//------------------------------// // Winning is Only Half the Battle... // Story: Blooming Talent // by Griffin Productions //------------------------------// Sapphic's power continued to rise as the air pressure built on his location. The ever grinning Nightmare Moon watched with wicked excitement; at the chance to prove this usurper wasn't as strong as he claimed he was or pretended to be. His power was impressive, yes, but not enough to topple one who commanded the moon and the stars themselves. She giggled darkly in anticipation; a chance to have a plaything that she wouldn't break in two right away soon arriving. Celestia desperately continued to gather as much energy from the world as she could. Her subjects had given everything they had, and the Bomb was still not strong enough. She gritted her teeth and let out a grunt of exasperation. Why did Luna have to go and act all mighty now? The dark forces of Nightmare Moon were both a blessing and a curse, it seemed. Great power, but to much overconfidence. Celestia knew that she'd still be able to hold Sapphic off, but if she continued to allow him to get stronger, the Spirit Bomb may not be able to kill him. There had to be something, anything more that she could draw energy from. Her eyes sparked as an idea struck her. Of course, how could she have not seen it earlier; she was the goddess of the sun, and the sun was a massive well of energy. If she drew power from it, she jut might be able to gather enough energy before Sapphic became too strong to finish off. Focusing everything she had, she began to draw the power of the mighty star which she brought forth every day into the Spirit Bomb as Nightmare Moon continued to wait on the changeling tyrant. He let out a loud yell as power erupted from around him, blowing back trees and walls, and causing the topsoil to come up like drywall paper. He stood still before the dark alicorn for a moment, seeming to try and regulate his power to where he could control it. Aftr a moment, he looked at her with a grin. "Alright, Nightmare." He said. "Here I am at my current max abilities." "Cute." Nightmare Moon mocked. "Now, let's see if you can play like you say you can!" She charged at him, the Kaioken energy once again whistling in the air. She went to ram him back, but was suddenly stopped. Sapphic had caught her, even at the speed that Kaioken times four granted her. He had done it with only one hand as well. She jumped back, and shot out a beam of dark magic; the purple and black energy seeming to slice the air itself as it sped towards Sapphic. He merely moved to the side, and easily dodged the high speed blast as it exploded behind him; rippling his long and gritty dark green hair. Nightmare Moon looked shocked for a single moment, and then put her confident smirk back on. He was faster and stronger alright, but was he strong enough to beat her? She would find out. The two engaged once more, and quick punches and kicks were thrown between them. Nightmare Moon went for a right hoof, but Sappic dodged before going with an elbow strike, which the alicorn blocked. The constant exchange of moves was at a stalemate with neither individual gaining an advantage. They were dead evenly matched. She maneuvered behind him and attempted a blow, but the changeling tyrant turned in time to catch the offending hoof. He moved to kick the alicorn goddess under her guard, but she prevented the strike from connecting with a small magic field. He spun around her side and tried to land a spinning heel kick to her skull as she ducked to avoid, and sliced upwards with her horn, only to be stopped by his mangled glowing hand as he flipped over her and attempted a back kick to her side, which she promptly stopped with her wing. After that small spat, they went right back t it; fists and hooves and feet flying all over as they tussled with neither one landing a single blow. Nightmare Moon's rage grew as she saw Sapphic smiling. He seemed so sure of himself; so confident he was not going to be erased by her. They separated, and stared each other down in the air above what remained of the royal garden; her glowing white eyes meeting his luminescent emerald ones. "You would do well to stop smirking at me, welp." She stated rather forcefully. "Why? Were you not grinning when I was on the losing end of this exchange?" Sapphic said plainly. "What? Now that you no longer have the winning hoof, you don't like playing anymore? I thought a princess would have more class than that." "I still have the winning hoof, as you say, usurper! You have not bested me ye!" "Go ahead, then. Show me your winning cards." Celestia, hearing this exchange, felt that pit of worry deepen in her stomach. Now that Sapphic and Nightmare Moon were even, her sister was frustrated of no longer being able to toy with him. Sapphic was attempting to make her angry and irrational. Curses...if only she had finished him when she had the upper hand. There would still be a way for her to win, but it was far too risky. If Sapphic managed to press her sister's buttons enough, however, she had no doubt Nightmare Moon would forsake the risks and try to bear it. Judging by the last sentence she had heard, knew it was too late. "Kaioken times five!!" Nightmare Moon cried out. That was what Celestia was afraid of hearing. Now powered up, the dark alicorn zipped around and went to smash the changeling prince away with her back leg. He moved to black but the force behind her kick was too much, and he was sent flying backwards through the castle wall. Splitting the wind as she moved, she caught up to him in an instant, and batted him back out to the garden's remnants like a ball. She continued this pinball like attack pattern for a few seconds before tossing him skyward. Sapphic was too pain riddled to move; eventhorugh his dying and exposed nerves, he felt every bit of force the legendary mare in the moon was hitting him with. He could've swore she'd broken a few of his bones during the attack. He tried to recollect his wits, and find a way to fight back. He had no time; the Kaioken, now amped up to five, had boosted her speed even more, and there was barely a way for him to keep up with her. It was like she was a vengeful wraith slashing him to pieces. That image became easier to picture when she began slicing at his exposed muscle with her horn; the sharp end severing many tendons and veins, causing him to bleed quite a bit. He was lucky she hadn't cut through any arteries yet, or he'd really be in trouble. "Why aren't you smiling now, Sapphic?! Why aren't you smiling now?" Her cackling voice filled his head. The Spirit Bomb was almost ready, but the power was still just shy of being enough. She thanked whatever power was above her that her sister had not succumb to Kaioken's negative effects yet, but she wasn't sure how much longer that would last. As long as she didn't up it anymore, she should be able to hold out until-- "Kaioken times six!" What?! Why? Why was she doing this? She had Sapphic already on the ropes. "Luna!" She cried out. "What are you doing?! You know that level of Kaioken is far above dangerous!" Nightmare Moon gave a feral growl of bloodlust as she charged for Sapphic, ready to give him one last stab with her long horn. "I'm going to show this foal what REAL power i--" She suddenly stopped her talk as a choking sound filled her throat. Celestia watched in horror as Nightmare Moon reverted back to Luna and the Kaioken aura disappeared completely. "No!" Was all the large white alicorn could say. Luna had taken the Kaioken farther than even Nightmare Moon's body could handle. She watched as her younger sister flopped onto the ground before her with a pain filled yelp. Her body was failing on her, and Celestia knew she wouldn't be able to move now. This was bad...very bad. Sapphic landed with a thud not far from the paralyzed Luna. He had not expected to survive, but was not going to question it anyway. He wonderedwhy the mare's assault had stopped, but grinned when he saw the princess of the night laying motionless except for her face, which was contorted in pain as she gave short but loud cries. That Kaioken; a double-edged sword if he ever saw one. He slowly stood up, swaying a little and nearly falling back over as he did so, and began to walk towards the two sisters. He wondered why Celestia still hadn't moved to help her sister yet. Perhaps she really was as selfish as he thought,and was still healing. "So you are just going to stand here, Celestia? While your dear sister lays helpless at my feet?" He antagonized, drawing closer to Luna's writhing body. "Don't touch her!" Celestia growled, a soundthat did not match her regal features. "Then stop me." He replied, kicking Luna on the ground, causing her to scream. "Come on. Stop me." Celestia watched in emotional agony as the tyrant continued to beat on her sister, the blows amplified by her nerves sending pain signals all over her bruised body. Just touching somepony who abused the Kaioken could hurt them like a stab wound, and he was full on punching poor Luna in the face and all over her tender form. She had to refrain from moving though; the Spirit Bomb still wasn't ready. Sapphic halted his assault, a bit ticked he was not getting a response, and now very confused by Celestia's actions. What in the blazes was she doing? "So you won't stop me hurting her." He said. "That's fine." He yanked the princess of the night up into the air by her horn, and held her at his side, pointing his fingers like a gun at her throat. "I suppose you won't mind if I kill her then." "No! Don't!" Celestia nearly shrieked, but still did not move. "Then you best do something, sun-butt, before I--" He suddenly stopped talking, his eyes fixed up into the sky with a look of disbelief mixed with fear. Horseapples, thought the sun goddess, he noticed it. The huge orb of energy and magic floated several feet above the three fighters, Sapphic starting to shake a little bit. What the hell was it? And more importantly, how had he not noticed it? It's power was near level with his own, and was rising steadily. Then he realized something; Luna had merely been a distraction afterall. Celestia was going to use that thing to kill him, and if it grew any bigger, it very well could do just that. "Celestia! I'm telling you do not quit whatever you're doing with that thing in the sky, then I will murder your little sister right now before your eyes! Do you hear me!" He started to frantically yell. "Sis-sister...just...do..what you...need to do...he's...going to k-k-kill us both...either wa--" "Shut up, wench!" Sapphic shouted, punching the helpless alicorn in the gut, getting a heart-wrenching scream in return. Celestia knew the Spirit Bomb wasn't ready yet, but even when it was, he still was holding Luna hostage. If she threw the Spirit Bomb, it would vaporize her as well. The tall white alicorn with the sun symbol cutie mark wasn't sure she could kill her own sister. Luna seemed to realize this, and knew Celestia wouldn't fire the Spirit Bomb with her there. She needed to make Sapphic get her away from the area, no matter how painful it would be. If she could piss him off enough... His fingers were so close to her mouth it was as if he were trying to feed them to her. That gave her an idea. Opening her mouth wide as she could, she slammed her jaws down on his index and middle finger of his right hand, chopping them completely off and swallowing them in revulsion. The effect was immediate; the tyrant gave a loud cry of pain, mixed with many profanities aimed at Luna herself before throwing her as hard as he could into the horizon. She flew fast through the air as she was flung, unable to guide herself at all. Celestia was about to relax and finish the last bit of the Bomb, when she saw Sapphic take aim at her sister as she was flung away. He was going to blast her out of existence for what she had done to his hand. No, no, no, no this was bad. She knew she had to do something, but what? "Oh, curses! Curse it to Tartarus! Spirit Bomb!" She launched the massive orb of energy the same instant the changeling prince unleashed his shot at Luna. The blast was traveling fast, and Celestia immediately took wing after it, trying to get to Luna before it did. The gargantuan Spirit Bomb came down towards Sapphic, who tried to fly off, but the attack radius was too large; he knew he couldn't fly fast enough to escape that. Damn it all, Celestia had had this thing cooking the whole time. It's power was almost dead even with his own, and it was closing on him fast, the ground disintegrating at it's touch. He was not going to go out like this; not when he was so close. He put asmuch energy into his left hand as he could and slammed it into the surface of the orb. The power seared his muscle and tissue like fire from purgatory come to make him pay for his sins. The pain traveled all throughout his arm, and started to travel down his shoulder and spine; t was near crippling just holding it. Celestia had nearly made it to her sister's still flying body, but Sapphic's shot was dead even with her, there was only one way to save Luna now. She focused her magic, and thought of a place far from Canterlot where her sister would be safe and able to recover. With the place in mind, the white alicorn let the spell surge outward, and Luna was teleported away just as the shot passed where she had been a moment ago. Sapphic near screamed as he held the Spirit Bomb back with one hand, deathly afraid to try with the other, especially without two of his fingers. Luna, that witch. How dare she? There was no time to curse; he had to get rid of this thing somehow. He had a grip, but he was going to lose it fast. He saw Celestia making her way quickly back to the area. No doubt to finish the job the Spirit Bomb had started. Throwing it at her directly would be fruitless; she'd just push it back. An idea came to him, and without thinking more, he acted on it. With every single ounce of his power he lifted the massive Bomb above his head, and immediately it began to push down on him, burning his limb even more. Celestia watched in shock as he did this; a feet she had thought impossible ever since learning of the Spirit Bomb. Not even King Sombra had been strong enough to stop it, let alone hold it above his head like Sapphic was. What was he going to do? With a loud yell, he took one heavy step forward and tossed the gigantic orb of spirit energy towards... "The city!" Celestia exclaimed, rushing down after the Bomb as it neared Canterlot itself. Everypony turned to look as the huge Bomb descended upon them. The panic was almost immediate, and even the changelings looked startled. "That...that's the Spirit Bomb...but why is it comng..this way?" Flash Sentry exclaimed to himself. He snapped out of his fearful trance long enough to give the retreat order, and everypony began to gallop for the city exit as if it were salvation. In this case, it would be; but the Bomb was closing in too fast. Much faster than the ponies could move themselves. It came to an abrupt halt, and as Flash looked back to see why it had stopped, he saw her; Princess Celestia was holding the Spirit Bomb back with her bare hooves, her Kaioken aura once again surrounding her. Her ethereal mane was a mess, and flowing unkemptly in all directions as she tried to push the huge energy sphere back away from the streets. Sapphic wouldn't have this; he wasn't going to let Celestia regain control of that Bomb. Leaping off the cliff the castle sat atop, he winded up for a ki enhanced punch using all of his power; his aura bursting like steam all around him as he shouted a throaty war cry. Coming down, he slammed his fiery fist into the surface of the Spirit Bomb, and it immediately cracked, and a split second later, exploded brilliantly, sending a massive shockwave of blue across the entire skyline. Celestia flopped to the blood-soaked cobblestone; her fur burnt like a marshmellow and her mane and tail barely moving at all. Sapphic landed on his knees not far away, holding the arm he had punched the Spirit Bomb with; his right one. It was completely black and unmoving as he squeezed it against himself in some van attempt to block the pain. His screams of agony echoed across the entire mountain, and his siblings buzzed nervously, unsure how to help their king. The ponies too didn't have a clue what to do, and just stared at the scene in shock and fear. After another half minute, Sapphic finally stopped screaming, and elected to rip the now useless arm right off, causing several ponies to either faint or retch horribly. Some of the changelings took shocked steps backwards, confused and completely thrown off by the sudden act. He tossed the blackened limb aside as green blood began to flow out of the open wound; he ignored it as he made his way slowly over to Celestia, who had not even made a move to get up. She couldn't; the explosion had taken all of the energy out of her by shielding the town from it. She was spent, and couldn't muster the strength to even move her neck to look at Sapphic as he approached her prone form. Flash Sentry shook his head, and charged forward at Sapphic, spear drawn. The changeling prince stomped the spear down, and kicked the orange pegasus up into the air to smack him away. His body hit a building in it's path, and the thing crumbled down around him from he sheer force at which he had hit it. Sapphic looked crazily at the other pony guards as if daring them to try what Flash had tried. None moved, and Sapphic continued to walk over to the downed sun goddess. As he stood over her, she finally spoke in a hoarse voice. "You think that you've won...you don't realize...you've lost everything, Prince Sapphic..." "Tell me, Celestia! Tell me how I have lost!" He bellowed. "You lay in the streets, broken and beaten! Your kingdom lies in ruins, and your subjects are dead! I fail to see how I have lost!" "That's...exactly why...you've...you've destroyed us...and now...what will you do for food?" Sapphic's face went form confused and angry to one of horrified realization. "Without us ponies to give...give love for you and...and your kind to feed on...you've robbed...robbed yourselves of your..main source of life..." The wounded alicorn explained wearily. "Your people...will all perish..soon-sooner than you can say 'oops'. You've won..the battle, Sapphic...but by killing us all...you just lost the war..." Sapphic began to shake in a rage he had never felt. How could he have been so stupid? Damn her, she was right. There were only a few ponies left in Canterlot, and he had destroyed so many since he had arrived. He never thought about the fact that they needed to feed on the ponies emotions. It had ever even crossed his mind. "Damn you..." He whispered. He clenched his one remaining fist until it bled and screamed up to the heavens. "Damn you!!" Still shouting, he pointed an open palm at Celestia, and his arm muscles began to ripple like rapidly moving waves. Celestia closed her eyes, and a massive blast of ki forth form his hand, sliding him back a ways and completely incinerating the ruler of Equestria in one shot. The only remaining piece of the alicorn was her glowing hot crown as it skidded away from the blast zone across the cobblestones. Sapphic took a moment to breathe. Surely there was a solution; a way to salvage this. There were still ponies here, and there many more places in Equestria where ponies lived. He didn't have a large hive yet, perhaps there was still enough. He lifted his head, throwing his messy hair behind it with the force. "It's your lucky day, ponies!" He announced, throwing his arm into the air for emphasis. "You get to live this day! You get to not only witness the changing of the guard as I, your new ruler, King Sapphic, takes the throne...but you also have the honor and duty...of feeding your fellow subjects." He gestured at his changeling brothers and sisters who looked at the quivering ponies with hungry expressions. * * * Apple Bloom thudded down next to Goten, sweating and panting as she finished riding the final waves of her orgasm; Goten doing pretty much the same beside her. It had taken him awhile to show her how it all went, but once they had gotten it going...she supposed she had never felt so good in all her years, ever. She turned her head to Goten, who looked like he had run a marathon. He was beet red in the face, and sweating just as much, if not more than Apple Bloom. He'd only ever learned about sex in school, and he could tell; the descriptions did not do it justice. "That...was the greatest...feeling...I've ever felt...Apple Bloom.." He managed, laughing a bit at the fact he was out of breath. Apple Bloom started to giggle; she'd seen him fight for hours on end and not get tired, and here he was panting after only a few minutes of hard lovin'. She had to admit though, she was pretty beat too. "So...feel like sleeping yet..?" She asked, another breathless laugh coming from her gaping mouth. Goten nodded, trying not to laugh too hard. "Yeah...I'd say I'm pretty spent now...we'll be nice and rested for the big battle." He moved closer to his lover's naked form, and wrapped his arm around her as she turned to face him sideways to do the same. The pair stared into each other's eyes for a few moments; nothing else but gazing. "Goten..." She began. "Why do I feel like this could be our last good moment...?" "What do you mean?" He asked, a slight frown coming to his lips. "I mean...tomorrow, we go into battle. And not all of us...could come back..." "Hey, hey...don't think like that. We've trained hard and long for this. We're ready. And Besides, I'm already dead; can't die twice." The anthropomorphic mare scooted closer to her lover and placed a hand to his cheek. "But you can be destroyed...remember that Goku said if you're body is destroyed fighting like you are, you cease to exist, and not even the Dragon Balls can bring you back...I don't want you to be erased like that, Goten...I can't even imagine it..." He held her close as she began to tear up. He stroked her mane softly as he rocked them both back and forth a little bit. "Don't you worry about me, AB." He comforted. "I promise that this will not be our final night together. We're all gonna get through this. Ok?" She nodded into his chest, and let out a long sigh. "I believe you. Don't let me down...please."