A Feast of Dark Love

One of the Oracle Knights, An aquamancer by the name and title of Tidal Nacre Medina, managed to trap many changelings inside a sphere of water during their charge. As they struggled to escape the bubble, Medina withdrew her blade and charged at the bubble while bringing down her other arm that held a portion of a lion’s maw recreating one closing on its prey. The sphere popped and those caught in it were severely hurt as they collapsed. She hoped that after all of this, these changelings will not attack ever again. Just as she was thinking of that, a thunderous sound boomed from behind her. She turned around to see Balgran delivering a deadly blow on a crowd of changelings. Despite it being a bad time to reminisce, she couldn’t help but do so regardless, “So… how does it feel to defend the innocents again Balgran?”

“It has never felt better than before Medina though the idea of defending ponies did make me sketchy for a moment.” Balgran said. The knight just blocked many magic attacks from the changelings hovering above him. Due to his heavy armor, he couldn’t jump high enough and reach them, “I could use some assistance here!”

His request was granted as he felt someone jump onto his shield and lift off. He lowered it to see Ruby and her pet fox taking care of them, “Eenee…” Ruby landed on one of the changelings and jumped off from it as she ascended slightly, “Meenee…”  She landed on another and repeated the process as she soared higher above the swarm, “Minee…” A changeling tried to evade the next hop but was too late as she landed on top of its head and hopped off, “Mo!” She now hung over the swarm who begun to fire at her instead as she lingered above them. A smile formed as she raised her two daggers and descended upon them, “Here’s the Ruby special!” Her fox joined her side just as flames erupted from the daggers and surrounded her creating a phoenix, “Ruby Vanishing!” The flames that enveloped around her now collided with the swarm as they were set alight. Ruby and her fox friend landed below them just as the flames gathered and created a flame pillar below scorching any caught above, “Bye bye love-sucking bugs!” Ruby’s fox-like ears twitched from hearing hissing behind her prompting her to duck an incoming attack, “Hey! Watch who you’re tackling mister bug pony!”

Ark couldn’t help but smile hearing that from Ruby as he dodged an attack, “Ha, she’s still the same as always…” He smacked a few changelings with the face of his blades while kicking away one that was charging from behind. As the horde of changelings continued to swarm the city, Ark soon realized that the surge was not going to end until they all were expelled from the city whether permanently or temporarily. Looking towards the sky, he saw both Chrysalis and Celestia still fighting each other.

He knew that the Queen was the main target but how to help Celestia was the question. A strong wind blew from behind him snapping him out of his thoughts. Turning around, he saw Dion handling many of the fiends that were trying to attack him. His expression matched his clear boredom as he dodged an incoming charge, “This is getting boring! These changelings have no strategy in their minds! They’re just trying to rush us down with numbers…” He whipped up a small tornado in front of him catching those that were charging.

Yuura was inclined to agree with him but was too busy having numerous thoughts about the changelings in question, “Maybe… I could see me playing around with them to be a bit more exciting than simply fighting them…” Yuura gathered any deceased spirits he collected into his staff and hands, then pointed his staff at the swarm sending any he kept on top of them. The sight of them struggling to get out of the precarious situation prompted a devious smile, “I wonder if…”

His thoughts were interrupted by Rinon who knew what was going on in his mind, “No Yuura, you are and will not think about performing anything relating to necromancy! Even if they are our enemies, you will not desecrate their life!” Medina glared at their necromancer as well. She and Rinon share their anger with how he handled living and dead beings. They only begrudgingly deal with his antics because he is an ally that joined their cause.

Luna, only just hearing their conversation, was rather shocked to hear that someone on their side was a necromancer. Yuura did not looked pleased but ended up obliging with Rinon as he recalled the spirits back to his side. Any changelings caught within his attack immediately fled out of fear. She looked towards Ark who only just shook his head when Yuura was bought up, “Do not ask me about it. I have no clue as to why he joined us as well. At least he keeps his necromantic ideals in check, that much, I can say with confidence.”

Luna was debating on whether to worry about Yuura now later. She relented with a sigh as she decided to worry about the nature of the necromancer later, “I was fine with you Ark but to hear that one of your allies is a… necromancer. It will be hard to deal with that knowledge now… especially when my sister finds out about it.” The knight sighed as well, having withheld that information from them for some time. It wasn’t long before he turned his attention towards the fight ahead. Luna looked towards the sky seeing the battle between the two opposing forces. The sight and sounds of battle above made her concerned for the Sun Princess. Her horn glowed as she made a telepathic connection with Celestia while she was fighting her own battles, Sister, how are you faring right now?

Celestia dodged an incoming magic attack from Chrysalis as she was giving chase, Not faring well unfortunately… She is a tougher adversary then I expected. No doubt from her gaining the power to almost equal my strength. She dodged yet another beam of energy as she continued chasing the queen, How about you Luna? How are you faring?

Luna bucked a changeling that was charging from behind her away just as she blasted away those in front of her, I seem to be handling fine for the most part… but I’m more concerned for both you and our niece… Just as she thought of that, her eyes widened as she looked towards the castle. Luna silently cursed herself in forgetting that Cadance is worn out from her imprisonment.

Celestia also widened her eyes as they darted towards the wedding room. She was about to let out a sigh seeing that she was safe but didn’t wish to jinx the moment yet. She fires a beam towards Chrysalis, then another as she gives chase once again. She looked down once and saw Luna fighting hordes of changelings gathering in the center of Canterlot. It bought a smile on her face to see her protecting the citizens. She dispelled the thought for now as she focused on chasing Chrysalis and relaying the message to Luna, Luna, Cadance is safe, but she won’t be for long. Someone must go to the wedding room to defend both her and Shining Armor.

The Night Princess looked towards Ark who was fighting against many changelings. A smile formed as she relayed the message back, I see then. Do not worry sister, someone is already on their way to protect Cadance and Shining Armor, you worry about the queen herself. She hoped that Celestia didn’t notice her slip up her words, “Oracle Knight Ark! Cadance and Shining Armor are vulnerable to an attack; I wish thee to defend them at all costs! Your allies and I will handle the horde from here on out!”

Ark heard the order as he turned his head and nodded. He pushes the changelings off his swords and was about to run towards the castle until he was blocked by more of them. He groaned in annoyance as he entered a battle stance, “I do not have the time to deal with this!”

As he readied himself for their attack, two words from Medina reached his ears causing him to back away, “Apsalus Roura!” The changelings looked to their right wondering who was coming towards them only to try to fly away quickly to no avail. The result was them being directly hit with a surge of water followed by the sword from the aquamancer. Medina looked towards Ark with a smile as she blasted away more changelings, “Are you going or what Ark?”

He returned the smile as he patted her shoulder, “Thank you Medina…” Ark then proceeded to run through the horde slicing away any incoming changelings. The aquamancer still wore her smile as she watched him continue his sprint before it became one of caution as she trapped a few of the bug ponies in a sphere of water.

As Ark was running, one was about to charge at him. The knight begun to smirk as he jumped, landed on top of it and hopped off as he landed atop the rooftops. He looked forward and continued his run as a swarm of changelings begun to chase him down. He sheathed one of his swords while trying to gather energy into the other in his right hand. As five changelings were coming to attack him, he raised his sword to his shoulder and slashed towards their direction sending red lightning. They immediately dodged it but as a result, they crashed into others by mistake. As he kept on running, the hissing he hears from behind tempted him to look back. He ended up turning his head around out of curiosity and was caught off guard when he saw a large swarm of changelings chasing him down. The sight of such a horde chasing one man down made him both shudder and chuckle a bit, “A horde of you chasing one man down? A scary yet amusing thought…” He looked forward and kept on sprinting towards the castle.

While Ark was outrunning the horde, both Celestia and Chrysalis continued their battle. The aerial fight lasted longer than usual for the both of them and they both knew it, “Enough… I’ve been dodging your magic for too long…”

Celestia was breathing heavily, something she was afraid of doing for that meant she was reaching her limit. However, she also noticed Chrysalis breathing heavily as well causing a momentary smile to form upon the Sun Princess’s face, “I could say the same for you…” Her eyes darted towards the wedding room wondering if somepony was there to defend the two. Though she saw no sign of any ponies besides the two, she also saw no sign of changelings holding them hostage.

Her smile was still there but it was beginning to waver as she heard Chrysalis’s voice breaking her line of thinking, “Pah… we both know that we’re going to lose regardless due to our strength being almost equal.” She noticed her smile becoming devious as she looked towards Cadance, “So how about I take it out on your niece?” Celestia gasped as she saw her adversary now targeting Cadance. She descended as quickly as possible, trying to catch up with her before it was too late. She tried to gather magic into her horn for one final shot but she was struggling to do so causing Celestia to panic. However, just as she had realized that she was almost spent on magic, Chrysalis immediately stopped mid-flight looking shocked at what she was seeing, “What in Equestria is going on there?!”

Celestia looked towards where the bug queen was looking and saw what made her gape. She too was surprised at first as well before smiling at the sight, “Looks like somepony has managed to garner your horde’s attention and dare I say, that’s a lot he attracted…” She turned her attention towards her who was enraged beyond words. Without even uttering a single word, Chrysalis fired a beam at her. Celestia created a barrier in time as she protected herself. Unfortunately for her, the shield would not last for long. Sounds of cracking glass reached her ears and she knew that the barrier would not last long with the amount of force Chrysalis was putting into her magic. As soon as the shield begun to break, she immediately dodged it. Celestia had expected her to target her now that her rage was set on her, but to her shock, her sight was again set on Cadance.

Her niece was frozen in surprise as she saw her imposter glaring at her. Her horn was glowing a ghastly green as it was focused on her. Her fangs were bared as she spoke with a tone that sent shivers down Cadance’s spine, “This resistance has gone on long enough! If I can’t gather the love I need, then your life, as well as his will be forfeited!” She raised her head high and hooves high as the magic within her horn now swelled with power.

Cadance looked towards Shining Armor once before sternly looking back at Chrysalis and stepping in front of him, her eyes filled with the determination to protect her husband and Twilight’s brother. Chrysalis smirked as she lowered her horn and fired the pent-up magic towards Cadance. The wife then closed her eyes as the room glowed an eerie green and the beam neared her. Just as the beam almost made contact though, she felt a force that pushed her and Shining Armor away from her magic. Opening her eyes, they widened as she saw Celestia pushing her away and taking the hit for her. She reached out for her as she landed, screaming out her name as tears begun to develop in her eyes, “AUNTIE CELESTIA!”

Celestia’s scream of agony echoed throughout Canterlot stunning many ponies who heard it. Ark looked towards the castle, his eyes widening in fear as thoughts of what that scream meant surfaced. The most prominent thought was the most unthinkable yet also the most logical in his mind, the death of Princess Celestia, “No… no I refuse to believe this! I cannot accept this!” Ark hastened his steps, hoping to not believe it until he sees it with his own eyes. Turning his head slightly, the changeling swarm was still on his tail. The sight now fumed him as he unsheathed his other sword now, “I will not be stopped! Not now, not ever! Do you hear me!?”

Just as he was about to turn around and meet them head on, from behind, he noticed the familiar sword of one of the heroes. Immediately, he felt searing heat as well as hearing the familiar voice of the owner of Dandelga, “Infinity Nova!” The flames from the sword formed the pillar of flame that caught all of the changelings. Ark silently thanked the fire hero as he continued his run. Just as he hopped the rooftops and continued his sprint, explosions seemingly shook the very sky itself. Arriving at the entrance to the castle, he made his way through the castle doors and sped across the hallways hoping to find the room as quickly as possible.

Back in the throne room, Cadance could only watch in abject fear as she was looking at the slump body of Celestia. Chrysalis was surprised as she looked at her hooves pondering on what she did, “I can’t believe it…” Suddenly, she was gleefully cackling as she ascended to the air, her laughter echoing in the throne room “I can’t believe it! I managed to take out one of the Princesses!” As her laughter slowly faded away, Cadance felt a storm of emotions within her. All of them were pointed towards Chrysalis specifically. She stood up and sternly glared at her imposter as she was gathered magic into her horn. The bug queen noticed her giving the look and could only smirk at the sight, “Well this is interesting… If I manage to defeat Celestia, what hope can you do against me?” Her words were not heeded as Cadance still continued to stand against her. Only a sneer escaped as she focused her magic as well, “So be it, perhaps you’ll get the chance to regret your decision… in the afterlife!”

Chrysalis was about to fire a beam of magic at Cadance until a voice broke her concentration, “Over my dead body imposter!” She looked towards the source of the voice only for her to get hit by an attack sending her crashing onto a wall.

Cadance covered her eyes as dust enveloped the bug queen. The dust begun to slowly fade away as it revealed the bug queen in a precarious situation. She quietly chuckled at the sight before turning her attention towards the source of the voice. Her eyes shimmered with joy as she saw the familiar face of her rescuer. The Oracle Knight stood up from his position and smiled towards her, “Hello Cadance. It’s good to see you well… for the most part.”

She quietly chuckled once again before stopping her laughter and looking back towards Chrysalis. Ark approached the two of them and grabbed Shining Armor, moving them to a safe area within the room. It wasn’t much but so long as Chrysalis wasn’t targeting them, they would fare well. Cadance smiled to him as well as thanked him, “Thank you Ark… It’s good to see you again.”

The knight returned her smile as he stood up, “I should say the same to you.” Cadance chuckled once more before she stopped as she saw his attention was elsewhere. Ark saw Celestia’s prone body and decided to check her first before speaking with the imposter. The moment he saw her breathing though made the knight relieved. He wore a smile before it became a frown as he saw Chrysalis flapping her wings and slowly recovered from her precarious state. Ark raised and pointed one of his swords to her as he spoke, “So… I finally get the meet the fiend that posed as Princess Cadance on her special day. I’ve seen my fair share of trouble during my whole life…” His eyes suddenly gained the red shadowy aura as he felt unbridled anger surging, “But to do so on one’s special day is where I draw the line…”

Chrysalis shook off any dust that gathered around her and opened her eyes as she was about to say something only for her to be cut off as she looks at the being that attacked her. Her anger mixed with her shock as she was seeing another human, “Another one of you miserable wretches?! How many of you are here?!”

Ark’s right eye twitched a bit upon hearing her words. He was having trouble just containing his anger and ending her now. He closed his eyes and took one deep breath, trying to calm himself before letting his anger get the best of him. He then opened his eyes, his gaze still locked on Chrysalis, “First off, what you called a miserable wretch, we call ourselves humans… And secondly, yes there are more of us though I’m not telling how many there are…”

His words managed to hit a nerve upon the bug queen as she glared at her opponent while she was gathering magic, “I, for once, do not care where you came from or who you are… Anyone who resists me will be punished!” She fires a beam of magic towards the knight while charging.

Ark then raised his one of his swords and easily deflected the beam aside. This causes Chrysalis to stop her charge and look at her adversary aghast. The knight’s gaze then turned towards her and said only two words before he decided to go on the offensive, “Big mistake…” He withdrew his extended arm in a single swift motion to his side before dashing towards his opponent.

Chrysalis jumped away from the downward strike initially thinking that she avoided it only to get hit below by dark pillars of energy that erupted from the sword sending her flying. Ark then jumped towards the prone bug queen and was about to strike her until one of her minions attacked him from out of nowhere. He recovered from the attack and looked towards the changelings that now surrounded their queen. This only annoyed the knight as he stood up, “Tch, I should’ve known that this was bound to happen…”

Chrysalis was slowly recovering from the attack the knight dished out on her. She then turned her gaze towards the knight who showed no sign of emotion towards her. The fact that someone who she just met, managed to greatly injure her in a single attack despite the fact that her power rivaled that of Celestia herself, the idea made her furious, “I… I refuse to believe that the power I gained from Shining Armor’s love could be exceeded by something like you! I cannot accept that just one person; manage to best me already when my power almost rivaled that of Celestia!”

Her words only prompted a smirk as he raised his swords, “Really? Then you’ll find it even harder to believe that this kind of power is seemingly normal where I come from. In fact, it can be exceeded if one will’s it or certain things awaken the latent power within us.” Ark slowly lifted one foot and moved in quick succession as he almost closed the gap between him and Chrysalis.

Chrysalis flew out of the throne room hoping to put some distance between them and recover. While she was retreating from the knight, part of the horde that survived the attack from Vargas arrived to protect their queen albeit a bit charred. They all charged towards Ark with reckless abandon. The knight could only scoff as he dodged each one and knocked them down to the ground while still giving chase to the queen. Chrysalis was airborne while watching her new adversary easily take down the many changelings that were swarming him. She was still agitated that he of all things managed to injure her when she had managed to rival Celestia in terms of strength. Adding to the fact that she just witnessed him easily deflects one of her beams… It made her seething with anger.

As Ark managed to dispatch the changelings that charged at him, he focused his attention towards the bug queen that was hovering away from the range of his swords. The response from Chrysalis being that of a smirk, sneer and her gloating to the knight was expected as he eyed her, “Hmph, how are you going to hurt me now? You can’t hit me now that I’m out of your range of attack…”

Ark could only shake his head in disapproval as he backed up a few meters away from the rail. The bug queen could only look at him in confusion wondering what he was up to. Her question was answered in the most unexpected action she thought was beyond reckless. He initiated a running head start, trying to pick up speed as he neared the rail. By the time he was in front of it, he immediately jumped off the platform. Chrysalis wasted no time to try to evade the maneuver, initially thinking she barely dodged whatever he was doing. However, much to her surprise, he managed to grab two of her hooves causing her to plummet with Ark in tow.

During their fall, the two of them were combating each other with different goals in mind. Chrysalis was trying to get the knight to let go of his grip while Ark was trying to hold on and fight her while they were freefalling. During this continuing fight, Chrysalis noticed something from the knight she never expected yet was very familiar to her. Her eyes suddenly widened as she tasted a love stronger than anything she smelled emitting from Ark. A smirk suddenly formed as she managed to get the knight off of her. They both land in the Canterlot Gardens with nary an injury but Ark was more tired than the bug queen herself. She picked herself up smugly looking at the knight while licking and smacking her lips. Chrysalis was feeling triumphant as she sniffed the unbelievably strong love from the knight, “My my… In all my life as the ruling queen, never have I tasted such empowering, everlasting, and delectable love.”

Her words and actions only baffled Ark for a split second before he realized what they exactly meant coming from Chrysalis. He suddenly raised his swords and glared at the imposter… No, not just that, a succubus in pony form. He didn’t know much about changelings apart from the fact that they look liked bugs and they like to attack in swarms. But that little detail Chrysalis gave away suddenly made the knight enraged beyond words, “You… You would not dare to feast upon my undying love for the Oracle Maiden?”

“While I have little idea on who this Oracle Maiden is…” She licked her lips once more as if to prove her point, “Yes, I am feasting upon your oh-so delicious and dark love…” Her words prompted the knight to lash out at her in rage. She could only smirk as she dodged and saw his anger beginning to blind him of his actions. The love she was feasting upon was stronger than even Shining Armor’s own love and as a result, was matching Ark in strength now. Although she still wished that she could innately learn any of the dark-related spells that Ark could perform, the growing strength would do for now. Still, she continued with her gloating towards the knight, “It seems I’ve hit a nerve hmm? Perhaps, I might be able to make you truly snap by threatening this love of yours?”

Her words provoked the knight to lash out at her again while speaking out his thoughts, “You will not lay your dirty hooves on her so long as I breathe you miserable creature!” Instead of the calm and assertive knight Ark was before, he was now a warrior with nothing but anger fueling his actions. Chrysalis could only smile seeing the adversary she had trouble keeping up with was now in her mercy.

She wanted to toy with him a bit and she was very tempted to do so but in the end, she decided against it for now, “Well, I think I managed to garner enough strength from not only Cadance’s lover but from yourself as well so with that said…” She dodged yet another slash from Ark. Having had enough of this being’s persistence, she gathered energy into her horn while glaring at the knight, “Fall alongside the rest of your allies…” An eerie calm fell over the queen as she fired her beam.  

Ark saw the attack coming and tried to brace himself but was too late in bringing his two blades in front of him. No sound escaped from the knight as his eyes widened in horror from the force of the attack directly hitting his chest. His grip faltered as his swords slowly slipped from his hands before falling onto the ground. As he felt his conscience slowly fading away from him, he was only able to utter a few words before he collapsed onto the ground, “No… I can’t… fall yet… not…now…” The last thing he heard as his conscience was fading was Chrysalis’s maniacal laughter echoing in his ears before his eyes closed.

Cadance could only watch the scene in terror as she saw Ark collapsing and his eyes slowly closing. The laughter from the bug queen was quieted down to only an echo in Cadance’s ears as she was looking towards the fallen knight. She was reaching out to him, silently begging Ark to get up and continue the fight with teary eyes. Her wishes were unheard and left unanswered as she lowered her hoof and feeling her tears escape. Her attention was towards Chrysalis whose laughter ended and her attention was now on her. Normally, she would have been consumed in fear and quaking from being under her gaze. But seeing the knight that walked the dark road before now walking towards the light fell by her hooves, she stood against her imposter, her horn flaring with magic.

Chrysalis was amused at seeing her persistence to continue defying her. She gestured a wave with her hoof and suddenly, changelings begun to swarm around the room eyeing the Princess of Love, “As much as I’d like to take care of you personally, I have more pressing matters to attend too. Changelings… make sure you immobilize her and Shining Armor.” She then looked towards the comatose Celestia and Ark before a smug smile formed, “Oh and put those two in a cocoon as well, I don’t want them to interfere when they wake up.” As soon as she saw her changelings walking towards Cadance while hissing, she turned around and looked towards the tattered city. The sight of it all almost in ruins was pleasing to her but as she noted, she had more pressing concerns, “Now… where is the Night Princess?”