The Jewel Within

Blazing Destruction

Daisy's memories ended swiftly with a sharp metallic sound breaking and piercing bone. The scythe was drawn from her head and raised once more.

"You should have stayed out of the way. But you couldn't" Sapphire's multiple voices spoke. "And now, the thing you hunted for so long... Is going to be the cause of your death." The wild look in her eyes showed that she was nearly lost. That she was almost no longer in control.

"Petal. I have faith in you." Shadow said, nodding. He watched as Petal Dance stepped forward, nothing but courage and determination upon her face.

"I can't let you stay, foul demon. You must be eradicated before you bring great destruction to the lands!" Petal said, her armor glimmering in the moonlight.

Sapphire didn't say anything, just held her gaze, smiling wildly. Then she stepped forward, almost in a stumble. But it was a fake-out. Her scythe came from the right, while she came from the left.

Petal paid attention to everything, and she dashed forward, dodging the scythe. She spun around to watch as Sapphire smacked the handle of the scythe, then moved out of the way as it started to spin, tearing up the ground as it started to spin incredibly fast, then shot off in Petal's direction.

Petal Dance dodged, throwing something in her direction, but sighed as they stuck into a black shield. The throwing knives then shot back as the shield exploded outward. Petal Dance threw up her leg to protect her face, the two knives embedding in her armor. It didn't get to her skin, however.

"Hiding behind your magic? Come now. Thought you were better than that." Petal stated, an obvious jab.

"You want to face me in close-quarters?" Sapphire asked, her tone steeped in evil.

"Precisely. No magic." Petal said, a smile on her face.

"So be it." Sapphire said, taking her scythe in her hoof. "Come, let's do it this way."

Petal nodded. Despite this being her enemy, she still had honor in a fight. She extended a long blade from a contraption under her armor. It seemed to put itself together, forming a long sword, which locked into place somewhere around the edge of her armor.

"Fancy." Sapphire smiled, "But you better know how to use it if you wish to defeat me."

"Oh, I am." Petal said, pointing her sword at her foe. A challenger's pose. Sapphire knew this, placing the blade against her scythe's sharp edge. "Let the battle commence." Petal said, drawing her sword back to herself.

She stepped forward, slashing horizontally, but Sapphire blocked with equal speed. She was expecting this, though, and spun, grinding the blades and brought it around for a vertical strike. But this time it smacked against the ground.

Her eyes widened and she let out a yelp as Sapphire's blade cut through the skin on her back. She quickly spun, blood starting to run down her left side. She stumbled, but held the blade strongly still.  Even with the pain and blood, she looked over at Sapphire, seemingly looming like a large menace.

She shook her head and ran at her once more, thrusting her blade forward in an attempt to pierce her. Her blade barely missed. slicing a little bit of hair from next to her shoulder. But that was also bad becuase Sapphire slammed her body into Petal Dance, rolling her over. She then got up once more. "Let's end this." She said, her courage dwindling slightly.

But she couldn't give up. She had to kill her, stop the magic. She charged once more, her blade ready. She rolled out of the way of the first attack, and slashed, but her sword never made contact as Sapphire rammed her front hoof into Petal's face. "So be it." Sapphire said.

Blood splattered from her nose and she fell to the ground. She didn't have much time to feel the pain as the scythe cut through the ground and her body, severing it in half. Then she was gone.

Sapphire stared at the body, then looked to Shadow. "You want to take your chances next? I've already defeated your two puppets." She said in a voice that would normally send chills down somepony's spine.

Shadow Nexus laughed, and smiled. "Well, they were only for weakening you. But I guess they seemed to fail. Guess I'll have to just go as hard as possible." He stated, then smiled almost as evil as Sapphire's corrupted form's. Then he lunged forward.