Chapter 12
Sibrella and Declan continue to stare each other down, with the dark aura around Declan, who continued to smile a slasher smile, continuing to flow and the Mane Six, plus Spike, watched looking worried and fearful. Then Sibrella made the first move.
“Smile all you want boy; it's not going to change anything when I crush you in total defeat!” Sibrella declared as she fired mini beams of energy from her fingertips that managed to knock Declan over, send a wave of pain through his entire body and caused him to skid across the ground. He began to feel pain each time his body bounced across the ground before stopping.
“Oh no! Declan!” Fluttershy cried, as she began to fly over only for Applejack to stop her.
“Wait," she said.
“But if this goes on Declan will surely…” The Pegasus began.
“Uh… I don’t think that’s Declan right now…” Applejack observed.
“Huh?” Fluttershy asked, concerned and confused.
Declan then does a handspring to stand back up and looked madder then ever. He let out another wild cry and suddenly released powerful shockwaves that were almost strong enough to knock everypony off their hooves and caused them to shield their faces.
“Everypony hang on!” Twilight cried as they tried hard to keep their hooves on the ground.
The two opponents stared each other down before they began to move so fast toward each other that it almost looked like they were gliding through the wind. When they came into contact they slammed their forearms together and exchanged a series of punches and kicks. Each hit nearly knocked the air out of the other as well as leave a few scratches and bruises on several parts of their body. While it was nothing too serious it was beginning to add up each time.
Suddenly, while Sibrella began to bring her fist back and hit him again a dark hand suddenly came up and grabbed her arm, surprising her. She looked down to see that the hand, as well as the arm, was stretched out of Declan’s own shadow below them. The shadow hand then pulled her forward before throwing her back into the air. She quickly stopped herself in mid-air before she could go any further. Everypony else was shocked by what happened.
“Whoa! What was that!?" Rainbow remarked.
“I don’t know! It came… from his shadow…!” Fluttershy observed, shaking like a leaf.
“From his shadow?" Applejack exclaimed, shocked.
“How is that possible?" Rarity gasped.
“I don’t know… but it isn't good…” Twilight told them.
“That’s for sure…” Spike agreed, looking worried.
Sibrella smirked evilly. “Feel that power, boy? That's the power of evil," she told him. “You sure you can control it? You sure you can keep your mind intact and control that temper of yours?”
“Can it.” Dark Declan growled.
“Well, someone’s testy.” Sibrella remarked. “Maybe this will teach you some manners!"
Sibrella held out her hands and the ground suddenly started to shake again, everypony struggled to keep their balance while stone spikes unexpectedly rose out of the ground and tried to strike Declan from all angles but his personal force field appeared around him and caused the tips of the spikes to break upon contact.
Declan sneered at Sibrella. “Is that all you got?”
“Hardly. In fact I haven’t even begun to show you my true power yet! And soon I will use it to crush you like the worm you are!” The demon threatened, but her threat just made Declan laugh a very creepy laugh.
“You crush me? You sure are a funny lady!” Declan remarked as he reached into his pocket and took out a large lollipop.
“Really? I don’t think she’s any fun at all!” Pinkie voiced to the others, dumbfounded.
“Ha! With this power I can easily crush you like this piece of candy!" Declan continued to tell Sibrella as he bite the lollipop in half, chewed loudly and swallowed before he then stuck it in his mouth. When he took it out, all that was left was the stick. “You terrorized these ponies, tried to demolish me and worst of all; you hurt my friends. This is gonna hurt and I’m going to enjoy it!”
Declan tossed the stick right at her but she managed to catch it just before it hit her face, stunning the girls and Spike.
“Whoa!” Rainbow remarked, impressed.
“Is that so?” she asked. She appeared to have gotten over her initial fear of Declan and had become calm, cool and collected. “Then give it your best shot then.”
The demonic witch then motioned her arm to go in a circle and in doing so she created a large purple ring that quickly became whole and expanded around her.
“Ha! Now with this special shield any attack you throw at me will simply be thrown back!” Sibrella smirked, evilly.
“I. Don’t. Care!" Declan stated, firmly as his gem glowed an even darker red. “Take this!”
Declan quickly extended his arm which caused his shadow to stretch out and become a dark red ether-like dragon poised to strike Sibrella. It roared at her.
“Are you crazy!? You’ll just end up hurting yourself you know!” Sibrella told him.
“We'll see about that!?” Declan howled as the shadow dragon zoomed straight for Sibrella and tried to attack her but ended up slamming into the red shield in front of Sibrella.
After hitting her shield it bounced off and began to turn toward Declan.
“Oh no! Declan!” Twilight said as she began to run over and help him but a purple dome suddenly appeared around her and her friends, trapping them inside of it.
“Hey! What gives!?” Rainbow remarked, as they turned to Sibrella, the one obviously responsible for their imprisonment.
“Sorry! No audience participation at this time,” she said, smugly.
“Aw…” Pinkie Pie whined before they continued to watch helplessly.
When the dark dragon hits the target; Declan, it quickly used its motion to launch the boy high into the air. The shockwave shook his body to the core and made every limb of his sore. He screamed as he flew across the grassland below him.
“Declan!” Everypony screamed.
Another long arm stretched out of the dark aura and grabbed the ground, pulling him down towards it where he landed safely on his feet.
“That all you got? Not all I got!” Declan yelled out as his shadow stretched out a bit before slowly forming a dragon's head, it's eyes gleamed before it stretched out and roared as it headed for Sibrella, tearing up the landscape; grass, dirt as well as roots, underneath it with it's underbelly as it did so.
“It’s gonna hit!” Rainbow observed, before she and the others noticed the beast going right past Sibrella, who looked completely unfazed and Declan didn't even seem to notice, he just smiled his now usual maniacal grin. “Or not…”
The dark dragon that formed out of Declan's shadow then began to fly and roar all over the place, with no sense of direction and not caring what got in it's way. While it rampaged, the eleven-year old grinned a feral smile.
Declan then began to laugh maniacally. “Go wild! Go wilder and wilder my beast! Don’t stop!” he laughed, while the dark shadowy snake creature continued to destroy everything in it's path; like trees, rocks and even clouds, all of them… gone, as it roared and tried to strike Sibrella, who simply blocked it with a shield, making it splatter like a water giant droplet. Declan then raised a hand and held it out then part of his shadow stretched out towards Sibrella, forming a hand in the process. She flew around to try and escape it but eventually it grabbed her and slammed her into the ground, damaging her body all over, much to Declan's glee, but she quickly recovered from it and kept fighting.
As this happened, the Mane Six and Spike continued to watch in shock and with fear in their eyes as Declan continued to fight Sibrella using his new dark power while also becoming more and more malicious and ruthless by the second.
“Oh my… what… What is he…?" Rarity remarked, stunned and scared.
“And what is he doing? He’s out of control!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“And that… thing…” Fluttershy shivered, fearfully.
Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “It’s dark magic…" she mused. “This isn’t good!”
“Declan! Stop it!” Applejack called out to him.
“She’s right, you're letting your anger cloud your mind, you have to remain calm!" Twilight urged him.
“You shut up! I don't need to be calm!” Declan snapped, stunning her greatly. “I only need to win! And I will win! I will win!”
“Oh? Well prove it then, little boy.” Sibrella taunted, making the ‘little boy’ known as Declan even more angry.
“Why yoooooou!” he growled, his anger increasing. His red eyes then glowed even brighter, but this time in a different manner, as they were completely bright red.
He then held out his hand with a crazed expression and motioned something to come upward. His shadow then rose up, becoming almost three-dimensional, gaining the same body structure as he did as well as shifting from black to crimson red and gaining dark blue and angry looking eyes. Everypony was amazed by this.
“Incredible! He used the dark magic the Emperor's Gem is emitting to bring his shadow to life!” Twilight gasped.
“Cool!" Pinkie said in awe.
“No, not cool! Very, very not cool!” Rarity hushed her.
Declan’s literal shadow clone then gained a jagged mouth and roared a ear piercing roar at the top of it's lungs, creating massive gusts of wind that went out in all directions. Everypony had to cover their faces to protect themselves from harm while the area continued to shake because of the shadow creature Declan created.
“Oh boy… this is definitely not good!” Applejack remarked, solemnly.
“Yeah, no kidding!” Rainbow remarked, sarcastically.
“Declan! Stop!” Twilight called out as she tried to walk over to him put was knocked back by the shockwaves he was emitting.
“Twilight!” Spike cried as he rushed over to her. “You ok?”
“Yeah… I think so…” she sighed before standing back up. “But those shockwaves… because of those we can't even get near Declan or Sibrella.”
“Guess whatever ‘darkness’ is inside Declan’s heart right now doesn't want us to interfere.” Applejack observed, seriously.
“Oh… I feel so helpless…” Fluttershy whimpered.
“I'm afraid that we are darling… we truly are…” Rarity remarked, solemnly.
“Go! Destroy her! Destroy her now! Go!” Declan yelled.
Declan’s red shadow clone zoomed towards Sibrella but the demonic witch quickly snapped her fingers and reactivated her shield, causing the attack to reflect and zoom towards Declan instead. The hit knocked him off his feet and sent him flying back once again but he quickly recovered from it.
“Ha! Doesn’t phase me! Attack again!” The possessed eleven-year old ordered.
And sure enough, Declan's crimson red shadow clone came out of his dark aura again and headed for Sibrella again but the result was the same; with the darkness attack bouncing off Sibrella's shield and striking Declan back and knocking the air out of him before he stood back up despite his multiple scratches and bruises that left him greatly injured.
“Again!” he screamed. “Strike her down!”
The process repeated itself once again, Declan tried to attack but he only ended up harming himself instead, much to the confusion, shock and horror of his friends watching nearby.
“Sweet Celestia! What is going on with him!? He's completely out of control!” Spike commented, fearfully.
“It's like… the Gem is reacting to his darkest emotions!” Twilight gasped.
“Yeah! And making him totally reckless!” Rainbow exclaimed. “He doesn’t even care about what happens to him or anypony else! All he cares about now is demolishing Sibrella!”
“At least he’s winning…” Fluttershy pointed out, trying to be hopeful but was still afraid.
“Maybe… but let's hope he doesn’t decide to come after us!" Applejack confessed.
“No! Declan would never do that!” Twilight stated, firmly though she still looked uneasy. “Right?”
The others all glanced away, looking worried, scared and doubtful all at the same time. Just then, Declan’s shadow clone reattached itself to him and became flat once again.
“Destroy… destroy everything! Destruction! Mass destruction” Declan yelled as multiple tendrils shot out from his shadow and stretched out towards the demonic witch.
The dark tentacles slammed against Sibrella's force field from all directions, creating a pulse wave through it with each it, a pulse wave that was sent out towards Declan and left scratch marks on his arms and face as well as little tears in his clothes, not that he noticed or even cared.
“Oh! This is a complete disaster!” Rarity exclaimed, dramatically. “We have to do something!”
“How? Whenever we try to get close to him those shockwave things push us back!” Applejack pointed out.
“But in the end… if we don't do something soon… Declan will be lost forever!” Twilight despaired.
“Declan! Please! Come to your senses!” Fluttershy pleaded. "I know you can hear us, so please! Stop fighting!”
“Yeah! Just stop it already!” Rainbow begged, actually sounding desperate.
“Look at us, darling!” Rarity called out.
“Look at me!” Pinkie practically screamed.
“Not helping, Pinkie!” Rainbow scolded her, annoyed.
Declan continued continued to block out their pleas and cries and focused all his attention on Sibrella, whose voiced seemed to be the only thing he could hear, despite the worn out state of his body and the fact that he was currently wheezing like an old man.
“Ok… this time my attack will rip right through your defenses you old witch!” he promised as he raised his right hand and pretty soon a dark aura appeared and became focused around his arm before enlarging and becoming a giant clawed hand.
“Well boy, I’m waiting.” Sibrella mocked him.
“Oh no! If he attacks again, he’s doomed!” Rainbow realized.
“We have to stop him!” Applejack exclaimed. "Come on! Let's try and bring this barrier down!"
“Yeah!” They all said before they all began bucking, slamming, pawing, clawing and zapping the force field over and over as they tried to get to Declan, who prepared to deliver one more attack.
“Time to finish you off! I'll show no mercy! All will rot and crumble!” Declan declared, his voice was now even more harsh and angry than before. He then pulled back his hand then extended it forward, allowing the shadowy claw to stretch out. “Take this!”
“No! STOP!" Twilight cried.
But it was too late, Declan's attack was already nearing her, and as it did so Declan's shadow began to flicker a bit, which seemed to please Sibrella.
“Aha! Just what I was waiting for!” Sibrella said, pleased as she extended her hand, stopped the attack in a flash and the energy emitted from her hand also quickly began to stretch out and become a hand, similar to the trick Declan did earlier. The hand then reached over and grabbed the Emperor’s Gem, making him freeze up and caused clawed shadow hand to suddenly before it could reach Sibrella.
“Hey! What gives?” Rainbow asked, baffled. “What just happened!?”
Twilight gasped when she figured it out. “Of course! All this time she’s been letting him wear himself out and drop all his defenses so that he could attack her! But once he did… the Emperor's Gem became vulnerable!” she realized.
“That’s right, because his anger had blinded his eyes and clouded his mind so much he never realized what I was really planning! What was I really waiting for!” Sibrella smiled, sinisterly “And now… you're finished!”
With a sudden snap that seemed deafening to young Declan, the string that kept the gem around his neck broke was pulled off. Stunned, Declan gasped in shock while his eyes suddenly snapped back to green. He watched helplessly as the gem was pulled back towards Sibrella before turning purple again.
“The Emperor’s Gem!” Declan cried before groaning and holding his sides as he dropped to his knees as the dark magic that was inside of him was drained out and back into the Emperor’s Gem, causing his clothes, eyebrows and skin to return to normal and his whole body to shake, as if it was on fire and it hurt, before it finally reached Sibrella, who clenched it tightly.
“Finally, it’s mine once again. Boy; you we’re reckless and foolish to even consider challenging me to a battle at all." Sibrella berated Declan who groaned in pain as his eyes widen with fear. The demonic witch then gained a nasty smile on her face. “So… say hello to the pit of despair!”
Sibrella’s hands glow with two purple orbs that she raised before she shot a beam into the sky. The sky darkened and the dark clouds rumbled with thunder and lightning before a beam came back down and slammed into the ground in front of Declan, creating a big explosion.
The kid covered his arms to shield his face but the shockwave quickly struck his body and knocked him off his feet and sent him flying and screaming while his friends watched helplessly.
“Declan! No!” They cried.
The eleven-year old soon started to bounce several times across the grassy field, injuring him more and more. The pain he felt was the kind of pain somebody would feel if they were sent hurling down a flight of stone stairs. He rolled across the grass then eventually stopped, flat on his face and apparently unconscious. Spike and the girls all gasped in shock.