//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: First Darkness // Story: Darkness of Ages - Book 1: Greyhield // by YoungQuillMaster //------------------------------// Blaze finished his last lap around Ponyville with his sheathed practice sword strapped to his side, feeling quite good about how his consistent streak of loses had morphed to ties, than had changed into occasional victories, much like the first one he had had a few weeks ago. It had been, roughly, eight months since he had first come to Ponyville, something he had not been the most enthusiastic about when he had first found it out. Flint had said he wanted to train him to his full potential, but eight months was getting on the ridiculous side. A thud coming from behind him said that Flint had made his usual entrance. Blaze didn’t say anything as Flint moved up beside him. “Morning, Blaze, trust you rested well.” Flint said as he turned to look at Blaze. Blaze nodded as he lifted the blade from his side, ready to start practice quickly. “Thank you for returning that.” Flint said as he gripped the sheathed blade in his magic. Blaze looked confused at Flint as he let go of the sword. “Aren’t we going to practice?” Blaze asked as Flint strapped the sheath to his side under his cloak, on the opposite side of his usual practice sword. “No, your time is up.” Flint replied as he turned away from Blaze. “You have learned enough from me, now you need to learn from yourself.” Flint continued as he started to walk down the path. Blaze began to follow him quickly. “What do you mean? I can’t learn anything from myself; you taught me most of what I know.” Blaze asked as he fell in beside Flint. “As true as that may seem to you, I haven’t taught you anything, merely awakening what you had inside of you, a process you must finish. You have progressed quite well, I hope you don’t stop.” Flint replied as he continued down the path. Blaze felt a shiver run down him as Flint spoke, a feeling he had grown accustomed to. He had learned that they usually signaled he would go into the strange vision soon. “What’s happening, why are you…” With that Blaze fell onto his side, feeling disorientated, unable to move. Blaze attempted to stand, but found he was unable to move. “I’m sorry for doing this to you...” a voice said in his ear. Blaze breathed heavily as he tried to fight against the cloud that was engulfing his vision, attempting to get back to Flint. A clash of steel on something hard, a roar of pain, a triumphant shout, a deep rumbling voice, blood, rage, a devastating blow, and then… nothing. Blaze shot up from the forest floor, looking around him quickly, assessing his surroundings. The forest was quiet, the sound of leaves rustling above him as wind blew past the forest canopy. Blaze looked to where Flint had been, but saw only the empty path before him. Blaze stood up, continuing to look at the forest before him. Suddenly a dull thud resounded through the forest, originating beside him. He looked and saw the shaft of an arrow stinking out of a tree with a piece of paper stuck on it. He levitated the paper off of it and noticed the black tint of ink. Flipping it over and smoothing it out, Blaze began to read the message. ‘Your time is complete. Go, find your family. Nothing is held against you now. You may return when you wish. The trains and chariots are now fixed.’ Blaze read over the note several times, trying to see if this might be a test, some sign of it not really meaning what was written on its surface. After a few more times reading it, Blaze reluctantly walked out of the forest. He had so desperately wanted to see his family during his extended stay, but now that he had the chance, that urge was just gone. He didn’t feel the desire as he had previously; he still wanted to find his family, but the force of that desire was now just a flicker of the roaring fire that had once been. Blaze trotted out of the forest at a brisk pace. He had used the time he had taken to get out of the forest to think about how he would soon be seeing his family again, but he still didn’t feel as enthusiastic as he had before, in fact, he was now feeling less enthusiastic than he had when he had first read the note. In the distance Blaze could make out the Ponyville train station. The platform was filled and a line spiraled off through the streets. Blaze concluded that the train to Canterlot was indeed functioning again, as Flint had stated. But even this didn’t make Blaze feel any more enthusiastic about leaving, nor any more comfortable about it. “Blaze!” He heard Twilight call from somewhere. He looked around, but didn’t see her, and then he looked up and saw her flying a tad unsteadily. “The train to Canterlot is working again. Pack your things quickly; I’m not sure how many of these ponies the train can actually hold.” Blaze nodded and galloped off towards Amber’s house to get his few things. Blaze flew through the front door, nearly having the door swing into Mrs. Cross. He swerved around Half Pint and Blizzard, his training with Flint making it easy to take the tight turns and not lose too much momentum. He used his magic and opened the guestroom before he reached it and began to quickly levitate several objects from around the room into his saddlebags. Blaze nodded as each book of some military history, tactics, or some other topic related to Equestria’s fighting force floated past his vision and into his bags. He continued, nearly oblivious to the looks he had gained from the other ponies that he had gone past. “Uh, Blaze, what’s going on? Why are you packing? Are you going somewhere?” Half Pint asked as he walked up to the door, watching as the object from around room floated towards Blaze. “The train to Canterlot is fixed and I’m shipping out on it.” Blaze replied as he tightened the buckles on his bags and levitated them onto his back. Blaze looked to his friend, realizing that Amber was not there. “So, you’re actually leaving? You can always stay, you know?” Blizzard stated questioningly. Blaze looked over them. “If you ever need a place to stay you can count on us.” Blaze nodded slowly. “I do have to go. Thank you guys, you’re the greatest friends a colt could ever have.” Blaze said as a small smile formed on his face. Half Pint nodded with his own smile, while Blizzard usual blank look stayed the same as he nodded. Suddenly the room flashed into a scene of an encampment with ponies in armor weaving between the various tents like ants, always moving. Half Pint and Blizzard stood before him in full armor; both of them saluted, and then stood to the side, allowing him to pass through the doorway of the tent. Mrs. Cross walked by him and nodded, her white nurse clothing stained red and brown in places from fresh and dried blood. Blaze stood outside of the house, free from the vision. Ponyville now back in its usual form, no tents, no ponies in armor, no blood, just Ponyville, the simple hamlet. Blaze trotted towards train platform, realizing how empty he felt. He had just said good bye to his only friends he had ever had. True, one day he and his family might pass by for a show, but even that was unlikely. Ponyville was so small that it probably wouldn’t even pay for the family’s expenses for the trip, much less for the show. He son stood on the boarding platform beside Twilight, both waiting to get on the train with the other ponies. Blaze found it interesting how the station had continued to put more and more passenger cars on behind the engine, something that would definitely slow them down. Blaze looked away from the train and towards the town and saw his three friends standing there, Amber included. They waved at him; he nodded back with a small smile, glad to be able to see them at least one last time. “All ponies bound for Canterlot, we are ready for boarding!” The station manager yelled again as the next set of cars was beginning to be filled. Blaze and Twilight were fortunately some of the last ponies in line, meaning they had the small luxury of only a partially filled cabin. Blaze sat down across the aisle from Twilight. He opened one of his bags and pulled out a book at random. He flipped open the book, scanning through the table of contents until he came across something that peeked his interest. He quickly flipped to the page number and read over the title of the section again. ‘Blaze Eternal and the Dragon of Darkness’ it read proudly. Blaze started to read, wandering why it seemed he was in this book. In the fifth year B.C., a great dragon descended upon pony kind. A great and terrible beast which the three races could not best with any of their armies, the pegasi were beaten back easily, the unicorns with their spells were unable to best the dragon, and the earth pony machines of war and strength were ineffective. As the ponies of the world were faced with what seemed to be there end, a pony rose up as their last chance of victory against the beast. This pony was Blaze Eternal, first son of Queen Platinum, a rising user of magic under the tutelage of Clover the Clever and a warrior of great skill. As Blaze continued ready, his imagination took flight and painted the scene in his mind’s eye. A pony army marched up the tall, dark mountain in the dead of night. A massive bolt of fire rose from the mountain peak, striking the clouds above, sending rain down in a heavy down pour. Soon the rocky path was a stream off water cascading down the mountain, attempting to sweep the ponies off of their hooves. Thunder clapped in the distance as the white flashes of lightning gave brief moments of near day-like light only to have the world descend into darkness once again. The lead pony’s armor shone in the dim moon light, his cape drenched from the rain. He rounded yet another turn in the path with his small army, bringing him and his group to the mouth of a gigantic cave. The interior was dark as pitch, with the dragon nowhere in sight. All around the entrance were piles of armor and weapons strewn almost randomly about. Arrows lay broken on the stone, bows’ twine snapped, swords’ blade laid shattered, shields ripped apart, and suits of armor fused into one solid piece. The leading pony took a deep breath to steady his being, and then shouted into the roar of the storm “I request that the Lord Dragon of this mountain reveal himself!” As the last fading echoes of the shout faded away, a movement was felt in the earth. The pony drew his sword and his shield with his magic, readying himself for the battle, but then something strange happened. Slowly, the darkness in the cave moved, revealing itself to be not the darkness of the cave, but the dragon itself. Water cascaded down its sides as it stood on its four legs, the edges of its scales shining a bit in the dim light of the moon that barely penetrated the clouds above. Its eyes opened and focused on the ponies before it, the gigantic amber irises locking onto its prey. “The Lord Dragon of this mountain honors your request. What you wish to say, pony, say it quickly, before I finish you as I did your fellows.” The dragon rumbled, showing its gigantic teeth to the small ponies. “As a prince of one of the pony kinds, I mandate you to leave this mountain, or face the consequences.” The pony shouted back as his army raised their own weapons, each one lifted with a different color of magical aura. “Surely you jest, you puny pony. Do you not see the weapons and signs of your dead comrades lying around you? Do you not see the thing that caused it all standing here?” The prince did not respond with the fear the dragon had anticipated. “No, I see noble sacrifices leading up to this point, the point of your demise! Leave now or we will attack!” The prince shouted over the mighty roar of thunder that surrounded them. The dragon sized up the small mass of ponies before him with disbelieving eyes. Unlike the other groups that had only one pony that had utmost confidence while the rest were quivering cowards, these ponies each seemed to have the same courage and resolve as their leader. The dragon parted his lips in a smile. “Do you really think that you ponies really can defeat me?” The dragon questioned, noting as several ponies began to go to the right and left of the main group, surrounding him in a semicircular formation. “Do you truly believe you can succeed where your fellows failed so horribly? Because I can tell you now that each of your previous groups thought the same as you do now and you can all see what happened to all of them.” The dragon’s parted lips grew wider and wider, the white edges of its teeth shining in the night as the clouds began to fade from the sky, letting in more and more moonlight, showing with more and more detail the terrible beast before them. “This is your last warning, leave now and you will not be attacked!” The prince shouted to the dragon. The dragon swung his head over to look at the prince once more. “I fear you not, I am a dragon, and this is my home.” The dragon raised its head to its full height as it finished with a growl. “Ponies,” The prince began, “Atta…” But before he could finish the dragon slammed its massive claws down on a line of the ponies, killing many on impact, then proceeded to drag it towards the rest of the group. The prince jumped away, along with others who did the same or teleported a short distance; all of those who did the former looking slightly tired. The prince looked towards the dragon and saw the red smear in front of it, with small streamlets running off. The crumpled pile of ponies lay off to the side, their armor now mixed in with the bloody pulp that had once been their colorful bodies. The prince raised his blade and signaled for the charged, and the remaining ponies did so with great vigor. Several brought out arrows and began firing on the beast as others charged in for the attack with swords or spears. The dragon raised its massive head high, taking in a large breath, then with one rush, blew out a storm of fire. Many of the ones who charged were able to protect themselves with their shields, but the majority of the archers had no time to react and were burnt quickly, leaving only the echoes of their last screams echoing for eternity in the ears of those who had heard them. The prince raised his white blade and slammed it into the beast’s leg, running it along the length of it, leaving a thin, deep cut into its scaly hide. The dragon let out a loud roar as it was overwhelmed by pain momentarily. The prince continue his attack, cutting through the creatures leg leaving the same thin, yet deep, cuts as before. The dragon lifted its other fist and brought it down upon the pony prince, who quickly jumped back, letting the massive black fist strike only rock. The dragon swipe its claws towards the pony, but again the prince avoided it by rolling to the side. The dragon snarled at him as he raised his one foreleg high. With a flick of his wrist, a deep purple, glowing, ball, formed around his outstretched claws. The ball then surrounded the dragon, causing all the ponies to freeze in shock as they waited to see what would happen. The ball suddenly shifted into a cream color and began to swirl around the dragon quickly, and when it dissipated the dragon was no longer bleeding, but in fact, was fully healed. The dragon’s outstretched limb raised higher, and with it several boulders around them that were surrounded by the same dark purple glow. The dragon then slammed his fist into ground, causing the boulder to fall down towards the ponies bellow. The prince jumped forward, narrowly missing his brush with death, he looked around, and of the rather decent sized group of ponies he had brought; only five others remained. The prince looked up towards the dragon as it raised its head, taking in another deep breath, intent on finishing the ponies off. “Behind the boulders, get behind the boulders!” The prince yelled over the noise that seemed to surround them. All of the ponies jumped for cover at once as the dragon flung his head down, spewing out fire that cascaded towards the survivors. Three of the six made it behind the boulders while the other three burned, never to be seen again. The prince looked over the two other ponies that hid behind the boulders that now had parts that glowed orange or red. The prince looked over his cover towards the dragon, still hiding most of his form behind the boulder. The dragon looked extremely relaxed in its current situation. The prince once again looked over to his companions. In a moment of resolve, he surrounded each of the boulders in his magical aura and, with a surge of effort, launched them at the dragon, stunning it long enough for the prince to prepare his next spell. Within a moment, the dragon was surrounded in his magical aura, earning a concerned look from the dragon. The spell began to form in the prince’s mind’s eye, each symbol falling in place as he increased the magic flow. The dragon let out a roar and charged the prince, intent on being released from the spell’s grip. The prince stood his ground, fully focusing on the spell. The dragon swiped his massive arm at the prince, knocking him off the edge of the cliff, but the prince didn’t let up the spell as he poured more magic into his effort. The prince closed his eyes, using the already existing field to pull the dragon off as well, removing his chance of turning on the remnant of the prince’s small force. The dragon quickly reacted, spreading its wings wide and giving a mighty rush, causing its mass to lift, only to be pulled down harshly by the prince’s spell. The prince opened his eyes, meeting the dragon’s gaze. “I banish you to the stars, that your power may no longer threaten any of the pony kinds.” The prince said solemnly as he put the last measure of magic into the spell. A beam of magic then shot out from his horn and struck the dragon on the chest, immediately making his gigantic mass disappear. The prince watched as the beam shot out into the sky, the dragon’s essence carried with it. Suddenly, the prince felt his weight disappear, finding a magical aura enveloping him as one of his comrades lifted him back to the cliff. The prince stood in one of his castle’s towers, looking over the mighty city he called home. The moon hung low in the sky, signaling the passing of the first day since the dragon’s defeat. “Blaze Eternal, come down to the parlor, the guests want to see their returning hero!” His mother’s voice called from down the stairs. Blaze hung his head; he didn’t feel like a hero, he just felt like a failure. He had been sent to destroy a mighty threat to the world, but instead simply sent it away, putting it up like a cursed tome for future generations to find and use to destroy themselves unwittingly. Soft hoof falls told him a pony was climbing the stairs of the tower. He didn’t want to speak to anypony, he felt useless; he had failed a mission that he had been tasked with by his mother, her kingdom, and all the other kingdoms of the pony kinds. “Blaze, why are you up here alone? The celebrations are down in the parlor. The Queen requested your presence if you did not hear her.” A familiar voice said, bringing him so measure of comfort in knowing who he was talking to. “Celestia, it’s nice you could make it. To tell the truth, I don’t want to celebrate, I don’t feel like my actions deserve such praise.” He replied as the white alicorn stepped up beside him. “Is it because of those you lost? Each battle has its detracting points, no battle is without losses.” She said in a sage-like tonality. Blaze shook his head slowly. “No, I understand that battle have their losses; even in victory there are losses.” He replied, looking down at the marble tiles beneath his hooves. “If that is not what is bothering you, than what is? Maybe I can help you somehow.” She pleaded to Blaze, but Blaze didn’t lift his head. “You know how they say that I defeated the dragon with one blast of magic?” Blaze asked as he studied the swerving patterns in the stone. “Yes, I have heard that the beam was seen even in Canterlot.” Celestia replied. Blaze looked over at her, her multi-colored mane and tail flowing in a nonexistent wind. “That wasn’t a powerful attack like my stallions assumed, that was a spell I was taught by Clover. It was a banishment spell, usually used to send bad ponies to the far flung corners of the world, but I used it to send him to the stars.” Blaze saw Celestia’s expression grow more and more confused. “The beam takes the essence of the subject and sends it where you choose. If I had sent him to another part of the world he would come back and attack within a few days, I altered the spell to send him to the stars, locking him away where he cannot return.” “This… how long do we have before he returns?” Celestia questioned, becoming less confused and more concerned. “Several years… the spell has a rather strong seal that I worked into it. It should last for a few years, but when it breaks he’ll be able to come back.” Blaze looked to Celestia with a serious expression. “Celestia, you are the only one besides your sister who has a chance of seeing him return, you must remember. Remember so that when he comes Equestria is ready for him. ” He said, his mood shifting from asking a favor of a friend to giving orders to one of his soldiers. Celestia nodded, a grave expression overcoming her features. “Blaze, the sun brigade is waiting for you!” His mother shouted from below. Blaze nodded to Celestia, and then walked off. Below the tower in the courtyard, a group of stallions, now with Blaze at their head, stood in an array of arcane lines. Each of them lit their horn and lowered their heads with the moon, pouring power into the lines, then with a rush of magic, lifted their heads skyward as the sun began to creep up from below the horizon. Celestia looked over the white city of Unicornia, the buildings reflecting the sunlight of a new day. Celestia sighed, the new weight resting on her shoulders.