Shade of A Crystal Empire

by igotastewgoing

Departures

Chapter Six
Departures

The thunderous laugh of King Sombra shook the throne room. It was a frenzied, unhinged burst of evil glee and wicked satisfaction. It raised higher and higher in pitch, reaching a maniacal intensity as the dread tyrant reveled in his victory. So loud was his bellowing roar of laugher that the ponies gathered before him covered their ears in pain.

As they looked onward in horror, their friend Twilight had thrown her head back to cackle as Sombra's voice emanated from her mouth. Her eyes were glowing bright green, leaving trails of purple behind them like afterthoughts. Tendrils of smoky darkness flowed out from her back, whipping about and lashing the air, and a pool of blackness began forming beneath her and slithered out like spider legs across the blue crystalline floor. Her mane spread out from her head to float in the air, and her horn was ablaze with a crackling magic of deep purple. Her hooves began to leave the ground, and Twilight was soon hovering ten feet in the air. Tilting her head back and spreading her front legs wide, she embraced the power coursing through her body and whirling around her like a cyclone.

"YES!" the voice of Sombra oozed from her lips. "None can withstand us! None can defeat us! We are eternal!"

"You!" Applejack cried. Bravely she stepped forward towards the squall of magic ripping around the throne room. She struggled to find purchase on the floor in the howling arcane winds. Her trusty hat flew off of her head and up into the shadows of the vaulted ceilings above.

Standing as unyielding as she could manage, she shouted into the storm, "Git yer stinkin' hooves offa Twilight, you creep!"

Rainbow Dash was hunched over by Applejack's side in an instant. The rainbow haired pegasus' muscles were twitching in anticipation, and the veins in her neck pulsed as she bore her teeth and dug her hooves into the floor, ready to pounce.

"If you don't let her go I swear I'm gonna—" she snarled before she was cut off.

"You're what?" Twilight spat as she snapped her head forward and glared down at Rainbow Dash through pupil-less eyes. "You're going to do what exactly? Hurt your friend? Kill your friend? Be my guest, little pegasus."

Rainbow Dash snapped out of her blind rage long enough to realize she didn't know how to fight Sombra and not hurt Twilight. She didn't even truthfully know if she could do anything to him at all. But she knew she would break herself trying.

"I'm…you…YOU SHOW YOURSELF!" she sputtered.

"We happen to enjoy this form at the moment," Twilight responded with a shark-toothed grin. "It is nice to have one again. Even if it is a pitiful little cur. But she will serve. As will you all."

Behind Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the others were frozen in place. Rarity had immediately stood in front of Spike as a shield, both to protect him and to stop him in case he tried something stupid like charging forward, but right then he didn't seem able to do that even if he wanted. The little dragon's eyes were wide with terror, and his claws dug deep into Rarity's brilliant white coat as he watched from behind her leg and underneath her flowing purple hair. He was shaking.

Next to them Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were embracing each other, trying to find the courage between the two of them to stand with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. But their legs didn't seem to want to move.

"Why isn't the Crystal Heart working?!" squeaked Fluttershy. "Somepony use the Crystal Heart!"

They all turned to look and see if what Fluttershy said was true. The Crystal Heart was still as it had been before—slowly spinning on its pedestal. It was not alive with the same kind of energy that it had when it had defeated Sombra the last time. If anything, it looked lifeless and dull.

Twilight threw her head back and laughed again.

"The Crystal Heart?" she snorted. "That holds no more power over us. We ARE the Crystal Heart. Your greatest weapon is now a part of us."

Still clutching to Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie said in a wavering, shrill whisper.

"The Elements! We need the Elements of Harmony!"

"But without Twilight—" Rarity began, glancing back and forth between her friends in wide-eyed panic and terrible realization. "Without her, the Elements—"

"Are quite useless, yes."

Twilight rose even higher in the air as a renewed burst of magic pulsed out from her horn in a sphere of black wind and shot to the ends of the room, smashing all the windows with a terrible splintering roar. The ponies all instinctively ducked as the broken shards came crashing down to the floor with a mighty clamor. The wintery blasts outside came pouring in like water into a sinking ship, and the wind howling through the now empty arches was deafening. Still Sombra's voice coming from Twilight rose above the storm as she gave another wicked grin.

"As we said, we enjoy this form."

With that, Twilight's horn ignited up with sparking magic, sending purple lightning bolts up in the air where they sizzled with power and electricity. A great ball of energy formed at the tip, growing larger and shaking with force, sending more bolts outwards. It grew bigger and bigger until it was at least twenty feet wide, hovering above them like some small, violet sun. Then, sharply whipping her head to the side, Twilight snapped her horn in the direction of the throne, and the glowing orb shot towards it like a missile. With a piercing shriek it crashed into the ancient chair and blasted it to pieces, sending chunks of white marble, crystal and stone clattering and skidding across the floor. A cloud of debris began to shower the ponies, who let out a collective gasp at the destruction. As they watched, the orb pushed all the way through the throne and the crest of crystals behind it as it hurled the rubble into the air. When it hit the back wall, it exploded with a great blast of green, black and purple energy which knocked the ponies on their flanks.

A new sensation came across them as they picked themselves back up. Instead of at their backs, the cold wind was now blowing across them, and towards the wreckage of the throne. As the dust was sucked into the giant hole which was now there, the ponies felt a sudden exhalation of damp, slightly warmer air, and then saw the unbelievable sight of a gaping maw of a cavern where the wall used to be. It yawned like the mouth of an impossibly huge monster waiting outside the castle, existing far past the point of where the castle would have ended in any logical physical reality. The jagged edges that made the outline of the entrance pulsated with a sickly green glow, marking the boundaries of where Equestria ended and Sombra's dark universe spawned from his evil began.

Inside the cavern where crystals. Thousands upon thousands of them littered the moist, dark gray walls of the cylindrical cave like teeth in a giant meat grinder. They were inky black with threads of deep glowing purple running through them, and as they tasted the outside air, they began to pulse with hunger. A great lake sat in the middle of the cave, which ran all the way to the rear of the cave where, instead of stone, the wall was incredibly made of a solid wall of water slowly flowing upwards. The ceiling of the cavernous expanse was heavy with thick, oily clouds that snaked around the sharp blades of rock, dripping a sporadic drizzle of greasy rain.

Then, as the ponies watched in awe, a great bubbling and churning came from the center of the lake as the sharp points of crystal began to raise from the depths. At first they seemed random, a series of spears thrusting up from the water, but as they rose ever higher they got wider until they were less large spires and more small mountains nearly touching each other. Finally a great mass appeared beneath to connect them together, forming an island that stabbed outwards into the sky like a colossal crown of blades. On the center peak was a balcony of sorts where stood, overhanging as if it were carved from the crystal itself, a great seat that had jagged knifes of rock fanning out from the back of it.

As the ponies looked in, they knew with terrible certainty that this horrible site was Sombra's throne room.

"Ah, it's been so long since we've seen this castle as it was meant to be," Twilight said with a self satisfied sigh.

Looking around as she floated in the air, she took in the surroundings. The throne room was an utter wreck. Debris, snow and broken glass littered the ground. The walls had cracks starting to form in them from the structural damage caused by the giant hole, and the black whirlpool of magic underneath her had begun to eat away at the floor, sending larger and larger bits of marble flying through the air as it chipped away more and more.

"But still," she continued, "It lacks the proper atmosphere."

Throwing a hoof towards the open cavity, a bolt of violet shot from it into the cave, and hit the crystal nearest to the entrance. Chaining from that crystal to all the ones next to it, the spell leapt and spread all the way throughout the cave in mere moments like a shockwave. As it did, the clusters began to grow, heaving themselves up and clawing out of the cavern like great black snakes. Soon they were crawling out of the opening, attaching themselves to the walls of the castle and digging their way up, burrowing and twisting like tree roots. As they spread, bladed nubs appeared on them, which in turn grew into a spikes, which anchored the tentacle-like arms in place. Hundreds of them poured out, a kraken hungrily devouring everything it touched. Before long half of the throne room's walls were covered in the dark crystal as it worked its way up, down, and outside to conquer the rest.

"Now," she chuckled. "That's more to our liking."

Shaking off the snow and dust that had peppered her, Applejack dragged herself up on shaky legs. The country-tough pony held her head high, and with her disheveled yellow mane flying all about her face and tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, she stepped towards the spinning vortex of wind, magic and radiating power of King Sombra, who was in the body of her good friend. She knew it might be the last thing she ever did, but still she put one hoof in front of the other.

"I may not be able ta stop ya," she growled through gritted teeth, "But if ya think I'm gonna roll over and take it, buster, ya got 'nother thing comin'."

Right beside her stepped Rainbow Dash—still ready to spring forward at a moment's notice. Her mane was packed with ice and small rocks from the throne's destruction, and she looked like she had taken more fallout from the explosion than the others had, being the closest one when it had happened. Her right cheek and side were covered in scratches.

"Come on, AJ," she yelled. "Let's get this joker!"

With a snarl, Twilight considered the lowly creatures before her.

"And what, exactly," she asked, "Are you planning on doing?"

Rainbow Dash was mad enough so that fear was something she no longer considered. Flapping her wings and getting ready to strike, she sassed back at the powerful being in front of her.

"I'm going to rip you out of Twilight and pound you a mile into the ground with my bare hooves! That's what I'm planning on doing!"

The snarl turned on Twilight's face turned into a smirk.

"Is that so, little pegasus?" she asked, "What a quaint idea."

She looked back and forth between the two ponies below her, and then upwards is if in thought. It almost seemed like she was searching for something with her mind, feeling something on the wind nopony else could see. Then after a brief moment, she smiled. Another deep laugh flowed out of her, followed by a dismissive shrug.

"Very well," she said, "It no longer matters to us."

As they watched, Twilight began going into convulsions. Her face went slack, and all emotion was gone from it as her body shook violently, still floating above them. The smoky tendrils coming from her back began to spread out and lose their form, becoming a black cloud behind her that began twisting into a large shape that got more and more defined until it was vaguely unicorn shaped. The green glow left her eyes, leaving them white to reveal that they had rolled back into her head. Two green orbs came to life in the black cloud, forming into the familiar terrible eyes trailing purple in their wake. A flash of white appeared as a toothy smile materialized.

Then, as the cloud solidified, he was there.

Devoid of his armor, Sombra's muscular legs and chest were on full display, revealing his powerful black frame and hulking mass. His long black mane spread out behind him like an oil slick, whipping and snapping in the wind, and his brutal, crimson-tipped horn jutted out from his forehead with savage potency. His torso extended down into a tail of mist taking the place of his lower legs, snaking down to the ground, twisting and coiling in smooth, liquid motions. Looking like a toy next to him, Twilight was held aloft by his massive hoof by the scruff of her neck. She dangled nearly unconscious as the spasms subsided, and was finally still as the great tyrant held her at his mercy.

"Is this what you wanted?" Sombra asked the ponies beneath him as he glanced from them to the unicorn he held above his head.

Slowly Twilight opened her eyes. Her entire body felt trampled. At first she didn't know where she was or what she was seeing. All she saw was snow swirling around her, and she felt the bitter cold. Some flashes of purple wisps flew in front of her face, but she didn't understand what they were. Then, as she came around, she realized she was floating. She looked down to see her friends looking up at her, some with fear on their faces, others with grim determination.

"Twilight!" Applejack shouted up at her. "Twilight, just hold on, now!"

"What?" she replied in a daze, "Hold on?"

What was she holding on to? How was she even floating anyway? Why was it so cold? Where was Cadence? And why did everypony look so afraid?

"Let her go!" Rainbow Dash cried, her voice straining and breaking.

Then she felt heavy breathing in her ear and felt the harsh grip on her neck. She turned.

The sight was enough to paralyze her with fear. Brilliant green glowing eyes filled her vision. His eyes were the world. Beneath them were the sharp glints of fangs, and the slavering mouth that was cocked upwards in an obscene smile. His breath was death and ice.

"Hello Twilight," he said to her with mocking sincerity. "Please, allow us to make you comfortable."

With a powerful flick of his hoof he sent Twilight Sparkle flying into the mouth of the cave. She tumbled end over end, only having enough time or presence of mind to scream once. As she reached the cave, the crystal tendrils flowing out of it moved faster than what seemed possible and grabbed her in midair. Coiling around her like snakes, they pulled her up to the ceiling, at the mouth of the cavern high above where the throne used to sit. They then spun around her body and anchored her in place in a crystal cocoon. The only part that was still visible was her head.

"There!" Sombra cried out in triumph. "There you shall stay as our trophy. But, in case you get any ideas…"

With another casual gesture, a smoky whip shot from his hoof and soared through the air towards her like a bullet, leaving a trail of dark mist in its wake as it smacked her in the head and wrapped itself around her horn. With a crack of sound and tremendous jolt through her body, Twilight felt a part of her mind shatter as if a great explosion had taken place instead her skull. She gave a cry as the tendril dissipated, leaving in its wake a feeling of hollow emptiness and a cluster of small black crystals imbedded in her horn. Recognizing them from their last encounter with Sombra, she could only gasp as her breath caught in the lump in her throat.

My magic is gone.

* * *

Sharpsight couldn't see a thing besides frantic flashes of white against a black background. But he felt the coldness. It was a damp, unyielding force pushing into him, flattening as the iciness soaked the warmth out and made whether it was touching numb. As his mind began to clear the haziness caused by the flashes, he realized it was his cheek that was being pressed flat. As he shifted what he finally grasped to be his head about, he felt the hard smoothness of what he remembered to be marble. It was freezing to the touch. His center of gravity then righted itself.

I'm on the floor.

Shifting his weight and rolling over on to his back, Sharpsight felt a stabbing pain in his side. A gasp followed by a sharp cry escaped him and echoed about the room that he could not see, coming back to buffet him with noise that pounded in his head, which he then realized was aching. Still unable to see past the light show flashing before him inside of his eyes, the methodical part of his brain began subconsciously processing information.

It echoed. I'm inside a room of some kind. It must be large.

He reached towards his ribs on his left side. They pulsed with pain. Gingerly running a hoof up the injured area, he padded himself down to see if any serious wound had befallen him. While his entire side smarted terribly, everything seemed thankfully intact. He didn't feel anything out of place inside. But he was having difficulty catching his breath, as if an enormous weight had been sitting on his chest, and had just now rolled off of it. It occurred to him that he must have fallen, knocking the wind out of him.

I was climbing the staircase.

The memories came flooding back to him. He remembered the pure white marble flight of steps. He remembered climbing what seemed to be an endless spiral. And he remembered…he remembered…

He couldn't remember why he had been climbing them. It had something to do with words. Words that he had to say. For some reason it was vitally important that he say them. But the reason why couldn't find purchase in his head. The flashes of light kept them from forming.

His vision had begun to come back, but it was still a murky gray haze populated by sparkling bursts of white. In irritation he ran a hoof across his eyes, rubbing them to clear the cobwebs out. As he did so, he felt delicate, cold brushes of damp wispiness fall across his face. They melted quickly, turning into droplets of water that ran down into his mane and soaked into the scarf he felt around his neck. It was snow. Snow had collected on his legs as he was laying there, and had fallen off onto his face. In fact, as that awareness came upon him, he noticed that there was snow collecting on him even without it falling off his hoof. This was not snow from before, when he had walked through a blizzard getting here. It was snowing on him right now.

But I'm in the palace…

He was still on his back as his vision finally cleared enough to begin to make out his surroundings. The flakes of white drifted above him, fluttering wildly about in the breeze that coiled around the circular room that began appearing before him. Above the snow the cylindrical tower Sharpsight found himself inside of loomed upwards to a dizzying height, the spiraling staircase twisting around a great pillar in the middle like a screw made of solid white marble. As it reached further and further up it was lost in the shadows, with only a faint square of light to mark the exit to the open air observatory at the very top. The square glowed with a strange, sickly green color. As Sharpsight blinked hard to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he noticed that same green hue was subtly flooding in to fill the base of the room, turning the white marble a shade of emerald.

What in Equestria is going on here?

As he rose his aching body from the floor and sat up, Sharpsight turned his head towards the strong breeze flowing over him. What he saw was enough to snap him straight out of whatever daze he had previously been in.

In the side of the tower was a gaping hole. The storm outside was pouring through it, hurling in snow as it soaked the floors and made them slick with water and melting slush as the heat from inside the palace went rushing out of the yawning cavity. The crumbling edges of the castle wall still had wisps of dust streaming off them in the wind, and there was the occasional clatter as another piece dropped to join the pile of rubble on the floor. At the base of the hole was a giant, black object that, based on the direction of the debris, had punched through from the outside. It was sharp and jagged, with veins of faintly glowing dark purple running through it. As Sharpsight watched it, the angular points grew and moved further inwards, expanding and branching off to create what seemed like a series of thorns budding from the mass. He realized that it was a spire of dark crystals, and it was eating its way further into the palace.

His eyes were drawn past the spire and into the distance where the source of the green glow was burning. His jaw dropped as he struggled to comprehend what he was seeing. The great wall of flame on the horizon that stretched past the edges of the hole had to be miles long and just as high to be seen like that from this distance. He calculated that it was on the northern border of the Empire. That was some two hours away by walking. And even from that distance their pulses of power and terror could be felt as they highlighted the buildings of the city in black silhouette against their angry blaze.

What foul magic is at work here?

That's when he remembered everything. Sombra! The Crystal Heart! The words! That's what he was doing! He had been making his way up the steps to the observatory at the top of the palace. That's when the explosion had happened.

Looking upwards again to the stairs, he noticed there were additional gaping holes further up the tower. In the darkness he hadn't seen them, but as they grew larger, the purple glow of the crystalline spikes could be seen snaking across the steps. He saw a particularly large hole about eighty feet upwards, with a nasty spear of shiny blackness jutting from the outer wall and digging itself through the stairs from below. Further down towards the bottom, about twenty feet directly above him was a chunk of stairs that was completely missing. Was that where he had fallen from? His memory had placed him about as high up as that big hole. He must have tumbled down the steps from there and then fallen through that gap above. He was lucky he hadn't fallen further. Otherwise he would have had far bigger problems than aching ribs.

Those gaps in the stairs didn't bode well for him. He needed to get to the top. He knew that's where he had to go to complete his task. He didn't know why, but something inside him knew for a certainty that was the only place to go. His intuition had been correct so far. There was no reason to doubt himself now. He had to continue his mission to rid the Crystal Empire and Equestria of Sombra's evil. There was no time to lose.

Standing on unsteady legs, Sharpsight assessed the situation. There was going to be no climbing those steps to the top. Even as he watched, the crystal lances grew ever inwards to impale the staircase, breaking off steps and putting crumbling holes in the pillar they ascended. They looked ready to collapse any minute as it was. In desperation, he looked back towards the hole to his right.

Maybe…

Stepping over the still growing crystal and standing on the edge, he stuck his head out into the night sky. The wind at that dizzying height grabbed his mane and threatened to pull him off into the night sky. Bracing himself and his stomach against the vertigo, he looked down. A hundred feet below the guards of the Crystal Palace frantically ran back and forth in the snow, shouting directions and attempting to maintain order in this catastrophic situation. As he scanned left to right, Sharpsight saw that there were spikes of black crystal shooting up from the ground all over the courtyard, and up and around the colossal legs of the palace. The ones penetrating the tower he was in were merely tiny offshoots of the massive spires that ripped up the buildings and houses all around like the arms of a great tentacled sea monster rising from the depths to envelope the palace in its horrible embrace. Like vines the smaller spikes came off of them, rooting the larger masses to the castle walls like claws as they wrapped around it. The one he was standing next to came from a thick vine that ascended higher up the side of the tower.

They've tampered with the Crystal Heart! The fools!

Sharpsight knew he was the only one who could stop this. He had to finish what he began.

He twisted his head to look up. The crystal arms had snaked their way all the way to the top of the great tower, and the observatory. They had encircled it almost completely, and it was only becoming more and more dense with the black, tentacle-like growths.

They were almost like steps carved into a mountain.

Sharpsight steeled himself and with shaking hooves walked out on the ledge of black crystal. The wind and snow tore at him, chilling him to the bone and threatening to throw him to his doom. But he held on to the slippery surface as best he could and began to climb. He had to make it to the top.

Sharpsight scrambled up the outside of the tower as the storm raged around him. In the distance, the green fire was burning.

* * *

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK TO THE CITY! RUN!"

Shining Armor felt the branches snap at his face as he galloped through the undergrowth of the forest. His soldiers had been at his side, loyally defending their commander, but as he frantically glanced to his side he couldn't see any of them anymore. He didn't know at what point he had lost them, or what had become of them. Few things had been clear during the frantic retreat he now found himself in. With a groan of anguish for both his missing pegasus troops and his screaming muscles ready to explode with the effort, he pushed himself on through the woods and back towards home.

But something told him he wasn't going to make it back.

He heard the monsters behind him. They were unrelenting in their pursuit, seemingly floating over the ground and paying no mind to the rocky, obstacle filled terrain. Branches snapped off of their armored hides as they plowed through the trees without effort, barely bothering to move out of the way of the trunks as they pursued him through the woods. He imagined he could almost feel the steam spitting from their gaping nostrils into the cold air on his back. No matter how fast he ran, they were getting closer.

As Shining Armor rounded a curve in the natural path he had been following, out of the darkness a thick tangle of bushes appeared in front of him. With no time to think of a way around them, and going anywhere but forward simply not being an option, he shut his eyes and leapt into the air, attempting to jump the worst of it and barrel through the rest.

They ended up being far more resilient than he had hoped. The bushes tore at his hide and wrapped themselves around his legs, dragging him downward even as he managed to crash through to the other side. Not able to get his hooves under him for the landing, he took a hard tumble onto the snowy ground, rolling end over end with the momentum of the long pursuit. Powered snow flew everywhere as the skid sent him sliding into a meadow littered with large rocks, one of which quickly reared up in front of him.

The fall had sent him rolling and skidding with little control over where he was going, but he had enough time to see the rock in front of him before he hit it. Instinctively he stretched his front legs out in front of him to protect himself, and it was those that took the brunt of the impact. A great flash of bright red burst before his eyes as he smashed into the rock. He thought he heard a snap. Oddly enough there wasn't really even any pain at first. There was just numbness as he lay wrapped around the boulder in the snow, the drift that had accumulated around it burying half of his body. For a strange moment, there wasn't even any fear. It was just a relief to be at rest.

The sound of voices above shook him from his stupor. They were slowly fading in from silence, like sounds from a half-remembered dream floating around his head to wake him. At first they were merely gibberish, but soon muffled words that he recognized started to form.

"Sir! Are you alright?!"

He raised his head from the pile of snow it was buried in and saw the haggard face of one of his pegasus scouts. It was the same one that had brought the message to him early that morning. He had lost his blue-crested helm. His black mane had ice and twigs embedded in it, and it was plastered to his head as the sweat had frozen in place. He looked ready to drop dead from exhaustion.

"Sir, you must get up! We must flee!"

Stirring himself to rise, Shining Armor suddenly felt the consequences of his landing. Once he moved, a horrendous pain set his left front leg ablaze. Instantly he knew it was broken. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes, and his teeth clenched so hard he would have feared they might shatter had his mind not been on his leg.

As he lay there, dazed and gasping for breath through the pain, a horribly calming realization came over him: He was done for. The beasts would surely be upon him soon, and there was no chance of him being able to raise himself to his feet and continue running. As much of a fighter as he was, and he was planning on giving whatever came out of those woods a fight before he went down, he was also not above realizing the cold, hard truth. He found it oddly tranquil.

With great effort he managed to prop himself up on the rock that had inevitably killed him. Laying with his back against it, he took the time to simply rest and consider the last few moments of his life. He removed his snow goggles and tossed them unceremoniously to his side, then looked back at the snow-covered woods he had come out of. They were oddly beautiful despite the giant wall of green flame that towered above them. This wasn't so bad, he thought. Most ponies probably don't get a chance to sit and relax beforehand, let alone do so with a spectacular view. He could think of worse places to die than a peaceful, snowy meadow. He just had to figure out what to do at the end. His troops. He should try to make sure they got out. As many as were left, that was.

It had been a long fight, too. For hours they had held a defensive position in a narrow valley against the hordes of gigantic black, ghostly unicorns that had come screaming out of the storm. The blizzard had come with them, pummeling the Crystal Empire troops and making it so no pegasus could take to the sky to warn the city. Each one that tried had been dashed against the steep cliff walls of the valley by the violent winds that seemed almost intelligent in its inconveniently timed gusts and wind directions. They had held on for so long. It had been a good fight. But they were hopelessly outnumbered against foes that clearly needed to be combated with magic instead of pegasus brawn, and eventually the lines broke. And they had to run.

And leave it to his pegasus scouts to be so brave as to stay on the ground the entire time with their wingless commander. They had all fought so bravely for him. The memory made him proud and humbled. If he could have, he would have made sure all of them got the highest honors he could bestow. If only he had made it home to the Crystal Empire. And…

…and Cadence...

With the image of his wife flashing before his eyes, he gave a shuddering gasp as his chest welled up with sorrow at the thought of never seeing her again. Did she know he wasn't coming back yet? Was the fire in the sky a give-away? What would she do? Would she cry over him? The thought of her crying was the worst part of the whole thing. He didn't mind dying that much. Now that he was there it wasn't as scary it as it was cracked up to be. But the thought of anything he did, including dying, making Cadence cry ripped him up inside. Oh, he would miss her. Her and Twilight. He smiled at the thought of his little sister.

"Should have met you at the station, huh, Twilie?" he whispered with a sad shake of his head.

The scout looked at him in confusion and shook his shoulders to try and raise him up.

"Sir, please! You must move!"

The pegasus looked terrified as he pleaded with his commander, but the sense of duty in his eyes told Shining Armor he wasn't planning on leaving him behind. The brave fool was ready to stand and die for him. It wasn't a pleasant thought, and Shining Armor didn't much want that on his conscience.

The roars of the monsters in the forest were getting louder. The crashes through the undergrowth seemed almost upon them. Above the trees, the low hanging clouds of the unnatural storm proceeded them.

"What's your name, scout?" he asked him.

"Steadfast, sir," he answered after a brief hesitation.

A fitting name if ever I heard one.

"Steadfast," he said, "Leave."

"My Prince?"

"I'm done," Shining Armor said. "My leg's busted. Go. Get out of here. All of you. Everypony who's left. You've got wings. Use them. Warn Cadence. Tell Cadence…tell her…"

With a set jaw and look of newfound determination, Steadfast turned around and bellowed into the night sky.

"PEGASUS SCOUTS! TO ME! RALLY AROUND THE PRINCE!"

Shining Armor groaned as Steadfast planted his hooves in front of him, facing the forest and the creatures that would soon be pouring out of it. He looked around the meadow for anypony else that had made it out of the woods. He didn't see a soul. He felt his heart sink. The blizzard was almost upon them again. He could see it working its way through the woods, and knew the wraithlike unicorns were right behind it. If Steadfast didn't take off soon, he wouldn't make it at all.

"Steadfast, there's nopony left to rally around me. You've got to go."

He didn't say a word. Grabbing the scout's back leg with his good front one, Shining Armor growled at him with as much force and authority as he could muster.

"Didn't you hear me, soldier?!" he cried out, "I said get out of here!"

Steadfast turned back to respond.

"I will not leave my commander behind!"

"Your commander orders you to!" Shining Armor yelled. "Somepony has to warn Cadence! You're the only one left who can! Don't you let my wife get caught unaware, Steadfast! Don't you dare!"

There was a look of doubt on Steadfast's face as he weighed his sense of duty against his sense of honor. He looked back to the woods, and then around the meadow before checking the skies. As his scan turned up nothing, the fight seemed to leak from his face and was replaced with weariness, as though he had just now realized that he and Shining Armor were alone. He understood then what his duty required—even if it meant doing something he would regret for the rest of his life, however short that might be. Kneeling down next to his wounded commander, Steadfast put a hoof on his shoulder, and looked him in the eye.

"Sir," he started, his voice breaking, "I'm sorry. I—"

"Don't be," Shining Armor cut him off with a tired grin. "You're doing me one last favor."

"For the princess," Steadfast said with finality as if it were an oath.

"For the princess."

After that, there was nothing left to say. Steadfast rose to his legs and snapped his wings open, sending bits of ice shimmering in the night sky as they caught both the light of the moon and the mountainous wall of green flame. With a few shakes they were clear of the frost that had collected on them, and stood wide open and powerful in their rough, battered strength. With a quick folding back of the wings and a crisp snap of the hooves, Steadfast saluted his prince. He held it for just slightly longer than regulation required.

"Sir."

Then, with a few more flaps, he was gone. Shining Armor heard the beat of Steadfast's wings behind him as they faded up into the sky. Then he was alone with his broken leg, the snow, the boulder, his thoughts, and the monsters.

He could see them now. They were at the edge of the forest. Even through the storm and trees that hid them, they were a blot upon the world, shining through in their utter blackness. As one they stopped at the tree line. He could see their red eyes watching him, looking down on him in his helplessness. Steam shot from the nostrils of the dragon-shaped helms they wore, and their weirdly amplified breath became a chorus that filled the soundscape of his world. Then, as one, they reared up and roared in what sounded like a cry of victory. Then they advanced on him.

"It's not so bad," he said to himself as they neared, floating over the ground like specters.

Time seemed to slow as they were almost upon him. The face of Cadence floated before his eyes, and for a moment, he thought he heard her voice calling his name. He smiled.

The night grew brighter, and soon everything around him was engulfed in a blinding white light. The giant unicorns faded from his vision, leaving only Cadence.

"It's not so bad."

* * *

"I'm coming, Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash sprang forward and rocketed up into the air, headless of the debris still being hurled about within the whirlwind she flew through as she left a rainbow streak in her wake. The winds pushed and pulled, making her charge jagged and uneven, but still she pressed on towards her friend—and the huge monster floating in front of her.

She was on him within seconds. Through squinted eyes Rainbow Dash saw Sombra turn to face her with a look of amusement spreading across his terrible visage. With teeth gritted and eyes set in fiery determination, she put all her power into a single attack, with front legs extended and aimed right at his chest. At the last second, she closed her eyes and braced herself. This was going to hurt.

At the moment of impact, Rainbow Dash felt all her insides seem like they were trying to cram themselves into her mouth as her momentum came to an abrupt halt. She felt her rear flipping over her head as she tumbled over and over, making her dizzy and temporarily losing her equilibrium. At first she figured she had given Sombra such a hit that they were both spinning through the air and out of control, but she soon noticed that her legs were perfectly fine. In fact, her body didn't hurt at all besides feeling some whiplash from the sudden stop. She had run into things (and the occasional pony) at high enough speeds enough times to know that this hit should have been a bad one. She had been expecting some things to be broken, but aside from the spinning in her head she felt all right.

She opened her eyes to see the world rotating around her as she tumbled in a haze of purple light. She realized that she was spinning end over end while hovering in place. As she came around to be right side up, the face of Sombra was there in front of her, smiling. He was only feet away. He had a single hoof extended, from which the sphere of magic Rainbow Dash found herself trapped in emanated.

Behind him, Twilight called out.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Back down on the floor, the other four gasped as they saw not one but now two of their friends helpless.

"We must do something!" cried Rarity. She had gone from simply shielding Spike to holding him close. The little dragon was speechless.

"Like what?!" asked Pinkie Pie. "What're we supposed to do?! They're up really high and Dashie's the flyer!"

Applejack was desperate for ideas. Something. Anything. Racking her brain and looking at her friends, she saw the other pegasus still embracing Pinkie Pie in fear and got an idea. It was crazy, but she'd take crazy right now, since that was about the only option they had left.

"We've got somepony else who can fly."

Fluttershy looked at Applejack and paled. Her only response was a small squeak.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" Applejack said, quickly going over to her. "Fly me up there!"

The look on the bright yellow pegasus' face was like milk curdling instantly. Her eyes wide, pupils tiny, ears down, mouth agape and complexion pale, she managed to stammer out only indecipherable noises.

"Buh…wah…uh…I…eh…you…wha…" was all she could get out.

Applejack didn't have time for this. She hauled Fluttershy out of Pinkie's grip and held her by her shoulders, firmly but gently shaking her friend as she tried to snap her out of her paralyzing fear.

"I know, Fluttershy," she said. "I know it's scary and I know it's loco, but those are our friends up there! You know they'd do the same for us!"

She wanted to be brave. She really did. All her life Fluttershy had been afraid of nearly everything that wasn't cute and fluffy. In fact, depending on the size of the teeth, even those could get a little iffy on occasion. It was just the way she was. But Twilight and Rainbow Dash were in big trouble, and if there was one thing that could make her brave, or at least not care as much about being scared, it was when her friends really needed her.

Fluttershy's face didn't lose the fear stamped on it, but with a bite down on her lips and a quick nod of her head, she closed her eyes and whimpered "Okay."

High above, Sombra considered his newest catch as she spun helpless before him.

"Admirable," he said as Rainbow Dash continued to tumble. "We do so enjoy when we meet resistance. It only makes it more satisfying when we crush it."

"Come out from hiding behind your little magic ball and I'll show you some resistance, you coward!" Rainbow Dash shouted while flailing her legs about in an effort to break free.

Sombra seemed to take offense to that. He sneered and reached out to grab her, making the magic sphere dissipate and fade away. He caught her by the mane and pulled her in close, dangling her in front of his face so close that the flames coming from his eyes brushed against her cheeks.

"You can be thankful that you're not worth my wrath, little winged vermin."

It was then that he heard an odd high pitched sound like a small whistle. It was getting louder and higher pitched as it went along. At first he couldn't place it, but then he looked below and saw the unusual sight that produced it: The brash orange pony was flying through the air while trying her best to throw up her hooves in a fighting stance, which was rendered difficult as she was being held aloft by the yellow pegasus that had been cowering in the back. Their flight was wobbly and slow, and the pegasus was crying as she emitted the piercing wail that he had heard. It was a strange enough spectacle to give him slight pause.

"C'mon, you big oaf!" Applejack called out in challenge as she saw Sombra notice them. "Let's go!" Her front hooves twirled around each other, ready to begin punching.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" said Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash looked at both of them in awe. Under normal circumstances she would have laughed her ears off at the ridiculous sight of it. Despite flapping her wings as hard as she could, to the point where sweat was pouring down her face, Fluttershy could barely stay aloft while carrying Applejack. With their slow, shaky upwards path, she looked like a pink haired bumblebee trying to carry a rock. But at that moment all she could think was that it was one of the bravest things she'd ever seen. And silliest.

Sombra chuckled. "Was this what you were looking for?" he asked as he raised Rainbow Dash up higher. With a sneer, he wound up and hurled her straight towards the oncoming duo. She flew like a bullet, unable to stabilize herself enough to change her course or speed, and headed directly at them.

Surprised, Applejack just barely managed to react fast enough to catch Rainbow Dash with an "Oomph!" at the moment of impact, which had a force far greater than she had expected. That pony weighed a surprising amount. Somehow she managed to hold on even as the breath was knocked out of her, and she began to see stars. She felt Dash grab hold around her chest like a vice grip.

Miraculously, the impact did not manage to jar Applejack from Fluttershy's grasp, as in her utterly total fear she had had a death grip on her. However, the weight nearly doubling was far too much for her to handle, and like a stone with a leaky parachute they plummeted down to the ground far below. Still flapping her wings as hard as she could, Fluttershy managed to bring their spiraling descent from a crash to a tumble as they hit the marble floor. It was the only thing that saved them as they collapsed in a heap.

"Applejack! Fluttershy!" Twilight called out from high above. She saw them moving about as they were stacked atop each other, so she knew that at the very least they were still alive.

"What do you want, Sombra?" she asked. "What do you want from me to let them go?"

He rotated around to face her again. He looked contemplative.

"What do we want from you?" he wondered out loud. "Hmm, yes. It always seems to come back to you. Twilight Sparkle. The one who was such a nuisance."

"That's a funny way of saying I figured you out!" Twilight retorted.

A slight twinge of anger flashed across his face, only to be replaced by smugness.

"Ah, yes. That," Sombra chortled, floating in the air up to where Twilight was entombed. "That was inconvenient. But we really must be thanking you. You ended up being so helpful. After our last meeting, we were starting to think you didn't like us."

Twlight's legs flexed in anger as the crystal vines held her tightly in place. They weren't budging, but she kept twisting and pulling on them in faint hope. It was all she had left.

"I'd never help you!" she spat at him.

Sombra looked affronted and threw on an expression of mock confusion.

"Really?" he asked. "We find that interesting to hear. After all, it was you who so kindly looked after our spirit, yes?"

"I didn't look after it! You latched on to me!"

"Bah. A mere detail," he said. "How were we to know you weren't smart enough to know of our true strength and power? We're not surprised. None in this pitiful realm are. That is why even Celestia and her little worm of a sister have yet to stop me after thousands of years."

"I seem to recall us beating you twice!"

"Beating?" Sombra leaned back and seemed to consider that word as if it were a fine wine to be sampled. He swirled it around his tongue before passing judgment. "It is an interesting concept you have of defeat. We may have been delayed, yes. And there may have been setbacks in our ascension as ruler of this land."

He drifted in to lean close to Twilight. His giant muzzle was inches away. His eyes drilled into hers as another evil smirk spread across his face.

"And yet," he whispered, gesturing around the throne room, "Here we are."

Twilight was desperately trying to channel magic through her horn. Something. Anything. It didn't even have to even be a spell. Just a blast of energy would have been enough. He was so close. She didn't know if it would have done any good, but she had to try something. Take out an eye. Give him a nice scar to remember her by. Anything. But as she tried in vain, she realized there was nothing she could do. The black crystals in her horn were acting to completely block her powers. Her head pounded like a firework had gone off inside of it.

"It doesn't matter how many times you come back," Twilight growled. "We'll stop you. If not us, then Celestia and Luna will banish you for another thousand years! And another thousand after that! And again and again! You'll never win!"

Sombra shook his head and laughed again. This time it was a full throated guffaw.

"What…is so…funny?" Twilight had had enough of being mocked.

"Ignorance!" he roared in sudden fury and spite, his breath blowing her mane back and overpowering her with its foulness. Twilight couldn't help but flinch as the flames trailing from his eyes flared and brushed her face as he remained nearly nose-to-nose with her.

"We have been inside your mind for some time now, Twilight Sparkle." He said with molten steel in his voice, adding a mocking sneer as he said her name. "We find the fact that you consider yourself skilled in the ways of magic amusing. You know nothing—ARE NOTHING—next to us! We have the power of the ancient arcane! We have the power to raise armies from the ground! To grind cities to dust! To command all the realms of darkness! We have the power to bypass death! And now, thanks to you and your little friends, we have the greatest power of all—The power that even your precious Celestia cannot hope to stand against."

"And what is that?" Twilight asked with as much bravery as she could scrape together.

"Fate."

Sombra floated away from her, back towards the center of the demolished throne room, and came to rest hovering high above the Crystal Heart.

"When the Crystal Heart was turned against us," he said, "Our mortal form was destroyed. Mostly. But our power is far beyond the need of a body. And when we were separated from it, something magnificent happened. We ascended from this lowly plane, and saw with new eyes. We saw the strands of magic in the fabric of time itself. We saw the future affecting the distant past as they occurred at the same time. Galaxies were born and died while we watched, and every action and consequence of every living creature that ever has been or ever will be was laid out before us."

Beneath him on the floor, Applejack was pulling Fluttershy to her hooves. They were all still shaken by the fall, but as Sombra spoke they were pulled from their daze.

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Applejack shouted up at him. "What are you babblin' about!?"

With a flare of magic shooting out from him in an arrogant display of power, Sombra suddenly became radiant with purple light surrounding and swirling around him. Magic flowed around him like waves, flowing with strength. Somehow it seemed that he was even larger than before.

"What that means, young fools, is that there is nothing that you can do which we have not already seen."

The ponies looked at each other in confusion. At that moment, the magical gales churning around them stopped, and all about them the debris that had been caught up in the storm fell to the ground. The throne room was then oddly quiet, save for the blizzard howling outside and the odd pulse that came from the mouth of the cave. Even the blizzard seemed to be dying down. They could hear the shouts of ponies outside, and a deep rumbling that went through the walls of the castle.

It was then that a strange light started flooding in from outside. They turned to look through the broken windows, and saw that the night sky was glowing red, starting from the top down like a reverse sunrise. The snowflakes still falling in the wake of the storm were practically radiating crimson as they caught the light. As they watched, strange waves of energy started cascading down from above, flowing gently like the Northern Lights as they stretched to the ground.

Even with her magic being rendered useless, Twilight still felt the horrible, horrible power far above them in the sky.

"What is that?" she called to her friends below, even though in her bones she feared she already knew the answer. "What is that?!"

Rainbow Dash was the first one to look. Getting to her legs and then taking to the air, she zipped over to a window and went outside. Craning her head upwards, she looked up to a sight she had never seen before, and didn't know what to make of.

"It's…it's…" she began.

"It's what?!" Twilight cried.

"Bad."

Then, a wave of red light shot from the ground at the edge of the city, rapidly whipping around the borders to enclose it in a circle. The light shot towards the sky, and seemed to be pulling the waves down to the earth.

Twilight felt her insides turn to ice.

"Everypony," she cried out in resignation, "Run."

They all looked shocked.

"We can't just leave you!" Rarity called back.

"You must!" she replied, nearly in tears. "Please go! There's no time!"

Sombra laughed. His body had started becoming transparent, and tendrils of smoke started splitting off from him as started to dissipate. Like air being sucked upwards, he started pulling towards the ceiling bit by bit. Soon all that was left was his face, the features of which were lit by the fierce glowing eyes.

"Time, Twilight Sparkle," he said as he began to fade away, "Is something you'll find an abundance of soon enough."

Then he was gone, leaving only his laughter and last words rumbling through the air:

"Try and save her if you wish. It will make no difference."

As the booming echoes grew fainter and disappeared along with the evil king, the ponies were left alone. Calling up to Twilight, they began to form a rescue plan.

"We gotta get up to her!" Applejack said. "Rainbow Dash, get on it! Fluttershy, can you fly me up there again?!"

"NO!" Twilight screamed as forcefully as she could, stopping Applejack in mid-speech. "GO! Go now! Please! All of you get out of here as fast as you can!"

Rainbow Dash was hearing none of it. Like a shot she was up by Twilight's side in no time, and started hacking at the crystal vines with her hooves.

"I'm getting you out of there, Twilight," she said. "Don’t you worry!"

"You've got to go now!" she said, shaking her head. "It's too late!"

"Why?!" Rainbow Dash asked, stopping her work to look her in the eye with a challenging glance, as if to ask "Who's stopping me?"

"Because," she called out in anguish, "It's the curse! He's casting the curse again!"

* * *

At the peak of the Crystal Palace, standing in the observatory, Sharpsight was stunned by the scene unfolding around him. The domed roof had been ripped off by one of the larger arms of black crystal rising from the earth and twisting around the castle, and he could fully see the open sky. Directly above him shone a great, red orb like a sun in the night. An evil crimson glow snaked down from the sphere to paint the horizon, and waves of energy flowed upwards from the ground, hungrily trying to reach it.

And the whole time, Sharpsight had been chanting, calling out into the arctic air words which he did not understand, but heard in his head, and felt coming off his lips. He had been at it for the last twenty minutes. The whole time, the ball of evil which had began as no larger than a tiny red star had been getting bigger and bigger until it was a magnitude larger in the sky than the moon. He was being overpowered. He had to keep trying.

"HARRORA ARTU SEN, LIVSID TAB ORT!"

The words were hot on his tongue, and burned as he said them. But still he continued, knowing that the fate of the Crystal Empire was in his hooves. Maybe all of Equestria. It may be the last thing he did, but if it were, he would be remembered a hero. At least he could find some redemption and respect from others with that.

"HARRORA ARTU SEN, LIVSID TAB ORT! FRAN MORKE! FRAN MORKE! IPSTAR UTE SEN! JULSET SEN MORKE!"

His shouted mantra went on and on, until his voice was hoarse and he became light headed. The air around the tower was thin and biting.

"IPSTAR UTE SEN! JULSET SEN MORKE!"

He begin feeling weak in the knees. His strength was leaving him, somehow feeling that it was being drawn upwards towards the wicked thing in the sky.

"FRAN MORKE!"

He could barely speak any longer. Falling to his knees, he partially collapsed to the snow covered floor. He attempted to stay upright, with one hoof propping him up. His strength had nearly failed him.

"Harrora artu sen…" he mumbled. It was almost lost in the gusts of wind and cries of panic from below.

"Livsid tab ort. Fran morke…ipstar ute sen…"

The orb seemed ready to explode with energy and terrible power.

"Julset…sen…morke…"

He fell to the ground. He could barely breathe. Gasping as he drowned in the open air, he lay face first in the snow. The coldness began to overwhelm him, and he felt the crushing sensation of failure. That's when he heard the voice.

"We told you, professor," it said. "You were wise to fear us."

Looking up from the snow, he saw his nightmares returned in front of him. Standing there, in the flesh, was Sombra. His eyes glowed with malevolence and satisfaction, and a blasphemous smile spread across his thick lips to show his pointed fangs. His horn, the very same one he had found in the river bank, jutted from his head like a crude spear that was awash with power.

He was back. Sharpsight had failed.

"Now, what do you think you're doing up here in the snow, professor?" Sombra asked. "Surely you're not trying to do something with that, are you?"

With that last rhetorical question, Sombra gestured upwards to the red sun above. He shook his massive head.

"We told you that you could do nothing to us," he purred. "Such arrogance. We suppose it is natural, though. The useless seldom understand how pitiable they really are."

With a surge of newfound strength at the insult, Sharpsight rose on shaky legs to stand. Whatever happened, he would not have it said that he went down without his dignity. With cracked lips and raspy voice, he intoned the last three syllables from the stream of words that had been flowing into his head. Somehow he knew that this was the capstone of it all. This was the end. There was a chance that Sombra didn't know what was in store for him. Perhaps Sharpsight would prove to be a pony not to be underestimated. A slight spark of hope ignited inside him, and with a slight grin he spoke with the last remaining strength he had within himself. The words rang clear and powerful, magically amplified in the night sky:

"SAH. VAR. DETT."

With that, a catastrophic roar split the heavens as the red orb finally did erupt. A blast of force shot out from it in a ring that flew outwards to the horizon. The sphere started crusting over with a foul blackness, hardening rock on the surface of lava, and the glow emanating from it started to solidify into a unyielding, transparent sheet that began to slowly work its way down towards the ground.

It was just as Sharpsight had remembered it happening a thousand years ago.

Looking up with horror, he collapsed again.

"No," he softly said, unable to comprehend. "No, that's…that's not right. That's not right at all."

It was already hundreds of feet across, and growing rapidly.

"I was trying to stop him."

The sky over the tower was almost completely encased in the reddish dome.

"I…I didn't know."

Sombra's laugh was a blade that sliced through him, but he was too numb to notice the cut.

"Well done, servant."

Everything above him was completely red.

"I was trying to stop him."

* * *

"Please, I'm begging you," Twilight cried. "You have to go!"

Rainbow Dash was kicking and punching and clawing as best she could at the crystal vines holding Twilight in place. They were just loose and breakable enough to give her hope—a sentiment that Twilight did not share. She kept going.

"Rainbow!" she said, "Get out of here! There's nothing you can do!"

Still kicking and panting with exhaustion, Rainbow Dash grunted between strikes, "You know you talk too much, right?"

Twilight groaned. It was bad enough that she was going to be trapped in here with Sombra for a thousand years. She couldn't even contemplate that amount of time. She couldn't allow her friends to share the same fate.

Down below, the others looked up in anguish. Unable to help from down there, it was all they could do to watch. Finally, Applejack had enough.

"Fluttershy!" she yelled. "Same plan as before! Fly me up there! We'll get her down together!"

In an uncharacteristic show of gumption, Fluttershy nodded and zipped over to pick Applejack up by the shoulders. Their flight up was not as slow as before, but it was still wobbly and uneven. Meanwhile, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike had gone to the window. Looking above, they saw the giant orb floating in the sky, wicked and harsh like a wound.

"Everypony," Rarity called, "I would advise haste! Much haste!"

"I know!" Rainbow Dash grunted, still smacking as hard as she could.

Twilight didn't see how they would be able to get her down in time. It seemed hopeless. But then, as Dash gave a particularly strong kick in what was obviously the right place, a chunk of black crystal split with a great crack and fell down into the mouth of the cave below. Twilight felt her right back leg feeling much more mobile all of a sudden. Then, against her best judgment, she began to feel hope.

"Good job, Rainbow!" Applejack called, still on her way up. "Go git 'em, girl! We'll be there in a jiffy!"

She kept hammering away at the weakened section of crystal. At first only small bits were flaking off, but before long larger pieces started cascading down under the assault of her frantic pounding. Finally, a huge mass shot away into the depths below, revealing Twilight's back legs, kicking and flailing as they had been trying to help from inside.

"YES!" she cried as she allowed herself a brief moment of triumph.

At that moment, an enormous explosion bellowed through the throne room as the heavens opened up in a rage. It stopped them all in their tracks, and for Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike outside, it turned their faces pale with fear as they looked upon the source.

"Oh no!" Rarity screamed. "The curse. THE CURSE! It's coming down! EVERYPONY, IT'S COMING DOWN!!!"

Rainbow Dash stopped and looked at Twilight. A pained understanding came across both of their faces. Rainbow Dash mouthed the words "I'm sorry."

Twilight smiled. A tear rolled down her scratched and filthy cheek. She faintly remembered asking a favor not too long ago. It was okay. She wouldn't hold Dash to it. The promise may get broken, but at least her friends could still make it out.

Then, shattering her defeated acceptance, Rainbow Dash spun around and started kicking again, harder than ever before. Her eyes were steel, and her hooves were jackhammers on her crystal cocoon, which shook as bits of it went flying everywhere.

"What are you doing?!" Twilight screamed at her stubborn friend.

"NOT! LEAVING! YOU!" came the reply between hits. She had made an oath, and it was one she was planning on never breaking. Twilight's prison, on the other hoof, was going to be shattered and on the ground if she had anything to say about it, and Twilight was going to be out of here in time if it killed Rainbow Dash in the process. That was the promise she made to herself as she continued hacking away.

From below came a cry as Applejack and Fluttershy finally arrived. The pegasus was still struggling with holding Applejack's weight, but with grim resolve she heaved and clawed ever upwards.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" Applejack called out. "Get me on the other side!"

Rainbow Dash stopped kicking long enough to notice they were there, and with a fiery passion screamed at them.

"NO! Get out of here! I've got this!" She went back to kicking.

Applejack bristled at the thought. "We're not going anywhere! We all stick together!"

Rainbow Dash stopped again, making stabbing gestures in the air to accentuate her point.

"You've got to go! I'm the only one who can save her! Take everypony else and run, Applejack!"

"But we can help!" Applejack began before Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"No you can't!" she said, voice breaking and on the edge of sobs. "You can't help me, and you need to get out of here!"

"But why—"

"Because I can't fly her and everypony else out in time, Applejack!!!"

She realized then that Dash was right. Even if they did manage to break the cocoon, everypony besides her and Fluttershy was going to have to run out of the city. Twilight couldn't use her magic, which meant no teleportation. Rainbow Dash breaking her free and flying her out really was the only possible escape for her. But the rest of them needed to leave right now if they wanted to stand any chance of making it. With a tearful swallow of her pride, Applejack turned to her good friend and gave one last order:

"You just get both your flanks back to us. Don't keep us waitin', ya hear?"

Rainbow Dash gave a determined smirk.

"You better get moving or we might beat you out of the city."

With that, Fluttershy turned around and started flying out as fast as she could. As they left, she looked over her shoulder for a last glance at her friends. She called back "Please hurry, Rainbow!"

Back down on the ground, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were getting ready to depart as soon as possible. They were watching the dome come down with alarming speed, and although they could conceivably make it out in time, it would be a hard run, and it would be close. Rarity scooped up Spike and put him on her back.

"Hang on," she whispered to him. "We're going to get out of here."

"Twilight…" was the only thing he could say as he reached out a claw, trying to reach out and touch her, so far away.

"I know, Spike" Rarity said as gently as she could. "I know. Don't worry. She'll be fine, I promise. Rainbow Dash will take care of her. But you've got to do something for me, okay?"

Breaking his gaze from his best friend, he turned to Rarity with eyes wide.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Just hold on."

He brought his claw back down. His grip around her shoulders and neck tightened as he buried his face in her mane.

The four ponies didn't miss a beat as Fluttershy touched down. As soon as they landed, Applejack shouted "Come on!" and lead the group out of the throne room and down the stairs of the palace as fast as they could run.

"Do you think they'll make it?!" asked Pinkie Pie between heavy breaths as they raced down the steps to emerge beneath the arches of the castle. The colossal crystalline towers winding around the courtyard blocked many of the paths out, but they didn't much care which direction they went. They just needed to get out from under the curse. Its glow coming down from above had turned the snow-covered world blood red.

"I don't know," Applejack replied. "But if anypony can get them out of here, it's Dash."

They attained a single-minded consciousness as they galloped, only seeing the path ahead throwing ice and snow from their hooves, moving as one through the twists and turns of the streets. There was nothing expect the run. The town flew by in a blur, and before long they could see a clearing as they rounded a bend in the road. Their escape was within reach.

Even after they had passed into that clearing, fear kept them moving, as they were afraid to look up and confirm whether or not they were safe. Finally, after they had waded far into the deep snow banks on the fields outside, to the point they were having difficultly moving faster than a slow trot, they looked up. With great relief they saw that they were finally outside the dome. They had made it, and without much time to spare. Collapsing in the snow, they panted and tried to catch their breath and ride out the pains in their sides. As they collected themselves, their eyes were fixed on the great towers in the middle of the city, now silhouetted in deep red.

They watched the sky for signs of their friends, but of Rainbow Dash and Twilight there was no sign.

The dome descended.

* * *

"Come on!"

WHACK!

"ERRGH COME ON!"

WHACK!

"YOU! DUMB! CRYSTAL!"

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

It was almost there. It was so close. Rainbow Dash could sense it. The prison was nearly broken. Twilight's legs were all free, and they swung about as she squirmed, trying in vain to work her way out faster. If only she could get that last bit around her torso, then the whole thing would come down. Dash had nearly kicked herself into passing out, but still she kept plowing away.

Outside, the cries of panic drifted up to float around the throne room to join the sound of grinding of Sombra's crystal arms against the walls of the palace. Then, as Dash worked to free the trapped unicorn, they both heard a new sound. It was the buzzing of a billion hornets. It was the roar of the ocean. It was the moon crashing from the sky. It reverberated through everything and shook the earth as it swelled, absorbing all other sounds.

The curse was coming down.

Twilight was looking at her with a fear in her eyes she'd never seen in her friend before. If she could have seen her own face, Rainbow Dash would have bet that the look was mutual. But at that moment, she didn't have time to be afraid. She had made two promises now, one to herself and one to Twilight, and she wasn't backing out of either one.

After pausing only for a brief moment to catch her breath for what she needed to be the final assault, she reared back with her legs, and then with everything she had left, she struck.

WHACK!

The cocoon wobbled.

"Almost."

WHACK!

A crack appeared.

"Almost!"

WHACK!

A great tear opened across where it was rooted to the ceiling.

"COME ON!!!"

Outside the sky was roaring.

WHACK!

With a sharp crack the remainder of Twilight's tomb fell far below, slowly spinning as it tumbled to the floor to land with a mighty thud. As gravity took hold, Twilight gasped with fright as she started to plummet with it. For a brief instant she was afraid that she was going to fall to her doom, but as the ground rushed up to meet her, she felt her trajectory change. Right before the moment of impact she started to pull up, and then she was soaring across the marble floor while maintaining the same devastating speed she had fallen at. In fact, she felt herself starting to go faster. The wind was blowing hard in her face, and the dust clouds and falling snow stung her eyes as she rocketed through the air, seemingly on the edge of control. At first she didn't comprehend what was happening. What this what it was like to fly? Was she dead?

Then she felt the hooves wrapped around her chest. They were gripping almost tight enough to squeeze the air out of her lungs, but as it was she could barely breathe anyway as they burst through the window and Twilight saw the decimated cityscape unfurl beneath her. Any breath left in her slowly leaked out as she gazed upon the ruination of the Crystal Empire. The giant pillars of black crystal protruded all throughout the city like the back of a massive porcupine. Fires blazed sporadically throughout, and everywhere ponies were running to and fro in a panic. Some were trying to get out. Some were trying to heroically put out the fires. Some seemed to be looking for loved ones. And some just seemed to be running out of terror.

As Twilight was looking down, a gasp came from above her. She craned her neck to look up at Rainbow Dash, who was looking ahead with dread chiseled onto her face.

"Oh no," she said.

Looking forward, Twilight could see the curse had almost descended to the ground. They were still barely halfway there. If anything there were mere seconds left.

She looked up again into her friend's eyes. They were set hard and fast—focus razor sharp on their chance ahead that was quickly disappearing. Time slowed to a crawl, and Twilight saw every beat of Dash's wings as they pumped furiously. And then suddenly, something in her eyes changed. Somewhere in there, barely noticeable except to one who knew her best, a light went out. That brash and defiant glimmer faded away. In its place there seemed to be something utterly foreign to Rainbow Dash.

The fire was gone.

In its place was defeat.

Twilight once again glanced ahead. The curse was licking at the ground. Around them, the dome started touching down until a gap directly ahead of them was the only one left. Then she grasped what Dash had finally, impossibly realized:

They weren't going to make it.

"Twilight…" Dash grunted through gritted teeth.

Twilight lifted her head. Rainbow Dash looked down at her. Their eyes met. That passing gaze lasted hours. A small smirk started from the corner of Dash's mouth. Twilight could feel an extra squeeze across her chest as Dash held her just a bit tighter—as tight as she could. Through the sweat already pouring down Dash's face, Twilight saw a tear form in the corner of her eye. Then she understood what was about to happen.

No…

All she could do to was frantically shake her head.

"Rainbow Dash!" she shouted. "Don't do it!" The wind tore the words from her mouth.

With a smile, Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"Sorry I'm breaking my promise," she whispered. The words were thunder in Twilight's ears.

With a mighty heave, the pegasus hurled her friend towards the gap.

Her flight through the air was a blur, as was landing in the deep snow drift she found herself in when she came around. She didn't know for how long she had lain there motionless in the snow, but all around her was muffled silence. There had only been the mighty crack and magical sizzle she had heard as she had hit the ground, but now there was nothing.

There was only the wind howling across the now empty plain where the Crystal Empire had once stood.
 

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[Starlight Nova]

This is what King Sombra should be like.