Clash of Light and Darkness - Chapter 4

      Previously on Clash of Light and Darkness…

      The Underground Emperor, the Master of Darkness and the Supreme Ruler of Hell, Zeba, created an atmosphere of blackness with his creations, the so-called the Infernal Particles, as he raised his fortress, the Underground Castle coated with powerful dark magic, from the Underworld into the surface, right on the center of Tambelon, the capital city of the Island Kingdom of Harmony.

      The evil power was so vast that the Spirits tried to combat it with all they could, but they failed. It even deflected the giant Dairenou’s attack.

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      The Mythical Chi Beasts and the piloting Spirits were defeated and retreated, leaving the black Underground Castle present in the now-plagued Island Kingdom of Tambelon.

      The Castle then released waves of dark energy from itself. Each wave got larger as it was expanding while plaguing and darkening every corner in the planet.

      The skies from all the cities in the world turned pitch black and the sunlight failed to reach it as it was extinguished by the evil presence of the Infernal Particles from the dark atmosphere before it could give its first light to those who could see sunlight. Neither the sun nor the moon could be seen, therefore.

      Not only that; due to the dark atmosphere, the global temperature decreased and everywhere one goes throughout the midst of the earth, it was as cold as the Polar Regions. The lakes, ponds and rivers everywhere froze too and became solid ice.

      All those signs of blackness immediately brought nearly the entire population of the world plummeting into fear and doubt.

      Within just a few minutes, that dark atmosphere created by Zeba through the Infernal Particles turned the entire planet into a dark and cold world shrouded in pure evil and darkness.

      However, that was just the first of the few stages of the malevolent Hell Empire to spread chaos and darkness throughout the world and the universe, vanquish the Light and finally usher an eternal age of pure Darkness.

      Zeba’s image appeared on the blackened skies in every corner of the planet to bring an unholy message to all of civilization. Upon first sight of the Lord of Darkness, they all immediately became frightened.

      “The time has come, mortal fools!” Zeba declared, “The era of eternal Darkness has begun. You world has become our world. The Light has ceased to exist and the Darkness is now dominant! There were five new heroes that tried to stop us, but not even their newfound power is a match to the grand and absolute power of the Darkness.”

      “But you won’t die yet, no, not now,” Zeba continued, “You will be given 40 days and 40 nights to repent for all the sins of defying and blaspheming evil and darkness. And by the 40th day, the Dark Judgment shall be carried out and all life here in this miserable planet will be extinguished.”

      He concluded before his image faded away, “Think of your foolishness for defying the Darkness and its masters before you die.” As it disappeared, a deep loud monstrous laughter was sounded.

      Therefore, the entire world became frightened and afraid as they fear what will happen to their devastated world and all the races living in the planet, now on the near verge of extinction.

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      The Spirits were aware that the only way to attack the dark Underground Castle and bring light and warmth back to the world was to awaken their Qi Powers, the mystical magical powers inherited by the Heavenly Forces and the Forces of Light and the source to unlimited strength.

      However, discovering their Qi Powers was not easy and therefore, very difficult to do. One must find potential and true strength within and inside oneself. So, they started severe training. The training was very severe that they must immediately awaken the Qi Powers within themselves before the 40 days of repentance end and the Dark Judgment is carried out.

      Everyday and night, Burning, Brave, Agile, Strong and Serene all trained without rest and with food and water only to be done twice a week. They were trained through all of the various tests, exercises, drills and workouts anypony could muster.

      It was just the first day, but the training to finding the Qi Power became heavy and fierce. Though they failed their tests at their first days, they still managed to push forward, bear all the agonizing pain, endure their limits, and perspire with all the sweat they have; and within the later days, they began to show improvement and pass all the tests.

      The Spirits were guided and trained skillfully by their mentors, the Guardians. With the help of new technology, they can vary their students’ skills and levels in power, endurance, strength, agility, speed, accuracy and cardio through their one supercomputer.

      Every week, as indicated in their mentors’ supercomputer, the Spirits’ physical levels grew starting from Level 1 in the first week, until their last days of training when they reached the maximum Level 5 and they were ready to use Qi Power as their final test on the last day.

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18 hours before the Dark Judgment…

      It was the 39th day of repentance, the day before the deciding fate of the planet, the end of ponykind and all civilizations, the complete destruction of Light and the final victory of the Darkness.

      In the Canterlot Castle, the mighty fort that stood on the proud capital of the Kingdom of Equestria, heads of different states in the entire world, especially those who allied with the Forces of Light to defeat the Dark Lord so many years ago, are gathered in a huge secretarial room for a very urgent meeting.

      Long Shen, the supreme Emperor of Ib'xian and the Great Dragon referred to by his subjects, was the first to stand and give his word to his fellow friends, “The end is coming and approaching fast, my friends! We cannot allow ourselves to just stand here like heck we’re doing nothing at all!”

      Princess Celestia, the co-ruler of Equestria and Princess of the Sun, stood up next to state her own words and replied to the dragon emperor, “That’s right. Everypony, in times of great and terrible danger, when the depths of Darkness attempt to bring shadow and evil in Equestria and this world, we come over and depend on heroes to end every conflict we are facing today.”

      She faced to her younger sister, Princess Luna, the Princess of the Moon, who nodded in confidence and approval as well.

      However, Hirohoofto, more known as Emperor Rising Sun, the absolute ruler of Neighpon, stood next and complained in response, “But this?! The Ambassador of Equestria just disappeared like we never knew the cause, and one of the Princesses of Equestria was gone too! For absolutely no reason or evidence or proof of their disappearance whatsoever! I just don’t know why. We're all confused and bewildered.”

      “Please, calm down all. Tambelon, my friends, was once coated in shadow,” Great Sun, the Emperor of the Fillyppine Empire, replied to everypony in the room, “But because we don’t tend to lose hope and surrender to the black Darkness, a miracle may happen and bring us all to salvation. That’s how Grogar was defeated back then and there came the glorious Prince and Princess of the restored Tambelon.”

      “The Fillyppine Emperor’s right,” said another emperor, Constallion XXV, the monarch and leader of the mighty Bysaddline Empire, “I mean look at all the dangers brought upon all of us! Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changelings, King Sombra and the Crystal Empire, Tirek, Grogar, all of them! Yet, we still managed to evade them and prevail over those obstacles never faced by a mortal before.”

      “Ja, mate,” replied Walther, the Chancellor and second-in-command of the Germane Empire, in response with his Germane accent, “Ze Princess of Tambelon always said that friendship leads ze way to becoming one and all and unlocking ultimate potential. Vith that, ve can create hope and hope is something ve vill carry on with that ve all have left until ze end.”

      “Wally’s right,” Black Knight, a loyal general to the Equestrian Army, nodded continued, “As long as there is life, there is hope. We are hoping for a new generation of heroes to save us and bring forth a beautiful miracle to bring the Light back to the civilized and benevolent face of the Earth.”

      All the creatures gathered in the meeting, pony, zebra, buffalo, griffin, dragon, otherwise alike and their leaders present chattered and murmured to each other, with a concern of what would become of the world they inhabit and the ultimate fate of their homes.

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13 hours before the Dark Judgment…

      Eventually, it was the final day of training for the five ponies chosen to master the Qi Power. As they essentially reached their potential levels to Level 5, after weeks of struggle and hardwork, they were ready for their final test.

      For the final test for their long and intense 40 days of relentless training, the group was sent right outside the temple and sat all firmly on the ground to prepare in focusing the mystical Qi Power.

      They closed their eyes very tight as they began meditating and focusing very hard, trying to clear their minds of everything unnecessary. With that, for them, they can be able to harness enough energy inside themselves to release their own potential to use the Qi Power finally.

      The aura around their bodies began glowing from the bodies of the meditating Burning Passion and others. However, the brightness of the auras was very weak, too dim and too small.

      Meanwhile, from inside the temple, their mentors calculated the potential harnesses of energy inside them using a supercomputer, and from what they’ve seen, they were not quite satisfied on what was happening.

      “What the hell?!” Ryo commented.

      “Their energy levels are too weak,” said Kazu, “That’s too far from being able to master the Qi Power.”

      “You're kidding! We even trained them nonstop for 40 days,” Ryo replied disappointedly, “What were they thinking? Don’t they know that by unlocking their true selves within can they awaken and discover that kind of great mystical power?”

      “Calm down, Ryo,” Rin convinced him, “They just started.”

      “That’s right,” continued Daigo, “By the end of the 40 days, they must awaken their Qi Power on their own without difficulty, but without ease either. They are our only hope to bring down the evil Underground Empire once and for all.”

      “We have to believe they’ll make it, right?” Shoji stated, and after which, Ryo nodded in approval and continued watching their students meditating through a computer screen, hoping well that his students would accomplish and pass the last test.

      However, all of a sudden, the five Spirits began hearing a strange and familiar feminine sound with their ears, saying,

      “Help me… Please, save me…”

      Peculiar, they all became a little surprised by the strange voice and suddenly, the weak aura around them dispersed and they stood up in wonder and a little confusion.

      The Guardians, watching the five new heroes, all frowned in disappointment.

      “They all lost focus!” Daigo cried, “Their potential energy in them went back to 0!”

      “Damn!” muttered Ryo, “What is that about this time?”

      Outside, as Burning, Brave, Agile, Strong and Serene continued to hear the same voice repeating the said words over and over again, and try recognizing whose voice was that.

      “Could that voice be…?” Serene Grace said in curiosity.

      “That’s it! That must her!” Strong Soul cried in realization.

      “Let’s go, Burning Passion!” said Agile to the red unicorn.

      “We need to rescue the Princess right away!” Brave continued.

      “Right!” nodded Burning as the entire group departed to look for the very source of the voice they recognized whose it is.

      Inside the temple, the five mentors too began hearing the same strange voice uttering, “Help… Help me… Save me…”

      “Wait…” Ryo stuttered in wonder, “There’s something strange about this message.”

      “Ryo! Come over here!” shouted Rin as Ryo approached to her, who was sitting next to the crystal ball they use to observe, “About that message, we know whose voice that is and recognize it, but I feel a dark presence on it. It is as if…”

      “Dark presence?” interrupted the Guardian of the Dragon, “Wait… it can’t be…”

      As Ryo suddenly what might happen, he began to utter with urge, “This is bad. They must be going to a trap! Get back here immediately, everypony!”

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12 hours before the Dark Judgment…

      The five heroes finally made reach to the town of Ponyville, completely in ruins and rubble and empty with no inhabitants or any sign of life whatsoever, now cold and dark even in the middle of the day, as they continue to search for the source of the very odd voice to which they are familiar with.

      However, as they reached to the ruined empty town square, they heard the voice directly, saying the words, “Please… help me…”

      Burning and his comrades turned their heads to see where the peculiar sound actually came from.

      A pony-like figure appeared out of nowhere and showed up in front of the five startled ponies.

      “Is that you…?” Burning asked.

      The figure just laughed mockingly and said, “Too bad, you fell for it.”

      The source of the strange voice came closer to reveal herself, only to be revealed as one of the four generals of the Army of Hell, who is the Underground Assassin Deathiel.

      “I am Deathiel, the skilled Assassin of the Underground Imperial Army of Hell,” she introduced, “And this is my Voice Imitation Technique!”

      Deathiel spat out a chip from her mouth on the ground. It is a voice chip that allows one to imitate the voice of a living being. It played again like a voice recorder or a cassette tape, uttering, “Save me… help… please…”

      The five ponies could not believe that she was just using and imposing the voice of the Princess of Tambelon to lure all of them in the exact area to be finished off entirely.

      Suddenly, General Smogos arrived from behind the five Spirits and electrocuted them with his staff, causing them all to groan in pain and drop to the ground.

      The five ponies stood up immediately and faced Smogos in anger and determination.

      “Welcome, the so-called ‘Spirits’ of pride and honor,” Smogos said sarcastically, “Today, you’ll be killed by a color. The color we like to call… Black!”

      “What?!” Burning Passion exclaimed.

      “Hordes of destruction, attack!” ordered Smogos, as another group of armed Zoldats prepared for combat against their enemies. Immediately, Burning and the others were prepared for that kind of occasion too.

      Another intense brawl was engaged. But this time, it wasn’t easy because now that skies are coated with the Power of Darkness, the Zoldats became a little stronger compared to last time the Spirits fought them and defeated them all with ease. Therefore, the Spirits had difficulty in fighting off the evil army, now that a powerful dark presence is present, especially with the help of the evil generals to support their troops.

      After the fight, the five Spirits all laid on the ground but still stood up, not wanting to lose.

      Burning Passion uttered loudly to his teammates, “We have no choice! Let’s summon the Mythical Chi Beasts and crush them all!”

      “That’s a little weird to do, but fine! Let’s do this!” Strong spoke back, knowing that it would not be fair to use something humongous to crush puny things, but since they were in a desperate situation, what choice do they have.

      As the five assembled themselves in a straight line standing beside one another, they all raised their right hooves and shouted altogether with their chant of summoning, “Come forth, guide us with your power, five Great Mythical Chi Beasts!”

      But nothing happened.

      They were confused at this and tried calling them again with the same loud chant.

      But nothing happened again.

      “What?!” gasped Burning in shock, “We can’t summon our Mythical Chi Beasts!”

      “Ridiculous,” mocked Smogos, “Your powers are useless in your biggest obstacle; a dark atmosphere Emperor Zeba created with the Infernal Particles! In other words, there is nothing you can do to stop us at this rate! Therefore, surrender already and consider your fates!”

      “What did you say?!” Agile Skill spat out in concern.

      As the opposing army including Smogos and Deathiel charged, the five Spirits left no other choice but flee and they ran inside the damaged Ponyville City Hall. But they were being chased by their enemies.

      But as they reached the third floor, they were cornered and trapped between the windows and the group of Zoldats led by the evil general and ninja. Most likely, they couldn’t escape at that rate.

      “You can’t run away! This is your final day!” Smogos hissed as he pointed his staff at his opponents and electrocuted them again, making all of them cry out in pain and fall onto the floor. The Spirits groaned and stood up slowly, bearing every pain on their bodies.

      “This is the end! Prepare to die!” declared Deathiel and the demonic footsoldiers charged at the weakened Spirits.

      “RUN!” Burning Passion shouted, and the Spirits group leaped through the windows, smashing them and fleeing away before the Zoldats could even reach them.

      “Damn you all!” Smogos yelled frustratedly, “But, someday we will get you and you will fall. You can run from your trials, but you can’t hide, foolish mortals.” Smogos chuckled mischievously afterwards before he and Deathiel ordered the retreat of his troops back to the Underworld.