//------------------------------// // 28 - Race To The Conclusion // Story: Legends Of Ponyville // by mechafone //------------------------------// Shimmering Oasis took in a deep breath of that rich, mountain air. Nothing felt, tasted or smelled quite like freedom. Or victory. A small smile plastered over her face as she made a mental check of all the changelings that she'd taken over in the caves. Of all of them, only a single one had survived, save for their pathetic "queen". It was over, then. There was simply no way Spark Storm or his comrades could have survived the collapsing of the caves. There just wasn't time for it. So she'd done it, then. She'd changed everything, and freed herself from her nightmares. So...why didn't she feel any different? The princess frowned. Something was wrong. She'd missed something, something important. What could it possibly be? She'd crushed her enemies under tons of earth, and she'd made sure that there wasn't nearly enough time to get out. So what- The alicorn's thoughts were interrupted as a sudden bolt of electricity, thick around as a young tree, split the sky from above and struck the ground directly in back of the princess, searing her backside and sending her crashing forward through the branches of several maple trees. She rolled until she came to a stop, her mane littered with twigs and tree sap. "You're a terrible shot," she heard a female voice saying from somewhere behind her. "I want her alive!" growled the unmistakable voice of Spark Storm. No. No, this isn't happening. I did everything right, I made sure he was buried! the alicorn thought, panic, embarrassment and fury rising in her chest. Shimmering Oasis emerged from the branches to stare at a stranger scene than she was expecting: Spark Storm, her hated enemy, with what seemed to be an extra head. The leafy extremity suddenly leapt from him and disappeared into the foliage beside him as Spark turned to face the princess, eyes narrowed at the alicorn. As Spark Storm's wings lit up with live electricity, the two stared silently at each other. There was no need for words. Spark Storm shot off a bolt at the princess. It met resistance in the form of a psychic shield, which was formed into a sphere and shot back at Spark. The pegasus leapt sideways, narrowly missing the projectile shield just as it rammed into the ground, sending up mounds of packed dirt everywhere. As the shower of dirt obscured her view, Shimmering Oasis looked left; no Spark. She looked right, still no pegasus. Instead, he shot forward from behind the cloud of dust, propelled by powerful wings. The alicorn began forming a new shield, but it was quickly countered with a massive shock to her horn. The princess let out a cry of pain and reared up on her hind legs, her forelegs swinging wildly in an attempt to hit Spark as he grew closer. Her flailing was ineffective as the pegasus connected with the alicorn. The two tumbled together as the force of the blow took Shimmering Oasis off her hooves. The two traded physical blows, biting, stomping, kicking, psychic blows and electric shocks. The tumbling took the two to the edge of a dropoff, where Spark tumbled off the alicorn and nearly fell off, barely hanging on. Falling wasn't a problem, but if he lost the princess here, she'd get away. There didn't seem to be a problem there yet, though, as the alicorn grasped a thick branch in her magical grasp, snapped it from the tree it was attached to, and made her way over to Spark, his wings charging below her view. She brought the branch over her head, but before she could swing it down, Spark released the beach ball-sized sphere of electricity he'd built up into the princess' face. There was a rapid if brief succession of two loud cracks that rang out into the open air as the ball erupted ans sent Shimmering Oasis into the tree behind her. Spark Storm scrambled to his hooves, only to find his entire body grasped in a sheen of gold magic, which began to squeeze. Spark struggled, kicking at the magical bubble that was quickly closing around him. Shimmering Oasis got to her hooves, her horn blazing angrily as she lifted him into the air to get a better look at him, eager to see the pegasi's face before he was squished like a grape. Spark's wings flared to life and started firing off bolts of electricity, which bounced around inside the bubble, even as he felt his body running out of room to move, the alicorn's magical grasp constricting him. Spark let out a strained growl of pain and anger, his eyes closing to prevent them from popping out of their sockets. The bubble grew silent. Suddenly, the bubble filled with a dark mist. Her view obscured, Shimmering Oasis glared suspiciously at the magical bubble. An instant later, the bubble shattered, the alicorn's magic cut off at the horn, a painful experience for her as she retreated backwards and fell against the tree at her rear. As she did, she heard a thump as something heavy fell to the ground. Shimmering Oasis stared in shock at the creature that had emerged from her magical prison. Heavy hooves hoisted a heavy body to its feet. Dark blue electricity sparked along its mane, wings and tail, all of which were enveloped in a thick, star-filled mist. It wasn't the same creature she'd encountered earlier, in the nymph's mind. This one was similar, with the same physical attributes, but this was, without a doubt, Spark Storm. The stallion opened his eyes, raised his wings, and shot out a beam of luminous blue lightning at the alicorn. The princess put up a shield. It held, but the powerful bolt pushed the defending alicorn against the tree hard enough to snap it in half, sending Shimmering Oasis at least fifty feet beyond that point. The sudden return to the ground while she was still moving made her lose her footing, and she rolled a few yards further and came to a trembling stop. Shimmering Oasis was losing steam. From the confrontation with Spark Storm using Shadow Heart, to controlling every last changeling in the caves, and now exerting laborious spells, the alicorn was finally running low on magic and energy. She wouldn't be able to keep this up, especially not with this troublesome new development. The princess wished she had more time to think on this situation, but there was none to be had. She raised her tired gaze to Spark Storm as he spread his wings, crouched, and sprang into the air. Spark's ethereal new wings seemed to lack his old limits, and the pegasus rose in the air, wings carrying him higher over Shimmering Oasis. This, of course, was a startling revelation to the starry-maned pegasus. He let out a panicked whinny and lost his balance. He spun erratically, and came crashing down to the ground just beyond Shimmering Oasis. The panic, though brief, was enough to shock whatever it was that had come over Spark Storm to drop. As Spark regained his footing, the dark mist pouring from his body was gone, his look and body back to normal. As the pegasus got back to his hooves, a look of confusion on his face, it dawned on Shimmering Oasis that he'd been completely oblivious to his transformation and to the increase in his powers. It was a cruel joke, to be overpowered by her enemy who had no idea of the power that slept within him. "Fool...you ignorant fool, you disgust me!" she shouted furiously. Spark Storm glared at Shimmering Oasis, his teeth bared. He was tired. From his battle with Shadow Heart, Fire Lotus and fighting dozens of changelings to save Ampelus, and now this battle with the Neippon princess. He was only vaguely aware that something had been different. He wanted desperately to know what had happened to him, to demand to know what the princess had done to him, but a different question had been lingering in his mind. "...Why? What did I do to deserve your hatred? This is more than just revenge for a foiled plan, this is personal! Why are you doing this?!" Shimmering Oasis stared at Spark Storm as he'd just asked the most ridiculous question ever asked. She brought a hoof to her face in exasperation, sighed, then began to walk towards her foe, an angry but tired expression on her face. She walked as if the fight had gone out of her, and it might as well have. "You ill-informed foal. If it is the truth you seek, then I shall let you have it." Spark Storm tensed as she approached him, yet he couldn't bring himself to attack her. His wings raised over his head, yet he couldn't call his offenses to arms. He trembled with anticipation and some fear as the alicorn stood over him, close enough to feel her exasperated breaths on his face. "I shall show you the truth I saw nine hundred years ago, then you shall despair in the knowledge that this whole situation was your doing!" Spark Storm felt a fearful chill run down his spine. He took in a breath to scream as the alicorn's horn lit up. Her eyes followed, and Spark felt his breath stop, his blood ran cold, and his mind stolen as Shimmering Oasis showed him her truth. Nine hundred years ago... Shimmering Oasis shot up in her bed, gasping for breath, a heavy sweat shining in her mane. She'd had that dream again, the one where she witnessed a great storm that seemed to envelop the entire planet. Ever since her father had revealed his daughter's prophesy to her, she'd had that dream every night since. It was always the same: Shimmering Oasis stood on a hill, a hill that somehow had a view of the planet from space. The earth was troubled, overtaken with war and strife, caused by a mysterious being of unending chaos. The planet itself was unhappy. Soon enough, the entire planet was soon covered in a soothing rain, a cleansing storm that washed away the filth, restored the color of the planet and eased the troubling chaos. What truly troubled the young alicorn was that she seemed to be on the outside of the events. She seemed to be neither part of the solution or the problem. What role did she have in these events? Did she have any role in the future? The young princess slipped out of bed and approached the large slab of wood that held her newest prophesy, recently moved into her room for her to study. Day after day, it taunted her, confused her. This early morning was no different. It never spoke to her, it never revealed to her its secrets. This night would be different, though, as she soon felt a presence behind her where before there had been none. Shimmering Oasis gasped as before her stood the tallest, most mis-matched creature she'd ever seen. She'd heard tales of the draconequus, of their bizarre appearances, but she'd never seen one before. He was truly a sight to behold. In days old, when her grandfather had been alive, he had told stories to his son of when his grandparents spoke of the draconequus, how there had been many. In today's age, there was only one, and he ruled Equestria, a land far to the west. The alicorn bowed her head in deference, which he quickly waved off. "Oh, spare me the fake formalities, little one," he said, completely unimpressed with the princess' manners. The alicorn continued nondeterred, a gentle tilt of the head was usually enough to sway most neighsayers (at her age, she was very very cute). The draconequus merely shook his head and tsk'd. "Now now, there's no point in trying to look innocent, princess," he said, arms linked behind his back as he leaned down to whisper conspiratorially in her ear, "...after all, I know what you did to your mother." A chill ran down Shimmering Oasis' back. She stared at the intruder, not sure whether or not to believe him. It was possible that someone knew, but this creature? He looked so silly, with his two protruding fangs, the mismatched body. Still, something seemed very threatening about him. "I don't know what you mean, sir Discord, I assure you," she said, still giving him the innocent head tilt. "Besides, should you not be explaining why you have come halfway across the world to visit me in my bedchambers?" Discord merely laughed and turned around, pacing back towards the princess' bed, his eyes darting to the messy sheets and damp pillowcase. Shimmering Oasis flushed with embarrassment and quickly brushed past the draconequus and began making her bed, pulling the covers neatly over her bed to cover her pillow. "This is where it happens, isn't it?" she heard, a frown pulling over her previously calm and collected gaze. "The dreams," Discord explained when the princess offered no rebuttal. "The storm you see in your nightmares." "Nightmares, dreams, what is your point?" she said, turning back around to face Discord, who smiled gleefully down at her. "I suppose that would depend on your definition of dreams vs nightmares. Do your nightly visions bring you calm? A reason for panic, hm?" Shimmering Oasis made a face at her intruder. She turned away from him as a nagging feeling in her gut told her something was very, very wrong about this situation. As she thought, Discord grinned madly and began to float around her in a loose circle, relaxing on his back with his claws behind his head. "I can feel those cogs in your head turning, princess. Take your time, I've got plenty of it." The young alicorn paced back and forth in her room, from her bed to the prophetic slab of marble. What was wrong with this situation, and why couldn't she place it? She stopped in front of the marble slab, studying it for a moment, when it came to her. Her eyes widened with fear as she turned back around to look at Discord, who merely smiled at her with that crooked grin. One of his fangs was missing. "You...you can't be here," she whispered, the fur on her body standing on end. "I...I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, but you can't be here! You were turned to stone one hundred years ago by the sisters Celestia and Luna!" Shimmering Oasis fell to the floor. How could she have forgotten that? Was she going mad? Was she finally paying the price for driving her mother to insanity? "No, you're not going mad, my dear, and you're not paying the price for anything." Discord's voice broke through the panic rising in Shimmering Oasis' chest. She looked up at him as he reached down with his eagle claw to help her up. "I'm here to make a deal with you. Your talents have intrigued me, and I want to make use of them." "I...what? What could I possibly do for an ancient lord who, for all I know, is still encased in stone halfway across the world?" she asked, cautiously reaching out to take the offered help. It was real. It was warm. She stood, trembling and afraid. "I want you to be my eyes and my ears over the next few hundred years. Say...the next thousand years. I want you to serve me in any way that I might ask you to, whenever I ask you. I might call on you tomorrow, I might call for you in five hundred years. Just know that if you accept my deal, you must answer to me in any way that I wish without question." "A deal, you say? she said, her bravado slowly returning. "If I agree, what shall I receive?" This was what Discord was waiting for. With a wicked grin, he reached forward and touched the young alicorn's horn. Shimmering Oasis let out a surprised, terrified gasp that slowly etched out into a soft, almost sensual moan. Visions swam before her, possibilities in the future. The future of her country, hundreds of years in the future, the future of her career, and- The visions were suddenly gone, cut off as Discord removed his claw from the alicorn's horn. She opened her eyes and glared at him, a desperate, hungry look in her eyes. "Was...was that...?" Discord let out an excited little squee and twirled around in mid-air in a 'tadaaa' fashion. "Isn't it wonderful? If you serve me, Shimmering Oasis, I will give you the ability to forego your trance state when you make your prophesies. Not only that, but you'll be able to call them up at will. No waits, no limits in time, as you've already demonstrated you're capable of," he said, gesturing to the marble caricature." Shimmering Oasis stared up at Discord with tears in her eyes. Was this really happening? This had been a dream of hers for twenty five years, to be powerful, to be wise, to have no limits, and here was a god of indeterminate power offering these things to her, and for what, a little servitude? "Yes, yes!" she said, her eyes bright, a nearly maniacal smile on her face. "I will do as you ask!" Discord grinned, a fanged grin that spread wider than it should've been able to as he offered her his lion's paw. "Then I offer you this: the God's Bargain. I give you a massive increase to your natural abilities-and you offer me your life in servitude. Shimmering Oasis did not hesitate. She reached up and placed her hoof in his paw. As she did, a golden ribbon of light began appeared around their paw/hoof and began wrapping around the two in a sideways figure eight, the sign of infinity. The ribbon grew smaller until it disappeared, taking the golden light with it and leaving the two in darkness. The young aliorn frowned. She didn't feel any different. She looked up at Discord, a fearful look in her eyes. "I don't understand. Why don't I feel any different?" Discord smirked down at the young princess, then reached down to brush her cheek with his lion's paw. "Because, my dear, you're still asleep." Shimmering Oasis shot up in bed, gasping for breath. Her mane shone with a fresh sheen of sweat, and her pillowcase was damp. A dream...it was all a dream, she thought. It was so real, and it was so unfair! A tear made it's way down her cheek, then began to fall. She watched it carefully, watched it slow down. She stared hard into the teardrop, and she could see. She could see everything. She saw her father getting older. She saw herself growing into the most beautiful alicorn she'd ever seen. She saw nine hundred years of her country's future laid out before her. Visions swam in her head, too fast for her to keep track of. She saw a war in her home land, a terrible civil war. She saw profit. She saw freedom, freedom from her father's political grasp. The young princess again found tears running down her cheeks, but this time it was from pure elation. Somehow, her dream had been real. She had been visited by the draconequus Discord, he had given her an incredible gift. She leapt out of bed with an excited scream only to fall again on the cold floor, wriggling with joy and kicking her legs. After a moment she got back to her hooves, having expelled enough energy to calm down. In the quiet of the morning, she had time to sit down and think. She now had the power to look at any point in the future without going into a trance state, also no longer limited to just five years in the future. Where would she look first? The first thing that came to mind was herself, of course. She was a beautiful mare, and sometimes could be very vain. She closed her eyes and concentrated. What would her love life be like? A vision slowly came to her, an image of a long, long line of stallions, reaching from her home to lands far away. Well, she was immortal, undoubtedly there would be time for many. What about her future as the princess of Neippon? An excited smile came over her face as she looked forward into the future. She saw herself growing older, more mature, more beautiful. Wiser, stronger. She saw her psychic powers growing in strength. She saw herself getting clever, smarter, meeting other ponies with the same ambitions. One of these ponies, located just under nine hundred years into the future, held the most promise. This one was an earth pony mare. She was very beautiful, with a red coat and a black mane. What was her name?...Fire Lotus? It reminded Shimmering Oasis of passion and drive. In her vision she could tell that this Fire Lotus was driven with a purpose, a very dark purpose to turn the land into a glorious field of anger, hate and death. It was a feeling that the alicorn princess had been waiting so long for. This mundane existence that her father made her live would be well worth tolerating the wait. Greedy still, Shimmering Oasis pushed forward, eager to see the next thousand years. Something was wrong, though. Although she could see the world beyond meeting Fire Lotus, she could not see herself. She was missing from the future. Why couldn't she see herself? It was beginning to frustrate her. She pulled back in time, back to when she would meet Fire Lotus, and slowly pulled forward. She and Fire Lotus would unite, beginning a long, thought out plan that would eventually allow them to overthrow her father and begin a new reign of control for them both. The plan would continue for several years, slowly gaining power and control from the country's war. The alicorn had to smile to herself. It was a glorious feeling, knowing that her plans would eventually come to fruition. But then, something began to obscure her vision. Whatever caused her to lose sight of herself in the future was approaching. Whatever was going to happen would occur to her personally. Something that happened, or someone she met. She saw news of her father begging a city of the west for help. The vision continued to blue, even as Shimmering Oasis put all her power into continuing her prophecy. She saw a ship sailing to Neippon, she saw a band of children, children coming to give her father assistance. Her head began to hurt, flashes of light dancing in her head, causing her pain. She cried out in pain, but she was so close! She made one final push, and finally saw the figure that prevented her from seeing herself in the future. It was..."No!" she cried as she lost the image. She fell to the floor, gasping for breath as the pounding pain in her head began to recede. The young alicorn cried softly, both from pain and from frustration. Why was this happening to her? She raised her head to stare at the marble prophecy. She stared at it harder, and it suddenly hit her: it was him. The Storm Bringer. He was on that ship, headed to Neippon to offer assistance. Her father's words returned to her: "I believe that you will be directly involved with the Storm Bringer, my daugher." Shimmering Oasis stared off into space, beyond the marble slab. It was the Storm Bringer. It was he that would directly influence her future into obscurity, into nothingness. The Storm Bringer would erase her from the future. Back to the present... Spark Storm stared at Shimmering Oasis in shock. The alicorn sat before him, tears of frustration running down her face. For the briefest of moments, Spark wanted to reach up and wipe her tears away, to comfort the princess, to tell her that he wouldn't destroy her. As if sensing this, Shimmering Oasis glared down at him. "I knew it was you. The moment I met you when you arrived at my father's camp, I knew it was you: the Storm Bringer! To this day, I still cannot see my future, and that is because sometime soon, you will erase me! So what now, Spark Storm? Do you have it in your heart to kill me? Will you make my visions come true?" She sat up and spread her arms, making a clear space at her heart. Spark Storm stared at the alicorn, beginning to tremble. He wasn't a murderer. He wasn't a savior, either. He was just Spark Storm, an orphaned pegasus that could make a little static electricity. Faced with a decision that he couldn't make, Spark shook his head in terror and ran from the princess, as fast as he could. He didn't even register when Ampelus grabbed on to him as he ran under her perch. Shimmering Oasis sighed quietly, then turned around and slowly limped away. Her last fall had broken her right hind ankle, yet the pain barely registered, the alicorn's thoughts far from her own well-being. "What the hell was that, Spark Storm?" Ampelus demanded for the fifth time since rejoining him as he was running from Shimmering Oasis. And for the fifth time, Spark ignored her, or didn't hear her, still lost and in shock. The nymph had had enough. She wrapped her remaining vines around his front legs, pulling him down to tumble on the ground. Spark struggled fearfully, beginning to whimper and hyperventilate. "Let me go! Just let me go!" he cried. Ampelus wrapped a vine around Spark's muzzle, pulling his mouth closed to shut him up. She pulled his face close to hers, a frustrated scowl written on her face. Spark Storm found himself muzzle to muzzle with the nymph. His legs were unbound, and he felt Ampelus' forelegs wrapping around him, one soothingly brushing through his mane. "Seven hundred years old and I expect everyone to act my age," she said quietly, a gentle look on her face. "With all the action you've seen, it's easy to forget that you're still just a colt. I don't know what happened between the two of you, but it was obviously something that reminded you that you're still just a boy." Spark tensed, feeling embarrassment from her words, as well as the confusion and fear he'd felt when Shimmering Oasis asked if he was truly capable of murder. His head swam with emotions that terrified him, encouraged him to plunge into a deep, dark place that called to him to kill, to run back to Shimmering Oasis and tear out her heart. And yet it was Ampelus, a natural born killer's soothing motherly touch and words that slowly calmed his heart. As Spark sat there and listened to his own breath and heartbeat with the nymph's forelegs wrapped around him, her warmth reminded him of the way his own mother would hold him like this when he was upset. It was hard to think of Ampelus, the sex-driven murderer as a mother figure, but at the moment he couldn't think of any other way to look at her than as his savior, pulling him back from the brink of a very dark place. He closed his eyes as tears of frustration and weariness began to fall. Ampelus said not a word as the pegasus buried his face against her neck, cradling his body as well as she could to hers. Aaaaand MERRY CHRISTMAS! I wanted to finish the other half of this, but that might've taken me all day and there wouldn't be a new chapter up for you guys for Christmas. So, hope you guys enjoyed this tiny taste of what's in store for Spark Storm's future. Soon, I'll be starting a brand new arc that takes Spark Storm and his friends in a new direction as they cross the sea. Along the way they'll meet a slew of new characters and villains, as well as discovering a new changeling hive! Exciiited! Merry Christmas, y'all, and stay tuned for part 2 of this conclusion.