//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Dire's Army Roams! // Story: Clash of Alicorns, Battle of the Brothers // by LightningBlade //------------------------------// It was early in the morning, Lightning woke up, Luna in his hooves, sleeping peacefully like an angel, he stroked her mane softly and nuzzled her before he got up. Lightning still felt dizzy and weak after Xecio, the amulet talked to him, suddenly, a voice came to his head. "Lightning, you must stay alert, I sense something disturbing not far from Canterlot." said the voice calmly. "Okay, who am I listening to?" said Lightning curiously. "My name is Xerio, one of the Xecio bearer, I will guide you from now on." said Xerio. "Xerio, doesn't sound much of a difference than Xecio but, never mind." "You should be concern of the disturbance instead of names Lightning, I think Zahrin might be close." said Xerio, amused by Lightning's thinking. "Zahrin? You mean Dire... how..." "You see, we are connected, like you channel aura into me or the amulet, we can send thoughts without talking, let's get to the topic, if Zahrin is near, you must be prepared, Canterlot must be prepared. "You're right." Lightning looked at Luna, he didn't want her to get harmed, nor held as a captive by Dire, he knew if he wants to end this war, he has to destroy the Amulet of Hell, or everything dear to him will just fade away. Lightning covered Luna with a blanket, kissed her, and left the room. He got a sandwich from the dining room and stuffed it in his mouth, although this isn't very a 'elegant' way to go in a hurry, but it's an emergency, and he has to tell the troops. When he arrived at the barracks, Master Yang was already there, his Amulet of Dust around his neck, assigning quicker troops to recon, and stronger to guard the kingdom. Lightning greeted as he approached, and offered Master Yang some help on assigning the troops, before doing so, he gave a speech. "Attention, brave soldiers of Canterlot, I have some serious announcement, and I want you to listen closely. Dire's army is coming to Canterlot, according to my amulet/partner, and I think it will be tonight, and if so, we must be ready." whispers already going on. "And I want you all to do something, go home, if it's near, and tell your family, that you love them, because after this war, I do not guarantee everyone will come back alive or uninjured, but I will try my best to minimize the casualties, I think the princesses would say the same thing to you, go now and come back quick, dismissed." said Lightning. Soldiers left the barracks quick, back to their homes, but some choose to stay, either their home is too far away, or they just don't have the courage to face their families? Lightning wondered. He left the barracks, and headed to the infirmary, to visit his friend, Justice Reaper. When they arrived at the infirmary, Celestia was there, waiting for him. "Good morning, Princess Celestia." greeted Lightning. "Morning, I see you gone to the barracks, to check on the troops?" asked Celestia. "Yeah, I told them to go home for the morning, to tell their families what will they do tonight." "What will they exactly do tonight?" asked Celestia curiously. "Dire's army is coming, and I allowed them to go home and see their families, before going into this battle." "I think they would love to see you as their commander. You give them so much love, you allowed them to go back to see their loved ones, not every commander can take that risk." said Celestia, smiling at Lightning. "Thanks, how's Justice doing?" asked Lightning in concern. "He's better, but I'm afraid he couldn't stand properly for another week." "Darn it, I think I over did the damage output." "It wasn't your fault, besides, no major internal damage is already a good new right?" said Celestia trying to cheer Lightning up. "Yes, I suppose." Then, they entered the infirmary, and saw Justice with his hoof bandaged. "That must really hurt. Sorry." said Lightning, feeling sorry. "It's nothing, I should be the one feeling sorry, I'm weak, I let Dire controlled me, I'm sorry I failed you Prince Lightning." said Justice bowing down for forgiveness. "What are you doing! Lay down and rest! You're stupid sometimes commander." ordered Lightning. "Yes sir." Justice laid down, Lightning stood beside him and told him everything that happened, Justice was his only friend from the past who is alive, and now, he has to protect him. Meanwhile, Luna woke up in her chamber, she found out Lightning has already woke up before her, she got dressed and went to the dining room, but Lightning wasn't there, and there's one more place he might be, the infirmary, and she got it, Lightning was there, she stood outside the infirmary and listened to Lightning's story, and their story. Luna blushed as Lightning said everything to the commander, feeling a bit happy and shy at the same time, she entered the infirmary. Luna approached to her sister and greeted her, and stood near Lightning. Lightning introduced Luna to Justice, and Celestia too. Justice Reaper received another treatment on his arm from Celestia, she used her healing spell to speed up the cell's regeneration speed, her horn glowed as warm as the sun, Justice's eyelids slowly closed, and he snored. "Well that's the last treatment for today, if his cells can regenerate faster than I predicted, he could be in tip top shape in no time." Celestia said. "What a relief. Don't worry about him, I'll give him a good dream." Luna lit her horn, it gleamed like the moon, the magic surrounded Justice's forehead, and she stopped after a while. "I've given him his best moments in his life." Luna smiled and kissed the commanders forehead. "I'll be Justice's replacement to thank you for your hospitality." Lightning bowed. "It's nothing, please, we're friends now, don't do that." ordered Celestia, lifting Lightning's head up. "Celestia, do you mind if I... spend sometime with Lightning?" said Luna, blushing. "I see what's going on. *giggling* go on." giggle Celestia, knowing that they have already started a relationship. Lighting and Luna exited the infirmary, and left the castle. "Where are we going?" asked Luna. "We're going the spot I spotted last time I flew around Canterlot, but I don't think you will like it, it's kinda, in the wilderness." said Lightning. "I don't mind, where ever you go, I go." Luna leaned against Lightning, he was happy, that his mare would follow him. They flew to a place not far from the castle, it was a field, filled with dancing grass and flowers, they sat on the small hill, under a matured tree. "Is this place okay for you?" asked Lightning. "It's perfect." Luna nudged him. Lightning held her in his hooves, and they both kissed. Somewhere near Canterlot... Dire and his army were ready for the attack, but they waited, Dire wanted to attack Canterlot at night, he thought, this battle should end, in the dark. What he didn't know is Luna is the princess of the night, and her amulet's power is unknown. He checked every soldier he had, boosting them with his evil aura, the amulet was surrounded by dark veins, (you can imagine it being like iron man's core) the amulet glowed dark red, and his eyes were dark red too, his saber strapped near his left hoof, his amulet's armor was bloody red and black, he looked furious, like a Tartarus guard. "My soldiers, *growl* we shall destroy Canterlot tonight! The land will be coated in blood, the moon will be coated with blood, and we shall defeat those worthless brats, in *weak laugh* the darkness. And we shall drink, the princesses and my brother's blood, together!" his eyes glowed more furiously, the soldiers cheered and they went on with their preparation for the attack. "I must warn you, night time isn't always the best time for a battle." said Master Yin. "We have 50 thousand soldiers, they only have 10, how can they fend off such an attack? If they do, I would like to see the results." Dire growled. "*Weak laugh* you don't know anything at all, don't you?" mumbled Master Yin, but Dire didn't listen to him. On the hill... "We should go back now shouldn't we ?" asked Luna, looking at the descending sun. "Yeah, don't wanna keep our soldiers waiting." grinned Lightning. They arrived at Canterlot, the sun is setting, and they have to get ready. All the soldiers were gathered in the great hall, Celestia, Luna and Lightning gave a speech to the soldiers. They all held a cup of wine. "Tonight, the enemy will march into our kingdom, we will defend Canterlot, no matter what happens." said Celestia. "We'll show them what are we capable of! What can we do even without big numbers." said Luna. "Fight till the last drop of our Equestrian blood!" said Lightning. They all drunk the wine, and equipped their weapons and armor, and got into position. The orange and yellow sky slowly turned into dark blue night sky, the moon is round tonight, stars twinkled, over the horizon, tiny black images showed, it was Dire's army of possessed soldiers, they hit the ground with their weapons as they approached, hungry for blood. They stopped, and Dire flew out, "Canterlot! You useless fools, tonight all of you, shall parish! Charge!!" Dire pointed at the castle. "Surround the city, destroy their houses, and then, demolish their castle!" barked Dire with his saber pointing at the direction of the city. On Lightning's side, "Solar Stallions! Get ready!" shouted Celestia. "Lunar Stallions! Show no MERCY!" shouted Luna, a bit of evil tone. "Here goes..." Lightning's amulet channeled, his armor gleamed like the moon, silver and white, electricity sparked around it, blades appeared in his hooves, a third of a meter in length, yellow lightning surrounded it. Soldiers charged, swords and blades clashed, blood splattered, screams from the injured, the Solar Stallions evacuated most of the citizens, and Lunar Stallions took the first wave of deadly killing soldiers. Chaos spread around Canterlot. "Brother! There you are! Lets end this, right now!!!" Dire charged at Lightning with his saber, black and red aura flickered around it, they clashed, the shock wave of the clash of the swords shook the air, Dire pushed Lightning back and charged at him once again. Lightning dodged it and slashed Dire's back, Dire growled in pain, but the wound slowly recovered, the battle won't end unless he destroys the amulet. "Still as weak as ever! You call yourself Prince of The Sky? How about Prince of The Sponges?!?!" Dire slashed furiously, but none hit Lightning. "Xerio, what's happening? I feel, light..." Lightning asked his amulet through his heart, dodging the attacks constantly. "When you bonded with us, we gave you the strength, the armor is no longer heavy to you, it's as light as feather." said Xerio. "We'll see who's faster then." Lightning grinned. He charged his right blade, and flew behind Dire within a second. Slashed him with his left, and fooled him, he spun and made his move, Dire wasn't all clumsy, he deflected the attack, Dire received a glimpse of shock. "BRH!! What's this? You can't defeat by doing this!" "Who says anything about rules?" Lightning made another approach, but Dire saw through it. And slashed Lightning. "ARGH!" His armor got cut, it's getting weak. "I told you, you an't defeat me by doing this." Dire charged his saber, the aura surrounded the saber and grew longer. Lightning struggled and only could evade, his blades were too short. He got headbutted by Dire, sending him, sprawling to the ground, Luna and Celestia decided to jump in and help. "I'm going in, Luna, stay here." Celestia channeled her amulet, golden armor appeared, her spear stretched and she charged. She was able to reach Dire, Lightning stood up and flew around to find a weak spot. "So it's 2 on 1 eh? Lets see will that help or, will that make no difference?!" Dire charged at Celestia, slashing furiously, Celestia grudged, she wasn't good at close quarter combat, Dire was getting closer, and she couldn't do anything. She activated his amulet's skill, purification, she slashed Dire's blade, the aura flickered and retracted. "What did you do to my saber? I'll make you pay!!!" Dire charged, he got face to face with Celestia and upper cut her. Celestia fell to the ground hard. Luna ran to her side, and helped her up. "Celestia! Let me deal with...*clang* " Lightning got distracted, he got slashed by Dire again, but this time, the armor broke. He fell to the ground, bleeding. "Lightning!" Celestia and Luna got worried, this battle is going bad, the soldiers were also struggling to defend the kingdom. "I'm fine... just... a small scratch..." Lightning was badly wounded, but he insisted to go on. He found out a weakness when he's finding a weak spot, it was his left hoof, he holds the saber with it, it's not very strong, he uses his right hoof for frontal attack and powerful blows but his left to defend. He aimed Dire's left hoof and disappeared. "Where are you hiding Lightning?" barked Dire. "I'm not." said Lightning suddenly beneath him. He was too fast, even with his injury, he can still fly 3 times as fast as Dire, he already targeted his left hoof at the moment he disappeared, and he pierced him with his electric blade. With his left hoof injured, his defense will be down, and it would be easier for him to fight. "You're strong Dire, but everyone has their weakness." Lightning dashed, making another approach on his latest technique. "Electric Hammer!" he pointed his blade and charged at Dire, aiming his amulet, but missed, Dire hit him with his weapon butt, and kicked him down, throwing a dagger at the same time. The dagger pierced into Lightning's armor, he spat blood. Luna ran to him and lift his head up slowly. "Lightning, hang in there, Celestia will heal you." Luna sniffed. Her eyeballs filled with tears. The soldiers stopped fighting, and saw their prince dying, the enemy cheered, Luna felt useless, she couldn't fight well, she has no real abilities, she was afraid to use the only skill she had, nightmare knight. "As I expected, Lightning, you're always, always a failure." Dire laughed cruelly. "Luna... run... run as far as you can... *cough*" Lightning's heartbeat slowly stopping. He kissed Luna with his last breath, and left this world. "Lightning...no.... don't you die on me!" Tears slowly crawls down Luna, his stallion, dead, because of her weakness. She stood up and channeled aura into her amulet. "You... you monster! You will.. you will PAY you wrenched fucker!" Luna raged, To be continued...