//------------------------------// // Spreading Out - Part 11 // Story: Saving Equestria // by Damaged //------------------------------// "Very well." Luna started to step forward, charging her horn. She barely got two steps when a purple barrier spell halted her advance. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, we had an agreement. You would ask him to surrender, and if that failed I would work under our Queen's orders." Idly, she noticed that the last two words she spoke invoked a startled look on Sombra's face. "Please," Twilight held her barrier up before Luna, but spoke only to Sombra, "you don't have to throw your life away. Just… just end the madness…" She trailed off, unable to say more past a sob she never intended to make. "Alright." Sombra closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he saw a surprised look on every pony standing opposite him. "If my choice is death or slavery, I will choose slavery. He stooped a little, and hung his head. Sombra, however, was far from broken. He watched through crocodile tears as the young Princess Twilight Sparkle approached. "I am so glad you accepted." Twilight sniffled past her own heavy emotions. "I just didn't want to see anypony die today." She gave Sombra her best, winning smile. "Really?" Sombra made his voice sound so sincere. "But I do. Kill her." The world seemed to slow down. Luna was stuck behind Twilight's barrier still, and though she was ready to act, she had no way to directly affect events. She stared in terror as the helmeted Radiant Hope charged her horn with black, shadow magic. She had a moment for one yell as dark tendrils of power lanced towards Twilight Sparkle; each one seemingly aimed right at Twilight's head. Twilight's eyes narrowed to pin-pricks. She watched the black, writhing tips of the tendrils of deadly magic pour towards her. She started a teleport spell, a shield spell, and her own counter-attack all at once, but a sharp pain in her horn was her only result to all three attempts. Sombra's horn was glowing, and Twilight knew he had blocked her magic. Guess I don't have to worry about turning into a changeling after all… A green barrier of force crystallized into being right before Twilight's snout. It thickened and thickened until she could barely make out the shadow magic dashing itself against it. Her heart raced, adrenaline suddenly spurring her to action. "No…" She stepped backwards—one step, then another. Luna barely caught the sight of their changeling "transport" all powering their horns as much as they could to defend Twilight. I was so wrong, I hope I can make up for my stupidity. She watched as the shield just before her faded, its source of magic snuffed out like a candle. "You idiot." Luna called her own darkness, fueled by the moon, and snuffed out the light around Sombra and Radiant Hope. Luna stepped into the darkness herself. "Twilight, I'm thinkin' it might be time to let Princess Luna do her thing. Sometimes ya just can't fix a critter's problem." Applejack tried to herd her friend away from the darkness spilling over the courtyard under the castle. Twilight wanted to dash into the darkness and help Princess Luna, but without her magic she wouldn't be doing that. Just thinking about magic hurts my head. What is worse is there is nopony who can remove it! She blinked for a moment and relaxed her hold on the shadows inside; it was like the crystals weren't even there. The pain faded from Twilight's head and she grinned. "Hold it." Rainbow Dash zoomed in to assist Applejack. "You totally can't go in there. Just look at it!" She pointed a hoof at the swirling magic. "That is why I have to go, Rainbow. Princess Luna is in there, fighting a—" Twilight froze as the dark magic swirled and spiraled away. Luna stood with her horn pointed right at Sombra's chest, and a hoof stomped down on what was left of the corrupted Crystal Heart. "Princess!" Boiling the magic inside her, Luna smiled sweetly down at the stallion. Sombra was on his back and moments from destruction. To her side, Radiant Hope had her horn already charged, aimed at Luna. "We are at an impasse, Princess Luna." Sombra smiled widely despite the threatening magic looming over his heart like a god-wrought hammer. "If you kill me, Radiant will kill you. And if she attacks you, you will kill me. Oh things have just gotten so exciting, haven't they?" "Do you honestly think I didn't come here, prepared to put my life before Equestria?" Luna started to channel more, her magic now more than enough to render the King down to his component parts. "And don't even dream of using your magic to slip away, I am fast enough to finish you before that." Twilight worked as fast as she could, plucking the crystals from her horn with her shadow magic. It burned in her, wanting her to ignore the crystals and to embrace it fully. No, you will not control me. Do my will or I will never use you again. Twilight felt the magic relent, taking to the task easier. Now, I will use you properly. The rush of excitement as Twilight channeled the shadows up almost overwhelmed her. Power unlike any she had commanded coursed through her. She saw Luna and willed her to be away from Sombra. Black tendrils of shadow spiraled up Luna's legs and, before she could release her magic, she was yanked down into the ground. A moment of panic filled her, she had recognized the shadow magic used, and feared Sombra was the cause. When she slipped from the paved ground beside Twilight and her friends, she gasped. "Twilight?" She stared at Twilight Sparkle, dark magic wrapped around her, her eyes holding a steady orange. It unnerved her more because she expected the green and red pattern. "What is going on?" "Princess Luna," Twilight didn't spare a look for Luna, instead focusing on Sombra, "be ready with your magic, this is going to get odd." Yes. Twilight released the flood gate on her shadow magic, but also unleashed all her regular magic, too. Staring at Twilight in wonder, Luna nodded. "Yes, Princess Twilight. No more ponies should suffer." She charged her magic. It was easy to compare her power to Twilight, in terms of regular magic. Luna was a dark star of power. A blinding energy source that could match anything, but Twilight had more than that now. "No dice, Twilight." Rainbow Dash flew up beside her friend. "As if we'd let you do this alone!" "Rainbow Dash has a point, darling." Rarity took another flank. "We have always stood by you, it is what friends do." "Yup. No varmint is going to hurt my friends." Applejack stepped up beside Rainbow Dash. "Um, he isn't a nice pony. Not nice at all." Fluttershy felt as power started to course through her, and was reminded of what had happened when they dealt with Nightmare Moon, and Discord. Pinkie Pie pronked up and was already starting to glow. "What? You expect something deep and meaningful from me too?" She beamed. "Alright girls, let's do this." The rush of power flooded Twilight, forcing her to float into the air slightly. But the magic of the Elements wasn't alone; dark magic swirled around and formed the shadows of that brightness. "I'll save Radiant, if you can take Sombra." "Of course." Luna's voice wavered only a little. Beside her was a combined power much greater than her own. Nightmare Moon had feared the Elements of Harmony, but Luna welcomed their light and power. She felt the shadow magic grasp her again, but this time she was aware of it pulling her into that magical inferno. Twilight took aim toward Sombra, but he wasn't her target. Luna's power swelled the already incredible force of the Elements. "Please be okay." She let go of the magic, unleashed it all directly at Radiant Hope. "Kill them, don't just stand there!" Sombra dissolved into smoke and started to rush forward. A little voice in the back of his head screamed for his attention, but he couldn't afford to break his focus now. Luna flew along the magic, burning the air with the power of the rainbow that carried her. She felt when the magic slammed into Radiant, but Luna kept going. Climbing her way from the ground behind the targeted unicorn, she felt the rainbow itself bathing her in magic. Not your enemy, not anymore. Sombra stopped and stared at the rainbow as it burned away at the helmet on Radiant Hope's head. "No… no you can't!" He turned from his charge and started to race back to Radiant. "No no no!" Materializing beside her, he tried to grab at the helmet as the last bits of it disintegrated, shielding Radiant with his own body. Circling around behind Sombra, Luna was amazed at how fixated he was on Radiant. "Oh—" She froze as Sombra leaned into the burning magic of the rainbow and hugged Radiant. "Sombra is sorry." Sombra felt the powerful magic ripping at him, tearing away his darkness. "Sombra went too far, didn't he Hope?" The tears—real tears—finally came. "Sombra can't believe they fired at you first. This… this was all wrong. Sombra doesn't care anymore." He stepped further into the light, feeling as it tore at his very form. "What are you doing?" Luna's eyes widened at the gray unicorn. No longer looking evil and imposing, he was simply another pony. "What twisted you like this?" Luna stepped close to the pair, but felt the burning heat of magic around Sombra. The Elements are deciding his fate. Or have they already decided? Sombra looked down at his hooves, spotting the shattered Crystal Heart. "It didn't kill Sombra, not in the end." He pushed some shards with his hoof, but then he felt a hug. Jerking his head up quickly, Sombra saw Radiant's tear-filled eyes as she hugged him to her. "Sorry, Hope." "I thought you were scaring the fairies, when I first met you." Radiant Hope could barely see in the intense rainbow around her. The nightmare of wearing Sombra's helmet was gone, blown away like dust on the wind. "But you didn't scare them, you excited them." She pulled Sombra further into her grip and squeezed as he shrank. A wrenching sensation left Sombra dizzy, and he watched his horn fall to the ground. It looked like a crystal, just another shard among the ruin. He was shrinking smaller than ever. "No, Sombra doesn't want to hurt anypony again." He pushed forward. The rainbow stopped as Sombra pressed against Radiant Hope's chest, a glorious outline of a breezie now stenciled there. "Sombra…" Radiant cried, the big tears rolling down her cheeks. "Sombra why did you do all of this?" "He thought the Elements were going to banish her, or hurt her." Luna stood, flabbergasted by the last act of King Sombra. Her eyes focused on the design of a breezie, now showing beautiful spread wings across Radiant Heart's chest. "Was that all he was?" Radiant's head lifted. "Princess Luna?" She blinked at the alicorn. "What happened? I remember…" she lifted a hoof to her mouth and blinked, "not a lot, actually." She looked across from Luna to Twilight and her friends. "Hi." Twilight definitely didn't feel like trotting, but making a new friend was important. "My name's Twilight S—" "Princess Twilight Sparkle." Radiant's lips moved all on their own. "I remember you from when I first saw a reflection in the Crystal Heart. A great princess would save me and I would…" She trailed off, blushing. I can't become a princess… Luna trembled, remembering one of the visions she had seen in the Heart once. "Finish it. What else did it show you?" She was nearly out on her hooves, the duel with Sombra having drained her more than she wanted to admit. "That I would become a… a princess." It can't be true. I can't be a princess. Radiant was so sure of herself that she didn't see the crystal shards glowing around her. The Heart called to her, sang in her ears loud enough to drown out any other words. "Do you hear that?" She leaned down, the biggest shard that was near her oddly familiar. "Sombra's horn. Maybe this time it won't hurt him." She touched her own horn to the crystalline shards. The pieces of the heart started to pull back together, each successive piece causing the light around Radiant to grow brighter and brighter. "Wow." Twilight watched as Radiant Hope's magic rebuilt the Crystal Heart. "It's not enough." Twilight started to move forward but was stopped by Luna. "What…?" The Equestrian ponies watched as crystal ponies flooded the surrounding streets. Coming out of their homes, eager to see that Sombra was really gone. A single voice called out, "Radiant Hope?" It was the first of many, mutterings of Radiant's name spreading like a wildfire. "She's beautiful!" "Look at her shine!" "She defeated Sombra!" Twilight was about to cut over the top of the voices to correct them, when a deep blue hoof pressed gentle to her snout. She looked up to Luna. "Let her have that. Princess Twilight Sparkle." Luna drew her hoof back. "Wait for it…" "She's a princess!" It only took one pony saying it for that to spread, change as the crystal ponies echoed it. "She's our princess."