As Twilight laid on the floor crying, she heard Spike’s voice coming closer and closer, starting from very distant, “Twilight! Twilight? Twilight!” Spike called out as stepped off the last step of the stairs seeing Twilight huddled up in a ball crying. “Twiliiiight!” Twilight got off the ground, her eyes were red both from the crying, but from her most recent use of dark magic, the whites of her eyes were still lime-green but the purple smoke was gone. “I know you told me to stay up there, but you were down here for such a long time and you weren't answering and I got worried so I came down here.” Twilight slowly turned to face Spike. The dragon continued to speak as he walked up to her nervously, like a child that broke a rule, “and you were just staring at that wall and... I was calling your name, but I couldn't seem to get your attention, and– What were you looking at?” Spike continued to ask as Twilight never gave him any answers. “I mean... it's just a wall.” Spike then saw the door. “So you found the way…”
After Spike walked through the door he arrived into the Golden Oak, little knowing that his irises changed to red and the whites of his eyes became lime-green ending the magical hold on Twilight. “How did I…”
“What are doing here?” Spike looked up and saw Twilight come down the stairs. She looked at the dragon with a scowl. “I thought I told you to leave and never come back.”
Spike froze at what he just heard, “I...I...I…” he stuttered as he tried desperately to comprehend what Twilight just said.
“We are no longer master-familiar, Spike!” Twilight said as she levitated all of Spike’s things towards him. She then used her magic to open the door. Spike couldn’t move. He could understand or process what was going on as Twilight looked away. After two seconds Twilight turned back to Spike, “What are you still doing here? Get out.”
Tears started to form in Spike’s eyes, “Please, Twilight, Don’t.” Spike ran up to Twilight grabbing her right leg. “PLEASE!” Spike was then surrounded by the Twilight’s magic. He was then thrown out followed by his stuff and then the door was slammed shut. “Twilight! Please!” Spike’s voice gave, he could no longer call out in Basic. “Please! Don’t! Twilight! Sister!” he chirped and cried in Draconic. “MOMMIE!” Suddenly he felt himself being pulled away and into an embrace. He couldn’t see through his tears, but he knew who held him secure in their… her arms. “Mommie,” he cried as he buried into Twilight’s chest, not hearing the slamming of the door.
Twilight held her familiar, her little brother, her son as close as she could. She knew exactly what he saw. Her casting him out. “I will never send you away.” After Spike stopped crying, “We both fell for Sombra’s trap. Using dark magic to open the door will lead you to your worst fear.” Spike the looked to Twilight, “I am not going to send you away and I am not going to fail Princess Celestia!” Twilight then thought about how to open the door. Then she had an idea, she took a breath and focused on the spell Princess Celestia cast that on the gem that reflected light on the map. After a second the yellow beam hit the door and it opened. Twilight then let go of Spike, got back to her feet and walked through the doorway.
“What's in there?” Spike asked from the other side of the open doorway before he looked into the new room.
Twilight looked up and all she could see was a flight of stairs that went up at least twice if not thrice as high as the set of stairs that she went down to reach the door. She gave an exhausted sigh before she answered her familiar. “Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs.” she sighed again, clearly not looking forward to the climb up. “Maybe you should come with me this time.”
Twenty minutes later the two started to pant as they climbed the stairs. The two then took a minute to collect their breaths, Spike could not help but voice his mind. “What if this is just more of his magic? He makes a door that leads to your worst nightmare. Why not a staircase that goes on forever?”
Twilight gave Spike's questions some thought. In fact, she started to think about everything that she and her friends had to do for her to get to this point. Then it dawned on her, Sombra's plan prevented a single person from stopping him, however bringing an army would also have been useless. Only a small band of people could beat him. However, that was dependent on at least one member of the group was a spirit healer able to project his or her love and light magic to keep the evil king in his shadow state out. Even then that would leave that person stuck, then the group would have to find the book, and give the size of the Krystalopolies library that would take a long time. Then to set-up and conduct the faire, which would take up most of the group, assuming they found out about the missing page or that the Crystal Heart was a real thing. Then they would have to know his old throne room and know the dark magic Sombra employed to find the staircase down. Then use dark magic to hold the door in place.
“To waste time,” Twilight answered. “Sombra's whole plan has done nothing but waste time. But why...” Twilight stopped as it dawned on her, Sombra’s whole plan was to waste the time, all he needed was to force the clock to run out. She needed a way to circumvent that plan. “Anti-gravity Spell!” Twilight then grabbed Spike, “Antivarytita!” After the spell was cast, “Hold on, Spike.” As the two floated up to the bottom of the fleet of stairs above them “Whoa.” The two then started to slide up the stairs like a slide. “Whoaaa! Yaaaah!” The two cheered like children enjoying the ride.
At the location of the two red crystals near the edge of the dome, where Sombra’s arm landed and dissolved into a black patch, the black patch had grown to the base to of the two crystals. Black lightning then started to crack between the two crystals as a shadow started to manifest. Within seconds King Sombra’s humanoid started to form with his armor and crown. After his new body was complete he turned to look at the shield, it was flickering, beyond it was the better part of himself still in the cloud form. He then turned back as the red crystals started to grow and spread towards the city. He smiled as he watched his hold grow again.
At the tourney field, Rainbow Dash had an announcing horn, “Alright ladies and gentlemen, we are in the final round of the tourney and it’s a three-way fight. The man to beat, the recently promoted lieutenant of the ESM Borealton garrison, Flash Sentry!” The Crystalborn in the audience all cheered as Flash Sentry held up his sword and shield. Rainbow Dash then turned to Sandalwood, like Flash he had a mark on his armor, a set of three bent arrows that formed a triangle, armed with a club as he relaxed on the side post of the tourney’s field. “Contender number 2, the garrison's newest medic and a shaman, Sandalwood!” The crowd cheered, but not as much as Flash. Turning to the last contender, he was slightly shorter than Flash and while he had no armor, he had to gauntlets and arm braces and dressed not unlike Twilight and like Sandalwood had a patch on his robes that was made of three oblongs centered around a small red circle. “And contender number 3, a technomancer and the garrison’s newest… um…”
“Smithe! It’s pronounced just like ‘smith’ but you and an ‘e’ at the end.” The third combatant shouted as he took a screwdriver and tinkered with his left gauntlet. Still seeing the confusion on Rainbow’s face as she stared blankly. He gave a sigh of frustration, “Just say quartermaster.”
“Quartermaster, Micro Chips.” The crowd then cheered about as much for Micro Chips as they cheered for Sandalwood, while Micro Chips held his left hand up as he put the screwdriver back.
“FIGHT!” Rainbow Dash leaped into the air and the three engaged in the combat. Sandalwood swung his club at Flash, while Micro Chips stepped back to as he charged his gauntlets as fire and lightning started to circle around one, as water and acid mixed and formed to spiral around the other. Flash however dropped and rolled away from Sandalwood as towards Micro. After a few more rolls, evading Sandalwood, Flash evade once more as Sandalwood swung again as Micro Chips attempted to strike Flash from the behind, each knowing that Flash was the best of the three. Flash used this to his advantage as he forced his two opponents to strike each other as Sandalwood’s club hit the side of Micro's head as Micro Chips struck the shaman under the chin. As the two staggered Flash flew into the air and dive-bombed and the resulting in the two being sent into the air and causing them to land outside of the ring. “DOUBLE K.O.!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she landed and taking Flash’s hand after he sheathed his sword. “And the winner of both today’s joust and tourney is Flash Sentry!”
“I won all the bets!” Sapphire Joy jumped up and down. “Can I kiss my champion?”
“I am sorry Miss Joy and all you gorgeous ladies, but I already have someone who has dibs on me.” Flash took off his helmet as he walked up to Sapphire, “But milady would understand If just kissed your hand.” Flash took Saphire’s left hand to his right and kissed the back of it. Sapphire and most of the other women in the audience fainted.
“We got a lady killer here, gentlemen. Better lock up your wives and daughters.” Rainbow joked as Flash was applauded as he got off the stage to tend to his last two opponents.
Near the fake heart, Rarity walked as Pinkie rolled her wheelchair up to Applejack after the paladin re-directed another small group of Cyrstalborn back into the faire proper. “How’s et goin’?” Applejack asked turning to the jester and enchantress.
Rarity looked back to booths and seeing how little material was left at the many craft booths. “Well for the moment, things are going smoothly, but we are running low on materials for the crafts booths! I had to make a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw!” Rarity then took a few breaths knowing she if she continued she would panic. After calming down, she ran her right hand through her hair as if she was trying to pat herself on the back. “I made it work.” Seeing that her Earthborn friends were not amused with her tangent. “But still!”
Applejack shook her head with a sigh. “Wah gotta do everythin’ wah can to keep this thing goin'.” Applejack as she turned back to faire and then looked up to the balcony where Cadance and Shining would be. “Cadance can't be lookin' so good. Ah can't imagine her magic is gonna last much longer.” She then turned back to her friends as she looked to the faire and back to the two. “It's gonna be fine. These people are gonna power up that Crystal Heart when the time comes, and we won't be needin' her magic anyway.”
Pinkie pulled out several balloons, inflated them with her breaths. “I sure hope that time comes soon!” Pinkie Pie was making a balloon animal and such things. “Even I can't keep a party going forever!” In the background, one of Pinkie’s party cannons went off.
Cadance was leaning against the wall of the castle, Shining was by her side. She was slipping in and out of consciousness. Her breath was heavy, short and slowing down. At this point, one could argue that the only things keeping Cadance upright, were the wall and her husband “I ... I…” Cadance’s eyes rolled back as she fell forward, the light blue magic from her tiara tapering into nothing. Shining caught her and held her loosely in his arms as she slowly regained consciousness. “I can’t…” was all she was permitted to say as Shining, with his silent embrace, did all he could to comfort her.
“We’ve given Twilight all the time we can. You don’t have the energy to maintain focus for the spell much longer, we can only hope we bought her enough time to do what needed to be done. I know it sounds a bit callous, but you need to get some rest now. Hopefully, you’ll have enough energy for what comes next.”
“But…”
“You can't do anymore.” Shining lowered Cadance so that she could set down. “Not in your current state, even if you’re not pregnant.” Shining knelt down to be on the eye-level of his wife. He took the gave her his waterskin. “Drink and rest.”
As Cadance accepted the waterskin and took a few drinks, “At least let me stand.” Shining shook his head but helped Cadance stand back up but made sure he was supporting her, with her left arm over his shoulders.
Come on Twilight! We’re out of time!
The ending of the dome was not lost on anyone. Everyone turned away from what they were doing and looked at the sky above them. Everything and everyone fell silent. One of the Crystalborn men walked backward into the pedestal in terror about his memories being relieved. In his panic, the fake heart was knocked from the pedestal. He looked and saw it for the fraud it was. “This isn't the Crystal Heart.” His terror soon turned to horror.
Rarity tried to calm everyone down, but she couldn’t help but laugh nervously. “Oh, of course, it isn't. The real one is being polished!” Sadly, this did not go over well as the Crystalborn all came to see the charade. Their skin and hair suddenly dull back to the depressed state they were when the city first returned, but this time a small black-red spot developed in their hearts.
A calm, soft tenure but with a great degree of authority was then heard, “Soldiers, shape-up! We must protect the citizens. Fall back to and stay within the castle’s ground.” Everyone turned to see Flash in the air, his shield on his left arm, directing the soldiers to form a shield-wall of shorts around the perimeter. He landed in front of the others and drew his sword ready for a fight.
All the while red and black crystals grew into the city and with them, Sombra’s cloud form got deeper and deeper into the city, to the second circle of the city from the faire grounds and the castle. There Sombra’s humanoid armored shade reformed. He gave a silent laugh as he started towards the city on foot as silence started to fall upon the city, like rain. Softly at first slowly growing harder and harder to the point where the only sound that could be heard is his steps.
It had been about five minutes since Twilight cast her anti-gravity spell. “Whoooooahahaha!” She and Spike cheered as reached the end of the stairs. “Varytita!” She shouted and the two stopped falling to the ceiling and landed on the floor of the room at the top of the tower. “I actually studied gravity spells, thinking it might be on my test! Turns out I was prepared for this! Wooo-hooo!” She couldn’t help but laugh as she got up and brushed herself off. Spike didn’t brush himself off as the dirt and such didn’t bother him. The two then noticed that the room’s windows had no glass and the wind blow into the room. Both of them noted that the dome of love and light magic was gone. Slight panic took over Twilight, but then she saw the Crystal Heart on a pedestal. “THE HEART!” Twilight then ran to the Heart and as she stepped with a meter away from the stairs, into a circle on the floor that was black in color. Once in that circle, the Heart was sent away from the center as black crystals manifested from the floor and trapped Twilight in a cone.
Twilight tried to teleport out of the trap, thrice she got out and thrice the dark magic of the trap teleported her back in. “The Heart…” Twilight tried once more but the trap would not let its quarry go. “Where's the Crystal–”
Outside, Spike had stayed close to the stairs, away from the trap. Near his feet was the Crystal Heat. Before Twilight could finish the question, “Here! It rolled over to me when it dropped!”
Spike tried to step forward to Twilight, in an attempt to get his master out. Twilight saw him “Don't move!” Spike grunted in response. Here that, Twilight knew she had to explain better, “You can move, just not toward me!” After a second or two of thought, “How could I have been so foolish? I was just so eager to get it! I…”
Spike didn’t let Twilight finish, “You have to get out of there, Twilight! You have to be the one who brings the Heart to Princess Cadance! You know the test!” Spike tried to argue for Twilight to make another attempt to get out of there.
Twilight finally understood what Princess Celestia had meant by this being a “test” she was forced to make a choice, either face Sombra alone and try to return the Crystal Heart or leave the part of returning it to someone else while she ran interference. In short, this had been a test of who she is, not what she knew or had to accomplish. With his shadow abilities, Sombra could easily move past the barrier to claim his prize, but Spike was already outside the barrier due to being missed by Sombra’s trap, which was stopping Twilight from returning the Heart to the Crystalborn.
Following this epiphany, Twilight shook her head, she knew what needed to be done. “King Sombra is already attacking the city. He could reach the Crystalborn at any moment... reach Princess Cadance, my brother, my friends. There may not be enough time for me to find a way to escape.” All the while the trap grew around her, but she could still get a few of Spike.“You have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to the Faire.”
That caught Spike very much off guard with that command. “Me? But Twilight–” Spike then saw the heart start to levitate surrounded by Twilight’s magic. From inside the trap, she used her magic to force the Heart into his claws, the Heart shaped crystal gave a small pulse that neither noticed.
“Go!” Twilight’s voice was slowly getting distorted by crystal cone as it started to complete.
“But–” the dragon tried to challenge.
“GO!” Twilight’s voice was the closest to an orderly roar as she could muster. Spike gulped and started to make his descent using the growing crystals from Sombra’s magic.
Meanwhile, in the Crystal Faire grounds, everyone started to huddle together in terror of what might befall as everything fell silent. One of the Crystalborn women was scanning and panting in a panic. “He's back! I can't take it!” She then started to run away from everyone shrieking not looking ahead. She then bumped into something metallic causing her to fall to the ground and land on her rear. “Ugh!” She then looked forward and up. “No...No...No…” She stumbled to get back on her feet and run away, shrieking all the way back to the rest. “KING SOMBRA!”
Everyone else turned and saw the tyrant slowly walking towards them, Sombra. The only sound that could be heard was the heavy metal boots making contact with the cobblestone streets. The garrison all turned to confront the vile king. Sombra gave a deep guttural bass laugh as the century of soldiers that made up the garrison. What fools. I have forced the hand of Celestia and Luna, I bypassed their newest demigod and I broke their pretender to my throne. He took hold of one of the crystals that grew as he progressed and fashioning another crystalline blade that matched his height. However, he didn’t charge straight in but waited for the garrison’s archers and ranged magic users to fire upon him first. The garrison opened fired and he used his blade to send each spell back, breaking the shield wall of the more martially inclined. He then charged the garrison. With one swing of his blade, he sundered all the shields that were right in front of him, almost cutting to the bone of the shield arms of the soldiers. The force of the blow also sent most of the front line back knocking them onto their backs and exposing the rear. Yet Sombra was no fool as spun in his swing, resulting in the soldiers that tried to flank him also being rendered prone. He then proceeded to continue his assault on the members of the garrison, using his more cloud-like form to brush aside all the other soldiers. However, one warrior of the south still stood.
Flash discarded his busted shield as he gripped his sword with both hands. He gave a battle cry much like Shining Armor as he flew towards Sombra. Three seconds. Three seconds. Three seconds was all it took for King Sombra to send the much younger warrior flying into an arch of the castle and broke the youth’s back. The king turned to see his subjects quaking as the memories of his reign, seconds away from starting a new. Order, his order, was about to be restored in the city and soon it will encompass the world.
From above, Spike continued his descent down to the ground. “Whoa! Huh!” he cried out as he tried to keep his foot as the crystals continued to grow and form spikes that seemed to attack Spike. The young dragon exhaled fire in bursts as he continued to climb down. Viewing that he had bested the crystals, the dragon could not help but cheer. “Yah!” Yet the crystals continued to grow. In a slight panic, Spike looked down and tried to get the attention of anyone. “Hey! Up here!” Everyone then looked up and saw the dragon holding the Heart aloft. “I got the Crystal Heart!”
King Sombra looked up saw the small dragon try to get down using the red crystals that Sombra had spread and now infested the city, and tripped on one of the crystals. “That is mine!” The former king then leaped into the air as the red crystals started to grow upward not unlike a massive tidal wave. He rode it towards his prize. While rising Sombra’s form changed yet another time. He began to shrink to be slightly taller than Shining Armor, his shadows became flesh and bone again. The whites of his eyes lost their lime-green color and the purple smoke that floated from the corners vanished. He was human again and once he had the Heart he would be a god.
“Spike!” Rarity screamed as she saw the dragon trip and Sombra started his ascent towards the to stake his claim.
Simultaneously Shining, still supporting Cadance looked up and say the crystal heart and Spike fall, also saw Sombra raising to catch the heart and claim it. He looked at the locket that Cadance had and saw it glow to match the Heart as If they were made from the same crystal and with the same magic by the same person. After a split second, “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” Upon answering what she felt was a stupid question, Cadance felt herself being lifted up and found herself over Shining’s head as if she was a spear. Shining them throw her with all his might at where the Crystal Heart and Spike were ahead of her. As Cadance flew she saw what the Crystal Heart start to glow with her locket. She let her wings unfurl and flew as fast as she could to intersect the Heart.
Sombra looked up as the Heart was falling right towards him. He reached out his right hand as he licked his recently reformed lips. He outsmarted the two demigoddesses of the south that tried to steal his domain. He subverted and took down the dome of love and light made by a third and much weaker demigoddess. He tricked the Southerners into starting the Crystal Faire without the heart. He knew that the one that found the heart fell for each and every one of his traps. And now takes to this dragon, the Crystal Heart was his. He wo… “What the?” He shook his head after seeing the third and the least of the Southern demigoddesses just flew past him In a pink blur as she claimed the Crystal Heart and caught the dragon. He stopped his ascent befuddled, and watched as she flew down to the ground.
“The Crystal Princess! Princess Amore's daughter, she lives!” One of the Crystalborn shouted as Cadance landed next to the fake heart. She stomped on the fake heart destroying it.
As Cadance used her magic to levitate the Crystal Heart as she sent it to the center of space under the castle. “The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not.” Once the heart was there it stopped as two spikes emerged from the ground and from the center of the dome. The spike stopped about a centimeter from the actual heart as it started to spin.
Sombra looked down as everyone started to kneel on the ground and place their left hands on the ground, “What? No... No! Stop!” He jumped down from the crystal he used to reach the heart. His sword at the ready as he ran to the Heart as he landed a second later. He ran past everyone and was about to strike the Heart but a force field manifested around it and sent King Sombra back and landed on his back before his blade could make contact. All the while the love and light of the Crystalborn flowed into the Heart like a river. As Sombra got back up and charged the Heart again with the love and light magic of the Crystalborn was sent back in the form of a light blue sem-sphere accelerating at the speed of light. This caused every Crystalborn’s and everyone that came from the south skin and hair become a near clear crystal, Applejack’s gash was healed as if Sombra never slashed her, Rainbow Dash’s and Pinkie Pie’s casts were shattered as their arm and leg were fully restored as if they were never broken, to begin with as well as the injured of the members of the garrison.
However, Sombra was not so fortunate, cracks the same color as the light formed along his body, he fell to his knees as his eyes lost all their color. He roared as his body and his red and black crystals which infested the city exploded into quintillions of pieces and scattered into the snow outside of the city more or less harmlessly, leaving only one piece in tack; the focusing gem of the tyrant.
The crystalline trap that Twilight was in shattered, as the dome love and light magic encompassed the room. Twilight saw that her skin and hair were now crystalline much like as the Crystalborn, but she was almost transparently clear. She rapidly concluded that her familiar was able to reach Cadance in time. She gave a sigh of relief, “Good job, Spike.”
The next day, as the Crystal Faire continued, but Twilight and her friends were at the Borealton train station as they started to board the train as the population of Borealton started to return, many electing to go over the new returned city and take part of the faire in Krystalpolies. Shining was there to see them off. As Rarity was the first to board the train, “I do so wish it was permanent. Did you see how my hair just absolutely sparkled?”
Applejack boarded the Chantalot bound train next, “But good things are better when they're a ...rarity.”
“Aww.” Rarity hugged her marital friend as everyone else but Twilight boarded the train and started to take their seat.
Outside as Twilight stepped aside with her head dipped down a soft frown on her lips. This was not lost on Shining as he turned her attention to him. “Everything's gonna be okay. You've gotta stop saving my rump like this. It's starting to get embarrassing, I am the Marshall of the ESM for crying out loud.”
This didn’t have the intended result of making Twilight laugh, “We both know it wasn't me who saved you, in the end, either time. It was Spike this time around.”
Shining Armor kneeled and while there was a time he would still look down at his sister, and for a while, he looked at her eye-level, he was actually looking up to her. “Princess Celestia will understand. You got to stop not giving people who inspire you credit in our faith and understanding. She told me about the time you two first met. And she was right, I don't care if you are a magical dunce, you are my sister and you worked hard and did your best, that's all that mattered. And if this was for this was a test, are certain that what you think it was, was in fact what Princess Celestia was testing you on?” Shining then hugged his sister, trying to be assuring. “You got this, Twily.” As he ended the hug, Twilight then boarded the train, waving goodbye to her brother.
It was the following day, in the throne room of the Chantalot castle, Celestia and Twilight looked at two stained glass windows, one was the depiction of Celestia and Luna defeating Sombra and a new one that showed Spike in profile holding up the Crystal Heart and the love and light reflecting from it destroying Sombra in his cloud form and the Cyrstalborn cheering. “It's beautiful.” Celestia then turned to Twilight. “Spike did great.”
Twilight hung her head as if depressed and ashamed, “I wish it had been me who ultimately made it so. But it wasn't.”
Celestia placed her left hand on Twilight’s right shoulder and turned Twilight’s head to tilt up with her right hand to face her. “Twilight, as I understand it, Spike brought Princess Cadance the Crystal Heart because you weren't sure how quickly you could find a way to escape the tower. You weren't willing to risk the future of the citizens of the Krystalopolies in an effort to guarantee your own.” Celestia smiled at her apprentice. “I think you learned something and I would like to hear it.” Celestia then lets go of Twilight.
Twilight walked away and started to think, holding her chin with her right hand. After some thought, “The meaning of self-sacrifice, and knowing when to put others interests before my own.” Twilight turned to back to Celestia. Seeing a smile of pride on Celestia’s face as the princess nodded. “Does this mean...?”
It was twenty minutes later as Spike and the others were outside the castle, Pinkie was hopping about on her left leg, still unable to grapple that the leg as if it wasn’t broke. Rainbow Dash was doing one-arm push-ups with her right arm. While Applejack laid on the ground as Rarity and Fluttershy were braiding each other's hair. “She's totally gonna lose it!” Spike panicked as he bit his claws nervously. After a few seconds, he stopped biting his claws and started to breathe heavily. “Keep it together, buddy... Gotta stay strong... for Twilight...!” Everyone just rolled their eyes as Spike tried to calm down. Just then the doors opened as Twilight stepped out.
Twilight’s head was down as if she was depressed. Everyone got up and turned to Twilight, Applejack took off her hat. Twilight the opened her left eye as a playful smile grew on her face. She then brought her head up triumphantly. “I passed!” The group then got into a group hug, happy for their friend and her success.
Epilogue: A Gamble, A Book, and An Amulet
Celestia and Luna again watched as the day ended and night began, as Twilight and her friends were on the most recent train to Magiville. “You were right to send Twilight and the others, albeit it was mostly due to luck. May We ask, how did you know they would succeed where we failed?”
Celestia looked up ahead, “Because Twilight is of Sombra's seed.” Celestia stated.
“What?” Luna could not process what she was just told.
“Night Light is the direct descendant, father to son, of Sombra, via the son Sombra never knew with Radiant Hope and by extension King Bullion as Sombra was sired by the line of Platinum's illegitimate brother, again Father to son,” Celestia said as she, with great effort and some strain, placed a heavy tome on the table, almost thrice as heavy as the next book. The solar demigod started to rub her arms to massage them.
“The Lines of the Six,” Luna read the title on the cover. “You kept the records.” Luna was flabbergasted that the book in question still existed. She turned to the section on Clover the Clever and her descendants, which counted her and Celestia as adopted daughters and then to the one focused on Platinum and her descendants. It did not escape her that both Rarity and Twilight could count Clover and Platinum as ancestors if they read this book. The most surprising thing to most people would be that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash could trace to the marriage of Hurricane and Pansy. “So, what are you planning to do with this?” Luna then shut the tome and slide it along the table back to Celestia.
Upon receiving the book back, “Nothing else, this was just to make the point that Twilight had what it took. Unless you want to see her school work?” then conjured a portal and was about to reach into it.
“No, No, We are good.” Luna flailed her hands in an attempt to get Celestia to stop.
Celestia chuckled as she closed the portal and turned to her sister. “Now I ask you which should we do now? Have Fluttershy attempt to reform Discord or give Twilight Star Swirl’s grimorum for her next and final test?”
Luna gave it some thought, “Let’s see if Discord is reformable first.” Luna declared. Celestia nodded and returned to her tea. “So when are you dropping Discord off?”
“Oh, I am not,” Celestia pointed to herself and then pointed to Luna, “you are.”
“What!”
“Well, I am the most qualified to handle the incorporation of Krystalopolies into Mystica, granted right now it would be an autonomous principality with Cadance ruling as she is the daughter and heir of our cousin, Amore. ”
Luna could tell there was much more in play as she was just as qualified as Celestia to help the incorporation process. “You’re playing the seniority card, aren’t you.”
Celestia then took a sip of tea. “Yep and it is working wonderfully.” Luna could only groan and roll her eyes in response as Celestia had a chuckle at Luna’s reaction.
In a run-down shop, a gray steel amulet shaped like an upside down triangle with a unicorn’s head with wings in profile with a ruby cut into a rhombus in the center started to glow and shake for a second. A guttural laugh was then heard for a second. A young woman wearing a wizard’s cap and a cap adorned with stars on a purple field, she also wore blue gloves, a black dress with knee-high boots, she also had light blue hair and purple eyes searching through the shop. She soon spotted the amulet. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will take this.”
“But that is just some old dust collecting amulet.” The shopkeeper said, “400 bits.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie, will pay 200 bits.”
“375”
“225”
“350”
“250”
“325”
“275”
“300”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie, agrees to that.” Trixie then handed the shopkeeper three 100 bit notes, took the amulet and left. Once a fair distance away from the shop, “Foolish simpleton, the fabled Alicorn Amulet is The Great and Powerful Trixie’s.” Trixie then laughed at her success as she donned the amulet, “Soon Twilight Sparkle, The Great and Powerful Trixie will have, The Great and Powerful Trixie’s Revenge. And at such at the stupidly low price of 300 bits.” Trixie then started to laugh not noticing that her shadow had changed as Sombra’s eyes flashed open and closed within it. “Oh yes, Twilight Sparkle, you will pay dearly for the humiliation you dealt me. My shows haven’t had the same draw or flair since we last met, but I promise you that your humiliation will be well worth the wait,” at which point the illusionist gave an evil laugh that lasted for about three minutes.