//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19- Dark vs Shining I 
// Story: Of Flame and Shadow 
// by Garuda IV 
//------------------------------//

		"Seriously, why is it that I can't just go one full week without something wanting to kill me?" Dark muttered to himself.

As Dark continued looking over the Draconium armor and sword his attacker was bearing, he was also trying to suppress the fear that was growing inside him. He'd been in more dangerous situations than this before, but just the sight of it was making him uneasy.

It's probably my draconic side warning me about the metal, he thought to himself. Besides, I've been in worse situations.

Looking back to Twilight, Dark saw that she was continuing to struggle to get away from them. Deciding to ignore his attacker, Dark made his way towards her. He didn't get far, though, as another magical beam shot at the ground in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going, monster?" he spat.

"Stop this, Shining!" Twilight shouted. "Why are you attacking him?!"

"'Shining'?" Dark questioned, looking back from Twilight to the Draconium-armored stallion. "You mean as in your brother Shining Armor?"

"That's Prince Shining Armor to you," he glared. "Not that you'll live long enough to remember it."

Dark's face turned from confused to serious. "You make it sound as though you're threatening me."

"So what if I am? It's nothing more than a demon like you deserves."

"'Demon' huh? Now that's a first," Dark chuckled.

His chuckling was silenced when he felt the blade of the Draconium sword cut his cheek. It left a light sting as blood trickled out of the cut, but Dark didn't think much of it, he would let his regeneration fix that... only it didn't. As he kept looking at the area where the black mist should be coming from, Dark began wondering why he wasn't regenerating it. Then it hit him. His regeneration was apart of his draconic half, meaning that any wounds from that Draconium sword would cancel his regeneration. With his attention fully on Shining, Dark began taking a low, aggressive stance.

"If you want a chance of surviving this," Shining began, walking over to Dark, "then you'll pay attention."

"Shining Armor!" Twilight shouted. "Will you explain why you're doing this?! Please?!"

Shining turned from Dark to Twilight. "I'm doing this to protect you from him."

"But why?"

"Because I'm your brother and I care about you. How about that?"

"Hold on a second here," Dark intervened. "Look, I know that you're her brother, but is this really necessary?"

"Yes, it is," he answered, glaring back at Dark.

"But this act goes beyond just being a protective brother. Look, I too had a younger sister that I cared for once, but I've never consider going this far."

"Then you never truly cared for your sister!" Shining proclaimed as he fired a barrage of magical blasts at Dark's face.

Seeing this attack coming, Dark raised his wing to block it. As he felt the blasts hitting his wing, Dark began running towards Shining while charging his own horn. Once Dark got close enough, he pulled his wing off to the side to expose his horn before firing his own magical blast at Shining.

Not seeing Dark's horn charging from behind his wing, Shining took a direct blast to his chest, knocking him onto his back. Thanks to the armor, though, it didn't hurt all that much and allowed for him to quickly get back up. Sheathing his sword, Shining's horn began glowing again.

"Not bad, for a Demon," Shining mockingly complimented.

"I have a name you know. It's Dark Flame," he stated.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're nothing more than a demon to me. And until you're dead like the rest of your kind, I'll continue addressing you as such."

Annoyed with how stubborn he was being, Dark began groaning in frustration.

"Why is it that you want me dead so badly?"

"I don't need to answer that to a walking corpse," Shining answered darkly.

Flaring his wings and bearing his fangs, Dark and Shining began circling each other until Dark's back was facing the guards. With his plan completed, Shining allowed for a satisfied smile to form.

"This is where I must bid you farewell," he said as his horn's aura became brighter.

"What are you-"

"Dark, behind you!" Twilight warned.

"Why? What's- Gaaahhhh!"

His question was answered as a spear was thrust through his back. Looking down below him, Dark could see the spear was impaled through his stomach, and the spearhead had buried itself deep into the ground. He looked back up to Shining before repositioning his hooves to stand bipedal, grabbed the spear with his claws, and began pulling it out of the ground. Unfortunately, Shining wasn't willing to give him a chance to free himself. Within seconds, the pain he felt was amplified as he felt six more spears impaling him through his back at different angles. Seeing what had happened, Twilight's eyes widened in fear.

"Shining! Stop this, please!" she begged. "You're going to kill him!"

"This is for your own protection, Twily," Shining answered.

"No it's not! Now you stop this right now, or I will!"

Not wanting to risk Twilight interfering, Shining erected a fifty-five foot wide barrier around him and Dark. With no longer having to worry about her teleporting over, he could peacefully watch Dark die from his wounds. Giving himself a nod in satisfaction, he now patiently waited for the last kirin to die.

While Shining was standing there, Dark continued looking over himself, seeing that he was in deep trouble. The angles of the spears had pined him in place, preventing him from sliding down or try pulling himself up out of them. What's more was that both of his arms had also been impaled, making his claws useless as they remained gripping the first spear. And now, Dark was starting to feel a steady stream of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and onto the ground as he hung there. Seeing Dark like this, Twilight turned to the surrounding guards.

"Are you all really going to just let this happen to him?!" she incredulously asked. "He fought alongside you during the attack a few days ago! His actions saved many pony's lives, along with my friends and I! And what about those of you who were injured during the attack? The very next morning, Dark came and healed all of you of your wounds! So why would you allow for him to suffer like this?!"

None of the guards answered Twilight. Instead, they all silently looked away from her, lowering their heads in shame. After not receiving an answer, Twilight turned to Flash.

"Flash, please help me!" Twilight pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Princess," he apologized, "but Prince Shining has given us all orders to keep you safe from him, and to keep you from interfering."

"Did he tell you why?"

"Because he's a threat to everypony here."

"But he isn't!" she protested. "Ever since Rainbow and I brought Dark here, he's done nothing but help everypony. The only time that he's actually shown any aggression at all was when he was defending himself from a pack of alpha timberwolves, and during the attack on Ponyville."

"Regardless of what he has or hasn't done, we were given our orders, and we must obey them."

After giving him an angry, yet tearful look, Twilight turned back to see Dark still in the same position as he was before. It was hard for her to watch, though, as his blood started pouring down the spears and began pooling beneath him. Slumping to her haunches, Twilight looked down to the ground in front of her, no longer wanting to watch.

As Dark continued hanging impaled on the seven spears, he turned his gaze up to Shining before coughing up blood.

"It won't be much longer," Shining said. "With those wounds, you'll last probably another minute at best."

Glaring at him, Dark began taking in a deep breath. Seeing this, Shining raised an eyebrow.

"You do know that this armor makes me immune to your fire breath, right?"

Not bothering to answer, Dark instead unleashed a torrent of flame down below him. As he continued breathing fire, Dark could see that the exposed sections of the spears were starting to burn away. Not wanting to stop, Dark continued pouring his flames out onto the spears. After twenty seconds of fire-breathing, Dark finally stopped for a moment. Seeing that the spears were almost completely burnt through, Dark swung his tail around to hit them. It took a few tries, but he managed to smash his tail through the charcoaled spear masts, causing him to fall down into his own pool of blood. 

As he turned to his side and laid there, trying to control his breathing, Dark noticed the burnt pieces of wood in his arms. With a steady breath, he brought one of the impaled arms to his mouth before clamping his fangs around the burnt wood, and quickly yanked it out. Muffling his cry of pain with the piece of wood in his mouth, Dark spit it out before going for the next one, turning equal results. Taking a moment to relax himself, Dark looked back up to Shining. However, as he continued looking at him, his vision became distorted.

It wasn't like before against Nocturne when he was losing consciousness, though. This time, the vision of Shining standing before him had started switching to that of another. It was a figure wearing a tattered gray cloak, standing in a grassy field. Shaking his head, the strange vision faded from the cloaked figure back to Shining. Not wanting to die yet, Dark lit his horn and began concentrating. As he felt his magic take hold, he brought one of the pieces of wood that he'd takin from his arms, and put it in his mouth.

This is gonna hurt like a mother, Dark mentally groaned.

Feeling his magic grabbing the seven spear shafts sticking out of his back, Dark closed his eyes before biting down hard onto the wood in his mouth. As he began pulling them out inch by inch, Dark did his best to keep his screams of pain to a minimum. However, the pain was too much and caused him to bite through the wood in his mouth before screaming out loud. Stopping for a moment to recollect himself from the pain, Dark began breathing heavily. Each time he pulled caused more blood to flow from his wounds, and even with his body able to regenerate the blood he was losing, it did nothing to relieve the pain.

"I have to admit that I'm rather impressed," Shining complimented. "Even with those spears running you through, you still try and fight it. However, if you're going to be so persistent about this, then I'll just have to finish you off myself."

Watching Shining unsheathe his sword, Dark's mind began racing. He had to get these out of him if he were to properly defend himself. Turning his gaze away from the approaching Shining Armor, Dark clamped his eyes shut before lighting his horn and grabbing the wooden shafts with his magic again. With a few steady breaths, Dark started counting down from five. Once he reached zero, he pulled as hard as his magic would allow, causing all seven spears to abruptly shoot out of his back with an audible squelching sound.

Witnessing this, the guards all cringed while some began gagging at the sight of it. Feeling himself free of his burden, Dark released the wooden poles from his magic and began focusing on controlling his breathing. As he continued laying there, he turned his head slightly to see his regeneration beginning to work. Laying his head back onto the ground, Dark began resting himself while his wounds closed up. However, that thought was quickly ended as he saw Shining standing only a few feet away with his sword raised. Not wanting to risk moving around yet, Dark quickly thought back to his lessons with Twilight before casting a magical barrier. And just in time too, for right after it was casted, Dark could hear the clang of a sword striking it, accompanied by a round of surprised gasps.

"What?" Shining asked confusingly as he inspected the barrier. "Wait a second... I know that barrier! Where in Tartarus did you learn how to cast my magical barrier?!"

"Like I'm telling you," Dark grumbled as he continued coughing up blood.

"Like it matters. It may look like my barrier, but I can still see the flaws in its design. All I need to do is beat away at it before it shatters!"

With that, Shining began swinging his sword away at Dark's barrier. As he continued assaulting it, Shining began noticing shadowy mists spewing out from Dark's wounds. Taking another look at them, he could see that the wounds were starting to close themselves.

Great. From the stories Princess Celestia told us about King Sombra, this seems similar to what he did when he was injured, Shining mentally compared.

While Shining continued beating away at Dark's barrier, Twilight looked up to see what the commotion was all about. Seeing the barrier that Dark casted, Twilight allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he'd remembered their lessons together. It didn't go unnoticed, though, as a group of guards approached her.

"Princess?" one of them called.

Turning to look to her side, she saw Steel Hoof, Aura Lance, and Kite Shield.

"Is everything alright?" Steel asked.

"Does everything look alright?!" she angrily replied, a few tears still in her eyes. "My brother just came out of nowhere and started to try killing my friend! Your friend! How is that alright?!"

"We know," Aura calmly said, "and to be honest with you, we're not completely with this idea either."

"Then why aren't you doing anything to stop it?"

"Because if we did, then we'd be court-marshaled for insubordination, and maybe even treason," Kite explained.

"But how would that work?"

"It would mean that we would be going against Prince Shining Armor's orders to assist him, and help Dark instead," Steel answered. "If we did that, then we'd probably be fighting him right now, and every other guard here."

"Something of which I would strongly advise you against," Flash chimed.

"I'd rather not think of that at all," Twilight said. "Besides, I wouldn't allow for it to happen. This is bad enough as it is, and we don't need more ponies fighting here."

Back over at the fight, Shining was starting to make progress as a crack had formed on Dark's barrier. It wouldn't be long now before the whole thing came crashing down on him, and after a dozen more swings, Shining had finally broken through. However, during that time, Dark had been recuperating within his barrier. His wounds were almost completely healed by the time it fell.

Once it did, Shining lunged his sword and himself at Dark, landing on top of him while his sword went straight for his head. Shining missed his mark, though, as Dark tilted his head to the side, burying his sword into the dirt beside his head instead. Glaring down, Shining repositioned his hooves and pinned Dark's arms to the ground. With him firmly secured beneath him, Shining began pulling his sword loose from the dirt.

Before he could, though, Dark wrapped his tail around Shining's hind right leg. With a powerful yank, Dark pulled Shining off of him and onto the bloody ground with an audible and wet splat. Getting onto all fours, Dark turned his head and glared angrily at Shining. With the strength he had recovered, Dark used his body to help whip his tail above his body from his right side, before slamming it against the ground on his left, pulling Shining along with it. Dark continued this a few more times before spinning around, dragging Shining along the ground to help paint a bloody circle, before throwing him against his own barrier. As Dark sent Shining flying, he also fired a blast of magic from his horn, hitting Shining right as he bounced off the barrier and sending him right back against it.

Although this would've been the perfect moment for Dark to capitalize on him, he used up too much of his strength, and instead laid back down to rest. While his wounds were mostly healed, they weren't completely healed, causing him to continue losing blood during his counterattack. While Dark was laying down to regenerate his wounds and replenish his blood, Shining laid slump against his barrier. His armor having taken the brunt of the impacts that he'd suffered, but it didn't absorb all of it.

Sitting there, Shining groaned in mild pain and frustration as he slowly began moving around. While he didn't feel anything broken, he was pretty sure that some of his ribs were either bruised or cracked from being thrown around like ball end of a flail like that. Another thing that Shining noticed was that during his time being spun around, his helmet had slipped off of his head. Feeling a sore spot on the back of his head, he brought a hoof around to feel it. Already, there was a goose egg forming, along with something else. Bringing his hoof out in front of him, Shining saw a few spots of his own blood on it. Snorting in anger, he steadily got back onto his hooves.

Dark, meanwhile, had just looked up to see Shining getting back onto his hooves. With him no longer wearing his helmet, Dark got his first good look at the stallion beneath the armor.

Oh you've got to be kidding, Dark mentally chuckled. Just by their looks alone, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Shining Armor looks more like he could be Vinyl Scratche's brother instead of Twilight's.

Feeling his wounds completely healed and most of his blood restored, Dark too got up. However, almost immediately as he did, Shining started galloping straight for him. Not having any time to counter or block, Dark quickly found Shining's horn impaled into his throat. After getting over the initial shock, Dark grabbed Shining's horn, and pulled it out before delivering a strong punch to his left cheek, sending him sliding across the pool of blood that Dark had left.

Leaning his head forward at a low angle to try and keep any blood from flowing down into his lungs, Dark started coughing as the hole in his windpipe began regenerating. As he stood there feeling the gaping hole seal itself, Shining was trying to stand. The hit he just took had sent him into a daze, causing him to lose his center of balance and stumble as he tried to right himself. It also didn't help that the blood beneath his hooves made the ground slick for him to stand on. After a few seconds of collecting himself, Shining managed to stand back up. As he did, though, Dark's puncture wound had closed itself up as well.

Once the two regained their footing and began staring down each other, they both began noticing how much of a mess they were. Where Dark's entire left half, front, and back, was covered in his own blood, Shining's right half and back were covered in Dark's blood from him being dragged and knocked across it. 

"I was right about you," Shining spoke. "With all of this blood on you, you look even more like a demon than before."

"And what does that say about you?" Dark shot back. "After all, it's because of you that we've both taken this near literal bloodbath."

Angered by that comment, Shining looked to his sword that was still planted in the ground behind Dark. Lighting his horn, Shining pulled the blade out of the ground before launching it at Dark like a spinning buzz saw. Getting the sense of deja vu, Dark quickly leaped to his left to avoid whatever it was before turning his head around to look at what was coming at him this time. That, however, was a mistake.  One second, Dark saw the spinning sword flying straight towards him, and before he knew it, his vision went black as he felt a searing pain from both of his eyes. 

Roaring loudly in pain, Dark fell to the ground and started squirming around as he clutched his eyes with his claws. There was little that registered to him apart from the intense pain from his eyes, other than a liquid running down from where his eyes were. Immediately, Dark threw up a barrier around him so he wouldn't be attacked while like this. It was a good thing too as he heard his barrier become under assault one again. Taking a moment to try and calm himself from the pain, he removed his claws from his eyes and looked up to see what exactly was going on... except that he couldn't. Blinking a few times, he then waved a claw in front of his face to test his vision. Fearing the worst, Dark then brought his claw to feel his eye, only to instead feel a pair of empty eye sockets.

As the realization of what just happened began settling in, Dark remained laying on the ground. Him losing both of his eyes in a split second like that was hitting him hard. Holding out hope for his regeneration to restore his eyes, Dark waited. However, just like before, the damage from the Draconium blade prevented his regeneration. As Shining continued assaulting Dark's barrier, a realization came to him, causing him to smile in triumph.

"Now I understand," Shining said. "You can regenerate yourself, but any wound inflicted on you by this blade will neutralize it."

"That's enough, Shining!"

Turning around, he saw Twilight crying as she pounded her hooves on the barrier.

"You've done enough! Now please, stop!"

"I'll stop once I've saved Equestria of his evil."

"What evil?! He's never committed any evil acts!"

"Every kirin that I've ever met was either murderous, cruel, deceitful, or perverted. At one time, I met a group that was all of the above. So tell me why I should expect any different from him?"

"Because I'm you sister, and you should trust me!" Twilight answered. "Do you remember what happened the last time I tried to convince you of something and you ignored it?"

"This isn't like the wedding, Twily," Shining stated. "That was from a race of shapeshifting changelings. And although they were monsters, they were at least of their own race. He's nothing more than an mixture from two races who shouldn't be."

"And what about Spike?" Dark groaned, causing Shining and Twilight to look at him while he kept his eyes shut and downcast. "You like Spike, don't you?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Shining asked. "Of course I like him. He's apart of our family."

"And what about if he were to start dating a pony?"

"If you're referring to his crush on Rarity that everypony knows about, then not likely."

"I'm not talking about Rarity." This caught Shining's attention. "For your information, Spike's found himself a fillyfriend his own age. Somepony who he loves, and who actually loves him back." Regaining his strength from his built up anger, Dark stood up. "Now, think to five or eight years into the future. If they stay together, what do you think will happen?"

"They'll get married of course," Shining scoffed, "but that doesn't have anything to do with you."

"Yes it does," Dark argued. "If they stay together, then someday they could produce an offspring of their own. And take a guess as to what kind of pony it would be?"

Although Dark lost his eyesight, he didn't need it to feel the hated glare coming from Shining. After a few seconds passed without him receiving an answer, Dark continued.

"Since you're not going to answer, I'll just say it for you. Their child will be a kirin, like myself. So, Prince Shining Armor, if such a time does come, what will you do then? Will you then abandon this hatred that you have for kirins, or will you hunt it down and-"

"SILENCE!" Shining shouted, firing a beam of magic at Dark's barrier. "You know what? Twilight's right, this is enough, and I should stop this. And once your barrier is down, I will end it with my sword in you skull!"

Feeling his barrier starting to crack under the force of Shining's beam, Dark began running plans through his mind. However, all of them were useless without his sight.

Sight, Dark thought to himself, a new idea forming as he grinned. Of course, how could I've forget about it?!

As his horn continued to pump magic into his barrier, Dark also began casting another spell, but casting a second spell while maintaining the barrier also made it weaker. It only took a few seconds more before Shining had broken Dark's barrier and moving to finish him off with his sword. As Shining got closer, he lifted his sword high above his head, ready to bring it down hard and finish Dark off for good. Once he was a foot away from him, Shining swung the sword down at his head... only to be caught in mid-swing by a flaming claw.

"My patience is at its end," Dark growled as he lifted his head up to face Shining. "Now." Dark opened his eyes, showing a golden magical glow from each of his empty eye sockets. "I'm done playing nice!"

Taking in a deep breath, Dark began roaring loudly straight into Shining's face, causing his magic to fizzle out as he stumbled back and fell down, covering his ears with his hooves to drown out the noise. Seeing his opening, Dark quickly casted his Fire Claw on his other claw before charging at Shining. Thanks to his Second Sight spell, he no longer needed his eyes to see anymore as he closed in on Shining. While he was still trying to get the ringing out of his ears, Dark picked him up off the ground with a flaming claw before taking a swipe at his chest.

While the Draconium was immune to dragon fire, it wasn't so much when it came to unicorn magic. the strike allowed for the Fire Claw spell to leave a gash in the armor where Dark's claws landed, but not enough to slice through it completely. Going bipedal, Dark began swinging his claws away at Shining, who was doing his best to dodge them with the distortion effect of him roaring into his face. As he continued to dodge, Shining would also take some potshots at Dark with either his magic, or a swing with his sword to deflect his attacks. But while his sword did make contact with Dark's claws, no damage was done since his claws were covered in magical unicorn fire. He was, however, able to get a cut on Dark's upper right arm, but all that seemed to do was further enrage him, making his attacks becoming quicker and more feral.  

Having enough of being backed up, Shining leaped back and set up a barrier to protect himself. Taking a moment to collect himself from his ears still ringing, and from the sudden change in Dark's behavior, Shining began thinking his options. His plan was still to finish Dark off with his sword, seeing as that's the only weapon he had that could permanently hurt him, but this new method of a feral attack wasn't allowing him much of a chance to get in any decent shots. With a decision made, Shining turned to look back up at Dark, only to see three flaming orbs orbiting him.

While Shining was sitting in his barrier, Dark started slashing away at it. After a few swings, he figured that if he couldn't cut it open, he could blast it open. Charging his horn, Dark casted his Fire Orbs. As the orbs orbited his body, Dark then started firing off every Explosive Fire Needle that the orbs held. Seeing the orbs firing little needles of fire like that made Shining flinch for a second, but relaxed as the impact from them was next to nothing. However, when they started exploding against his barrier, that's when Shining started to worry slightly. As he poured more magic into holding up his barrier, Dark continued emptying out each of his three orbs. Once the orbs were empty and had dissipated, everypony waited for the smoke and dust from the explosions to clear to see what damage he'd done. However, Dark didn't need to wait as he casted his Soul Eyes to look through the smoke and dust to see Shining still standing.

Once the area did clear, though, everypony who wasn't Dark could see that Shining's barrier had a few small cracks in it with Shining having looked like he'd ran a marathon. Although his horn was still glowing with magic, his legs were slightly shaky while his breathing was heavy. Seeing that breaking through would be more difficult than he figured, Dark spread his wings before giving them a powerful flap. Launching himself into the air above him, but careful to not hit the top of the barrier they were still in, Dark breathed deeply before bathing the entire area within the barrier in his fire breath.

Feeling the heat, Twilight leaped away from the barrier, and back towards the guards who were watching.

"What is he thinking now?" Twilight asked the guards, each of whom just shrugged in confusion.

Inside the flaming barrier, Dark landed onto the burning ground before lighting his horn. It was a few seconds after starting his spell that he heard Shining's voice again.

"What do you think your doing?" he questioned. "This armor is made of Draconium, that means that I'm immune to dragon fire and any heat that's emanated from it."

"I know," Dark replied. "That's why I'm using this fire to obscure your vision."

"And what could you possibly do that would require me to be blinded? You can't even break through my barrier."

"If you had this spell of mine, then you'd know. In the meantime, you'll just have to wait and see."

Shining snorted. "Yeah, right."

With a hidden smirk, Dark continued pouring his magic in to the spell. It was already completed, but against Shining, Dark didn't want to take anymore chances. He'd already lost his eyes during this fight, and wasn't in the mood for losing anything else. About another minute passed before Shining's patience ran out.

"That's enough!" he stated as his horn created a strong wind that blew away the flames. "Now what is it that your-"

Shining's voice caught in his throat as he looked down to see a massive red seal on the ground that covered the entire area of his barrier. What's worse was that Shining himself was standing right at the center of it. Looking at it curiously as to what it was exactly, he began wondering to himself before he heard the shouts and hollers of some of the guards.

"Everypony get back!"

"It's no longer safe here!"

"Fall back! Fall back!"

As the guards began running farther back from the barrier, Twilight turned around confusingly at them before feeling somepony pick her up, carrying her further back with them, and setting her down.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Your Highness," one of the guards began, "this is the same spell that he used against the hydras during the attack!"

"It killed the hydras and left their bodies charred while everything else caught in it was turned to ashes!" another added.

Hearing this, both Twilight's and Shining's eyes widened, along with the ponies that Shining brought with him from the Crystal Empire.

"And that was just with a normal seal," Dark chimed in. "With the amount of extra magic that I poured into this seal, I'd figure that it would be enough to even char that ursa major that I fought."

"So what?" Shining dismissed. "Like I said before, this Draconium armor-"

"Only works against dragon fire, but this isn't dragon fire, it's unicorn magic, and fire from unicorn magic can bypass the special properties of your Draconium armor." Shining started pouring more magic into his horn, reinforcing his barrier and adding a second layer on top of it while weakening his barrier that was sealing them in. "And don't even think that another barrier will save you from this. Your barrier doesn't cover the ground beneath your hooves, and even if it did, the intense heat from these flames would still finish you off."

"But you're still trapped in here with it," Shining smirked. "If you activate this spell, you'll be caught too."

"I know, but I don't care. I'm immune to fire and extreme temperatures, so even if I'm standing at the center of this spell like you are, it wouldn't feel any hotter than standing in a sauna. Face it, Shining Armor, you've trapped yourself within your own barrier. Now, please surrender and stop this nonsense."

"Screw you!" he barked.

"Fine, have it your way then," Dark replied, lighting his horn again to activate the seal.

The guards, meanwhile, were all standing there watching them, and preparing to cast heat resistant spells.

"Did Prince Shining Armor really just say that?" Kite surprisingly asked.

"And when Dark practically has him by the balls right now?" Aura added.

"It would appear so," Steel nodded.

"Heat shields up! He's about to activate the seal!" one of the guards shouted, seeing the seal beginning to glow.

As every unicorn began casting their heat shields, Flash looked around and noticed that somepony was missing.

"Hey, where's Princess Twilight?" he asked.

Looking around, nopony could see Twilight anywhere. It wasn't until they looked back up towards the giant barrier that they saw her standing right at the edge of it.

"Dark!" Twilight called. "Please don't do it! You're better than this!"

Turning his gaze from Shining to Twilight, Dark then saw the worried and sad expression on her face. Upon seeing her tearing and pleading eyes, Dark immediately felt his heart break. During their fight, he'd never once thought about how Twilight would feel watching them. Feeling guilty and remorseful for causing her such worry, Dark opened his mouth to say something to her, but no words would come out. Instead, he just stood there with his mouth agape. Not wanting to continue making Twilight suffer by having her watch them fighting, Dark shook his head before lighting his horn, dispelling his Soul Eyes and the seal.

Seeing the seal gone, Twilight let out a relieved sigh before she began smiling at Dark for the choice he'd just made. Seeing her smiling caused Dark to smile back before taking a breath to relax himself and sitting down on the burnt ground. As he continued sitting, though, Shining lowered the two barriers protecting him.

"What are you thinking?" he asked incredulously. "You had me, right? So why didn't you end the fight?"

"I am," Dark replied, closing his eyeless eyes. "This fight is over."

"So long as one of us is still alive, this fight isn't over."

Dark shook his head. "This fight won't do either of us any good. If we continue this, then we'll both end up losing."

"No I won't!" Shining declared as he fired a blast of magic at Dark, who just brought up a wing to block it. "When I kill you, I will sleep well knowing that my friends and family will once again be safe from your kind!"

Taking his sword in his magical aura, Shining charged straight for Dark, who in turn, simply continued sitting there. As he got closer, Dark casted his Fire Claw on his right claw, ready to block his sword. But as Shining closed in on Dark, he failed to notice the lack of magic that required him to maintain his giant barrier. As his sword began coming down, the barrier shattered, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. It was in that moment that Dark then found his magical vision obscured, not by a white stallion in red armor, but by a lavender coat. Seeing Twilight standing between him and Dark, Shining halted the blade of his sword inches away from Twilight's horn. Slowly moving his sword back away from her, Shining saw the sad yet angry look that she was giving him.

"Twily, I-"

*Smack*

Nopony made a sound or even breathed as the echo of Twilight slapping Shining hung in the air. Shocked by what just happened to him, his eyes widened in surprise as he brought a hoof to the sore spot on his left cheek. He then turned to look back to Twilight, who was now starting to tear up again.

"Don't you 'Twily' me," she shakily said. "Until you makeup for how you acted today, you don't get to call me that."

"But, Twilight, I-"

*Smack*

"I don't want to hear it! I asked you to stop so many times, and you ignored it! Even Dark, after everything that you did to him, tried to end things peacefully with you, and you ignored that too!"

Hearing the anger and sadness behind her words made Shining cringe. Even Dark, though the words weren't being directed at him, lowered his ears against his head as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Now," Twilight continued, "I want you to go to the castle and get yourself cleaned up. We'll talk about this later." She then turned around to face Dark, her expression of firmness turning to worry. "Are you alright? How bad is it?"

"I lost my eyes," Dark answered, causing Twilight to gasp. "But before Shining leaves, I'd like to do something. And don't worry, Twilight, I'm not going to hurt him."

Hearing this, Shining began glaring at Dark, but another look from Twilight quelled any thoughts of aggression. After she gestured for him to sit, Dark casted his Healing Flame on Shining. While he did flinch as the fiery ball floated just above his head, his ribs and head were starting to feel better.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's a fire spell that heals injuries," Dark explained.

"But there is no such spell."

"That's because I created it. And besides, your injuries are healing, aren't they?"

Reluctantly, Shining nodded. "The pain is starting to fade."

"Then that means that it's working."

"But what about your injuries?" Twilight asked. "I don't see them being healed by your spell."

"It's probably because they were caused by that Draconium sword," Dark guessed. "I knew that it was dangerous to dragons, but I didn't know that it prevented healing."

"Well, now you know," Shining smirked. "Wounds applied to a dragon from a Draconium weapon can't be healed by normal magic, or anything dragon related."

While Twilight glared at Shining, Dark noticed his cloak laying on the ground not too far away from them. Using his magic, Dark levitated the black cloak over to him to look at.

"How did this survive he fires?" he asked.

Looking curiously at it, Twilight lit up her horn and began scanning it. Once she was done, she gave him a confirming nod.

"That's because somepony had casted a fireproof spell on it," she answered.

"Heh, a rain cloak that's also fireproof. Go figure," Dark chuckled.

Getting an idea, Dark tore a few inches off the bottom of it before wrapping it around the cut on his arm. He then took another strip, folded it, then tied then ends together before he gently guided the makeshift eyeband over his eyeless eyes. As he got it sitting comfortably over his empty eye sockets, Dark opened his eyelids, the golden glow showing through the black cloth.

"This should make me somewhat more presentable, now that nopony can see my eyes," Dark said.

"I still don't really like it," Twilight sighed, "but considering that it's either this or exposing your eyes, I think that this is the better option. In the meantime, we'd better get you to the hospital and get your eyes and arm checked out."

"But if magic can't heal them, and I can't regenerate them, then what could the hospital staff do?"

"I don't know, but I'm willing to try anyway."

Giving her a nod, Dark got up, tossed the cloak over himself, and limped over to Twilight. As they started walking towards the hospital, Shining trotted up to the other side of Twilight.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"With you to make sure that he doesn't try anything," he answered.

"No you're not. I told you to wait for me at the castle, and I meant it. Now, go get yourself cleaned up and wait for me before I teleport you there myself. As for the rest of you," Twilight called out, turning her attention to the crowd of guards, "you may return to whatever it was you were doing before my brother called you here."

Not wanting to invoke his sister's ire anymore than he already had, Shining picked up his helmet and left for the castle with Flash and the crystal guards, while the rest of the guards went back to their own business. Once they were all gone, Twilight began to sniffle again. Unable to comfort her due to him being covered in his own blood, Dark instead shook his head with a sad sigh.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Twilight," he softly apologized.

"It's not your fault, Dark," she replied as she wiped her eyes. "Shining was the one who attacked you while you tried to reason with him."

Dark just continued to shake his head. "Still, I fought back against him and hurt him, but what's worse is that our actions have caused you to suffer the most out of all of us."

"I'll admit that it was sad to see you two fighting, but that hurt will go away. Your eyes, though... how do they feel?"

"They're starting to hurt a bit with the adrenaline gone, but it's nothing that I can't handle."

"Well, here's hoping that somepony at the hospital can help you."





The Ponyville hospital was quiet tonight as Nurse Redheart was looking at another magazine from behind the front desk. Ever since the guards from the attack a few days ago were healed, things started to slow down again for them. Looking up from her magazine, Nurse Redheart saw that the sun was just starting to set. Just as she returned to her reading, the sound of the door opening caught her attention. Lookin back up, she saw Twilight walking in with Dark limping alongside her. She didn't seem all that worried about them... until she got a better look at his eyes, and the dried blood running down from them.

"Oh, not again!" she exaggeratingly groaned.

"I swear, it's not as bad as it looks," Dark said.

"You sure about that? Because the last time you came here like that, you were nearly dead," Nurse Redheart reminded. "And why are you wearing a rain cloak? It's not even raining outside."

"That's... not really important right now," Dark replied.

"Look, Redheart," Twilight began, "Dark's eyes and arm got cut by a sword made of a rare metal called Draconium, and we can't heal them."

"Alright," she sighed, "I'll go get the doctor. Be back in a little bit."

And so Twilight and Dark waited for the doctor, but it wasn't a long wait. With how slow things were, he was out there to greet them within minutes. Once they got Dark into a room to examine him, the doctor and Nurse Redheart were very surprised by the appearance beneath his cloak, but had calmed down after seeing that it wasn't that bad. After being told the very short version of what happened, the doctor ran a few scans over Dark's injuries before heading off to the lab for the results. Ten minutes later, he came back into the room with the two, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Turns out that you were right once again, Princess," the doctor said. "The special properties from that sword won't allow for any magical healing, or for his regeneration, to heal it."

"Does that mean that Dark won't be able to see again?" Twilight nervously asked.

"I'm sorry, but that is correct. While the cut on his cheek and arm will heal naturally over time, the damage to his eyes is absolute. No zebra medicine, nor unicorn healing magic, can restore his eyes. Besides that, he doesn't even have any eyes to heal anymore."

"So," Dark sighed, "if I want to see, then I'll need to have this spell that I'm currently using stay constantly active."

"It would appear so. I'm sorry that there isn't anything we can to do fix that, but at least we can help clean and patch up those cuts of yours. The one on your arm is actually a little deep, but not quite enough for stitches."

With a nod from Dark, the doctor got out the bandages, gauze, and some disinfectant, before getting to work. Once Dark's cuts were taken care of, the two left the hospital with the doctor's and Nurse Redheart's apologies for not being able to help more. As they continued silently down the road, Twilight was the first to speak up.

"I can write a letter to Princess Celestia about this?" Twilight offered. "Perhaps she might know a spell to restore your eyes?"

"Thanks, Twilight, but I'm not so sure if her magic can help us," Dark said. "Besides, you heard what Shining Armor and the doctor said. And adding onto the fact that my own healing spell didn't work..." He sighed as he shook his head. "I just don't know anymore."

"Well, tomorrow morning I'll go ahead and write a letter to find out. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and she or Princess Luna might know of something."

Seeing how hopeful she was caused Dark to smile at her, which in turn made her smile back. After looking at each other for a few seconds longer, Dark began leaning his head down to hers, but stopped when he remembered his bloodied face. Withdrawing, Twilight looked at him in confusion, and slightly disappointed.

"Sorry," he apologized. "It's probably a bad idea when I'm still covered like this."

"I guess."





Over in Twilight's Castle, Shining, Flash, and the crystal guards had just entered the castle. As they continued in, Shining heard whispers and other hushed sounds coming from the kitchen. As he turned the corner, he was then showered with confetti and a chorus of voices.

"Happy Birth-" everyone stopped when they saw who it actually was standing there.

Upon seeing Shining covered in blood, Rarity moved her hoof to shield Sweetie Belle's eyes while everyone else froze in place.

"Uhh, what's going on here?" Shining questioned.

"The better question is what happened ta ya?" Applejack asked.

"No kidding," Rainbow agreed. "You look like you just got out of a nasty fight or something."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Shining admitted.

"We need to get you to the hospital right now!" Fluttershy said.

"No, I'm alright. In fact, I'm completely healed. Besides, this isn't from me."

"Then where did it all come from?" Applejack asked.

"The kirin."

"Wait," Spike interjected. "You mean all of that came from Dark?!"

"What happened to him?!" Sweetie Belle worryingly asked, her eyes still covered by Rarity.

Without answering, Shining turned to his guards. "You're all relieved for the night. Go on ahead and pick out a spare room in the guest hall." After getting a salute from each of them, Shining turned back to Spike and the girls. "Before I answer that, would you mind telling me what this is all about?"

"Sure," Pinkie happily replied. "Today is Dark's birthday, but he didn't want to celebrate it because it turns out that today is also the day he lost his brother and cousin, so we figured that we'd throw him a small party to help him feel better."

"Seriously?" he scoffed. "Why would a demon like him deserve something like this?"

"You're avoiding Sweetie Belle's question," Rainbow said, her tone turning serious. "What happened to Dark?"

"I fought him, and this mess here was all from him."

Before anypony knew it, Shining was pinned up against the wall with Rainbow glaring angrily at his eyes.

"What. Did. You. Do?" she asked threateningly.

Not wanting to get into this again, Shining pushed her off with his magic before walking away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Rainbow snapped.

"To take a shower," Shining called back.

"So, what does this mean about Dark?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I don't know, Sweetie," Rarity answered.

"And all of that blood," Spike cringed. "We should probably head on over to the hospital to check on him."

Further thoughts on that were halted by the castle doors opening and closing. They then heard the sound of something heavy being tossed onto one of the coat hangers, and hooves walking closer to them.

"Doesn't sound like we'll have ta," Applejack said.

Everypony waited eagerly to see their friends again. The second Twilight turned the corner into the kitchen, she found all of her friends there in her face. As they began bombarding her with questions, she silenced them all before allowing one to speak at a time so she could understand them.

"Rainbow, you go first," Twilight said.

"Okay, just what happened?" she wondered. "I mean, your brother just walked in here covered in blood that he said all came from Dark, and then left without telling us anything else."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Twilight sighed.

"Is Dark alright," Sweetie Belle asked.

"For the most part," Dark answered from behind the corner, out of their sight.

"Hey, Dark, why don't ya come over and join us?" Applejack offered.

"I would, but I really shouldn't be seen like this right now."

"Aww, it can't be that bad," Pinkie said as she bounced back behind Twilight to get a look at Dark. Once she did, though, she immediately turned around and walked back in with wide eyes. "I take that back, it's pretty bad."

"And that's why I'd rather prefer that nopony else sees me," he sighed. "If it's alright with everypony, I'm just going to grab a shower and call it a night."

"But what about the cake?"

"What cake?"

"Well," Fluttershy began explaining, "we heard that your birthday was today, and that you weren't feeling too good about it. So, we thought that a cake and having your friends with you would help cheer you up."

Curious, Dark peeked from behind the corner to look. Inside he saw his friends wearing party hats, some confetti on the floor, and a cake sitting on the table. Seeing this caused Dark to smile at them for the thought, but this afternoon had worn him out. So, it was with great reluctance that he would have to decline.

"Thank you everypony," he thanked, "but as kind and heartwarming as this is, I'm tired from today, and am ready to turn in."

"Dark," Twilight spoke, "I know that you've had a long day, but are you sure that you don't want to at least try? It might actually help you feel better like Fluttershy said."

Dark contemplated it for a moment. While he just wanted today to be over with, he also didn't want to make everypony feel bad after all the work they put into it. With a decision made, Dark began answering.

"Would it be alright if I got cleaned up first?" he asked.

"Probably a good idea," Twilight agreed.

"Except that your brother is using the shower right now, Twilight" Rarity said.

Dark groaned. "So that means that he'll probably be another ten minutes or so then."

"Perhaps. By the way, would you mind coming out from back there so we can talk to you directly? It's rather rude to not face somepony when you're speaking to them."

"Uh, Rarity," Pinkie chimed, "that might not be a very good idea."

"Well it can't be any worse than what Shining Armor was."

"Fine, I'll come in, but before I do, could you cover Sweetie Belle's eyes? She shouldn't see this," Dark requested.

"Alright, but I still don't think it'll be that bad."

Sighing, Dark turned the corner into the kitchen, causing everyone to gasp at his appearance.

"You were saying?" he deadpanned.

"Dude, what happened to you? And what happened your eyes?" Rainbow asked as she hovered around him.

"Shining's what happened," Twilight answered.

"Is all of that from you too?" Spike asked nervously.

"Yes, it is," Dark nodded.

"What happened to cause so much blood?" Fluttershy squeaked.

Dark cringed. "It's probably best that you don't know."

"And your eyes?" Applejack asked.

"Gone. I lost my eyes and am using one of my spells to see now."

"So that's what that jerk did," Rainbow muttered. "When I see him again, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Shining interrupted as he walked into the kitchen and began glaring at Dark. "You're lucky that Twilight was back there to save you."

Avoiding eye contact, Dark walked passed Shining. "I'm going to get cleaned up."

A half hour later, Dark had cleaned the blood off of himself and had bleached the area. After everything was cleaned, he made his way down to the party. When he entered, he saw everyone was still there. Everyone, except for Shining, who was sent to his room by Twilight for that comment he made earlier. As the party continued, Dark had to admit that Fluttershy was right. Despite today being rather crappy for him, this party did make him feel a little bit better. But the party couldn't last forever, and after a few hours, everyone cleaned up the party and returned home while Spike went to his room, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle went to theirs. As everyone dispersed, Twilight followed Dark back to his room.

"I'm sorry that my brother attacked you like that," she apologized.

"It's not your fault, Twilight," Dark said. "Speaking of him, should we really be staying in the same room tonight? I'm already on his bad side, and I don't wanna give him anymore reason to hate me."

"I understand why you're concerned, but I won't allow for him to do anything more to you."

Leaving it at that, Dark made his way into his bed. As he laid there, he looked up to see Twilight nervously avoiding eye contact. Knowing what was bothering her, Dark decided to try and addressing it.

"Do these eyes really bother you so much?" Dark asked.

"Well..."

"It's alright, you can be honest about it."

"It's just that... they're a little unnerving is all."

"I understand that this look makes me look scary, but it's still me here. Although, if you want, I could just dispel it."

Twilight shook her head. "No, that's alright. You don't need to blind yourself just to make me feel more comfortable."

"Are you sure? Because I'm alright with it."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Also." Twilight laid down beside Dark. "If this is how things are going to be, then I'll just have to get used to them. Besides, although your eyes are now glowing orbs of magic, I can still see the emotion behind them."

With that, Twilight too started getting herself settled down. After scooching herself closer, Twilight found her favorite sleeping spot against Dark as he wrapped his arms around her. As the two laid there for a while, a though crossed Dark's mind.

"So, what's going to happen with you and Shining?" Dark carefully asked. "After all, he's still your BBBFF, right?"

Twilight sighed tiredly as she thought about it. "Yes, he still is."

"Then does this mean that you'll forgive him? Because I saw how much it bothered you to confront him like you did."

Twilight pulled back slightly to look up at Dark. "Overtime I probably will, but until then, he's on a short leash here. But why are you so concerned about him?"

"It's actually you that I'm concerned about. From the stories you've told me, it sounded like you two were very close."

Grateful for his concerns for her, Twilight leaned up and kissed Dark on the cheek.

"Thank you, Dark," she thanked before she found her sleeping spot again. "And you're right about how close we were. I just wish I knew what caused him to act like this."

Once Twilight got settled back in, Dark leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "In that case, we'll just have to ask him tomorrow."

"Alright. Also, try not worry too much about him," she said with a yawn. "If he tries to start anything with you, I'll turn him into a cactus."