Chapter 8 – Worth of a Warrior
Twilight looked bad. She had had bad mane days before, but nothing like this. Her mane was a mess, sticking out in all directions like spines on a purple cactus. Complementing this unsightly mess were her eyes, bloodshot and swollen from a night of non-stop guilt-induced tears. She sat in the back room of the library, clutching her quill pen in a magical vise-grip. A soft knock outside her door startled her out of her stupor.
“Twilight dear?” Came Rarity's muffled voice form the other side of the door, “You must come out! You can't blame yourself forever!”
“Go away!” she shouted, wishing to be left alone with her sorrow. “I can too blame myself forever! All these years learning and studying the power of friendship have obviously taught me nothing!”
A distinctly country voice resonated through the door. “Rarity's right Twi! Ya can't just stay locked up in there fer the rest of yer life! Yer always so quick to forgive us when we mess up, but ya gotta learn to forgive yer'self!”
“Just leave me alone!” Came the reply. Outside the door, Rarity glanced at Applejack, who shrugged and said in a low tone, “Just give 'er time. She'll come around sooner or later.”
After Valiant had disappeared, Twilight had locked herself in the back room of the library, refusing any food, water or company that was offered to her. That was about 30 hours ago. Now it was nearly 3:00 AM of the following day, and her friends were becoming concerned.
Rarity and Applejack returned to the main room of the library, sitting down on the floor next to a concerned Spike.
“How is she?” the dragon asked.
“Not very good I'm afraid,” said Rarity, obvious concern showing on her face as well. “She still blames herself for Valiant's disappearance.”
Frowning, the dragon responded, “Well... from the sound of things, it kinda was her fault... I mean, if she hadn't yelled at him...”
“Spike!” Applejack yelled, causing the dragon to reflexively duck his head. “Twilight was just concerned for our safety! You know how hard it is fer' her to trust alicorns after what she went through! Why, I've even heard her accuse Princess Luna of bein' a changeling since then!”
Shamefully, the dragon said, “I know... Do... do you think she's going to be alright?”
Rarity gave a reassuring nod. “Of course she will. If I know Twilight, she'll come around within a day or two at most. The important thing is to be as supportive of her as we can when she does open up again. We need to show her that we still love...” A piercing scream filled the night, interrupting Rarity's well-meant sentence.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack asked, poking her head out the window. At that moment, a deafening roar was heard throughout the town, causing the hair on the back of Rarity's neck to stand on end.
“Applejack... please tell me that's not a...”
Applejack nodded. “It's an Ursa...”
The door to the back-room flew open, admitting an exhausted looking Twilight. “An Ursa Minor.” She said, finishing Applejack's sentence. Fierce determination replaced the sadness on her face, as she sprinted out the door to confront the invading beast. As she galloped down the street, she noticed two young male unicorns running for their lives towards her.
“SNIPS, SNAILS!” she yelled, as they charged towards her.
“It wasn't our fault this time! Honest!” Snips yelled, as he ran past her. “Just help us! It's right on our tails!”
“Yeah...” giggled Snails as he ran, “I think it remembers us...”
“Less talk pea-brain!” Snips yelled, as the disappeared behind a nearby house. “Run faster!”
Twilight gazed into the night, waiting for the bear-like creature to show itself around the corner. She didn't have to wait long, as the Ursa rounded the corner at full speed, running straight into a magical barrier which Twilight had conjured up.
Growling, it clawed the air as Twilight magically lifted it off its feet. She conjured up the wind, attempting to create the same musical tune she used during the last ursa invasion, but the dry autumn reeds merely snapped and began to fly throughout the town.
The Ursa growled again, raking it's claws at the barrier, slowly beginning to break through. If she didn't do something soon it would break completely, and then... Twilight didn't even want to think about what would happen then. As a last resort, she mentally braced herself and launched the creature out of the town, right up to the edge of the forest. To Twilight's relief, the Ursa Minor turned and, whimpering, scampered back into the forest.
Sighing, Twilight collapsed on the ground, utterly spent from propelling that much mass such an incredible distance. Her fear redoubled, however, when a second roar, twice as deafening as that of the Ursa Minor, echoed throughout the town. Twilight's heart sank as slowly, out of the forest, emerged the giant, purple shape of an Ursa Major. She knew she had never fought something that huge before... Gulping, Twilight swallowed her fear. While she was deathly afraid, she knew that if she didn't stop it, the rampaging creature would destroy the whole town.
The Mother Ursa's eyes roamed the town, searching for the being who dared harm its cub. Locking onto Twilight, it began its slow, thundering walk towards the center of town. Stepping onto a house, it crushed it, sending the ponies inside screaming away in fear as they barely managed to get out in time.
Running forward, Twilight levitated some of the bigger pieces of rubble left over from the house, sending them crashing into the Ursa, who merely shrugged them off, no more irritating to it than flies to an elephant. Panting with exertion and almost completely drained, she tried the last spell she could think to use; one which she had only recently mastered: fireball. With the last of her strength, she created an enormous ball of flame, which grew in size with each passing second. When she could hold it no longer, she let it go, sending it towards the Ursa at high speed. The creature roared in pain as its fur was singed by the giant projectile.
Twilight's strength finally gave out, as she forcefully sat on the ground, wheezing. " I did it..." she panted, "Surely it will give... up..." Staring in disbelief, Twilight could only watch as the smoke dissipated, revealing the Ursa Major completely unharmed and quickly bearing down on her. As it reached her, it reared back it's right arm, preparing to crush the offending filly with its claws. Twilight screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the blow to land.
A screeching sound was heard as metal slid against claw. Realizing she wasn't dead, Twilight opened her eyes, gasping in astonishment at her savior; the last pony she ever expected to see coming to her rescue. Her mind still numb from shock, she could merely sit and stare at him. Wow... she thought numbly, Without his cloak, Valiant is much more handsome than I ever imagined... Of course, when you work out as much as he probably does, beauty IS a typical side effect. I wonder what I would look like if I put down the books every once in a while and...
Valiant coughed, straining at the weight of the Ursa's arm. “Pardon me, m'lady, but... Would you mind moving? This is... somewhat heavy.”
Blushing with embarrassment, Twilight speechlessly nodded. She slowly crawled out from under the massive paw and limped back towards the library, assisted by Applejack and Rarity, who had happily come out after they realized their friend was okay.
Once Twilight was inside, Valiant rolled to the side, allowing the claw to fall to the ground. The Ursa growled in frustration as it watched its prey escape inside. Bringing out his shield, Valiant yelled at it, challenging it to fight him instead of attacking the library. The Ursa was momentarily confused, but after a few seconds turned and swung it's massive paw at Valiant, who took the blow in his shield, saving him from the initial injury but unfortunately not preventing him from flying backwards through the wall of a nearby house.
Valiant disentangled himself from the rubble and, coughing, shook the dust from his body, unfurling his wings and taking to the sky with a battle cry. The Ursa swept its paw forward again, but Valiant was ready for it this time. With a quick midair flip, he dodged the claws, whirling back around to bring his razor-sharp blade down on them, severing them from the Ursa's hand.
The Ursa bellowed in pain as it's claws were severed. Now defenseless with one hand, it changed tactics. Swiping with its uninjured paw, it waited until Valiant dodged out of the way and slammed the injured one down on him before he could react again. The alicorn slammed into the ground, the force of impact creating a small crater where he crashed.
The ponies in the library could only watch as the Ursa Major raised it's massive paw and slammed it into the crater, creating small earthquakes throughout the town. No... Twilight thought. No no no no no! He's alright! He's got to be alright! Contrary to her hopes, no signs of movement came from the crater; Valiant was either dead, or close to it. Chuffing with victory, the Ursa suddenly remembered its previous prey. Turning its back on the crater, it began to shuffle slowly over to the library, intent on finishing what it started. Shakily, Twilight stood to her feet, standing protectively in front of her two friends.
“I... I'm sorry girls...” she stuttered. “The Ursa Major is angry at me. If I go outside, it may take me and leave the rest of you alone.”
Despite their protests, Twilight opened the door and stepped outside. As she walked towards the Ursa, Celestia, somehow oblivious to the events of the town, began to raise the sun, driving away the shadows of the night. Princess... I'm sorry... Twilight thought, as she stepped forward to meet her doom...
As the sun's light touched the crater, a bright beam shone from within, stopping Twilight in her tracks. What is... A shining white figure slowly rose from the crater, carrying with it a giant, flaming sword. Surprised, the Ursa turned towards the mysterious creature, bellowing in fright as it saw the sword. It had already been burned once today, and it was not eager to try it again.
A loud voice resonated from the shining figure. “BE GONE FOUL CREATURE OF THE NIGHT! THOU HAST TERRORIZED THE GOOD PONIES OF THIS TOWN LONG ENOUGH! GO BACK TO THE FOREST FROM WHENCE YOU CAME!”
The figure flew towards the Ursa, who began to slowly back up, frightened of the flaming sword. It gave a final bellow, as if it wanted to have the final word, before it turned and fled at full speed back into the Everfree forest.
Cheers erupted from across the entire town, which at this point had begun to gather at the site of the battle. The mysterious figure slowly began to float down into the middle of the cheering crowd, the glow slowly fading from his body. By the time he reached the ground, all doubts as to the pony's identity were shattered, his blonde fur and wavy brown mane now clearly visible. As his feet touched the ground, Valiant Daybreak, Prince of Coralland, grinned sheepishly at the crowd before allowing exhaustion to finally take hold. As he collapsed on the ground, the world began to fade to blackness, but before it could do so completely, he noticed a familiar pair of butterscotch colored legs uncharacteristically push their way through the crowd and stop by his side.
› › › › › › › › › › › › ›
3000 miles away, a pair of bright, yellow eyes slowly opened. Their owner moved from his desk, alerting the guard outside his room.
“Prince!” he said, as he entered the room, “Is something the matter?”
The Black Prince curled his lips up into a smile, showing his yellow pointed teeth. “No, lieutenant. In fact, alert the cooks to open the celebratory wine! I shall be reunited with family soon!”
A puzzled look washed over the guard's face. “... Prince, sir?”
“Never-mind lieutenant,” The Prince said with a gesture of dismissal. “Return to your post.”
“Yessir!”
As the guard moved back into the hallway, The Prince smiled again. That immense power surge could only have come from one pony... My brother is alive.
Author's Comments
There you go! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! What did you think of the chapter? And what do you think of this new development? Eager to learn more about The Black Prince? Continue to follow the story! I shall post the next chapter next Monday! Thanks again for the comments and suggestions! Have a great week!