The Lords of Harmony

by Whinifree

Act 2 - Shadow of Malice; Terror of Ages, part 3

I know my connection to the Elements was broken when I had to use them to banish Luna all those centuries ago, thought Celestia. That makes me more of a liability in this battle than an asset. Same with Shining Armor. Still… She gazed square into the eyes of the shadow clone of Sombra that was staring down at her.

“As Luna once said, ‘we can’t let fear stop us,’” the princess said sternly. “The time for talk is done. My little ponies… attack! For Equestria and Luna!”

“For Equestria and Luna!” the others cried in unison.

As if they had been waiting for those exact words, an object suddenly appeared next to each of the nine shadow clones: phoenix feathers the exact size and shape as the Elements of Harmony in their new forms. Only difference was that they were black with ghostly white tips.

Fluttershy swallowed hard. “Um… those can’t be what they look like, can they?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nah. Just cheap knockoffs.”

All together, the nine Sombra shadow clones aimed the tips of their weapons down at the ponies and a ball of ghostly white fire appeared. The orbs launched, hurtling forward like a rocket.

The ponies had just barely enough time to react to this quick attack. Celestia and Shining Armor conjured up protective barriers around themselves, while Twilight and the others reflected or blocked the fireballs with their Elements. The ones that were reflected shot off away from the pony and collided with whatever building, tree, lamp post or whatever happened to be in their immediate trajectory, creating a loud explosion and setting the area ablaze. The fireballs that were simply blocked detonated on the spot which resulted in a large plume of black smoke and a fierce wind. The ponies grunted as the sudden gusts pushed them along the ground into a tighter formation. The smoke completely concealed the shadow clones from the ponies’ view.

“Just great!” said Rarity as she covered her muzzle and coughed. “Now I can’t see them in order to counterattack or guard against their next move!”

“Maybe now they can’t see us either?” asked Pinkie.

Rainbow started flapping her wings furiously to push the smoke away. “Just one problem with that, Pinkie: we’re on the ground and they’re not. They don’t need to see us to know that we’re in the same spot we were not ten seconds ago.”

“Maybe we should spread out.”

“Not a good idea. Those things would pick us apart one by one.”

Applejack flashed a grin at Rainbow while mentally ordering her Element to spin around rapidly like a fan to help push the smoke away. “Who are you and what have y’all done with the Rainbow Dash who’s always just galavantin’ head first into danger?”

“Can you two please save the trash talk until later, just this once?” groaned Twilight.

Eventually the smoke cleared and the ponies poised themselves to resume the battle—Celestia and Shining Armor with their horns aglow and the others with their Element blade levitating beside them.

Once the smoke had cleared, Celestia saw that the Sombra clones were now several blocks away. The clones were still close together in a cluster similar to the ponies, but were now far out of the reach of the Elements. “Over there!” she cried.

Twilight and the others all turned in the direction the princess was pointing.

“We’ll never win if we can’t get close enough to attack,” stated Cadance. “There’s nothing for it. We have to charge.”

“Keep your Elements to your twelve and block or deflect whatever they throw at us as we go,” said Shining Armor.

The ponies all nodded firmly, forming a line side by side.

Shining Armor then glanced at Celestia. “Princess, we’ll help with our long-range magic blasts.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” said Celestia while also giving a nod. She steeled her gaze and turned her attention back to the distant Sombra clones.

With their own dark feathers floating beside them, the clones just hovered in the air and stared at the ponies almost tauntingly.

Celestia lowered her head just slightly and let out a decisive snort. “Advance!” she shouted.

Like a well-trained unit, the ponies all galloped forward at top speed, letting out battle cries that echoed across that section of the city. Celestia and Shining Armor began to fire magic beams from their horns, and the others all held their Elements in front of themselves defensively.

The Sombra clones dodged the blasts with ease and retaliated by firing more ghostly fireballs from their dark feathers. As the ponies came closer to them, they did not back away.

Twilight and the others moved the Elements out in front of the pack and knocked away every fireball coming at them. Like before, the fireballs struck whatever they were redirected to, setting even more of the city on fire. This fire and return fire between the ponies and the Sombra clones continued as the distance between them got smaller and smaller.

“Come down from there and face us head on, you chumps!” Rainbow screeched.

“I got an idea,” said Applejack. “Instead of just battin’ those fireballs away somewhere willy-nilly, try hittin’ them back at them varmints!”

The ponies had reduced the distance between themselves and the Sombra clones by half at that point but were not yet in range to attack the clones directly. Celestia and Shining Armor continued to shoot beams from their horns—which the clones continued to dodge with ease—and the clones continued to send a barrage of ghostly white fireballs. Twilight and the others batted the numerous fireballs straight back at the Sombra clones like baseballs. Some of the fireballs the ponies reflected this way collided with others mid-air and exploded, leaving clouds of black smoke that partially obscured visibility between the ponies and the clones. The Sombra clones dodged the others just like the blasts from Celestia and Shining Armor. Those fireballs continued on and disappeared into the distance.

This back and forth continued for a little longer until the ponies were directly beneath the Sombra clones. Suddenly, the clones stopped sending fireballs and lunged down at the ponies with their dark feathers poised to strike.

Celestia fired one more magic blast from her horn at the clone that was coming straight at her, which the clone blocked with its feather.

I can’t possibly fight that thing up close without an Element or even just a basic weapon of my own, thought Celestia with a grimace. But I can at least hit it with much more power from point-blank range. She focused a tremendous amount of energy into her horn and fired a much larger magic beam this time.

Again the Sombra clone blocked the beam, but the sheer power of it completely stopped the clone in its tracks.

A few seconds later, seven of the clones fell upon Twilight and the other Element bearers. The battle turned into a grand melee amidst the ghostly white infernos rampaging across the area. The rapid clashing of the Elements of Harmony against the clones’ mysterious dark feathers created endless bursts of magical energy which became a chorus in the air as well as a light show like fireworks going off all around.

Celestia maintained her high-powered magical blast that was keeping one of the Sombra clones at bay. She glanced over at Shining Armor who had another of them held back in the same way she did. The princess turned her attention back to the clone she was fighting, spread her wings, and launched herself upward straight at it in a full force tackle. The combined power of Celestia’s magic beam and the force of her tackle sent the Sombra clone flying back a good distance.

The clone took a few seconds to steady itself in the air.

Immediately, Celestia shot another beam at it.

Just as quickly, the Sombra clone launched a barrage of ghostly white fireballs from its dark phoenix feather.

The magic beam and the fireballs collided mid-air with a deafening boom and a cloud of smoke that made Celestia cover her ears as well as her muzzle. But it was only for a second as the surge of wind created by the explosion pushed the princess back. After steadying herself, she looked down and frowned.

Twilight and the others were no longer in the tight formation the group had started the battle in. The duels each one had become engaged in had forced them to start spreading out down various streets and alleyways. Though there were only nine combatants on each side, the city now looked and sounded like a warzone. Amidst the endless cacophony of explosions and flashes of magical energy, buildings were being destroyed left and right, half the city was engulfed in a raging inferno, the road was being torn apart leaving chunks of rubble everywhere.

So was this Sombra’s plan all along? pondered Celestia, panting and sweating heavily. She turned her gaze back to the Sombra clone she was battling. Trap us in this other dimension and have these things finish us off while he takes control of Equestria and possibly beyond?

Celestia’s thoughts were interrupted by another fireball from the Sombra clone’s dark feather. She flew to the side just in time for it to zoom within an inch of her wings. Celestia retaliated with a magic beam which the clone easily avoided, and the princess groaned and gritted her teeth. I just can’t seem to get a good hit on it. It either dodges or blocks everything I throw at it like it can read my every move. And even if we can defeat these things that still leaves the problem of how we’re going to get back to Equestria. I’m guessing even Sombra wasn’t expecting the Elements to still work here, separated from their source of power. But maybe that’s why they rose to a higher form, so they could work independently of both each other and the Tree. Their owners’ individual strength is their power now, but it doesn’t mean anything if we still can’t overcome the obstacles Sombra throws at us.

Then, Celestia noticed something that gave her pause. The Sombra clone she’d been fighting was no longer attacking and was just hovering there staring at her. Celestia took the opportunity to send another magic blast at it.

Before the beam could get close, the clone turned into a shapeless cloud of black mist and flew off toward the palace.

Watching closely, Celestia saw eight more clouds appear from various parts of the city and go in the same direction.

All nine merged together into a single large cloud that twisted and swirled around in the air above the palace.

Celestia dashed through the air. She spotted the others galloping towards the palace, same as her, and a few moments later, they all met up in the palace courtyard. With her heart pounding like a drum and her breaths like she had just taken a hard kick to the stomach, the princess lowered her head so that her muzzle was nearly touching the ground. Her legs trembled and even her mane and tail weren’t flowing with their usual regalness. The only comfort Celestia felt was that Twilight and the others were all close by again and safe even though they were all panting and sweating as hard as she was.”

“Bet I…” said Applejack through her wheezing. “Bet I sent back more of them fireballs than you, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow sneered at her. “No matter how many you did, Apple-smack, I sent back at least twice as many!”

Twilight let out a sigh and facehoofed.

Celestia chuckled and shook her head as Pinkie Pie joined in the playful gloating as well. However, she didn’t pay any attention to whatever exaggerations or embellishments the pink earth pony was adding to her score. She took a quick look at the others, then gazed up at the large dark cloud above the palace.

Silently, Twilight and the others did the same.

“Well,” said Twilight dejectedly, “it’s out of our range again except for those of us who can fly and there’s only four of us who can. And yes I know that’s less than helpful to say.”

“We should take a moment to catch our breath, darlings,” stated Rarity. “After all that I feel like I could faint at any moment. I’ve not exerted myself that hard before, not even when I was nearly late to my mother’s birthday party. I just get so engrossed in my work that I lose track of time.”

Suddenly, a deep, dark voice pierced the air like a miniature sonic boom.

“Behold this town!”

The ponies startled a little, but every one of them recognized the voice immediately.

Celestia let out a snarl.

“Once the seat of power for all unicorns,” the disembodied voice continued. “They were the second of the three tribes to claim the most contribution to the Dread War. This was also the original home of the family of my Planter.”

The dark cloud above the palace stopped swirling randomly. It held perfectly still for a moment then formed a perfect sphere twice the size of Celestia. The cloud disappeared, leaving Sombra himself in its place. Again he hovered in the air without even flapping his new wings.

The ponies glared up at the dark alicorn as he slowly floated down to the ground, noting that he was not wearing the dark crown and royal red cape they’d seen him in before. Instead he was wearing some kind of suit of dark armor resembling a phoenix.

“What is he wearing?” asked Rarity. “It looks exactly like the Nightmare Night costume I made for Princess Luna.”

“It does,” said Celestia as she thought back. “Luna showed it to me that morning. It looked so good on her and she was very happy with it. She let me try on the headpiece and it just didn’t work. But now seeing it like this… It just seems insulting—mocking.”

Now standing on the top of the stairs to the palace, Sombra grinned. “You’re curious about my armor, I see. Yes a very fine design and made of pure midnium. Truly fit for a king!”’

Before anypony could respond, Sombra held up one foreleg and swiped at the air from his right side to his left. Nine clouds of dark mist the size of a regular pony appeared in a ring around him, then immediately transformed into nine dark phoenix feathers exactly like the ones the shadowy clones had wielded. “As are these.”

Everypony again took a battle stance and Twilight and the others summoned their Elements of Harmony.

“Be ready for anything, my little ponies,” said Celestia. “And fight with everything you’ve got!”

“Not so fast,” quipped Sombra as his horn began to glow. “A clash such as the one that’s about to go down needs a more atmospheric stage!”

A moment later, a massive cloud of dark mist exploded out from Sombra that engulfed the entire burning city in seconds.

The ponies grunted and covered their eyes.

Celestia half expected to feel like she was being pulled through a void space like before, but that sensation never came. She still felt solid ground beneath her hooves. The sounds of raging pyres in her ears were replaced with an endless onslaught of rolling thunder and crashes, like magical energy exploding. Opening her eyes, the princess was greeted by several bright flashes of lightning. Right after that, she finally beheld the new setting Sombra had chosen for their final battle.

Similar to the otherworldly Crystal Empire the ponies had seen upon their initial arrival in Sombra’s dimension, the ancient city of the unicorns was in total ruins. The buildings were either crumbling apart or nothing but a pile of rubble littering the surrounding area. The roads were cracked and torn up with small craters in places. All of the trees were dead and withered, and only a few of them were even still standing. It was no longer sunny. The sky was covered with thick, dark gray storm clouds through which innumerable lightning bolts cascaded, and the whole city was bathed in the dismal lighting of a terrible storm.

In addition to all of that, Celestia spotted something she hadn’t before: a towering solitary mountain behind the remnants of the ancient palace.

The mountain was split clean down the middle all the way from the peak to its base. A massive pillar of ghostly white light stood inside where the mountain had split, stretching from the crater up through the storm clouds in the sky. Countless chunks of earth and city rubble floated around the mountain in the air like the pillar of light was pulling them in.

I wonder if that’s the mountain Twilight and her friends said they saw but I couldn’t, thought Celestia. The grim sights and sounds all around her made her sweat and her heart pound even more, yet it paled in comparison to the sheer terror clawing at her as she gazed upon the cloven, skyward pillar that loomed in front of her. And these ruins must be representative of what the ancient unicorn capital looks like now and has for thousands of years. If we make it through this I will ask Twilight to show me this Dread Frontier. And we’ll still have to find Luna. I’ll bet Sombra has her imprisoned somewhere in this dark realm inside the moon—this World That Hides Within—he talked about.

“This would make one… over the top… setting in a Daring Do book,” Rainbow remarked while looking around.

Cadence huffed and stomped her hoof. “This must be what Chrysalis did to the Crystal Empire! When I get my hooves on her I’ll… I’ll…” She stomped several more times then sniffled and wiped away a tear.

“You and me both,” stated Shining Armor as he embraced Cadance. “I just wish I had an Element of my own so that I could be of more use in this fight.”

“Don’t talk like that, love.” Cadence nuzzled him back tenderly. “I promise you’re not useless.”

“All of Equestria is going to look like this if we don’t stop Sombra,” said Twilight as she and the others re-summoned their Element blades. “Now where did he go?”

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light burst up from the ground beneath the ponies which elicited a startled cry from each of them. Celestia felt the air pressure around them condense alarmingly fast and a wave of magical energy building rapidly. It felt like she was starting to be crushed between two unseen stone slabs. “Magic bomb!” she cried while jumping forward. “Leap away!”

The princess reacted quick enough that she was able to avoid a point-blank hit, but the powerful shockwave still knocked her back a good distance. She stumbled and fell down. As soon as Celestia landed her whole body began to ache, but she hurried back to her hooves and glanced around.

Twilight and the others had been pushed away by the blast as well. The ponies’ formation was broken.

Celestia spread her wings and rose high into the air. From her new vantage point, she was able to see nearly the whole city. The others were either recovering from the magic bomb or already engaged in a duel with one of Sombra’s dark feathers. Each feather was acting on its own without their master present, as if the shadowy copies of the dark alicorn from before had merely been flukes. The only thing Celestia didn’t see…

Sombra appeared in a puff of smoke directly in front of the princess. The dim lighting of the area reflected off the smooth midnium that made up the pieces of his armor, and the eyes of the headpiece made it seem like he was gazing at the princess with two sets instead of one. One of his hooves had a cloud of ghostly white mist in the shape of a four-pronged claw covering it and was gripping the base like one would the hilt of a blade. “The more you stare into the abyss,” he said coldly, “the more the abyss stares back.”

Celestia glared at him. The anger burned within her like a furnace, but no matter how much she wanted to give a defiant reply, her voice seemed to catch in her throat.

“The night is falling…” Sombra aimed his dark phoenix feather at Celestia and fired a single large, ghostly white fireball at her.

Celestia shot a magic beam which collided with the fireball, creating an explosion of magic light and smoke midair.

The smoke cleared a moment later and Sombra hovered there with a wicked sneer upon his countenance. “With its claw a sickle…” Aiming his weapon again, he launched two fireballs.

Celestia blocked both with two more magic beams.

“Roses…” He shot three fireballs, which Celestia dodged.

“And thorns…” He fired four more, which Celestia dodged.

“It is not fickle…” Sombra lunged through the air, shooting four fireballs yet again and also swiping at the princess with his dark feather a single time for a total of five attacks.

Celestia rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the fireballs while simultaneously conjuring a protective barrier which blocked Sombra’s weapon swing. She pushed more energy into her horn, causing the barrier to expel a strong wave of energy outward.

Sombra was pushed back several meters, but grinned at Celestia as if he was unharmed. “So despair…” The dark alicorn charged forward again, unleashing a flurry of six swings with his dark feather.

Celestia maintained her barrier and rolled side to side instead.

“You cannot hide your fears from her!” Now shouting, Sombra flew back several yards and quickly shot a total of seven ghostly white fireballs at the princess, all of which were bigger than before.

Not having enough time to dodge such a barrage, Celestia pushed even more power into her barrier and braced for impact. She was able to move such that only four of the fireballs struck. However, already greatly fatigued, a wave of pain ran down her horn and her barrier broke apart. She let out a scream as she flew back and started to fall. Celestia steadied herself just in time to land upon the street. But, as soon as she did, her legs gave out, she fell to her stomach and her head lurched forward, panting and sweating hard. After a few moments, she looked back up and planted her gaze upon Sombra again.

The dark alicorn floated down toward the area where Celestia had landed, still with that dark smirk on his face. “The mare in the moon…” His horn glowed and he made a rising motion with his other hoof that wasn’t gripping the feather.

Eight chunks of stone rubble became engulfed in a ghostly white aura and rose into the air next to Sombra. Instead of all at once, the pieces launched themselves at Celestia one by one.

Celestia fired a magic beam as each of them came toward her which broke them apart into tiny pieces the size of pebbles. Once all eight had been destroyed, she became dizzy and she collapsed completely.

Sombra just hovered in the air and stared down at the princess. After several minutes, the other eight dark phoenix feathers returned and encircled him. He took a quick side glance at them. “Looks like your little ponies have fallen.” He released his grip on the ninth feather which then joined the others in the ring formation.

Celestia’s heart sank. Though she could barely keep her eyes open, she kept her gaze fixated on Sombra. Her breaths and heartbeat had softened some, but still her legs had not the strength to hold her up any longer. She pictured Twilight and the others in her mind, lying there upon the ground—bruised; battered; defeated… same as herself. The very thought washed over her and she teared up—tears of the deepest sorrow, but also of seething malice. In that moment, she found just enough strength left to stand up albeit slowly and with her legs wobbling. Whatever energy she had left, she put into her horn, but it fizzled out before she could send another magic beam.

No longer grinning or smirking, but with a largely neutral expression, Sombra gently waved a hoof across the air in front of him. Slowly, the nine dark phoenix feathers drifted down to the ground and formed a circle around Celestia.

“The mare in the moon…” he said with a tone matching his demeanor, “is the gardener…”

The dark feathers aimed at the princess. All at once, they fired a beam of black and white magical energy at her.

Too fatigued to dodge or create another barrier, the beams hit their mark. Celestia’s world immediately became blurry and the sound garbled as the pain wracked her. She collapsed with not enough strength left even to cry out in agony. Her vision darkened like she was going to pass out, but remained conscious. Part of her wondered how she was still alive after that. However, the rest of her wished she wasn’t. Unable to move a muscle, the princess lied there as her tears flowed.

Sombra’s horn lit up. Silently, the unconscious forms of Twilight and the others floated into the area bathed in the ghostly white aura of the dark alicorn’s magic and landed softly on the ground around the princess. Keeping his horn lit, Sombra looked back and a dark orb larger than Celestia appeared several yards away. He then looked back at the ponies who became awash in his magic aura again. The ponies floated back up into the air, and one by one, they disappeared into the orb.

It’s some kind of portal, thought Celestia. But is he taking us back to Equestria, or…?

Celestia entered the portal after Twilight and the others. Sombra followed behind them all, and the portal closed behind him.

---

The storm, flame and battle-ravaged city of Sombra’s dimension faded from Celestia’s sight. In its place was a perfectly dark void which was empty save for the ponies. The space was perfectly silent—even Sombra’s hoofsteps produced no sound.

The void between worlds, thought Celestia. So Sombra can freely move through it…

To the wounded princess it felt like an eternity, but after only a few moments, an orb similar to the one they had ventured into appeared in the distance.

Instead of being solidly dark, the outer edge was ghostly white and flowed like water. The center portion showed a snowy field, a small town and a towering solitary mountain under an ominous, cloud-covered night sky.

Celestia recognized it immediately. Ponyville… Equestria… She sighed under her breath. The tears she continued to shed from the physical pain she was in became intertwined with tears of sorrow. A voice in her head was telling her to close her eyes—to not look out of embarrassment and failure. But, as Sombra’s portal drew closer and closer by the second, she gazed upon the world through it anyway.

This may be the final time I see the Equestria I know and love. I’m sorry, my little ponies.

The ponies exited the void space through Sombra’s portal, and sure enough, they appeared in the field that lies between Ponyville and Canterlot—the exact spot where they had fought Chrysalis while she was still disguised as Nightmare Moon, and where Sombra had finally revealed himself before leading the ponies into his dimension. Just as was displayed in the portal, the land was darkened from the nighttime, the sky was covered by thick storm clouds, and a thin layer of snow blanketed the ground. Nopony else was present in the area.

Still floating via Sombra’s magic, Celestia glanced back. Looking past the dark alicorn, she saw Ponyville. From what she could tell, the town appeared as peaceful as ever with no knowledge of the things she and the Element bearers had seen, the truths they had learned and the terrible powers they had struggled against.

How long were we in that realm? thought Celestia. Hours? Days? Weeks? What is time there relative to here? She sighed. Either way it doesn’t matter now.

The princess let out another quiet sigh as Sombra lowered her and the others down. The snow and the freezing winter ground immediately sent chills through Celestia but she was just too weak to recoil. She just lay motionless and allowed her tears to continue unabated.

Sombra’s horn glowed once more and his aura appeared around the ponies again, but only for a moment.

A second later, Twilight and the others all stirred and let out weak groans.

Sombra walked past the ponies, placing himself between them and Canterlot Mountain and meeting each of their gazes with a steely look. With another quick flash of his magic, Sombra’s dark, crystalline, phoenix-themed armor vanished. “You all will watch this,” he said flatly.

Sombra unfurled his large wings and rose several meters into the air. Lighting his horn, a thick black and white cloud appeared. The cloud swirled around Sombra which hid him from view for a brief second every time it passed in front of him.

No matter how badly Celestia didn’t want to watch, she was unable to bring herself to close her eyes.

After a few moments the cloud stopped moving and condensed on itself, forming a black and white orb similar to the rifts that the ponies had seen above Canterlot and the Everfree Forest. However, this orb was smaller.

Sombra held a hoof up several inches underneath the orb like he was preparing to catch a falling object. The dark alicorn grinned and whirled around, turning his back to the ponies and the sphere followed.

As if Sombra had hurled the orb with his bare hooves, it launched into the sky like a rocket in the direction of Canterlot Mountain. The sphere left a trail of smoke in its wake then disappeared into the clouds.

A few seconds later, a low, thundering sound rolled through the area. The clouds close to the spot where Sombra’s orb had passed through started to shift and swirl. The thunder grew louder and louder. The clouds swirled faster and faster. Then it happened…

Beams of silver light shone down through the clouds all across the sky like spotlights. The beams were so numerous and unnaturally bright that they lit up the area like a big city in the full swing of its bustling nightlife. The spot where the orb had passed through then suddenly cleared up as the clouds parted, leaving a large hole in them in the shape of a perfect circle. Through the hole, the full moon was visible in all its heavenly glory. However, it was nearly three times the size it normally was and a large circular dark spot was in the moon’s center.

Still lying on the ground, Celestia gazed up at the unnaturally enlarged moon. Moreover, she glanced at the dark spot in the center, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw Luna’s face inside it.

With legs trembling terribly, Twilight struggled to her hooves and stared toward the sky. “Is this…” she wheezed between heavy breaths. “Is this what Luna meant by making the night last forever? ‘Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last.’”

The day Celestia confronted Luna with no other choice but to banish her—also the day her connection to the Elements was severed as a result—replayed in the princess’s mind. She thought about how they had discovered that, all along, the remnant of Sombra was behind Luna’s descent into the darkness, in the form of a cloaked figure, and luring the sullen princess in by preying on her fears and loneliness as described by her final entries in the old diary.

Twilight turned and slowly limped over to Celestia. She slipped under the princess’s wing, nuzzling her like a daughter trying to console her upset mother.

One by one, all with tears streaming down their faces and ears drooped, the others joined them until they were all huddled together.

Sombra faced the ponies and gazed down at them with a victorious grin, flapping his wings as he hovered in the air. “Witness now our moment of triumph.”

“‘Our…?’” whispered Twilight.

The dark alicorn’s horn glowed and a black and white beam erupted from it. The beam shot up into the sky through the hole in the clouds and straight into the dark spot in the center of the moon before disappearing.

After a moment of dead silence, the beam rocketed back down from the moon larger than before and struck the very peak of Canterlot Mountain with a loud boom that sounded like thunder. Briefly, the surface of the mountain flashed a mixture of black and white like flowing water.

Celestia’s entire body suddenly went numb. If not for being huddled together with Twilight and the others, the shockwave from the beam striking the mountain alone would have sent her tumbling over. She closed her eyes. A pulse… she pondered. I remember discussing this phenomenon with Twilight and the others after the attack on Ponyville—after Luna had gone missing. It almost feels symbolic… like the turning of an age.

The ground began to shift and sway, and a deep rumbling sound rose up to shatter the silence of the field. The earthquake grew stronger, causing the ponies to separate from each other and stumble around before falling down. After a few seconds of this, the peak of the mountain literally split apart. The crack snaked its way down the center of the mountain clear down to the base, leaving the towering earthen spire cloven completely in two.

With mouths agape, the ponies stared in horrified awe.

Meanwhile, Celestia recalled that same image from her vision the morning of Nightmare Night.

Keeping his horn aglow, Sombra spoke up, only his voice was magically amplified so heavily, it let out tremendous booms with each syllable that echoed across the area.

“Dreadkin!” He shouted. “Hear my voice and heed my call! The light of harmony is extinguished and the time to wash over this land is now!”

He paused for a moment, then put heavy emphasis on his very next call.

“RISE!”

---

All across Equestria—from Manehatten to Los Pegasus; from Appleoosa to Vanhoover, hordes of shadow ponies rose up from the ground. Storm clouds suddenly formed all around Cloudsdale. Windigos burst forth from them, and descended upon the city in the sky.

---

In mere moments, Celestia, Twilight and the others were hopelessly surrounded and outnumbered by countless shadow ponies. Each of them made their usual threatening noises and dug at the ground with their hoof like buffalo preparing to stampede.

The ponies huddled together again in what little space was left for them in the center of the horde.

The ghastly whinnies of the shadow ponies assaulted Celestia’s ears as she looked around. She turned her gaze up to Sombra.

The dark alicorn floated down and stopped a couple of meters above the gathering, staring back at the princess stoically.

“Well, y’all,” muttered Applejack, “it’s been real…”

“What’s going to happen to Equestria?” asked Fluttershy. “What’s going to happen to us?”

Rarity wiped her wet and reddened eyes, letting out a sniffle. “I don’t want to think about it.”

Rainbow Dash said nothing. She only let out a defeated sigh.

“All those poor ponies,” said Pinkie. “No more smiles; only frowns…”

Celestia closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drown out all sounds. First she pictured Luna, then Twilight and all her friends, and then the faces of countless ponies she had seen at some point but did not know by name, though she knew in her heart that they were beloved subjects—her little ponies. Each image was clouded by a dark mist that obscured the pony’s face.

I’m sorry… she thought.

Suddenly, and almost like she was being guided by some unknown force, Celestia thought about the old music box Luna had given her.

My dearest sister, may this gift help you find peace on those restless nights…

The words engraved inside the cover of the music box overtook her thoughts like she was reading a book. The princess then heard its little tune. The soft and slow chimes allowed her to relax her breaths and soften the beating of her heart until she was completely at ease.

With the tune of the music box still playing in an endless loop in her mind, Celestia’s musings wandered back to the dream she’d had the morning of Hearth’s Warming. She saw them again; she saw the smiling faces of countless ponies unknown. Little orbs of gold and silver light visibly shone in their chests where their hearts would be. Then, just like in the dream, the crowd of ponies parted down the middle like they were guiding the princess along a pathway.

That’s when Celestia felt it…

A gentle warmth like the spark of a flame flickered to life in the princess’s heart. The dark haze that shrouded the images in her mind faded, and now she could see them all with perfect clarity upon a golden backdrop. The smiling images of Luna, Twilight and the others reappeared—with the same orbs of light in their chests—joining the crowd of nameless ponies.

Behind all the ponies, a towering, roaring, golden blaze faded into view. After a second it changed into the shape of the Tree of Harmony, then into a four-pronged claw—a phoenix claw.

The warmth in Celestia’s heart became intense, but not painful. Her mane and tail also began to flow again.

This… warmth… I haven’t felt anything like it since… since…

Suddenly, a beam of golden light burst up from the ground beneath the ponies, spreading out enough that it struck the line of shadow ponies. But it didn’t stop there. It expanded deep into their ranks, and every Dreadkin turned into a cloud of dark mist before vanishing. Within seconds, the entire horde was gone.

Barely having time to react, Sombra’s horn glowed and a black and white sphere enveloped him just as the light reached him. The light faded a few moments later, and the dark alicorn stared down in shock. “It can’t be…” he uttered under his breath.

The golden light hadn’t entirely gone away. Celestia, Twilight and all the others were still enveloped in the brilliant aura. The aura rapidly shifted from gold to silver then back. Beams of the same transitioning light were coming off Twilight and the others, including Shining Armor, and flowing into Princess Celestia.

“What’s happenin’?” cried Applejack. “I can’t move a muscle!”

“Me neither!” said Pinkie, starting to smile. “But other than that I feel… great! Fantabulous! Better than fantabulous! Better than throwing a party-after-party, all the party ponies stay for it, and all the yummy drinks and goodies get refilled!”

Rainbow grinned. “Or spending a day with… no, becoming a Wonderbolt!”

“Showing Princess Luna that Nightmare Night is just for fun,” said Twilight. “Not meant to be disrespectful at all.”

The incredibly warm and soothing feeling in Celestia’s heart had not diminished since it first appeared. Still, she kept her eyes closed and maintained the image of Luna, Twilight and her friends, all the unknown ponies and the towering golden flame in her mind. This lasted for several moments more until the warmth inside became overwhelming. The princess’s eyes burst open. One was solid gold, and the other was solid silver.

Again the area became awash in the brilliant light such that none of the ponies could see anypony or anything else through it.

Celestia suddenly felt weightless like she was floating in space.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay on this one. Was a period there I just didn't feel like writing at all but now its back! Thanks for reading!

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