Tale of a Flame

Chapters

Blaze Kindling
Axle Rust
Nightmares
Moonlight
Elements
Truth
Armageddon
Beast
Last Stand

Blaze Kindling

The story of yours truly starts with a nice, sunny day. The many different ponies running happily in the fields. Unfortunately, my mother was not so lucky, as she was on the hospital bed. I was born shortly after, and I was beautiful. At least that’s what my brother told me. A deep navy-blue coat, with a lime green mane. I was quite multicoloured, but I couldn't care less. I’d rather look weird than like a demon. Any ways, a few minutes after my arrival, tragedy struck for the first time. The hospital began to burn to ashes. My parents were caught in the fire, and only me and my brother made it out alive. This was the first of my fire-fuelled experiences. Any ways, I was sent with my brother to a small orphanage at the outskirts of town, where I lived for around 6 years. My brother and the headmistress of the orphanage taught me well, but it was after bed where I learned what would make me what I am now. On some days of the week, a couple young fillies and colts would sneak outside and start up a small campfire, roasting marshmallows and telling scary stories in the middle of night. At first I would just watch from my window, gazing at the bright flames, but as I grew older, my curiosity turned to obsession. I would practice making small fires after dark. I then began to show up at these little gatherings, showing off my skills in fire starting.

But, history has a way of repeating itself, and such is the case of my 6th birthday. My friends decided to throw me a party after dark, making a massive bonfire. The fire caught onto the nearby bushes, and gradually made it’s way back to my home. My brother was asleep, and so was the rest of the orphanage. I ran in, crying “FIRE!”, but no one heard me. I ran to wake the headmistress, and when she saw the blaze, she triggered the fire alarm. After a few short moments, the crowd of frightened youngsters stampeded out the door. My brother wasn’t one of them.
Denying straight orders from the headmistress to get as far away as possible, I ran
back to my room to find my brother. I ran, my mane dripping with sweat as the fire cooked me alive. My brother was trapped under a fallen support beam, and I knew that it would take a couple minutes to lift. Even with the odds on the other end of the spectrum, I charged straight into the beam, attempting to budge it using the combined strength from my hooves and wings, but to no avail. My brothers calmly pleaded for me to stop. Now my face was drenched not with sweat, but with tears. I knew I couldn't save him. I pounded my hooves into the thick wooden beam, but my efforts only made my stamina grow ever more depleted. My brother said that he was proud of me being so brave, and that I should save myself. He handed me the necklace from my mother, the one she had given my brother just before she had me. I weeped, but deep inside I knew it would be the only thing I would remember about him aside from ashes and charred bones. I ran, and the building collapsed behind me. I was bawling at this point, and as I looked back, I saw my life ablaze in hellfire. Instead of grouping up with the rest of the orphans, I stupidly ran into the woods, doing anything to separate myself from this devastating memory. I lived on berries and hammocks for 2 years, before the final tragic lightning bolt struck. A squadron of royal soldiers trampled through my camp, claiming that Changelings had come through this area. My luck was at zero at this point, so of course I was mistaken for one of those shape-shifting horror shows.

I was dragged back to their camp, where a very demanding officer gave the soldiers traipsing along with me an execution notice. I managed to get a glimpse at what the execution was, and my eyes grew wider than ever before. Death by Spit Roast. I was to be turned around slowly on a wooden stick over the accursed element that had ruined my life. I was tied up on the branch and burned. I could feel my flesh melting, my brain burning. I could feel the flame in every molecule of my being. Just after I had accepted death, they removed my charred body from the fire. Apparently, Changelings cannot stand heat for more than five minutes, and change to their true form after this point. I had been being burnt for five and a half minutes straight. I was given a nice comfy stretcher to lie on while I thought about what would've happened if I had stayed in the fire for a couple more minutes. Two weeks later I was cleared for walking, but told not to push myself. This had been the first time I could look at myself in the mirror. My lips trembled and my legs faltered. My once lime green mane had been roasted red, and my deep blue coat was charred red. But by far, the worst part was my cutie mark. What was once a congratulations for my dramatic flare, was now an unforgiving flame. A cruel reminder of what made me into this monster. After this point, for about three months, I had nightmares about a demonic entity possessing my body and brutally burning everything and everyone I had ever seen, known or heard of. Usually after these nightmares, I would wake up to see my cutie mark flashing for a brief moment before dying down.

This wasn't just a bad dream though, it was a warning. Not even a week after my horrid dreams stopped was my first “accident”. I was being tormented by the local bullies about my obsession with fire, when I became over stressed. The anger built up inside, until I could not contain it any more. Although, my anger exploded in a more literal term. My body erupted with pure hellblaze, as the demon inside tore itself out. I woke up the next day lying in a small clearing at a forest. Or at least, I thought it to be a clearing. It turned out to be a crater that formed by my body falling from the skies. There was seven mares looking down onto me, and whispering silently to each other. I leaned up and immediately felt a hoof push me back to the ground. I looked up to see a orange earth pony with a cute cowboy hat staring down at me. She squinted before speaking in a texan accent. “Look, I dunno who you are, but lets just say you ain't going’ nowhere till we say so.” I nodded to the best of my abilities, before another mare shoved her off of me. “Applejack, no need to be so rude. Our friend here just had a rough night. Isn’t that right, darling” said the other mare, her curly purple mane swishing in the wind. I then felt my eyelids slamming down like rocks, and I passed out. Just before I lost my consciousness, I heard a deep voice tell “Applejack” to take me somewhere safe. And that’s how I ended up in your barn.
“Damn, that's one hell of a story you got there mister.” Applejack stated as I finished up my story. Before she exited the barn door, she asked me one question

“I never caught your name.” she said with a curious tone. I looked at her and said one word:

“Blaze.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note

Since I have previously written an entire story, all parts will be uploaded today.

Axle Rust

Nobody really knows where he showed up from, but one thing was certain. His intellect was in the negatives. He was clumsy and most people thought that he was deaf. Although kind at heart, he was never trusted too well and often shunned from popular activities. He grew bitter of this resentment, and often cursed under his breath at these bullies. Other than a mental attack, he was a normal child. But it was at his 9th birthday that his talents started to show. He may have been clumsy, but with his focus in the right place, his hooves could work wonders. He tinkered with machinery, and built many amazing inventions, like motorized carts and such. He could also fix things in seconds, knowing every piece of the complicated puzzle he had accepted. He grew popular with his talents, but he wasn't perfect. Some mistakes filled in the cracks, and some ponies didn't get what they desperately needed.

As the stress began to grow in Axle, his work got sloppy. Some wagons broke down, some carts faltered. The resentment began to grow once more. Axle was ageing, and some even said his skills were ageing as well. He stressed over these facts and tried ever so hard, but ultimately, like all good things, it came to an end. Axle was 14, and he couldn't handle it any more. He sold his patents, and settled down in nice, quiet part of town. He lived quietly, and made good money selling his talents, fixing carts and such But nothing like what he had. He felt homesick, even though his stress had dwindled, and such was the case with his sloppy work. He felt like his legend had died before it had even started. His depression turned to anger, his pent up rage building inside. But he never let it show. He hid away his terrible self behind a tough, rock-like shell. He became expressionless, and always acted like he couldn't care less. Although deep inside, he cared more than any stallion would ever care. But one night, he heard screaming coming from the road adjacent. A fire had broken out on the local orphanage. Axle ran, hoping to save anyone that was unlucky enough to be caught in the unfortunate flames. Nobody, just a couple abandoned rooms. He ran out, only to catch a glimpse of a small colt running off into the woods. He had a suspicion about this young colt, and pursued him for a small time before he lost him. Nothing much happened for awhile, except for a few stray thoughts on this little fire escapee.

But two years later, he got a front row view of the most hellish thing Equestria had ever seen. It started with Axle fixing up a car, and hearing screaming outside his shop. He looked outside to see hellfire everywhere, ponies being scorched in blazes bigger than a house, general chaos and anarchy. At first he suspected some form of hallucination, but as the screaming and pained wailing grew to deafening levels, he knew that it was really happening. Axle grabbed his wrench and clasped it tight in his hoof, charging through the front door, swinging blindly. From there, he saw it. A horror of unexplainable proportions filled his view as the terror and shock filled his mind. He shivered. It’s bony structure was terrifying enough, but the fire wrapping around it’s legs and body were bone shaking. The most bladder emptying part of him was that he seemed to be composed of the seared flesh and bones of those he struck down. The one thing that stood out to Axle however, was this things soulless eyes. Its sockets filled to the brim with hellblaze and inferno, but most of all, hatred.

It looked at him with the utmost disgust, like it hated every single fibre of his being. Axle turned tail and ran, before a fiery grasp took hold of one of his back hooves. He struggled, but the molten iron grip was too tight for him to squirm out of. It seared into his skin, branding it’s grasp onto his ankle. More arms burnt into his legs, bringing him closer to the legion of corpses and flame. Just before it dragged him right into it’s infinite blaze, an enormous beam of pure energy sliced through the flaming hands, severing its grasp on Axle. The creature looked up to see a purple alicorn staring right back at it. Axle was fixated on her focused look, her determined glare. Another blast rended another few arms from the dozens extruding from the eternal incinerator that was the horrible creature. This time from a pure white alicorn with a flowing multi colored mane. Axle’s eye bulged as he realized just how bad the situation was if Celestia was called in.

They began their assault on the entity, blasting away it’s limbs of ash and seared flesh. As anything would react to this, it screamed in the voices trapped in its mass and began blasting balls of flame and molten flesh straight at the duo. They effortlessly deflected the projectiles and launched equally if not more powerful ones right back Knowing that it was losing, it’s glare went from hate to full on rage, as it launched a massive fireball at the two. they were standing quite the distance from each other, but the ball of torching flames encompassed the both of them, burning their coats. They seemed to have a resistance to it, as they combined a beam of light to create an enormous blast of concentrated energy straight at the abomination of torched skin and hellfire. It didn't stand up to the blast very well, as it flew off into the distance from the sheer force of the blow. Celestia flew after it, as the other stayed behind, searching for survivors. Her stare met with Axle’s, as she ran over to aid his assistance. She asked his name, and if he could walk. He replied Axle and limped over to a wall to support to himself. The princess flew back, spouting info about the creature.

“It’s not dead, but neither are any pony trapped inside. They’re all unconscious at the landing site. I saw some sort of red, demonic looking thing flying off towards the mountains.” She said, her face redder than the fire around her.

“Do we have anything on it? Will it do it again?” The purple one, I later found out to be named Twilight, said in a hurried tone.

“That's up for debate, but now we have to secure the zone. Call in your friends, we’ll need them.” Celestia said as she flew back. Twilight issued a letter to be written and sent at a moments notice. Axle pointed at himself before he noticed a small dragon taking notes. Before he could scope out the damage done to his shop, Twilight demanded that he tell her everything that he saw during his experiences with the creature. Axle told her as much as he could before stumbling back into his shop. No major damage, but couple holes in the walls and ceiling meant some money would need to be thrown in to fix it. Whatever that thing was…

Axle wanted nothing to do with it.

Nightmares

CHAPTER ONE
NIGHTMARES
Fire enveloped her sight as scream of the poor trapped souls that dwelled within the burning house. Sweetie tried to save those who had been trapped in the inferno, but it was too late, and the screaming stopped. She just sat there and stared into the constantly warping flames. Sat there and saw the destructive revelry that was overtaking the building. She broke down, before opening her eyes to see her bedsheets in front of her. A nightmare. Just a nightmare. She attempted to sleep but the terrible dream kept crossing her mind, the screams of those ponies dying. Why did she have to be tormented like this?! Sweetie realized that she was crying heavily, and Rarity soon burst into the room, wielding a broom with her magic.

“Are you all right? Was there anypony breaking in?” She exclaimed as she searched her younger sister’s bedroom.

“No sis, I just had a nightmare, that's it.” Sweetie managed to say after her tears stopped themselves from falling. Rarity soon relaxed, and just told her to try and get some more sleep. After some time, she finally fell into her trance of subconsciousness. The morning after, she described her experiences to her friends.

“Really? I had the exact same dream!” Apple Bloom said with concern and awe in her voice. Had they really dreamt about the exact same thing? She was completely confused and intrigued at the same time. Just then, Scootaloo jumped in and started to talk about last night and HER nightmare. It seemed to become less of a coincidence and more of a suspicion. After just a few short hours of school, they realized that not only had EVERYPONY had the same nightmare, each and every filly or colt in the area had the dream. It was insane. School was canceled soon after due to not enough students, and each pony went home. But not Sweetie. She decided to take this case to someone who could find out what was going on. The library looked good in the light of the afternoon, and she knocked on the door calmly. Soon, the purple alicorn stepped out and looked at Sweetie.

“Oh, hi Sweetie Belle. What brings you here?” She asked with a slight tone of anticipation in her voice. Before she could utter a word, Twilight asked:

“Its about the nightmares, isn't it?” She said, her voice going straight from 100 to 0 in an instant. Sweetie nodded.

“We’re doing the best we can to figure it out, but until then, you’ll just have to wait.” Twilight said, as she closed the door. Sweetie then ran off, back to her sister’s boutique. But little did she know, that there was something dark looming on the horizon of the future, and it would wreak hell onto Equestria until only ash remained. While Sweetie ran back to her comfort, far away, Axle prepared for the worst. His shop was being evaluated on how much the damages would cost, and he expected that a lot would need to be thrown into fixing it. His fears came alive when they passed him the check.

“FIVE HUNDRED BITS!?” Axle exclaimed, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.

He readied himself to try and lower the price, before the same purple alicorn stepped through the door.

“Spike, add five hundred to my bill please.” She said as she walked over to Axle. He couldn’t believe that she would just pay it for him, it was outrageous!

“And to what do I owe the generous favour?” Axle replied, his eyes still wide in surprise.

“Well, you’re the only witness to the ‘monster’ that attacked here. I need you to come with me.” She replied, as she motioned him out of the shop. He followed her to a small two pony chariot, which he climbed into and sat.

“Listen, I know that you’re devastated by what happened, but I need more information on the creature. Its not something you see everyday, you know.” Twilight said as they rode. He shrugged, since all that he knew was already told.

“Well, have you had any strange occurrences with this colt?” She said as her dragon lifted a photo. The colt that Axle had chased smiled into the camera with a couple other youngsters in the background.

“Wait, I know that kid! He was an escapee from an orphanage fire a couple years ago!” He said with surprise, and sudden dread in his mind. “What does he have to do with the attack?” Axle blurted out. Twilight looked at him straight in the eye.

“He IS the monster.” She said with an unsettling tone in her voice. For the duration of the ride, neither of them said anything, as they approached their destination. A small, cutesy little town, with many different mares and stallions roaming. Axle stepped out and stretched his wings, before Twilight motioned for him to follow her. She lead him to a building with multiple different guards and checkpoints. Finally, after he had gone through the many different security gates, he was sat down in a confined room. Then, Twilight sat at the opposite end. She asked him many different questions, most of which he had no answer to. Then finally, she nodded and a door swung open, revealing a red colt with a blazing scarlet mane. He walked forward, and sat on a chair to the left of Twilight.

“Axle, I’d like you to meet Blaze Kindling, the supposed ‘monster’ that you encountered.” She motioned to the colt next to her. He waved, and Axle looked confused.

“Wait, if he caused all that destruction, why is aren't you trying to prevent it from happening again?” Axle asked with concern and slight discomfort in his tone.

“Because we've confirmed that whatever was causing it, left his system.” She said as Blaze looked to the floor in guilt. Axle immediately felt bad for this young colt. By the way Twilight was telling him, it sounded like it wasn't even his fault.

“So, why’d you show me him? Is there something we need to sort out?” Axle asked. Twilight looked at Blaze, who looked back up from the floor.

“Since we’ve got no one else to house him…” She said, and Axle understood.

“...You need me to take care of him for now.” He finished her statement. Twilight nodded, and Axle stood up, knocking on the door they had come in from to let him out. He motioned for Blaze to come with him, and the young colt followed him. They passed the security, and Axle stretched once again after they had stepped outside. Blaze was nervous that Axle wouldn't like him around, since he had destroyed his workshop.

“So you don’t have any problem with me hanging around?” Blaze asked.

“Why would I? I know it wasn't your fault, don’t worry.” He replied, looking as friendly as possible. Twilight then rushed out, calling for Axle

“Wait!” She called, and Axle suddenly stopped.

“What’s the matter?” He asked her as she panted, out of breath.

“Since he is so important, we need to keep him close to us. You should stay in town any ways, since the renovations on your shop will take awhile.” She said in-between breaths. Axle nodded, and the two of them walked towards the house they had been assigned to. Little did they know, they had a secret follower. darted through the crowd, desperate not to lose the two pegasi. She ran, but they were just a bit too fast for her and her small legs. She instead decided to follow them from afar, since they would be going down the main road. She swore that the red pegasus was familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint it. When Scootaloo finally got through the large crowd, some pony ran up to her to talk.

“Hey! What’s the rush?” Sweetie asked her.

“Uh, just going for a run Sweetie. Why aren't you at your school?” Scootaloo asked the cute white filly.

“Well, everybody was out because of nightmares, so Cheerilee just cancelled it all together!” She replied, her voice a mixture of tiredness and enjoyment. After all, she had been running for quite some time.

“Hey, I was going back home and I was wondering if you wanted to play around or something?” Sweetie asked. It was almost impossible to say no to her face. Scootaloo went with her and they played for hours. But, the playing was cut short by a knocking on the front door. Sweetie went down and answered, to find Twilight on the doorstep.

“Oh hi Sweetie, where’s your sister?” She asked as the door swung fully open. Sweetie called for her and then went back to Scootaloo, but not before eavesdropping on their conversation. As she listened, her eyes grew and her jaw dropped in horror.

“What is it Twilight? I’ve got a lot of orders to fill in…” Rarity asked as Twilight stepped inside. After a couple moments of silence, Twilight said in a deep tone:

“We have a problem.”

Moonlight

CHAPTER TWO:
Moonlight
“What do you mean we have a problem?” Rarity asked with concern and worry in her voice. For some odd reason, Twilight was being incredibly vague.

“Its Luna, she's been struck with a terrible sickness.” She said after a long silence, bringing as much drama into the conversation as possible. Rarity looked at her with the utmost surprise, her face painted with a look of concern. Twilight motioned towards the door, and she said that she had to go back. Rarity followed out of worry and curiosity. Sweetie’s jaw finally slammed into the ground as she ran back to Scootaloo, her expression that akin to deep seriousness.

“Scootaloo, we need to go.” She said through the door. Scootaloo looked up from her activities with a confused look.

“Why? Can’t I stay for a little longer?” Scootaloo begged, but Sweetie refused.

“Its not that you have to go home, we need to follow Twilight.” She said as she ran back downstairs and through the front door, with Scootaloo close on her trail. They ran to see Rarity board a chariot. Sweetie looked around desperately. No carts, or a taxi, or anything that would help them follow her.

“I have an idea.” She said as the white unicorn gasped for breath.

“And that would be?” Scootaloo asked, still breathing heavily.

Sweetie ignored the question and ran off, out of sight. A couple of minutes passed, and she retured with Scootaloo's scooter.

“Perfect.” Sweetie said. Scootaloo nodded and Sweetie jumped onto the scooter, holding on as they speeded after the long-gone chariot.

Celestia had experienced challenges before, but nothing akin to this. She strained her entire magic reserve, but she barely budged the moon. No wonder Luna always complained about getting the hard part. She tried even harder, but only a little more was gained. She would need help, guaranteed. She fell back, exhausted. She had put her full power into moving that huge rock, but only a barely visible amount was even made. Just as she stood back up for another round, Twilight entered. She looked relieved, since Twilight could definitely help with this. She stood up, and nodded to start. She alone could barely move it, but with their magic combined, they might be able to see the day again. The moon rose like normal, and now there was no stopping them. Rarity was awestruck, hardly understanding the pure strain that they were experiencing. She watched as the slowly rose from the horizon, but this time it was almost breathtaking.
Many had been called in to aid the princess in finding her sickness and eradicating it, but none succeeded in finding any problem with her. She felt powerless as doctor after doctor came in, with all leaving after hours of testing. She had given up hope after the fifteenth doctor left without another word. She was tired, and attempted to rest, but the pain coursing through her every molecule made it impossible. Then, after almost six painstaking hours, she knew that her condition wasn’t medical. If fifteen doctors couldn’t figure it out, it had to be something else. Something… unnatural. But who would be able to find out something like that? No one that she knew. She would have to wait until someone else came in. She closed her eyes and just tried to drown out the pain to the best of her abilities. She fell asleep soon afterwards.
Night rolled in, and Blaze soon after fell into sleep. But little did he know, something sinister would be waiting for him in dreamscape. Instead of a building burning though, like the many colts and fillies before him, he instead found himself in an infinite black void. He looked around, and noticed a small campfire not far from where he stood. He walked to it, gazing into its unforgiving wisps of fire. Suddenly, a huge column of flame erupted from the blaze, and from it, stepped out a demonic being composed of fire and fear. Blaze stepped away in fright, but the creature beckoned for him to come closer. He stood there, frozen in complete and utter shock, as the creature began to talk.
“BLAZE.” Its voice exploded into the void, ringing Blaze’s ears. He had never heard something so loud.

“I AM THE BEING KNOWN AS IGNIS. I AM HERE TO WARN YOU. MANY STAND IN YOUR WAY TO BECOME THE ULTIMATE BEING. YOU WILL ERADICATE THEM, AND ASSUME YOUR POSITION AS THE TRUE RULER OF EQUESTRIA!” It bellowed, making Blaze cover his ears with his wings.
“B-But I don’t want to rule…” Blaze barely stuttered. The being’s expression, or whatever you could make of it, turned to anger, as it looked at him with sudden seriousness.
“YOU WILL RULE. IT IS YOUR DESTINY TO, BLAZE. IF YOU DARE DEFY ME, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU WILL REGRET IT.” He said, his voice impossibly becoming even louder than it already had. Blaze then woke up, sweating and panting. Written in black ink, all over his walls were:
NEVER DEFY ME, I AM ALWAYS WATCHING.
Blaze shuddered, and stepped out of his bed. Another message, this time written on the floor, was:
KILL THE ONES WHO DEFILED YOU. MAKE THEM SUFFER THE UTMOST PAIN.
Blaze disregarded the message, and ran down to Axle, telling him all about his nightmare and the messages. Axle ran up to his room, to see no black ink or anything that would have gotten rid of said ink. Blaze was dumbfounded. How had it disappeared?
“It was just a dream, bud. Whatever it told you to do, just forget about it and go back to sleep.” Axle said as he went back down to his room. Blaze got back into his bed. He quickly fell asleep again, and went without any nightmares for the rest of the moonlit night.
Celestia fell back into the bed behind her, completely drained of all her energy. She had tasked Twilight with raising the sun, since she had stood up much better to the strain of lifting the moon. She pulled the blankets up to her neck, feeling the warmth after a long and cold night. She fell asleep, and woke up not in her bed, but in an unusual dreamscape. It had no features, just a solid black cloud of fog in every direction. She noticed a small fire to the right of her. Walking over to it, she noticed also that it seemed to be showing… memories. Past experiences of all sorts. But the most disturbing part was the unfamiliar memories that seemed to be plagued by death and destruction on a global scale. Enormous bonfires, demons roaming the land, many being slaughtered and cooked alive. She felt a knot in her stomach as the creature who had caused this destruction was shown for a small moment before cutting back to the mass cremation. There was no mistaking him. His body was detailed and easily distinguished in the moonlight of the picture.

It was the red colt with a flaming cutie mark.

Elements

Celestia awoke from her slumber, to find her lying in her bed. What had she just witnessed? It seemed like something straight out of fiction, something that could never happen. And yet, it felt like more than just a dream. It felt like a… vision. A vision into the future of Equestria. But how could Blaze accomplish such a god-like feat?, she wondered as she got up. The sun was in the middle of the sky, raining down it’s beams of light onto all that stood under. Afternoon. She got up to get something to eat, when she noticed a disturbing image painted onto her wall, in a thick black ink. It pictured a star, cracked down the middle. Black ink dripped from the break and flowed down the wall, pooling at the base. But the star reminded Celestia of something… someone… but in her post-sleep grogginess, she couldn’t place her hoof on it. She walked from her room to the corridor outside, only to be greeted by the same nightmarish black ink, smeared into barely comprehensible statements and words all down the hallway. Most of it was completely nonsense, but one sentence caught her eye.

DOWN WITH THE FALSE GODS.

She felt as if it was directed at her, being that she was the most powerful in the land. But… false? How could she be false? She wasn’t created in some ritual or summoning, what could it mean by False Gods? But unbeknownst to her, a gruesome scene followed her on this fateful hour. She roamed the hall, in search of anyone else. No one seemed to be either awake or present at her displease. She tried to ignore it, thinking it as some prank or elaborate surprise. But the longer no one even seemed to exist, the longer Celestia felt uneasy, and paranoid. And there was no shortage of black lettering. All over the floor, walls and ceiling was sentences about false gods and unrighteous power. She felt the knot in her stomach grew tighter and tighter as more and more minutes passed without the occasional conversation in the background or door slamming shut. Just, eerie silence. She had had enough, and screamed at the top of her lungs

“IF THIS IS A PRANK, YOU’RE ALL DONE! SOMEPONY JUST TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON!” She bellowed, at an ear shattering level. Suddenly, the ground shook, and one by one the lights guiding her along the dim hallways went out. For a long time, she felt genuinely afraid and worried for herself. The darkness enveloped her, and she was plunged into pitch blackness. Then, a light at the end of this bleak tunnel lit up. A singular torch. She walked over to it to embrace it’s calming light, but no sooner than her reaching it, the rumbling returned, and a titanic fireball threw itself sky high in the pitch blackness. From the fireball, came an enormous demonic creature, towering over her like a mountain to a child. After what seemed like hours staring straight at her, it bent over to make it’s head eye level with Celestia’s.

“DO YOU WISH TO KNOW WHY YOU WALK MY PLANE?” It said with a skull shaking voice. She adamantly nodded, her iron will kicking in.

“WELL THEN, YOU SHALL LEARN. THE ONLY THAT ARE ALLOWED TO ENTER MY REALM ARE THOSE WHO HAVE LOST SOMETHING DEARLY BELOVED TO THEM. THE MANY PONIES THAT STEP INSIDE, ARE NEVER TO EXIT FROM THE INFINITE MAZE OF BROKEN DREAMS AND CRUSHED WILLS. SO, CELESTIA, WHAT HAVE YOU LOST?” It said with an equally loud voice, making her shudder once more.

“I don’t know… I just-” Before she could finish her sentence, the being interrupted.

“IF YOU ARE UNAWARE. LET ME SHOW YOU. THOSE WHO ARE TAKEN TOO SOON ARE GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE. JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ONCE MORE.” It yelled as it clasped its hands together, revealing a portal back to the castle. Celestia stepped inside, and was greeted back in before witnessing the horrifying truth of what she had lost.

The horns blared as the many pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies tipped their heads to the ground, silently given their respect to the fallen one. Her face was not of pain however, but of relief as the pain was finally lifted. Celestia watched from the window as the coffin was carried to the hole, lifted down to her final resting place. The tombstone had no words of wisdom inscribed, or famous sayings she had enjoyed talking about. All that was on the tombstone, the only reminder anyone needed, was a crescent moon. To remember Luna for millennia to come. Celestia felt her eyes water in utter shock as the dirt was piled on to the grave, sealing her sister to the eternal slumber. She felt the shock be replaced by sadness, depression and defeat. And then she felt those emotions radiate, reform into something… utterly feared. Anger, hatred...

Vengence.

And as those emotions took hold, she felt her power rising, her heart exploding, her body overloaded with a million different emotions at once. She knew that it couldn’t have been the sickness. It was impossible, just a simple headache! She had to have been taken out. Deep down she knew it was nopony’s fault, but every fiber of her being yearned towards ending the sorry life of whoever even dared touch her. Even if it meant her losing control and becoming the monster. She would make them pay. She would make them suffer.

Twilight leaned over the grave after the prayer had finished and everypony left. She felt like she had lost a part of herself. But she had never knew her as good as her sister did. She felt a tear drip from her already sodden face onto the soil, dampening the small mound a small bit. She then felt a hoof on her shoulder, and looked back to see Dash behind her.
“Cmon, let's go.” She said as she flew off, back home to her small village. She knew that everyone would attempt to cheer her up, to try and lighten her mood for at least a day. But in her heart, she knew everything wouldn’t be the same. The only aspect she could not grasp was how she had died. To just be discovered in bed, lying without a heartbeat made no sense. But then again, even with her entire library at her disposal, she still knew barely half of what she knew, what she had experienced through her extended years of life and learning. After all…

The teacher always knew better than the student.

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?

Armageddon

The final days were here, and none could have predicted it. With the moon corrupted by Ignis’ dark plots, no pony could even try to lift it from its permanent throne atop the stars. None felt like any hope could enter their bleak, pitch black world. Even the remaining princesses gave up any hope to a brighter future. They knew Armageddon had come. But little did anyone know, their saviour was hidden from sight. Among the many, there was one with the potential of total redemption of the world. But he knew not of his gift, and just accepted life in the permanent blackness of the world.

Axle sat in his room, knowing that there was no way he would be able to see Blaze again. He had been locked up in the most secure confinement that Equestria could hold. He had been sealed in an underground bunker with multiple different doors, vault locks and guards all around the compound. Alone he sat, in the glass cube, under many different watching eyes. He felt like he couldn't breathe, and constantly pleaded for at least a glimpse of the sun.

“Please! Just let me see the outside! I promise it won’t happen again!” He screamed at the guards, but they held still and just looked into the nothingness in front of them. He smashed his hooves into the glass, he became so enraged that he passed out. He felt like there was no one to help him, no one to set him free upon the world. He gave up after the first week.

Axle wiped the sweat off his brow as he finished up the car he was working on. He called the client's name, and he walked through the door to his new cart. Axle wheeled it out of his garage and out onto the street. The client paid and left. Axle walked back inside to rest after his long day of work. Soon after hitting the pillow he fell asleep. He felt the calming subconscious take over as he passed out, taking in the amazing feeling by the bucket load. He then woke up with a jump start. A low moaning was heard from his kitchen. He ran down with a baseball bat in wing, and charged the intruder. But no one was there when he entered. He looked around, but still no one was in. He dismissed it as him hearing things and went back to bed. He then woke up again to not the moaning, but… complete silence. No cart wheels grinding on the gravel road, no hooves cantering around. Just a disturbing silence. He opened his eyes, and didn't even feel the pillow to his head. He groggily opened both eyes to find himself staring into nothing. A pitch black void in all directions. He got up, and noticed that he was alone. No pony in sight. Strange, but expected to a void like this. He wandered through the wasteland of complete black, and loneliness. He then came across a building. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, and took on a wooden form from the fog. Axle opened it’s doors to find no pony in sight, only voices. Some children playing with each other, some adults engaging in small talk. He felt as if he was going insane. Then, a ghostly apparition appeared from around the corner, and looked straight at Axle. He felt a shiver of terror as it approached him, walking slowly as if she was curious. She then talked in a pale and soft tone.

“Who are you?” She asked him. Axle shivered, but stood strong.

“Well, my name is Axle. Who are you?” He replied. She smiled.

“My name is Silver. Silver Spectre. If you’re wondering, no I'm not a ghost.” She said in a much friendlier tone.

“Then what are you?” Axle shot back, his curiosity growing. She said nothing and her horn glew. Before Axle knew what was happening, she shot her spell at him. Axle shut his eyes, only to open them to reveal a nice, warm house. Silver had taken on a much less ghostly form. Axle opened his mouth to talk, but she shushed him and motioned for him to follow her. Axle trotted after her as she went back around the corner behind her. Axle ran around to see a dining hall with many different, scruffy-looking kids.

“You see, this is a lost memory. A fragment of someone’s history chipped off. Any lost memories come here, to the Void.” Silver said as she walked. Axle was dumbfounded and his mouth refused to even open to talk. He silently walked behind her as she explained more.

“This used to be an orphanage before it met with a tragic end. Although many escaped from it, there was only one who died.” Silver pointed at an almost teenage colt with a long, curly green mane. He sat beside a smaller colt who looked almost the exact same as him.

“They were brothers, and they had a tight relationship. But unfortunately, like the Armageddon happening in your world, it came to an end when the older one was burnt into a crisp.” Suddenly, Axle felt a wave of nostalgia as he looked at the younger one.

“Wait, burnt? Are you saying that this orphanage burnt down?” Axle asked her. She nodded, and Axle knew exactly who those two were. Then, blackness filled his vision as he found himself in a small room. There was a black pegasus in the corner of the room, fiddling around with something in a can. Axle noticed the pegasus pour the contents of the can all over the wooden support beams. The strong smell hit like a truck, and Axle knew exactly what was going on. He ran over to stop the youngster from completing his dastardly deed. But he passed right through him, like a ghost.

“You can’t touch him, he’s only a memory.” Silver said in a more depressive tone. Axle watched as the colt drew a box of matches, and lit the gasoline ablaze. He then ran from the room, and out the front door. Axle watched in horror as the fire spread quickly, sending the beams crumbling down. The fire then spread to the revealed wooden ceiling. Axle felt the heat from his standing point and stepped out of the room, watching as the fire spread to the many walls around. He noticed outside, that the black pegasus had joined with a bunch of other orphans around an out of control bonfire. Soon, the entire complex was on fire. Silver explained that he could not be hurt by the fire, so Axle wandered around in the complex, only to bump into the young colt he had seen in the cafeteria. He followed him as he ran, and then stopped at the edge of the doorway the colt had stepped into. Under a fallen beam was the brother. The colt attempted to move it, but no use. He saw the youngster fall to the ground in defeat before the brother told him to run. He handed over a necklace and the younger brother ran. Out the front door and into the forest. Axle gave chase, and soon after the blackness took over his vision once more. He found himself at a small encampment, with the colt sitting in his makeshift tent. Axle heard shouting in the background, and a group of soldiers ran straight at him. The colt ran, but they soon grabbed him and dragged him off. Axle followed, and found them at a military camp. He gasped. He watched the colt be strung up, tied and bound to a stick, and then turned around on a spit roast. He watched in utter disgust as the colt screamed in pain, suffering the utmost pain and hell. A good six minutes passed, and the soldiers took him off, his mane charred and his skin nearly falling off. He was dragged off on a stretcher, and Silver spoke up from behind Axle, startling him.

“Disgusting, isn’t it? I’ve been forced to watch this same memory for so many years now, I've gotten used to it. But it is truly vile what the ponies of the past used as torture. They were trying to reveal if he was a changeling or not.” She sighed as she walked calmly after the two soldiers carrying the colt. Axle blacked out again, and saw the colt rise from his bed, changed. The colt had become Blaze, cutie mark and all. He felt his heart rip itself to pieces as Blaze looked into a mirror, screaming at his transformation. And then, blackness. Axle awoke to see the ghostly Silver at his bedside, casting some sort of spell on him. She shook her head slightly and opened her eyes, which for the first time Axle could clearly see. They were ocean blue, with a slight sparkle of cyan.

“So you got my message. Good. Remember that whenever you need to remember someone else’s memory, call my name. I'm happy to get visitors in the Void.” She said as she faded away into nothingness. Axle wiped his eyes, and knew what he saw was true. He got up from bed and walked down to the door, having insight on what to do next. Axle walked through the night, and to Twilight’s library. He knocked, but with no answer, instead a concerning silence. He knocked again but no voice arose from behind the wooden door. Axle opened the door, calling her name. He heard a slight muffled voice coming from upstairs. He ran up to see Twilight bound to her chair. He undid the tight knots and un-gagged her. The entire time she shook her head, but Axle didn't notice. The moment she lost the gag, she blurted out with a panicked tone

“IT’S A TRAP!”

Beast

Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was too late. The attacker jumped Axle and knocked him to the floor. Axle got up, only to be smacked back down. Axle swept his leg in front of him, stumbling his attacker. He got up, and the pony got up and readied himself. Axle gave a wild kick, but the other dodged, instead going for a take down. Axle grabbed him and threw him, somersaulting the assailant into the wall.

“Stay down, or I’ll make you stay down!” Axle yelled as the pony tried to get to his feet. Axle then dropped onto him with his hoof going straight into the back of the pony. He held him on the ground. Just before Axle could smack his hoof into him, a cloud of black mist overcame him, and he saw that the attacker had fled. Axle looked around for anything that he could trace back to the assailant, but nothing was there. Twilight squirmed free of her bindings, and thanked Axle on freeing her.

“Wait a minute, how’d he trap you? Ain't you got some unicorn magic hidden in you?” Axle asked, confused about what had happened.

“He must have used some sort of spell. I can’t reach my mana pool.” She said, showing him the fault of her horn. He nodded and asked her about what had happened.

“I was reading, when he jumped in and gagged me. I tried to knock him back, but before I knew it, he had already knocked me out.” She said, catching her breath. “There must have been some chemical on the rag he gagged me with.”
Axle walked out of the house and into the streets. He knew that he had to tell her.

“Twilight, I think I uncovered something about Blaze.” He said as she stepped outside, breathing in the cold eternal night air.

“And what would that be?” She asked him. Axle began to explain what had happened.

Blaze sat in his confinement, finally accepting his fate to spend all days in this unforgiving glass box. He then laid down on the ‘bed’ he had and attempted to get some sleep. He fell into the trance, and then into the subconscious sleep. He found himself in the same black nightmare, the wasteland where met the horrible being made of flame. He saw the fire, but something was different. Laid beside it was the one and only Celestia, looking like she had been drained of her power, a horrid dark grey hue enveloping her. Ignis erupted from the fire and looked down onto Blaze, not with the anger from last time, but with a look of pure joy.

“BLAZE. I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD SHOW AGAIN. I HAVE A TASK FOR YOU.” It bellowed in a softer but still ear-shattering loud voice.

“But in reality, I'm all chained up.” Blaze said, his expression still that of fear and terror.

“NO NEED TO ACT IN REALITY BLAZE, YOUR TASK LAYS AT YOUR FEET.” Blaze looked down at Celestia, and then back at Ignis.

“Wait, you’re telling me that this is the real Celestia? She’s dead!” Blaze said with a shocked tone, and Ignis nodded.

“THAT IS THE TRUE CELESTIA. YOU HAVE BUT ONE JOB TO COMPLETE WITH HER…” Ignis said with dramatic flare showing in his voice.

“What is the job?” Blaze asked with concern and worry.

“DOWN WITH THE FALSE GOD.”

Blaze felt his jaw drop, his soul completely shudder. He witnessed Ignis raise her to a stone table, and lay a large knife at her side. He felt himself quiver. He couldn't kill her! He wouldn't kill her!

“I-I… I can’t…” He stuttered, his fear of Ignis growing.

“YOU FORGET THEN. ON OUR FIRST ENCOUNTER, I SAID IF YOU EVER DARE DEFY ME, I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET IT.” Ignis yelled, staring his burning eyes straight into Blaze. Blaze felt himself crushed between a rock and eternal suffering. Blaze grasped the knife in his wing, preparing for the most evil deed he had ever conceived. He raised it over his head, and dropped it. He heard not the piercing of flesh, but the metal blade smashing off of the stone table. He opened his eyes to find her nowhere.

“IT IS DONE, BLAZE. NOW YOU WILL AWAKEN WITH THE POWER OF THE FALSE GOD. USE IT FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF EQUESTRIA, AND PAVE THE ROAD TO YOUR KINGDOM!” Ignis shouted, and Blaze fell back through the wormhole and back into reality. He sat up from his sleep to see a red horn protruding from his skull. He felt the power coursing through him like a bolt of lightning through metal. He knew that it was time to get his long desired freedom. He focused his energies on the door, and blasted a huge beam straight through, cutting his way back to civilization. The guards tried to stop him, but he knocked them over like bowling pins. Just as he walked the hallway to freedom, a group of unicorns blocked his path.

“Surrender or we will open fire!” They said. Blaze detected a slight worry in their tone, and replied:
“No, I don’t believe you will. Me on the other hand…” He said as he charged another beam. They barely had time to run before he incinerated them. He walked into the open to see the eternal night time that was now Equestria. He felt guilty, responsible for this wasteland of a planet he now walked. All will to see the sun was lost, and he now felt that he needn't do more. It was at this moment that triggered the ticking time bomb inside him. He felt the evil inside start to take over, and he knew he had to contain it. He tried to hold it in, but a voice inside his head had other plans.

“BLAZE! YOU DARE RESIST YOUR GIFT! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO HAVE IT, THEN I GUESS I WILL TAKE IT FOR MYSELF!” The voice of Ignis screamed inside him, as Blaze felt his insides tear apart. He felt himself split, and felt the power drain from him. He fell onto the ground, and heard heavy breathing behind him. He looked back to see the beast inside him, staring intently at him. Wait, if that's me, then who am I?! Blaze thought as he looked down at his hooves. They were a bright blue. He felt his brain melt.
“I-I’m me again…” He said out loud, as the creature laughed a deep, fake laugh.

“OH BLAZE, YOU CRACK ME UP. YOU WERE ALWAYS YOU, BUT I WAS ALWAYS WITH YOU. EVERY FIRE, EVERY CATASTROPHE. ME. AND NOW YOU WILL SUFFER THE FINAL TRAGEDY OF YOUR LIFE.” Ignis shouted as his horn glowed a fiery red. Suddenly, a blast of purple came from Blaze’s blind spot, and Twilight stood triumphantly at the horizon, accompanied by Axle at her side.

“Leave him be, you monster!” She yelled at him. It roared and charged, running top speed straight at her. She then teleported her and Axle away, to a nearby hill. Out of nowhere, a blinding flash of multiple colours struck him in the back, sending him flying into a wall not far away. Dash landed, smiling. She then flew over to Twilight, and watched Ignis step out of the stone wall.

“PETTY MORTALS! I WILL SHOW NO MERCY TO YOU!” It bellowed, and charged a beam of light to fire. He then felt a sharp pain in his side, and looked to see Applejack kicking him. He then turned to disintegrate her, but she was teleported at the last minute. The beam tore into the ground, tunneling a large hole into the dirt and rock. He unleashed a hellish scream, piercing the ears of any nearby, but he then saw that the others had joined into the fray. One by one, they stood at the peak of the building. Ignis knew what came next, and stared with malicious anger into Twilights eyes. Then, Ignis realized all six of them were wearing their elements. Sooner than later, the energy flew high into the sky, and plummeted down onto him, completely enveloping him in a swirling typhoon of rainbow. They stopped the bombardment, and saw him lying motionless on the ground. Twilight stepped forward, checking to see if he had survived. No pulse, no activity of any sort. She looked back at the others.

“He's down for the count!” She said, and the rest of them cheered in triumph. She then began walking over to Blaze, checking to see if he was in fact all right.

“I'm fine… just glad that he’s finally gone.” He said, feeling a wave of relief wash onto his shores. He looked at her with a smile.

“Well, you’re not the only one. Equestria will survive a little longer, knowing he is finally dead.” She said, and smiled back.
“WELL, LETS JUST SAY THAT IF HE’S GOING DOWN, HE’S TAKING YOU WITH HIM.” A booming voice sounded from behind her. She looked behind her to see the beast grab her, slamming her head against the ground. She was knocked out. The beast took her body and disappeared, fading away into the thin air. Blaze looked back at the building the mane six had been standing on, only to find them all lying unconscious. Blaze lifted himself up, and saw a note on the ground. It read:

"If you ever wish to see her again, meet me in the void.

Last Stand

Blaze ran hapless through the dark of the night, panicking as to what happens next. He ran to his house, and flurried up the stairs to his room. In a state of utter extremity and adrenaline, Blaze leaped onto his bed, trying his absolute hardest to fall asleep and gain access to the Void. Alas, as luck would have it, Blaze could not sleep, therefore severing his connection to the Void. Blaze, thinking at a lightning pace, thought of as many ways to pass out. He bashed his head on the wall, smashed his hooves into his skull, but nothing. No light headedness, no woozy feeling. Blaze felt as awake as ever, and the longer it took, the more methods he thought up, the more awake he became. Blaze charged at the wall, head down like a battering ram, when he slipped and cut himself on small hook at the corner of his bed. He didn’t think much of it until he felt it. He got up to see an enormous gash, going deep into his leg. He screamed in pain, the searing agony digging and burrowing into him like a worm. He then felt light headed, and suddenly, fell. The blood loss from the wound, accompanied by the painful scream was enough to send him into dream.

Blaze awoke in the blackest possible environment he could have ever imagined. He looked around to see Ignis hoisting Twilight over what seemed to a pit of lava and cringe-worthy yelling. A pit of trapped souls, waiting for their next meal to come plummeting down. Blaze got up to stop him, just before he fell again. The gash had followed him into dream. He limped with all his might to stop the opposer from dropping her into the fire-infused pit.

“STOP! PUT HER DOWN!” He yelled with his fury showing. Ignis turned and laughed, a deep and satanic laugh.

“AH BLAZE, SO GOOD OF YOU TO JOIN US. LISTEN, I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS SHORT. THE SOULS OF THE DAMNED ARE STARVING, AND THEY WILL NOT REST UNTIL A MEAL IS GIVEN TO THEM. SO EITHER TWILIGHT IS FED TO THEM… OR YOU.” Ignis said, with another deep, bellowing laugh. Blaze stepped back in horror, not knowing what to do. Twilight shook her head, pointing her hoof at herself. She wanted Blaze to live, but he had other plans.

“I...I volunteer.” Blaze said, and with a snap, Blaze took Twilight’s place in space. Twilight looked with utter horror as Blaze dropped, and she felt the bile rising when the snapping of bones ensued. She leaned over, expecting to puke but nothing. She looked back at Ignis with disgust and utter terror as he looked back.

“YOU ARE FREE TO WALK YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A WORLD NOW. LEAVE MY SIGHT, OR YOU SHALL JOIN HIM.” Ignis said, and closed the pit. Twilight walked, and felt herself leave the spiritual realm. She looked around to see her friends recovering.

“Twilight! You’re okay!” Axle said, being the first one to fully wake up. He looked around her, and then a look of despair and panic crossed over his face.

“Where’s Blaze?” He asked, pushing back whatever tears burnt themselves out. Twilight held her face in her hooves, refusing to look Axle straight in the eye. Axle looked away, feeling the emotions exploding and rising inside of him. A single tear, empowered by its failing brethren came to the lip of his eyelids and slid down his face, making a trail of salty, bitter tear down his face. He felt it drip off of his chin, before walking off. He walked and didn't look back, knowing she’d come after him. As he predicted, Twilight came running up to him

“Where are you going Axle!? There’s nowhere to go now, all that’s left of Equestria is a scorched wasteland!” She yelled, her anger and confusion rising. Axle turned to face her, and took off his sunglasses, throwing them aside.

“There is somewhere we can go Twilight. Right onto that demonic bucker’s front step, fury and magic blazing. There may not be anything we can do about Equestria, and that’s why we’re doing this. This is our final stand, the last frontier of resistance! We are the last line, and by Celestia’s grave we will defend our ranks! We may not be all powerful like her, but we've got one trick up our sleeves. And that is our union, our common reason. We only have this one place, and I WILL NOT SEE IT BURN!” Axle shouted with glory and determination in his voice. The few ponies who had survived cheered, their spirits lifted by his speech. The many civilians readied their weapons, whether it be the horns on their heads, or the wings on their back, or the hooves on their legs, and formed up to create a battalion of ponies. In the front, leading the mob was Axle, armed with his wrench gripped tightly in his wing.

“Wait, you’re going to beat him down with a wrench?” One of the ponies asked. Axle turned to face him, pressing a button on the hilt. Suddenly, the two prongs on the end split apart, and a large blade extended from the centre. A sword. The pony gasped at the sight, and Axle turned again to face forwards, still leading.

Not an hour later, they arrived at the canterlot castle. What had been a secure and welcoming location, now morphed into a black beacon for the demons of the night roaming the land. The dark energies swirled, and the many behind Axle began to flee in fright. The ones who stayed still marched. The guardian of the castle, a large black suit of armour stood at the entrance, holding it’s position firmly.

“STATE YOUR BUSINESS AT LORD IGNIS’S CASTLE.” It spoke as they champions approached. It drew its sword from the sheath at it’s side, and held it firmly.

“IF YOU DO NOT STOP, I WILL BE FORCED TO CUT YOU DOWN.” It warned, but the ponies marched onwards. When they reached within arm’s length of the beast, it charged. Just then, Twilight teleported from her rank and behind the monster, blasting a hole straight through it’s chest with a precise shot from her horn. It collapsed before exploding into a black mist, which flowed back into the castle.

“On my mark, Earth Ponies will charge the gate. READY!” Axle shouted, and the earth ponies readied for a straightforward charge. All but one that was. Pinkie wheeled her cannon, but this time no confetti was to be launched.

“NOW!” Axle yelled, and the many ponies gave a war cry, charging the gates with their sheer strength. The many hooves smashed into the door, but it did not budge. Out of nowhere, an explosion rocked the door as it blew open, shattering the barrier. Smoke rose from Pinkie’s newly crafted Fireworks Cannon, and she smiled. The hinges fell, and the doors toppled. On the other end, an army of shadows and demons, endless ranks of creatures of the night. Axle raised his hoof, and the Unicorns took aim. Down went Axle’s hoof, and so did all hell break loose. The missiles of energy flew through the air, falling onto the army of darkness, their sheer numbers dwindled by the colorful explosions. The remaining charged at the resistance, and the earth ponies made short work of them. All of a sudden, the air was filled with shades, and the many started to dive bomb at the ponies below. They never made it close to the ground however, thanks to the short work of the Pegasi. The resistance charged, and stormed the hallways, forming up on the throne room. Axle annihilated the door, and the army charged in. Nopony sat upon the throne, but instead a twisted memento. There, lying on the throne was the late Blaze kindling, completely intact. Twilight realized that he hadn't been physically harmed, but instead lost his soul to the demons in the pit. Then, a figure arose from the carcass, and took the shape of an alicorn. It’s flaming red eyes penetrated through the thick ranks of the resistance, and it glared down Axle with a hatred so pure, it couldn't look any angrier without breaking the laws of reality. Suddenly, laughter akin to a mad clown filled the room as the being keeled over in hysteria. It got up from it’s massive laugh attack, and began to speak in a voice resembling the very devil himself.

“IS THAT IT? JUST A RAGTAG GROUP OF SURVIVORS EXPECT TO BEAT ME!?” The being laughed again. “I EXPECTED MAYBE A LITTLE MORE PONIES, BUT NO. YOU BRING A BATTALION OF WHAT, THREE HUNDRED? TO FIGHT ME. YOU ARE BRAVE, I’LL GIVE YOU THAT. BUT BRAVERY LEADS TO RECKLESSNESS. RECKLESSNESS LEADS TO OVERCONFIDENCE. OVERCONFIDENCE LEADS TO A SHALLOW GRAVE!” It screamed, and summoned another army of shadow creatures to wipe the resistance off the face of Equestria. The ponies fought hard and strong, cutting down scores of hundreds like wheat in a field. Soon after, the being descended from it’s throne of rotting flesh, and charged a blast. The many different Unicorns created wards, while the Pegasi gathered debris for dropping, and the Earth Ponies readied behind the shield, waiting for the precise moment to strike. The blast let loose, expected to break the shield, but it held strong. And from it charged hundreds of ponies, letting all of their fury expel onto the beast of darkness. Rocks and debris rained from the sky as the Pegasi dropped their bombs onto him. While the others charged, the Unicorns held up the shield to break any oncoming spells. When the smoke cleared, all they could see was a single extruding wing of pure black. They triumphed, but not for long. The rubble shifted and it rose to it’s feet, barely a scratch on it.

“MY TURN…” It said, and launched the most massive blast of concentrated energy right at the shield. The combined forces were no match for it’s power, and the unicorns soon found themselves in caught in a soul-eating vortex of dark energy. With one fell swoop, the beast had killed half of Axle’s troops.
It laughed at their futile attempts before it charged another, aiming this time at the roof. The blast fired, but no pegasi were hit. They chose to taunt him, before hearing a cracking behind them. The marble pillars fell and crushed them, while the roof killed even more when it came crashing down. The beast could not see any survivors, just a pile of rubble under his throne. He laughed again, before getting hit in the back with a beam. He turned to see the mane six he had meant to kill. He noticed the azure blue pegasus with them, holding a sword in his wings. The demon charged another huge blast, but before he could launch it off, they were gone. He attempted to hold in the energy, as he found the group. They had thought him unarmed. He let loose his held in energy onto them. They had no time to escape. He looked at their small platform, only to see it charred, with no sign of them. Must have disintegrated, he thought to himself. From inside his blind spot, came a sword held in the wings of the most determined stallion in the land. The sword pierced through it’s hide and into it’s flesh. The beast screamed in pain before looking with extreme rage at Axle.

“One on one beast, just you… and me.” Axle said, his eyes ablaze with confidence. It spat on the ground before raising it’s weapon, a sword forged from the very fires of whence it came from. They both swung, and the swords collided. The shock wave rocked the land, and the plot of earth they stood upon rose into the air on a pillar of light and dark. The final battle was at hand. Axle swung, but the beast countered and used his forwards momentum to throw Axle off his ground and behind him. Axle quickly rose to his hooves and delivered a swift kick to the ribcage of the beast. It bellowed at him before swinging blindly. Axle dodged and delivered another kick followed by a jab to the side with his blade. The beast fell, and Axle raised his sword into the air, bringing it down onto the horrid creature. The blade went straight through the beast, and into the ground under him. It screamed in pain, attempted to raise the sword out of it’s chest, but no use was at hand. Axle kicked the blade farther into the beast, completely covering the blade in it’s pitch black blood. His removed his blade from the beast and placed his hoof over the wound in triumph. The platform fell to the ground, and Axle met with his friends. They cheered for him, feeling relief in the creature true death. Not again would they need to….

“I DoNt ThInK sO!” The creature’s dark voice emanated from behind Axle. A shadow beam hit him right in head, sending him careening backwards into a wall. Twilight attempted to stop its assault, but it knocked her aside. Applejack and Dash hit it with full force, but they too were sent flying backwards. It picked up Axle with it’s wing, and raised him above the crater that was once the Canterlot Castle. Axle struggled, but no avail was had. Just as the Beast let go of him, a fireball completely encircled him, scorching and searing him into oblivion. The fire was that of Hell fire, and it completely incinerated the beast into ashes, severing it once and for all from the plane of existence Axle fell, and out of nowhere, a bright flash of red snatched him out of the air. Axle landed back on the edge of the crater. Standing before him, was Blaze. But he was changed, his mane no longer was just red, instead a flowing green with red streaks. His cutie mark changed as well, going from a fire to a sun-like fireball painted on his flank.

“B-Blaze? How are you alive?” Axle stuttered, along with Twilight beside him.

“They may have taken my soul, but a certain someone had what I needed. We now live as one.” Blaze said. “Oh, and I am no longer Blaze. Refer to me as only Prince Kindling.” He said. Twilight stumbled.

“Wait… P-Prince? Do you mean… C-C-Celestia?” Twilight couldn't feel her head, it was up in the clouds. The newly appointed prince nodded.

“She was left adrift, without a body, in the Void. When she found my body, she gave me what little of herself was left, reincarnating me with herself. I guess the green is from her.” The Prince said.

A moaning sounded from the edge of the crater, where the beast had been annihilated. Axle looked to see a familiar black pegasus lying on the ground, curling into a ball with pain. And from the skies, descended a white unicorn.
“Twilight, Axle, Prince. You have freed me from the bonds of this terrible creature, known only as Ignis.”
Silver said, with her smile gleaming over the pitch blackness. She then placed her hoof on the cowering Ignis, and his black coat was whisked away, revealing a pure white coat with an amazing multi coloured mane. He had been purified of his demonic traits.

“Join me now, Ignis. let us walk the plane together as one.” Silver said. Ignis walked towards her, and in a flash of light, they disappeared. Axle wiped his eyes, barely believing what he had just witnessed.

“Well, now that our world is rid of the menace, we can rebuild.” Blaze said, and so they did.

You know, they say that in the beginning of Equestria, fire was made to be a cruel, unforgiving element of no mercy. But as is the case with yours truly, fire can be something… beautiful.