Blood Light

Queen Galaxia smiled in relief as she saw, from her vantage point at the royal balcony, the full moon rising into the rapidly darkening sky. "Come my daughters!" she called, wrapping Celestia and Luna closer to her. "Your father has sent you a gift."

"Where?" Luna looked around happily. "What is it?"

"Look all around you," Queen Galaxia tilted her head upwards and closed her eyes.

A beautiful aura of blue light surrounded the many stars that specked the magnificent deep indigo sky. A comet, with a purple tail, streaked across the canvas of color, and it was followed by a golden one, then a red one, and finally a deep blue one. The entire sky shimmered with color, and strings of blue, purple, gold, and red light twisted across the sky in a spectacle of color.

"It's a meteor shower!" Celestia cried in delight, her eyes reflecting the lights of the hundreds of comets flying across the skyline. "It's... beautiful!"

"Is this father's gift?" Luna blinked up at the lights, her gaze following the deep blue comet's tail. "He made all of this... for us?"

"He loves you very much," Galaxia murmured, briefly closing her eyes to disguise her longing.

"When will he come back?" Celestia asked softly. "I want him to come back."

"I don't know," Galaxia admitted. "But I hope he will soon."

"He can come back to visit us!" Luna suggested eagerly. "Don't soldiers have leaves? He can go on a leave too!"

Galaxia smiled lightly. "If only so, my sweet little Luna," she sighed wistfully. "Come now... we have duties to attend to."


"Your Majesty!" a flustered-looking alicorn flew and bowed before King Cosmos. "Lord Ares is here!" he gasped out. "Under the flag of truce!"

King Cosmos' eyes narrowed. "Bring him to me," he growled. I would love to destroy that foolish alicorn! "And do me a favor and never refer to him as Lord Ares again."

The alicorn blinked, then recovered immediately. "Yes sir, at once," the alicorn bowed again and raced off.

"What is it?" Commander Comet strode over, his horn beginning to glow in anticipation. "Have Hermes and Ajax returned?"

"No," Cosmos glanced at the smaller alicorn. "Ares has."

Comet's face visibly hardened. "He dares to show himself here?" Cosmos scowled angrily. "I don't care if he's under the flag of truce, we should destroy him."

"Peace Comet," Cosmos said. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"Nothing good, I assure you," Commander Comet snorted. "If you weren't here, I would have ordered my soldiers after him."

"Good thing I am then," King Cosmos said sternly. "Behave commander."

"Your Majesty," the same alicorn's voice rang out from beyond the camp wall. "Ares is here."

"Behave," King Cosmos hissed to Comet and maintained a regal composure as the scarlet alicorn appeared from the shadows.

"Ah, my dear king," Ares mocked, bowed in a dramatic flourish.

"Why are you here Ares?" King Cosmos glared at the alicorn. "Don't waste my time." He felt his horn glow angrily.

"Temper, temper," Ares chuckled, rising to his hooves at staring at the king evenly. "I have come to pass an important message that could, easily destroy the draconequuses once and for all."

"Which is?" Cosmos scowled.

"An allegiance," Ares smiled. "Wouldn't it make more sense to work together, rather than remain divided and distant?"

"You were the one that divided us!" Cosmos shouted furiously.

"Yes, yes," Ares waved Cosmos' outburst away. "That was necessary, but now I am offering a proposal that could save the alicorn race."

"With you as leader, I think you'd just hasten our destruction," Commander Comet snarled.

"Quiet!" Ares snapped. "This is a meeting between equals... you cannot speak until granted permission!"

"Equals?" Comet hissed incredulously. "Ares you are no king."

Ares drew himself to full height. "I'm a better king then he ever was and ever will be!"

"Don't speak about my king that way!" Comet spat furiously, his horn flaring with magic.

"Peace Comet," King Cosmos looked calm.

"Yes Comet," Ares said. "Listen to your pathetic king."

"Commander Comet to you!" the alicorn growled. "Only my king may call me Comet."

"This is not what we are to discuss," King Cosmos cut in. "Ares... keep going."

"I suggest an oligarchic monarchy," Ares offered. "You and I as joint leaders... working together to preserve and protect the alicorns."

"Surely you can't, my king!" Comet interrupted frantically as Cosmos looked thoughtful. "He has no intentions of sharing the power with you! He'll take it all to himself! Don't agree to this!"

"Of course I have not agreed," King Cosmos scowled at Ares. "I cannot trust this dishonest and foolish stallion. Get him out of my sight."

Ares' eyes darkened with hate. "Very well then," he hissed. "You have doomed the alicorns with your actions, Cosmos. You will live to regret this day, very, very soon."

"Get out of my sight," King Cosmos snarled at the scarlet alicorn. "It is you whom has destroyed us all! Your colony will be the first to fall under your horrible leadership!"

"I wouldn't say that," Ares chuckled. "Farewell, King Cosmos."

"Likewise," Cosmos narrowed his eyes. "Get out of here... the flag of truce will not stand for much longer."

"Indeed," Ares laughed maniacally. "In fact, it's already over!"

A bolt of red lightning flew out of Ares's long, curved horn and struck Commander Comet in the chest.

King Cosmos's eyes widened in shock, as he watched his faithful commander freeze for a moment, blood pumping from the deep gash to his chest. Then his eyes dulled and he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap.

"Ares!" King Cosmos thundered furiously, deflecting another jet of magic with his own purple aura. "What have you done?"

The scarlet alicorn looked down at Comet's body with triumph. "I told you you would regret this day!" he shrieked. "May this be the last day the moon will ever rise!"

An indigo sword, crafted of magic, appeared at the king's side, and Comos slashed viciously at Ares' wings, but the alicorn darted away, still laughing.

The two kings clashed in a whirlwind of crimson and purple, and the screams of battling alicorns rose into the morning air. "This will destroy the alicorns!" King Cosmos hissed, slicing Ares' wing. "How could you have turned them against each other!"

"I didn't turn them against each other!" Ares gritted his teeth as blood seeped from his wing, and he slashed at Cosmos' chest with his bloody sword. "You did!"

Cosmos flinched as the metal blade caught his flanks. "You decided to leave."

Ares leapt forwards angrily and cut at Cosmos' heart. "They will follow me until the end!"

King Cosmos caught Ares' blade upon his own and thrust the weakening alicorn away. "Then you are a parasite!" he snarled, the light of battle in his eyes. "And parasites must be terminated!"

Ares staggered away, blood dripping from his lips. "If you kill me, the Immortals will be here to avenge my death," he coughed as Cosmos slammed his head brutally. "They will slay you!"

"I am not afraid of your foolish warriors!" King Cosmos bellowed slashing without mercy at Ares' chest. "They will perish alongside their leader!"

Blood flowed freely from wounds on both the kings, but Ares was covered with slashes from horn to tail, and the scarlet alicorn grew weaker with every moment Cosmos sliced him again.
"I..." Ares rasped, his eyes widening for the first time in fear. "I... yield... yield..."

King Cosmos hesitated, seeing his enemy battered and broken on the floor beneath him, but then he hardened once more. "This has gone much to far for you to yield," he growled.

"What..." Ares spat out blood, "have... you... b-become?"

"I am disappointed in you Ares," King Cosmos sighed, placing his sword daintily across the alicorn's throat. "I saw you as clever and crafty... and you were one of my few considerations for a new general... but I am glad your ambition manifested early enough for my to notice! For I would have certainly placed you in that powerful position!"

"I... don't... want to be... your... general," Ares hissed.

"Then you have not changed at all," King Cosmos leaned closer towards the alicorn, binding him with indigo chains. "Why have you attacked us? What good will it do?"

The alicorn grew weaker through blood loss and had trouble replying. Death slipped in and out of his eyes. "You're... strong," he said faintly. "Stronger... than... I thought..."

"Lord Ares!" an alicorn's shocked voice rang out. "Lord Ares! Come quickly, the traitor has killed our leader!"

King Cosmos spun around to face the full onslaught of five furious alicorns. "Leave!" he shouted hoarsely, but they bravely stood their ground against the alicorn king.

A flash of green light erupted from one of their horns, and King Cosmos easily redirected it to smash into one of their own. A deep golden alicorn sprawled to the ground, then sprang to her hooves immediately, another jet of light flying into the air. "You will pay for the death of Ares the Great!"

Cosmos, weakened significantly from his clash with the other alicorn lord, failed to conjure a spell in time, and the spell struck him in the side.

Pain flared from his left flank, and spots danced before his eyes. Triumph lit in the alicorns' eyes. "Not so tough are you?" the golden alicorn spat. "Finish him!"

No! I mustn't die now! Not when Galaxia is still waiting! With the last of his strength, King Cosmos let out a powerful blast of energy that shook the earth. The alicorns didn't have time to scream as their flesh disintegrated immediately from the explosion.

Cosmos staggered forwards. They can't find me here! he thought frantically, feeling a wave of darkness closing over his eyes. I must... must...

There was a brilliant flash of scarlet light... then nothing.