The Legend Of Harmony: The Eternal Eclipse

by Radiant Eclipse

Chaper 11: Sought Ravage

The cruddy, lutescent orange sky was covered in rough, dusty and pellucid clouds. Filled with the countenance of a thousand of changelings, entire Ponyville was obnubliated in one, gigantic shadow. The many ponies, crystal ponies and other species that fled from the assault took cover in buildings, under barrows and anything else they could find to protect themselves, even flower vases.

Only few civilians were still running through the streets when all tartarus broke loose. Careering from the high sky above, the changelings crashed like meteors with a fiery green trail into the ground and some smaller buildings, destroying them in result. Quickly, the normally lush grasses and flat streets of Ponyville looked like a training ground unexercised unicorn Royal Guard recruiters have just practiced in. Not just that, but soon, the magic, green blaze of the changelings caused real conflagrations to rage in the ville, whose threatening flame red appearance mixed with the eldrich look of the green magic blaze. In less than a minute, Ponyville changed from the carefree place ponies have just celebrated in in harmony, into a battleground of dissension and ravaging chaos.

In this havoc, the guardians did their best to protect Equestria from this terrifying force, both on the ground and in the sky, that outnumbered them at about a ratio of 5:1. Still, their schooling in academies proofed itself to be an essential benefit over the changelings rather wild and instinctive skills in combat. So even outnumbered, both forces were relatively alike in strength. But in the end, this only let the conflict to last even longer.

Having galloped towards the center of Ponyville, the heroes took a short break and hid themselves in an alleyway. Instead of sticking together, Twilight gazed furiously at Celestia and Luna, what they and the others easily recognized.

“You... you knew exactly this was going to happen?” Twilight asked the princesses in anger.

The princesses nodded in shame, but Celestia tried to explain herself. “Yes. We knew what may happen; and tried to prevent it from happening, by putting faith in you.”

“Why?” Twilight questioned her angrily. “Why didn't you tell us what was awaiting for us? Why keeping everything to everypony secret?”

“We understand why you are angry, Twilight.” Luna replied guiltily.

“We kept it secret to allow the ponies to live in peace and harmony; and not in constant fear from something that may be unstoppable.” Celestia added.

“But why...” Twilight dug deeper and put pressure on the princesses. “But why did you keep it secret from us; from me? Your faithful students who are supposed to defeat him with the Elements of Harmony?”

Celestia sighed, but understood her doubts. “Because we did not want to frighten you off. If we would have told you more about him, your spirit may have been damaged and you may have not been able to fulfill our hopes in defeating him.”

“Which did not work at all...” Luna remarked sadly when she looked around and fathomed the destruction around them.

“We were those who released him!” Twilight remarked. “If you would have told us about it, we would not have accidentally done so.”

“If you believe it or not, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia replied with a stringent voice. “He would have broken out anyway, as the seal that kept him in his prison had diminished over the centuries with every minute. It is still affecting him and preventing him from recovering fully, but we can feel it. It is only a matter of minutes before he completely recovers. We thought you could defeat him in his time of weakness, but it seems like it was already too late.”

“The seal...?” Rarity remembered.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash continued. “The spell Pariah told us about that allowed you to seal him away.”

“Indeed” Luna replied. “The spell was nothing more than concentrated light magic from the Elements of Harmony flooded into his body to suppress the darkness inside of him.”

“We hoped that it would last eternally.” Celestia continued. “But the darkness resisted over the time and pushed it away. Slowly, but constantly.”

“Even though we lost connection with the Elements of Harmony.“ Luna added. “We could feel the increasing darkness.”

Twilight and the others began to understand why the princesses acted the way they did. They counted on them. No, they put all the faith they had left, in them, but they failed. As silence began to rule everypony's mind, Fluttershy remembered something.

“But... I thought he can't fully recover, because you have taken away his soul...” She asked dolefully.

“Just another temporary solution.” Luna replied. “Weakening him as much as possible.”

“But you are right, Fluttershy.” Celestia noted and continued to explain the situation. “As long as he does not regain his soul, he won't be able to unleash his true potential, but it is likely that this makes him more ferocious as he can't really feel emotions, but mimic them. I know you think he tried to be reasonable with us, but this was all a facade, because in the end, he is only seeking one thing. Destroying our world. As long as he does not find his soul, there is still hope for us.”

“We understand you would consider our doing as... desperate.” Luna remarked. “But we did everything we could to allow every being in this world to be happy. We had no choice.”

Twilight nodded before continuing. “His soul is in the ancient amulet, right?” Twilight asked them, to which they responded positively.

“Yes; and an illusion spell we cast may trick Pariah into thinking the real amulet would still be where it belongs. But eventually, he will realize it and pursuit us.”

“But there is one thing I still don't get...” Pinkie Pie told in bewilderment. “Why did Ray explicitly wanted the amulet and you, the princesses? Isn't it enough for him to simply take the amulet and become super strong and nasty?”

“Because...” Luna replied anxiously. “He need us to get access to it.”

“We allowed this amulet to be connected with ourselves. Without us as its keys to open it, it is of no use for him. ” Celestia explained.

“How can he know that?” Cadance asked confusedly.

“Because he was there when we performed that spell.” Celestia reconsidered, before Luna added something.

“We wanted to do the same with the spell we imposed on Radiant Eclipse, but the dark magic inside of him, even though weakened, was still strong enough to easily resist our attempt.”

The others understood, and Twilight Sparkle regained faith in Celestia and Luna, though it was still dickey. But at the moment, it did not matter, since they needed to find a way to stop the madness that occurred around them.

But first, there was another problem to be solved, because the Cutie Mark Crusaders were drenched in tears and huddled up to their respective family member.

“We've got to bring our sugar cubes out of the city.” Applejack said solicitously. “This here ain't anything for young hearts like them.”

“The farm is probably the closest place that isn't under attack since it is of no relevance for Pariah and these invidious changelings.” Rarity recommended irately.

“But we can't just let them go on their own. What if something happens to them?” Rainbow Dash asked worryingly as she gently stroke Scootaloo's head so she could calm down.

After a short time of thinking, Shining Armor volunteered for this. “I will make sure they and everypony else who is in need will arrive there safely.”

“And I will come with you.” Cadance insisted.

“Thank you, Twilight's brother.” Sweetie Belle thanked Shining Armor while smiling at him.

“But what are we going to do?” Twilight asked unknowingly. “We apparently can't defeat him. We already lost before. We need a plan, but I need some time for this.”

“You need more faith in your talent, Twilight Sparkle.” She consoled her mollifyingly.

“But she is right.” Luna stated. “Without a plan, we don't have a big chance to defeat him.”

Discord sighed, but knowing that he had to do this, he volunteered for this duty. “Alright my friends. I will buy you some time, so you can think about a way to stop this unfunny chaos.”

“No, Discord.” Fluttershy insisted anxiously. “He is too dangerous. He will hurt you for sure.”

“Alas! Fiddlesticks! It is not the first time I have faced him. It will be an ease for such a great maestro like me to hold him off.” He comforted her, bursting with energy.

Fluttershy smiled at him and gave him a kiss on his cheek which caused him to blush, but it also gratified him.

“Okay. Everything is certain.” Twilight claimed as inspiring as always. “When we hold together as friends, we will find a way to restore harmony in Equestria.”

She gained the trust and smiling faces from everypony, as they approved and stood by her side. She adjusted her golden tiara and nodded as well. “Alright friends. We have got a world to save.”

Without her needing to speak it out, everypony went on its way. Shining Armor and Cadance took the fillies and rushed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Discord placed himself on a main road to encounter Pariah. The rest cantered away from him, but not without taking a quick break first.

“Discord.” Celestia told him. “Please, be careful, my friend.” She begged him, accompanied by worried looking gazes of the other ponies.

Discord in return turned his head to them and nodded his head. “You'll see. Everything will turn out all right.”

The ponies understood, and even though Fluttershy hesitated to leave him behind for a second, she comprehended and trusted him; and eventually, followed her friends.

Meanwhile, Discord gazed at the direction his opponent will soon come from; and he swallowed in fear. “Oh dear... A glorious mess...”

---------------

Shining Armor and Princess Cadance with the Cutie Mark Crusaders as their companion, rushed through the streets, avoiding attacking changelings that tried to slam into them and cutting some down in the progress. The moral appear their captain and princess gave to the many guardians they encounter strengthen them and allowed the defenders to slowly get the upper hand, at least for a while.

As the group approached the other end of Ponyville, they could already see the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, as they were only surrounded by a few houses and no changelings were in this area. But when they were about to step out of the ville, a humongous wall of green fire blocked their path and troops of the gray creatures filled the other ways, encircling them.

Finding themselves in the middle of this ring, the Cutie Mark Crusaders cowered behind Shining Armor and Cadance, when the royal's two rivals appeared in front of them.

“Phhh!” Chrysalis mocked them. “Already leaving? How impolite, considering the show has just began.”

“Mr. Armor. Please save us.” Apple Bloom begged him.

“Stop this now, Chrysalis! You are horribly mistaken if you think you can trust Pariah!” Shining Armor tried to convince her without success.

“There you go again!” Chrysalis depreciated them.

“Enough with all this chatting around.” Sombra intervened balefully. “Cadenza, it is time to dispose this, once and for all.”

Cadance nodded and held her line gallantly alongside Shining Armor. “Alright, Sombra. Let us bring an end to this madness.

---------------

Standing in front of the other group was an army of one hundred changelings, that could not await to surpass the ponies to impress their beloved queen. Not just that, but like before, the unique-looking, male changeling stood in front of the others, serving as their leader.

“Who are you? And what do you want from us.” Twilight asked him with a glare.

“My name is Chetyre. Prince of the Changeling Kingdom. As it is my duty to feed my people as their leader, I will not allow your to interfere with the plans of our queen. Surrender; and you will not be harmed.”

---[ An imagine of Prince Chetyre ]---

"You don't understand." Celestia tried to explain him. "You care for you subjects, so you mustn't allow this to happen. If Pariah achieves what he wants, then everything is lost, even for you and your people."

"There is no reason for me to trust you, pony." He replied as an act of fereign enemy. "What our queen commands is just; and unquestionable."

Expectedly, Chetyre did not listen; and though the opposing forces on the other side were overwhelming, the bearers of the elements and the princesses would never surrender to a threat; and so, they stood tall and strong, ready to face this challenge like many others before. Somehow, they would make them listen and fathom.

Comments

[Radiant Eclipse]

2474302 Hehe. Yes, cliffhanger ^.^

And first? I don't think so.

[Radiant Eclipse]

2493975 What are you talking about?

[Radiant Eclipse]

2494039 I made it myself

[Radiant Eclipse]

2496757 Hehehehe

[Radiant Eclipse]

2496847 What the hay are you talking about?

[AtTheCrimsonFckr]

2500624 i forget