Chapter 25
The Cost Of Victory
It has now been exactly five years since Alexei was revived. Throughout the years, not only has Flareon dealt with Discord on many occasions, but he was able to defeat Maximus, Grim, and Draco, Alexei's strongest shadow dragons. Not to mention, Flareon has gained new powers such as the Fire Tornado/Fire Hurricane, Fire Shuriken/Ultimate Fire Shuriken, and Flame God Mode. As badly as Alexei had wanted to finish taking over Equestria when he was first resurrected, Alexei was able to wait patiently for those five years until he regained all of his power, but Alexei also wanted Flareon to get stronger during that time so that he could enjoy killing him. It was all because Alexei never was able to kill Nova back then and he saw Flareon as another way of getting revenge. It all begin during another afternoon in Death Valley. Alexei was looking at the landscape holding his claws behind his back, while Discord was resting in the air. Suddenly, a smirk appeared on Alexei's face as he let of a loud roar that violently shook the entire cavern and caused the ravens nearby to fly in the sky. Right away, Discord landed on the ground and ran over to Alexei's side.
"My lord!" Discord exclaimed as he looked at Alexei's excited face, "Don't tell me...you got your power back!"
"Five years Discord...five years," Alexei replied as he put his right claw softly on Discord's shoulder, "I've waited these five years very patiently for this moment. These ponies...living their calm, peaceful, carefree lives...it has been long overdue for them to be reminded of the darkness...the dark, cold, savage darkness. Discord...It is finally time for me to take back this world, but first, I need to completely resurrect my army of shadow dragons." As he let out a chuckle, Alexei turned around and walked out of the cavern, along with Discord who eagerly followed behind him. Eventually, Alexei stopped at a large clearing, the same clearing where he revived Draco. Alexei then gathered power in both of his claws, and a few second later, he shot the energy at the ground, which quickly covered the entire area in black flames. After the flames dispersed, 10,000 shadow dragons, which contained 5,000 small winged dragons and 5,000 big wingless dragons, were seen standing before Alexei. Immediately, they all bowed before him.
"Lord Alexei!" the dragons exclaimed, "We are at your command!"
"My lord...only 10,000? How come you didn't revive all 100,000?" Discord asked.
"I need the rest of my power to fight against Flareon," Alexei replied, "By now, I'm sure he is very strong...probably stronger than Nova was. Not to mention...I have another surprise for Flareon. Let's just say it is something that far surpasses even Draco as the strongest shadow creature I've ever created! Also...I hardly doubt it will take more than 10,000 dragons to overtake Canterlot with the pathetic excuse for an army Princess Celestia currently has. With Flareon fighting against me, you dealing with his friends, and Celestia and Luna trying to help the Canterlot residents escape to safety, it will be very easy for my army to defeat whatever resistance they have trying to protect the capital." Alexei then turned to face his army and began to give a speech. "It is time! It is finally time to take back Equestria! It has been 10,000 years since this world has known darkness. I have waited patiently during these five years after I was revived so that I may receive what I have so long desired...complete domination of Equestria!" Alexei said as he paused for a moment so that the dragons could cheer, "I have a very important task for you all to carry out for me. I want you to travel to Canterlot and destroy the city as best you can so that I may rebuilt it in my vision. Kill whoever stands in your way and leave no survivors!" As the dragon army cheered loudly, they turned around, and hastily made way for Canterlot. A few seconds later, Alexei raised his right claw high into the air and shot a beam of dark energy upwards into the sky. Immediately, dark clouds began to form around the point of impact, and quickly began to spread like wildfire. "I hope you're ready Equestria!" Alexei yelled as he laughed maniacally, "For the return of the Dark Ages!" After he was done laughing, Alexei smiled as he turned to face Discord. "You know what you have to do Discord. I take it Flareon's friends won't be a problem for you...will they?" In response, Discord tried hard to hold back his laughter.
"You think six little girls can stand up against the King of Chaos and Mischief? It'll be a piece of cake Lord Alexei!" Discord replied. After Alexei gave him a confident nod, Discord snapped his fingers and vanished. Alexei then looked upwards at the dark clouds that were quickly spreading throughout the entire sky.
"I hope you're ready Flareon," Alexei muttered, "Once I kill you, this world will be mine, and no one will be able to stop me." Soon after, Alexei smiled as black flames suddenly emitted from his body, and a second later, he disappeared. Later on in Canterlot Castle, Celestia and Luna were walking through a hallway when Celestia suddenly spotted dark ominous clouds heading towards the city.
"Sister?" Luna asked Celestia, who was frozen in fear, "Is something wrong?"
"Luna!" Celestia exclaimed, "Alert the citizens in Canterlot to leave the city at once! Meanwhile, I'm going to contact Flareon and Twilight. I feared this day would come. Alexei has finally regained all of his power. We don't have anytime to waste!" Right away, Luna ran off to alert the citizens, while Celestia went to send a letter to Flareon and Twilight. A couple of hours later, everything was going just as Alexei had predicted. Celestia and Luna helped the citizens in Canterlot, including Ponyville and Cloudsdale, escape to safety in Fillydelphia. Princess Celestia had Shinning Armor and Cadance lead the royal guards to confront Alexei's army and keep them from entering Canterlot. Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends, along with the Elements of Harmony, to go after Discord. Last but not least, Flareon was set to finally face against Alexei just as the prophecy foretold. After Flareon hugged Twilight wishing her good luck, he could only watch as they made haste to where Celestia said Discord had been spotted. After Twilight and his friends were out of sight, Flareon flew into the air and quickly headed to where Luna said Alexei was waiting for him. A few minutes later, Flareon found Alexei standing in a clearing. As Flareon landed back on the ground, Alexei simply smiled at him.
"Well, well, well...if it isn't Flareon, the chosen one," Alexei said, "I take it after these five years you've grown stronger...yes?" Flareon didn't reply. Instead, he began to run at Alexei, but Flareon was stopped when Alexei held out his right claw. "Oh come now...don't you want to see the surprise I have for you?" At that moment, Alexei gathered power in his right claw and then shot it at the ground. After the flames dispersed, Flareon's eyes widened in shock. It was almost too impossible to believe. What was standing before him was none other than himself. However, this Flareon's coat was dark black, while his mane, tail, and the flame designs on his hooves were red.
"What...who are you?!" Flareon exclaimed. The other Flareon began to laugh in response to his outburst.
"Who am I? I think you already know the answer to that," he replied as a smirk appeared across his face, "I'm you." Even still, Flareon couldn't believe it. How was this pony him? Suddenly, Alexei began to speak again.
"I'm proud to present the strongest shadow creature I've ever created...Dark Flareon. In terms of raw power, he is easily stronger than Maximus, Grim, and Draco ever was," Alexei said, "Do you remember when we first met Flareon? It was after I grabbed you in my claw. I sensed this powerful dark hatred deep inside your heart. It was nothing like I've ever felt before. It desperately wanted to come out. It wanted to be free from its cage you locked it in. For someone called the chosen one, I have to say, the level of hatred you possessed almost rivaled mine." As Alexei began to laugh, Flareon looked at the ground and got lost in thought. There was no way around Alexei's words. He was right. Back when Flareon was a human, he had experienced a lot of heartbreak, betrayal, and loneliness. As a result, Flareon had built up a large amount of hatred inside his heart. Even though Flareon tried to lock that hatred away, it was always there, waiting for its chance. As Alexei looked at a troubled Flareon, he smiled in response to seeing him completely baffled. Alexi then turned around and walked past both of them towards a nearby rock structure as waved his right claw nonchalantly at Dark Flareon. "Have as much fun with him as you want. Just try to leave Flareon breathing so I can finish him off." Alexei then sat down on the rock structure and got comfortable, like an eager person waiting for a movie to begin. It wasn't until Dark Flareon began to speak again that Flareon was able to snap out of his trance.
"Seriously...all this chosen one stuff. How lame is it really? Chosen one this, chosen one that, how come they can't do anything themselves? Always treating me like a tool...just like before. It doesn't matter whether I'm a human or a pony. I always let myself be used. I'm so worthless and pathetic. Everywhere I go, they are always giving me that look, that you're-inferior-to-us look. They have and always will think of me as something that they can use for their own purposes. Once they don't need me anymore, they will toss me aside like the piece of garbage. I know deep down inside, once I defeat Alexei, they won't need me around anymore. Also...does Twilight really think she's good enough to be with me? Twilight never has loved me. It's just been fake love this entire time. It was all just a ploy for her to gain the popularity she has always desired. I know that Twilight will dump me as soon as she gets the chance, but who cares? I'd be grateful to be rid of her and that pathetic excuse for a daughter. The next Princess of Equestria? Don't make me laugh!" As Dark Flareon laughed manically, he looked at Flareon, expecting him to yell out angrily or attack in response to his words. However, Flareon simply looked at Dark Flareon with absolutely no hatred at all towards him, even with what he had just said.
"I can't disagree that you're me or how that is how I really felt," Flareon replied, "However...that was before. Throughout the past couple years, I've learned the true value of friendship. I thank Twilight, Solana, Spike, and my friends for helping me. Without them, I would still be you. That lonely, scared, and troubled person who was always angry at everyone. However...I'm different now. You're just a shell of my former self." At that moment, Flareon had to dodge a black fireball that Dark Flareon had suddenly shot at him. He was seething with fury.
"Don't you dare talk down to me like that!" Dark Flareon yelled, "You can't fool me. I know all that friendship stuff is just lies and more lies. I don't care about Alexei said...screw him! I'm going to kill you myself!" Soon after, Dark Flareon flew high into the air and was quickly followed by Flareon. Eventually, Dark Flareon stopped and turned to face him. After a heated staring contest, they both started to charge up their fire magic, and then fired a huge fireball towards each other. The fireballs quickly collided as a swirl of red and black fire was seen exploding from the point of impact. The battle between Flareon and Dark Flareon had now begun. A couple of minutes later, Flareon and Dark Flareon were seen colliding back and forth in mid-air, like two speeding bullets ricocheting off each other. Flareon then stopped and created a Fire Tornado and kicked it towards Dark Flareon, who also did the same thing. Immediately, both tornados collided as a combination of red and black fire erupted in a blazing inferno. Soon after, two fire shurikens collided together as a huge red and black dome of fire exploded and sent a massive shockwave flying through the area. No matter what neither Flareon or Dark Flareon did, the other was able to counter their attack, blow by blow. However, it was Dark Flareon who was getting frustrated. As hard as he tried, Dark Flareon couldn't get Flareon to admit defeat, even though Flareon couldn't beat him.
"Why do you keep trying?" Dark Flareon asked, "I'm clearly stronger than you, but you won't give up. I don't get it! Why won't you give up?!"
"I told you before," Flareon replied, "I have friends that believe in me. They are counting on me and I'm not going to let them down. They are what gives me my power. That is something you, my old self, wouldn't understand." In response, Dark Flareon became more angry. He just couldn't comprehend the meaning of Flareon's words.
"You think I care? You think I care?! Friendship? Love? Hope? All that is just fake power you're making up. You can't beat me and you know it! I'm stronger than you!" Dark Flareon yelled as he created and fired off a Dark Fire Shuriken towards Flareon. However, a smile began to appear on Flareon's face.
"No...you're wrong," Flareon muttered as he made a Fire Shuriken and sent it flying towards the Dark Flareon. Amazingly, the Fire Shuriken tore right through the Dark Fire Shuriken and hit Dark Flareon point-blank in the chest before he had time to react. Dark Flareon let out a loud scream of pain as he disappeared inside a giant dome of vicious blazing fire. A few minutes later, the fire finally dispersed. Unfortunately, Dark Flareon didn't die from the attack as he was still seen flying in the air. However, he was brutally injured as most of his body had been burnt off due to the extreme heat of the fire. Flareon was surprised to see Dark Flareon was still able to keep flight.
"Why...do...you...keep...fighting?" Dark Flareon asked weakly, "Where does your power come from?"
"I will say this one more time," Flareon replied, "My friends are my power. They are what give me my strength. As long as I have my friends, I will never give up, no matter how badly I get beat down, I will keep getting right back up and continue on fighting. That is the true meaning of friendship." Dark Flareon's eyes widened in shock as he still couldn't understand what Flareon was talking about. No matter how hard Dark Flareon tried, he couldn't grasp the meaning of friendship. Dark Flareon then put his hooves over his head as if he was in pain, when suddenly, black flames began to emit from his body.
"Shut up!" Dark Flareon exclaimed as he was slowly being engulfed in black fire, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I'll show you...what true power really is!" Soon after, Dark Flareon disappeared inside a ball of black fire, and five seconds later, it exploded. In response, Flareon had to put his right hoof over his face to shield himself from the blast. When Flareon put his hoof down, he couldn't believe his eyes. Dark Flareon had gone into Dark Flame God Mode. Flareon was left with no other choice and went into Flame God Mode. It turns out this battle was just getting started.
"I'm going to show you that hatred conquers over your pitiful friendship!" Dark Flareon exclaimed as he fired off a beam of darkness towards Flareon. Immediately, Flareon fired off a beam of fire to counter Dark Flareon's attack. As both beams collided, both ponies were quickly engulfed in a bright light as a massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact. Meanwhile, in another location somewhere far away, Twilight and her friends were still fighting against Discord. Thanks to the Elements of Harmony, Twilight and her friends had been able to fight on par with Discord's powerful chaos magic. Both sides were fatigued from their battle, however, Twilight and her friends had yet to use their trump card.
"Alright girls!" Twilight yelled, "Get into your positions!" Immediately, they surrounded Discord in a formation known as the Hexagon Seal Formation. The same formation the Elemental Warriors used to seal Alexei and Discord in the past. Discord quickly began to panic as he knew what they were about to do. However, Discord was worn out from their battle and didn't have an energy left to use his magic.
"No...that's impossible!" Discord exclaimed, "How did you learn that blasted seal formation?!"
"We learned it from an ancient book courtesy of the first Princess of Equestria, Princess Estellise," Twilight replied. In response, Discord tried to escape, but at that moment, they activated the Elements of Harmony, and fired a total of six magical beams at him. As his body slowly turned to stone, Discord yelled out as hard as he could and cursed Princess Estellise. Soon after, all that was left of Discord was a stone statue of his former alive self. However, instead of celebrating their victory, they continued to stay in the Hexagon Seal Formation. Twilight then looked at her friends' serious faces and said, "Let's do this." After everyone nodded their heads in agreement, they closed their eyes, and once again activated the Elements of Harmony. Meanwhile, back at Flareon's location, he was still fighting with Dark Flareon. Unfortunately, things were looking grim as Dark Flareon's beam was slowly pushing back Flareon's beam.
"What's wrong Flareon?" Dark Flareon said as he began to laugh, "What happened to all that talk about friendship? It this the best it can do? I told you hatred was more powerful! It always has been and always will be." Flareon desperately tried to push back his beam, but it was no use, Dark Flareon was just too powerful. At that moment, Flareon remembered about what Future Twilight had told him. It was during this moment when he was defeated, Dark Flareon absorbed him and gain his power, and then Dark Flareon did the same thing to Alexei, and that's how he became Destro. If Flareon didn't think of something fast, that future was bound to happen again. Just as Flareon was beginning to lose hope, he suddenly began to hear the voices inside his head. It turns out Twilight and his friends were using the Elements of Harmony to communicate with him. Everyone was saying how they believed in him and how he couldn't let himself be defeated by Dark Flareon. Twilight then told him how she, Solana, and Spike wanted to go on a vacation together as a family once this was all over. After the voices stopped, Flareon began to smile happily.
"They're right," Flareon muttered.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Dark Flareon replied, "Has it finally sunk in that you can't beat me?"
"I'm not going to lose here!" Flareon exclaimed, "Especially to you! I made a promise to Future Twilight!" Suddenly, Flareon's beam grew bigger in size and quickly began to push Dark Flareon's beam back as the tide of battle had made a complete 180. Dark Flareon quickly began to panic as Flareon's beam was almost near him.
"No!" Dark Flareon yelled, "Impossible! This can't be! I'm supposed to be stronger than you!" A few seconds later, Flareon's beam had completely obliterated his beam, and hit Dark Flareon as he screamed in agony and slowly disappeared inside the blazing inferno. After the fire dispersed, Dark Flareon was nowhere to be seen. He was gone. Suddenly, Flareon heard the sound of clapping and quickly turned around. Alexei was walking towards him and smiling as if he had just witnessed a very entertaining show.
"Congratulations Flareon. Not only have you defeated your dark self...you successfully managed to beat Maximus, Grim, and Draco, my three shadow dragon generals. I have to say...you're way stronger than any of the Elemental Warriors ever was, including Nova. It's going to such fun crushing you inside my claw. If you're lucky enough...I might make you into a pony rug and lay you near my fireplace," Alexei said as he chuckled.
"Are we going to do this or do you want to continue with your terrible comedy routine?" Flareon replied as a smirk appeared across his face.
"Very well all mighty chosen one," Alexei said as he held his claws close to his body and gathered an extreme amount of power which started to cause an earthquake as a result, "I say it's about time for the main event to finally begin!" Alexei then hit his fists together as he was quickly engulfed in a tall pillar of black fire. The pillar was so tall, it nearly reached the dark clouds in the sky. Soon after, the black fire dispersed and Alexei, who was now at least 100 ft. tall, was seen standing before Flareon, who was in complete shock.
"The only ponies to see me in my true form and live to tell the tale was Nova and the Elemental Warriors," Alexei said. Every word he spoke was like a dynamite blast going off. "I'm going to make sure it stays that way!" Alexei then roared loudly as the battle between the chosen one and the dragon of darkness had finally begun. However, this was not simply just a battle between a pony and dragon, this was a fight for the future of Equestria! As expected from two very powerful individuals, this fight wasn't not disappointing as both Flareon and Alexei were going at each other as hard as they could. Flareon was flying around Alexei and shooting fireball after fireball continuously while he dodged Alexei's onslaught of attacks. As Alexei shot another gigantic black fireball towards Flareon, he also countered it with a gigantic fireball of his own. After the two fireballs collided in mid-air, they quickly ricocheted off each other and went in separate directions. Flareon then flew directly at Alexei and after dodging another fireball, he reared back his right hoof and punched Alexei hard on the right side of his face. The force of the punch was so powerful, it was able to move Alexei's head to the left, however, the punch had no effect whatsoever damage wise on Alexei as he simply smiled in response. As Flareon turned his head to the left, he saw Alexei's huge right fist heading towards him. Unfortunately, Flareon wasn't able to dodge it in time as the punch sent Flareon flying across the sky. Luckily for him, Flareon's Flame God Mode helped him recover quickly from the hit. Flareon then created a Fire Hurricane and kicked it towards Alexei, who put up his arms in front of his face and was able to protect himself from most of the damage dealt by the attack, however, most of his body was still badly burnt as a result from the Fire Hurricane.
"That was a nice effort, but...you will have to do better than that!" Alexei exclaimed, "Let's see how you fair against my ultimate attack!" Alexei then charged up power in his mouth and five seconds later, fired a large black beam of pure darkness directly at Flareon. "Shadow Destruction Hyper Beam!" Unfortunately, Flareon had already made an Ultimate Fire Shuriken and sent it flying towards Alexei's attack. The Ultimate Fire Shuriken managed to tear through the Shadow Destruction Hyper Beam and hit Alexei directly in his chest before he knew what had just happened. Alexei screamed in pain as he slowly disappeared inside the blazing inferno caused by Flareon's attack. The power of Ultimate Fire Shuriken was so powerful, the fire dome had turned completely white, signifying the extreme heat of the fire. It nearly rivaled the power of an actual supernova. The reason behind why this Ultimate Fire Shuriken was stronger compared to the one used on Draco was because Flareon had put extra power into it. As Flareon watched the swirling dome of fire continue to rage on, he let out a sigh of relief as it was all finally over. Flareon had successfully managed to defeat Alexei. He then turned his attention to Canterlot.
"Well...I might as well see how the capital is doing," Flareon said as he turned around. At that moment, Flareon heard a voice yell from behind him. He turned his head back and saw a huge black beam of darkness heading right for him. Flareon wasn't able to dodge it in time as the attack hit him point blank. A second later, an unconscious Flareon was seen plummeting towards the ground like a fallen meteor. Soon after, Flareon began to regain consciousness and slowly got up. Flareon noticed that he had lost his Flame God Mode. It must have saved him from being killed. What Flareon saw next made his skip a beat as his eyes widened in shock. Alexei was still alive. Either it was because Alexei thought Flareon was dead, or he simply wasn't interested in Flareon anymore, because Alexei was now heading right for Canterlot. Suddenly, Flareon saw Princess Celestia flying towards Alexei. She then stopped in from of him and halted his progress.
"Well...what do we have here?" Alexei asked as a smug smirk appeared across his face, "Why if it isn't Princess Celestia! This is definitely a pleasant surprise. What's with that look? Are you perhaps mad that I just defeated your precious little chosen one?" Instead of responding, Celestia began to charge up her magic and created a big white ball of pure holy magic in front of her. "Eternal Heaven Vortex Beam!" Celestia yelled as she fire the magic ball at Alexei, which quickly turned into a cyclone-like beam. Alexei was completely caught off guard as the attack hit him and engulfed his entire body in a bright white light. Suddenly, without warning, a large claw shot out from the white void and grabbed Celestia before she had the chance to evade it. After the white void dissipated, Alexei was still seen holding his ground, however, her attack did manage to deliver a severe amount of damage. "Princess Celestia...that wasn't very nice now was it? I hope you won't mind I take that power you cherish so much and use it for myself!" Alexei exclaimed as black flames erupted around Celestia. She screamed loudly in pain as her body was slowly being drained of magic as it instead flowed into Alexei's body. As a result, Alexei was soon healed of every injury he sustained from the attacks dealt by both Flareon and Celestia. After Alexei was fully healed, he looked at Celestia's limp body and laughed manically. He then turned and threw Princess Celestia into the distance, like a person getting rid of a battery that ran out of power. As a horrified Flareon watched Celestia fall down and land somewhere, Flareon suddenly felt himself unable to move as if he had been frozen in fear. Unfortunately, Flareon also realized something at that point.
"I can't beat him," Flareon muttered as he continued to stare blankly at the ground, "Alexei is too strong...it's impossible...I failed." Meanwhile, near Canterlot, Shining Armor, Cadance, and the royal guards had now be forced to retreat into the city.
"Come on everyone! Hold your ground!" Shinning Armor yelled as the shadow dragon army continued to advance on them, "We can't let them reach the castle!" In response, everyone let out a loud cheer as they once again continued on with their fight against Alexei's army. Meanwhile, back at Flareon's position, he was still lamenting at the fact he couldn't defeat Alexei. Suddenly, he heard someone call his name. As Flareon slowly turned his head, he saw Twilight and his friends running towards him. It turns out they had used the Elements of Harmony to find out Flareon's location. After everyone finally made to his spot, Applejack saw Alexei in the distance.
"Holy cow!" Applejack exclaimed, "Is that Alexei? He's taller than a Manehattan skyscraper!" However, Twilight was more concerned about Flareon at the moment.
"Flareon...what's wrong?" she asked.
"I can't do it," Flareon muttered, "I can't beat Alexei."
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "You're the chosen one! Of course you can beat him! Why are you just sitting here? Come on dude...go kick Alexei's butt already!"
"You moron! Don't you understand? That prophecy was made by me! I was the one who told Princess Estellise about it after I went back in time! She's the one who put in on those five stone tablets!" Flareon yelled angrily, but then he quickly went back to his lament state, "It doesn't matter whether I'm a human or a pony. In the end...I'm just a pathetic failure." Everyone just watched in total silence as Flareon continued to sulk. The silence was finally broken when Twilight finally decided to speak again.
"After all we've been through Flareon...you're telling me this is it? You're just going to give up?" Twilight asked, "That's not the type of stallion I married, that's not my husband I know and love, and that's definitely not the father Solana has always looked up to." She then put her right hoof softly on Flareon's shoulder. "We believe in you." As Flareon looked up at her smiling face, he looked around and noticed everyone was also giving him that same warm, calm, kind smile. At that moment, Flareon felt a huge surge of confidence as he quickly got back up and gave everyone a smile in return. Flareon then hugged Twilight and thanked her for helping him get out of his rut. Soon after, Flareon thought up a way to defeat Alexei once and for all. A couple of minutes later, Flareon was seen explaining the details of his plan he had just finished drawing on the ground to everyone who was sitting silently around him.
"If I do my Supernova Cannon inside Alexei's mouth at the climax of him using his Shadow Destruction Hyper Beam, it should cause a chain reaction and destroy Alexei from the inside. By using my Flame God Mode, it should last long enough and allow me to travel straight through his attack, directly into his mouth. I also should be able to travel fast enough to break the sound barrier at the perfect moment of the climax." Suddenly, his lip quivered as Flareon began to hesitate on what he wanted to say next. Nearly ten seconds later, Flareon looked at the ground and muttered, "I won't survive the explosion." Just as he had feared, no one said anything as they were in total disbelief. They couldn't believe their ears. Flareon was planning on sacrificing himself to defeat Alexei. As everyone looked at the ground in silence, Twilight suddenly broke it when she burst out laughing.
"That's a good one Flareon!" Twilight exclaimed as she smiled awkwardly, "You're such a joker you know that? That's another thing I've always admired about you...your hilarious sense of humor!" Unfortunately, Twilight stopped laughing when she saw the look on Flareon's face, and immediately began to lose her composure. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" she yelled angrily as tears began to form in her eyes, "Telling me you won't survive! I swear...if you even think about doing that...I will never forgive you Flareon! You hear me?! Never!" When Flareon tried to explain himself, Twilight suddenly slapped Flareon across the face with her right hoof. However, Twilight didn't stop there as she continued to slap Flareon over and over and over while her friends watched in complete shock. Five slaps later, Flareon finally had enough as he quickly reached up with his right hoof and grabbed her hoof. "Let...go...off...me...you...bastard!' Twilight grunted as she struggled to break Flareon's hold on her.
"Twilight!" Flareon yelled as tears were now falling down Twilight's face, "I have to do this! If I don't defeat Alexei now...he's going to destroy Canterlot! If I could have just one wish...it would be for everyone, including you, Solana, Spike, and my friends to finally be able to live in peace. Looking back at that day when I first arrived in Equestria, I'm very thankful that happened because if it never did, I would still be that scared, lonely, and angry guy that was going nowhere in life. Please understand Twilight...this is my destiny. Even though I was the one who actually made the prophecy, it's still my destiny that I have to carry out. Not only is everyone in Equestria counting on me, the ponies in the past and future are too. I can't let any of them down or I will never be able to forgive myself." Flareon then let go off Twilight's hoof and hugged her. "I love you." Twilight could only hug him back as she continued to cry. As Flareon slowly let her go, he turned to see the faces of his friends, who were also crying. After Flareon said his goodbyes to everyone, he turned around and went back into Flame God Mode. He could still hear the sound of their crying behind him ringing in his ears. Soon after, Flareon flew into the air and quickly headed towards Alexei, who had almost reached Canterlot. As Flareon flew in front of Alexei, he actually wasn't surprised to see that Flareon was still alive.
"It's about time you showed up!" Alexei said as he laughed manically, "I was really starting to worry that you ran away and abandoned everyone. Now that is what I would call pure evil!"
"I'm here to end this Alexei," Flareon replied, "You're never going to reach Canterlot. I'm going to kill you once and for all! Right here...right now!" Alexei had now stopped laughing as his smile turned into an angry smirk.
"You never learn do you? You can't kill me! I am the darkness!" Alexei exclaimed, "Once I finish you off...I'm going after your precious little family and I will torture them everyday until their will gives out! You can watch it happen from the afterlife along with Nova!" Alexei quickly began to charge up power in his mouth, and a five seconds later, fired off another Shadow Destruction Hyper Beam directly at Flareon. As planned, Flareon quickly flew towards the beam, and right into it. At first the overwhelming power of the darkness stung badly, but Flareon knew he just had to deal with the pain and he continued on through it. As Flareon was nearing his Alexei's mouth, his body was starting to slowly disintegrate, so Flareon was forced to kick it up a notch. A few seconds later, Flareon finally made it inside Alexei and immediately unleashed his Supernova Cannon, which in Flame God Mode, became a more powerful version called the Big Bang Cannon. As Alexei looked around, he was overjoyed to find out Flareon was nowhere to be seen.
"There's no one left to stop me!" a smug Alexei proclaimed, "Equestria is finally mine!" At that moment, Alexei suddenly heard a particular crackling noise. When he looked at his right arm, his eyes widened in horror as small white glowing cracks were beginning to appear all over it. When Alexei looked at his left arm, the same thing was happening, including on his legs, chest, and even his head. "No! This is impossible!" Alexei yelled as the cracks were rapidly growing in number and size. It didn't take long before Alexei figured out who had caused this. Just before his body completely broke down, Alexei cursed Flareon as loud as he could. Soon after, Alexei's body exploded in a bright white light as different planet-shaped stars began to explode one after another in the sky as the dark clouds above slowly dissipated and let in the warm light from the sun. The planet-shaped stars continued to go off like fireworks while they showered the area of the explosion, including the spot where Twilight and her friends were standing at, with small snowflake stars. Meanwhile in Canterlot, Shining Armor, Cadance, and the royal guards were celebrating the fireworks as the shadow dragon army had disappeared right after Alexei was killed. Ponyville, Cloudsdale, including Fillydelphia was also in view of the fireworks. As Twilight and the others continued watching the fireworks go off, they suddenly heard a soft voice come from behind them. When Twilight and the others turned around, they saw Princess Celestia smiling weakly as she limped towards them.
"I saw what Flareon did," Celestia said as she stopped near them, "It was a very noble and brave act. He will forever be remembered as the greatest hero Equestria has ever known!" Suddenly, tears began to slowly fall down her face. "I'm going to miss him." As she started to cry, Twilight walked over to Celestia and hugged her. As Twilight began to cry along with her, the others also hugged Celestia, and cried too. Soon after, they sat down together and continued to watch the fireworks. Eventually, the fireworks ended, and everyone began to head back home to check on their families. Meanwhile, Twilight was still sitting on the ground as she continued to stare at the spot where the fireworks had appeared not long ago. The same place Flareon was last seen at. A couple of minutes later, she slowly got up, not taking her eyes away from the fireworks spot.
"Flareon," Twilight whispered, "I love you." She then turned around and walked slowly back home to Golden Oak Library. Even though Flareon was gone, the legacy he left behind would last forever. It would never be forgotten. Flareon would continue to live on in everyone's hearts, not as the chosen one, but instead as a great friend, a caring father, and a loving husband.