Fractured Darkness

Fractured Darkness
Chapter 17: Ignite

By: Major Frostwing

A scream of pure agony erupted from the office. Celestia had sent word to Luna to have her arrive as soon as possible. The pod that held Jon was glowing an angry red as Moon thrashed in the pod her voice strained as she continued to scream. "IT BURNS! GODS IT BURNS!" She yelled her thrashing becoming more erratic as the machine sparked and burned.

"PLEASE HANG IN THERE MOON! LUNA IS ON HER WAY!" Celestia yelled back. Moon responded by slamming her forehead into the glass shattering it. Flames erupted out of the machine exposing the room to the raw heat.

"THERE IS NO TIME! HE WANTS OUT!" Moon let loose another screech before she was ejected out of the pod colliding with Celestia. The instant contact was made Moon merged with her. Celestia felt the magic that had once consumed Moon and felt how the magic burned and charred her very being. Celestia stared at the pod seeing as it melted away revealing Jon as he continued to stand where the machine once stood.

His body was charred black with his hair alight in crimson flames. Blobs of glowing metal rose to the surface of his skin before impacting the ground. Thousands of cracks appeared along his body glowing a brilliant orange and to Celestia's keen eye she knew several of the cracks were echoes of the scars she had inflicted on him all those years ago. His eyes opened slowly revealing his eyes shifted between yellow, orange, and red. The flames slowly died down and the temperature returned to a more normal temperature. Jon took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Smoke seemed to pour out with the exhale.

"J-Jon?" Celestia asked tentatively as he eyes flicked over to her. "Is that you?" She asked as she slowly got to her feet.

Jon took another deep breath before exhaling once again. "Yes." He answered as his skin began to return to normal. "This is just very difficult. All this raw magic is just... New." He said looking over his hands. "Feels like a small twitch would destroy the room. Just need to reign it all in." Jon continued with his slow movements and deep breathing.

"Did you win?" Celestia asked as Jon raised his arms over his head letting out a series of cracks.

"Kicked her ass. Learned a few new spells. Now the fun part." Jon shoved his hand into his chest before ripping a large diamond out. Celestia could only stare in horror as Jon crushed the diamond in his grip as his wound healed over. "Don't need that anymore."

"Jon you realize you just destroyed your relic of power." Celestia pointed out as Jon only responded with a snort of laughter.

"The relic held half of Flare's magic. Now that we have merged the relic is useless and dead. Now then." Jon lightly clapped his hands together taking a step out of the slagged pod. "Bring me to my troops. It's time we take this war to the next level."

I stood before my troops they all stood at attention not a single one move in my presence as my eyes trailed over them. "Moon trained them well but it is time for them to soar above all expectations." I cracked a smile nodding my head.

"At ease." I ordered quietly as one they moved into parade rest. "Come forth my Captains." Seven soldiers stepped forward saluting me. "It is time we stopped playing on the defensive. We are going to play hard and we are going to be ruthless. Stoke the flames my soldiers and heat the metal. Blacksmith Protocol is now in effect." I saw all of my soldiers lock eyes with me. "Move forward and remove the impurities from our world and eradicate the defects. Go." I waved my hands dismissively as they all saluted before rushing off in complete silence.

Celestia walked next to me whispering to me. "Jon what exactly is Blacksmith Protocol?" I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"It's a special order that only I am allowed to issue. The protocol revolves around the simple idea that Equestria could fall at any moment. Every single one of my soldiers is being deployed undercover in every city in Equestria and each one carries a single mass teleportation crystal. If the city they are in is attacked a strike command is sent to all of my soldiers and then the stone is crushed. The entire might of my army is summoned in that location to retaliate. They all have standing orders to eliminate the enemy with extreme prejudice. If they are to be captured they are to detonate their magic." I explained as I saw my army vanish one by one. Celestia's hand gripped my shoulder tightly.

"Jon. That is ludicrous. You just told your soldiers to execute themselves instead of capture. Are you ready to throw their lives away?" I glared at Celestia as my magic flared shoving her back.

"They know what will happen if we fail. They accepted their orders and follow them without a bit of hesitance." I looked back as my army had finally disappeared completely all except one. "And she has a very important role." I said watching Mythril. "Just one last test." I disappeared in a flash of orange before appearing once again face to face with Mythril. "Defend yourself." I said before backhanding Mythril to the other side of the compound. "YOUR FINAL TEST BEGINS MYTHRIL! BRING IT ALL TO BEAR AND RISE TO THE CHALLENGE! BECOME MY WARSMITH! IF YOU DO NOT PASS YOU DO NOT LIVE!" I took aim with my palm as magic gathered into a condensed ball of orange swirling destruction. I released the raw magic with frightening speed only to see it diverted the last second by a flash of sky blue. Mythril was glaring at me breathing heavily and blood flowing from a cut across her forehead. I continued to just stare at her before raising my hand "I'm waiting." I said with a casual snap of my fingers a cage surrounded her and several points along it's surface began to glow brightly.

Mythril was at least smart enough to teleport herself out of the box before the beams fired. But sadly not fast enough to dodge my straight kick to her chest knocking her against the side of said cage shattering it on her impact. "I taught you better than this. Have you been slacking?" I asked walking towards her. A flash of magic flew towards me only for me to catch the raw energy and send it back at her with a small toss. She rolled a few times from the force of her own concussive spell. "A concussive spell? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING I TAUGHT YOU!?" I asked as I rushed forward seizing her in my iron grip throwing her into the air. "YOU ARE A CAPTAIN! YOU ARE A HAMMER! YOU ARE MY STUDENT!" I roared out jumping up raising both of my fists skyward before bringing them down on her airborne form. Mythril was painfully cratered into the hard stone. "FUCKING START ACTING LIKE IT!" I charged a spell at my fingertips before snapping them. An explosion rocked the entire compound. I landed looking at Mythril's downed form the remnants of a magic shield dissolved away around her.

Mythril let out a yell of frustration channeling her magic on me. "HEAR MY CALL FROM THE VOID OF SPACE! THE DARKNESS AND DEPTHS OF NOTHING! CRUSH MY VICTIMS IN UNENDING WEIGHT! CAUSE THEM AGONY AND DESPAIR!" I felt the spell about to activate but I did not move. I had a better idea. "GRAVITY WELL!" The gravity around my shifted trying to yank me to a single point above me but I did not move.

"I thought I said a long time ago not to dabble in dark magic. Now let me show you how it's really done." I took a deep breath raising my hand slowly before giving a small shove down on the air. The effects were immediate on Mythril as her spell cut off and she dropped the her hands and knees. "You are strong Mythril but you still require the incantation for the mid tier spell like Gravity Well. Welcome to the master level. Quantum Gravity. No incantation only pure control. Taking a single space and shifting it's quantum mechanics and doing whatever the fuck I want with it." I continued to push down as Mythril finally caved and slammed into the ground. "You have potential Mythril but you have to LET IT OUT!" I barked out as my spell shattered.

Mythril's body began to glow a dark shade of blue before exploding outward as she let loose a scream of frustration. I prepared myself for what was about to come forth. Mythril slammed her fists into the ground getting to her feet before the metal in her right arm began to shift and morph losing it's normal shape before solidifying on a rather nasty looking claw. I crossed my arms before tapping my foot impatient to begin. Mythril's armor engaged but only covered up to her neck. Her screaming finally stopped as she glared at me her skin shifting to a dark navy blue.

"Oh this feels nice." Mythril's two tone voice purred out as she watched me. "A pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I am Impurity." She said with a flourish. I rolled my eyes to the heavens.

"Gods shoot me." I muttered out before reaching into my storage space to get my phone. "Can we speed this along now that you are here?" I asked going through my phone.

"And who the FUCK do you think you are? I am stronger than your weak little nightmare. I am feeding off of this little girl's insecurities. There is so much of it here to devour it's never ending." Impurity stated taking aim at me. "And what does your's feed on?" Impurity fired off a spell bolt only for me to wave it away with a nudge of my magic.

"Why don't I let her tell you." I said sliding my phone home in my pocket. "Come and say hello to Flare." I said as My magic condensed behind me before a woman stepped around me. "Flare. Go make a new friend and remember. Don't kill them." I tapped her on the shoulder as Flare took off like a bat out of hell.

"HI! I'M FLARE! GO FUCK YOURSELF! I EAT HIS HATE!" Flare yelled out in a chipper tone as her skin turned pitch black with cracks of orange and red running along her skin. Impurity didn't even have time to register who was running at her before a flaming knee impacted her nose shattering the cartilage and sending her soaring backwards. Flare landed with a small tap of her shoes charging a spell in both of her hand. "NOW LET'S PLAY!" Flare slammed her hands together condensing the energy before unleashing a devastating beam of concentrated 'FUCK YOU' The beam was barely dodged by Impurity.

"You think that scares me?" Impurity huffed out before taking aim at Flare only for a size 11 magic reinforced Eclipsium boot to connect with the back of her head. To say the least she was sent flying once again.

"Who said you should be scared?" I said tapping my boot on the ground to shake the residue of the magic off. "We aren't here to scare you. We are here to make a deal. A small alliance so to speak. We win you give Mythril full control until this war is over. If we lose you get to eat Flare and all of that juicy magic she has." I made my offer shoving my hands into my pockets. "Flare will be the only one to use magic and I will only use hand to hand combat. Do we have a deal my dear Impurity?"

I saw Impurity picking herself back up glaring daggers at me. "When I win I want your head as well." Impurity countered as I cracked a smile. "DEAL!" Impurity charged a spell only for me to appear before her glaring down at her.

"Deal." The shock on her face was priceless as I gripped her face. "Don't break to fast. I got an itch that I need to scratch." I lift Impurity in the air as she unleashed her spell right in my face. I felt a section of my face tear off before my grip faltered allowing her the chance to escape me. "Hunt her down Flare." I mentally ordered as a large explosion rocked the cavern once again. I felt my face repair the damage before I cracked my neck.

"Can I break her now?" Flare mentally asked as I shook my head smiling.

"Let's take this nice and slow. It's more fun that way." I reached into my storage space pulling Umbra out along with a few ingots of Eclipsium. The Eclipsium glowed a bright white before merging with Umbra shifting the greatsword into a new variant of the old blade. The teeth shifted dropping the old gem coating before solidifying into a more streamlined blade. The gem cores shattered falling to the ground like glittering dust. The blade maintained it's black color but in the right light it seemed to reflect an orange light. "PLAY TIME!." I gave Umbra a casual swing as the blade began to vibrate slightly in my grip. I charged forward raising Umbra as I felt a teleport seize me in it's grip. I found myself above Impurity. She looked right at me raising a blade of her own. Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks before her blade broke under the strike. She was at least quick enough to blast me back with her magic.

I landed on my feet before throwing Umbra right at her. She dodged the deadly blade only to be shot in the back by Flare. She turned away from me and I took off in a sprint. "Enchant Umbra with a speed rune." I mentally told Flare. I saw Flare catch Umbra and saw Impurity charge a spell before suddenly aiming right for me. I raised my arms protecting the majority of my body and head. A hail of darts slammed into my arms and legs but I kept moving forward. This pain is nothing compared to what I have been through. In comparison it's a gentle breeze. The barrage stopped only for something to rip through my chest and out my back. I saw Impurity's arm lodged in my body and I couldn't help but smile as I gripped the arm with my right hand and her throat with my left. "CAUGHT YOU! THROW IT!" I yelled out as Impurity tried to rip her arm out only for me to hold fast. Flare threw Umbra to the deafening boom of the sound barrier shattering. The blade ripped through Impurity's back and through me as well. Impurity let loose a scream of agony.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!? WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT DEAD!?" Impurity demanded as she continue to struggle to get away from me and the blade currently locking us together.

"I am Jon. The one who is a worse Nightmare than anything this stupid fucking world can scrap together. I fought worse mortals and step away with their heads in my hands. I am taking it all easy on you because I don't want to kill you and Mythril. If I wanted to I could tear you apart right here." Flare vanished as my skin turned pitch black with cracks of red, orange, and yellow running along my form. My hair ignited in brilliant flames. I flexed my magic as Umbra began glowing an angry orange. "I would have done it already and without a bit of hesitation." I yanked her arm out of my chest for the wound to heal over with a burst of smoke. I used my magic to rip Umbra out of us both to clatter to the floor. "Now ask yourself Impurity. Are you ready to die? I know Mythril would accept her death if I so much as ordered it. But you... You don't want to die just yet." I saw the fear in her eyes as she struggled to heal the damage I caused her. I continued to glare down at her ready to continue this fight if she so much as looked at me wrong. "So choose wisely. Live. Or. Die." Impurity looked down at the wound that was almost finished healing and back up to me. These Nightmares were all the same. They just wanted to live at all costs. When they are faced with their deaths they will admit defeat and hope the one who beat them will be merciful.

"I give up." Impurity whispered out as she bowed before me. I let out a slow breath as the corruption receded back.

"You will have your chance to fight Mythril and see which one of you will have full control. But until the time this war is over you will give Mythril your full cooperation. If you try to betray her or me before this war is over I will not hesitate to crush you." I turned on my heel making my way towards Celestia. "Now bring back my fucking Student. We have shit to do."