Alex(andria)
“What is this madness?” asked Sombra, semi-amused. “What exactly have you come here to do?”
“I came here to free my family.” I said, stepping forward. “I don’t appreciate you stabbing my dad and making Mom watch. I assume you did the same, vice-versa, which also pisses me off. So what say you let them go, you walk away, and I don’t feast on your spleen?”
“You are in no real position to make threats.” said Sombra. He ripped the knife from Dad’s stomach, then stuck it in Mom’s shoulder, causing her to spray blood out of her mouth. “I’m pretty much running this. You can’t really stop me.” I made my way until I was about a yard away from the throne. I poked my finger at him, my finger colliding with a wall of blood-red energy.
“Nice little magic barrier you got there. What is it? Quantum-static particle field? Unbreakable, right?” I said. I reared my fist back and punched it with all my might, shattering it into shards of energy. “Not quite so unbreakable, now is it?”
“Alex, how did you return to normal?” said Dad. “Doesn’t matter, just run! Get out of here, before he hurts you!”
“Luna, Celestia, are you okay?” I asked, ignoring my father. “Did he hurt you bad?”
“We’ll survive.” said Luna. “Who exactly are you again?”
“I’m Alex. We’ve met before, a few times, remember? We’ll have to have a chat over some lunch after this is all said and done.” I said. “These pegasi. Storm, Spencer, and Marceline, right?”
“Yes.” said one of the fillies. “I’m Storm. Is Sombra telling the truth? Is my dad… dead?”
“No. Neither is your dad, Luna, Celestia. They’re fine. They won’t be moving for a while, but I’ll deal with that when Sombra is taken care of.”
“Am I missing something here?” asked Silver.
“Has he been making you two fight a lot?” I asked him.
“A bit, yeah. Fluttershy kicked my ass, same as always. Dislocated my shoulder.” he said, showing me his left arm, which was hanging out of the socket. “Thanks for that, babe.”
“Nopony likes sarcasm, honey.” said Fluttershy.
“Ahem.” coughed Sombra. He ripped the knife out of Mom’s shoulder, dragged Spencer over to him, and buried the blade in his left knee. Silver’s screamed louder than Spencer.
“Sombra!” bellowed Silver. “I swear to God, I’m going to destroy you!”
“No you won’t.” said Fluttershy. “There’ll be nothing left to destroy! Not after I get my hands on him! Babe, I know I promised you that you’d never see her again, but I think Commandoshy is coming out to play!”
“Sombra, you’ve made a huge mistake.” I said, drawing attention back to myself. “If you were smart, you would’ve killed Alex the moment she revived you. You see, I am Alex. And Alexandria. I have the strength, the intelligence, the skill, the hardware, the moves and the mojo. Quick quiz for you Sombra: What happens when Alex gets angry?”
“How should I know?” asked Sombra.
“She gets strong. Really, unbelievably, unfathomably, holy-shit-get-away-from-me-you-psycho-horse strong. And guess what? You just pissed me off.” I said, stepping forward. “Which is something I normally can’t control, but now, I have the intellect of Alexandria. I know how to bottle my anger and funnel it, control how and where it flows. It allows me to do some interesting things. Such as this.” I threw the knife hard, flying through the air towards Sombra. I could hear his laugh of confidence morph into a pitiful squeal of pain as the blade impaled his stomach, sending him flying into the wall, knife pinning him there. He coughed twice, spewing blood onto his chest.
“How…?” he asked, grabbing at his wound.
“Don’t bother trying to take it out. It’s a soul-binding knife. So long as that knife is pinned in the wall, so will you.” I said, unsheathing Kate and Anna. I pressed the tips of each blade against his throat, hesitating slightly for the first time.
“Go ahead.” whispered Sombra. “Kill me. Murder me in cold-blood, just like I would so quickly do to you. Become a monster. I know you have it in you, Alex.”
“Princess.” I said, not taking my eyes off of Sombra. “What do I do?”
“Kill him.” said Princess Twilight. “Now!”
“Silver?” I asked. “I always like a second opinion.”
“End him.” said Silver.
“No!” shouted Luna. “Don’t kill him!”
“I’m hearing two votes for ‘kill’, one vote for ‘spare’. Anypony else want to give their opinion?” I asked, pressing the sword against his Adam’s Apple.
“Don’t kill him.” answered Celestia.
“He lives.” said Storm.
“You can’t kill him.” said Spencer.
“He deserves a second chance.” whispered Marceline
“That’s six for Sombra, two against.” I said. “What can I say? I don’t want to kill him either. But since I suppose that the rest of you are also going to suggest that I kill him, we lost the vote. Sorry, Sombra, but majority rules. Any last words?”
“Nice try.” growled Sombra, yanking the knife out of his gut. He burst into smoke and flew threw my body, re-forming behind me. “Ah! By the divines, that hurt! Let’s never do that again!”
“You can’t.” I said whipping around. “That soul-binding hex was perfect. There’s no way you should have been able to break it, but since you did, I know it must have seriously damaged your soul. Sort of like how you ripped my soul, except I shredded your’s. No more smoke for you.”
“Excellent work, Alex!” called Silver. “Toss me a sword!”
“No. All of you, stay out of this.” I said, throwing my arms up. I created a magic force-field to surround us both, not unlike Sombra;s, except mine actually was unbreakable. The only way to get out would be if I died here. Pretty good chance. “I started this, and I will end this.”
“I love your outlook, Alex.” said Sombra, shrouding his horn in red light. A black longsword materialized in his right hand. “It’s adorable how you think everything will work out all peachy, when you’re staring death in the face!”
“I think that it’s you who’s staring at death. I have far too much at risk to die here tonight.” I said. “I promised my friends that I would get everypony out alive. I’m not one to go against my word.”
“We’ll see.” he said, slashing downward with his sword. I blocked it with the sword in my left hand (I think that one was Kate.) and swung with the one in my right, hacking him in the leg. He kicked at it hard, sending the sword out of his leg and out of my grasp. Guess I was using one sword, then. I shoved his sword off of me, then jabbed at his gut. He dodged it almost lazily, then sliced at my head. I ducked it barely, the blade slicing the top of my mane off, shaving it a few inches.
“My mane!” I shouted in rage. I kicked his ankle out, causing him to fall on his back. I stomped my hoof hard on his right shin, a sinister SNAP! telling me that I had hit home. “Do you know how long it took me to get my mane that fabulous?!” I guess Alexandria took a little too much control there.
“That’s my girl.” said Mom weakly.
“Oh, come on now!” shouted Sombra in frustration, deflecting my furious swipes. “Are you really getting your righteous anger adrenaline rush from me cutting your mane? How cartoony can you get?”
“Shut up and die!” I shouted, stabbing at his knee and shattering the bone. I slashed at his chest, cutting him twice, twirled around and sliced horizontally at his face. He blocked my sword and shoved at it. I tilted the long, thin blade of the sword towards my body, hooking Sombra’s sword, and swung it behind me, both blades clattering to the ground.
“No weapons for us, eh?” said Sombra, rising to his hooves. Perhaps I should say he tried to rise to his hooves, because he never really got up. It’s kind of hard to stand with a broken leg and a knee that’s been reduced to mulch. I ripped War’s shotgun off of my hip and slapped Sombra in the face with it. I cocked it and placed the barrel against his stomach.
“Nothing but dreams.” I said, pulling the trigger.
BOOM!
His gut exploded into a mess of bloody chunks, splattering my face. I controlled my hunger and wiped his blood from my face. He had a crater in his midsection from his stomach up to his neck. I could see his lungs inflating and his heart beating, somehow still alive.
“No!” he bellowed, crawling backwards away from me. “I refuse to die here!”
“You’re still going, huh?” I said, placing the barrel against his head. “A skull full of buckshot should fix that.”
CLICK!
“I completely forgot to grab ammo.” I said to myself. “It’s always something.”
“I’m the King of Darkness!” yelled Sombra. “You cannot kill me!”
“Yeah, I can.” I said, turning to grab Kate. I picked it up and spun around, thinking Sombra would be up to take advantage of me turning my back. To my surprise, he stood where he was. I pointed the tip of the blade at his heart. I looked him in the eyes, his hatred and rage burning into my soul, and stabbed him. More blood spurted from his chest cavity, covering me and the sword. It was getting really hard to resist the temptation of so much raw meat.
“Finally.” I said, turning around. I lowered the field and stepped towards my mother. I felt something hot whizz by my left ear. I spun around and blasted Sombra’s fallen body with a stunning spell.
“I will not die!” he growled.
“I’ll say. You’re like some sort of cockroach!” I shouted angrily. I turned my attention towards the princess. I snapped my fingers, dark green light enveloping my horn. A faint green smoke appeared around the princesses horn-stump. Slowly but surely, it grew back to full length and functionality. “Princess Twilight, if you would be so kind, release your kids and tend to their injuries. Then you need to talk with Pinkie Pie.”
“Yes.” said Twilight, rushing over to the captives. She threw her hands up and the smoke enveloping their ankles and wrists disappeared, allowing them to drop to the ground. Each captive rushed towards their parent, everypony hugging somepony else, save for Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“Where’s Scootaloo?” I asked, heart beating in my throat.
“Earth.” said Rainbow Dash. “Her, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle all took a vacation to Earth. Sombra would’ve found them, though. Thank God you were here.”
“Silver, did you experience Sombra’s inability to die when you fought him?” I asked.
“Inability to die? When I fought him, he was exhibiting an inability to be touched!” said Silver Rift.
“Didn’t Queen Chrysalis have to save your butt, Dad?” asked Marceline.
“Don’t say it like it was just me having trouble!” he said in embarrassment. “I distinctly remember your mom getting her mind controlled.”
“Really, Chris? You wanna play that game?” said Fluttershy. “Okay, you asked for it. Kids, we weren’t gonna tell you this, but your dad got knocked out for three years by Sombra. You know, the stallion that this sixteen year-old filly just destroyed?”
“Low blow, Fluttershy. Low blow.”
“Listen to you! Reminiscing and joking as if you’ve won!” shouted Sombra. “I will not be ignored! You may have beaten me now, but I am nearly immortal!”
“Nearly?” I asked, turning back towards him. “How can you be nearly immortal?”
“I can only be killed in one way, but I doubt that you could figure it out!” he said triumphantly.
“I’m gonna cut off your head.” I said, stepping forwards. The little color left his face and he scrambled backwards in terror.
“My plan fell apart!” he said.
“What plan was that?” I asked with genuine curiosity.
“Er… the plan was for you to take the bluff and chuck me in prison.”
“Well, that’s that plan scuppered.” I said, ripping Kate out of his chest. I kicked him onto his stomach and swung the sword over my head.
“NO!” shouted Alex from inside my mind.
“I can’t hold it!” said Alexandria. Pain exploded through my brain, numbing my senses. Alex, no wait, I stepped backwards as Alexandria, no, I grabbed her… my head in agony. My chest exploded and I felt my wings recede. Out of my midsection burst a pony with dragon wings and two short, black devil horns on her head. Interesting. I fell backwards, my wings hitting the wall. Wings? Yes. Not normal pegasi wings, or dragon wings, but thin, wispy, almost gaseous angel wings. I felt them melt into my back, as if they were never there. The split was complete. Alex the Great was back, while Alexandria the unicorn had failed her task.
Alexandria
Alex’s horns melted back into her skull as she rushed over to aid her master. I fell onto my back, physically exhausted from the complex magic I had just done. I didn’t kill him in time. I failed.
“Lord Sombra!” exclaimed Alex, grabbing Sombra by the arm. “Are you okay?”
“No thanks to you.” he said, draping his arm across the back of her neck. “Where were you?”
“I was held captive. I’m sorry if she… I… we hurt you.”
“Oh no, it’s fine, you only went and exploded my chest!” shouted the King of Darkness sarcastically.
“Alex.” I said, scrambling to my hooves. “It’s not too late. Give up now and we won’t have to hurt you.”
“You just don’t get it, do you?” said Alex. “No matter what happens, I will always serve and protect my master, and there’s nothing you can say to change that. I will happily experience any pain, receive any torture, take any death, so long as I’m doing something for Lord Sombra! It is my destiny!” With that phrase, she was bathed in white light for a few moments. When it faded, nothing about her changed, except for the appearance of an image on her flank, a black heart, split in half and restitched, with a dark red crown above it. Her Cutie Mark.
“Congratulations, Alex.” I said. “You discovered your destiny.”
“Shut up.” she said quietly. “You know, it’s not too late for you, either. You can come with us. Work hard under Lord Sombra and, eventually, we’ll take Equestria. What do you say?” I looked Mother in the eyes, then surveyed all the ponies who’ve suffered because of Sombra, the princess, her friends, their children.
“I can’t.” I said. “These are good ponies, who did nothing to deserve this. Alex, you’re my friend, sister really, but I will not let you hurt the innocent. I will protect the princess and all of Equestria from Sombra. I’ll even fight you if I must.” Light enveloped me, just like what happened to Alex. After the light faded, I inspected my flank. My formerly blank-flank was now taken up by the image of a bright, white heart with feathered wings coming out of either side. Above it all was an ice blue tiara.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who discovered her destiny.” said Alex.
“Alex.”
“What?”
“Recombine with me.” I begged.
“Never. I don’t want to be her anymore. Never really did. Besides, you know as well as I do that we can’t. Not after that little stunt you pulled.”
“We’ll never be able to return to normal again.”
“We did make a pretty good team, though.” she said, flapping her wings to pull herself and Sombra through the air. “Are you going to fight me?”
“Not today.” I said sadly. “I can’t kill you, not now.”
“So, I guess this is goodbye.” she said, turning away. Those weird devil horns grew from her head once more. A thin beam of red energy erupted from each of them, blowing a hole in the wall. “I like that. Thanks for the upgrade.”
“Funny.” I said, wings melting out of my back. I flapped them and rose in the air. “I was going to say the same thing.”
“Goodbye Alexandria.” said my best friend.
“Goodbye Alex the Great.” I said.
“Tell the General that I’ll miss him least of all.”
“Alex!” growled Sombra. “Move!” Alex dragged him out of the hole in the wall and flew off into the distance. I dropped to the ground, thoroughly exhausted with today’s events.
“Princess Twilight.” I gasped. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Of course! If it wasn’t for you, 50% of us would be dead.” said the princess.
“Leave Alex alone.” I said. “I want nopony to pursue her. If she goes off the map, let her stay invisible. Don’t look for them.”
“You know I can’t do that.” said Princess Twilight. “They can’t be allowed to walk free.”
“Then let me deal with her. At least let me fight her. I have to be the one.”
“I dunno.” she said, crossing her arms. She thought about it for a minute, contemplating my request. “Fine. But if you let them go, I’ll have no choice but to send somepony else after her.”
“Of course, princess.” I said, bowing on one knee. “I will make you proud.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“What I was meant to do. Protect the princess. I suppose I have some more to learn, combat, magic, things of that sort. Hopefully, I’ll never see Alex again, but, knowing our luck, we’ll probably end up killing each other.” I laughed.
“Alexandria.” said Silver. “Will you ever be able to recombine with Alex?”
“No.” I said quietly. “The soul-stitch unravelled our souls even more when it fell apart. They’re too unstable.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I… dunno. It was sort of… peaceful, being with Alex. I didn’t really have a mind of my own. My thoughts melded with Alex’s, and I understand her point of view. Doesn’t mean I agree with her.”
“So, what now?”
“Let’s go see Conjure. He probably wants a glass of milk.” I said.
Alex
I dragged Lord Sombra through the sky, not looking back at Canterlot Castle. I was able to carry him pretty easily. He panted and groaned in pain, blood steadily flowing from the gaping hole in his chest, leaving a trail behind us.
“Will you be alright, Lord Sombra?” I asked, heading towards some mountains.
“I’ll be fine.” he growled. I settled down in the mountainous terrain, leaning him against a crag of rock. I inspected his chest, his ribs and organs open to the world. She… I… we really did a number on him.
“I’m so, so sorry.” I said. “What do we do now?”
“Heal me.” he commanded.
“I don’t know how.” I said. I tried anyway, determined to heal my master once more. I felt two sharp bits of bone curve out of my head. I concentrated hard on repairing the hole in his chest. Two thin red beam flew from my new horn, colliding with my master’s stomach. I watched as his stomach sewed itself closed, his heart healed and he sighed in relief.
“That feels excellent.” he said. “Thank you, Alex. Where did those horns come from?”
“A little parting gift from Alexandria. When we split just now, she left certain residual energies into me. Apparently, that allowed me to have some magic.”
“Excellent. I need your help for something.”
“What is it, master?”
“We’re not staying in Equestria. You’re going to help me get somewhere else.”
“Where to?”
“Ever been to Earth?” he said with a wicked smile.