//------------------------------//
// Last Stand 
// Story: Tale of a Flame 
// by BlazeKindling 
//------------------------------//

Blaze ran hapless through the dark of the night, panicking as to what happens next. He ran to his house, and flurried up the stairs to his room. In a state of utter extremity and adrenaline, Blaze leaped onto his bed, trying his absolute hardest to fall asleep and gain access to the Void. Alas, as luck would have it, Blaze could not sleep, therefore severing his connection to the Void. Blaze, thinking at a lightning pace, thought of as many ways to pass out. He bashed his head on the wall, smashed his hooves into his skull, but nothing. No light headedness, no woozy feeling. Blaze felt as awake as ever, and the longer it took, the more methods he thought up, the more awake he became. Blaze charged at the wall, head down like a battering ram, when he slipped and cut himself on small hook at the corner of his bed. He didn’t think much of it until he felt it. He got up to see an enormous gash, going deep into his leg. He screamed in pain, the searing agony digging and burrowing into him like a worm. He then felt light headed, and suddenly, fell. The blood loss from the wound, accompanied by the painful scream was enough to send him into dream.

Blaze awoke in the blackest possible environment he could have ever imagined. He looked around to see Ignis hoisting Twilight over what seemed to a pit of lava and cringe-worthy yelling. A pit of trapped souls, waiting for their next meal to come plummeting down. Blaze got up to stop him, just before he fell again. The gash had followed him into dream. He limped with all his might to stop the opposer from dropping her into the fire-infused pit. 

“STOP! PUT HER DOWN!” He yelled with his fury showing. Ignis turned and laughed, a deep and satanic laugh.

“AH BLAZE, SO GOOD OF YOU TO JOIN US. LISTEN, I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS SHORT. THE SOULS OF THE DAMNED ARE STARVING, AND THEY WILL NOT REST UNTIL A MEAL IS GIVEN TO THEM. SO EITHER TWILIGHT IS FED TO THEM… OR YOU.” Ignis said, with another deep, bellowing laugh. Blaze stepped back in horror, not knowing what to do. Twilight shook her head, pointing her hoof at herself. She wanted Blaze to live, but he had other plans.

“I...I volunteer.” Blaze said, and with a snap, Blaze took Twilight’s place in space. Twilight looked with utter horror as Blaze dropped, and she felt the bile rising when the snapping of bones ensued. She leaned over, expecting to puke but nothing. She looked back at Ignis with disgust and utter terror as he looked back. 

“YOU ARE FREE TO WALK YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A WORLD NOW. LEAVE MY SIGHT, OR YOU SHALL JOIN HIM.” Ignis said, and closed the pit. Twilight walked, and felt herself leave the spiritual realm. She looked around to see her friends recovering.

“Twilight! You’re okay!” Axle said, being the first one to fully wake up. He looked around her, and then a look of despair and panic crossed over his face.

“Where’s Blaze?” He asked, pushing back whatever tears burnt themselves out. Twilight held her face in her hooves, refusing to look Axle straight in the eye. Axle looked away, feeling the emotions exploding and rising inside of him. A single tear, empowered by its failing brethren came to the lip of his eyelids and slid down his face, making a trail of salty, bitter tear down his face. He felt it drip off of his chin, before walking off. He walked and didn't look back, knowing she’d come after him. As he predicted, Twilight came running up to him

“Where are you going Axle!? There’s nowhere to go now, all that’s left of Equestria is a scorched wasteland!” She yelled, her anger and confusion rising. Axle turned to face her, and took off his sunglasses, throwing them aside.

“There is somewhere we can go Twilight. Right onto that demonic bucker’s front step, fury and magic blazing. There may not be anything we can do about Equestria, and that’s why we’re doing this. This is our final stand, the last frontier of resistance! We are the last line, and by Celestia’s grave we will defend our ranks! We may not be all powerful like her, but we've got one trick up our sleeves. And that is our union, our common reason. We only have this one place, and I WILL NOT SEE IT BURN!” Axle shouted with glory and determination in his voice. The few ponies who had survived cheered, their spirits lifted by his speech. The many civilians readied their weapons, whether it be the horns on their heads, or the wings on their back, or the hooves on their legs, and formed up to create a battalion of ponies. In the front, leading the mob was Axle, armed with his wrench gripped tightly in his wing.

“Wait, you’re going to beat him down with a wrench?” One of the ponies asked. Axle turned to face him, pressing a button on the hilt. Suddenly, the two prongs on the end split apart, and a large blade extended from the centre. A sword. The pony gasped at the sight, and Axle turned again to face forwards, still leading.

Not an hour later, they arrived at the canterlot castle. What had been a secure and welcoming location, now morphed into a black beacon for the demons of the night roaming the land. The dark energies swirled, and the many behind Axle began to flee in fright. The ones who stayed still marched. The guardian of the castle, a large black suit of armour stood at the entrance, holding it’s position firmly.

“STATE YOUR BUSINESS AT LORD IGNIS’S CASTLE.” It spoke as they champions approached. It drew its sword from the sheath at it’s side, and held it firmly. 

“IF YOU DO NOT STOP, I WILL BE FORCED TO CUT YOU DOWN.” It warned, but the ponies marched onwards. When they reached within arm’s length of the beast, it charged. Just then, Twilight teleported from her rank and behind the monster, blasting a hole straight through it’s chest with a precise shot from her horn. It collapsed before exploding into a black mist, which flowed back into the castle.

“On my mark, Earth Ponies will charge the gate. READY!” Axle shouted, and the earth ponies readied for a straightforward charge. All but one that was. Pinkie wheeled her cannon, but this time no confetti was to be launched. 

“NOW!” Axle yelled, and the many ponies gave a war cry, charging the gates with their sheer strength. The many hooves smashed into the door, but it did not budge. Out of nowhere, an explosion rocked the door as it blew open, shattering the barrier. Smoke rose from Pinkie’s newly crafted Fireworks Cannon, and she smiled. The hinges fell, and the doors toppled. On the other end, an army of shadows and demons, endless ranks of creatures of the night. Axle raised his hoof, and the Unicorns took aim. Down went Axle’s hoof, and so did all hell break loose. The missiles of energy flew through the air, falling onto the army of darkness, their sheer numbers dwindled by the colorful explosions. The remaining charged at the resistance, and the earth ponies made short work of them. All of a sudden, the air was filled with shades, and the many started to dive bomb at the ponies below. They never made it close to the ground however, thanks to the short work of the Pegasi. The resistance charged, and stormed the hallways, forming up on the throne room. Axle annihilated the door, and the army charged in. Nopony sat upon the throne, but instead a twisted memento. There, lying on the throne was the late Blaze kindling, completely intact. Twilight realized that he hadn't been physically harmed, but instead lost his soul to the demons in the pit. Then, a figure arose from the carcass, and took the shape of an alicorn. It’s flaming red eyes penetrated through the thick ranks of the resistance, and it glared down Axle with a hatred so pure, it couldn't look any angrier without breaking the laws of reality. Suddenly, laughter akin to a mad clown filled the room as the being keeled over in hysteria. It got up from it’s massive laugh attack, and began to speak in a voice resembling the very devil himself.

“IS THAT IT? JUST A RAGTAG GROUP OF SURVIVORS EXPECT TO BEAT ME!?” The being laughed again. “I EXPECTED MAYBE A LITTLE MORE PONIES, BUT NO. YOU BRING A BATTALION OF WHAT, THREE HUNDRED? TO FIGHT ME. YOU ARE BRAVE, I’LL GIVE YOU THAT. BUT BRAVERY LEADS TO RECKLESSNESS. RECKLESSNESS LEADS TO OVERCONFIDENCE. OVERCONFIDENCE LEADS TO A SHALLOW GRAVE!” It screamed, and summoned another army of shadow creatures to wipe the resistance off the face of Equestria. The ponies fought hard and strong, cutting down scores of hundreds like wheat in a field. Soon after, the being descended from it’s throne of rotting flesh, and charged a blast. The many different Unicorns created wards, while the Pegasi gathered debris for dropping, and the Earth Ponies readied behind the shield, waiting for the precise moment to strike. The blast let loose, expected to break the shield, but it held strong. And from it charged hundreds of ponies, letting all of their fury expel onto the beast of darkness. Rocks and debris rained from the sky as the Pegasi dropped their bombs onto him. While the others charged, the Unicorns held up the shield to break any oncoming spells. When the smoke cleared, all they could see was a single extruding wing of pure black. They triumphed, but not for long. The rubble shifted and it rose to it’s feet, barely a scratch on it.

“MY TURN…” It said, and launched the most massive blast of concentrated energy right at the shield. The combined forces were no match for it’s power, and the unicorns soon found themselves in caught in a soul-eating vortex of dark energy. With one fell swoop, the beast had killed half of Axle’s troops.
It laughed at their futile attempts before it charged another, aiming this time at the roof. The blast fired, but no pegasi were hit. They chose to taunt him, before hearing a cracking behind them. The marble pillars fell and crushed them, while the roof killed even more when it came crashing down. The beast could not see any survivors, just a pile of rubble under his throne. He laughed again, before getting hit in the back with a beam. He turned to see the mane six he had meant to kill. He noticed the azure blue pegasus with them, holding a sword in his wings. The demon charged another huge blast, but before he could launch it off, they were gone. He attempted to hold in the energy, as he found the group. They had thought him unarmed. He let loose his held in energy onto them. They had no time to escape. He looked at their small platform, only to see it charred, with no sign of them. Must have disintegrated, he thought to himself. From inside his blind spot, came a sword held in the wings of the most determined stallion in the land. The sword pierced through it’s hide and into it’s flesh. The beast screamed in pain before looking with extreme rage at Axle.

“One on one beast, just you… and me.” Axle said, his eyes ablaze with confidence. It spat on the ground before raising it’s weapon, a sword forged from the very fires of whence it came from. They both swung, and the swords collided. The shock wave rocked the land, and the plot of earth they stood upon rose into the air on a pillar of light and dark. The final battle was at hand. Axle swung, but the beast countered and used his forwards momentum to  throw Axle off his ground and behind him. Axle quickly rose to his hooves and delivered a swift kick to the ribcage of the beast. It bellowed at him before swinging blindly. Axle dodged and delivered another kick followed by a jab to the side with his blade. The beast fell, and Axle raised his sword into the air, bringing it down onto the horrid creature. The blade went straight through the beast, and into the ground under him. It screamed in pain, attempted to raise the sword out of it’s chest, but no use was at hand. Axle kicked the blade farther into the beast, completely covering the blade in it’s pitch black blood. His removed his blade from the beast and placed his hoof over the wound in triumph. The platform fell to the ground, and Axle met with his friends. They cheered for him, feeling relief in the creature true death. Not again would they need to….

“I DoNt ThInK sO!” The creature’s dark voice emanated from behind Axle. A shadow beam hit him right in head, sending him careening backwards into a wall. Twilight attempted to stop its assault, but it knocked her aside. Applejack and Dash hit it with full force, but they too were sent flying backwards. It picked up Axle with it’s wing, and raised him above the crater that was once the Canterlot Castle. Axle struggled, but no avail was had. Just as the Beast let go of him, a fireball completely encircled him, scorching and searing him into oblivion. The fire was that of Hell fire, and it completely incinerated the beast into ashes, severing it once and for all from the plane of existence Axle fell, and out of nowhere, a bright flash of red snatched him out of the air. Axle landed back on the edge of the crater. Standing before him, was Blaze. But he was changed, his mane no longer was just red, instead a flowing green with red streaks. His cutie mark changed as well, going from a fire to a sun-like fireball painted on his flank.

“B-Blaze? How are you alive?” Axle stuttered, along with Twilight beside him.

“They may have taken my soul, but a certain someone had what I needed. We now live as one.” Blaze said. “Oh, and I am no longer Blaze. Refer to me as only Prince Kindling.” He said. Twilight stumbled.

“Wait… P-Prince? Do you mean… C-C-Celestia?” Twilight couldn't feel her head, it was up in the clouds. The newly appointed prince nodded.

“She was left adrift, without a body, in the Void. When she found my body, she gave me what little of herself was left, reincarnating me with herself. I guess the green is from her.” The Prince said.

A moaning sounded from the edge of the crater, where the beast had been annihilated. Axle looked to see a familiar black pegasus lying on the ground, curling into a ball with pain. And from the skies, descended a white unicorn.
“Twilight, Axle, Prince. You have freed me from the bonds of this terrible creature, known only as Ignis.”
Silver said, with her smile gleaming over the pitch blackness. She then placed her hoof on the cowering Ignis, and his black coat was whisked away, revealing a pure white coat with an amazing multi coloured mane. He had been purified of his demonic traits.

“Join me now, Ignis. let us walk the plane together as one.” Silver said. Ignis walked towards her, and in a flash of light, they disappeared. Axle wiped his eyes, barely believing what he had just witnessed.

“Well, now that our world is rid of the menace, we can rebuild.” Blaze said, and so they did.

You know, they say that in the beginning of Equestria, fire was made to be a cruel, unforgiving element of no mercy. But as is the case with yours truly, fire can be something… beautiful.