//-------------------------------------------------------// Fire Blaze and the Spawn of Darkness -by FireFlare- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// The Nightmare //-------------------------------------------------------// The Nightmare " Wake up... wake up... WAKE UP"! Princess Celestia opened her eyes to the sound of a ghostly voice, but the only thing she could see was darkness. Once Celestia got up and stood on all fours, she waited a moment hoping that her eyes just needed to adjust. However that was not the case, Celestia still was surrounded by the black abyss. Luckily for Celestia, she had just the right spell for the job. A bright yellow glow appeared on Celestia's horn, then there was a huge flash of light. Now Celestia has bright light on the tip of her horn so she can see. Even with the light however, Celestia still could only see 3 feet in front of her. " Hello, is anyone there", Celestia asked. That's when the ghostly voice appeared again. " Hello Princess Celestia", the voice said. " Where am I", Celestia asked. " You are in my domain, please make your self at home", the voice said. After a moment of silence, Celestia became impatient. " Well what are you waiting for, show your self", Celestia demanded. The voice chuckled. " My apologies Princess, how rude of me to keep my guest waiting.", the voice said. Then out of no where, a giant cloud of smoke formed in front of Celestia. This being had light grey eyes and four long arms with sharp looking claws. The mere presence of this thing sent shivers down Celestia's spine. Celestia felt nothing but ill intent coming from this creature. " My name is Malice", the voice said. " What do you want", Celestia asked. " Allow me to explain from the beginning. Over the many years Equestria has existed, this land has experienced many different kinds of evil. And each battle left behind pools of negative energy that remained dormant for many millennia. That was until that recent battle concerning Tirek's returned when it became too much. When all the energy packed itself together, somehow it manifested itself into a sentient being. I am that being. Now that you know my origin, let's talk about what I want. I want what my predecessors long desired, total control over Equestria. The only difference between them and I is that I'm not afraid to take a life to get what I want. But why stop with Equestria, after this I will spread my darkness all over the world, and every living thing will bow before me as their one true ruler. But if they refuse, it will be my pleasure to put them through as much pain as much until they worship me ". Malice said. The feeling of disgust and anger flowed through Celestia like the blood in her veins. But she kept her composure and responded. " You won't get away with this, Twilight and her friends will defeat you". But Malice just let out one of the most evil laughs Celestia has ever heard. "Tell me Celestia, is the magic of friendship the only thing you resort to in a crisis like this", Malice asked. " Whether it's the Elements of Harmony, or the new Rainbow Power, the Magic of Friendship has never failed us", Celestia said. Malice laughed once again, putting a puzzled look on Celestia. " Yes it's true that the villains before me were extremely pathetic. As for me, one special trait I have is that I take what is good, and destroy it. So even if this new Rainbow Power manages to make contact with me, it will only delay the inevitable", Malice said. This was impossible, no evil could defeat the power of the magic of friendship. This must be a joke, it has to be. Celestia decided to push further. " You're bluffing", Celestia said. Malice let out a sinister chuckle. " Of course you would say that, your so dependent on this childish magic that you can't accept the possibility that one day it's going to fail on you. Be careful Celestia, ignorance is a very dangerous thing, it can lead to one's ultimate demise. Oh well, believe what you want to believe, I do enjoy watching some ones hopes and dreams fade away while they die. Look Celestia I would love to continue this conversation but I'm afraid this little get together is now over. However I will leave you with this. I have about a week before I reach my full power, that should give you enough time to prepare, oh and please make this fight at least a little bit challenging for me, I like it when my prey suffers for long periods of time. Sayonara.", Malice said. With that, Malice slowly built up a malicious laugh, as this was happening, the darkness started to engulf Celestia. Malice's laugh only grew bigger the more he disappeared. Celestia tried to fight back the darkness, but it was no use, it was cold and unforgiving, she felt as though she was drowning in it. Celestia let a blood curdling scream, then she woke up. Celestia was in her bedroom, with Luna watching over her. Celestia noticed that Luna too had a look of utter fear. " Luna, what are you doing here", Celestia asked. " You were having a nightmare, I tried to enter your dreams but I was blocked out by some dark force. What happened in there", Luna asked. Celestia took a couple of seconds to catch her breath, then she spoke to Luna. " This monster called Malice invaded my dreams to give me a message", Celestia said. " What did Malice say say", Luna asked. " He said that he was going to rule Equestria, and that we only have a week to prepare", Celestia said. Luna gave a chuckle of confidence. " Don't worry, Twilight and her friends will use their Rainbow Power to defeat him", Luna said. " I don't know, he seemed confident enough to say that the magic of friendship won't be enough", Celestia said. " Don't worry sister, we will prevail as always", Luna said. " I hope you're right", Celestia said with a lot of worry in her voice. Author's Note Sorry for the long wait, I was working the summer so I didn't have time to write a story. I hope you enjoy the story and give me feed back. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Attack //-------------------------------------------------------// The Attack The time spent during the week Celestia had was spent preparing for Malice's arrival. Celestia hosted meeting everyday, last for about 3 hours. During this time they planned defense strategies and formations. Celestia concluded that she will gather forces from the Crystal Empire and merge them with her own soldiers. Of course Celestia will need Twilight & her friends, Shining Armor to lead the soldier, and even Discord will be needed. How can they possibly lose. One the night before the arrival, Malice invaded Celestia's dreams again. Malice tells Celestia that he will attack Canterlot first and that she better make it entertaining for him. The moment Celestia woke up the next morning, she didn't waste anytime informing everyone else about the situation. Celestia had Shining Armor and the soldiers positioned outside the Castle to stand guard, while she and the rest remain in the throne room. Everything was set up the way Celestia wanted it. " Princess Celestia", Twilight said. Celestia broke out of her concentration and looked toward Twilight. " Yes, what is it", Celestia said. " You look worried, are you ok", Twilight asked. Everyone's attention was on Celestia now, waiting for an answer. " I'm fine Twilight, but something about the Malice character really gets me anxious", Celestia said. " Is it because he's scary, is it because he's super evil, is it because if we lose he will have complete control over Equestria", Pinkie Pie asked. Everyone looked at Pinkie with an annoyed glare, " What, did I say something wrong", Pinkie Pie asked. Everyone just let out an annoyed sigh and turned their attention back to Celestia. " Don't worry Princess, we will show that creep not to mess with Equestria. You can count on us", Rainbow Dash said. That statement gave Celestia some form of relief, but she still felt a bit nervous. Then out of no where, loud sounds could be heard for outside the throne room. Soldiers yelling to retreat or keep fighting, civilians screaming in terror, and buildings crumpling filled the air. Everyone in the throne room had a tinge of fear on their face, even Discord looked a little worried. " He's here", Luna said. " Everyone get ready", Celestia demanded. So that's what they did, everyone were prepared to face what was beyond the entrance door. The sound of destruction came closer to them, and closer, and closer, until it was quiet. Silence was the only thing that could be heard except the nervous breathing coming from everyone. Then the entrance door opened, but it was not who they were expecting. It was Shining Armor, bruised, bloodied, and with his armor cracked and falling off. Although everyone let out a gasp, it was Cadence and Twilight's that was the loudest. " Please...you...need...to...stop...hi-", Shining Armor said before smoke in the shape of a blade came out of Shining Armor's chest. Everyone let out a scream of terror as Shining Armor died in front of them, except for Discord who just had a look of shock on his face. Shining Armor was tossed to the side to reveal the cloud of smoke Celestia saw in her dream. The blade reformed back into the long sharp claws that belonged to this monster. Malice looked at the dead body of Shining Armor and let out a sigh. "I'm really disappointed Celestia. When I asked to be entertained, I didn't expect you to start me off with fodder", Malice said. Malice then noticed the look of terror on everyone's face. Malice chuckled at the sight before him. " Yes the smell of fear is filling the air, and it is delicious. Allow me to relieve you of some anxiety", Malice said. Then Malice started morphing, after the transformation Malice resembled a lot like an alicorn. Malice was now as tall as Celestia, he had dark grey fur, a distorted horn like Chrysalis's, and large grey wings. Malice's eyes were pitch black with one light grey dot on each eye. Malice had a flowing black mane and tail with a trail of smoke following close by. Malice had teeth that looks like they belonged to a wolf, and finally he had a cutie mark that was three black claw marks with black blood dripping from the wound. " There, since I have taken on the revolting appearance, I also reduced my power significantly. To top it off I will now let you make the first attack", Malice said. That's when Twilight stepped forward, pure anger was clearly shown on her face. Twilights friends tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. " You're going to pay for what you did to my brother you monster. Girls get ready", Twilight said. Twilight's friends hesitated at first, but they joined her in the end. Malice let out a sigh. " Celestia I though we discussed this a week ago, your pathetic magic of friendship isn't going to do anything", Malice said. " You underestimate Twilight and her friends' abilities. Girls show him what you can do", Celestia said. " Right", Twilight and her friends said. Then the mane 6 transformed into their Rainbow Power forms and fired a rainbow laser at Malice. However Malice made a sinister smile and his horn lit up with a black aura. Then somehow Malice prevented the laser from hitting him, but rather gathered it up into a sphere. Then Malice's darkness consumed the sphere and destroyed it. Everyone let out a gasp of fear, then Malice's horn glowed again. " My turn", Malice said. Malice then fired a giant beam of dark magic. The alicorns and Discord used their magic to create a shield block the attack. At first it seemed to be working, but over time the beam become to much and broke the shield, engulfing everyone in the dark magic. After the smoke cleared from the explosion, then only ones still standing were Celestia, Luna, and Discord. Cadence, and the mane 6 were on the ground unconscious. Discord looked down at Fluttershy, she was bruised and whimpering from the pain. " Fluttershy", Discord said, he then looked at Malice with a menacing glare, his claw and lion paw lit up with chaos magic. " I'm going to make you suffer for what you did", Discord said. " I'm looking forward to it", Malice said followed by a sinister chuckle. Discord snapped his fingers, and large swords appeared out of no where, Discord then pointed at Malice, then the sword launched towards him. But Malice quickly transformed into a cloud of smoke, phasing through the swords. When Malice reformed into his alicorn form, he was already close enough to land a punch on Discords face. Discord teleported away from Malice, and grunted in pain from the attack. " Is this all that the Lord of Chaos can do, spending time with those ponies really made you weak", Malice said. " DON'T YOU MOCK ME", Discord yelled. Discord then launched a giant beam of chaos magic towards Malice, and it actually made contact. After the flash of light, Malice was encased in stone. " That was for Fluttershy", Discord said. " I can't believe it, you beat him Discord", Celestia said in delight. Discord made a smirk. " Well, that's what happens when you-", Discord said before the stone statue of Malice began to shake and break apart. In a huge explosion, Malice escaped the stone prison. "Impossible", Discord said in shock. Malice cracked his neck and stared at Discord with disappointment. " Trying to turn me into stone. That only works with the weak", Malice said. Discord was furious now, which was further proven by the magic aura covering him. " I'LL SHOW WEAK", Discord yelled. Discord was about to fire another magic beam, but Malice was to quick and he landed a powerful punch in Discord's stomach. Discord fell to his knees and almost threw up from the punch. " What should I do to you now, kill you, hmmmm, no I have a better idea", Malice said. Malice then placed his hoof on Discords for head, then the darkness consumed Discord. When Discord got back up, he looked like a shadow of the original, but there were two light grey dots that occupied the eyes. " Discord, take care of Luna, Celestia is mine", Malice ordered " Yes...my master", Discord said in a zombie like voice. Discord then suddenly attacked Luna. Malice then turned to Celestia. " Do you submit Celestia", Malice asked. " CURSE YOU", Celestia screamed, she then fired a magic beam at Malice, but he easily blocked it with his wing. Malice then fired his own magic beam, which did in fact hit Celestia, launching her at the throne chair. Just by one attack, Celestia was already extremely injured. Celestia watched as Luna was being brutally beaten by Discord, she would have been killed if Malice hadn't stopped Discord. " I'll ask you again Celestia, do you submit", Malice asked. " I...I...I submit", Celestia said lowering her head to sob. Malice then let out a sinister victory laugh " Perfect, just perfect", Malice said in evil delight. Malice then used his magic to toss Celestia off the throne chair, taking the spot for his own. " Let this mark the day of anew empire. The Empire of Darkness", Malice said followed by another laugh. Malice then launched darkness from his horn, this darkness infected the city, turning the soldiers that were still alive into mindless shadow servants. Even the buildings, especially the castle were given a demonic, dark look to them. Civilians that were still alive tried to escape, but were unable to because a giant dome of darkness surrounded the city. Equestria belongs to Malice now. Author's Note Now I know what you're thinking, " Where's Fire Blaze, he's the main character right"? Don't worry, he will appear next chapter, so keep your pants on. Anyway thank you for reading this chapter, and I'll see you next time. P.S. Feedback is appreciated. //-------------------------------------------------------// Enter Fire Blaze //-------------------------------------------------------// Enter Fire Blaze Journal Entry One It has been one year since Malice had taken over Equestria, and already he has done too much damage. Ever since his victory, he's made all civilians his slaves, making them work hard labor for reasons they don't even know about. He makes them carve out monuments about him just to raise his own stupid ego. However the worst thing he does is when he kills some random pony just to set an example, and most of the time they didn't do anything wrong. Calling him a monster would be an understatement, he's a bucking psychopath. But I wasn't going to stand there and watch that atrocity ruin the lives of thousands. I escaped Canterlot before the wall of darkness was set up, and I managed bring along several others with me. We set up an underground base about 2 or 3 miles from Canterlot. We became a resistance group, we call ourselves Phoenix, because no matter how many time we get knocked down, we will always rise again. We went on many rescue missions and our resistance is growing by the numbers. The only way I am able to write the details about Malice and how he treats other is because of many tough and difficult missions. However I'm getting this feeling that it's all going to come to an end very soon. If I die during this war, I will die fighting for the freedom of countless ponies. My name is Fire Blaze and this is my story. Fire Blaze just finished his journal entry when someone knocked on his room door. " Come in", Fire Blaze said. An earth pony stallion came in to the room. He had light tan fur, black mane and tail with a white stripe down the middle. He wore steampunk goggles with red lenses so you couldn't exactly tell his eye color, and he wore a dirty white lab coat. Finally he had a cutie mark of two gears. " Hey Doc, what's up", Fire Blaze asked. " I need your help, it's an emergency", Doc said. Fire Blaze closed his journal and followed Doc. Along the way, Doc and Fire Blaze passed by many of the refugees from rescue missions, many of them were extremely hurt. Eye patches, casts, bandages, loud coughing, crying, etc. Watching all this, Fire Blaze did what he could to hold back from letting out a tear. " So what is it that you need me for Doc", Fire Blaze asked. " Well, the group that you sent to get food came back", Doc said. " And how'd they do", Fire Blaze asked. " They did manage to get food to last a couple of weeks, but they were ambushed during the process. Out of the 6 you sent, only 3 made it back, and one of them lost a front leg", Doc said. " Damn it", Fire Blaze said. " Now I managed to put a patch on the wound, but I ran out of fuel for the cauterizer, so you'll need to use your magic to do the job", Doc said. " Sure, no problem", Fire Blaze said. When they reached the medical room, Fire Blaze's heart sunk again. Friends he grew close to during this rebellion groaning in pain as they lay helplessly on a medical table. Doc led Fire Blaze to one of the patience who had a patch on what was left of his front leg. Doc then walks up to the colt and talks to him. " I'm going to remove the patch, and we're going to stop the bleeding ok", Doc said. The colt just nodded while whimpering. Doc then had the colt bite down hard on a rag. " Are you ready Blaze", Doc asked. " Yeah I'm ready", Fire Blaze said. Fire Blaze then charged up his magic, creating a small fire ball on the tip of his horn. " Ok, 1...2...3", Doc said. Doc then quickly removed the patch and revealed the wound, Fire Blaze then quickly fired a small fire beam at the wound, cauterizing it. The colt made a muffled scream in pain as he bit down harder on the rag. Tears ran like a water fall down the ponies eyes, but after ten seconds the pain stopped. The only sound the pony made were soft whimpers. Doc let out a sigh of relief and said, " Good job Blaze, now let's go get something to eat". Doc turned to face Fire Blaze, but he wasn't there anymore. Doc turned around to see Fire Blaze facing a wall with his head pointing down, and it looked like he was sobbing. Doc walked up to him. " What's wrong Blaze", Doc asked. " I'm such an idiot", Fire Blaze said, still pointing his head down. " What are you talking about", Doc asked. Fire Blaze then turned to face Doc. " Look around Doc, we lose more ponies than we save, and the ones we do save are so badly hurt that they can barley stand up. Not to mention that we can barley scape enough food for everyone with Malice's troops breathing down our necks. I'm unfit to be a leader; I was chosen by Celestia herself to help defend Canterlot, but what happened when I saw Malice wipe through the front line. I coward in fear and hid away; now my closest friends are dead, my mentor Shining Armor is dead, and everyone else is some mindless soldier working for Malice. Were just fighting the inevitable now", Fire Blaze said. Doc let out a sigh and said, " Listen to me carefully Blaze. If you had stayed and fought, you would have died as well. No one here blames you for what you did because they would probably would have done the same. You managed to save so many ponies, not just from Canterlot, but also from other missions. You are probably the bravest pony I have ever met Blaze, and I'm willing to bet that the others here would feel the same way. You are their hero, you are the one they look up to, heck I look up to you. No one here has given up on you, so don't give up on them". Fire Blaze let out a small smile, " Thanks Doc, you always know how to make someone feel better", Fire Blaze said. Doc gave a smirk and said, " What can I say, it's part of my charm". Fire Blaze and Doc laughed together for a couple seconds. " Alright, now let's get some lunch ok", Doc said. " Alright", Fire Blaze said. Author's Note Sorry for the long wait; school been a nightmare,and my charger broke along with my laptop dying. But now I will be doing my best to write more chapters. Thank you guys, and please enjoy this new chapter. P.S. I can't figure put a full name for Doc, so if anyone has any suggestions, that would be awesome. .