Chapter 41: Final Showdown – Bright Blade vs. Tikara Balak

The Element of Hope had quietly teleported himself away from the others, who were deep in the mists of celebrating their victory. Although the Altar of Calamity had fallen and the Elements of Darkness destroyed, there was still the nagging feeling within him, compelling Bright Blade to search the ruins of the temple. The ash snow continued to fall, making the already bleak black temple look even more depressing.

Bright Blade was flying low over the temple, searching, his eyes scanning over every inch of the fallen structure. Till he finally spotted his target and began his descent towards it. Once on the ground he trotted slowly towards him, still clad in his black and silver armor, gazing out from a part of the Altar platform that was still intact. Tikara Balak gave no notice to Bright Blade, maybe he hadn't sensed him yet, or maybe he had and was not concerned.

"Look at this, eons of planning, thousands of years of preparation…All reduced to ash," said Tikara Balak. "I'm surprised you were looking for me, how did you know I was still alive?"

"Because I'm still here," answered Bright Blade. "As long as you're still here, threatening the lives and peace of this world, the Element of Hope will not vanish until it has completed its work! Epona thought you were dead, and you fled to Tartarus, this time I'm making sure that doesn't happen again."

Tikara Balak started to chuckle, he then turned around to face the young alicorn, smiling the whole time. "Really now, you could've thought I was dead and maybe the Element would allow you to stay."

"Oh little Construct, please think this through. You fight me, if I win you die and I have another chance to renew my plans. You fight me, and then slay me, I die and you disappear into the great beyond. We both lose understand?"

Bright Blade relaxed his stance, wondering where this was going. "Get to the point Tikara!" Bright Blade ordered.

"Let me go." Bright's face became a combination of shock and confusion, was Tikara Balak actually begging for mercy. "Don't you see, it benefits us both, to a degree. I'll regain my strength while you have more time to spend with your friends, and that unicorn mare you seem to fancy. Then we'll do this all over again, an endless waltz if you will, wouldn't you agree with me, Bright Blade, that this is the best option for the both of us?"

Bright Blade was still, as if he was thinking about this proposal. He gazed upwards into the sky, covered by a thick dust cloud and snowing ash. He closed his eyes for a moment and returned his gaze towards Tikara Balak.

"Thanks, but no thanks! I won't put my friends through that kind of torment, fighting one war after another, they deserve peace," answered Bright Blade.

Tikara Balak broke out into a fit of laughter, apparently finding humor in the golden alicorns act of self-sacrifice. "Noble till the end, very well, if that is what you wish so be it."

"Not enough for anything fancy, but just the right amount for this. How about you?"

The wind started to kick up around them, stirring the ash. A quiet intensity passed between them, and maybe, even a bit of primal joy.

"Umbara..." the evil sword appeared in a flash of black lightning, the tip sinking into the platform.

"Excellion..." the sword, once wielded by Arion, also appeared and was now floating before him.

The silver alicorn and golden alicorn gripped their swords, clenching them between their teeth. Tikara Balak started to trot, circling to the right; Bright Blade noticed and went in the opposite direction. The two warriors never took their eyes off the other; the air around them was heavy with tension, holding on by a mere hair just waiting to break. They stopped walking and faced each other; Tikara rolled his neck, making a series of cracking sounds. Bright Blade flexed his wings and dug his hooves into the platform floor.

The wind shifted directions, and both alicorns charged at each other. Excellion and Umbara clashed with a resounding clang.

The group had stopped searching and started to listen. Multiple clanging sounds started to ring across the silent battlefield.

Twilight didn't have to finish her sentence, the others knew exactly what that sound was, the all too familiar sound of swords clashing. A twinge of fear started to creep into their hearts as they began to realize that Bright Blade was engaged in battle.

Bright Blade and Tikara Balak were forced back from their initial attack, but quickly went at it again. Tikara took Umbara into his telekinetic grip and started to slash at Bright. The golden alicorn didn't have time to shift Excellion to the same position, so he had to make do with fighting with his sword while clinched in his teeth.

Tikara slashed to his right, to which Bright jerked his head to the left making contact with Excellion. Umbara reared back to slash from the left, but Bright Blade flipped the sword around so that the tip was pointing in the same direction. Bright jerked his head to the right and again intercepted the attack. They continued this for at least ten more swings before Bright Blade was able to get behind Umbara, now Bright was able to release Excellion and use his telekinesis to wield his mystic sword. Excellion slashed horizontally, about to cut Tikara in half!

But Tikara wasn't about to let Bright Blade gain an inch so easily. The black sword Umbara boomeranged around causing the golden alicorn to flap his wings, making him jump upwards at the last minute and back flip to his original position. Bright Blade, with a fierce look in his eyes, charged once again at Tikara. The evil alicorn was unimpressed as he prepared Umbara for Bright Blade's less than imaginative attack.

Bright Blade had Excellion pointed in front of him like a spear; he then willed his sword to start spinning. The blade whirled around like a drill as Bright Blade galloped at full speed. Surprised by the tactic, Tikara brought Umbara closer and with a quick dash rushed towards him. Bright Blade whipped Excellion into the air and Bright went after it. Catching it in the crook of his forehooves he slashed downwards, Tikara countered by having Umbara spin rapidly, becoming a buzz saw, and launching both himself and the sword straight up at the descending alicorn.

The warriors landed on all fours on opposite sides of where they once stood. Tikara turned around and awaited Bright Blade's response. Navy blue armor hit the ground, Bright Blade turned around to reveal his exposed face and Excellion held in his mouth. A bloody cut going up his right eye as Bright tried to blink the blood out his right eye.

Tikara Balak smiled a bit, at that moment he felt a stinging sensation coming from his right foreleg. He raised it up and inspected where the pain was emanating from. A few inches below the bend in his leg there was blood dripping out from where the armor had been broken, upon looking closer he saw that there was a red gash, not too deep, but now that he was aware it, Tikara could feel the pain. Tikara looked back up at Bright Blade and gave him a wicked smile, wider than the last.

On the ruined stairs Bright Blade's friends overlooked the battle that was taking place below them. Twilight and the others wanted to jump in and help Bright Blade. The royal sisters noticed this and shot the lot of them a disapproving glare.

"No Twilight, this is what Bright Blade, the Element of Hope, was brought here to do," said Celestia.

"This is the young one's fight, if he cannot defeat…Tikara…then this tragedy of a war will continue on," explained Luna. "Have faith in him, all of you…"

With a collection of grunts and frustrated growls, they did as the Princesses asked and relegated themselves to just watching them.

The wind started howl loudly and gust strongly. Neither one took their eyes off each other, unblinking, keeping a close eye on their movements. The wind picked up even more, creating a veil of thick ash that obscured Tikara Balak. With an insane smile on his face Tikara flew through the veil of ash, carrying Umbara in the crook his forehooves. Bright Blade jumped back, he then balanced himself on his hind legs to better wield Excellion with his forehooves.

Tikara's and Bright's blades met each other, the cling-clang of the orichalcum metal echoing throughout. Bright thrust with Excellion, but Tikara parried and used Excellion's blade to guide Umbara towards its target. Bright Blade adjusted the position of the sword making Umbara miss his head, instead the black blade cut the navy blue armor just around the left shoulder. The flame-like pattern of Umbara, combined with the dark mana radiating from it, made Bright Blade feel like he was being cut by a superheated hacksaw.

Tikara wretched the sword back, slicing through armor and flesh. The black sword's edge was stained red with blood. Building on his initial attack, Tikara Balak twirled Umbara around his left forehoof, he then used his right hoof to stop it from spinning and used the built up momentum to slash at a left angle.

Bright Blade got cut from his right shoulder to his chest, spraying his blood into the wind. Against the pain Bright used his telekinesis to hold Excellion as he galloped away from Tikara. Once he had gotten to the edge of the large platform he jumped up and took off into the air, prompting the evil alicorn to give chase. They rose higher and higher into the air; the pain of his wounds stinging badly, luckily his armor was strong and thick enough to lessen the depth of which Umbara cut through him.

Tikara Balak was coming in fast, breaking right and circling around to meet Bright Blade face to face. He spun, somersaulting in the air as he got closer to Bright Blade, holding out Umbara the whole time. The golden alicorn stopped himself and held out Excellion, pouring his energy into the sword. Tikara's Umbara made a screeching whistling noise as it cut through the air and finally made contact with Bright's sword, smashing against the flat of Excellion! Tikara took his left hoof and placed it on Umbara's blade, pushing the sword forward, grinning evilly and letting out a sadistic chuckle as he looked down at the struggling warrior.

Bright Blade kept his left hoof on the flat of Excellion's blade, trying to push back against Tikara. Bright's muzzle leaned in close, looking Tikara straight in the eyes, letting out a strong exhale that fogged up the sword's metal. The two of them broke away as they both began to funnel more of their mana into their weapons. Black and gold streaks of light clashed in midair, parrying, dodging, moving into slashes and thrusts, both pitting the entirety of their sword skills against one another. Their brows and manes were drenched with sweat as they continued their onslaught of blows, neither one willing to give in! No words needed to be spoken during this battle, no; their swords did the talking for them with every ringing clash.

Bright Blade and Tikara Balak injected more power into their swords as they flew at each other. Raising their mighty weapons over their heads as they brought them down into an intercepting slash! The result of which caused a mini shockwave that wretched both Excellion and Umbara from their hooves, sending the black and white swords flying down like released arrows. Tikara and Bright stared down in amazement at what had just happened, and then returned their gazes to each other. At that moment the two alicorns went into nose dives. They flapped their wings hard as their individual gold and black auras began to flare, propelling them even quicker.

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Luna, Celestia, Spike, and the Valkyries watched as the two stars descended down towards them. Not blinking once for fear that they would miss something crucial or the chance to intervene despite what they had agreed to. Further away, the united army held their breath as they watched the glowing black and gold stars fall. Those who knew prayed with all their might, for in their hearts they saw that this was the last duel for the fate of their world.

Tikara started to ram into Bright, and Bright retaliated by ramming himself into Tikara. Their burning auras grinding against its opposite alignment, groaning and hissing as good showed its disdain for evil and vice versa. After colliding in the air for what seemed like a dozen times, the two streaks of light broke off and landed on the ground with a mighty, concussive boom!

A thick dust cloud had been kicked up from the impact. Both warriors were definitely far from the Altar platform. Silhouettes of Bright and Tikara began to make themselves known as they rose up. When the smoke cleared Bright Blade was standing next to Umbara, which had landed with the blade sunk halfway into the ground. Tikara Balak found himself havening his old sword Excellion in the same position as his new one. The alicorns of good and evil exchanged a primal grin as they took hold of the others sword. Once lifted up it was apparent that the two swords were showing signs of strain, the blades had fissuring cracks running from the tip all the way to the guard. This fact was not lost on both Bright Blade and Tikara Balak, the only question for either now is how much more punishment could the orichalcum weapons take, all this would be decided in the next attack.

Bright Blade flicked his head, launching Umbara. Tikara Balak did the same, launching Excellion towards his opponent. They flapped their wings as they took possession of their rightful swords in their telekinetic grips. Grasping the swords with the crook of their hooves, both Bright Blade and Tikara Balak accelerated, preparing to deliver a diagonal slash from the right. Umbara and Excellion met once more, intercepting their wielders blows. Tikara and Bright's auras flared up once again as the swords took in their power as they pushed forward, digging into them, trying to force their respective opponent off, neither one willing to give in. But at that moment, something happened.

The cracks on Excellion and Umbara began to spider web, the small fissures glowing with the power of their masters. The swords finally gave way as their sword blades shattered, a dazzling display of black and white crystal shards floated before the stunned warriors as the shards sparkled in front of them. That's when they saw it, floating amongst the broken bits were two large pieces of Excellion and Umbara that hadn't broken but were still intact, both pieces measuring at about twelve inches.

Tikara Balak grabbed the floating piece of Umbara with his teeth. Bright Blade also grabbed the floating piece of Excellion. Both alicorns had tumbled behind each other, the tips of the ruined blades clenched tight between their teeth and pointing to their right. Then, without looking, without hesitation, Bright Blade twisted his head and body to the right leading with the white blade shard. At the same time Tikara Balak twisted his head and body to the right, leading with the black blade shard. The shards glowed with the mana filled auras of their masters as both let out a great battle cry from the depths of their souls! At the moment before contact white and dark mana exploded around them, merging, and then bursting open as the scraping of metal and flesh dwarfed the sounds the of the wind!

Twilight and the others ran as fast as they could to find them, but were too late and gazed at the two alicorns who were now standing still as statues, both blade shards dripping with blood.

Bright Blade and Tikara Balak, one seeking the recreation of the world through destruction, the other destined to thwart the evil of the dark alicorn. The yearlong war boiling down to this one battle between good and evil! And now we come to it at last, the outcome of the duel, and the fate of Bright Blade and the Elements of Harmony. Next time in War in Equestria: The Tale of Bright Blade…the final chapter…

War in Equestria: The Tale of Bright Blade

by Michael_Ravencroft

Chapter 41