The last egg

by PaladinponyT

Chapter 7: Inferno

The princess was both horrified and fascinated by Blackfire's change; this was a phenomenon that she had never encountered. However, when she took a moment to reconsider, she realized that was not true. She had seen something similar, it had been the night of Luna's transformation. Her sister had embraced her darker emotions. Fueled by all that negativity, Luna turned into Nightmare Moon. Now, Sunblade had just confirmed her worst fears, such transformations could happen to any creature.

Sunblade stared at Celestia, the princess appeared to be in very deep thought. She needed to consider all the possibilities that this information presented. Sunblade himself was curious about it too. From his view it was as if something had snapped inside Blackfire. Dragons were proud creatures, so maybe his act of mercy had been seen more as an insult. The injured stallion looked past the princess to where his sword sat.

"Celestia?" he said, breaking her of her thoughts.

"Yes, Sunblade?" she answered.

"There is more. After he changed something happened. Something I don't fully understand."

"Very well, please continue."

The fire spread from tree to tree turning the forest into a sea of flame, Blackfire stood tall and menacing as huge dark smoke swirled in the wind. The ice and snow had melted away, the ground drying from the heat. Sunblade quickly found it hard to breathe and see. Far off for those who could see it, it was like the sun had risen early. The dragon picked up a burning log with one hand and slowly approached Sunblade. The terrified pony was unsure about what to do, here he was face to face with a foe who had grown in might and stature. Then, Sunblade felt something odd, it was like a soft heart beat. He drew out the Alicorn blade and saw that the sword had changed as well. The whole sword was glowing a bright blue, Sunblade had never seen it do that before.

Blackfire continued forward heedless of the sword, he charged raising the flaming log high. He brought it down with great force; reacting, Sunblade answered the blow with his own. The burning log and sword met, there was a flash and the log burst asunder. Both were thrown backwards, Blackfire recovered first. He leapt atop Sunblade and beat on the helpless pony over and over. The ranger's armor broke under the assault, he felt bones crack. Without thinking, Sunblade fired a beam of magic into the dragon's face.

Blackfire reeled back in pain; Sunblade used the respite to look for his sword. The glowing sword was not far, he blinked over to it. The dragon recovered again, however, his left eye was gone. An enormous fireball exploded from Blackfire's mouth. Using his magic, Sunblade created a five layered shield. The fireball broke through the first two layers, but stopped at the third. After 30 seconds, the third layer shattered, more magic formed around Sunblade's horn as he struggled to hold the last two layers.

Blackfire laughed, "It's over pony! Just give it up!"

The heat and pain was draining Sunblade's strength; he could feel his magic starting to fail. He dug deep, gathering all he had left. He had one last card to play. Releasing his shield, Sunblade teleported behind Blackfire and threw his sword. The Alicorn blade whistled through the air as it cut Blackfire's right side. The sword got stuck in one of the burning trees. Sunblade collapsed and started coughing, he had missed.

Blackfire approached Sunblade and lifted him into the air by his horn, "Game over pony," He said in a mockingly sad voice, "A good effort, but ultimately futile." He chuckled, "It's weird, I want to thank you. I feel amazing, so much power! It's incredible!"

Sunblade coughed, "Tell me, even with all that power, what do you have left?

Blackfire frowned, "Unlike you ponies, I don't need anyone else. My mate and her eggs were just holding me back. I see that now, so I will rule not just the dragon lands. But all of Equestria!"

"The princess will stop you." said Sunblade weakly.

Blackfire laughed long and hard, his breath was foul, "That's a good one pony, but nothing can stop me now."

"Sunblade, my name is Sunblade," He said trying to stay awake.

Blackfire sighed with annoyance, "Fine, tell me Sunblade, what do ponies taste like?"

Sunblade was not going to respond to that, he would not feed the dragon's amusement. The tired unicorn looked up at the sky, he wished that he could see the stars one last time. Suddenly, Blackfire dropped him, the dragon held himself as blue web like lines appeared around his body. The cut on his side was glowing bright blue, as the dragon fell to his knees. The shadows around him appeared to separate from him. Blackfire and Sunblade watched as the shadows took on a strange shape and vanished without a trace. The cold wind quickly made the flames go out after the shadows left.

Blackfire began to cough violently, still holding his side. He laid on the ground groaning.

Exhaustion overcame Sunblade and the victorious pony collapsed into a dreamless sleep.