• 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 45: Even the Mighty will Fall

“How are we gonna beat THAT…” Thunderlane said in sheer awe of Destruction.

“I don’t know Thunderlane…” Battleaxe said, holding his chest. “But without Greatsword, I don’t think we can stop him.”

“There is always a way…” Princess Celestia said glaring at Destruction, outstretching her wings, only to fall immediately fall back to the ground.

“You are in no condition to fight, let alone stand…” Patches said, gently laying the Princess down. “You need to heal before you can fight again.”

“She’s right sister,” Princess Luna said placing her hoof on Celestia’s shoulder, “You must let others fight for you this time.”

Princess Celestia looked to Destruction, then to the group that surrounded her. Her eyes welled up and for the first time in any of the group’s life they saw a single tear fall from Princess Celestia’s eye. “I have stood against every threat that has face Equestria and her ponies for over two thousand years…” she said biting her lip. “I can’t stop now…”

“Even your strongest are weak…” Destruction’s voice echoed across the land. “Your world is forfeit-”

“Why not allow ME to fight in their place!” Dante Roared, slamming himself into Destruction. The two titans fell into the mountain, causing all of Canterlot and the surrounding area for miles to tremble from the impact. Once the dust had settled the group saw Dante hovering over the crater in the mountain side.

“An ancient nemesis returns from the shadows returns at last…” Destruction said pulling himself out of the hole. “But without his weapon, his fate shall come to pass.”

“We will see about that Destruction!” Dante roared, flame spewing out of his nostrils. “You will never have Omnipotent’s creation so long as I still stand!”

Dante launched a giant ball of flame at Destruction, exploding upon contact. Dante’s shadow hung over the soke and fire while he waited for some kind of retaliation from Destruction, but there was nothing. Suddenly, black cloud suddenly appeared behind Dante, striking him with a powerful blank bolt of lightning before he could react.

“DANTE!” Derpy cried tears falling down her face as she reached out to him. She tried to fly to him, but Event quickly grabbed her, only adding to her anxietity. “NO! NOT DANTE!”

“Derpy please!” Event yelled trying to keep Derpy on the ground. “He wouldn’t want you to go over there you could get killed!”

Dante collided with the ground at the foot of the mountain, causing the earth to shatter and fly through the impact area. Moments passed before Dante painfully rose to his feet and looked towards his adversary.

“You cannot defeat me fairly Destruction…” he growled. “So you hide and use deception to defeat one who has stopped you before.”

“I only wish to defeat you quickly, old foe…” Destruction said, his crest turning even darker. “For I respect you enough to give you a painless death… but if you insist on pain I shall give it to you!”

Destruction fired a gigantic volley of lightning towards the dragon, with no way out, Dante took the attack in full. Each bolt coursed through his body, causing him to roar in such a way that all that heard him could feel his pain. Dante convulsed and thrashed as each bolt turned into one single charge, the bolt ascended into Destruction’s hand, giving Dante a temporary pause in his suffering, but before he could move Destruction cast his hand into Dante’s direction, sending the single bolt straight towards him. His attack landed squarely on Dante’s chest and before he could even roar in pain the bolt exploded, sending tremors not just through Canterlot, but through the whole of Equestria.

“Good bye old foe… May you rest well…” he said before turning to his attention back to Canterlot. “Are there anymore foolish enough to stand against me?”

Those who remained looked to the crater, they couldn’t see Dante, just a smoking, smoldering hole. Their hearts sank, in a matter of minutes Destruction had taken down their best chance to save Equestria other than the Elements of Honor as a whole. Destruction began to turn from the crater, but at that very moment a plume of flame erupted from the crater enveloping Destruction whole.

“I will not die so easily Destruction!” Dante roared bursting from the smoke. “My will is still as strong as it was when you first fell!”

“Then let this be finished as it should be…” Destruction said charging to Dragon heading directly towards him.

The two forces collided with one another, slashing and attacking with all they had. Dante’s flame engulfed Destruction’s hand, but another slashed into Dante’s side. The two ignored their wounds however and fought on. Never relenting for in the hands of the victor was the fate of Equestria.

“You seem to have grown weaker in your absence, Destruction,” Dante yelled slashing his opponent across his torso. “The last time we fought I fell after a single blow.”

“With age comes strength,” Destruction said blasting Dante with another lightning bolt, “but you shall never defeat me!”

“I’m surprised that you actually are talking,” Dante roared slamming his tail across Destruction’s face. “You weren’t so much for talk the last time you-”

Dante was interrupted a sudden feeling of pain just below his chest. Looking down he saw the forearm of his foe dug deep into his stomach. He tried to force the hand out of him put the more he fought the deeper Destruction’s hand dug into his gut.

“I have watched through rock and metal and time…” Destruction said shifting his hand around the inside Dante. “And I know your every weakness…”

Destruction felt inside Dante for a few more moments, like a foal looking for the toy in the bottom of an apple cracker box. Suddenly he stopped, a twisted smile came across his face. He cast his gaze to Dante, he was still trying to free himself.

“The Inferno…” Destruction said ripping his hand out of Dante, in his hand was a large, burning sphere. It floated in Destruction’s had while Dante came crashing down into the city. “So long as the Inferno burns you live…” he said looking at the bright flame floating in his hands.

The group ran as fast as they could to Dante, hoping that he still maybe living after such a devastating attack. Once they had arrived they saw Dante, barely alive, struggling to even breathe. Derpy and Spike ran to his side, their tears falling into a pool of blood nearly up to their knees.

“I can’t lose you!” Spike cried trying to wrap his claws around Dante’s face. “I-I finally find out I have a dad…”

“D-D-Dante…” Derpy whimpered, flying over the Dragon’s body.

“Do not cry…” Dante said through shallow breathing. “The elements…” he said looking to Battleaxe, “you must use the elements… they are our only hope…”

“Dante…” Battleaxe said tearing up himself. “Greatsword is dead…”

“No…” Dante said trying to stand, “NO!” Before Dante could rise again he roared in pain and fell back to the ground. “How… how did he die?!”

“Guilty Spark and Sun Screech…” Event Horizon said, “they betrayed us… they were working for Destruction the whole time….”

“Soulless TRAITORS!” Dante roared, trying to rise just to fall to the ground again. “I shall grind them to dust for their sins…”

“They’re already dead…” Event Horizon answered. “Long Shot and Battleaxe saw to that.”

“Greatsword…” Dante said. “I MUST see Greatsword…”

Shining Armor and Battleaxe quickly brought the body of the fallen pegasus to Dante. It took some time for him to take it in, but he knew that Greatsword was gone. However, to the surprise of the group, Dante rolled to his side exposing his still bleeding underbelly.

“There IS a way…” Dante said reaching for his chest, using one of his claws to cut into his flesh. He remained stoic, not once showing an ounce of pain as he plunged his claw deeper and deeper into his wound. Once he had his claw dug all the way into inside he made a few painful motions and with a single tear he made a pulling motion out of his chest. He opened his bloody claw to reveal a small silvery object.

“No…” Derpy said with a tear running down her face.

“It must be done, Derpy…” Dante said reassuringly passing her the object.

“What did you just do?” Shining Armor said, looking to Dante in disbelief.

“The only thing I could do now to save Equestria…” Dante said weakly. “I gave Derpy a part of my heart…”

“WHAT?!” the group said in unison.

“A dragon’s heart is the most powerful healing agent in creation… it can cure any ailment…” Dante looked to the body of Greatsword again. “Even death.”

“Let’s get that thing in him!” Battleaxe exclaimed reaching for the heart in Derpy’s hooves. “We need him!” he tried again and again to grab the heart form Derpy but her awkward way of flying made it impossible for him to grab a hold of her.

“It is not that simple, Battleaxe…” Dante explained weakly. “One pure of heart and intent must place the heart into the fallen…” He turned his attention to Derpy she had just landed in front of him, gently placing her hoof on Dante’s nose. “Then you must give him-”

Dante roared in pain reaching for the hole he had made in his chest. The group looked towards the black sky. Destruction had closed the hand which had the small blaze. He cast his monstrous eyes to Dante and smiled.

“I should have known that the Inferno was not somewhere…” he looked back to his clinched fist. “But it was some ONE…” Destruction lifted the defeated dragon to him so he could look into his eyes. “ALL dragons came from around the Inferno… and the Inferno was inside you this whole time…”

“After six thousand years…” Dante growled painfully in defiance. “You were bound to find out…”

Destruction smiled yet again and dug his arms deep into Dante’s sides. He roared in intense pain, but he was too weak to fight back. Destruction began to tear into the dragon, until finally his chest gave way, exploding in a fountain of blood and cracking bine. The sight was so horrific that even Long Shot had to turn away, finally Destruction took the now lifeless husk and threw it into the city, nearly causing the city to fall collapse into itself.

“Even the god of dragons falls before me…” Destruction said throwing Dante back into the city. “Who else shall stand against me?!”

Dante’s death unfortunately was not without it’s after math. The dragon’s fall into the city sent wave after wave of earth shattering vibrations throughout the city, sending everything, from pony, shadow fiend and building into the air. The group was far enough from the impact to not be thrown into the sky, but the debris from the impact decended upon them from every direction.

The group ran as fast as they could to the only place that could provide protection, the royal castle. The magic that surrounded it was still strong and they hoped it would remain that way until they arrived. On their frantic rush there, Rainbow Dash didn’t see a falling rock making its way to her.

“RAINBOW!” Event Horizon shouted, “LOOK OUT!” he flew into her, pushing her out of the way only to be hit by the stone instead. After a few moments Rainbow was back on her hooves she looked around to see nothing, her heart sank.

“E.H.!” Rainbow called out into the rubble. “EVENT HORIZON!”

“We don’t have time to stop Rainbow!” Twilight called to her while she and Battleaxe did their best to keep Princess Celestia on her own hooves. “We need to get out of here!”

“Go on, I’ll catch up!” Rainbow called to the retreating ponies, then she turned her attention to the pile of rubble that was meant for her. “I’m not leaving you behind without knowing I could save you too...”

She searched the pile tirelessly calling Event’s name, but there was no answer. It failed to deter her. She still continued her search, becoming more and more desperate as she dug deeper and deeper.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh…” she said to herself as the last rock flew from her hooves, but Event Horizon was not there. She couldn’t see anything that would lead her to believe the he was even there. Then she heard a faint voice calling from the rubble. Rainbow darted to the pile next to her and once she lifted the first stone, she was instantly relived.

“E.H.!” she cried happily to the pegasus under the pile. “Are you ok?”

“Other than the fact there’s about a half a ton of rock on me and my leg being broken…” Event started, looking at Rainbow relieved. “I’m doing really good.”

“Ok,” Rainbow said throwing rubble in every direction,.“I’ll get you out in a sec.”

“We’re almost at the castle!” Twilight shouted, “don’t worry Princess, we’ll get you to safety.”

“My faithful student…” Princess Celestia said softly. “You remind me of her…”

“What?” Twilight said looking up to the Princess.

“So much like my sister…” Princess Celestia said smiling. “You’re so much like Luna…”

“We can talk about that later,” Battleaxe said nudging Celestia’s shoulder. “We need to get you to where you can heal faster.”

“It must be spoken about now,” Princess Celestia replied. “Because I fear that I may not get a chance to say it again.”

“Don’t say the Princess,” Twilight said teary eyed. “You’ll make it…”

“When I first saw you, I knew you were special…” Princess Celestia said ignoring Twilight’s words. “But as the years past, as you grew… I saw something else in you, a love of knowledge like only one other pony I knew…” the Princess looked to Twilight as a tear fell down her cheek. “My… my only regret… I promised myself long ago that I wouldn’t make the same mistake I had made with Luna, and it is because of you that I am with her again…” The Princess looked over to her sister, who upon hearing her had begun to release a few tears of her own. “I could never pay you back enough… I love you Twilight Sparkle.”

Battleaxe tripped over himself a little bit nearly throwing Princess Celestia off of him, but it wouldn’t have mattered the group had arrived at the castle. Twilight helped the wounded Princess off Battleaxe, who was looking at the two with some confusion.

“Should… should I be jealous?” he asked himself still staring at them.

“Not the same kinda love, sugar cube.” Applejack said smiling, nudging him on the shoulder.

“Now I shall do what must be done…” Princess Celestia said unveiling her wings.

“Princess NO!” Twilight cried reaching for Princess Celestia as she flew off.

“I must protect what my father died to save…” she said, flying towards Destruction. “Even if I must follow in his hoof steps.”

Princess Celestia stopped before Destruction, who was looking over all Equestria. “So long I have waited, now I shall do what should have been done long ago.” he rose one of his hands, summoning a dark power from within. He threw the aura into the distance, destroying nearly half of the Crystal Mountain range.

“You think you can stand against one with the power to destroy suns?” Princess Celestia roared to get Destruction’s attention.

“Like your father you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice…” Destruction said turning to her. “But you hardly have one tenth of his power.”

Destruction slashed at Princess Celestia, but she avoided the attack with ease. In the mist of their battle, Celestia’s horn began to glow the brightest it ever had, sweat poured from her body, straining to use every last bit of magic that was left in her. Then with a warrior’s cry, Princess Celestia unleashed the power of an exploding sun upon Destruction. Destruction roared in agony as the Princess’s spell completely engulfed him. She continued the spell for as long as she could, once she could no longer continue her horn stopped glowing. With every heavy breath she took a tear fell from her eyes.

The skies cleared for a moment, remaining guards and survivors cheered in victory, Princess Celestia had stopped the ultimate enemy, but as she descended to the ground the clouds returned, even darkerer than before. An echoing laugh came form them and without warning, a blast of magic hit Princess Celestia directly. She cried out in pain before crashing only feet away from the group she had left only minutes before. Destruction emerged from the cloud revealing his razor teeth in a smile.

“I underestimated you, Daughter of Omnipotent…” he said looking to the crater she was in. “But I assure, you it won’t happen again.”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Twilight cried running to her side.

“No…” Princess Luna said, her hooves over her mouth with tears forming in her eyes.

Shining Armor and Thunderlane ran to her side as well, trying to get her up. As they did Destruction readied another attack, aiming directly the group. “This land has fought me harder than any I have ever faced before,” he roared. “But like all others it will fall!”

Destruction sent the blast at the group, Shining Armor looked up while he and Thunderlane gathered Princess Celestia. “TWILI!” he yelled to get Twilight’s attention, she turned to her brother with teary eyes, “Twili… run…”

Twilight was drug by Battleaxe with the others to the castle door, throwing them open with little resistance, all of them ran inside, except two who flew in in a rainbow blur. Only Princess Celestia, Shining Armor and Thunderlane were still outside. They looked behind them and realized one thing then they looked to the wide eyed ponies yelling at them through tears at them to get inside. Princess Celestia and Shining Armor nodded at one another and Shining Armor’s horn began to glow. Just as the blast hit the ground the castle doors magically closed. Then, there was only silence.

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