Twilight had heard ponies say that their lives have flashed before their eyes in bleak situations. She was happy to know that they were wrong, instead there were just flashes of darkness, possibly a little red too.
Twilight was caught up in the tentacles grip. It was slowly crushing her. She could feel the air escaping her lungs, flashes of red overtaking her sight as they gripped even tighter. "Please stop," she screamed, "I can't take this anymore!"
Sombra laughed the vilest of laughs, "Oh, I'm sorry, have we met? I'm King Sombra, ruler of darkness, ruiner of lives, the enemy of your mentor, Princess Celestia. I don't even have a heart, but if I did, for me to let you go would be... how to put it... out of character." Sombra's eyes glowed a little brighter and the tentacles got tighter and tighter.
Sombra walked over to Twilight until their muzzles nearly touched. "You know maybe after I'm done with you I can go after all of your friends too. I haven't had an ice earth pony servant for about a century and a strong mare like her would do wonders. Then there's that shy friend of yours. So caring, so nice, so fragile."
The tentacles grip got tighter and Twilight spit something out of her mouth, looking down at it it looked to be blood and it faded quickly into the darkness.
"That fashionista has good taste, she'd make good banners for me for when I take back Equestria. And thinking of it, how am I the heartless one when you have dragon as your own personal pet." Sombra smirked 'Oh don't worry about him, he'll do fine work being a soldier in my army, well, assuming he survives the growth process."
With that, time around Twilight just... stopped, multiple memories, multiple images came flashing back.
The day she and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon.
Laughing together at the disaster that was the Grand Galloping gala.
Celestia allowing her to stay in Ponyville.
Being praised as a hero for defeating Discord.
This pony, no, this monster, wanted to ruin the bonds she made after so long he wanted to ruin the lives of so many innocent ponies all because he couldn't simply compromise with the princesses. He didn't deserve to live, he was the complete enemy of harmony. And enemies of harmony must be eradicated!
Twilight clutched her head and with a mighty cry of anguish let loose a scream, and with that scream emitted a powerful shockwave that expelled from her body. The tentacle around her dissolved and Sombra was sent flying backwards. He used a blast from his horn to slow down his descent, making the fall less painful.
Sombra looked up and no longer stood the pony he'd been breaking, there stood a confident mare her eyes glowing a crimson red, the look in her eyes said it clearly. "I'm no longer afraid, you wanted to break me, but now it is I who shall be breaking you."
Twilight's horn glowed a dark purple her normal magical lavender aura was still there, but less so, it looked as if its essence was being compressed, or worse, eliminated. " This new power feels amazing! I feel as if I could accomplish half of the feats of a normal unicorn" Twilight smirked, "One of those feats being eliminating you!"
A black, tentacle grew up out of the darkness and slithered right next to Twilight, Sombra shook his head, "Really? This is just the same spell I just used on you, come on, aren't you the apprentice of the all powerful Celestia? I'd believe you'd know a little something called varie-"
Sombra's sentence cut off as a force behind him propelled him backwards. Unlike the first time he couldn't recover his body rolling through the background he himself created. Sombra steadily got up to his knees and placed a hoof to his muzzle, there was blood.
"I'm amazed, how did you manage to hit me? The distance between us is obviously different, I-" Then Sombra noticed, there was a second tentacle. "That's it, you didn't just summon one, you made one in plain sight to lower my guard while another one blended into the-"
Sombra was blasted by a dark beam of magic and flew backwards while Twilight watched, "You'd think villains would learn by now to stop speaking to their opponents, it makes them wide open for attack." Sombra blinked at the response.
"Well, I guess it's time to stop holding back," The two ponies fueled by dark magic charged at each other, one fueled by anger, the other with the thrill of battle.
Applejack knew she didn't have time to mess around. She was getting tired of having to shoo away all of these ponies who wanted to get a look at what they thought was their precious crystal heart
"These pesky varmits are as annoying as the ticks Ah have to clean off Winona, Where's Twilight with that crystal heart? We're runnin out of time!"
"Applejack!"
Turning towards the voice Applejack saw it was Pinkie Pie bouncing towards her, calling her name
" Celestia dang it Pinkie! I've got my hooves tied up already enough as it is here with these ponies! I thought you were helping keeping them busy,"
Pinkie smiled, "Oh, don't worry, silly filly. They simply got a little bored. But I was just wondering if you noticed how strange the sky is, one moment it's dark, the next it's light."
"What?!" Applejack yelled, looking at the sky. Just like Pinkie said the sky was flickering, and each time it flickered it looked like the dark smoke surrounding the empire was trying to get in, Applejack slammed her hat on the ground "Gosh darn it! Cadence's magic must be weakening and that Sombra bloke is trying to get inside! If Twilight doesn't manage to find the Crystal Heart in time, we're as good as dead!"
Applejack felt a hoof on her shoulder she turned around and it was Pinkie
Applejack felt a hoof on her shoulder, Pinkie's hoof. "Don't worry," she said, "it's Twilight we're talking about here. She's beaten a literal god before, she won't lose against a pile of smoke. We'll succeed." Pinkie then jabbed herself in the eye "And that's a Pinkie Promise! There's no possible way our Twilight would fail."
"You've failed, Twilight Sparkle."
Sombra stood victorious, his foe encased in a black crystal. Sombra fell to one hoof, "She's probably unconscious" he said to himself, "but she actually managed to put up a good fight." Sombra put a hoof to his right eye, which had a scar over it. "If I hadn't had left my guard down again I probably would have lost this eye entirely. I was thinking of just killing her off, but she's more powerful then I was with magic in my prime. I could use that, she would make a valuable pawn to this never ending game between Celestia and me. And speaking of her royal highness..."
Sombra's horn glowed, erasing the realm he had encased himself and Twilight in.
"A little voice changing spell and this should go perfectly." Sombra released a blast from his horn upwards, it landed back on Sombra, "Ugh, that spell, always leaves my throat feeling weird," Sombras voice was noticeably a higher pitch, "It may be a bit deeper than normal but it'll probably be enough to fool that dragon. Time is over the essence."
Sombra cleared his throat and yelled, "Spike! It's safe, come down now! I need your help with something!" Sombra waited until he could hear the tiniest of footsteps heading down the stairs, "Perfect," he thought to himself innerly, "Now to hide."
Sombra backed against the wall and began to fuse with it, becoming one with the shadows he so controlled. He waited, until he heard the voice again.
"Twilight?! Twilight?! Where are you?!"
Sombra laughed mentally, "Oh, I'm almost sorry that I have to do this" Sombra's horn glowed allowing him to walk out of the shadow, right to face the purple dragon in front of him.
The dragon began to back away his eyes a twitching mess, Sombra could almost feel the fear radiating out of his body, and it felt glorious.
"Y-y- you're..." the dragon the dragon began to stammer.
Sombra walked up to the dragon until they were face to face, he tried to run but found himself pinned against a wall. Sombra then pointed a hoof to his chest
"I am King Sombra, the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire." His eyes began to glow. "Now Spike, I do believe your name is, I believe you can do me, a little favor.