Symphony of Destruction

by zeroxwolfx

Chapter 8: The Last Alicorn

Chapter 8: The Last Alicorn

To the northeast lay the easternmost city in Equestria, Manehattan. It was here that Numinex made his way. This would be the first city that the lord of destruction would begin to dismember Equestria. Nopony would be safe from his wrath, and currently, nopony knew of his imminent arrival. Numinex, in all of his fury, and excitement still did not know the limits of his own powers. Upon the populous city, he would seek to discover them. Fire boiled in his veins, ever seeking to escape his body, and be unleashed upon the living things of the world. His plan was in motion, and his success was ensured. Upon seeing the defeat of their supposed all-powerful princess, the ponies had lost hope, and in their depression, the one true threat to him, the Elements of Harmony, had been destroyed. Now there was nothing that could stand in his way of reclaiming Equestria as his own, and annihilating it. The world was already his; he had only to remove those unsightly life forms which occupied it.

Ever did he listen to the dark whispers inside his head. Ever did they slowly encroach upon his mind. For over four thousand years, wickedness has been poisoning his mind with cruel thoughts and premonitions. He had mostly become the madness which had originally met. Very long ago, he once scorned the forces of hatred and darkness, but in a cruel twist of irony, that very same hatred now seethed in his mind, corrupting him, and turning him into an instrument of destruction. Deep within the recesses of his being, miniscule fragments of his conscious had fought the dark temptations. But these fragments had long since lost control over his actions, and very slowly, they too would disappear. Numinex himself could not possibly comprehend the power of the thing that had crept it way into his mind, and had been relentlessly feeding him dark thoughts for thousands of years. The Great Spirit that was Nu’run, as he was in the beginning, was long gone. The dragon that threatened Equestria now resembled the soul of the very darkness itself. It was no longer a being of benevolence. He had a mind of metal, and gears, and sought only to unmake the world. He had become the spirit of destruction, and destruction is what he would havoc, all of this, at the will of the whispers of darkness.

The mayor met her at the edge of town. Princess Luna trotted in, nearly short of breath from how fast she had flown.

“Your highness, we have made all the preparations we could on such short notice… but we still have a bit of work to do…” began the mayor.

Luna interrupted him, “There will be no more time for fortification’s sir, and you must evacuate the city!”

The mayor looked shocked at this. Manehattan was an important industrial center of Equestria. That point aside, it was also the most populous city in Equestria, and evacuating it would be no easy task, “Your highness, surely there must be another option, I don’t know if we have time to…” he began.

Luna interrupted him again, “Mayor! If you do not begin evacuating immediately, everyone in this city is going to die!” she glared at him.

The sudden direness of the situation struck the mayor. He knelt before her, and took off running into town. Less than an hour later, evacuations would begin, and a line of ponies pouring out of the city would start. The emptying of the city would be slow and tedious, and this worried Luna. She constantly kept her eyes on the east for the monster that would meet them at any hour. She grunted in frustration, and flew down to help move the citizens along, hurrying them as best as she could. The princess could only hope that there would be enough time for them all to escape before Numinex reared his ugly head.

“This is too much for us to handle Princess Cadence. We must look after our own borders,” said the once proud General Hammer Claw to the princess.

Cadence was having a difficult time reasoning with him. The old griffon that once bolstered a look of fearlessness, and resolve was now shaking constantly with fear, “Please General, we need you, we need the griffons here should the worst come!” she begged.

General Hammer glared at her, “IF the worst could come… princess… then it will make no difference whether we are here or not. The only difference will be is that we will die here, instead of defending our borders in our own country.”

Cadence couldn’t argue with his logic. She had seen the terrible results of Numinex’s powers. If the griffons stayed, they would surely be killed too. Despite this, she couldn’t help but feeling he was making a mistake by leaving. Wasn’t it better for them to stick together, rather than be apart?

“Please sir, I beg you to reconsider, perhaps there is something we can do, with our forces combined?” she said trying to reason with him.

The General was making his way towards the balcony; several of his platoons had already left Canterlot. He turned his head towards her hesitantly, “I don’t know your majesty. If you think of something, then you are free to messages us. We will return if we feel that something can be done. But for now we must look after our own roost,” he said, this time with a more heavy heart. He took one last look at her before he took off, “Goodbye, princess…” was all he said before flying away.

Twilight Sparkle was waiting inside the Canterlot Gardens when Princess Cadence came and found her, “The griffons are leaving us…” she said sadly.

“I really can’t say I blame them, princess. I don’t see any way out of this,” she said, as she voiced her confusion to the princess.

Cadence set her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder for a moment, trying to comfort her, “I have to go try and get the soldiers back to their posts, Twilight. If you need anything, please come and see me,” she gave her a weak smile before she left, to fulfill her duties as ruler of Equestria as best as she could.

Inside of the white staff, she heard the whisper again. Twilight looked deeply into the fine white bone of the staff, wondering if she was perhaps going mad. She lay down, resting her head against the ground as she tried to calm herself, the reverberating echoes where starting to hurt her head.

“It has been a long, long time since any pony was in such need, that they put their years to the ground, and listened to me for advice,” said a voice that resonated through the very soul of the purple unicorn. Her head shot up, had she drifted off in a dream? She looked around, but found no pony around her.

Twilight backed away little bit, “Wh-who’s there?” she asked cautiously.

The voice resonated inside her again, “Do not be afraid, young friend. I have spoken with your ancestor, many, many years ago, on this very spot, when he needed my help,” said the voice.

Twilight still tried to find someone, or something to look at for the voice. But it didn’t sound like it was coming from any particular direction, it sounded almost like it was coming from within her. Perhaps she really was going mad, but she would at least humor this voice for now. It did not sound like a very threatening being, quite the opposite in fact, “Who are you, stranger?” she asked meekly.

“I am the Dragon of the Earth Bones, and I am no stranger, not to you, or Equestria,” said the Dragon of the Earth bones, and he would continue, “Very long ago, a young pony that went by the name, Starswirl the Bearded was in dire need. He faced an enemy that nopony along could ever hope to defeat. With my guidance, I brought him to the elements of harmony, the most powerful magic in all the land.”

Twilight’s vision began to fade. She fell down onto the ground, as the spirit over took her body. Inside of her dream-like state, she say flashes of Equestria, as it was long ago pass before her eyes. This was not like dreaming to her. She had had dreams, but not only did this feel real, but it almost felt more than real. Colors became distorted, the visions before here were so clear, she could hardly make them out. It was, in a sense, “too” real.

Before her, she saw an ancient Equestrian town with the castle of the royal sisters at its heart. She beheld Discord, much more monstrous and cruel looking than when she had faced him. Here she saw the draconequus distorting the beautiful town, and bringing ponies into misery. The ponies tried to escape the chaos, but as they did, they realized that they had no choice but to bow to the dominion of Discord. There was just one pony who defied him. Before here, she witnessed her first real image of Starswirl the Bearded. She had always seen pictures of him, but they were very old drawings and renditions, and did not do the real thing justice. He was a glorious figure, and used such powerful magic against the element of chaos; Twilight thought that he would surely be victorious. But against the immortal Discord, there could be no victory, and the dragon tossed up far outside of the town, damaging his body, and breaking the bearded pony’s magic staff.

Now, time moved faster, and she was sped across the sky, and she beheld Starswirl again. The old pony was beaten badly, and looked weak, but still he toiled against the ancient Mount Canterlot. Without rest, he climbed to the top of the mountain. There, Twilight beheld the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, coming down to the mountain, before Starswirl.

The voice of the Dragon of the Earth bones spoke to her, “Here, Starswirl the Bearded fought against all odds against an immortal being. He fought against hopelessness, and discovered the greatest magic in the world.”

Twilight Sparkle was sped away from the mountain, far up into the sky, until the vision of the past began to fade from her. With a jolt, she awoke, her head lifting up and looking around. She saw that she was back to the present, in the Canterlot Gardens. As she gathered herself from the wondrous experience, her head sank again as she realized something, “But the Elements of Harmony aren’t active anymore… they don’t contain the same magic they did long ago,” she said with despair.

“Oh Twilight Sparkle… To think that something like the Elements of Harmony could be contained in jewelry…” said the earth dragon, and with what appeared to be a slight chuckle in his voice.

She looked upwards now, thinking she surely looked like she was talking to herself, “I don’t understand sir. Without the elements, how can anyone hope to stop Numinex? Even back then… we had the Princesses to help us…” she said with her ears drooping.

“Hmm yes, you had my sisters to help you long ago. But I’m afraid the power of the elements was not within Celestia and Luna. They were offered to use the elements of harmony by the unicorn who called upon them,” said the earth dragon. Twilight did not answer however; she was still too confused, “The power to bring my sisters fourth, and to stop Discord, lied within Starswirl the Bearded. He did not know it at the time, and he needed my sisters to help him understand. But I tell you now, Twilight Sparkle, because you must understand. The power of the elements of harmony does not lie within one pony, but every pony in Equestria. The power of harmony, the magic of friendship, and of love is all one with this element. And it is this magic that resided within the elements of harmony. It is this magic that is the most powerful magic in the world. No one, no matter how power, no matter how immortal, can stand up to the might of your friendship, to your determination, and your togetherness! You know in your heart that you must face him, Twilight Sparkle. You must face the dark creature, and this will be the last song of the world. Will it be the song of life and harmony? Or will it be the song of destruction? Face him Twilight Sparkle, and determine the last song of the world!”

A tear slowly came from Twilight’s eye. How could she have been so foolish as to fall into depression? She would not let Equestria fall into darkness, not while she still drew breath, and she now had an idea of what needed to be done. Before she did though, she spoke to the earth dragon, “Thank you, for lending me your wisdom, Great Dragon of the Earth Bones. I hope that I will do Starswirl the Bearded’s name justice,” she said, with the first bit of determination and confidence that had come from her voice in days.

The clouds above Manehattan turned into fire. A wave of heat passed over Luna as she looked to the east, and saw the blackness approaching. Slowly, and ominously, Numinex flapped his colossal wings. Here he came to undo Equestria, one city at a time, starting here. The only thing that stood in his way was the Princess of the Night. And she would be fallen so easily to the lord of destruction. She looked in his direction, once with a look of despair, and fear. Now she only held anger and wraith in her eyes. The ponies in the city below as the clouds burned, they were still flooding out of the city, although at this sight, their pace quickened. They would still need some time to escape, and Luna would give them that time.

The dragon landed on the ground with a quake as he looked down at the small alicorn before him, “The weaker sister comes to meet her doom. Or does she come to beg for her life, and hope that I will show mercy?” taunted the dragon, as his dark voice echoed throughout the land.

Luna did not look shaken though; she still held the same firey glare at the dragon. For the first time since his arrival, a pony’s resolution did not falter at the sound of his voice. Her own voice started out quiet, “Your shadow has loomed over Equestria. You threaten my people, and show no value for the sanctity of life. You killed my sister…” she raised herself up with her wings, looking at Numinex from eye level now and using her own booming Canterlot voice, “And now I am going to destroy you!”

Numinex puffed a bellow of smoke at this, “What victory can you possibly hope for, weaker sister? Two of the most powerful creatures in the world will fall before me, what then stands in the way of my conquest?” he said, not in the least bit threatened by her posing.

Luna calmed her rage down for a moment, “The ponies of Equestria have a power far greater than you, my misguided little brother…” she said taunting him.

The black dragon appeared to think on this for a moment. Then he raised himself up, spreading his terrible wings out, “The mortals of this land had but one power that could threaten me, and it has been undone!” he boasted, “The tendrils that held them together have been shredded. Now they are in despair, as they rightfully should be as weaker mortals. But they should not worry, for soon I will bring about their end, and cleanse the land with fire…” he said with fire erupting from his nose, “Your only hope to find relief is to surrender to the destruction.”

Great storm clouds began to circle around Luna, “As long as one pony in this land still draws breath, they will never surrender to you,” the winds began to pick up, encircling the night princess, “And neither will I…”

The serenity of the dragon of destruction ceased, and he quickly opened up his maw, and bellowed out a huge torrent of flames towards Princess Luna. But the flames would not penetrate Luna’s circle of wind, they would only be manipulated around her. She used the wind to spin the flames around, and launch them back out towards Numinex. He was no affected by his own fires, but he was certainly irritated. Luna made the cyclone of wind grow, to an area that encompassed both herself, and the dragon. With the constant barrage of wind, the dragon was having trouble keeping his balance, and he flew erratically. Tired of wasting time, the dragon sped towards Luna, trying to drive straight into her. As he did though, his path was blocked by a barrage of lightning strikes. Above him, the clouds shot out a multitude of lightning, striking one after another, all of them threatening to strike Numinex. He halted his charge, but soon found that the enormous thunderhead followed overhead him. The rapidly striking lightening would occasionally strike his backside, the hot bolts lighting up his black scales for a moment. He flew around rapidly for a while trying to avoid the thunderhead, but then grew upset. He lifted his head towards the sky, and shot out a massive fireball towards the cloud. The thundercloud immolated, and the barrage of lightening finally ceased.

Numinex dropped his head towards Luna. He hurled out another massive fireball from his maw, shooting out towards Luna. She shot towards the ground in time for it to miss her, but to her surprise, just as she was dodging it, the ball of fire exploded, striking her with burning fragments, causing her to wince in pain. The dragon spread his wings wide before her, “Sister, you are more fragile than you realize,” he taunted.

Luna looked towards him with anger, her eyes were glowing white, and electricity began to spark and crackle around her form. She bowed her head some, and aimed her horn at the dragon. A gigantic burst of thunder struck Numinex’s draconic nose. He shook his head in surprise, shaking off the charred scales. His body of perfection would soon mold over the wound, covering it in fire, and destruction as was natural for him. As he regained himself, he saw a flash of blue in the sky. Luna came down right on top of him, and struck him with her hooves, which was followed by another blast of electricity and static that she emitted from her own body. In his anger, the dragon snapped his maw up at her, but she had already flow away, and was preparing for her next attack.

The dragon was a bit confused for a moment, as he looked up into the cloud overcast, he couldn’t see Luna. Then he noticed spots in the clouds that began to spiral. From each of these spirals, massive, and powerful tornadoes would form, and would spiral their way towards Numinex, throwing him off balance. He saw a ball of swirling wind emitting from the sky, parting the cloud cover and coming towards him. Now in combination with the swirling tornadoes, lightening continued to strike randomly, hitting the dragon in various places, making him turn, and roar out in anger as he tried to regain his balance. Amidst his fury, the dragon appeared to calm down for a moment. He glared with his dark red firey eyes at Luna, and with a strong beat of his wings, a shockwave emanated from him, blowing away the tornadoes, and even the thunderclouds above him.

Luna gasped at his display of power, she had used much of her strength to conjure up that storm, and he dispersed of it so easily. She tried to quickly counter him, rushing at him with her hooves charged with lightening and ready to buck. But she was halted in her tracks, as she saw a storm of fire coming from the dragon’s maw, threatening to engulf her. She turned around and fled the fire, escaping, with the flames managing to nip at her sides. The dragon did not give up his onslaught this time, he charged himself towards Luna. Instead of turning away this time, Luna’s whole body began to glow. She turned into a white hot lightning bolt, and struck Numinex right in his chest, causing him to roar out in anger. He did not lose his composure though, and right after Luna struck him, the dragon swung his claw, knocking the blue princess through the air.

Her body ached from the painful blow, and her vision started to become clouded. Numinex landed on the earth with a loud quake, “You are weaker than your sister, Luna. You only delay the inevitable,” taunted the black dragon. His voice frightened her more this time. More lightening shot out of her horn, to strike at Numinex, but it was a futile effort. The wicked dragon had dodged the bolt of magic, and sped towards her in the blink of an eye. He spun around, and smashed his tail into her, causing her to hurl towards the earth, and crash against it violently.

Luna struggled to get up again, and her legs wobbled painfully as she did so. She dashed up into the air, trying to prepare for another attack, but as she did, a concentrated beam of energy game from the dragon’s maw, and struck her. She cried out in terrible pain, her whole body lit up and burned from the searing hot essence of destruction. Every fiber of her being stung with agony, as the dragon tormented her, holding his beam on her for just a few moments. After he stopped, Luna fell to the ground, nearly lifeless, striking the earth once more. Darkness would come over her eyes, and for at least a brief moment, she would escape the world of pain.

Numinex approached the burnt and broken body of Princess Luna. She was not dead, at least not yet. He blew smoke onto her, making her cough, and awake with a startle, bringing her back to the pain that wracked her body, “Wake up sister, bear witness to the power of destruction…” He turned his head away from her, and looked towards the city of Manehattan. Luna had at least done her job. The ponies of the city had enough time to escape whatever havoc Numinex was about to wreak. The ground beneath him shook. Echoes of his power reverberated back and forth throughout the earth. Slowly, the black dragon opened his maw, and a terrible screeching sound was heard, which made Luna writhe even more in her pain. A ball of pure energy formed within the maw of Numinex, which slowly grew, and grew. The sphere of energy hissed, and screeched with its horrible intent. Eventually, the dragon hurled the sphere violently towards the center of Manehattan. The ground shook even more so, as the ball hit its target. The sphere of power grew, and grew, and grew, encompassing the whole of the city in a ball of light, vaporizing everything it touched, creating a deafening noise. When the sphere of energy dissipated, nothing was left in its wake, nothing except a humongous crater, where the proud city of Manehattan once stood.

With his dark deed complete, Numinex looked again towards Luna. He crashed his claw down over her, and wrenched her up from the ground, bringing her close to his face, “Look now, what mortal device can possibly hope to defy me? What can possibly stand against the lord of destruction!” he said proudly, standing up and spreading his wings before her. He enjoyed the feeling of power it gave him, to have the body of his once greater sister, her very life, in his grips.

Weakly, Luna lifted her head to him. She was either not intimidated by him, or was simply too weak to show her fear, “There is always hope… little brother…” she coughed, “Where there is life, there is always hope. And that, my poor little brother is why you will fail,” she said, looking at him with a weak grin.

Numinex was frustrated that his attempts to strike fear into her had failed. But he showed his own grin in return, “Oh, my dear sister, you look so weak in your mortal form,” he began to squeeze his claw around her, “Here, let me relieve you of it...”

“With my death, the ponies will learn to stand together. They will learn to sacrifice… ah no!” she cried out in pain as he slowly crushed her, eventually she did not have air in her lungs to speak.

The dragon stopped for a moment. He looked at her angrily, and cruelly. He grabbed the princess’s regal, magical horn, and broke it from her head. She cried out in pain again, fear of death finally striking her for the first time. Numinex looked at her, with his lifeless, firey eyes, “There is no hope foolish one! There never was hope for pony kind; it must be purified with fire! And if you would dare to stand in my way, then you shall meet their same fate!” He tossed the broken body of Luna on the ground, and under his foot, her crushed her.

The dragon roared out terribly, angry that the destruction of his sister did not bring him satisfaction. No, his only satisfaction would be from destroying the cursed cancerous land that laid before him. He would go to Canterlot, and unmake their ruling once and for all. He was the bringer of the last song of the world, the song of destruction.

To be concluded with, Chapter 9: Final Song of The World

Comments

[Gus]

Great so far can't wait for the conclusion

[SLASH AN ASSASSIN]

I'm slash the assassin and another word for this story is Ragnarok