Tale of a Flame

by BlazeKindling

Truth

Truth
Scootaloo landed outside the castle and followed in the footsteps of the others with Sweetie Belle following closely behind.
“This seems like a bad idea, Sweetie. Are you sure we should sneak in?” Scootaloo asked, unsure of what would come from this, what consequences followed.
“Trust me, They wont notice us, guaranteed.” Sweetie said reassuringly to Scootaloo, bolstering her confidence. They marched onwards, taking as many back-routes and side-hallways as possible to reach their destination. Then they wandered, looking for the two they had lost, for they had become lost. Hours of searching came after, with petty bickering about the last turn sprinkled in. They turned round the corner, and found themselves in a bedroom. Laying motionless in the bed was… Celestia. Asleep. They turned to go, when a black shadow lifted in the corner of Sweetie’s eye. Suddenly, it took shape. The shadow twisted and contorted with no physical object copying it. Suddenly, the contortion stopped, and the true form of the creature was revealed. A monstrously huge demon, with fire applied at every single portion and limb of it’s body. It opened it’s mouth, and with it came a titanic, roar-like yell.

“HOW DARE YOU AWAKEN ME IN MY HOUR OF REST! I WILL TORCH YOU BLACK!” It screamed as Sweetie ran for the door, dragging the dumbfounded Scootaloo out the door and into the halls. It crashed out, and began rampaging after the two. It tore through the castle, leaving hellfire and destruction in it’s wake. Many a pony were given notice to this by the demon’s curses and bellows. They ran, attempting to stop the beast, but none prevailed. Sweetie rounded another corner, but to the young filly’s disbelief, it was a dead end. The beast crashed down the hallway and raised it’s hand to smash the two into dust. Suddenly, in the middle of it’s huge wind-up, it clutched it’s head tight and bellowed in pain and distraught. At the other side of the huge wall of rage and fire, Luna stood. Breaking it’s will, crushing its mind to dust and ashes. It attempted to retaliate, but even with her sickness radiating pain throughout her body, she fought with the intensity of her sister’s sun. The creature fell to its knees, as she took the hex off him. It tried to escape, but she gave no mercy as she melted it’s very will away to a puddle of what used to be its subconscious. She then felt the intense pain once more, and faltered before being held up by the massive crowd that had formed around her. She was escorted back to her room, but the creature had other plans. With its physical form broken beyond repair, it seeked a catalyst to feed off of. The small, pale spirit flickered and flew through the various hallways and corridors. It looked through the many different ponies of the castle, but only one stood out to him. Celestia.

Having been knocked out by constant strain of her magic pools, she lay in her bed, her mind susceptible to any form of mental attack, which just so happened to be the beast’s only form of attack. It attached to her mind, feeding on her power as she suffered in her sleep. Even when she was proclaimed dead by the constant siphoning, it still fed, knowing the truth. She was not dead, but suffering from a coma-like state of sleep. Buried six feet under. With no-one knowing the truth. It knew that with her power, it could wreak havoc, chaos and anarchy onto this world. He sent his minions out to reality, to direct his main cross-dimension rift in the right directions. Blaze would be the ultimate catalyst for the creature’s satanic plans. All he needed to do was get rid of the pesky Alicorn and the damn grease monkey. He waited, feeding off of the energies around him.

“Soon Ignis, soon.” He thought to himself, as he waited.

Twilight sat and read, trying to get Celestia off her mind, but to no avail. A mentor, a teacher, a ruler, a friend. She had a million words on how to describe her, but she wouldn't be able to tell her. Ever. Pinkie threw parties, Applejack sent home-baked goods, everyone was trying to cheer her up, but no one could. She lost someone, and never to see her again. Sure, they had their moments, but they had always been friends, from day one. And now, dead. Every night was spent wallowing in her ocean of tears, trying to catch even a glimpse of the bright side, but there was none. The moon hung in the sky, with no capable Alicorns able to do it single handedly, and no others willing to help. So there it stayed, forever encasing their world in a gloomy, unavoidable darkness. She had attempted to lift it, but due to the mighty strain on just one pony, she lost consciousness minutes later. Some tried to set-up a lighting system, but failed. No one could emulate the power of the sun, and no one could give the world light ever again. Equestria had entered the final days, the unavoidable end to all things good. With the sun gone, some even went insane, saying that a prophecy had been fulfilled and that they should destroy everything to “start over”.

Blaze tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but with no luck. Even with the cold air blasting through the vents and all possible fans ongoing, he still felt like he was melting. Then, he felt it. An all powerful force coursing through his veins, overtaking every fibre of his will and warping it. He felt like he would explode into a million bits, like the world around him would be set ablaze. And then, he exploded. A fiery ball encased him as he went through the transformation. The flesh seared of his bones, his face being completely flamed off his skull. He felt the heat of the fire wrap around him like a cloth, feeling it’s warm embrace. He felt… powerful, like he could annihilate gods with the flick of his hoof. He felt his body warp and twist, and finally, he felt his mind taken captive to the spirit of fire. For the infinite night, Inferno would roam, burning this false land to the ground. None would stop his kingdom from breaching the heavens with it’s flames. He crashed through the wall, his fury erupting with the raw force of a thousand novas. Now, he would stomp all life out of existence, and take this land for his new kingdom. He threw fireballs of pure hell through the land, raining meteors and charred flesh. He crushed mortals under his foot, and he destroyed villages with his boundless rage. He wreaked anarchy into the night, causing the fires in his heart to grow brighter with fulfilment. He felt as if he would finally take this land for his own, when she came again to stop his crusade of charring.

She flew in front of the massive beast that was Blaze, and readied herself for a fight. Now without backup, she charged her magic, unleashing a wave of concentrated energy straight at him. He shrugged it off, simply staring at her with the hatred of a million angry souls trapped within his eyes. He flung a fireball of titanic proportions right at her. Since she wasn't protected by Celestia’s magic, she screamed in pain as the fire seared into her, burning her to the core. It laughed as her pain fuelled its dreams of cruelty and inhumane thoughts. She still stood, albeit torched to her core and barely standing, she readied another wave. She fired, and for the second time, she watched as the blast simply bounced off of his impenetrable skin. She knew that this battle would be over shortly. As the colossal beast fired another fury-fuelled fireball, she closed her eyes and accepted her fate, for the battle could never tip in her favour. Just as it hit, she felt no burning pain or searing flame, but just air. She opened her eyes to see a filly standing in front of her, holding off the massive wave of heat with a dark red energy. Before Twilight could see who she was, she was whisked away by Dash and set a good couple miles away, before she collapsed.

Luna was pulsing with energy as her radiant beams countered the fire. The amulet around her neck made her feel dark and evil, but she could hold off the enchantment for long enough to defeat the monster. She gained speed from charging, and charged straight through the blazes right to the horror. She let loose red and black sparks which evolved into bolts of lightning, electrocuting it and causing a slight daze. She took the advantage to launch a massive streak of blood red lightning straight into the beast’s chest, knocking it back even farther. It looked up from it’s confusion to see the filly delivering a painful and painstaking bolt of electricity onto him. Suddenly, the heavens pierced open with the same lightning, surrounding him in a cloud of shock and nerve-racking sparks. He fell to the ground, feeling the power leak from him like a cracked jar. He shrank, becoming his normal size once more. Once Luna saw that he had been defeated, she ripped the amulet off her neck, not wanting to stick around with the nasty and unpleasant side effects. She sighed as she picked up the colt’s body, dragging him to the awaiting handlers. She felt exhausted, and she felt the painful sickness, as cured as they claimed her to be. She looked up into the sky to ponder why all this was happening to her land when she noticed something… terrifying.

Why exactly was the moon blood red?