Third Movement: Part 7- Crescendo
Crescendo
Twilight Sparkle was thrown against the wall. She lay there a moment, her face pressed against icy stone. A clatter to the side drew her attention. She looked up and rubbed a new cut in her cheek.
She was in the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. Snow fell through the gaping holes in the ceiling. Icicles grew down from shattered windows. Wind chilled her bones.
Sombra stumbled to his knees. His snout was caked with dried blood. His legs were scuffed and raw. His sides were lined with bruises and cuts. He lifted his head to the twin thrones sitting on the far side of the room. He chuckled.
“There was a time,” he said, “when one of those was mine. Not Celestia’s.”
“The Journey’s End spell…” Twilight pushed herself up. Snow drifted off of her back. “You had it set to take you here?”
“This was my home, Twilight Sparkle.” Sombra pushed against the ground. He managed to get to his hooves, where he wobbled to and fro. “Or it would have been, had I not been called to the Crystal Empire so often.”
He held a hoof to his throat and coughed. “Now it shall be my tomb.”
Twilight walked towards him. “What do you mean?”
“You are going to kill me.” Sombra looked over his shoulder. “Or did I take your meaning wrong?”
Twilight licked a snowflake off of her lips. “I don’t understand.”
“‘Before I do something I’ll regret.’” Sombra cocked an eyebrow at her. “That’s what you told your precious princesses, didn’t you? Clearly, you have some frustration to work out.”
He walked towards the throne to the right. “And why not? Have I not stolen your home? Wiped out your cities? Scattered your friends?” He sneered. “Murdered your brother?”
Twilight seethed as ice crept up her legs. Eerie voices called out of the darkness. “Twilight Sparkle… Twilight Sparkle…”
Sombra angled his ear. He grinned. “I believe we have visitors.”
Windigos flew through the castle. Cold billowed out in their wake, freezing shelves, tapestries, and candlesticks solid. Twilight stared at her legs as they froze. “Oh no.”
“So go ahead. Kill me.” Sombra waved a hoof as the Windigos seeped into the room. “Give in to that bitter hatred burning inside. Live a little. Then die.” He shrugged. “Perhaps this palace shall be a tomb for us both. You don’t seem to have long.”
Twilight shivered. “No.”
A windigo flew into her face and howled. Its gaping mouth stretched to unnatural proportions, its face twisted in agony. “Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight pulled away, the new ice around her legs crumbling. “No!”
Sombra looked at his bare hoof. A few strains of frost were collecting. “You’d best kill me quickly. It looks like your hatred is strong enough to fuel a storm by itself.”
“I don’t hate you!” Twilight shouted.
The windigo pulled up short of touching her.
Sombra pressed his lips together. “You don’t? How do you figure that?”
“I don’t hate you.” Twilight sucked in a breath of air. “I pity you.”
Sombra smirked. “Touché.”
“You had it all, Sombra.” Twilight kept her distance from the windigo. It watched her closely as she circled around. “You had a family. Friends. You had a kingdom to protect. You had power and respect.” Twilight looked at the king seated on the throne. “You had a daughter on the way. Wasn’t that enough?”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s mine,” Sombra said. “I’ve already sacrificed so much, one child can’t tip the scales.”
“You threw your own life away!” Twilight spat. “You didn’t sacrifice anything. You called it all garbage and threw it out!”
“Don’t judge me, ‘Sister of the Year,’” Sombra snarled. “I’m certain your brother would rather have spent his life with his beloved than face me.”
“He was your son in law!” Twilight flinched back as snow fell around her. She took a few calming breaths. “Was there ever a time you loved anypony?”
He leaned on his hoof. “Perhaps there was a time I thought so. But friendship is how the weak seek protection from the strong.”
“That’s stupid.” Twilight brushed her mane out of her face. She removed her helmet and tossed it to the side. “My friends are all strong. We don’t need to huddle under one another. We just need to stand side by side. We can face anything.”
Sombra leaned back. “And here you are. Alone.”
Twilight squared her hooves. “You need to be stopped. I’m the only one around to do it.”
Twilight Sparkle lit her horn. Sombra’s lit to match.
Sombra grinned. “Admit it. You’re going to enjoy this.”
Twilight growled and fired a spell at the throne.
Sombra was gone in a flash of teleportation. He reappeared behind Twilight and heated the floor beneath her. Ice turned to water. He swirled it upwards in streams, where they froze in razor-tipped spikes. Twilight bounded away from the danger, striking at Sombra with lightning.
Crystal rose out of the ground before him and intercepted the strike. He tipped the wall of spikes towards Twilight and sent them flying at her. She held her ground, casting a spell. Crushed stone rose from the floor and blocked the hail of shards. She spun the stones around her and charged at Sombra. Mortar and rubble collided with his head and shoulders.
He retaliated with a burst of flame. Some of the rocks disintegrated, but most just turned into boiling globs of hot slag. A piece seared his leg, sending him to his knees.
He pushed against Twilight Sparkle with a flick of his horn. His blow grasped her by the rear legs and dragged her across the floor. She tumbled onto her back and lay staring at what was left of the ceiling.
Windigos poured into the palace. Their howls tore through the air as their magic swirled and spun around Twilight and Sombra. Tendrils of cold grasped at their hooves and icy daggers scratched at their horns. The two unicorns charged each other, their horns lowered. Twilight’s horn glowed white. Sombra’s hissed with shadow.
Sombra fired his blast, and Twilight vanished.
Sombra whirled around, his mouth a wide grimace. “Show yourself!”
“This is stupid!” Twilight shouted. She hid behind a pillar that was half worn away with age. “The windigos are just going to freeze us both!”
“Then let me go free, Sparkle!” Sombra ground his teeth together as he launched fireballs at the shrieking ghosts. “We can go our separate ways. But you won’t do that, will you!?”
Twilight pressed herself against the pillar and shook frost from her mane.
“You see me as a problem!” Sombra roared. He grasped a portion of the wall and tore it free. He tossed the mass of masonry across the room, where it crumbled into pebbles. “A problem you need to fix! You can’t fix me, Sparkle! I am mighty! I am supreme!”
Twilight teleported away from the pillar an instant before Sombra’s spell sliced it down the middle.
“I am king!”
Twilight huddled inside a hole in the wall. She watched as ice and snow collected on Sombra’s body. He pulled a leg out of the snow drift and shook it. “Not even the windigos can hold me! No one holds Sombra! No one stands against Sombra!”
He fired a bolt of lightning at Twilight, who jumped across the room with another teleport. “Least of all a little unicorn girl and her pathetic friends!”
He licked his teeth and laughed. “I’ll kill you, Sparkle. I’ll kill you and all your little friends. I’ll start with the princesses, including that pink pretender.”
Twilight shut her eyes and clenched her jaw.
“I’ll kill that ridiculous party planner.” Sombra grinned as the windigos parted in the face of a fireball. “I’ll demolish her bakery and poison her food!”
Twilight felt a tear freeze on her cheek.
“I’ll kill that weak animal caretaker. I’ll scatter her pets and ruin her cottage!” Sombra roared as he lobbed an ice chunk at a broken window. “I’ll kill that prissy seamstress. I’ll level her shop and torture her family!”
Twilight leaned around the rubble. She stared at Sombra and scuffed a hoof on the ice.
“I’ll kill that stubborn apple farmer. I’ll salt her orchards and enslave her siblings! I’ll kill that air-headed athlete. I’ll break her wings off and mount them on my wall!”
Twilight blinked back tears. She stood in full sight, her head high and her eyes burning.
Sombra saw her. He sucked in air and bellowed. “I’ll kill that dragon and use his scales to build my new armor! I’ll conquer Equestria again. And again! And again! And again until I finally bring the peace that you would all deny me!”
He charged, his curved horn a fiery brand of power. He gathered up all the energy he could muster into one blast. He fired it with the intent to incinerate Twilight Sparkle and turn the mare into a cloud of ashes.
It was a construct of fire and crystal, laced with shadow. It spiraled through the air, breaking into smaller shards as it neared Twilight. Lightning arced between the fragments, linking them with its white-hot charge.
Twilight Sparkle cast a shield spell. It surrounded her with a soft-glowing, purple bubble.
The crystal crashed against the shield. It pressed deep into the barrier, which bent like rubber under the force. The furious magic came within inches of Twilight’s face.
The shield sprung back.
Sombra skidded to a halt as his spell fought against Twilight’s. His eyes widened at the sight of Twilight pushing against his power. His gaze met Twilight’s.
She let forth a grunt of effort as she returned Sombra’s spell to the pony who cast it.
Sombra’s mouth opened wide in a shout as the fire and crystal shot towards him. He tried to cast a teleportation spell, or a shield, or a wall, or anything, but he was too late. The shards struck him dead-center. He wailed as the force of the blast pressed him back. The fire singed his fur, the ice cut his flesh, and the lightning tore at his muscles. He tumbled through the air, his legs waving wildly.
He smashed through the back of Celestia’s old throne. Debris covered him as he lay crumpled upon it. He screamed until there wasn’t any breath left within him. He fought for air as his lungs burned, but he could only make labored gasps. Snow fell and melted on his fried chest.
“Sparkle!” he howled. “Sparkle!”
“Twilight Sparkle…” the windigos hissed. “Twilight Sparkle…”
“I’ll kill you!” Sombra coughed. He moved his foreleg. His head spun with the agony of the action. “I’ll kill everything you love!”
Twilight shivered as the windigos moved past her. They swirled around Sombra, their tails trailing pure cold. The ice slowly formed a shell around Sombra as his broken body struggled.
“You can’t stop me!” Sombra said. “I’ll return! I always return!”
He coughed up blood. “Restore! Revenge! Resurrect! Rec—rest—Raaagh!”
His screams became increasingly louder and inarticulate. Soon, his muzzle was swallowed up by the ice. His green and red eyes glared at Twilight as they were encased in a new tomb, frozen within the depths of the windigos’ magic.
Twilight sat down hard. She watched as the furious eyes dimmed and glazed over. The ice was dyed red around Sombra’s chest and legs. He froze in a prone statue, eternally glaring at a pony that he could no longer see.
A long sigh hissed through the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters as life left Sombra’s body.
Twilight Sparkle dropped to the ground, her shoulders shaking with sobs. She wailed into the cold, and the windigos were drawn to the cry. They orbited her, their tails releasing strength-stealing magic. Slowly, surely, ice formed around Twilight’s weeping form.
“T-twilight Sparkle,” one windigo hissed, “why d-did you steal my life away?”
“I…” Twilight brushed salty flecks of ice off her cheeks. “Who are you?”
“I was Dusty Shelves. I had l-l-life in Ponyville. I had f-friends. I had a future.” The windigo spun around once and covered Twilight with snow. “Then you c-came and s-s-stole my life. You took it all.”
“I—” Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know you.”
“You h-have to know me!” Dusty cried. “You have to know w-what you did to me before you d-d-die!”
“No!” Twilight said. “No, no. I never wanted to hurt anybody! I swear, if there was anything I could do to make it up—”
“There is n-nothing!” Dusty brought his hoof up to hers. Twilight’s leg froze solid. “I’m already g-gone! Soon, you will be, t-t-too!”
“No…” Twilight lay her head on the floor. “I’m so sorry.”
Dusty paused. He drew back. “What?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Twilight rubbed her nose with her free hoof. “I always hurt ponies. I can’t seem to stop.” She smacked her hoof on the ground. “If you’re gonna freeze me, do it fast.”
Dusty narrowed his empty eyes. “Yes. Yesss.”
“Tell my friends I’ll miss them.” Twilight shut her eyes and turned away. “Tell them I’m sorry.”
“They will f-freeze, too!” Dusty hovered overhead, pulling contrails of snow. “All shall f-f-freeze until I am avenged!”
“What?” Twilight lifted her head to the windigo. “You can’t kill everypony!”
“Watch us!”
Twilight watched as the windigos called to each other from among the storm clouds. They grouped together in threes, shrieking with malice. There were hundreds. Maybe thousands. There were enough windigos to turn Equestria into an arctic wasteland.
Twilight shut her eyes. There was nothing she could do.
Wasn’t there?
Celestia told me about when Sombra cut out his own heart. She said that after pulling out the heart, he cast a spell on himself with that dark magic. He lived for so long because he was holding himself together with those crystals.
Twilight bit her lip and thought back a little farther. Princess Aura also cut her own heart out. The Crystal Heart. She used it to keep Discord back, but she didn’t use the same magic as Sombra to stay alive. Without her heart, she turned to stardust. She became a spirit. Sombra tied his spirit to earth with black magic.
Twilight’s eyes shot to the windigos. Windigos are spirits of hatred. Can I tie them down with the spell?
Dusty Shelves gave an echoing laugh as deadly ice crept up Twilight’s tail and legs.
Twilight crossed her eyes and looked at her horn. What if I’m wrong? What if their spirits were within their hearts? What if the body Sombra fought with was just a construct manipulated by his heart? What if Aura directly protects the Empire with her soul? What if I’m wrong?
She took a deep breath in through her nose, and let it out slowly through her mouth. What happens if I don’t try?
Twilight stood up and broke free of the ice.
She lit her horn and grasped the clouds overhead. She drew them close, and stuffed them into the palace. Clouds swirled around and Twilight took control of the elements, sucking the windigos inwards.
“What are you doing?” Dusty howled. “You can’t control the windigos!”
“No.” Twilight bit her lip. “That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
The cloud rose into the air, a massive tornado of ice, water, and windigos. She pushed upwards, spinning the cloud until the air whipped at her face and mane. She stood at the epicenter of the storm, staring up at the monstrous vortex.
“You can’t cast the Hearth’s Warming Spell,” Dusty said. “You are wasting your energy!”
Twilight’s eyes glowed purple. Her irises turned red as her whites changed to a sickly green. Black fire erupted from her horn. She fired the spell deep into the eye of the storm.
Dusty Shelves drifted down. “Oh.”
The whirlwind ignited with lightning. Cloud transformed into solid crystal, trapping the windigos inside. Though some escaped the torrent, many were crystallized by flashes of lightning.
Great crystal shards fell all around Twilight, flattening the ruin of the castle. Dusty dodged one falling behemoth, and then charged straight for Twilight. She saw the windigo coming. She sighed and bowed her head. The second he touched her, she became little more than a block of ice.
Dusty soared into the storm, howling with triumph. A magic blast struck him from behind, turning him into a delicate crystal formation. He fell through the castle as the wind tossed him around.
When he hit the stone floor, his body was smashed to ethereal dust.
Twilight watched the crystals fall. The cold seeped deep into her skin and deadened her limbs. She could feel her blood stopping, her muscles dying. Windigos fled from the castle as the storm died, and Twilight with it. She looked down and saw her Element of Magic, buried up to its gemstone in snow. She moved to touch it, but was unable to move a single limb. She was a statue.
The storm quieted down. The clouds faded away, revealing a starry sky. Twilight watched them glide by for a moment, glad for a little peace.
Her heartbeat slowed in her chest.
“Hay, Twilie.”
Twilight turned. Shining Armor stood a short distance away, shaking his blue mane. “It’s been a little while,” he said.
“Hi, Shiny.” Twilight tilted her head. “How are you?”
“Oh, it’s pretty nice up here, among the stars.” Shining Armor grinned. “Starswirl says ‘hi.’ He’s a big fan of yours.”
Twilight giggled. “Really? Did you tell him I’m a big fan of his?”
“I’ll bet that’s why he likes you.” Shining tilted his head and gave Twilight a small smile. “I miss you, Twilie.”
“I miss you, too.” Twilight chewed her lip. “But—”
“You aren’t ready to come up here, yet.” Shining nodded. “It’s fine. That’s okay. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Twilight shuffled her hooves. “Can I hug you? Do you do that up here?”
Shining held out his forelegs. “Totally.”
They embraced in the darkness between the stars. Twilight pressed her cheek against her brother’s. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.” Shining Armor sniffed. “I wish this could be different.”
He nuzzled her. “I’m proud of you, Twilie. Tell Cadance I love her.” He placed his hoof under her chin. “See you soon. But not too soon, you hear?”
Twilight woke up to searing pain in every limb. She screamed, though her voice was muffled by a plastic cover over her snout. She pleaded for relief, screamed obscenities, and sobbed as ponies walked around her. She found her limbs restrained with straps, and her legs covered with tubes.
The walls were white. She could tell that much from what little she could see with her blurry eyes. It was cold and hot at the same time, like she was being dragged through dry ice. A face hovered over her and spoke, but she couldn’t make it out.
There was a prick in her side, and everything went dark.
End Third Movement
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Poor Dusty... he really was shoved unceremoniously out of the only thing he really loved in his life, and lived a life tormented by his loneliness. Now... a lot of that torment is self-driven, as many people who can't get over their torment are, but that makes me pity, not hate him. Hopefully this is a real end for him, where he no longer can torment himself, and not just a change where his torment just can't be shared anymore.
So, does this conclude the third movement? If so, I can't think of a stronger note to end it on (the third movement; not the entire story). This last duel and struggle for survival was both epic and somber, which matches the overall tone of the story perfectly.
4652304
He's a tragic character in the strictest sense of the word, brought down by his own flaws. He shrugged off every opportunity to accept help, and just wallowed in his hate. Hate that was, in truthfulness, unwarranted.
As far as the story's concerned, he's deader than dead. Maybe he found some rest?
4652322
Yes, and I completely forgot to add "End of Third Movement." Thanks for the reminder.
Me either. This was as close to a climax as this story could get. There really isn't a way to get any more tense than this.
For ending on a strong note, see next chapter.
Yup. There's that [Dark] tag in play again. Overall, I think I managed to keep the tone consistent throughout, even if it wasn't always spot on. If anything, that's something I learned while writing this story.
4656919
While his overall hatred of everyone was unwarranted, he seemed spot-on when he said that Twilight (Celestia, really) basically kicked him out of his house. Because it wasn't even a day later that the princess decreed that it was Twilight's house/job, irrespective of who was there before.
But it was absolutely true that he didn't accept help when he was offered it. He also had a nasty habit of not confronting his problems when he should have. If he showed up later that day and was like "Why are you in my library?" it probably would have worked out perfectly fine, but instead he runs away. He had no idea he could've done this, but if he spent more than one minute asking around town he probably would have figured it out pretty quick.
Interestingly, in the oldest Greek definition of a tragic character, they can be hoist by a single mistake or misunderstanding they had, as well as by a systemic character flaw. Although... that may be a culture conflict: I get the feeling that Greeks felt that mistakes or ignorance were basically character flaws.
4657001
Kinda. In the show, I always interpreted it as Celestia decreeing that Ponyville was her home. But that's just my own fanon. In the context of this story, Fluttershy explained to Dusty what was actually happening.
Twilight just so happened to be available.
Well, it's sorta true, in a very broadly-defined way. They are things the character could grow past, especially if they're like Dusty's aggressive ignorance. However, they're flaws that could, should the plot go that direction, be easily buffed out. So maybe they're not quite interesting flaws?
It's always interesting to look at how storytelling has changed over the years.
And how much it's stayed the same.
4657170
I was under the impression that, although Fluttershy was waiting for Dusty to return, she didn't realize that Celestia/Twilight didn't know of his existence and weren't. Like, maybe most of the town didn't notice or care about his disappearance, and Twilight never knew she was unintentionally displacing someone. That she was wrong that everyone was waiting for him: maybe a few ponies were.
But I guess... since if he came back it probably would've worked itself out, since Twilight would've apologized and attempted to fix it, if that were the case Fluttershy is arguably right anyway. So... uh... I circularly argued myself into agreeing that your portrayal was clear enough?
4657747
I'll be the first to point out that this story is not "Clear Enough." Especially near the beginning. I'm afraid my amateur-ness is what shows quite clearly. I've been working hard in the past few years to improve my clarity, and I always get a nice little reminder when I miss the mark.
I'll just apologize and say "I'll do better next time."