Blazing Dragon

by Zanem-Ji

The Last Stand

Spike had his claws pressed against the mirror, as he stared in wide eyed horror at what he saw in Corrupted Spike’s crystal pillar. Rarity was now a pawn that belong to the Corrupted One. One of the Fallen had truly…fallen. Spike looked over at the corrupted version of himself.

"What did you do to her?!"

Corrupted Spike chuckled, “This battle is practically taking place right outside my front yard…the very air itself is teeming with black magic.” He rubbed his chin, “When Dark Star killed her, I had the pleasure of watching. As soon as she did, I decided to…hmm…send a bit of my magic her way.”

"CHANGE HER BACK!!!" Spike roared. "NOW!!!"

Corrupted Spike belted out a laugh, “You’re not the one in charge here. I am. And now…whatever fragment of her soul that’s still left in that body…belongs to me now…”

~MLP~

The world seemed to come to a standstill as Twilight and Sparks stared at Rarity. Dark Star’s interested expression turned into amusement, as an evil grin worked its way onto his face,

“It seems like she’s finally made the right choice…to serve our mighty God-King…”

The two Unicorns ignored him, still keeping their eyes on Rarity,

“Rarity…why?...”

Rarity didn’t respond. Instead, she began a painfully slow walk towards them.

“You can either be destroyed by me,” Dark Star boomed out.

Twilight and Sparks glanced over at them,

“Or…you can be destroyed by her!!”

There was the sound of air rushing, and a light hoof step. Twilight and Sparks spun around to see Rarity was right in front of them. Before either could react, Rarity struck Twilight in the face with a heavy hoof. The blow didn’t send her flying. It didn’t even make her stumble. But, as her head snapped to one side, she felt her un-beating heart shatter, as if Rarity had struck her down with the most powerful of weapons.

Well…The Corrupted One had made Rarity become said weapon.

Twilight didn’t move, but Sparks instinctively shoved Rarity away from them. She stared at her with hardened eyes,

“We do not wish to fight you, Rarity…but you will leave us no choice if you continue to act this way.” Sparks warned, her crystalline vocal chords now clinking louder than before, “Stand down, or we will make you stand down.”

Rarity’s expression remained dead as she lunged for her. Twilight looked on in shock as the two Unicorns rolled around in the dirt, firing beams of magic off in random directions. Sparks cried out as Rarity stomped onto her chest. Twilight was still too shocked to move. Dark Star took this opportunity to gallop over to them and join into the fray. Twilight snapped out of her shock as she watched Dark Star pick up Sparks and slam her into the ground with enough force to make it shatter. Twilight tackled Dark Star, ramming her horn into his eyeball. He let out a pained howl, staggering back and giving Sparks the opportunity to get back on her hooves. She ripped her horn out of his socket, taking the eyeball with it, and tearing his face open. Twilight got ready to fire off a beam of magic, but was cut off by Rarity slamming into her. They hit the ground, and Twilight’s crystal armor shattered where Rarity had tackled her. Twilight looked up at her lover in horror, unable to fight back. An orb of magic appeared on Rarity’s head, and started to grow at an incredible rate. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks as Rarity reeled her head back, ready to unleash the magic. Twilight knew this blow wouldn’t kill her, but it would hurt like hell. Why couldn’t she move? Why couldn’t she shove the mare on top of her off, and strike her down? She just shut her eyes and waited for the magic to engulf her.

But it never came.

Twilight heard a rush of air, and a heavy thump. When she opened her eyes, Rarity was no longer standing over her, but pinned down by Sparks. The Unicorn was snarling at her, belting out that painful screech right in Rarity’s face. Twilight rose to her hooves, thankful for the younger Unicorn’s intervention. She turned to face Dark Star,

“I can’t do it.” Twilight stated bluntly. “The Corrupted One’s magic now wears the face of my lover. Because of that, I cannot attack her…” Her eyes started to glow, "You however…are fair game…”

Dark Star smirked, “You caught me off guard before, but rest assured, it shall not happen again…” he started to walk towards her, horn ablaze with dark magic. “Now…let’s get this over with…”

With that, he broke out into a furious gallop. Twilight was surprised, as she barely dodge his attack. He had gotten bigger. Faster. Stronger. Spike must’ve infused him with more black magic than he had the other Elites.

He rivaled her in strength now.

He suddenly turned on his hooves and speared Twilight in the side with his horn. Twilight let out a pained whinny as she was slammed into the ground. Dark Star peeled his horn out of her, then pressed down onto her wound with a heavy hoof,

“Our God-King is going to be pleased that I had taken down the leader of the Fallen…even though…you’re nothing more than a pathetic, worthless excuse of a pile of flesh…”

Twilight’s eyes shut tight with pain as Dark Star started to press even harder on her wound. Twilight opened an eye to see that Sparks and Rarity were in a stand-off, and too focused on each other to focus on the two of them. She managed to tilt her head and fire off a beam a magic at Dark Star’s face, but it didn’t even faze him,

“There’s no point in stopping this, Twilight. No matter what you do, you’re going to die.”

A couple of Twilight’s ribs cracked under the pressure. She let out another scream. Suddenly, the pressure was taken off of her side. Her body had time to heal, and she looked up to see that titan sized, Vampony version of Fluttershy tearing away at Dark Star’s back, and pulling him off of her. Twilight jumped to her hooves, and focused on healing her wounds as quickly as possible. Dark Star was holding Fluttershy’s jaws open, as he struggled to keep her from ripping his face off. He started to summon magic into his horn, causing a soft hum in the air. Just as he was about to fire the beam into her open maw, Applejack tackled him, releasing his grip on Fluttershy, and sending them both flying. They tumbled and rolled on the ground, raining heavy blows on each other. He shoved Applejack away, and glared at her,

“I’m going to tear you to shreds!!”

“NOT IF I GET TO DO IT FIRST!!”

The declaration confused him when he realized it hadn't came from Applejack's mouth. He looked up, and saw Dash dive bombing towards him. She slammed into him, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris. She stomped on his chest until she felt ribs crack, then jumped away before he could grab her. He sat up and snarled,

“Ganging up on me won’t make a difference!! I’m still going to kill y-”

His sentence was cut off as a hoof met his cheek. He staggered and hit the dirt, managing to catch a glimpse of Pinkie before he did. As soon as Pinkie landed, Applejack was charging at him again. He let out a frustrated roar, before smacking Applejack away. Fluttershy snarled, latching on to him again and pulling him into a headlock. He punched her repeatedly, but her grip didn’t lighten up in the slightest. He suddenly felt something cold being jammed sharply into his side,

“Move Fluttershy!!”

Fluttershy jumped back, and Dark Star only had a moment to turn to see the Gatling guns attached to Applejack’s armor, were digging into his flesh. There was a hum as the gears in the guns whirred to life, before rounds exploded from the barrel, and drove themselves into Dark Star’s body. Under normal circumstances, Dark Star wouldn’t be concerned with being shot at. But, with this many rounds, and at this close of a range, they were actually doing damage. He fell over, and his attempts to get back on his hooves were thwarted by the continuous barrage of attacks from the Fallen. He felt a particularly powerful punch to the jaw, sending him off of his hooves. Another heavy blow was delivered to his gut, as he was shoved back into the earth. The air was forced out of his lungs, and he felt a hoof press down on his throat. He looked up to see a pair of glowing, mix-matched eyes staring down at him. A growl rumbled deep from Spark's throat, before she let out an earth trembling, other worldly shriek. She screamed in his face, a light mist of hot breath and powerful magic covering him. Her scream died down to a soft clinking, then silence, and her fierce facial expression turned into one of utter despair.

“Dark Star…” she lightly shook her head, “No…Dad…” she placed a hoof to his cheek, “I’m really sorry. I’m sorry that I let you down. I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you…” she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his snout, “I’ll always love you, Dad…”

Her jaw unhinged itself, and a ball of magic started to form in her mouth. Dark Star shook his head,

“You’re such a foolish pony, Daughter!” he then mirrored her, his mouth opening to unnatural proportions, until a sickening snap sounded out, as his jaw popped out of place. He quickly formed an orb of black magic in his mouth. Sparks’ eyes went wide, and she quickly summoned as much magic as she could. The Fallen had let go of Dark Star, knowing the impact of the colliding magic was going to be massive. Dark Star and Sparks were screaming at each other, as the balls of magic got larger and larger. The orbs suddenly shrunk, before they both fired them at each other, their faces mere inches apart. The Fallen and any nearby fighters, had to shield their eyes from the explosion. When the light faded, and the dust settled, they all turned to see what had happened. Dark Star was laying in the bottom of a massive crater.

“Sparks!!” Applejack screamed out, before breaking into a gallop. The others followed her. Sparks was strewn out in the dirt, the light of her irises completely gone. Applejack scooped her up into her hooves,

“C’mon now, Sparks! Don’t tell me Pinkie an’ Ah saved yer hide fer nothin’!”

Sparks remained unresponsive. Dark Star slowly crawled out of the crater. He shook the dust off of his coat, then glanced over at Rarity, who was joining him and walking towards the Fallen. Twilight stood in front of her friends, ready to shield them from whatever Rarity and Dark Star threw at them. Dark Star looked down at Rarity,

“Ladies first…”

Rarity nodded, then slowly walked towards them. Twilight shook her head,

“Rarity, please don’t do this!!”

Dark Star started to follow her,

“This isn’t you!!”

Rarity’s slow walk turned into a light trot. Twilight’s eyes started to glow brighter,

“You’re my lover! We are your family! You’d never attack us!!”

Rarity’s trot turned into a gait.

“Please…” Twilight’s voice cracked. “Come back to me…”

The tip of Rarity’s horn started to build up with magic.

Twilight pile drove her hooves into the dirt, her expression was a mixture of sorrow, but determination,

“I won’t attack you, Rarity. I won’t let you hurt our family…but I won’t attack you.”

She broke into a fierce gallop, with Dark Star right behind her. Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the blast of magic to explode on her body.

She waited. Nothing.

She waited some more. There was the sound of bodies colliding. A collective group of gasps sounded off behind her. She opened her eyes, and joined in the symphony of shock.

Dark Star was sprawled out on his stomach. Rarity was on top of him, her body engulfed in dark blue magic. The monstrous Unicorn underneath her was squirming and flailing about, but she too had used the same spell to increase her weight to near unbearable levels. He looked up at her,

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

She ignored him, keeping her eyes directly on Twilight. Her mouth didn’t move, but they could all hear her words clearly,

’No matter what they do to me…' A tiny smile appeared on her face,‘I’ll never let them hurt my family…’

At this, the light in Sparks’ eyes returned once more. She slowly rose to her hooves and turned to face Rarity. A smile worked it’s way to her lips,

“I knew some part of you was still in there, Rarity…”

Rarity’s smile got a bit bigger, but then immediately contorted into a grimace, and black electricity coursed through her body. She gasped out,

‘I-I can’t hold the Corrupted One’s black magic away much longer…’ she twitched as more dark energy shocked her core. ‘You must destroy us both!’

Twilight shook her head, "No, we can save you!"

Rarity cried out as the magic continued to surge through her. She panted,

‘It’s magic is…unyielding. The Corrupted One is going to take this body…’ Another surge. A sad smile formed on her face as she looked at Twilight, 'But you…you have my heart, my soul!! I will always love you-‘ she screamed as the corrupting magic started to reach unspeakable levels of pain. ‘I’ll always be yours!!'

Twilight shook her head in denial, but didn’t say anything. Sparks placed a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked over at her, and shook her head solemnly. Sparks gently moved her to the side,

“I will end your suffering, Rarity.” She stated, as black and white magic started to swirl through her horn. “Thank you for teaching me, caring about me…”

She lowered her head, the air around her started to get hot, and an electrical hum filled the air once more. The aura around her horn formed into a ball of magic on the tip of her horn. It shrank, and the hum in the air started to become deafening,

“Thank you…for loving me…”

She fired the magic, the recoil from it pushing her back a bit. The other Fallen behind her shielded their eyes. The beam of magic was screaming towards the two Unicorns. Dark Star frantically looked up at her,

“RARITY, GET OFF OF ME!!! DO NOT DISOBEY OUR GOD-KING!!”

A few tears fell from her eyes. The small smile on her face, got bigger,

‘Bright Spark…you…were the daughter I never got to have…’

There was a split second of silence, before the magic impacted them. The shock wave blew all but Twilight and Sparks’ away. A few more aftershock waves washed across the battle field. They died out, and when the ash and dust and debri settled, Twilight and Sparks remained rigid. The ground where the magic had impacted, had been utterly destroyed. There was no sign of Rarity or Dark Star. Sparks galloped over to the impact sight, and a few tears fell from her eyes. At the bottom of the crater, there were two crystal orbs. She knew they were what powered the Elite, but they were not onyx black orbs like the others. One was a deep, dark shade of blue, and the other…

A rich shade of violet.

Sparks trotted to the bottom of the crater and picked up the two orbs. She made her way back to Twilight and the other Fallen. She levitated the violet crystal and placed it before Twilight. She felt tears start to prick at the corners of her eyes as she placed the dark blue orb underneath her hoof. She wiped her tears away and focused on the crystal,

“I love you, Dad…”

With that, she shut her eyes, and put all of her weight down onto it. There was the sound of crackling, and then the orb shattered into tiny fragments. Her ears perked up when she heard a few tiny gasps from her friends. She opened her eyes, and for just a moment, her eyes fell upon a barely visible figure. A stallion, who’s coat was a brilliant blue, with a bleach blonde mane and tail. His eyes sparkled for a moment, as they met her own. He smiled at her, and got just a bit closer to her,

"I am so proud of you, Bright Spark...'

Sparks felt a light tingling sensation on her forehead as he kissed her, before he faded into the nothingness. She stared at the spot where she had just seen Dark Star. No…where she had seen her father…

Where she had seen Star Blast.

Sparks let the tears fall this time. She had managed to save her father from eternal damnation. Her joy was short lived however, as a sob from Twilight drew her attention, and the others as well.

“I didn’t see her…” Twilight whimpered. Pinkie walked over to her and placed a hoof on her back,

“Maybe her soul might’ve already left the crystal…”

“That doesn’t make any sense…” Twilight sniffed. “Why didn’t that happen to Star Blast? Did…did we not save her?”

Sparks placed a hoof on Twilight. Twilight looked up at her. Calmness and determination burned in her glowing eyes.

“Rarity has been saved. She sacrificed herself in a final act of love for all of us. I promise you, that her soul has been set free from the Hell King…”

Sparks didn’t know where the words came from…but they were spoken from the heart. Twilight knew this. A very tiny smile made it’s way to her lips,

“Thank you, Bright Spark…” she started. “Perhaps you are right…I pray to the gods that you are…”

A flash of lime green drew their attention. The battle worn Apprentices trotted up to them

“Ah felt a massive decrease in dark magic, an’ we figured ya’ll had managed ta defeat the Elite.” Patch stated.

‘We’ve destroyed most of the Hell King’s army.’ Skye started. ‘However, there are still a large amount of stragglers, but our squadrons and brigades are picking them off.’

Dee looked around at the group in confusion,

“Where’s…where’s Miss Rarity?”

Heavy silence fell amongst the group. They all looked at each other. Dash stepped forward,

“Rarity…she’s gone…”

Shock covered the Apprentices’ faces. Sure, they had attempted to prepare for moments like these, but they never truly thought that the Fallen could be killed off. A few tears started to fall from their eyes. Patch wiped his away and looked at their mentors,

“She’s really gone…that just don’t make a lick of sense…”

“She sacrificed herself to make sure the rest of us lived.” Twilight started, before looking over at Sparks. “Over the three years she had been Bright Sparks’ mentor and primary caretaker, she taught this young Unicorn everything that she knew. Bright Spark learned well, and honestly…” she smiled a bit, “I can see a bit of Rarity in her now…”

Sparks’ eyes started to well up with fresh tears. Twilight turned back to the Apprentices,

“When Rarity passed on, the Element of Generosity left her, in order to find a new host. It has chosen Bright Spark, to be it’s bearer. She is no longer an Apprentice…so when we rise up and defeat the Hell King…remember that she now deserves your respect as one of your superiors.”

The Apprentices nodded in unison, “Yes Miss Twilight.”

Patch stepped forward and at attention in front of Sparks,

“Ah’ll have great pleasure in servin’ ya, Miss Bright Spark.”

Sparks smiled, “Thanks, Patch.”

Applejack leaned over into Twilight’s ear, “Twi, we gotta go, while his defenses are lowered…”

Twilight nodded, then faced the group,

“Alright…this is it…we are at the boiling point. The peak of the war.” She turned and pointed at a building that was still off in the distance. “That is the castle of the Hell King.” She started. “He knows that we are here. That much, I am sure of. He probably knows that we have already defeated his Elites, and are heading towards him. Inside of that castle, there is an unknown amount of Hellions in there, waiting to kill us to protect that tyrant.” She looked back over her shoulder, “We will not allow them to succeed. We will not allow the Corrupted One to live another day on Equis.” She turned to face the Apprentices, “The five of you are going to help the troops find the stragglers. I assume there are still thousands upon thousands of them still trying to either fight back or escape death. You will take no prisoners, you understand?”

The Apprentices stood at attention, “Yes, Miss Twilight.”

They turned and bounded off back into battle. Sparks started to follow, but Twilight grabbed her shoulder,

“That is a job for the Apprentices. You are no longer one. You are needed elsewhere.”

“But I’m not a Fallen either, Twilight.”

“True, but you are an Element Bearer. And, you're the only pony we’ve encountered so far other than myself, that can use the Corrupted One’s magic against it. You’re too powerful to be finishing off those Hellions. We need your magic here.”

Sparks nodded in understanding. Dash started to hover above them,

“I’m going to go and scout out the area up ahead.” She looked down at her wife, “You coming with?”

Fluttershy nodded and flew up to her. Dash shot off, and Fluttershy took off as well to join her. The crystals casing around Twilight’s neck started to creep back up and encase her head. She looked back at Applejack, Pinkie, and Sparks,

“Let’s go and finish this…”

They nodded at her, then broke off into a blazing gallop towards Corrupted Spike’s castle.

~MLP~

Corrupted Spike rested his cheek on his hand, as he stared into the crystal pillar that was showing him what was going on outside of his castle. An image of the Fallen racing towards him was showing in the crystal,

"You’re running out of time." Spike stated, as he smirked at him through his mirror prison. Corrupted Spike shot him a look,

“Actually, your ponies are the ones who are running out of time.” He replied, an evil grin spreading on his face, “What do you think happens when a Hellion dies?”

Spike arched a scaly brow, “That’s one step closer to my friends kicking your ass.”

Corrupted Spike rolled his eyes, “No, you idiot. When a Hellion dies, my magic does not just disperse into the atmosphere. It returns to me…” He leaned towards the mirror, “I was actually getting weaker by bringing all of those ponies back to life.”

Spike’s eyes went wide, “Then why did you do it?”

The dragon chuckled, “Don’t you see? Even in my weakened state, I’ve managed to wipe out a vast majority of the rebellion. I’ve taken…millions of lives, without ever having to raise a claw myself…”

Spike growled, and slammed his fist against the glass, “YOU’RE A FUCKING MONSTER!!!”

“OF COURSE I AM!!” Corrupted Spike roared back, “I AM DEATH AND DESPAIR, RAGE AND BETRAYAL!! I AM ALL THINGS DISGUSTING AND DISTURBING, VILE AND HORRIFYING!! I AM FUCKING EVIL ITSELF!!!” he placed a claw up to the mirror, “And thanks to your little ‘sacrifice’ all those decades ago…your face is now known as the face of Evil. You are the embodiment, of evil…”

He chuckled in Spike’s face, further enraging the imprisoned dragon. He left him to beat on the mirror, snarling and cursing at him, as he walked out to his balcony. He could see dust kicking up on the horizon and smiled,

“That’s right…come to my domain…the time to end this, has finally come…”

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

Really, the whole "that's a job for Apprentices" thing is starting to unnerve me. They basically build a caste system, with them at the top, leaving their main troops disrespected and in the dark, and the apprentices as... well... Spike from the first show. A favored person, but ultimately just a servant.

I suppose it's supposed to be brutal and secure, and it hammers in how callous the Elements have become, that they simply dismiss tons of people because they haven't gained the attention, and put themselves above the rest of ponykind, not just in deed or in power, but effectively in social class. Sparks doesn't have to do the tough work, she's better than that now.

[Zanem-Ji]

5599396 I have them act the way they do because they're caught up in a global war where any moment of weakness can get them killed. The example in my most recent chapter showing that Twilight, the head honcho and even with the amount of power that she has, nearly got killed off because she couldn't attack Rarity. They do care for their Apprentices (an example, that Haze mentions the fact that Pinkie didn't just mentor him, she legitimately raised him. As did Applejack, when she wasn't even his primary mentor).

Now, to cover the caste system, and the whole how they are acting:
Being in a military branch myself, I've seen what happens when people start picking up ranks. They change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst, but ultimately, it's pretty noticeable. When I picked up Cpl in the USMC, I had to act different. Once we pick up the rank of an NCO (Cpl & Sgt) we're placed into a different system, above junior Marines (Pvt-LCpl). I ended up becoming the boss of some of my closest friends, and instead of them calling me just by my last name, they had to call me by my rank, and even stand a certain way when speaking to me. They understood that (not that I was better or some shit like that) but I had earned my rank, and deserved the respect that came with it, and also had responsibilities that differentiated from their own. They also knew that for a while, especially during working hours, our friendships would have to be put on hold. That's how it is in my story. During off hours, they can joke and play, but still keep the respect. But when they're in the middle of battle, they need to be focused on staying alive and keeping their fellow fighters alive as well. That's also why I have the Apprentices treat Sparks with a new level of Respect when she picked up rank and became an Element bearer.

(Holy shit...I think I did a bit of self-projection in this story...)

Anyway, I was already halfway through the next chapter when I published this one. There's a reason I have the Apprentices stay back, and you'll see in due time.

[ozzyozborn7]

It took a bit longer but it was worth it can't wait to see how the final battles are gonna be.

[Zanem-Ji]

5600030 Yeah, I've been super busy lately.