//------------------------------// // The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part IV - The Fall of the General of Peace // Story: The Taking of Tartarus // by Rakoon1 //------------------------------// The long-awaited fight between Golden Paladin, the General of Peace, and Perfect Scale, General of Balance, was about to begin. The two looked at each other intensely, hoping one of the two that the first step. It was then that Scale exclaimed: "Draw!" And he shot a freezing beam against Golden Paladin, but he was quick to teleport a few meters in the air, using his levitation spell to keep himself in the air, and Scale’s spell hit one Golden Paladin’s pawns that froze and broke into several pieces. With that attack, Golden Paladin ordered their pawns to advance, something that they did, as they started to draw their swords to attack Scale that started to defend himself and at the same time attack the white and red pawns. While this was happening, Golden Paladin went back behind his army of pawns, where Blue and the Light Guard awaited. "What do you want us to do, Golden?" Blue asked to the General of Peace. "At this moment, nothing" he replied. "Let me first take care of him. In addition to the fact that I'm the only one who can defeat him, we've got history." "But..." Blue started. "Prince Blue Sword, you must worry about keeping the light ponies safe" Golden Paladin said. "That's all I ask you. For now, Scale won't care about them. All he wants is the special lights of this Realm. He doesn't want to care about eternal lights such as the normal light ponies’. But, if they get in his way, I'm sure he will take them from there and not in the nicest way. And you have to live because Princess Twilight and your child will need you." Blue hated having to avoid fighting this way, but Golden Paladin was right. The light ponies were also in danger. Maybe not now, but eventually they would be. Besides, how Scale had now most of the special lights of that world, he was immensely powerful. The prince waved to the General and then turned to the Light Guard and told them all: "You heard what the General of Peace said. Protect all civilians and avoid going into combat with the General of Balance." "Yes, sir" they answered. And, with this, each of them went off in different directions to make sure that all civilians were kept safe. However, with all that, Blue couldn’t avoid in expressing concern about Twilight and Star. Following the orders of his brother, Heartbeat headed where Twilight and Star were: in the throne room. Since she heard that Scale was right behind her and his son, Twilight went get the little colt, in order to protect him from the evil General. Her friends were also there with her. "Don't worry, Twilight, everythin’ will be fine" Applejack told her, trying to calm her down. "Yes, you'll see that Golden Paladin and Heartbeat will kick the ass of that sample of General" Rainbow Dash said. "Well, I wouldn't use the words Rainbow Dash used, but I have to agree with her" Rarity said. "And I with Rarity" Spike said, making one of his passionate glances to the white unicorn. "Yes, Twilight, you will see that everything will be okay" Fluttershy said. "I’m already seeing Golden Paladin defeating this meanie Scale as he did many, many, many years ago and shut him down in a cell again, and then we make an immense party to celebrate our wonderful victory over all the villains that the Lord of Chaos sent" Pinkie Pie said. After all that, Twilight did not fail to give a smile, as she watched Star ahead of her forelegs, playing with some toys like chess pieces that Golden Paladin had given to him. "I know you want me to look on the bright side" Twilight said. "But the truth is that I'm not able to do that. This is not a villain like any other. We are talking about a General of Order, one that is more powerful than others and that can deny their capabilities and absorb their lights." At that time, Heartbeat entered and said to Twilight: "Princess, Scale reached the Light Kingdom." "What?!" she asked, approaching the General of Affection. "And what's the situation?" "Goldy is trying to contain him" she replied. "He should get him for a while, but, honestly, I don't know if he will get it. Scale has never been so powerful." "So I'm going to fight him, if he can get pass through Golden Paladin" Twilight said. "Heartbeat, I need you to take care of Star." "No, Princess, I can't do that" she said. "Your light and the young prince’s are too much precious, especially yours. It’s your light that keeps control over all the others. If Scale is able to capture you, then it will be the end of everything." "So I have to stay behind while everypony struggle to protect me?" Twilight asked. "That is exactly what will happen" Heartbeat replied. "And don't try to complain. I have orders from Goldy and my duty as a General to protect you at all costs. If you try to refute, I have to force you to come with me, and that's something I don't want to do." Twilight tried to say something, but she couldn't think of anything that could convince Heartbeat to let her join the fight against Scale. Applejack put a hoof over her shoulder and said to her: "It seems that ya can't win this battle, sugarcube." Without any alternative, Twilight waved to Heartbeat. "Great, let's go get you and the young prince to your hideout" Heartbeat said. "And we're goin’ with ya" Applejack said, while others waved. "I don't know" Heartbeat said. "I think you should find your own hiding place." "Hey, we will protect our friend and it is not the General of Affection that will stop us" Rainbow Dash said. Others seemed to share the same thought that Rainbow Dash had, even Fluttershy. "You know, I could easily stop you" Heartbeat said and then she looked to Twilight who waved to her, as if asking for them to come with them. "All right, you can come with us. It’s your lights and your lives." And, with this, Heartbeat headed to the exit of the throne room. Twilight, using her magic, took Star and put him on her back and followed her, followed by her friends. Golden Paladin continued his fight with Scale. He watched as his army of pawns struggled against him. However, it didn't take long until all the pawns fall, made in pieces, and Scale pass through them. "Seriously?" he asked to Golden Paladin, while shaking the dust off his shoulder. "This is everything you can do, Golden? Use a bunch of pawns to stop me?" "I didn't expect them to defeat you" Golden Paladin replied. "But I was hoping that they would slow you down long enough for me to prepare myself for you." Scale giggled and then said: "Dear brother, if I were you, I'd deliver the special light inside of you. You don't have a chance against me after I have absorbed the lights of four Generals and five alicorn princesses." "By the way, you will pay for that" Golden Paladin said. "How could you do what you did to our brothers and sisters? To the alicornio princesses? One of them was still a baby!" "Well, you look like Mirror Coat" he said. "He also made the same speech. So, I'm going to tell you what I said to him: As long as I can put this world in perfect balance, it doesn't matter what I have to do, even if, for that, I have to sacrifice my own brothers and sisters.” "So, I’ll also do the same" Golden Paladin said. "As long as I can protect the Light Kingdom, Princess Twilight and all ponies, I don't mind sacrificing my brother, even though he was the one who I admired." And, having said that, Golden Paladin used his magic to turn his horn into a sword of yellow light. "Pretty words" Scale commented, doing the same thing, only that his sword was dark blue. "It is a pity that they won’t turn real." And, with that, the two started a battle, using their horns like swords. Meanwhile, Heartbeat led Twilight, Star and others to the foyer and then turned to the figure of relief of Princess Aurora and the Generals of the Light Kingdom (with the exception of Scale). Seeing it, Twilight realized where they were going to. "Wait, you're going to lead us to the Diamond Domain?" she asked to Heartbeat. "I thought that Scale was the one who created it." "Yes, but after he was defeated, my siblings and I sealed the main entrance and created the one that is linked to the figure" she replied. "Wait, does that mean we're going to the Diamond Domain?" Rarity asked, giving then a little scream of excitement. "I can't believe it! I always dreamed of going there from the moment Twilight told me about it!" "Rarity, calm down" Applejack said. "Remember that we are here tah accompany Twilight tah protect her, not tah admire tha diamonds." "Yes, you're right, Applejack" Rarity agreed, composing herself. "You're absolutely right." And after this, Heartbeat turned to the figure and released a magic beam to Princess Aurora’s horn and her eyes began to shine. They were then teleported to the tunnel leading to the entrance of the Diamond Domain. They walked through the tunnel until they get to the door, where Heartbeat entered her horn in the groove, which made the door be covered by a red glow and it opened, revealing to everypony the Diamond Domain. Rarity nearly fainting from bewilderment to see such beauty. Even Rainbow Dash was speechless. "This..." Rarity stuttered, trying to find the right words to say and looking everywhere with their eyes sparkling. "This is... There are no words." "Ah have tah agree with Rarity" Applejack said. "This is really somethin’." "No kidding!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "This place is still brighter than a room full of fireflies." "Yes, it's so beautiful" Fluttershy said. "I never thought there was such a place under the Light Kingdom" Spike said. "I have to admit, this is pretty awesome" Rainbow Dash admitted. "That's because you haven't seen the Diamond Heart" Twilight said, while trying to keep Star on top of her back. She then took them to the place where it was the thing that kept the Kingdom Light on its fundations. "Oh... sweet... Celestia!"exclaimed Rarity, not wanting to believe my eyes. "This is the biggest diamond I've ever seen!" "Well, this is awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Yes, we know it is" Heartbeat said. "But I think it's better to stay attentive. After all, we don't know when Scale will realize where we are." Golden Paladin and Scale continued their fight, creating immense sparks due to violent shocks of the swords created by magic. "Give it up, Scale" Golden Paladin said. "I've always been better than you fencing." "That's why I need to be smarter" Scale said. "After all, when outnumbered, cheat." And, having said that, he prepared to give a supersonic scream. Seeing that, Golden Paladin pulled away as far as he could and threw himself to the ground, covering the ears, while Scale casted a powerful scream. Golden Paladin lasted as long as he could while Scale was screaming. After this, Scale tried to attack Golden Paladin with his sword, but General Peace was fast enough to cast a protective barrier that protected him and kept it active until he strike another blow that made Scale back down. Realizing that Scale would use every trick he could to catch his light, Golden Paladin decided to use a trick of his own. He began to gain access to his magic. “Golden, Golden "Scale said, advancing a few steps in the direction of his brother. "How much longer are you going to keep this?" "Until I make sure that I stop you from being a threat to the Lught Kingdom and to this world" Golden Paladin said. Scale heard heavy hoofsteps behind him. He turned and faced with a chess white pegasus that had twice the size of a pawn. Before Scale could react, the white pegasus grabbed him and raised him, trapping him. Scale tried to free himself, using his magic, but Golden Paladin said: "That won't work. This white pegasus is reinforced with a special magic that I created based on your magic. You're not going to get out of there." Realizing that Golden was right, Scale stopped with his attempt and asked: "Why keeping this? You know it's useless. I am more powerful than you." "You can have power, but I still have my principles" Golden Paladin replied. "I promised that I would protect this kingdom and this world and that's what I'm going to do." "And you promised that to who?" Scale asked. "Your girlfriend?" That question seemed to have upset Golden Paladin. "How do you..." he began. "How do I know your little fall?" Scale asked. "Please, little bro, I absorbed Mirror Coat’s light, remember? What I don't understand is why her? I know that she was beautiful, but I always found her a little... pretentious." "Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Golden Paladin exclaimed, full of anger, approaching Scale. "You don't know her. You don't know how she was!" "Yes, you're right" Scale agreed, always smiling. "But I know what she was for you? You know what? Weakness. Love is weakness." "Love is not weakness" Golden Paladin said. "You should know that. It’s what the Lord of Order teaches to all of his Generals." "Yes, but I'm not like the other Generals" Scale said. "And you know what? The Lord of Order’s lesson is completely wrong. And I'll prove it to you, showing you how love made you lose to me." And, having said this, he began to laugh, while he started to crack and crumble in shards. Golden Paladin couldn't believe it. That was one of Mirror Coat’s tricks and he had fallen on it, lowering his guard. When he find himself, a tree began to grow around him, while arresting him inside its trunk and knocked out the white pegasus. When it stopped growing, only the head and the front hooves of Golden Paladin were visible. He tried to move, but he couldn't move any part of his body that was within the tree. The real Scale approached and said: "I told you love was weakness. You couldn’t distinguish me from my clone." "You're not going to get away with this" Golden Paladin said. "You'll go to pay for your crimes!" "That's what we're going to see" Scale said, getting face to face with his brother. "But, now, dear brother, it's time to get even." With this, Scale began again the process to steal the light from the star seeds. He invoked his and Golden Paladin’s and absorbed his yellow light. Once finished, Golden Paladin was turned into black rock. Scale took a few seconds to try to control the immense power that Golden had, but then said, smiling: "Finally, I got Golden Paladin’s light. Not only I managed to get revenge for what he did to me, as I am also less than a step closer of getting what I want. Now, there are only three more special lights to go." And the General of Balance began heading to the Castle. Along the way, he found some guards fulfilling what his captain had told them to do: protect the light ponies. How Golden had said to Blue, Scale had no intention of going after the light ponies for now. He was too focused on his goal of getting all the special lights. However, there were some daring guards who tried to attack him, but with only a gesture, he took them out of the way with telekinesis or froze them. When he entered in the foyer of the castle, he tried to feel the last three special lights that left. It was then that he felt an attack in his direction and created a barrier that protected him from that attack. "You have to be pretty naive to believe that an attack like that would stop me" he said. "Well, you can't blame me for not trying" a voice said. And Blue appeared. "Ah, Prince Blue Sword, I imagine" Scale said. "The husband of the famous Princess Twilight, the carrier of the original star seed." "You know who I am?" Blue asked. "Now that I have access to all the information in the Mirrored Library, yes" Scale replied. "Tell me, prince, where's your dear wife and baby son?" "I will never tell you where they are" Blue answered, putting himself in combat position. "And if you want to reach them, you have to go through me first." Scale smiled and asked: "Do you really think showing courage is enough to defeat me? You don't have a chance against me. I defeated Golden. There’s no longer a pony that can take me down." "That's what we're going to see" Blue said. He used the same spell Golden Paladin used to create a sword of light of the same color as his magical aura. After that, he started running in the direction of Scale, ready to attack him. Scale smiled mockingly and, using Golden Paladin’s tallents he had acquired from his light, used speed to get to Blue Sword by surprise and used the General of Peace’s force to give to the prince a strong punch in the stomach, which made him give a groan of pain, while the sword of light that he invoked disappeared. Blue fell on the floor, with the forelegs wrapped around his belly. "I told you so" he said. "There is no longer any pony that can face me. Now, if I may, I have a collection of lights to complete." And, having said that, Scale threw Blue telekinetically against a wall. The unicorn prince fell to the ground, apparently unconscious. Scale tried again feel the presence of the special lights that were missing, however, he couldn't find them in the Castle. Apparently, Heartbeat had managed to hide herself with Princess Twilight and Prince Star Knight somewhere. But where? It was then that a little voice began whispering to his ear. He knew perfectly well that voice and a smile drew in his face. "So you are there" he said. "I must say, sister, it was very well thought. But not enough to fool me." And he turned to figure where Princess Aurora and his six siblings were. In the Diamond Domain, they were all silent, waiting for any response from the battle that was going on above. The silence was such that Rainbow Dash began to feel almost exploding. "Oh come on!" she exclaimed. "How longer do we have to wait?" "Calm down, Rainbow Dash" Applejack said. "Don't forget that we are dealin’ with a General capable of absorbin’ tha lights of tha star seeds." "Yes, just try to relax" Rarity said. "Find something to pass the time." "I'm sorry if I'm not like Pinkie Pie who likes spending time playing with foal toys" Rainbow Dash said cynically. It was true, Pinkie Pie was playing with Star with his toys in a way that only a foal could play. "Heartbeat, you are the most powerful of Generals" Rainbow Dash said. "Why don't you go there and deal with that crazy brother of yours?" "Of course, if you want that I lose control of my powers and annihilate whatever's nearby" Heartbeat replied. "Rainbow, please, take it easy" Twilight said. "I know that is costing you a lot to be here and do nothing, but we have to be patient. Furthermore, I should be more nervous than you. Don't forget that Blue's there." That made Rainbow Dash stop because she realized how Twilight was upset because she didn't know how Blue was. "I'm sure that nothing bad will happen to him, Princess" Heartbeat said. “Scale won’t do anything to him, if Blue doesn’t get in his way. Which, now that I think about it, it is something that Blue certainly would do. But, princess, right now, you have to worry about your son. Don't forget that he is also a target to Scale, just like you." Twilight looked to her son, who was playing, ignorant to what was happening. That made Twilight realizes that Heartbeat was right. "Yes, you're right, Heartbeat." "Of course I have" she said. "Besides, this is the safest place. It's not like Scale will show up here right now." "Are you sure, sis?" a voice asked. That made everypony look and, much to their shock, they saw Scale a few hooves away. "Because I believe that finding you was actually quite easy." And he laughed.