//------------------------------// // Act II - Daybreaker // Story: Bound by Destiny // by JoeBobWhitney //------------------------------// Siegfried rested against the balcony, staring onwards at the early sun rising from the horizon. The light from the sun reflected off of the thick ice crystals encasing his steel armor, which now served as an under layer of additional armor. His keen eyes scanned the area thoroughly, looking for any creature that would dare emerge from the shadows and attack. It was a habit that he couldn't break simply because being the wielder of Soul Calibur meant every living thing that wasn't after Soul Edge - was after him. This, coupled with the daily threats at his castle, there was never a time when Siegfried wasn't thinking ahead and forming a plan or a strategy for an upcoming battle or such. This proved to be a great issue in many ways, including his mental and physical health. Without Soul Calibur, Siegfried was dumbfounded as of what to do next. "You're awake, then." A voice came from behind. Siegfried quickly turned around to see who was the owner of the voice. Twilight Sparkle. He looked at her for a moment, giving a light nod before turning back around. Twilight joined him, admiring the undeniable beauty of the sunrise in the horizon unlike Siegfried, who just plainly stared off into space, thinking intensely about what lied ahead in his journey, unlike none other. "I've actually been awake for some time. In my world, I was only able to get a few hours of sleep. "Why is that?" She replied, cocking her head. "The constant threat of being attacked. Being a general of my very own army, it was hard to really get a restful sleep. I always had keep a watchful eye." "That doesn't sound very fun." She replied with a light giggle. "It's not. It's terrible." Siegfried gave a slight smirk. "I can imagine." Nightmare stared onwards at the gorgeous sight in front of him. Built in the flesh of a vast mountain was a beautiful city forged from bricks of pure gold and rich silver. Towering spires of white and gold were raised high the in the sky, contrasting vividly against the morning sky. A wide stream of water from the apex of the mountain poured down, pooling into a small lake far below which inevitably led to the sea. The sun reflected off the water beautifully, casting a simply gorgeous scene overall. To Nightmare however, it was absolutely disgusting to see. Nightmare's left arm - now a grotesque, morphed claw with only three, sharpened digits - began to faintly glow. The arm, created by Soul Edge's power, also bore a link to the blade itself seeing as Nightmare was it's true wielder. He could feel it near Canterlot - this fact utterly enticed him, just knowing the raw power of Soul Edge was close. If he could smile, his face would feature a smug smirk. That knight, Siegfried may reside in the city, but Soul Caliber is nowhere even close to his location. Nightmare peered down at the ground below him, the soft, white clouds just barely underneath his feet. Without any sign of cowardice, he then jumped off of the hill he stood upon and began to plummet towards the ground at a blazing speed. As his body hit the ground The right time is almost at hand and there will be nothing to stop him from obtaining Soul Edge and sending this damned world asunder. Not Siegfried, not the Princess nor her pawns - he will win this time and if he must climb a mountain to get what he requires, he shall. "Your Highness." A stone-gray Royal Guard entered from the main doors, bowing lightly towards the Princess on her throne. "The... "creature" approaches." "He isn't a "creature", Shield. He is a race of highly-evolved species called Humans." Princess Celestia stated. "Looks like a monkey to me, Your Majesty." He retorted with a grunt. "He did mention a theory of his people descending from simians, but that's not the point here, Shield." "Princess Celestia." Siegfried greeted, appearing suddenly. "Good morning, Siegfried. How was your sleep?" "I got enough to sustain me. I've been meaning to talk to you actually." "Is that so? What about?" "Nightmare." Celestia's face became stern. "What is your actions once he arrives? You have seen what he can do to just one man alone, Princess. What will you do when I fall and Nightmare stands? Celestia sighed. "I am not sure yet. Retreating isn't an option. There are too many here in Canterlot. We would need to keep him at bay long enough to create a powerful force-field. Considering his strength, creating a shield of that fortitude would require a great deal of power." "Is it possible to do however? This is important." "Yes, but..." Celestia paused. "But?" "I would require Princess Luna, Cadence and Twilight to be here with me. Not only that, I would require my horn to be fully healed. Because of this, that task is impossible, Siegfried. Siegfried gave a heavy sigh, letting his head droop to the ground. "What are we to do then?" "I'm not quite sure, Siegfried. My ponies nor myself have never fought a creature such as Nightmare. Tell me, just what is he?" "I'm still not even sure myself, Princess. But what I do know is that he's not mortal. Not by a long-shot." "What does he want? There must be something he hunts after. Mere hatred or vengeance can go a long way, but him? He seeks something more." "Soul Edge. Centuries ago, the Gods forged a mystical blade that was created for good. For heroes to slay dragons and defeat villains, but after years of bloodshed and hatred tainting the blade, it changed into something evil. Now, it thirst for souls and with every soul absorbed, it gains more and more power. At one point, it will become too strong for even Soul Calibur to stop. " "I see." "Your Highness!" A Unicorn Royal Guard burst into the room, just barely able to stop himself from running right into Siegfried. "There is some sort of thing in the city! It's destroying buildings and killing innocent ponies!" He panted. "It's like some sort of minotaur-like knight in blue armor!" "Princess Celestia, you stay here. I'll fend him off. While I deal with him, you think of a plan to stop him, alright?" Princess Celestia nodded in response, before she turned to the guard. "Stone, teleport Siegfried to where you saw "him"." The Guard hesitantly nodded as he turned to Siegfried. "Good luck, man." In a white flash, Siegfried appeared in the middle of a neighborhood, surrounded by destroyed houses and buildings. The thick scent of iron and blood perfumed the air, causing Siegfried to lightly cough as he walked forward. As he walked forward, he noticed many corpses along the road. All of the ponies were seemingly missing their souls, revealed by their colorless eyes. Siegfried followed the carnage, like it was some sort of trail until he heard a scream from a nearby a café. Just as he turned towards where the scream came from, Nightmare busted through the wall. Clenched tightly in his mutated claw was a seemingly unconscious pony. "Nightmare! Unhand that pony and fight me!" Siegfried called out. Nightmare eerily turned his head towards Siegfried and gave a grunt of amusement, dropping the pony just like Siegfried asked. To his surprise and disgust, the pony was already dead. Her soul seemingly taken from her very body, as seen by her colorless, blank eyes. "You have guts to fight me face-to-face, Schtauffen." "I have no choice. More innocents will die if I don't do something." "So, you'd rather yourself die first, then let them die with no hope of fighting back? Your thought process amuses me." "We'll see." Nightmare charged at Siegfried, gearing for a uppercut. Siegfried dodged out of the way, strafing to the left as Nightmare retorted with a left hook at Siegfried. The paladin stumbled back, stunned from the force of the punch. Nightmare took this chance to deliver another hit, this time with his claw. He punched Siegfried in the side with his right arm, causing Siegfried to nearly tumble to the ground but he swiftly recovered with a quick, but powerful uppercut to Nightmare. Nightmare simply stepped back, allowing Siegfried to gain a stance before he charged again. Siegfried this time, charged as well. Just as Nightmare was about to attack, Siegfried jumped to the side, sweeping Nightmare with his right leg. Nightmare came tumbling down to ground. As he about to recover, Nightmare was stuck by a blast of magenta energy which completely stunned him, locking him in place. "What is this?" Nightmare groaned, struggling to move. Siegfried quickly looked towards where the beam came from, noticing five ponies standing there with Twilight proudly standing in front of the group. "Twilight? What are you doing here? Go, this isn't a safe place for you to be!" "No! If he really thinks he can cause all this chaos without any retribution whatsoever, he has another thing coming! Girls, now!" Twilight then closed her eyes, as her horn flared to life. All of a sudden, the tiara atop her head began glowing with a bright white aura. Siegfried the noticed that the other ponies, her friends, behind Twilight wore these strange necklaces around their necks which also too began to glow. Twilight and her friends then began to float in mid-air, now fully surrounded by a bright colorful aura. As they floated there, Twilight opened her eyes, revealing her glowing white eyes as a large wave of colorful energy emerged from behind them that quickly descended upon Nightmare, enveloping him in nothing but color. "NO!" Nightmare screamed as the wave directly hit him, purging his very essence with the power of "good." His dark, distorted screams of pain and denial echoed from within as the wave finally ended, finishing up with a large explosion which instantly blinded everyone, even the ponies. Moments later, the bright flash faded revealing the landscape. All the destruction that was caused was now fixed, including the wrecked houses and stores. Siegfried looked around for Nightmare, but he did not find him. Rather, he found a small piece of azure-colored armor on the ground where Nightmare once was. Siegfried approached it. He bent down and hesitantly picked it up but he quickly found nothing of interest. Just as he was about to stand up, a large claw grabbed him from behind. Siegfried was then turned around as he face-to-face with a heavily injured Nightmare. Multiple pieces and chunks of blue armor were completely gone from his body. There was visible blood dripping from cracks in his armor and he barely even had an entire chestplate. His helm was also heavily damaged, just nearly revealing his face underneath. Siegfried simply froze in utter disbelief at the sight of him. Nightmare released a distorted, demonic shriek as he hunched down before rising up and stabbing Siegfried with the long, bright orange sharp horn atop his helmet. The ponies gasped at the gruesome sight unfolding before them. Nightmare brutally slammed Siegfried to the ground before violently ripping the horn from Siegfried's stomach, nearly tearing open his entire torso. Just as the ponies were about to attack, Nightmare then sunk into the ground in pile of liquid, tar-like darkness. "It's far too late to beg for mercy." Nightmare exclaimed as he finally disappeared into the ground. "Siegfried!" The ponies then ran to his bloodied body. "Rainbow, go get somepony to help. I must stay here and try to help him. Please hurry!" Rainbow nodded and zoomed off, in the blink of an eye. Siegfried clutched his wound tightly as he coughed up a large amount of blood. "Good...job, girls." Siegfried muttered before he completely lost consciousness. The voices of the ponies next to him quickly faded as everything became black.