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// The Element of Destruction 
// Story: The Epic of Starswirl the Bearded 
// by zeroxwolfx 
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The Lost Epic of Starswirl the Bearded
Chapter 4: The Element of Destruction

        “Now wait, WAIT just a minute sir… you cannot tell me you are honestly thinking of going right up to him like that.  You saw what he did to Commander Hurricane!  Throwing your life away like he did isn’t going to save any of us, please sir… consider your actions!” said Clover the Clever as she ran after him.

        The wizard was still trotting steadily towards the mountain, “I am certainly not throwing my life away young apprentice. I am going to dispose of his.” He said with a look of determination on his face, the likes of which Clover had never seen.  So much in fact that it made her stop in her hooves for a moment.

        Clover tried to match his determination, “Then I’m coming with you sir!” she said defiantly at him.

        Starswirl stopped at this, turning around to face her, “This is my fight,” he said looking at her sternly. 

        Clover matched his sternness, “How come? Commander Hurricane was my friend too!  Don’t you think I was hurt by his death?!  What right do you have to avenge him by yourself?  Don’t you think I want to bring that… that thing down just as much as you do?” she asked with a tear beginning to form in her eye.

        Starswirl’s face softened, and he looked to her now with compassion, “Clover, my dear… this is not about vengeance,”  he walked towards her, and gently put his hooves on her shoulders, “I’m not going to fight him myself out of some damned fool idea of vengeance and glory.  I am fighting him myself because I cannot bear the thought of him taking away any more of my friends.   I could never forgive myself if I lost you in battle…”  he embraced her in a tight hug, “…I promise you Clover, my favorite student that I will return.  And I will return victorious.”  

        He looked at her with such a fire in his eyes that she had never seen before.  She had never seen the wizard fight to his full potential, but with the glimmer of hope that she saw in him, she believed him.  She was sad to see him go of course, she didn’t want him to get hurt, after all.  But she knew her faith in him was well placed.  She hugged him back, letting him go, “I will hold you to that promise master… good luck,” she said meekly, trying her best to hold back tears.

        All of the ponies, whom had witness the fallen Hurricane now watched as Starswirl the Bearded strode purposefully to the mountain.  They had personally witnessed him banished a colossal storm, that no Pegasus could ever disperse.  They had witness him perform such feats of magic that nopony in their time had ever hoped to see.  Anypony in town would have turned tail and run, cowered, a fled at even the notion that such a monster could exist.  But here they saw Starswirl, their champion, their hero walking head long into the lair of the devil himself.  The ponies of Equestria had long since gotten used to running at the first sign of trouble, but perhaps the sight of this wizard facing evil so readily might their methods.  Perhaps when they were next faced with such a foe, they would not surrender to their fears so easily.

        Starswirl approached the base of the mountain.  As the sun shone brightly on him, he knew that he would not be alone in this battle; he would have the greatest power in existence fighting along-side him.  She would have his back. Starswirl placed his staff on his back, and spread his hooves wide.  His horn emitted a bright blue magic that would slowly envelope his whole body.  Soon, Starswirl himself began to lift off the ground, and his shimmering body shot up rapidly along the side of the mountain, towards the lair of the foe that lay before him.  He sped up, traveling at blinding speeds through the crisp mountain air.  As he traveled through the clouds, he felt a presence around him, an ancient power that was seeping its way into his veins.  Starswirl’s goal was quite clear now, and as he increased his speed, the cone of magic that encircled him grew larger, and brighter.  His very eyes began to glow with white, hot magic, as evidence of his strong, willful power in magic.  The wind around him subsided to gusting around his magical aurora, as if to acknowledge his presence.  After only a few minutes, he would find himself at the step, leading to the great cave at the summit of the mountain.  He lowered himself down, causing wind and dust to disperse, as the great wizard landed.  He looked up, and prepared himself to bring justice to the great black dragon.

        Numinex had his great body curled around the very peak of the mountain.  It was looking over, what he had proclaimed to be “his” lands, before he noticed the glowing orb of magic that was Starswirl the Bearded.  He hardly paid attention to him, “What is this? Have you come to pay tribute to the master of these lands little mortal?” he said, hardly considering the wizard, or anypony to be a real threat to him.

        Starswirl spoke, with his own booming voice, amplified by his powerful magic to the dragon, “I have not come to pay tribute.  I have come to tell you that you have overstayed your welcome in Equestria,” he said powerfully, taking a step closer to the dragon.

        Numinex still did not seem threatened by him, “Equestria? This is not a fitting name for my land.  This is Dagorath!” He said proudly, spreading his wings wide, “This shall be a land of fire and desolation!  What a glorious land it shall be, after I have cleansed it with the word that is my fire!  Can you see it mortal? Can you see the endless sea of fire and death as I do?” he asked mockingly of Starswirl.

        Starswirl was neither impressed, nor withdrawn by the threats of Numinex.  He took several more steps closer to him on the ledge of the mountain, and spoke with even more force in his voice, “If you will not leave this place on your own accord, then I shall remove you from it.”

        This made the dragon avert his gaze from the view of Equestria, and turn his head to look at Starswirl, before a wicked grin came across his face.  Then he bellowed out in laughter, “Ah ha! What Blasphemy! What heresy! To think that such a meek, festering spot of weakness on earth can lay waste to the greatest of aspects!” he spoke the last part proudly, showing off his huge wingspan, and his jagged, black-scaled chest.  He snaked his neck out, looking closer at Starswirl, “Do you know WHO I AM?” he spoke with anger, then again with pride, “I am Numinex! I AM THE ELEMENT OF DESTRUCTION!  Of all of my great siblings, I am the most powerful! I am unassailable!”  Numinex jumped off of his peak, to land on the opposite end of the great porch on the mountain, staring down Starswirl, “Your arrogance amuses me mortal. Kneel before me, accept me as master, and bask in the glory that is Numinex!” He raised himself up on his hind legs, showing off his massive powerful body, and spread his wings once more.

        Starswirl lifted his staff with his horn, and aimed it at the great dragon.  A huge and blindingly bright lightning bolt shot out of it, going straight for the leathery hide that made up Numinex’s wing.  A hole was burned right through it, the edges of it still glowing hotly.  Numinex eyes widened slightly, and his maw went agape for a moment, he was not overly harmed by the blast, but he was certainly quite shocked, “Ack, what sorcery is this?” he said, his epic, booming voice slightly quieter this time.  However, he had no more time for insight, as Starswirl launched another lightning bolt at him.  The dragon was able to roll out of the way in time.  After which he roared in anger, and took off into the air.  He soared high in the air, before coming down suddenly, right atop of where Starswirl was.  His dark fore claw had smashed into the ground, cracking the earth around it.  But upon inspection, there were no remains underneath it.  Starswirl had teleported just behind the dragon, and shot another lightning bolt at his back.  His scales smoked from the white-hot lightning, and Numinex roared furiously. 

        The eyes of the dragon where blazing with anger, “You will suffer the same fate as your weaker friend!” he cried out, before opening his maw, and blasting the wizard with a huge torrent of flames.  After the flames died, Starswirl was still there, with a shimmering clear force field protecting him.  Numinex gave him no time to recover, as he pounced forward on him, fore claws attempting to crush the small pony.  Starswirl was pushed firmly into the ground; however, he had managed to grab onto the dragons claws with his telekinetic magic, managing to just stop him from crushing the wizard.  Blue magic enveloped Starswirl, and he rose up high above the mountain, his staff in hand as he flew in the air.  The black dragon quickly caught up to him, trying to catch him in his deadly rows of teeth.  To his avail, a huge sphere of swirling wind smashes into his face as he flew up, just knocking his head out of the way from devouring his foe.

        Numinex snarled in frustration, “I WILL OUTLAST YOU MAGE!” he flew up above Starswirl, and blasted him again with blue-hot flames.  As the flames came towards him, Starswirl lifted his staff up, and the flames were absorbed into it, disappearing as if they had never existed.  The dragon dove into him, spinning around and smacking the wizard with his spiked tail.  Starswirl was able to erect a barrier to protect him from direct impact, but the force of it still sent him flying to the ground, nearly crashing onto the great porch before he was able to stop himself, and gently land on his hooves.  The dragon swooped down on him, using his hind claws like eagle talons to tear at the ground.  Starswirl only just dived out of the way in time.  The dragon landed on the ground next to him, and rose up to crush the wizard again.  As he did, Starswirl aimed his staff at the chest of the dragon, and his own fires shot out of it, engulfing Numinex in a magnificent blue flame.  The dragon roared and cried out as he tumbled around the ground for a while, falling onto all fours before the fire went out.  He rose up again, looking angrier than ever at Starswirl.  His scales were smoking, but it was difficult to tell if they were burn or damage, due to their pitch black color.

        He opened up his maw, and began to bellow out his intense flames at Starswirl.  Instead of ceasing his attack, he rose up, circling him, and continuously blasting his fire breath, covering him in a blanket of heat.  Starswirl had quickly erected his spherical force field, but it was weakening from the constant barrage of fire.  The mage let out a loud booming cry, and a shockwave of his magic erupted from him, the dragon’s fires spreading out in all directions, and the dragon himself being shaken in the air.    After he expelled the onslaught of fire breath, Starswirl shot another bolt of lightning, striking Numinex squarely in his snout.  He shook his great scaled head around shaking off the smoldering wound. Then he roared powerfully at the small pony before him, “YOU INSULENT PEST! I WILL SHOW YOU THE MEANING OF PAIN!” and with that the great dragon dove towards him, and crashed his shoulder into the wizard with all his weight.  Starswirl cringed, and gritted his teeth in pain.  The magical barrier he had erected was smashed into the ground, creating a large crater.  The onslaught of Numinex didn’t stop, after bulldozing into him; he continued to bash his claws into the magical barrier over and over again in his rage.  Starswirl looked up, holding the barrier as best he could, but slowly, it began to crack.  Just before he was smashed below the claws of the dragon, Starswirl absorbed the energy of his barrier into his horn, and shot out a bright burst of energy to the dragon.  It was more powerful than he intended, and it singed the claw of the dragon, leaving his scales smoldering and deformed, Numinex cringed in pain, pulling his claw away as he withdrew for a moment.

        At the realization that he had withdrawn, the dragon roared out into the air, spitting his fire and nothing, simply expelling his fury.  Just as Starswirl was crawling out of the crater, the dragon spun around, swinging his massive spiked tail, striking the little pony, and making him fly across the air, and smashing into the side of the mountain.  It was only sheer luck that one of Numinex’s many spikes didn’t pierce him, but regardless, his old brittle body cracked quite hard against the rocky surface of the mountain, and he was slow to get up.  The dragon smirked at his success; he dropped to all fours, crawling slowly up to the wizard like a predator ready to pounce.  The wizard stood up shakily, and raised both his hooves in the air; he looked to the sky as his horn began to glow weakly.  The dragon found this display amusing.  So he opened his jaws rather slowly, poising to clamp them around the weakened mage.  Just as he was about to close his teeth around the pony, he stopped, perplexed by a strange sound.  Then the dragon peered up into the sky, and saw something he was very much not expecting.

        The dragon’s maw went agape, as he was a little confused at what he was looking.  Crashing down towards him at inexplicable speeds was a large, flaming rock that looked like it had come from nowhere.  His wings gave a furious beat, but it was too late, the meteor had collided with him, making him crater into the earth; the flaming meteor exploding as it crashed into him, sending molten material everywhere.  When the raging dragon come forth from the crater, bits of him were glowing red hot from his burning scales and hide, but he showed no sign of slowing down.  The massive strike seemed only to enrage him more, as he spit out a large fireball, sending it hurling towards Starswirl.  Starswirl was quick enough to use the same trick as he did before, and he absorbed the power of the fire into his staff.  He teleported behind Numinex and launched the fireball at him, but to no avail, as the dragon swished his great tail, tossing the fireball aside.

        The dragon snorted out a bellow of smoke, many of his black scales where even more gnarled than before, “What a myriad of tricks you have sorcerer but where is your true arsenal?  What weapon do you have that you can possibly fell me?” he rose up off the ground slightly, his wings, latent with holes keeping him hovering, “I applaud your efforts to amuse me mortal, you have done well.  But your frail equine body is breaking; you will fall long before I do.”  And it was true; Starswirl had been battered terribly by the great dragon.  And his body was aching from the strenuously use of strong magic he was using.

        Starswirl the Bearded stood up tall before the dragon, and glared at him, “I will smite your ruins upon this mountain, foul dragon of the abyss!” He held his staff firmly.  The dragon was a bit taken back by the wizard’s defiantness, but this only fueled his anger.  The dragon opened his maw, as if to breathe fire.  Instead it looked like he was taking a deep breath, his lungs expanding.  Then he left his mouth open, just slightly so, and spit fourth a terribly hot, and concentrated stream of searing white-hot fire towards Starswirl.  Starswirl shot a powerful beam from his horn, striking the stream of heat.  The result was a tremendous explosion that shook the mountain itself.  Shock waves of energy flew out in all directions, sending Starswirl flying back against the side of the mountain, and sending Numinex tumbling back through the air.  

        As Starswirl lay dazed on his knees, he looked up and saw the terrible dragon raging towards him, his maw agape and ready to devour the small equine creature before him.  Just before he struck the poor wizard, something marvelous happened.  Out of the clouds, the sun had shone itself, and a ray of light beamed right into the eyes of Numinex.  He cried out in pain, averting his eyes.  From this, Starswirl stood up, walking steadily towards the dazed dragon.  He could feel the warmth of the sun at his back.  At that moment he felt her presence upon him, she was at his back, and he knew what to do.  Starswirl raised his staff one last time before the dragon.  As he did, the once bright light that was shining at Numinex turned into pure energy.  It was a great and terrifying beam that was coming straight from the sun.  It hissed through the air, singing it, and deafening Starswirl, as he was awestruck at the power before him.  The great pillar of light struck Numinex in his torso, burning it, singing away his scales and hide, digging deep into his abdomen before the light faded away, and Numinex fell to the ground with a tremendous thud.

        The once great dragon’s body singled and burned with the solar power from the sun.  He writhed and groaned in pain, and in anger.  As he growled and moaned in agony, his wings flailed out, trying to grasp onto some sort of invisible foe to hold him back from entering the damned pits which he was about to journey fourth to.  Starswirl walked up to the head of the beast, nearly taking pity on him as he roared in anger and pain, “YOU FOOL, YOU BLASPHEMER!!” he cringed his teeth, “NONE CAN SLAY THE GREAT NUMINEX!  I AM THE MOST POWERFUL OF ELEMENTS!!”  his claws curled and distorted themselves, as he looked down to the burning crevice in his torso; he flailed his head, his sounds switching between agony and anger constantly.  He looked angrily at Starswirl, “THIS IS MY WORLD!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME MORTAL?  MY WORLD!!!” the movements of his arms and legs began to lessen as he felt himself weakening.

        He pointed his staff at the head of the beast, “Who is your master, foul dragon?” he asked sternly.
        The dragon groaned, turning his head away, “The great Numinex… has no master…” he said, his once booming voice now weakened and hoarse.

        Starswirl took another step towards him, “You did not raise yourself out of the ground, and you did bring yourself out of the flesh of the great dragon of the earth bones, who is it that brought you into this world?!” he asked firmly, stomping a hoof onto the dragons neck.

        Numinex chuckled weakly at this, the life fading from him slowly, “I… Suppose the great Numinex was not fighting in his most glorious form… mortal…” he said as his arms and legs began to shake.  He groaned out again in pain.

        Starswirl spoke angrily, pressing his staff into the face of the dragon, “WHO is your master you beast?! WHO brought you into this world?!” he said, eyes wide with fury.

        Numinex turned his head again, “But he is… in his most glorious form…” he chuckled at this before twisting his head in pain.

        “Who?!” said Starswirl.

        The dragon cried loudly in pain, “GRAAAHH, I SHALL TAKE THE SECRET TO MY GRAVE!” He writhed in pain, “FROM MY DEATH SHALL SPAWN A MULTITUDE OF MY CHILDREN!!!” his body twisted as he cried out, “I SHALL RETURN… ONE DAY IN FULL GLORY AND BRING FIRE TO THE LAND… GO MY CHILDREN!!!” he dragon screamed in pain, and as his body writhed violently, Starswirl moved away from him.  The dragons maw opened wide, the bright light that was his life force streamed out hatefully, creating a terrible screeching that deafened Starswirl.  The great blue flame of his life flowed upwards, disappearing into the sky.  After his life force was wrenched out of the great dragon, his burning body fell limp to the ground.  Then his corpse gradually turned to ash, and his ashes blew away into the wind, disappearing; signaling the end of Numinex, the Element of Destruction. 

        Clover rushed forward to hug Starswirl, “Master! Master I knew you’d make it…” she said with a small tear of joy in her eye.  She released him and stepped back, Smart Cookie, and Platinum were also there to greet him at the edge of town , “We could hear the fighting from here master, we heard the very mountain shake and… we feared the worst” she said looking worried at him.

        Starswirl patted her shoulder and gave her a smile, the wizard was certain beat up from his endeavor on the mountain, “My dear, I do remember telling you that I would return victorious, didn’t I?” he asked with a smile.

        “You sure as sugar did!” said Smart Cookie raising his hooves joyfully, “Just when I think I’ve seen you do the most amazing, most incredible thing ever Starswirl, you go and do something like this!”

        “We never doubted you for a moment sir wizard; you are an inspiration to all of us!” said Councilor Platinum, clapping her hooves together excitedly, “Oh my but dear… you’re hurt! Let’s get you to the castle healers, come now!”

        Clover the Clever went to his side, helping him walk slightly as they all followed him to the castle. As they walked down the street, several of the ponies of town began to cheer for him.

        “All hail Starswirl, the greatest unicorn ever!”

        “Starswirl! Starswirl the dragon slayer!”

        He smiled weakly at the crowed of ponies, pausing from their repairs of their houses to cheer on their hero.  This helped lift his spirits, he was certainly glad to see his friends in town.  His eyes had grown tired of his last adversary, and this was a comforting thing to behold.  As they entered castle Mare Hall, Clover helped him up onto a bed, and two healer unicorns came to his side, preparing him food, and hot water.  Starswirl slowly looked over to the Councilors, “Now where is Councilor Pamby?” he asked curiously.

        The councilors and clover looked to the ground sadly, “He’s… at the Mausoleum… watching over Commander Hurricane.  He hasn’t left his side since he heard the news.  He’s really taking his death hard…” said Councilor Platinum.

        Starswirl sighed, remembering the death of his friend, “The death of such a great Pegasus was hard on us all.” He sat up in his bed as the healers tended to his wounds, “But we must mentally prepare ourselves for such things, for although this was such a terrible loss, we must come to expect this in these dark times” he said, speaking grimly. 

        Clover and Smart Cookie looked to him, “But, you killed the dragon, didn’t you Starswirl? I mean… that’s what was causing all the disturbances before wasn’t it?!” Smart Cookie asked, looking a bit panicked for a moment.

        Starswirl did not turn to look at her, “The dark dragon is dead…” he paused.  He didn’t want to tell his friends of such dire news, “But he was not the cause of the weather disturbances that we have been experiencing.  The dragon himself was brought to life by another entity.  And I do not know what this entity is, but I do not believe that it will give up its assault on our nation after this defeat” he said, speaking solemnly as he averted his gaze from his friends. 

        The ponies around him looked to the ground, almost not wanting to believe what they had just heard.  The dragon was already the biggest and most terrible thing any of them had ever seen.  Trying to think of something worse was almost maddening.  Clover finally lifted her head to him, “But master, what kind of entity could give life to such a creature as that dragon?” she asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice.

        “I don’t have answers for that my pupil.” He sighed heavily, and then tried to change the subject, “Come friends, let us go see Commander Hurricane and Councilor Pamby,” he said standing up from his bed.

        “Master, you’re still injured!” protested Clover.

        “Oh don’t worry about me dear, I’m feeling much better!” He said, giving her a smile.

        Inside the Mausoleum temple, the walls were lined up with Pegasus soldiers, all of them with their helmets removed, standing at attention to their great leader.  In the middle of the temple, on a stone table, lay the body of the Commander.  Next to the stone table stood Councilor Pamby, wearing his old military uniform.  He had such a look of sadness on his face, that it would break the heart of anypony that beheld it.  Starswirl and the councilors respectfully removed their hats as they entered the temple.  The honor Pegasus guards entered the temple, dawning their beautifully decorated uniforms and spears.  In two orderly lines, they approached the stone table, and raised their spears to him, “To our Commander, we salute you!” they all said in unison.  The other Pegasus soldiers raised their hooves and repeated, “We salute you!”  The Pegasus honor guards lowered their spears, and raised them again, “To our fearless leader, we welcome you to the halls of the honored dead!” the other Pegasus soldiers grunted out in their traditional fashion, raising their hooves.

        The Councilor Pamby raised his hooves, wiping the tears from his eyes, his look of sadness quickly changing to a look of determination, “This Pegasus dies with his eyes open in battle! May the afterlife beware! A warrior is coming!” he cried out.  The other Pegasus soldiers looked to him with aw, inspired by his brave face, and by the sacrifice of their fearless leader, “HOO!! COMMANDER HURRICANE!!” they all cried out.  As their enthusiasm slowly died down, two of the Pegasus honor guards went methodically up to the body of the Commander.  They lifted him off of the plank that he was laying on, and slowly lowered into a large stone Casket behind the stone table. They carried the stone casket into a socket in the wall, positioning it so it could be seen along the back wall, where the great ponies of the past rested in peace.  All of the soldiers gave their final salutes, before the Pegasus Honor Guard lined up, and slowly left the Mausoleum temple.

        Outside of the temple, Starswirl looked onto the horizon, just as all of the ponies did that day.  They could see that there was a great storm coming, but did not know that it would be unlike any storm they had ever faced before. Clover looked to her master, “What’s coming Starswirl… what more can our fair nation take.” It was a question she knew he couldn’t answer.  

        Commander Pamby had stood beside Starswirl and clover, with a look on his face the likes neither of them had ever seen, “Whatever it is that comes our way, we’ll be ready for it…”





To be continued with, Chapter 5: The Element of Chaos, Discord