, with the current situation, Twilight had no time to go out and recruit more inventors. She would have to come back to Elicoor at some point to do so. With the operation to get off the planet close, the group took this time to get some rest while the runologists worked on outfitting Crosell and a number of air dragons with runological weapons. Fayt took this time to visit Ameena and Dion to see how they were recovering. From what he saw, the two looked to be sharing a tender moment staring into each other’s eyes. Fayt felt a little jealous, but he suppressed that feeling quickly. One of the nearby runologists informed Fayt that Dion was going to receive some much needed vacation time as well as some time with a therapist. At this point, Fayt felt like he didn’t need to worry about those two anymore. A few hours passed since their return and Crosell and a large wing of Dragon Brigade dragons were fully outfitted with repurposed runological weapons. Fayt was the last to arrive at the courtyard and noticed a troubled look on Maria’s face. Mirage and Cliff also seemed to be a little worried. “What’s wrong?” Fayt asked. “I haven’t heard a word from the Diplo in some time,” Maria responded. “They should have entered orbit by now.” “Let’s hope the Vendeeni didn’t find them,” Cliff said. After a few more minutes of worrying, Twilight received a notification that her ship had returned and remained in stealth mode for the time being. “We can worry about the Diplo later. For now, we need to work on getting off this planet. My ship has entered orbit but it’s also picked up a number of Vendeeni battleships in the area and heading into the atmosphere. Looks like they intend on blocking any escape attempt.” “Then we need to make our move,” Sophia declared. “Get the dragons in the air and prepare for battle!” Each dragon was ridden by a Dragon Brigade soldier and accompanied by a runologist who would operate the weapons the dragons had been equipped with. Maria, Fayt, Mirage, Cliff, Sophia and Twilight stood atop a platform atop the Thunder Arrow while Nel was below the platform operating the weapon. Crosell sprinted along a plain to gather momentum for flight. With one mighty flap of his wings, he was airborne. The battle was underway and the forces of Elicoor engaged three Vendeeni battleships that entered the lower atmosphere. The dragons engaged one of the ships and unleashed a barrage of runological power and dragon fire, causing heavy impacts on the ship’s energy shields. The ship retaliated by firing at the dragons and while some were shot down, most managed to avoid the fire because of their aerial agility. The bombardment soon became too much for the ship and it was soon forced to retreat. The other two ships did not retreat, however and seemed prepared to unleash their arsenal to wipe out the dragonic menace. That never happened. As the Vendeeni ships’ weapons were primed, a mysterious blast of scarlet light grazed Elicoor from an unknown location from beyond the world. Being on the edge of the blast was enough to erase the engines of the Vendeeni ships from existence with the two ships exploding soon after. “Wha–?!” Fayt exclaimed. “What was that?!” Cliff shouted. “Master, that was…” Crosell began. “I know.” Twilight replied. “We’re running out of time. Now that they have been unleashed upon the universe, everyone is in danger.” “I wish there was something that I could do to assist you master, but…” “I know, but keeping Project Valkyrie safe takes priority over the situation. We will find a way to undo the damage.” “Very well, but remember my warning earlier.” Twilight nodded. With the Vendeeni ships driven off or eliminated, the group returned to the ground and disembarked from Crosell. The Elicoorians knew what was about to happen so they took their place beside Romeria and Arzei. Fayt, Cliff, Maria, Mirage, Sophia, Peppita, Twilight, Lyra and Thanatas faced them. “I hope things will return to normal for you now that the Vendeeni fleet is destroyed,” Sophia said. “But now, the time has come for us to leave.” “Yes, you will be missed. We thank you for enlightening us to the existence of civilizations beyond our world. We cannot waste our energy fighting each other when we could one day be invaded by another force from beyond our world,” Romeria said. “She’s right, we must avoid bringing the final prophecy of Apris to fruition in its worst form. This is not the time for war,” Arzei added. Twilight sighed. She had a feeling that she might come to regret what she was about to say, but with the situation developing as it was, hiding the facts from her allies would do more harm than good. “Your Majesties, I must offer you a grim warning. If you come across any ponies with large formal dresses and six wings or any six-winged dragons, avoid them at all costs. They are too dangerous to face and are capable of easily decimating armies. I have a feeling that your world will be visited by them in the near future. Do not try to reason with them, they are mindless forces of destruction.” Cliff stared at Twilight for a few moments before he said something. “Now I know that you’re hiding something big from us.” “Understood,” Romeria said. “Aww, can’t we go with you?” Roger asked. “Sorry, but our own laws forbid us from taking people from underdeveloped planets. In the event that such a thing happens, those who do so would be forbidden from returning to their normal lives because they would know too much about the world beyond their planet. It might negatively alter the history of your world,” Twilight explained. “You mean like what you and the Vendeeni did?” Albel countered. Twilight nodded. “Just trust us when we say that there are reasons why it’s dangerous to mess with a world’s history.” She then turned to Cliff and the others. “I will explain the important details when we get to my ship. I think from this point, you guys are going to be involved in matters that I have tried to hide from the rest of the universe and you deserve to know what we’re going to be up against in the near future.” As the space travelers said their goodbyes to the Elicoorians, Twilight then brought up a holographic display and began typing on the light-composed board. The Elicoorians looked at Twilight in curiosity for a few minutes before she pressed one last button and the nine disappeared in a flash of light.