Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

The Dark Army

Any ruler, whether they be a King, Queen, Princess, Prince, Lord, Duke, Dutchess, General, Captain, Mayor or even club President, will be remembered for their greatest triumph or their worst impacting decision…

The changelings had managed to make it inside the Crystal Empire barrier before it was completly engulfed by black magic. From the inside, the Empire was like an apple. The grass had quickly died in the short time they were gone, the Crystal structures all lost their shine and glow. The dark magic just seemed to coat the outside of the Empire, but couldn't break through enough to actually change the structures into dark crystals. Holding onto Thorax's back as they flew to the castle at top speeds, Sunny felt nauseous as a feeling of deja vue made his stomach turn. He felt an overwhelming sence of fear radiating from the castle.

As the newly transformers changlings zoomed across the fields surounding the Empire, they too became aware that something was wrong. It was quiet, eerily too quiet. It didn't take them long to reach the abandoned city of the Crystal Empire, where the defining silance didn't end. If anything it was worse. The only sounds they all seemed to hear were the sounds of their own breath and the beating of their own hearts. Even the sound of their fluttering wings that had been buzzing up till then, had some how faded to silance.

"Something is wrong" Thorax tried to whisper to Sunny under his breath, but due to the silance, every changeling heard him.

Sunny said nothing, but his eyes kept darting all around the town, scanning each building, every bench, every light post for something that was out of place. A million different thoughts passed through Sunny's mind as they neared the Crystal castle, ranging from a silencing spell to throw them off so some enemy could ambush them, to them being tricked into a dark magic illusion and all this was just in their minds. It's possible that they never made it past the barrier and were actually on the ground outside the Cryatal Empire, laying in the snow, stuck in a nightmare that was about to take a sudden turn for the worse.

Things were about to go from bad to worse, but this was no illusion.

Crossing the edge of the Crystal city that fed into the Empire's castle, Throax and Sunny grasped when they saw what was awaiting them on the other side. There was an army of ponies, all wearing black armor, coated with spikes, masks on their muzzles hid their faces, a green glow emmiting from small slits where their eyes would be, indicating that they were under a dark magic spell of some sort. If only it were just ponies amung their ranks, they wouldn't have been as would have been as intimidating. Unfortunatly, a dozen dragons, about eight minatours, several yaks, four manticore and several creatures who lived in the Everfree forest including cragodiles, giant spiders, and a hydra, all seemed to be a part of this dark army. All of the other creatures wore similar black spiked masks like the ponies had, but no armor for their bodies. The creatures didn't stir, despite their usual habits of bobbing their heads, swishing their tails, growling at anything that moved, or flexing their muscles. The only movement the creatures made, other then the dragon's silently flapping wings, was moving their masked muzzled to face Sunny and the transformed changelings. Sunny had Thorax land about fifty feet from the edge of the Dark army and let him down.

When his hooves touched the ground, a chill ran up Sunny's spine, almost as if he landed in a freezer. Looking over his shoulder at his companions (the reformed changelings, petal ponies and small group of royal guards who accompanied him into battle) Sunny saw they all shivered as they touched the ground as well, all of them looking incredibly nervous. Before anycreature could speak, though, the Dark army of armored ponies and other mask wearing creatures separated and made way for Sunny to walk through. Just Sunny. The rout was too narrow for the changelings to join him, they all got that message.

Taking a deep breath, Sunny raised his head and stepped forward. His shoulder was caught by Throax's green insect like hoof. Looking back at the new Changeling King, Sunny shot him a look that told Thorax that this was something he needed to face, even if it was alone. Despite Thorax's silent plea, Sunny's resolved expression didn't waver. He may have been weakened from the battle with Ha Mon and the other changelings and forced back into his smaller pony form, but Thorax saw the fire in Sunny's eyes. Releasing Sunny's shoulder, Thorax stood back and watched with the others as his friend walked up the narrow aisle the dark army made for him. As Sunny pressed forward towards the Crystal castle, the Dark army closed behind him, indicating they wouldn't let him turn back. He could only go forward, and in the direction they opened to him.

Keeping his pace steady, his head held high and eyes forward, Sunny took note from his peripheral vision of his current situation. An army of black armor wearing ponies and other creatures all surounding him, moving like silent puppets, he could feel their eyes locked on him, their heads only moving as he proceeded. They were definitely being controlled. No creature moves like this of their own free will. There were two individuals that came to Sunny's mind who could be behind this.

Reaching the end of the the dark army, Sunny saw both of the culprits at the base of the castle. His father, King Sombra, and the mare who he assumed to be the fake Princess Amore, though she now covered herself in a disgusting brown and black cloak with only her muzzle exposed. A chill blew into Sunny when he looked upon them, he could feel their eyes burning like ice as their gaze weighed down upon him. Although the hood of the cloaked mare kept her eyes hidden, Sunny's father's eyes blazed red as he glared at Sunny, looking at him like a roach he found in the kitchen. Sunny had never felt this cold of a feeling ever coming from his father before. Sombra was a completely different pony.

Taking a deep breath, holding his head high, Sunny continued to advance towards Sombra and the cloaked mare, making sure to keep a decent distance from them. The two trouble makers were just a few yards away from the barrier Sunburst and Starlight were holding up. Inside the barrier, Sunny could feel the fear of the Crystal ponies growing, their eyes locked on the image of King Sombra. Sunny stopped when he stood between his father, the cloaked mare and the barrier that housed everypony inside it.

"Father" Sunny stated coldly, testing to see how much of his father was still in Sombra.

"I don't know what you've been told, foal, but i'm not your father" Sombra's words were colder then any blizzard Sunny had faced.

His words struck Sunny hard, hecouldn't help but show pain. But he was able to pull himself togeather, push his feelings to the side, and focus on the main issue. Standing up strait, chest puffed out, Sunny narrowed his eyes and, in a firm tone questioned Sombra "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to free my kind" although Sombra seemed to speak in a calm tone that only Sunny should have been able to hear, the quiet calm made it so their entire conversation could be heard by every creature in the Empire, but few actually knew what Sombra was referring to. Only Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shinning Armor, Applejack, her friends, and Sunny's friends knew the truth about Sombra. To clarify, as well as strike fear into their hearts, Sombra turned to the shielded Crystal ponies, cracked a wicked smile, and spoke a name that filled the Crystal ponies with fear. "The Umbrum."

Many of the Crystal ponies grasped and began speaking in hushed whispers while keeping their heads low. Those too terrified to speak merely watched with horrified awe, fearing the darkness that might come.

"You can't release them without all the corner stones" Sunny stated in a flat tone, his unblinking eyes locked on King Sombra. "And I have the last one hidden."

"You're going to give it to me" Sombra declared, his smile faded, sencing he nolinger needed it to strike fear into the hearts of the Crystal ponies.

"What makes you so sure?" Sunny asked. "Just becouse you have us surrounded ten to one? We have reinforcements on the way, and if you recall, the last time you tried to take the Empire, you were…. blasted. Into a million pieces."

Even though Sunny was trying to appear threatening, using the Crystal Heart as a weapon to scare off Sombra, it still bothered him deep down to think about doing that to his own father, no matter how awful Sombra may be acting.

"Please. You are in no shape to fight, much less rally the Crystal ponies to fill the Crystal Heart" Sombra protested, appearing unafraid of Sunny's threat. "And as for your 'reinforcments', by which, you mean that annoying purple alicorn and her friends, they've been taken care of."

Sunny didn't like the sound of that, nor did he like the fact that all this was causing the inner light of the Crystal ponies to flicker and fade. Without the Crystal Heart, the Umbrum's prison would be weakened, the barrier around the Empire will collapse, and the Crystal ponies would be open game.

"You talk a big game" Sunny stated with great confidence. "But Twiliht and the other Elements of Harmony aren't our only reinformcnets."

"The princesses are down for the count, too" the mare spoke. Her voice was like nails on a chalk board, words scratching as they escaped her lips. If Sombra's words were colder as ice hers was cold electricity, striking you in an instant, instead of giving you a fighting chance. Red eyes glared out from under her hood as she spoke. "I turned them on one another and took the winner down. Your precious mommy won't be coming to your rescue."

Narrowing his eyes on the cloaked mare, Sunny swore he recognized the foul mare.

"Besides, if I wanted to take the corner stone by force, I would have done so" Sombra declared, holding his head up in triumph, turning his gaze towards some of the controlled dragons of his dark army, and stomped his hoof signaling them. "But I've come here to trade. The corner stone, for them…"

Sunny's jaw dripped when he saw what the dragon's had in their claws. The image filled the Crystal ponies, changelings, peral ponies, Sunburst and Starlight with dread. Everypony who was in control of their mind couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"So it was you!" Sunny was barely able to speak the words, feeling shocked and insulted. "How could you!"

"Do we have a trade?" Sombra snickered as he put a hoof on a black magical bubble that floated in the air just a few inches above the ground. Within the sphere were three ponies, dormant in some kind of sleep like state. Flurry Heart who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, while Shinning Armor and Cadence, who appeared to be suffering in some kind of nightmare. "Your choice. I can take the stone, and the Empire by force, or you can give them both to me and I give you them."

*********************

Ever since Spike had asked Twilight if she had given up on Friendship, she had sat at her throne looking over her old journal. The one she and her friends started the first couple of years she lived in Ponyville. A sorrowful expression on her muzzle as she looked the pages over, Pinkie had snuck in and added pictures of the events, which helped make the past all the more real.

"We sure got into alot of trouble, didn't we?" Twilight spoke up after a long while of being quiet, catching Spike off his guard.

The now adult dragon had been practicing push ups, making it just barely over 300 when Twilight broke his consintration. The purple and green dragon fell to the ground, but picked himself up immediately, then flew up to where Twilight was looking over her old journal. The open page was the on about Pinkie's 'Pinkie sence' "Oh yeah! I remember that day! You tried all kinds of tests to prove Pinkie didn't have a 6th sence. Remember you got so frustrated, I swore your mane and tail caught fire!"

Spike chuckled a little, which actually got Twilight chuckle with him.

"Oh! Remember the night at the Gala?" Twilight had flipped ahead several pages. The open page had several pictures of each of the girls in their ideal situations, but none of it went as planned. How Pinkie got all those pictures, even of one of her up on stage with all the regal guests showing annoyed looks, Twilight still couldn't figure out.

"Yeah. The Gallas after that went much smoother" Spike noted, then flipped the pages ahead a bit."Hey! Speaking of Pinkie, remember when she made all those clones of herself and they were running around like crazy all over town?"

"Who could forget?" Twilight laughed lightheartedly. "What a crazy adventure that was. But the important thing was Pinkie learned her lesson; decide which friend to spend time with, but not to feel bad, becouse a real friend will have more opertunities to hang out with them."

"We had some wacky adventures, but we sure did learn some valuable lessons didn't we?" Spike noted, flipping past a few more pages.

"We did, indeed, Spike…" Twilight nodded as her words seemed to trail off. Something didn't seem right. It felt like Twilight had been reading the book of one life she and her friends were living, only to suddenly pick up another book and start at the last chapter. The two stories were similar, but things didn't seem to link up right.

Looking over her book again, Twilight began to feel something was wrong in the pit of her stomach. It's true that someones ponies grow apart, but Spike had a point. No letters to eachother, no visits, no invitations to parties. It's almost like they live in their own worlds or something…

**************

Applejack had jumped out of the magical mirror connecting the Crystal Empire to the Canterlot castle and made her way to the princess's throne room, needing to alert Twilight immediatly. But as the orange farm pony stepped into the room where Twilight should have been, she was hit with an odd wave of magic. It made her head spin, almost like the hands on a clock were spinning round and round at top speed, years flying by like seconds. She felt older, her mind still trying to catch up with her body and the world around her. Finnaly when the world stopped spinning, Applejack found herself back home at Sweet Apple Acres, standing at the edge of the orchard. She didn't know how she got there, the farm house and the barn looked a little different, but it was Sweet Apple Acres alright.

"Hey honey! Ya commin' in fer breakfast!" Sunny called from the porch, rising a triangle that Granny often used to summon the kids back for meal times.

Without thinking much of it, Applejack casually trotted down the dirt road back up to the farmhouse, up the steps, over the porch, through the front door and casually into the kitchen.

"Morning momma!" A cheery little earth-pony filly greeted Applejack. Her mane was red, much like Apple Blooms, but her body was a shade lighter of orange then Applejack's own, with a pair of bright green eyes.

"Morning mom" a second filly, a unicorn, greeted Applejack with less enthusiasm, half her attention lost in a book. Her coat was a light aqua marine color, her mane and tail were purple and strait, but cut short. Her orange eyes skimmed the open page of a book she had infront of her.

"Crisp, no books at the table, you know that" Sunny appeared, levitating several plates of food, placing two of them infront of the fillies, and two in open seats.

"Any word from Jazz about Manehatten yet daddy!?" The first filly asked, nearly bouncing out of her chair, appearing overly excited.

"Nothing yet, Honey" Sunny shot her a weak smile as he levitated her some syrup for her pancakes. "But you know your brother. He gets lost in the music and forgets things. Ah'm sure he's workin' hard ta make his dreams come true."

"So hard he doesn't write home, like, ever" the filly known as Crysp mumbled under her breath, putting her book away reluctantly. "When I get older and go to study at Grandma's school for gifted unicorns, I'm going to make it a point to write home atleast once a week. Like Princess Twilight wrote to grandma."

"And we'd appreciate that" Sunny said with a smile, kissing Crysp on the forhead. "Now eat up. If ya finish yer chores before noon, ah'll have some time ta teach ya ah new spell."

This brightened Crysp's mood up. The little unicorn began eating as fast as she could, making sure to chew every bite twenty times before swallowing, not wanting to cause a tummy ache.

"Dad, some of the kids from school were wondering if we could use the clearing in the north orchard for bucket ball. Can we? Please, please, please, pleeeeease!" The filly Sunny called Honey begged her father, trying to flash puppy dog eyes at him while puffing out her lower lip.

"So long as you finish your chores first" Sunny simply stated, patting her on the head as he made his way to an empty seat. Pulling it out and turning to Applejack. "Hon, ya gunna join us? It's gettin' cold."

Applejack took it all in. It was a wonderful scene, a dream. She knew the fillies were her twin daughters, and that Sunny and her had a son who moved to Manehatten earlier that year to play jazz music and become a famous musician. She and Sunny had taken over the family business of running running farm since Apple Bloom was always on the go with her line of work helping ponies with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, Granny had moved to the Silver Shoals retirement home and was enjoying retirement with the other Golden Horseshoe girls, and Big Mac had started his own apple orchard in Sugar Belle's home town, growing all kinds of fruite, mostly apples, for Sugar Belle and her buisness. She even remembered the birth of her nephew, Bright Bramely, and Sunny and her being named his God parents. It was such a wonderful life, raising her foals, teaching them how to work the farm, telling them the stories of their youth, and… something was wrong.

"Hey, Sunny…" Applejack didn't move from where she stood. She knew certain things were right, but, alot was wrong. "What happened with your father? When we were King and Queen of the Crystal Empire?"

Sunny stood there, paused, and after a moment, looking at first like he was about to go into detail of some wonderful grand adventure like he sometimes did. But he hesitated. His expression became filled with sorrow but still his smile remined as he looked up at Applejack, his forlorn eyes locking with hers. "I… I can't lie. In your mind, I can't even lie. I'm in trouble right now, out there. In the real world."

Applejack was confused but knew something was off. "Ya…ain't th' real Sunny, are ya? None of this… is real."

The fillies got up and moved to their father's side. He hugged them both, pulling them in as tightly as he could. "It's as real as you want it to be."

Tears began to fall from her eyes as Applejack looked all around her. She had to take a few hard breaths before speaking once again. "Ah want it ta be real, so much. Ya have no idea how much ah want our lives ta be like this."

"But you can't lie to yourself" the fake Sunny smiled at her. "Its OK. 'This' all around us is an illusion. But you can still make your own dreams come true. But not if they win."

"Who? Sombra!? Oh my gosh! Ah have ta find Twilight! The Empire's under attack!" Applejack began to panic, prancing in place, wanting to bolt in any direction but didn't know which direction to go.

"Applejack, please listen" the fake Sunny stepped away from his frieghted daughters to grab ahold of Applejack by her shoulders, trying to ground her mind. When his eyes met hers, he knew she was conflicted. She knew he wasn't the real Sunny, but he looked so much like him. "Applejack, the real ME needs you. He can't do this alone, but you have to go out there with a clear head. Sombra and his mother will do anything to keep everypony separated, becouse thats when anypony is most vulnerable. But don't lose hope. Keep walking, keep believing that things will turn out right. And if you find yourself lost in the dark, hold on to your happy thoughts. Ok?"

Tears were falling from the fake Sunny's eyes now as he told her all of this. Applejack calmed down enough to see that the world around her was fading away into darkness. The scene of the farm though the windows went first, turning black, then the pieces of the kitchen began to go too. The table was gone. The floor, ceiling and walls of the farm house kitchen disapeared, leaving just the two fake daughters, the fake Sunny and her.

"Go" the fake Sunny told Applejack as he released her. "We'll be alright."

"But… but you'll disapear!" Tears fell from Applejack's eyes as she reached out to grab for the fake Sunny, only for her hoof to faze though his.

The fake Sunny never stopped smiling as he rejoined his daughters, pulling them tightly into his fading body as their bodys became transparent as well. "We will, but the real versions of us are out there. Or, will be out there, eventually. But not if you don't save tye REAL Sunny"

The unicorn filly, the fake Sunny called Crysp, tried to hold back tears as she waved goodbye to Applejack, unable to muster the strength to say anything.

The earth pony filly the fake Sunny called Honey, forced a smile that looked so much like her father's as she yelled out in a fading voice "ah'll see ya later, mamma!"

The fillies had faded away, leaving a transparent fake Sunny alone in a world of darkness alone with the real Applejack. His voice was an echo in the void. "Run to the light. And never lose hope…"

With his final words, the fake Sunny vanished but a small light in the distance remained where the last bit of him used to be. Taking a moment to wipe away her tears, Applejack strained her hat, took a deep breath, and began running at top speed towards the light. It seemed like an endless run with her making no progress at all, but Applejack was driven by the fact that her REAL Sunny was in danger. He needed the help of her and her friends, there wasn't a moment to lose!

The burning feeling deep inside, to help the stallion she loved, seemed to bring her closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. Picking up speed, her target so close, Applejack reached the light and ran though…

************

---

"Something just isn't right, Spike" Twilight said after flipping through the old journal for the tenth time. "I can't quite put my hoof on it, but something is definitely off. Almost like-"

Interrupting Twilight, Applejack burst through the stained glass window of herself and Sunny on the wall, ripping through it like it was paper. A little confused, Applejack looked around for a moment and swore she was in the Canterlot castle, only, it was different some how. Her gaze traveled up and saw somepony she thought she recognized.

"Ugh, that you, Twi?" Applejack asked as she took a few steps towards Twilight's throne.

Twilight was unable to form words, still trying to piece together what had just happened. Applejack, her old friend, looking the same as she did years and years ago, just burst through a stained glass window, that Twilight swore was made of glass, just like it was a paper banner!

"Applejack, is that you?" Spike asked, getting up from his own throne, next to Twilight's, taking a step towards the familiar orange earth pony.

Applejack's eyes nearly popped out of her head when her brain connected the voice to the dragon that was moving towards her. "Spike? That you, partner?"

Looking down at himself, Spike smiled and decided to flex, assuming it had been any years since Aplejack had seen him and he had matured quite a bit. "Yep! It's me! All me."

"Impressive, Spike, but this is all ah lie" Applejack told him, feeling a little bad about shattering his confidence.

The muscles Spike had seemed to deflate with the sound of a balloon losing its helium. The once buff and cut adult dragon shrunk back down to a baby dragon that didn't even have wings. Seeing himself as he remembered, Spike sighed and kicked the ground.

"What!? Ugh, how did you..?" Twilight was more confused then before as she looked from Spike to Applejack, to the the whole in the wall Applejack made, then back to Spike then back to Applejack.

"Ah need ya ta keep calm, Sugar cube" Applejack climbed the stairs to Twilight's throne, stopping about half way. She was cautious as she explained the situation to the best of her ability. "Ah don't know much 'bout what's goin' on exactly. But what ah do know is Sombra is behind this. It's all ah lie. Ah illusion."

"An illusion" Twilight's mind began to rationalize what was going on. "Now it all makes sence! Everything seemed right becouse our minds were meant to make it seem right! But there was a part that I didn't trust!"

"We need ta get out of here an' find th' others" Applejack pulled Twilight's attention back to her. "Sunny's in trouble. Th' Empire's under attack. We need ta get th' girls."

"We're right here!" Pinkie's voice caused Twilight, Applejack and Spike to turn and look in the direction of what was Pinkie's stained glass window. Just like Applejack's, Pinkie seemed to burst through it like paper. "Sorry we're late!"

"Yeah, you won't believe what I was just doing" Rainbow Dash started to say as she took off some flashy wonderbots uniform that looked like it had been half burned off.

"I should have known having my own line of boutiques all around Equestria was too good to be true" Rarity sighed as she took off what looked like was an expensive fur coat. "Is anypony else getting tired of being trapped in dreams, illusions and fake world, or is it just me?"

"I don't know. I kinda liked my dream world. It inspired me." Fluttershy said smiling at what she just walked away from, keeping in her mind the animal sanctuary she wanted to build in the near future.

"Speak for yourself! Numbers are hard!" Pinkie grumbled, Rubbing her temples. "So. Many. Numbers…"

Focusing her magic, Twilight first teleported to where Spike and Applejack were, grabbed them,, then teleported a second time next to the rest of their group of friends. Her large body slowly reverted back to the one that her friends recognized. Once back to normal, Twilight pulled her friends into a big hig with her magical aura wrapping around all of them. No pony put up a fight when they realized what their friend was doing.

"I'm sorry girls" Twilight started to say, refusing to release her friends from her hug. "I was so foolish to think we would grow apart so easily. We would never let that happen."

"Well duh! We'd never let that happen!" Rainbow Dash snorted.

"We may have our own destines to face alone one day, darling" Rairity added.

"But as long as we make the effort, we won't ever drift apart" Fluttershy beamed, adding a little more force to her hug.

"Even if it's just writing letters, we'll always stay connected!" Pinkie Pie chimmed in, almost bouncing out of the hug.

"Ah'm real glad we agree ta always stay friends" Applejack spoke in a relatively calm voice before erupting into a more panicked one. "But the Empire is under attack! We have ta get out of here!"

The group of friends broke the hug up and began looking around thinking how they could so that.

"Last time I was under Sombra's spell, Spike was able to pull me out of it" Twilight remembered what it was like back when she was looking for the Crystal Heart when the Empire returned after being lost for 1000 years.

"But we don't know anypony-" Spike started to say when his addition to the conversation was interrupted by the sound of muching.

Everypony turned and looked to see Derpy Hooves sitting back, watching them while nibbling on what appeared to be a giant muffin.

"Derpy? What are YOU doing here?" Rainbow jumped into the air to get a better view of the grey pegasus, nibbling on a giant pastry.

After swallowing the mouthful she had, Derpy pulled out a napkin and wipped away the crumbs on her lips before speaking. "Oh! We're here to rescue you. I offered to shake you awake. But then I saw this giant muffin and-"

"Wait, we? Who's 'we'?" Twilight asked when a blinding light illuminated the entire throne room. The ground beneath their hooves faded away, leaving Twilight and her friends floating in a white void for a moment before they seemed to hit the ground with a thud.

It took them all a moment to regain their composure, blinking and rubbing their eyes to bring the room into focus. Looking around, Twilight saw all of her friends and Derpy on the ground, as if thet all had just woke up from a deep sleep. Rushing over to them were Sunny's group of friends, also known as the New Guardians of Harmony.

"You all gave us quite a scare" Octavia stated, offering Twilight a hoof up.

"Ya'll feelin' ok?" Big Mac said as he helped his sister and Derpy to their hooves.

"I think so" Derpy responded as she rubbed her head. She then became estrogen with a moment of panic and began frantically looking around. "Wait! Where's my giant muffin!?"

After everypony was up and on their hooves, Rainbow Dash blurted out the quesgion on everypony's mind. "What the heck just happened? One minute I was rushing in to tell Twilight about some storm coming in, and the next I was captain of the Wonderbolts."

"It was that" Twilight motioned to a broken crystal on the ground. Everypony turned and looked at a faded red rock that appeared to have lost all its magic. Before their eyes, the magic less Crystal crumbled and blew away into nothing. "I saw something like this back at the Crystal Empire. Sombra used it to curse a doorway so whoever tried to open it would see their worst fear."

"But I wasn't afraid" Fluttershy spoke up, giggling a little. "To be perfectly honest, it was a really happy dream I was having."

"That was th' point" Applejack interrupted, panicked still heavy in her voice. "Sombra, an' possibly Sunny's Granny, wanted us all out of th' way. Thet didn't want ta torture us, just keep us busy. We have ta go now! Changelings are attackin' the Empire!"

"Its not the changelings you need to be worried about anymore" an unfamiliar voice spoke up as an older looking colt stepped out from behind a pillar. He had short curley grey hair dark lines under his eyes a pale cream colored coat, lime green eyes and was dressed in a wrinkled blue three piece suit.

"And who are you?" Thunderlane asked, raising a brow at the stallion who appeared out of nowhere.

"For all intents and purposes, call me Twelve" the old colt told them, ignoring the shocked look on Doctor Whoove's muzzle. "And right now, you all need to get into Doctor's TARDIS. And Doctor, it would be best if you punch these coordinates into your ship's computer."

The old colt handed Doctor Whooves a long thin piece of paper with atleast three dozen numbers on it, separated every now and again by commas, semicolons, and a few parenthesis.

"And where are you going?" Rainbow Dash asked, feeling that she was being kept out of the loop about something which always annoyed her.

The stallion who adressed himself as Twelve looked back at the group, smiled as he walked behind a pillar and told them "no worries, I'll be seeing you all soon. I just have to pick up a few friends. Shouldn't be too long."

Before anypony could say anything else, Twelve disapeared behind a pillar, then an odd sound filled the room like an odd horn and scrapping of metallic walls, followed by a series of loud bubbling echoes. As soon as the noise stopped, everypony, say for Doctor Whooves and Derpy, seemed to forget they ever heard a noise.

"We have to go, Now" it was Doctor's turn to press the matter. "Come on, I have a faster way to get us all to the Crystal Empire…"

*****************

---

All around her was a endless void. Darkness had swallowed her and wasn't planning on letting her go. Celestia had never felt such a feeling of flat emptiness, never before felt like conscious nothingness. She might as well have been a rock at the bottom of the sea. She didn't know what had happened, only that something evil had returned. And now, her world was in darkness.

"Wake up…" an unfamiliar voice reached out to her. "Wake up, young princess…"

That feeling of flatness began to dissipate as Celestia felt herself being lifted from the void. With every word spoken to her, Celestia felt herself acend more. But the unfamiliar voice wasn't enough, and the princess of the sun began to sink back into the void once more.

"Sister?" This voice sounded familiar. But… where had Celestia heard it before? "Sister please wake up! I'm sorry! This is all my fault! I'm so sorry Tia! Please! Please, wake up! Please!"

The voice sounded so sad. Full of guilt and remorse. But at the moment, Celestia couldn't even remember her own name, much less the name of the pony speaking to her. Yet, her decent into the black void stopped. Her mind was dwindling between a century long sleep and awakening. The only thing that was keeping her from falling into that long, long sleep was the sadness in the pony's voice who continued reach out to her.

The voice sounded like she was crying now, full of pain. "Celestia…. sister… please wake up… I need you… please sister…"

The tears felt so familiar. Images began to flash back of a mare of darkness, a monster who wanted to spread eternal night. Details were foggy, but emotions were clear and strong. Celestia felt great sorrow as she sent the mare of darkness away for a long, long time. She felt so much every night for that long, long time until the mare of darkness returned. Some other ponies were there, and the mare of darkness was gone, but somepony… returned? Yes, Celestia remembered. She lost somepony when the mare of darkness came. Somepony Celestia cared for. But there was also a lingering feeling of failure on her part. Since that time long ago, all had been forgiven. The memory of emotions was uplifting. The two had been reconnected. Celestia's heart felt so much lighter after recalling one of the brightest moments of her life, the day she was reconnected with her sister…

"Luna…" Celestia spoke her sister's name softly as her eyes fluttered open, colors and shapes became gradually more clear and sharp. Clearing her throat, Celestia called her sister's name once more "Luna? Sister… where are you?"

Stepping into view was a much younger looking Princess Luna. Her coat was lavender rather then royal blue, her light blue mane was short, solid color, and stayed in one place rather then wavering and reflecting the night sky. She had returned the form she had when Twilight Sparkle and her friends freed her from being Nightmare Moon.

Getting to her hooves, Celestia also noted her own mane seemed to fall to the ground rather then move and wave like a day's breeze. Turning to Luna for answers, Celestia saw tears still in the corners of Luna's eyes as she avoided eye contact. Celestia tried to make her voice as calm as possible when she asked "Sister… what… what happened?"

"I'm… I'm so sorry, sister…" Luna's words came out very low and hoarse, more tears forming and falling from the corners of her eyes.

"This wasn't your fault, Luna" a mare in a cloak that was frayed and full of holes, spoke up as she stepped forward to Celestia with a clean wash cloth and what appeared to be a container of ointment. The cloaked mare gently grabbed one of Celestia's hooves, holding it tenderly in her own, ready to apply some ointment to it.

Celestia back up a bit and pulled the hoof that the cloaked one wanted to work on away, her tone becoming hard with suspicion. "Excuse me, but who are YOU?"

The cloaked mare looked up then pulled back her hood to reveil somepony Celestia recognized, but at the same time didn't. Her muzzle began to age slightly, her features became sharper and less full of life, with dark rings under her eyes. But the kindness in those yellow eyes was as kind, her intention was clearly pure. All the mare ever wanted to do was help others and allow their inner light to shine. But this was the first time, in a long, long time, thst she was free to act on it.

"Princess… Amore?" Celestia began to relax as she studied the mare up and down, making note of every action the aged mare took.

"I am now" the mare commented as she applied ointment to Celestia's leg that had a minor scratch on it. "And it's a good thing, too. You two needed some real help."

Turning her attention back to Luna, Celestia asked "what happened, sister? Why are you like this? Why do I feel so…"

"Drained?" Amore finished Celestia's quesgion, after she finished up with what appeared to be Celestia's only physical wound. "Mourning Cloak took some of your magic, too. Explains what she did to the sky…"

"What do you mean, did to-" But Celestia was interrupted by Luna who raced up towards the entrance of the cave. Celestia decided to follow.

In their current state, running the distance to the mouth of the cave was hard, their breathing became heavy as they neared their destination. Once at opening, Celestia felt her heart drop. The night sky, or was it supposed to be the day's sky, was a dark brown. A very dark, not quite black, brown sky, purged of its sun, moon and stars. The sky looked sick, polluted.

"This is all MY fault…" Luna hung her head in shame, still avoiding eye contact with her sister as she fell against the cave wall. Before her sister could press for an answer, Luna threw it out there. "I became Nightmare Moon again, and attacked you…"

Luna couldn't muster more words then that as she looked up with tearing eyes at Celestia, her eyes screaming how sorry she was that she allowed that to happen again.

Without hesitation, Celestia reached out and pulled her sister into a hug. "Its alright, Luna. I know you didn't mean it."

The moment lasted for a few seconds before another pony joined them at the caves mouth.

"I told you she would understand." Amore smiled as she joined the two sisters, her relaxed expression turned hard as she looked in the direction of the Crystal Empire. "That wicked creature, Mourning Cloak. She's the one who did this to you. Both of you."

A little confused, Celestia asked "what do you mean?"

"She broke your heart by turning your lover against you and your son" Amore's words were hard and clear as she spoke. "And now she's captured your niece and her family, and turned your own sister against you. She is the strongest dark magic user I've ever seen. She could twist a harmless bunny into a ruthless creature if she wanted."

"Which is what happend to me…" Luna still felt shame from her action, but a gentle hoof reached out for hers.

Celestia smiled gently at her sister, her eyes reassuring Luna that she understood and forgave her, before turning her attention to the Crystal Empire. "We need to go there. If she plans on releasing the Umbrum, and has Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart, you know she'll use them against Sunny. Sunny needs us."

"But sister, what can we do like this?" Luna asked, breaking away from her sister, and jumping into the air a little, trying to fly, only for her wings to let her down. Luna fell to the ground, landing on her stomach with a thud. "We can't even fly, let alone take on a monster like Mourning Cloak!"

"We have to try, Luna" Celestia stated as she looked towards the Empire that seemed to be coated in a black and purple bubble. "Not just for Sunny, but for Cadence and her family, and the Crystal ponies. All of Equestria will be in danger too if we don't stop Mourning Cloak."

Taking a moment to ponder something, Princess Amore stepped between the two princesses and grabbed their hooves. Both princesses looked down at Amore, who just kept her eyes on the Crystal Empire. "Make a vow to me, young princesses. State that you'll stop that witch and save the Empire…"

Luna looked confused thinking the mare had lost her mind, Celestia shot her a similar look, but decided it was best to go along with it.

"We promise" both Luna and Celestia said at the exact same time, each one squeezing one of Amore's hooves a little tighter.

"With that vow, I offer you my power to make it come true…" Amore stated, completing an ancient spell.

The once lost princess began to glow yellow as her body began to age rapidly. Her neck began to hang a little, her skin became more wrinkled, her mane began to bleach until it became grey then white, her limbs became thinner losing all muscle they had, and her over all body shrank. She looked very similar to Granny Smith, if Granny Smith had a pink body and mane that reached the floor. The energy from Amore's body, her body's natural magic, flowed from her body into Celestia and Luna's own bodies, refilling them with enough energy to give them a fighting chance. Luna's form returned to her more regal, older form and give Celestia enough energy for her mane to start flowing again.

"Amore…" Celestia was the first to speak up, feeling terrible for taking the lost princess's Magic and leaving her in the state she was.

"Don't feel bad for me" Amore spoke up, her voice sounding so old and tired. "I wanted to do this. Now go out there, kick that monster's flank, and get your stallion. I know for a fact that he still loves you."

Celestia and Luna shared a glance, nodding to one another. Now was not the time to feel guilt for accepting such a generous gift. Now was the time to save Equestria from the most foul of evils. With one mighty beat from their wings, Celestia and Luna took to the skies, flying as quickly as they could to the Cryatal Empire.

"Good luck, girls…" Amore said before retreating to the cave for a nap. She knew the fate of Equestria was in good hooves, and was suddenly feeling very, very tired…

*******

---

Sunny's hard gaze locked with his father's, who was appearing very smug in his stance as he put a hoof on the magical floating ball that contained the slumbering Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart.

"Do we have a deal or not?" Sombra's words were more playful, feeling he was in complete control of the situation with no possible way he could lose.

After a long hard moment of staring at King Sombra, Sunny stated something that shocked everypony, who could hear their conversation perfectly due to the eerie silance. "I forgive you."

Sombra didn't expect that answer. He was unsure of how to take that or what to say to it. Starlight and Sunburst, everypony within their barrier, all the changelings and petal ponies on the opposite side of the dark army, all gasped, trying to figure out what made Sunny say such a thing. But they all were speechless wanting to hear what their king would say next to Sombra. Some felt like Sunny was betraying them, but most knew Sunny was up to something.

"Excuse me?" Was all Sombra could say to this.

"You heard me. I forgive you" Sunny restated, his expression softening a little. "Everything you ever did; enslaving the Crystal ponies, attacking the Galla, sealing me away in my worst nightmare for a 1000 years, brain washing all these creatures to do your bidding, even kidnapping Cadence and her family. I forgive you for it all. The biggest thing anypony could do is forgive somepony who hurt them. It hurt when you turned your back on us. When you enslaved those you needed you. When you turned your back on me. When you turned your back on my mother…"

The mentioning of Celestia rattled something in Sombra, a mixture of anger and pain that made the shadow King clench his sharp teeth.

"Despite all of that, I still see good in you" Sunny admitted, his expression softening more. "I'll trade you the corner stone for Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart. I'll even take everypony here and leave, changelings and petal ponies included, and go build a new home for all of them somewhere else. You and the other Umbrum can have the Empire so long as you just keep the Umbrum at bay and don't attack anypony. I'm sure we can work out the details later. But for now, please, let's just end this…"

Never breaking eye contact, Sunny stuck out his hoof to Sombra to shake, sealing the deal.

Sombra retained eye contact as he walked over to Sunny, his muzzle full of disgust and anger. But Sunny was unafraid of him which might have been the very thing that angered Sombra so much. In place of the sweet fear that should have coated Sunny's heart, was bitter sorrow. It made Sombra turn his nose up at the yellow unicorn as he approached him. 'How dare he! He's more sad then afraid of me? Is he sad for me? Or did my words really strike such a blow? And what is that I sence beneath the sorrow? Hope? He has… hope beneath the sadness in his heart? What a pathetic foal!'

Now only a leg's length away from him, Sombra stopped infront of Sunny, broke eye contact to look at Sunny's still raised hoof. The moment dragged on for a while. Which was something Sunny secretly wanted. If nothing else, all this was killing time. Deep down, he hoped Applejack and her friends were on their way. In all honesty, Sunny wanted nothing more then to just end this fighting and hoped that his father would accept the terms presented. But if things went wrong, he would need their help to free Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart.

"You are truly pathetic" Sombra stated, then smacked Sunny's hoof away. "All you ponies are. Did you think the Umbrum wanted to be FRIENDS!? Don't you get it? They crave fear! They drain ponies of it after using their dark magic and exposing them to their greatest fears! But this was amusing, and a nessisary waste of time."

As Sombra looked up at the castle, two minataurs burst through one of the castle walls, slid down the side of the castle, and landed next to him, presenting him with the pyramid shaped corner stone Sunny was given by his mother to protect.

Everypony in the shield let out a worryfilled gasp as they began to lose more and more hope.

Sunny was shocked then outraged. "You never planned to make the trade, did you!?"

"Nope" Sombra said smuggly and she turned his red eyes back to Sunny. "Just wanted to give everypony false hope. That way, when my servents returned with the cornerstone, their hopes would be dashed and real fear would drown their hopes."

Once again, Sombra looked onto Sunny, expecting to sence fear, or even helplessness which would turn into fear. But something even worse tasting was radiating off of him. Disappointment.

The yellow unciorn's expression turned to one of anger as he looked Sombra in the eye again. "Father, I gave you one last chance. You'll get no more from me. This time, I'll throw you into Tartarus myself!"

This earned a laugh from Sombra and the cloaked mare, who were the only opposing forces who could laugh. But Sombra was the only one to speak to Sunny. "Oh? You and what army? I know you're a foolhardy knight, but even you must realize when you're outnumbered a thousand to one!"

"He's not alone" Rosewood called out as she and the other petal ponies seemed to fall from the sky. After landing she struck an elegant but threatening pose as her eyes locked onto King Sombra. She and the other petal ponies were still slightly weathered from the fight, but they were healing fast. "I stand by my uncle. He was there when I need him, it's time I return the favor."

"We do as well!" Decending from the sky following the petal ponies were the newly transformers changlings, including King Thorax and Ha Mon. The other changelings carried on their backs the Crystal guards Sunny took with him. Landing beside Sunny, every changeling and guard took a battle ready stance. Thorax, although having a more regal and peaceful disposition, also had a fierce look in his eye that showed he was ready for battle. "We fight to protect our friends, their home, and Equestria."

"I'm impressed" Sombra stated, casually walking away from Sunny, his back turned to him showing he was not afraid of him or his reinforcments. After returning to where he stood before, Sombra turned and appeared apathedic as he told them all "But it still won't be enough…"

There was a loud click, like the sound of an old, rusty lock being opened for the first time in many, many years. Sunny's eyes shot around and noticed the cloaked mare had moved back to the circular snow flake design in front of the castle. She had lined up all four corner stones and had her hoof pressed at the center of the snowflake. The entire dark army had moved away, but still kept facing the castle, as the ground opened up. The earth beneath their hooves shook and trembled as the ground opened up as if yawning after thousands and thousands of years of sleep. Nothing immediatly happened but as soon as the entrance to the Umbrum prison was opened, howling screams and scratching of hooves on concrete could be heard. They were coming.

Sombra chuckled out loud, his wicked laughter filling the air, while the cloaked mare who always remained standing behind him smiled and laughed lightly just barely showing a set of yellowing, sharp teeth.

"Do you see now that your efforts were futile?" Sombra bellowed, feeling more and more arrured of his victory as he bathed in the overwhelming fear radiating the air. "There is no way you and a bunch of overgrown bushes and bugs could ever hope to defeat my armies now!"

"My sentiments exactly!" A voice only Sunny found slightly familiar came from behind him and his wall of allies. Everypony turned around to see a large blue box with the words 'police call box' on it, and a funny looming stallion with a short cut mane and a leather jacket poking his head out of the box's only door. "Which is why I brought some friends."

The Doctor Whooves, Sunny knew as 9, put his hoof to his lips and blew, whistling loud enough for all in the empire to hear, several more blue police call boxes appeared, some in the air, some on the ground, 12 more in total. Each opening their doors with a different looking Doctor Whooves sticking their heads out and flashing a different but still confident smile, even the gruff and stern War Doctor appeared in good spirits.

"Oh, and Sunny, you'll need this!" 9 moved aside and allowed a large wooden box wrapped up in chains to levitate over to Sunny in a green magical aura.

Sunny didn't know who was levitating the box over to him, but he recognized the box immediatly. It was the one Rosewood had given him before she took the Pony puppets on their journey. It was the last pony puppet. Only Sunny and Applejack knew what was inside. The chains fell to the ground as the still levitating box switched from one magical aura to Sunny's. Consintraiting hard on the spell, Sunny cast the 'come-to-life' spell once more to give the puppet motion without him needing to focus on it. At that moment, Rosewood held up her Star Heart necklace, which shot a thin stream of light that went right through the wooden box, hitting the puppet inside.

"What's this? Another one of your toys?" Sombra raised a brow, almost seeming annoyed. "When will you grow up?"

After setting the box up right, Sunny stopped his flow of magic keeping it levitated, and the box landed with a small thud. The shock of the fall broke the lid off, which hit the ground lighter then the box. No pony in Starlight and Sunburst's barrier could see what it was, but Sombra, who was facing it, looked shocked, eyes growing wide for a moment.

"Play time is over" Sunny stated, his tone more serious then he had been in over 1000 years.

Stepping out of the box, given a life of its own, was a puppet designed to look, move, act, and even speak just like King Sombra. The puppets actual body was a dence, yet light weight wood, with no additional hidden weapons like most of the other pony puppets Sunny used to use. His eyes were black where white should have been, but had green emeralds for the irises. His mane and tail were actual black horse hairs donated from a royal of Saddlearabia. A voice box was even developed and to speak several phrases that mimicked the king's own voice. Standing up strait, the Sombra puppet reached and pulled out a sword that was an exact duplicate of King Sombra's own sword he used 1000 years ago. He took a battle ready stance beside Sunny and spoke in a withered voice that mirrored Sombra's. "Shall we teach these trouble makers a lesson?"

"What is this abomination!?" Sombra growled, narrowing his eyes on his wooden doubleganger, something deep inside Sombra was rattled, a mixture of anger and pain.

An emerald colored crystal blade appearing in Sunny's hoof as he took a battle stance similar to the Sombra puppet. Sunny's answer filled the shadow King with fury "What's left of a good king…"