• Published 23rd Jun 2013
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The Elements of Honor - Flanagan



The story of three stallions and their journey to fine their true destiny, rated Teen for blood, gore, sexual innuendos and language

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Chapter 44: Destruction Rising

“GREATSWORD!” Fluttershy cried running to Greatsword’s fallen body, “oh my goodness, oh my goodness…”

“SUN SCREECH, SPARK!” Event Horizon yelled in shock, “HOW COULD YOU!”

“It was unacceptable… UNACCEPTABLE!” Guilty Spark raored angrily. “Princess Celestia would have chosen ME if Twilight hadn’t hatched that dragon on her entrance exam, I could have done so much more for pony kind!” he looked to Twilight in rage, “but YOU ruined my dreams! This was the only way to exact revenge on all of you of casting me to the side!”

“I was never on your side, Event Horizon,” Sun Screech laughed. “I was working for The Shadow since day one, and now that he’s dead… I, Sun Screech, am now the leader of my fallen master’s horde! ATTACK MY MINIONS!”

The shadow fiends quickly obeyed their new master’s command, clawing and biting at those they had surrounded. They all fought for their lives, but they knew even if Greatsword were still alive, that they would be overrun. Before the fiends could completely overpower them, salvation came from the skies in the form of an entire company of Lunar Guards. The now reinforced group huddled around the boy of the fallen, eniloating any that came close enough.

The two forces clashed with one another, each side taking heavy losses. In time it looked like the Guard was gaining the upper hoof, but Sun Screech, being the back stabbing coward he was, wasn’t about to see how it was going to end. He prepared to fly to a safer location, but before he could get ten feet into the air, a lone pegasus grabbed him by his hind legs and slammed him into the pavement.

“You better give me a DAMN good reason not to stuff you throat with steel, Sun Screech!” Long Shot said shoving his crossbow into Sun Screech’s mouth. Sun Screech made multiple pleas, but all muffled my Long Shot’s Crossbow. “I’m sorry…” Long Shot said pulling back the trigger. “I can’t hear you.”

“DAD!” Scootaloo yelled knocking Long Shot off of Sun Screech and nearly colliding with Rainbow Dash as the two rolled to a stop. “YOU CAN’T JUST KILL HIM!”

“He STABBED Greatsword in the BACK, Scootaloo!” Long Shot roared at her, she trembled at her father’s reaction, terrified by his unleashed anger. “AND you’re supposed to be at the castle!”

“We ARE at the castle!” Scootaloo cried back. “I saw you almost kill that pony out of the window!”

“He’s a TRAITOR Scootaloo!” Long Shot yelled. “He needs to answer for-”

Out of the corner of his eye, Long Shot saw Guilty Spark fire a bolt of magic right at Scootaloo. Without a second’s hesitation, he threw her behind him and fired a shot of his own back toward Spark. The two attacks crossed paths, nearly colliding midway but they continued their paths until finally the bolt hit its target. Landing squarely between Spark’s eyes, just under his horn, he stood their frozen for a few seconds, twitching slightly. Then he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring down him muzzle and pooling under his chin.

“You… you saved me…” Scootaloo said looking to her father, but he didn’t respond he continued to stare at Spark’s lifeless body. She gingerly walked up to her father and nudged him slightly. “Dad… dad… are you ok?”

Long Shot fell to the ground, blood flowing out of the hole now in his chest. “I’d do it again…” he grunted, blood ozzing trough his lips. “but I only have one life… I-I love you Scootaloo…” Long Shot closed his eyes and his head slammed back to the ground, leaving his daughter horrified.

“DAD?!” she cried, shaking him violently. “DAD?!” Long Shot did not respond, she quickly looked around the battle ground looking for the one she knew could help. “PATCHES!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “PATCHES HELP!”

Patches ran to the sound of the young mare’s desperate cries, “What is it Scootaloo? What happ- oh my…” Patches saw Scootaloo covered in blood, she had been trying to stop the bleeding, but her effort was fruitless. “Scootaloo get back,” she said gently pushing her out of the way. “You did all you could, he’d be proud. He’d be proud…”

“You shouldn’t be seeing this,” Warhammer said grabbing Scootaloo. “You need to go back into the castle.”

“That’s my DAD!” Scootaloo cried trying to pass Warhammer. “I wanna make sure he’s ok!”

“I understand, Scootaloo,” Warhammer replied. “But you don’t need to see your father like that.”

“I NEED to be with my dad!” Scootaloo cried as Warhammer was bringing her into the castle.

“Scootaloo listen,” Warhammer said. “Patches is under enough pressure, you there would just add to that, not to mention, you are too young to see something like that.”

“I say, what is the common rabble doing in here?” a stuck up voice rang out through the castle. “What was my aunt thinking keeping the doors unlocked?” he voices owner walked into the light, Prince Blueblood looked around the entryway and once his eyes met Warhammer and Scootaloo he gasped in shock. “MY WORD, TOMATO JUICE! You must leave at once, before you stain these lovely tiles.”

“We will NOT leave…” Warhammer growled.

“You think you are special because you are with my aunt?” Blueblood scoffed. “Well, until you marry her you are still nothing more than a commoner to me,” he walked even closer to the two, “and furthermore-”

Warhammer’s hoof met Prince Blueblood’s jaw squarely, sending the royal pain flying across the room. He would have continued but a lone pedestal holding an expensive vase stopped his trajectory, he was about to stand, but the vase atop the pedestal fell directly on Blueblood’s head, rendering him unconscious. Scootaloo looked up to Warhammer with immense eyes.

“That… was… awesome…” she said looking up to Warhammer.

“I’ve wanted to do that ever since Luna introduced us at the gala several years ago,” Warhammer said smiling. “And I must say it felt even better to do it in real life.”

Back outside, Battleaxe and the others were fighting alongside the Lunar Guard against the shadow fiends. The fiends came in endless droves throwing themselves at the survivors again and again they were pushed back. After killing yet another fiend he ran to Patches.

“How are they doing?” he asked looking at Long Shot and Greatsword.

“It’s… it’s too late for him…” Patches said whipping away a tear from her eye, pointing to Greatsword. “That pike went right through his heart…”

“Don’t say that…” Battleaxe said, pushing Patches away from Greatsword and taking him in his hooves, “Bro… Bro, come on wake up…” Patches and Fluttershy watched Battleaxe’s desperate attempt to revive his brother, they could barely hold their own tears back as they continued to watch. “Bro, come on, the fight’s not over yet…” a single tear fell from his eye. “All those times you got me out alive… please… Greatsword… wake up… I-I STILL need you…”

Patches placed her hoof on Battleaxe’s shoulder and shook her head slowly. He turned back to his fallen brother, still limp in his forelegs. Unable to hold back anymore, Battleaxe buried his face into Greatsword’s chest, soaking his mane in a mix of blood and his own tears.

“NO!” he roared, his forelegs trembling violently. He remained there, holding to his brother like a foal for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he let him go, but there was something about him, a look in his eye that scared even Patches. The lightning and thunder clashed ed behind him, rain clearing the blood off his face, but his eyes remained the same. “Make sure nothing happens to him…” he growled running back into the fight.

“That’s forty-two for me!” Rainbow called out to Event Horizon. “Bet ya can’t beat that!”

“Fifty-seven!” Event Horizon called back. “I don’t know Rainbow, maybe you should keep up!”

“I know you two lovers are having a wonderful date right now,” Battleaxe said blasting several fiends away with his magic. “But where the hell is Sun Screech?”

Event Horizon looked back to face Battleaxe, “Carmel and Thunderlane are holding him now.” he pointed to a small building next to the castle.

“Thanks…” Battleaxe said running off. “Catch you later love birds.”

“Love birds?” Event Horizon and Rainbow asked in unison, the two looked to one another then quickly turned away trying to hide their reddened faces.

“WE’RE NOT A COUPLE!” they yelled simultaneously as Battleaxe entered the building Sun Screech was help in.

Battleaxe looked around the small room, there was nothing except for Carmel, Thunderlane and him. The one who stabbed his brother in the back, Battleaxe walked calmly up to the bound Sun Screech, ripped off the tape covering his mouth and stared into his eyes.

“Greatsword trusted you…” he growled. “I trusted you…”

“That’s the point of being a traitor,” Sun Screech grinned. “Make everypony think you’re on their side then, when the opportunity rises, you stab them in the back.”

“Ponies like you deserve to suffer…” Battleaxe said using his magic to grab a nearby shard of glass and letting it float inches away from his eyes. “Do you know that?”

Sun Screech began to tremble watching the shad draw closer and closer to his eye. “Wait… WAIT!” he begged. “I-I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!” his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. “I promise, I won’t do it again!”

“You’re right…” Battleaxe said with Carmel and Thunderlane looking onward in disbelief. “You won’t.”

“Sir, stop!” Thunderlane said to get his attention. “You can’t do this!”

Battleaxe stopped the shard close enough for Sun Screech’s eye lids to brush against the point when he blinked. “He killed my brother…” Battleaxe growled. “I want him to feel my pain…”

“It won’t bring him back, sir,” Thunderlane said placing his hoof on Battleaxe’s shoulder, “it won’t bring him back…”

Battleaxe looked at Thunderlane, then to Sun Screech and finally to the shard of glass. To the horror of all in the room Battleaxe began to draw the shard back as if he were about to strike. Before Thunderlane and Carmel could react Battleaxe sent the shard forward to the sound of Sun Screech’s screams, but with less than an inch left between the shard and his eye, Battleaxe stopped.

“You’re right, Thunderlane…” Battleaxe said dropping the shard. “I’m a soldier, not an executioner.”

At that moment Sun Screech burst from his bonds, wielding a jagged shard of glass. With blazing speed he drove the shard into Carmel’s shoulder, sending the poor pony to the ground in pain. Once Carmel was down he didn’t hesitate to go after his next victim, Thunderlane, but Battleaxe pushed him out of the way, allowing the shard to run deep into his chest. The two stood there for a few moments, frozen in the moment of the attack. Then Battleaxe’s knees buckled sending him to the ground, blood pouring out of his new wound. Sun Screech stood over him a menicing smile growing as he watched his wounded pray try to struggle to his hooves.

“So… weak…” he said, punching Battleaxe in the stomach, promptly sending him back to the floor. “It’s because you’re so concerned with the lives of others you forget about your own.”

“Y-you won’t win…” Battleaxe coughed, defiantly looking up to Sun Screech.

“I’ve already killed one of you,” Sun Screech replied, wiping the blood of his shard. “Now killing you will seal our fate!”

Sun Screech rose the shard over Battleaxe’s head, but before he could cast his final blow, a tremendous explosion rocked the small building, sending its structure into a volatile state. A celing beam fell on Sun Screech, pinning him in the now collapsing building. Thunderlane and Carmel grabbed Battleaxe and made a mad rush for the door. Battleaxe looked back one last time to see Sun Screech pleading for help. Before the building finally collapsed, Battleaxe looked back at the panicking pegasus.

“Fitting…” he said through shallow breaths, “but you deserve far worse…”

Carmel and Thunderlane rushed Battleaxe to Patches, who was still trying to keep Long Shot alive. The blast from Guilty Spark had collapsed one of his lungs and clipped a major artery. “Patches!” Carmel yelled holding Battleaxe, ignoring his own wound, “Patches Battleaxe got hurt real bad!”

“Almost…” Patches said frantically shifting her hooves over Long Shot. “Almost… Fluttershy I need more surgical stitching.” she pointed at her bag, ling next to Greatsword.

Fluttershy went to grab the bag, but stopped briefly to look at her fallen savior. A lone tear formed in her eye while she placed her hoof over the hole in his chest. “Now it’s there for everypony to see…” she whispered, letting the tear fall on Greatsword’s face, “you… you don’t have to hide it anymore.” she gave him a small kiss on his forehead and sat down next to him, but her mourning was cut short by Patches desperate call.

“Fluttershy!” Patches cried. “I NEED those stitches!”

Fluttershy ran to Patches side, reached into the bag and pulled out the item Patches needed to keep Long Shot alive. Patches grabbed the stitches and ran them through the needle in her other hoof. She used extreme care while closing the still spiriting artery. Once she was done she placed her head on Long Shot’s chest, listening for the sound of life. Her head stayed there for a few moments, but there was nothing.

“No…” Patches whispered softly, placing her head on his shoulder. “No… not YOU too…” she whipped the tears off her face only replacing them with blood.

Then Long Shot’s chest rose, his eye opened slowly to reveal Patches standing over him with a genuine smile. “If anypony could…” Long Shot said weakly. “It would be you…” he smiled back at her before falling out of consciousness.

Another massive explosion rang across the royal city. Everypony still standing looked to the direction of the blast and what they saw left them in awe. A large swirling black cloud emerged from the storm, firing black lighting in every direction. The cloud stopped right over the castle, seething as if it were alive.

“What… is that?” Twilight asked Princess Celestia, but before she could say anything the cloud answered for her.

“I?” the cloud said. “I am a monument to all your sins…” the cloud blasted several buildings with lightning, causing them to collapse.

“Oh no…” Event said pausing Rainbow in the middle of a fight. “It’s… it’s him…”

The cloud sent bellowing laughter across the city. “The weapon is broken, all hope now cast aside,” it said seething even more. “Now you face your final end, a fate you must abide.”

“Hope remains in all who still stand, beast.” Princess Celestia called back at the cloud. “So long as there are those who are willing to fight.”

“Six thousand years I have waited, for six thousand years I have watched you thrive,” the cloud began to open revealing a serpentine creature emerging from its bowels. “Six thousand years I have shown patience… NOW it is DESTRUCTION’S TIME!”

Destruction rose from the cloud, black lightning blasting anything nearby. His arms stretched out extending his blade like claws. His eyes shot open and his razor blade teeth formed a menacing smile. Destruction let out an echoing roar that may as well been heard thought all Equestria.

“The return of the Destroyer to the safeguarded land!” Destruction roared, “And not even Honor can stay my hand!”

The group looked up in awe as Destruction’s crest glowed the blackest black they had ever seen. It fired into the sky, causing a massive hole in the clouds, tearing a hole into the violent night sky. The rain fell even harder on the city, filling the streets with red water. Destruction looked to the tear then to those who would oppose him.

“Defiant fools, stand ready to fight…” he said smiling. “To end their lives shall be a delight!”

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