Soul Fire

Amber felt drained and sore all over as she started to wake up out of the fog. She tried to clear her mind as she began to hear something in the distance. A voice? Who’s was it?

“Amber! Amber!” screamed the voice. Amber tried to lift her head and groaned in response to the voice and to the soreness and pain all over her body.

“Amber please... Amber. Wake up!” called the Captain’s voice. Amber ignored the pain and moved her head up as her eyes fluttered open.

“Captain?” she weakly asked even though she was trying to regain every ounce of strength she could. She looked up to see the Captain chained up against a frame, bitten raw to the point that he wasn’t even bleeding anymore from the wounds inflammation. His frantic eyes began to relax as she opened hers fully.

“Captain. Oh my Luna. Captain, your wounds,” she said only to shake her head to fully clear it further. She breathed in deep as she fought the wave of pain that came at her. She looking back at him. she wondered why she hurt so much but was more concerned for him at the current time. She tried to move towards him but only to realize that her hoofs were chained up just like his.

“Captain, are you ok?” she asked with a worried look on her face.

“Amber, stop. Please don’t be worried about me. Worry about yourself. You’re going to bleed out if you don’t stop moving. Did you even care to look at your condition,” he asked in complete worry. She looked down at herself to see the very same wounds that he had. Hesitating to think, or more to float off a bit into a daze for a moment at her situation. She, in that moment finally looked around to see that they were in the old ruins that Luna and her sister Celestia once had shared.

Laughter erupted in the ballroom as the doors to the right of Amber opened up. Sombre and his army had returned.

“Ah. You’re awake my sweet bride,” Sombre said as he walked over and placed a hoof under her chin.

“Don’t you bloody touch her!” shouted the Captain.

“Oh shut up Captain Earthstrider. She was never yours to being with,” Sombre said as he turned to the Captain and smiled ruefully. “No you never accepted her, did you? You just shut her out.”

He chuckled as the Captain lowered his head and shut up, but kept focus on watching Sombre as he turned back to Amber, who was almost going into shock, she was so still. Damn, she still had not regained her strength and composure to deal with this. With her doe eyes, she turned her head away from Sombre’s hold and gaze. She wanted to be defiant but currently felt like she couldn’t even breathe. She felt as if her mind was awake but in nothing but a fog. She felt like a doll to the point where she could barely think. What was wrong with her?

Sombre chuckled, “Heh, heh. You should have known that she would have ended up with another. Did you really think that she wouldn’t have in the end?”

The Captain growled and began to struggle against the chains as Sombre looked back at him and began to laugh. He abruptly dropped Amber’s chin and turned to his daemons lurking in the shadows of the ballroom. Amber realized that she barely had the strength to hold her head up in that moment. She drooped as the chains holding her up giggled. She barely lifted her head and stayed looking down. She felt like she couldn’t look at him when she felt so weak.

“My warriors. We have been successful in taking the southern and western districts. Tonight we prepare and rest for tomorrow when we take the rest of Canterlot, and then all of Equestria,” spoke Sombre as the ruins roared in victorious cries. “And once we have drained the protector, our kind Captain here, of all of his energy and blood then his secret beast will have nothing left to focus it, or control it.”

The Captain looked terrified, as he softly said, “No.”

“Along with the strength we will gain from his blood, we will unleash the beast upon Equestria!” cried Sombre, as his laugh and cheers from the daemons surrounded every nook and cranny of the dark broken cracked stone palace. “And…! With my healer bride, I shall obtain unlimited power of regeneration and strength.”

The Captain struggled to free himself from his bonds. Amber gasped in response to Sombre’s plans for her whilst his laughter tormented her. She was so shocked by everything that was happening, and though she was unintentionally displacing herself from the matter, she knew deep down that it was really happening. She knew that what was happening now was the truth.

“No,” her voice barely carried on her almost non-existent breath. A silent tear fell from her eye.

The Captain sighed, “Amber. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I failed you, and not even from some stupid mistake. I’m no good to you. I couldn’t save you from this fate.”

He looked at her and then down as he continued, “I’m so far gone that I couldn’t even control it and concentrate on our surroundings to stop this from happening. I… I don’t know what to do.”

Amber began crying. It wasn’t his fault. She would blame herself. She wasn’t strong enough to do anything. She lost her fire, and now it seemed her spirit. She began sobbing.

“Oh, don’t cry my bride,” Sombre said sweetly, only to smack her. “I mean it. You will live, silently, and obediently for my purpose only. And you will give me foals of great ability and you will do it all to save his life, to prolong his death.”

Amber couldn’t feel the smack, or the red sting on her cheek. She could hear the Captain growling and his chains rattling. She looked up to see his eyes flash red.

Under her breath she said, “No.”

“What!” Sombre said as he shook the chains attached to her hoofs making her moan in pain.

“I will not yield for his safety,” she strongly said as she breathed.

“What! And why not?” he said with one of the most malicious faces she had ever seen, meanwhile hers remained still, strong, and lifeless.

“I know how you feel about him,” he said, shaking her chains again.

“That’s why,” she said, gasping at the pain.

“Because I know he would not want me to sacrifice myself for him. He would not want me to sacrifice my happiness. And he above all would rather die then remain alive as your bloody slave!” she screamed, as strength and fire flowed through her.

“And nor would I,” she spoke, as she glared up at him without fear. She didn’t care. And she knew what she spoke was the truth. She would rather save him, but she knew that he would never forgive her. Even if she wanted to hold him alive more than anything, feeling that losing him was the worst unbearable thought ever. She knew that if she had to choose between something that benefited her versus something that benefited him, she would always hope to choose him. And in this case she knew that he would rather death, just as she would.

Sombre was shocked at the now tear streaked mare’s stubborn determined face. And then smiled as he said, “Then you can watch as everything that makes you care about him dies. Take your fill, my daemons!”

“NOOOOO!” screamed Amber, as the Captain clenched his teeth, and grunted and groaned as each daemon took hold a stronger, deeper bite atop of his already sore, painful, and swollen wounds. Time faded into air as they each took a drink of what little blood was left. The torture seemed to never end in the slowed dimension of time.

“No. Captain. No,” she called out as she struggled against the chains with unrealized strength. Amber began to weep anew as Sombre walked over and grabbed her chin. He lifted her chin roughly and kissed her squarely on the lips. She struggled against his hold and then bit him hard, ripping open his bottom lip.

“You bloody broad,” he yelled as he smacked her so hard that she could see stars.

Just as the moon began to set and the stars began to disappear into the daylight that began to shine over the eastern hills, the final pony from the northern district entered the castle and into the ballrooms that had hidden the frightened civilian ponies of Canterlot. All of Canterlot had been evacuated as soon as the confrontation had begun in the Southern district. Every ballroom was in use as a temporary shelter as every able pony had come together to barricade the windows and arrange food and bedding for everypony to gain rest from the panic and chaos. Save for the largest ballroom in the palace that is, which was used as the current emergency medical bay. Nearly every current bed was filled with both Lunar and Solar Guards. Many were not so lucky as the fallen were still left unseen and out of reach to be given a proper burial that these brave soldiers deserved.

Any exhausted soldiers were commanded to rest for the next confrontation as any capable soldier, both Solar and Lunar alike either built or guarded the barricade that had been set both around the sheltered civilians, palace, and then the remaining districts, both the Northern and Eastern. The soldiers seemed to care not as they fought alongside each other. New friendships were formed as they worked together to protect the ponies of Equestria. No matter their differences, they accepted each other’s help and returned the favor in kind as true warriors worthy of honor and respect.

“Sister… What would you like us to do?” asked Luna, as she stood just behind her sister, Princess Celestia, who was overlooking the city below on the balcony just after she had finished rising the sun for the new day. Luna stepped towards her as she closed the balcony doors behind her.

“I know nothing of these creatures, nor that you had been building this secret republic behind my back and against my wishes,” she had spoken strongly and turned back to look at her sister who had looked down at her gaze in both respect and blame upon herself.

Her sister then smiled and spoke kindly, “I could never be more glad that it existed then I do today. We may be day and night, sister, but the only way that we could unite Equestria in this manner was by accepting all of our differences and strengths. I thought that your Republic would have torn our society apart with confrontation if our differences were brought to light. When instead it enabled us to unite them together. And rather then bringing us distain and discord it has brought us greater strength in all fields of this battle. Thank you, dear sister. Without you and your faithful members of the New Lunar Republic, I fear that this battle may have been a single confrontation win.”

“Celestia, I…” started Princess Luna.

Celestia placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder as she continued, “You know more about this enemy then I do. You shall do the leading, for only through your knowledge can we defeat Sombre and his army again.”

“Celestia, I am blessed to accept this imperative role,” Princess Luna bowed.

“No, arise dear sister,” said Celestia as she bowed in turn. “Now what do we do?”

Luna lifted her head higher and asked, “What is our current condition? Once we are better situated, we can begin to arrange ourselves to strike back at the enemy. I have a plan to take back Canterlot, and my Captain and Lady who are the key to defeating Sombre. If only they can realize it.”