Entrance into the Crystal Citadel is simple; entering one of the many secret passageways easily. I'm honestly surprised; one would think that with the sudden attack the inside of the Citadel would be chaotic, but it's the opposite. The brainwashed Shadow Guard stood at their stations as unwavering as stone. I'm watching them speak to a legionnaire through a vent near the ceiling. Had I used the front door there is little doubt it would have been difficult to move forward, and I pity any Equestrian soldiers that dare enter.
That thought makes me frown, no doubt the Shadow Guard will fight to the death taking many of their enemies with them, Equestrian casualties. No, King Sombra is my only concern, the Equestrians can take care of themselves. I turn away moving deeper into the bowels of the Citadel. The guard's voices fading,
"...what of Princess Cadenza? What are our orders?"
That gives me pause. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is among the highest priorities of Equestria for the past four years. Freeing her might be beneficial. I turn back to catch the rest of the conversation.
The Shadow Guard stares, or I assume they are staring, at the Legionnaire. "The King wills the Shadow Guard to secure the Crystal Citadel. A squad of Legionnaires will remain to secure the prisoner's cell. Any disruption of the magic drain spell and he will know and those responsible severely punished."
The Legionnaire stood tall saluting. "Understood, sir! Glory to the King!"
"Glory to the King. Now be on your way." The Shadow guard replies curtly. The Legionnaire and Shadow guard disperse to follow out their orders; this is an opportunity. I am well aware of the King's spell on the Princess; it's a spell that drains the target's magic and usually given straight to the user itself. However, a large portion of it goes to keeping the animus crystals active that protects the capital from the icy blizzards of the North. If I free her from his control then it will weaken him, it will also stop powering the animus crystals too, but that won't happen for a few hours. That should be long enough to end this once and for all.
It's time for a slight detour. I continue my way through the secret passage, the Legionnaire unaware that I was following him.
Compared to their Ex-General this soldier has terrible awareness, I probably could have walked behind him without him noticing. We arrive at the dungeons, gloomy and dimly lit. Most cells are filled with accused spies, Equestrian sympathizers, and more than a few innocents caught at the wrong place and the wrong time. One held the two Legionnaires from before, Buff and Scrawny. A handful of Legionnaires stood like sentries at every other cell, but their eyes are only looking straight ahead, not up. My mist form hugs the thick darkness of the ceiling, following along with the Legionnaire below. We pass by more cells until stopping at a lone door, different from the others. Two large Legionnaire soldiers flanked either side of the door, and a black magic rune covered its entire surface that lightly pulsated with dark magic. The Legionnaire I was following stares at the two guarding the entrance and then slowly eyeing every soldier present.
"Our orders are to keep the Princess secure. Another squad will come to reinforce our position. Somehow Equestrians got past the General's shield, and they could attempt a jailbreak. Remain vigilant."
All of the soldiers in the dungeon stomp their spears and salute. There are five soldiers total, including the three at the door. With a plan in place, I speed back through the dungeon, snuffing out every light crystal along the way. The guards react accordingly,
"What in Tartarus-?"
"The light crystals are out!"
"Get them back on!"
"The Equestrian's are here!"
"DON'T PANIC!"
While they all ran around blindly in the dark, I calmly materialize and quickly cast Night's Eye on myself. I closed my eyes and reopened them to find the darkness had receded.
One soldier cautiously walked along the wall possibly trying to reactivate the crystals; two waved their hooves in front of themselves like blind ponies, the last two held their spears at the ready and tried to peer into the darkness. I quietly moved forward to one of the three soldier's trying to activate the lights. My hooves quickly wrapped around the soldier's neck and tightened with practiced ease. The soldier struggled and gurgled, but in the pitch darkness and the others shouting in panic, hid any noise he made until his struggling hoof fell limp and he fell into unconsciousness.
While I do not quarrel with killing them, I have been "ordered" not to kill any if I can. I don't care to be ordered, but that was one of the conditions for being trusted, thus agreeing to this plan. I quietly lay his armored body off to the side before quickly subduing the two that were waving their hooves. Smashing their heads together proved enough. The noise didn't go unheard, however, which alerted the previous two that held spears as the bodies crumpled to the stone floor, their ears pointed in the direction of the sound as their eyes attempted in vain to pierce the darkness.
"What's going on over there; why haven't you reactivated the crystals?" The one on the left asked. No answer came, and in the next few seconds they would figure out why. My silent progress went unheard as I stalked towards them.
"A-answer now!" The soldier swung their spear wildly left and right, the sharp tip nearly clipping me. Fear has started to set in their minds. This will be a waste of time if I continue on like this, and there is only two of them. My horn lit up with black and purple flames, its deep glow barely pushing back the darkness in its wake. The fire reveals my position which startles them long enough to finish the spell. With a bob of my head, two orbs of dark magic impact both of the soldier's chests before they could react. Purple lightning arced across their forms as their bodies crumple to the floor.
Now that all of the guards are taken care of, that leaves only one obstacle; the rune door. This task was going to take more magic than I felt comfortable using, but if doing this is to make him lose a source of his power to weaken him, then it equals out. I concentrate my magic to the tip of my horn. Once charged I shoot the spell into the center of the rune, in response, it quivered but held firm. I frown and pour more magic into the rune, as expected a rune made by the King won't fall easily, luckily I have something for that.
I reach into my cloak with a hoof extracting a sapphire. A rune was planted on it that oscillates between green and purple. Without hesitation, I slam the gem into the door. The black rune violently pulsates as it's assaulted by both my magic and the rune on the sapphire until the black rune shatters. I'm forced to bring up a shield to protect myself from the magic backlash. The door and the gem didn't fare so well, and both crumbles to pieces. I stare at the parts of the sapphire in my hoof with a tinge of annoyance. It's unfortunate it broke since the gem was difficult to enchant, but it's an acceptable price.
"Who's there?" A weak voice asks. Because there is no longer a door in place the room beyond is revealed, exposing the sole occupant inside. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza stands to her hooves, her purple eyes showing a weariness not many can claim. Despite being in a prison cell for the duration of the war, the Princess is unharmed. Her pink coat is not overly dirty, and her mane isn't kept, but it also isn't a rat's nest. The chains shackles to her fetlocks and neck only allowed her a minimal amount of movement from the wall.
She shuffles on her hooves and looks around nervously. "Hello? Anypony?"
I realized she was blind in the darkness, and thus I shut my eyes and canceled Night's Eye before letting my horn ignite with green magic that bathed the room in its glow. As I step into the room, the Princess stares at me, to the unconscious guards just barely seen behind me, and then back. She opens her muzzle to say something, but I cut her off. "Don't move."
With a flick of my horn, two green blades of magic shoot through the air slicing through the Princess' shackles cleanly, leaving her unharmed.
"Follow me." I leave little room for argument as I turn around and start walking back to the rest of the dungeon. Princess Cadenza raises a hoof to her neck rubbing where the shackles chaff then quickly walks after me. I walk along the far wall stopping at an embedded pillar between two wall-mounted crystal sconces, or so it seemed. I twist the right sconce causing a section of the pillar to open with a nearly inaudible *click*. I point at it with a hoof, "Follow this passage until you reach the end and wait there, Equestrian commandos will find you there once they begin their assault."
The Princess walks next to me peering into the dimly lit passage I revealed before looking back to me in suspicion. "How do you know that?"
"I gave them the layout of the castle and the secret passages. Now go, more Legion soldiers will be here shortly, and I won't fight them off for you." With that, I start to walk away, but I'm stopped,
"What about the other prisoners, won't you release them to?"
I sigh and my horn glows levitating the keyring from one of the unconscious Legion soldiers and toss them to the Princess, who barely caught them with her hooves.
"Use these and be quick, King Sombra will know you are free as soon as the rune was destroyed. Leaving me with little time to keep the element of surprise. I must go lest I lose it." The Princess quickly trots over and starts to unlock the cells while ushering the prisoners out and she glances over at me.
"What's your name?" She asks.
"My name does not matter, do not tarry long." Turning around I head for the door, but I make it all of three feet before she calls out to me again. I turn back around glaring at her. "What?"
The Princess solemnly nods at me. "Thank you."
I pause then shake my head turning back around. "Save your gratitude for after you escape."
Nothing more is said, and as soon as I get past the door, I switch into my cloud form and quickly resume my path to the throne room.
Getting the rest of the way to the throne room was not hard, the Legion soldiers were unaware of my presence, but things only got more difficult when I went into the halls patrolled by the Shadow guard. I managed to sneak by most of them until I was just outside the throne room. Unfortunately, one of the Shadow guards detected me alerting all four. They are the elite amongst the Empire's warriors and subduing them with their lives intact is not possible. I didn't have the luxury of time or magic to expend for it and quickly killed them before they could fully react. The fight only cost me some magic and a small gash on my forehoof. Stepping over their bodies, I approach the double doors and push it open just enough for me to slip in.
The throne room is a dimly lit long and tall hall with large crystalline pillars spaced along the sides. There is enough room down the main stretch to fit four ponies shoulder-to-shoulder with some room to spare and even some space on the sides to allow slaves to go back and forth without bothering anypony in the middle. I slide into the shadows cast by the pillars moving quickly and quietly. Peeking around the last pillar I finally see him, the tyrant of the North and Prince of shadows, King Sombra. He’s sitting on his throne staring in my direction smirking at me.
"Come now apprentice, do you really believe you can sneak up on me?"
I flinch when King Sombra found me out so quickly, but it's not surprising, I knew he would find me eventually. I step out from the shadows glaring at him. King Sombra lazily points his hoof at the base of the steps leading up to his throne. "Stand before me apprentice." His deep voice was commanding and smooth yet also held an ominous edge to it. Before I even try to comply he gets up and walks up to a full-length mirror beside the throne, observing its clear surface.
I walk the short distance towards the throne, all the while keeping an eye on King Sombra. He shows no signs of concern simply admiring himself in the mirror placed there. I stop a few feet in front of the steps watching the King intently.
"Do you know what this is?" King Sombra asks. His eyes never leaving the reflective surface. I glance at the mirror, the frame is now covered in black crystals making it hard to identify, but I recognize it.
"It's the mirror you had me steal from Canterlot castle," I say. My gaze switches back to the King. "It was to test my ability to infiltrate a location without detection."
"A test you seem to have forgotten, apprentice." My previous master stops admiring himself and finally turns to address me fully. "I could feel your magic as you made your way through the castle. You caused quite a stir in the dungeons."
I glare at him, while he didn't say anything of the sort I could tell by the tone of his voice he was...disappointed. "The Princess won't be your prisoner or your battery any longer."
The King glares back, "You fought through several guards and break through the magic wards around the Princess' cell." He begins to make his way towards me, a slow walk. I take a few steps back until he descended the steps to my level stopping with only a few feet separating us, not willing to let the other get too close or too far away. "Such a foolish waste of magic. By helping another, you have only made yourself weaker. I thought I taught you better."
I ignore him preparing for why I’m here in the first place. "You have caused many atrocities to innocent lives, to another nation, and this Empire. Your crimes will be paid for in full." I growl out. The dark King laughs, the laughter echoing throughout the cavernous room.
"Hypocrisy becomes you. We have brought strength and power to the Empire. We have brought about an era that has shaken this very world from its peaceful slumber. The atrocities you claim I have done were necessary." His face hardens. "Princess Celestia ruled with peace and wallowed in it, growing careless, becoming weak, her nation equally weak and unchanging. Through my banishment, I witnessed what was to come and sought to change it." He stomps his hoof to emphasize his point.
"Peace is a lie, a stagnation. There must be a conflict to grow stronger. There must be pain, suffering, and war. I taught you this; for years you followed me becoming the King’s Shadow, my champion of fear."
I growl in annoyance. "Your magic was controlling me like everypony else, but I'm free now, and it won't happen again. I will exact justice for your crimes." King Sombra's eyes glow as he chuckles in amusement.
"My poor ignorant apprentice, I had no power over your broken mind. The choices you made are yours alone, and you killed willingly. You do not see the irony in your own words."
No, I won't believe that. With the dark magic at his disposal, and what he's already done with it, it's not a stretch to think he did the same to me. He's a deceptive old bastard, and he's just trying to undermine my resolve. So I say nothing. His grin slowly turns to a frown, his face turning grim.
"Very well." He said. At once his horn flares to life with dark magic. "Come, bring your justice."
I dodge to the side avoiding a wall of crystal, landing, then immediately teleporting away behind a column as several crystal spikes shoot out of the floor. I dash out firing a black flaming bolt of magic at Sombra, but he summons a wall of crystal blocking my attack. Our battle is getting long and weary, and my magic reserves are waning. I managed to get a few hits on him, but they are superficial, none critical. Broken columns litter the throne room, as do black crystal growths and magic scorch marks. Taking the chance to catch a breath, I look around at the black wisps of miasma floating around the room. King Sombra is a master of Dark magic and can create black miasma. To most living things it is fatal if you stay in it too long. The higher the magic power, the longer one can resist the haze. The only reason I survived as long as I have is due to my affinity with dark magic. It's another reason only I can do this.
King Sombra's horn glows brighter as a black crystal sword grows from the floor. He picks it up in his magic and searches the room. My eyes widen as he looks at the pillar I'm hiding behind and lunges forward. He closes the distance between us with surprising speed. I bring up a dark shield blocking his overhead slash. Our magic clashes, his sword pressing down as I did my best to keep the protection up.
"You sought the aid of my enemy to strike me down, but you did not do it because you sympathize with them, or for their justice. No, for something else." His sword is slowly pushing the shield back inching closer to my neck. His fanged grin was growing larger. "No, not something...someone, her name was Emerald wasn't it?" The name freezes me in place. I could feel a small tug in my mind. His eyes are pulsing red as if staring into me.
"Revenge...that's why you want to kill me. You think it's my fault the young mare died, how naive." King Sombra's voice cuts through all other noise making it impossible to ignore.
"Stop," I warn. I'm Grinding my teeth trying to push the memories away. With my focus on the shield, Sombra is easily accessing my thoughts and memories. My anger from the past starts to rise. If I lose my concentration, and my magic fails, I die.
"She was a weak slave, yet she still tried to help, to stop the pain inflicted upon you."
The memory is pulled out flashing through my mind like a slide-show. The spear with Emerald's blood on it, her unmoving body and crimson blood pooling across the shack floor. The anger I felt then is now boiling in my veins ready to explode. I glare through my shield at Sombra as cracks begin to form.
"You. Are. Weak." Sombra presses down harder onto the shield pushing it to the brink of collapse.
"NO!" Power flares through my body like fire. With a roar, I knock Sombra and his sword back several feet. The flood gates are wide open, and all the anger and hatred I've kept away flows out. I lurch forward, and the shadows lunge with me forming a sleek sword of my own. The King brings his sword up blocking my strike, but as soon as the blades hit I swing it around again faster than before. He jumps back avoiding the swords, but I catch him mid-air with a magic bolt. It hits him square in the chest making him stagger back. I smirk, but the smirk disappears from what I see. On his chest where the bolt hit him is a growth of black and grey crystals. The pieces fall off to show him unharmed underneath.
He picks up his sword in his magic as I rush him. He blocks my left swing, then parries my right, each strike he manages to stop, but with each one, his sword starts to crack more and more. Noticing this I slam down harder with renewed vigor. Two more swings and his sword shatters, I smile in triumph. I failed to see his charged horn. Suddenly I'm flung back by a wave of dark magic. I try to recover, but a chunk of crystal shoots up from the ground slamming me into a nearby column. The force of it crushing against me causes my magical grip to slip dropping my sword. Baring my teeth, I let my pain fuel my magic further. When the power hit its peak, I release it. The following wave of dark magic shatters the crystal and the column behind me. I fall to the floor breathing heavily. Once I have my breath back, I stand up glancing in the direction of the King. He stands there staring allowing me to catch my breath as if he wasn't taking this fight seriously.
The King dusts off his crimson cloak with a flick of his tail. "Anger is an excellent weapon, but without proper control, it will always fall short."
Even now he lectures me? My lips peel back into a snarling fit for a timberwolf. I shoot three magical bolts at the King and then quickly follow it up with a smoke spell. He raised his head lazily, his horn's glow flickering to life summoning a red shield blocking my attack easily and counters with a kinetic blast dispersing the smoke cloud. But I wasn't there. King Sombra looks around the semi-destroyed throne room.
"Hiding again?" He taunted as he calmly walks around the room.
Meanwhile, I was peering around another pillar at his back. I need a plan that does not involve facing Sombra full-on where I'm at a disadvantage, and I need to attack out of sight and from behind, surprise attacks are my specialty. I'm confident I can get behind him without him knowing and all I need is a distraction. I concentrate my magic at the far end of the room casting a near-perfect illusion of myself and willed it into action. My illusion counterpart jumps out from cover and fires off a furious salvo of magical knives. King Sombra locked on as soon as the illusion made its move. Once again he pulls up his red shield, but it only protects him from the front.
With his attention on the illusion, I visualize the spot to portal behind him. As I dematerialize, I heard him speak.
"A desperate attempt,"
He said as the illusionary knives seem to impact his shield. I emerge behind him with my hoofblade poised to strike at his neck,
"-and predictable."
Something slams into my gut from below lifting me off my hooves from the force. The sudden cold that invaded my body made me gasp. Looking down I see the base of a thin black crystal tracing it up until it disappears into my underbelly just shy a few inches from my heart. Blood, MY blood trickles down the spike to the floor. It must be due to the shock, but I was having a tough time figuring out what just happened. I bring my head back up to find King Sombra staring at me in disappointment.
"You have been trained in many things my apprentice; Dark Magic, illusion magic, stealth, deception, observation, and espionage. But you failed to remember who it was that oversaw your training." My eyes widen at the realization. I bare my teeth and use every ounce of willpower I can muster to quickly charge my magic into my horn before releasing it in a concentrated beam. The beam caught Sombra by surprise cutting deep across his cheek and flank causing him to roar out in pain. I use that brief moment to wrench myself off the spike and portaled several feet away. My legs nearly give out, but I remain standing. A severe cold spreads through my body as my blood flows freely down my leg. King Sombra glares at me with pain evident on his face. There was a deep cauterizing cut carved across his cheek and flank like someone used a ruler to sketch it across his body, but...he's smirking.
Why in Tartarus is he smirking?
"Your determination is admirable, even in apparent defeat you fight against the odds. If you succeeded in killing me, you would have proven yourself." His smirk turned to a frown. "There is still much for you to learn, you sought to hide in the darkness and plunge your blade into my back, that only works when you are stronger than everything else within those shadows." Sombra stared into my eyes, and I swear I saw a small bit of genuine concern as he spoke. "There are monsters hiding in the dark that are far worse than even I. Next time, will you be ready?"
I am finding it hard to breathe correctly. I think Sombra's attack pierced one of my lungs. Did he say next time? Why would he let me live long enough for the next time?
Before anything more can be said three ponies rush into the throne room, two earth mares and cyan pegasus mare. At first, I didn't know who they were as my vision was getting fuzzy from my blood loss, but when my eyes cleared for a second, I recognized them. The two earth mares are Captain Maud Pie and Second Lieutenant Pinkie Pie, Elite Rock Troopers. The cyan pegasus is Commander Chroma. King Sombra is annoyed by the interruption but doesn't get a word in. They attack without warning, and the two Rock Troopers slam both of their hooves into the floor causing a large slab of crystal to pop up, and as soon as it did they pivoted around and bucked it with all of their strength. The several hundred pounds of mineral shoots forward towards King Sombra. His horn glowed red, and an angled wall of his crystal rises to divert the slab over his head harmlessly. While he's distracted Chroma flies in and tackles Sombra punching him as she did, she was forced to disengage when Sombra turned into shadow form slipping through her grasp.
I can't see what happens next. My vision is too blurry, and darkness appeared around the edges of my sight. The blood loss must have gotten the better of me, and my legs finally give out. Instead of hitting the cold hard floor a warmth engulfs me stopping my fall. I look up only to see a blotch of pink? The heat intensifies and the blurry vision recedes to reveal Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, behind her is a squad of Equestrian commandos. Her horn is glowing with magic, the same aura surrounding me. She gently lays me down and immediately tries healing me. With my vision clear I look back to the ensuing battle.
By now King Sombra is beyond annoyed, I can feel his anger slowly rising, and his horn is bubbling greatly with Dark Magic. A significant number of spikes shoot up from the floor trying to impale the Pie sisters. Both dodge out of the way just as Sombra lashes out with dark magic that should have hit Chroma if not for a magic shield that appeared around her. The unicorns in the commando squad are unable to do more than give support lest they get in the way. All three mares are focusing intently on King Sombra.
On my end, the Princess sat beside me eying the large bleeding hole in my chest in concern. She tries healing, but the Princess had been held captive in the Crystal Capital's dungeons for four years with her magic draining constantly, she is not in peak condition. The best she can do is heal a scab over the wound slowly as best as she can. I'm forced to lay here as the battle against Sombra continues.
The Dark King is showing his full power now, and they can't touch him. Black crystal walls shoot up from the floor blocking magic bolts before they can reach, thundering hoof-blows that can fell even the sturdiest opponent strike harmlessly off the shield of dark haze that surrounds the King. In response more spikes shoot out from the floor and walls. The Rock Troopers dodge and weave left and right smashing any spikes that get in their way with their bare-hooves. Commander Chroma finds a weak spot slamming through the haze and into King Sombra's shield from behind. As soon as his attacks stop the Rock Troopers lunge at Sombra throwing earth-shattering blows from the front. Cracks start to form, but he is far from done. His magic begins to collect getting larger by the second with his eyes glowing a brighter sickly green. I realize too late what was happening and tried to call out a warning. But my healing lung only let out an incomprehensible gurgle.
They didn't see it coming, and with a stomp of his hoof, a dense wave of dark magic and miasma shoot outward hitting the unprepared Equestrians. Commander Chroma is thrown into a wall hard before falling to the floor unconscious. The Rock Troopers are sent flying two different directions, skipping across the floor before coming to rest on their sides unmoving. The commandos unfortunate enough to be in range receive a similar result, thrown into the wall with great force. They all lay there stunned and unconscious as the dense miasma dissipates, revealing Sombra untouched. He summons a jagged crystal scythe in his magic, and the pitch black blade is a reflection of his soul. He calmly walks past my allies towards me. This was it, the last gamble. Equestria's best were sent to take the capital and end King Sombra. If he survives today there is no doubt Equestria will fail, falling into chaos, falling to the dark tyrant's malicious rule, Sombra knew this.
No! I will not let him get away with this, what he did to cause all the pain and suffering to countless thousands like her. No longer caring about my injuries I push myself back up to my hooves, ignoring the protest of the Princess beside me. Sombra Stops just in front of me frowning. I reach deep into myself grasping onto the last of my magic to make one last attempt.
PoV: Princess Mi Amore Cadenza
King Sombra stared at the young stallion in disappointment. I attempt to rise on my shaky legs but fail due to magical exhaustion. All of my magic is used up trying to keep the stallion alive. Suddenly his horn lights with black fire summoning a black bolt of magic and shooting it at King Sombra. The King quickly cut the projectile in half mid-air causing a small explosion. When the dust settles, it reveals the young stallion held in Sombra's magic. Sombra lifted the scythe over his head,
"Determined, but your last struggle for victory was pathetic." His voice was indifferent before looking to me. "As for you, I shouldn't have kept you alive for so long. You remind me too much like the previous Queen. You are a threat should you ever acquire the heart and I can't afford to let you go." He then raised his scythe and brought it down. I squint my eyes shut as I hear the blade cut through flesh, but there is no pain. There was a grunt of pain and then nothing. After a few tense seconds, I open my eyes slowly.
The scythe is stuck, embedded in the crystal floor. King Sombra stood in front of me in obvious pain. The King turns his head slowly to his right, and I follow his gaze. What I saw made my eyes widen in shock. The ‘fake’ in Sombra’s grasp fizzles out of existence and half-way out of the King's shadow is the real cloaked stallion. His horn wrapped in black magic forming an elongated blade buried to his forehead deep into the side of the King.
"It's over." The young stallion pants as King Sombra's blood drips down his face. He forcefully withdrew his horn with a wet slick forcing Sombra to the floor. The King coughs then look up at ShadowStep and grins.
"This is far from over." King Sombra began to laugh, his sinister laughter filling the throne room with dread.
PoV: ShadowStep
As Sombra's laughter fades he floats up, and the room begins filling with dark magic, and that is never good. To make it worse, the dark magic is circling Sombra's glowing body. This is bad, very bad. The last time King Sombra was sealed away he took the Empire with him, no doubt he has another contingency. Damn, I'm such an idiot!
I'm shaken from my thoughts when Princess Cadenza walked up beside me. "What's happening? Is he dead?" She asks.
The dark magic reaches its climax forming a black vortex above the King. I turn away from Sombra shoving the Princess away, what little good it will do if his spell affects the entire Empire. Dark magical energy shoots out from its epicenter in waves; the first wave threw everypony back except for me. I'm rooted to the spot unable to move. The next wave pierced through me and yet I also absorbed some of it, with each wave a portion of its power went into me, and the rest kept everypony away. A final wave lashes out finally letting me fall to the floor just as Sombra did when the dark magic left him, his eyes closed and body still.
After a few moments I manage to lift my head and look around the room; the two Rock Troopers and commandos are still unconscious nearby, Commander Chroma is stirring, Princess Cadenza is already sitting up, and finally King Sombra's unmoving form in the middle. I stand up on shaky legs ready for what happens next, but the King remains motionless. I stare at his sides for signs of breathing, but after some uncomfortable moments of holding my breath I finally let it out when I see no movement of any kind. The King is dead, the tyrant of the North, the Prince of shadows, is finally no more. Whatever he hoped to happen with that last show of dark magic must have been too weak to do more than buffet us with air.
Suddenly, a black whisp flies by my face, and then another. I look back at Sombra's corpse staring in astonishment. A black mist seeps from the stab wound I inflicted rising above his body forming into a rough equine shaped head with glowing red eyes. Those red eyes are staring at me as if to taunt me before it suddenly flies towards the throne. I dart forward only to stop and hiss in pain, my wound has reopened, but that matters little right now. I limp as fast as my injuries allow following the mist thinking how? How is he still alive? The black cloud reaches the throne and pauses by the mirror sending a tendril to touch the reflective surface. It starts glowing as soon as it made contact with the mirror, as the glow grew brighter chips of crystal fall off the mirror's frame showing the original purple structure underneath. I try to limp faster, but it felt like I was going agonizingly slow. With a resounding crack, the rest of the crystal encasing the mirror falls off revealing its actual shape. The pink gems lining the frame are glowing brightly, ripples move across the reflective surface of the mirror changing its reflection from the destroyed throne room to that of a different place, bright, unscathed, and oddly similar yet different. The black mist went into the mirror's surface and to the other side of the reflection as if it were an open door instead of a mirror.
"SOMBRA!" I bellow limping the last few feet standing in front of the mirror. Its image flickering as the air around the mirror churns. The ambient magic in the air makes my coat stand on end; it's becoming unstable. I didn't need extensive knowledge of magical artifacts to know the mirror is not going to last much longer. I take a bold step forward only to stop myself. A part of me hesitates, the Sombra has no Empire, no soldiers, and no servants. Sombra is running, why not just let him go and finally rest?
Leave the most dangerous, and most powerful, Dark magic user to his own devices, a stallion who nearly took over the continent?
I shake my head violently throwing away the previous thoughts. There is no other choice; I need to give chase. Sombra is smart and resourceful and if he somehow survived he will return. I look into the mirror to the other side, the image in the reflection shows a room lined with books on shelves, a library perhaps, they were made of crystal so it should still be in the Empire, yet I do not recognize it.
I look behind me at the ruined throne room, a few of the Equestrians start to wake up. The Rock Troopers stir, the pink one already trying to help the grey one up. Princess Cadenza is up and gallops to the aid of the commandos behind her. Then finally Commander Chroma regained consciousness shaking her head clear, she locks eyes with mine. The confusion is clear as she changed between staring at the mirror, myself, and Sombra's body. Glancing back at the mirror, I recall what she said in our earlier conversation,
"Isn't there some quote about seeking revenge and digging two graves?"
It could be a trap, but there can be no doubts. Hunting down that tyrant is my sole purpose now, to the ends of Tartarus if need be. Without any further hesitation, I jump through the mirror.
PoV: Commander Chroma
Moments ago
I look up bleary-eyed at the spinning world around me, a painful throbbing beating in my head. With shaking my head, my senses begin to return along with more pain. I hurt from the tip of my tail to the end of my muzzle. The last thing I remember is pinning down that tyrannical bastard and beating the shit out of him with the Rock Troopers, and then a wave of magic sent me flying, then nothing. My eyes widen with that realization shooting adrenaline through my veins as I check the situation. The Rock Troopers are pulling themselves off the floor, and the Princess is tending to the commandos, and then I almost sigh in relief when I see King Sombra's bleeding body on the floor. We are alive, a plus and the King somehow is dead too, another plus. Wait...where's the assassin? I scan the entire room until I found the cloaked stallion. He had migrated farther into the room next to the throne standing in front of a mirror.
He is staring right at me with a vengeance burning in his eyes. What is he thinking? Whatever it is it can't be good.
I look between the dead King and the assassin ShadowStep, did he kill the King? He was the only one still standing after all. The assassin turns back to the mirror next to him; it's then I notice something odd about it. It's rippling like water, and its reflection is not right, almost looks like another place entirely-
SHIT!
“You're not escaping from me you little-”
My wings flare out, and I lunge at him but it's too late, ShadowStep jumped through the rippling mirror, and he is gone in a flash of light. Unable to handle the stress of two ponies going through the mirror shatters into a million pieces. I lower my forehoof from protecting my face from the sharp projectiles staring at the empty frame with hatred.
"I will get you assassin; you can't outrun me. Even if I have to chase you to Tartarus and back."
PoV: ShadowStep
Once inside the mirror, everything goes numb. I can't see anything nor breathe. For a brief moment I thought I was dead, then I see something — a light, a shining light, growing until I see the room from before. Suddenly I'm accelerating faster as if I'm being pushed from behind by an invisible wall. From what I understand about portal magic, which is what I'm assuming this is, the portal opening I just came through has been disconnected. Portals are much like free-falling water, flowing in one direction from point A to point B even when point A is turned off everything inside will reach point B. However, because point A is closed the "imaginary space" between the points will not exist and will recede rapidly to point B often shooting out whatever was inside at breakneck speeds. I am now experiencing that rapid acceleration.
I become acutely aware of my senses as I shoot out the other side crashing into the cold, hard, floor and skidding a few feet forward. Feeling returns to my limbs and so does the extreme pain. The sensation of an orange-hot metal rod running through my chest forces me to yell out in pain. Unable to gather enough energy to move from my position I let my eyes wander the room I'm currently in, the walls are crystal but the growth does not look like the Empire's method, but that's not right no pony else constructs crystal structures. It also appears to be storage for records and texts considering all the books and scrolls lining the shelves, but other that there is no sign of the black cloud.
A fresh wave of pain surges through my body, the agony concentrating around my chest. With it came a slow penetrating cold that made me gasp. Lifting my head a little I get a small look at my underbelly where a pool of blood slowly grew from my reopened wound. I drop my head back down staring at the open doorway at the far wall as darkness once again pulls at the edges of my vision. I've lost too much blood, I know it. Healing magic will regenerate the flesh quickly, but it won't replace the lost blood, and I lost more than I should have. I can't keep my eyes open any longer slowly shutting them engulfing me in pitch black darkness.
Pitiful
My eyes open wearily, my mind regaining some focus when the voice spoke.
Do you wish to die after getting so close to achieving your goal? You brought fear and death to your enemies. You started the destruction of a mighty Empire.
What...who?
You, with your strength and power, struck down the King of the Crystal Empire.
I grind my teeth,
I stabbed him in the back to win. I can't fight him head-on, even in the end, he managed to elude me. I'm not powerful enough.
Near death and I'm arguing against myself, such delusions on death's bed are common. Meanwhile, the voice in my head chuckled.
You have power, far more than you know. You have yet to realize your full potential...
My focus is zoning in and out, consciousness is becoming harder to keep, I'm so tired and getting very annoyed at the voice.
I have done all that I can in the end! Even now I am dying a failure and my revenge unfulfilled leaving me empty. I need to become powerful enough to end this once and for all.
The voice is quiet for a moment before answering, Then I shall give you the power to survive until you can.
Before I can question the voice, a sudden pain wakes me out of my stupor, a burning sensation running through my veins causing me to shout in pain. The burning lessens until it is nothing more than a steady warmth present through my body banishing the cold, but the stress has been enough. As I fall into unconsciousness, a blurry lavender figure runs into the room, presumably hearing my shout. When they get closer, they suddenly gasp in horror taking several steps back. Not surprising, they probably didn't expect to find somepony bleeding to death on their floor. Unable to fight it any longer I finally let myself slip into the cold, dark unconsciousness.