//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Light up the Night. // Story: Chronicles of a brave heart // by MaverickHunterZero //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Light up the Night. “The night shall last forever!” Echoed an evil voice through the dark halls of the town hall, where Braveheart laid unconscious. “Huh? What happened?” Brave struggled to stand on his legs as he awoke. He was outside the chambers that princess Celestia was using to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration. That’s right… I was guarding the princess, and then I was struck by a spell, just what the hay happened? The menacing voice was heard again as it roared. “Stand back you foals!” Darn. That must be Nightmare Moon. Braveheart gathered all the energy he could muster at the time, and broke into a gallop towards the direction of the shout. Still feeling a little clumsy because of the spell, he almost tripped more than once. By the time the brave pegacorn arrived at the balcony, the Nightmare alicorn was gone, as were the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony. As Braveheart gazed upon the crowd, he noticed Lyra and Bonbon waving franticly at him, not hesitating a moment he decided to approach them. “Brave are you ok? What happened? Where’s the princess?” cried both mares. “That’s what I’m trying to find out girls. Did you see where Twilight went to?” replied the worried Pegacorn, scanning through the crowd, trying to find the lavender unicorn. “That’s the name of the new pony right? I think I heard her saying something about the library.” Answered Lyra. “You’ll find the princess, won’t you Brave?” “I’ll do my best; you stay in a safe place until I return.” Not even staying for a goodbye Brave spreaded his wings and took off, while swearing in his head. How the hay did I not notice Nightmare Moon entering the hall? And even worse casting that spell on me, dammit. As Brave came within a few yards of his destination he heard the familiar voice of Pinkie singing “it was under eee~” He approached the door and heard the lavender pony explain everything about the elements and its location. “… it is located in what its now….” The student gulped “the Everfree Forest.” “Whoa Nelly, the Everfree Forest? That’s jus’ plum dangerous.” stated the nervous cowpony. “Not to mention icky.” Complained the fashionista. “A-a-and scary.” Whispered the meek Pegasus, hiding behind Pinkie Pie. “Well, I’m not scared of any forest!” declared the daredevil Pegasus. “And I'm not scared of anything, except candies running out…” the cheerful pink pony’s face changed into one of utter terror, as she grabbed Rainbow Dash by her shoulders and shook her like a pair of maracas “ARE CANDIES RUNNING OUT???” “I'm scared too girls,” admitted the student “but I have to go, the only way to stop Nightmare Moon and save Equestria is with the Elements of Harmony” The other five mares looked between each other, and silently nodded, as Applejack approached Twilight. “Then we’ll go with you sugarcube; we are not letting any friend of ours goin' into any spooky forest ba’ herself.” “I’ll guide you into the castle” said Braveheart finally crossing the door, letting the wooden door close behind him, his golden armor reflecting the candle’s light. The six ponies inside jumped by the sudden intrusion of Braveheart. “What? Do you even know the forest?” snapped the purple unicorn. “Easy there Twi, he’s jus’ tryin’ to be helpful.” Scolded AJ, she then directed towards the pegacorn with a warm smile “Thanks, for offerin' your help Braveheart.” Brave nodded, and gave a confident smile. “Well? What are we waiting for?” started Rainbow Dash, an eager expression on her face “Let's move out.” The six mares and the pegacorn galloped of towards the edge of the forest. “Ok girls, stay together, the forest is very dangerous at night.” instructed Braveheart as they entered the Everfree. Brave knew the forest very well, and the fastest route he knew to get to the castle, happened to cross right through his old house. The seven ponies walked for minutes, all of them looking nervously at their surroundings, except for their guide and the carefree party loving earth pony. Finally Brave found the familiar markings on the trees that had helped him and his parents find their way back home so many times before. As they approached the clearing Brave spoke again, “I need to cast some protective enchantments around the perimeter.” He turned to see the group before continuing “Twilight, Rarity. Could you help me please?” “Sure we can dear.” Replied the ivory unicorn before the student could question the pegacorn. “Ok then. Everypony else, go inside the house and grab anything you may need, sorry If it’s a little dusty, I haven’t been here for months.” The four mares gave him quizzical looks before nodding, and heading towards the house to grab whatever supplies they could find inside. As the three ponies outside were done casting the spells, Brave gestured the two unicorns to go inside. Once inside, the seven ponies made sure they had everything they needed. Applejack grabbed a rope she had found in the storage room and everypony else had some water to drink. Some time passed before the question came, but from one of the least expected muzzles. “Umm… Brave how did you know about this place?” Brave took in a deep breath as he remembered some old memories of his life in the house as he answered “Well Fluttershy, this here used to be my house until a couple months ago….” Brave was interrupted by a loud thunder like sound that was heard on the back side of the house. His face went pale, as he rushed towards the back door, catching a glimpse of a black mist moving towards the forest. The six mares ran towards him, they watched as he stood in front of a broken stone, staring towards the forest with rage shown on his face, every muscle in his body tensed, his wings flaring. Everypony was too scared to even try to speak with Braveheart. The silence lasted for what seemed minutes until the pegacorn broke it. Trying to conceal his emotions, Brave instructed in what seemed a calm voice. “Twilight. To get to the castle, just follow the road to the east until you find a cliff, head down, then continue crossing through the east, cut through the river, and use the bridge to cross the cliff, there is a dirt road, so it can’t be that hard to miss.” “Braveheart, why are you telling me this?” inquired the now worried unicorn. “Because I’m giving chase to Nightmare Moon, and guiding you towards the castle will take too long, this way I’ll buy you some time.” Not waiting a single second, Brave spread his wings and started flying towards the direction of where the black mist had gone into the forest. He flew at full speed towards the trees, dodging them, the speedster pegasus could only look with her jaw hanging almost at ground level, as she saw the stunts Braveheart had just performed at such high speeds. “Umm... girls” called the ivory unicorn “I think I found why Brave left us behind, come and take a look” The six gathered over the broken slab of stone, Rarity levitated the part that was broken by Nightmare Moon, fidgeted with it so it would match the crack on the rest of the stone, and read “Here lay Dawnstar and Swiftheart. Beloved parents, may you find peace wherever you go... o-oh my…” her eyes became misty as she realized. “This must be Braveheart’s parents…..” Everypony looked down as the lavender unicorn realized “I had been so harsh on him, and I didn’t even know that he had such a life here on the forest… I-I feel awful” “Hey gals I hate to break the mood, but we have to hurry. We can be sad later; Brave is buying us time so we can find the Elements of Harmony. ” Exclaimed the party pony expressing some seriousness, that until today, none of the other five mares had never thought she had. With a nod Twilight lead the group, through the woods, to what would be known as the challenges that determined they were indeed the Elements of Harmony. After some minutes flying, Braveheart arrived at the castle, Dawnbreaker unsheathed, held in his magic grasp, as he approached the majestic stone doors. “Where are you? Come out wherever you are and face me!” growled the pegacorn, finally letting all his built up anger explode within him. “Mwahahaha! Am I supposed to feel threatened by you? You foal! Do you even realize who are you messing with? I am Nightmare Moon, Ruler of darkness, vanquisher of the sun, and since today the new ruler of Equestria!” echoed a sinister voice through the dark and empty halls of the castle, the only visible thing was the monument dedicated to the Elements of Harmony that stood in the middle of the room. “Do you really think I care who you are? I know all about you, but you know nothing about me. And what you just did in my old home is UNFORGIVABLE!” roared the Pegacorn letting the rage he felt take control over him, searching every corner of the main hall for any lead that would take him to the evil princess. “Oh my.” smirked the evil voice hidden in the shadows “you are quite the energic one, aren't you? Are you mad that I broke that stone?” Brave was sure that Nightmare Moon was teasing him, and he wouldn't have any of it anymore. “Show yourself!”Growled Braveheart as hatred filled his eyes. “Oh how marvelous, you are still at it aren't you? Are you aware that you are dealing with the ruler of darkness?” the evil princess was lost in delight, as she mocked the frustrated pegacorn. “Come out and fight me, no one disrespects my parent's resting place, and goes unpunished!” Braveheart was now fuming with anger, his sword still readied in his magic grip. “Now come out you coward.” “What?” Nightmare Moon was caught off guard by the last comment of the pegacorn “How do you dare to call me a coward, foal? I think it's time I teach you a lesson.” The hall started rumbling, a whisp of smoke appeared and engulfed the pegacorn in a tornado of darkness. Brave opened his eyes, to find him not in the same entrance hallway, but in the throne room, face to face with the dreaded Nightmare Moon. The mare had snake-like aqua colored eyes, a coat as dark as the midnight sky, and an astral flowing mane that reflected the night sky, her cutie mark was a dark nebula, even darker than the rest of her coat, and a crescent moon floating above the nebula, still she showed no signs of possessing a tail. “Now prepare yourself little pegacorn, as you now face the power of the night!” the mare of darkness made her horn glow, and out of thin air appeared a blue long sword, with the same symbol as her cutie mark engraved in the center of the hilt, some old equinic runes could be seen on the blade of the weapon. “You'll learn that there is no hope.” “SHUT UP AND FIGHT!” roared the wrath driven pegacorn, as he galloped towards the evil mare. Sparks flew as steel met steel. “Heya readers, I bring you some music, for the next action packed scene!!! , well see ya all later.” “Pinkie what are you doing? Hurry we got to catch up with Brave.” “Okie dokie lokie Twilight! Oh I almost forgot. Hey reader…. *grin* U mad?” The swords clashed through the halls, as the two ponies fought. The two ponies were locked in combat, it was clear that Brave was inferior to Nightmare Moon in every way. Braveheart started to sweat after five minutes of fighting, not being able to inflict any kind of damage on Nightmare Moon. Brave felt the adrenaline rushing inside his body, making him feel like he was in slow motion, and helping him cool his head off. If he wanted to stand a chance against Nightmare Moon, he would need to save all the energy he could, so that meant no spells, and he had to keep distance, as the mare of darkness had an exceptional physical strength. The pegacorn docked as the evil mare tried to slash him, hitting a column, and making it fall down just a couple inches away from Braveheart. He rose to his feet, and dashed towards the evil mare, dodging the blue sword as he got closer, when he was just a couple hooves away from his target, Braveheart jumped and made somersault to gain momentum for a downward slash, but was blocked by the blue floating sword controlled by Nightmare Moon. “You now see, there is no way that you can beat me. From now on hope rides alone.” the evil princess mocked the panting pegacorn. “Maybe so, but as long as you can't break the will of one pony, you will never win.” Braveheart took a deep breath before continuing. “Even if my bones are broken, and my spirit is trampled on. I will continue to rise, and to oppose anything that may harm this land.” “Broken bones, huh? You know? That isn't a bad idea.” mocked the evil mare, as she slashed her sword towards the pegacorn’s wing. Then the sound of a bone breaking came along with a sharp scream of pain, as the silver stallion fell on his left side. “That's a good armor, if it hadn't been for it, you wouldn't have your wing anymore” Brave took in deep breaths as he looked at his right wing, now twisted in an unnatural way, blood dripping from the wound caused by the splinters of the bone that stuck out of his plumage. The wing blades her mother used were now in shambles, but, still on place, they had saved him from a far worse injury. “I think it's time for you to say good night, young pegacorn-” Nightmare moon was interrupted by a small whisp of blue smoke that flew through the room and attached to where her tail should've been ”seems like your friends arrived, maybe I should go greet them.” The mare teleported away, leaving Brave alone trying to get on his feet. His face became pale as fear overtook him, he couldn't allow her to harm any of his friends. Not more than fifteen seconds passed before Nightmare moon returned to the throne room, with the Elements of Harmony, and Twilight Sparkle. Twilight looked at Braveheart, who was still struggling to stand, and then turned her gaze at Nightmare Moon, she took a deep breath, and released all the air in a single short blow with her nose digging one of her front hooves on the ground, earning a mock from the evil princess “you're kidding, right?” Not thinking twice, the lavender unicorn broke into a full speed gallop, while channeling magic into her horn. Nightmare Moon decided to play her little game, and broke into a gallop, but as the two mares were about to collide Twilight released her spell and teleported to where the Elements rested. “Come on, I need just a spark.” she pleaded her horn, as she focused. “You just focus on the spell Twilight, I'll hold her off.” Said the tired Pegacorn, who was now standing between Nightmare Moon and Twilight. “Do you really think that you can stop me? Have you not learned anything?” There was a note of panic in the voice of the alicorn. “Maybe so, but I would gladly give my life away to protect any of my friends.” Twilight perked her ears as she heard the pegacorn. After I treated him so badly, he still considers me a friend? She felt a tear slide down her cheek, but kept her focus, the spell was almost done. “And as I told you before, even if you break my bones, I'll rise again.” “So be it, I'll finish you and that unicorn with one single spell.” The midnight alicorn channeled magic into her horn, and let out a beam as dark as the outer space. Not wasting any second Brave shouted.”SHINING RAY!” as his horn started glowing in a golden aura, from the tip of the horn a golden ray, seemingly as intense as the sun itself was released. Brave felt how his remaining energy was being sucked away by the spell he had casted. The two beams clashed, and none seemed to move for a little while, but as time marched on the beam of darkness started to beat the golden ray, Brave saw this and gave more energy to his spell, he just needed to make this fight last a little longer and Twilight would do the rest. After some seconds both beams ended, the strains of such spells became too much to bear for the casters. Braveheart had withstood the attack of the evil alicorn, but for a price, he was exhausted, low on energy and struggling to remain standing. On the opposite side of the room Nightmare Moon was panting, how could a mortal pony cause her so much trouble?, she rose her gaze and saw the pegacorn, struggling to remain standing. Seeing no point in trying to face Braveheart, she teleported in front of the lavender unicorn to disrupt her spell, but a little too late. As she appeared just in between the five Elements of Harmony, Twilight finished her spell, and a spark crackled from her horn, making a shockwave that gave power to the orbs. The shockwave was so strong that it sent Twilight flying towards Braveheart and with a loud thud! They both fell on the middle of the room. “No! Nooooo~!” screamed the evil princess, as the elements were being activated. Just as they were starting to gather power, the five orbs stopped working. “Huh? But where is the sixth element?” exclaimed Twilight, as Nightmare Moon laughed at the feeble attempt of the unicorn to use the elements. She kept laughing as she stomped the orbs with her hooves causing them to shatter, becoming rubble. “All your efforts were fruitless. How do you feel now young pegacorn? Knowing that all you just did was in vain. And you little foal, thinking you could defeat me? Now you'll never see your princess or your sun. THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!” Braveheart was exhausted he couldn't even stand, Twilight was destroyed on the inside, wondering why had the elements failed her. Brave perked up his ears, as he heard the noise of the all too familiar ponies that accompanied Twilight. And with a smirk on his face, Brave answered under his breath. “It's not over yet.... Luna.” The sounds of the ponies nearby brought Twilight back to reality, causing a spark within her. She turned to Nightmare Moon, confidence showing in her eyes. “Do you think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?” asked the lavender unicorn as she turned to see the midnight alicorn. “Well you are wrong! The spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!” the five other ponies gathered beside her, and as Twilight explained why each pony represented an element, some of the rubble of the Elements of Harmony would float towards that pony, and engulfing it in an aura. Brave, too tired by his fight, fainted at this point, the last thing that he heard before blackening out was the shrieking voice of Nightmare Moon as she was hit by the power of the Elements of Harmony. “Braveheart, you did great.” “Huh? Who's there?” “It’s me Celestia. Right now Twilight and her friends are purifying the body of my dear sister.” “So they did it, they saved Princess Luna.” “It's all thanks to your efforts, if you hadn't fought Nightmare Moon, then maybe she would have won, you gave Twilight and her friends the time they needed, to discover who they were, and for that I'll forever be in your debt.” “It was nothing princess, I'm just glad you are safe.” “Rest now Braveheart, I will use my magic to heal you as best as I can.” Brave started to wake up, he felt the cold stone floor that was under his frame. The smell of moss and humidity that reined the gloomy halls of the abandoned castle. Then he heard eight sets of hooves, each clicked against the ground in a different manner. Finally regaining control over his body Braveheart shook his head and groaned. As he opened his eyes he saw all the ponies in the throne room looking at him except for the lavender unicorn, which was looking to the floor, relief visible on their faces. “Hey look! He’s waking up! Hiya there sleepy head!” exclaimed an over hyped Pinkie Pie. “Oh my! I-it’s good to see that you are ok.” said Fluttershy a weak smile on her face as she blushed. “Oh My Gosh! Braveheart you’re so awesome. Even as awesome as me” this time Rainbow Dash with a grin that resembled that of a foal looking at his/her idol. “You should participate in the rodeo; you gave quite a show sugar cube.” The honest smile of Applejack shone brightly. “Oh, Braveheart! You had us all worried.” Cried Rarity. Brave smiled to them all as they spoke, and stood up as Rarity ended. He inspected his body, and found that all the small injuries that he had received during the battle had been healed, his wing was no longer twisted and broken, but was still sore; he wasn’t going to be able to fly for a short while. He then looked at Princess Celestia, then to Princess Luna. And as he was going to bow before them, Celestia stopped him. “You don’t need to bow Brave. I can’t thank you enough for helping saving my little sister. ” “It was nothing your highness.” Said Braveheart. “I was just doing my job.” “I-I wanted to apologize, sir Braveheart, for all the inconveniences that my other self hath given thou.” Spoke the princess of the night in an apologetically tone. As Brave took a closer look at her, he noticed that she now possessed half the height that Nightmare Moon had, her coat color was a blue several tones brighter than her alter self, and instead of possessing a cosmic mane, she had a regular blue mane, and tail. “Especially the incident with your parents’ burial site.” Brave looked at the midnight princess in the eye before bowing. “It wasn’t your fault princess, it was Nightmare Moon’s, I’m just glad this is all over.” Brave turned his gaze towards Twilight, who was away from the entire group staring through one of the windows of the hall. Twilight’s ears perked up as she heard the clicking of Braveheart’s hoof steps closing in. “We did it Twilight.” Exclaimed Braveheart satisfied, as he approached the unicorn from behind. “You said that you knew and understood why I didn’t like you. Can you tell me the reasons?” said Twilight in a gloomy tone, not even turning to see Braveheart. Brave took his right hoof and placed it under his chin. “Well, ever since you rejected my help the first time, I went and did a little research on you, I asked the guards, consulted the royal archives, and even asked Princess Celestia when I had the chance.” Brave took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s because of your brother Shining Armor, who joined the ranks of the royal army, it pains you to see him marching towards some mission far away, and fearing that he would never come back. And all the guards that tried to help you were just a constant reminder of him to you.” “That is all true, but I also was jealous of you.” Replied Twilight as she turned around her cheeks stained from the tears she had shed. “Huh? Me? And why is that?” asked Braveheart. “When I first saw you on the Canterlot Coliseum, seeing you use rank A spells with such ease, made me feel uneasy. I had been the only unicorn up until now that had been able to cast a Rank B spell at such a young age; I guess I was a little intimidated too. Can you forgive me for being such a jerk?” pleaded Twilight. Braveheart stared her with a warm and friendly smile, as he reached with his right hoof towards her left shoulder. “Of course I forgive you, and there is no reason to feel intimidated, I may know some rank A spells, all of them are combat related. But I don’t know much more magic aside from that, only a few shield spells, and then all is rank D magic. I can’t even teleport.” That earned a soft chuckle from the lavender unicorn, who then reached to give a hug towards Braveheart. All the other mares were watching the scene now, some giggling, and some dawww’ing. Braveheart broke the hug, and said “C’mon Twilight we need to move before all the creatures in the forest wake up.” Brave turned his head and directed to the whole group. “Let’s move, we have a lot of walking to do.” “Yeah! And don’t forget that we need to throw a super-duper-pinkielicieous welcome back party for Princess Luna” cheered Pinkie. It had been a while since they returned to Ponyville, and Pinkie wasted no time in making the party. Streamers, balloons, whatever party supply you can name was already adorning the streets of the town. Braveheart was looking at the scene, as Celestia gave Twilight Sparkle the mission to stay in Ponyville, and learn about the magic of friendship. Noticing the pegacorn all eight mares came closer, as also did Lyra and Bonbon. Princess Celestia was the first one to speak as she came closer “Braveheart, you have done us a great favor, and I think it is finally time that I stick to the end of our bargain.” The Pegacorn gave her a quizzical look as he tried to make do of the princess words. “Whatever do you mean your highness?” “Well,” the princess breathed some of the warm air that surrounded Ponyville. “When we met, you told me you would join the guard on one condition. To be stationed here in Ponyville.” All the other mares fell silent as they heard what the princess was saying. “I will relieve you from all your other duties as a royal guard, but, you still have a responsibility with the Dawn Warriors, so if needed you will be called to service.” She kept her gaze upon the now beaming face of the pegacorn. “Do I make myself clear?” Brave’s face turned into one of seriousness as he gave a salute. “Sir, yes sir.” “At ease soldier” said Celestia between giggles. All the other ponies then came and congratulated Braveheart, as things quieted down, Twilight finally asked. “Hey Braveheart, just who were your parents? Their names sound very familiar to me. That is if you want to talk about them.” “Yeah, I’ve always wanted to know!” chimed Lyra in succession “They must have been terrific ponies.” Braveheart just smiled as he took in some air. “Well, my parent’s names were Dawnstar, and Swiftheart. And they both used to be commanders of the Royal Army.” “No way, that is so cool!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, in a fascinated tone. “Wait just a second…” interrupted the lavender unicorn. “Are you talking about THE commanders Dawnstar and Swiftheart?” “He sure is.” Interrupted Celestia “They were some of the most valorous and most caring ponies I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.” “Ah knew since the first day ah met ya that you were made of tough material.” Said AJ in a teasefully as she punched Braveheart on the shoulder. The silver pegacorn just smiled back. “Oh oh! I know, tell us a story about them princess!” said Pinkie as she hopped around princess Celestia. “Oh, I would really love to hear a story about them,” said Fluttershy, and in a tone that went almost unheard she said “that is if you don’t mind” “I would love to hear about Braveheart’s parents.” Exclaimed Rarity. “Yes sister, please indulge us.” Said Luna, curiosity in her eyes. Braveheart turned his neck to see Celestia. “I would also love to hear them princess.” “Okay then.” giggled Celestia “Since everypony is so eager to hear about Brave’s parents I’ll tell you of their first mission together….” Celestia told the story of how the two ponies met, and how their first mission went, about how they started to develop a relationship. And time passed as more anecdotes of his parents were stored into Braveheart’s soul.