//------------------------------// // 18 Shadows and Evil // Story: A new chance at one HP // by Emeraldleafeon //------------------------------// Edge of Crystal Empire, Late afternoon Master Sergeant Raven Feather resisted the urge to shiver in his armor. It may have been insulated, but it was designed for climate that was significantly warmer than the one he was currently in. A dozen degrees below average, maybe a little lower… But nothing this cold. He and five other ponies from Class A of the Lunar Guard had been assigned to escort the Elements of Harmony, Sans the skeleton and Flowey the flower into the Crystal Empire in order to destroy the magic core that held (what was left of) the necromancer’s life force. So far the mission had been a success; they had teleported in about a quarter mile away from the edge of the empire itself and had made it into the inner part of the city completely undetected. The mission so far had been very easy, but that was due to the entire city being all but deserted, with windows shut and doors locked. Only a few ponies wandered about in the street, seeming lost and confused. And not one of them had raised hoof against them. They were now at the entrance of the castle itself. Raven had only seen a few castles in his time, but this one was certainly the most intimidating. Dark and foreboding, it seemed as if it wanted to eat the whole squad alive. The bearer of kindness was almost frozen in fear from the oppressive atmosphere it radiated. The only reason she had made it this far was because of the, admittedly loud, support of the other bearers. (This bugged the rest of the squad and Flowey as it was supposed to be a stealth mission.) “Come on, Fluttershy, you can do it!” encouraged the scratchy voice of the light blue pegasus, “We all need to be there if we are going to take on this Sombra guy!” “I... I really don’t like this place though…” The timid mare whispered, almost to herself. “It’s like, it’s like... nature just died here… There isn’t anything. No little animals or plants, no birds on lamp posts, no mice or rats running around underhoof… It’s just unnatural. I want out!” “I’m with Fluttershy,” Pinkie added, worried. “This place gives me the heebie jeebies. And my Pinkie Sense hasn’t told me anything since we arrived!” Raven Feather sighed. “Look, ladies. We need to get inside and find the Crystal Heart, and we’ll be needing all horsepower we can get to find where it’s at. Since Sombra doesn’t have it right now even with all his power, we must assume that either it is hidden well or that he is unable to get to it.” “or activate it,” Sans added, nodding. He was carrying Flowey in one arm and gently covering his mouth with the other, in case the flower decided to say something that put their companion through even more stress. “listen, flutter. the sooner we get in there, the sooner we it’s over and we can all go take a nap or somethin’. if we’re lucky we can get in, find the heart, kill the core and get out. if we’re unlucky… well, let’s hope we don’t have to get into that.” Twilight shot him a look. “Seriously Sans?” she asked. “Why would you even bring up that last part?” The skeleton shrugged. “just felt like we needed to understand the difference between lucky and unlucky,” he replied. “personally, I’ve been pretty unlucky in my life. you guys on the other hand, well, you’ve been pretty lucky.” Raven Feather cleared his throat, disrupting their banter. “It’s time we move out, everypony.” “Everybody,” Flowey corrected. He tried to say something else, but was interrupted by an apple being stuffed into his mouth. He shot a glare at Applejack, who shook her head before turning back to Raven. “There’s a battlement up top that we can fly to and begin searching the keep from there,” Raven continued. “We’ll group up into two groups to cover more ground. Senior Airpony Steel Down and Airponies Heavy Hoof and Silver Hoof will be joining you four,” he gestured to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Flowey, one at a time, “in scouting out the west side.” “Didja hear that, Flowery?” Pinkie asked excitedly. “We’re on a team! We’re a team!” “Yep, we’re a team,” Flowey muttered. “And how lucky I am for it. ...And it’s FLOWEY, not FLOWERY.” “I, on the other hoof,” Raven said, turning to Sans, Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack, “will be taking you four along with Airponies Hard Shot and Inferno, and we’ll be exploring the east.” “Are you sure that’s alright?” Twilight asked him. “I don’t doubt your airponies for a second, but I believe both me and Sans are the most magically capable here. Shouldn’t one of us be with them so it’s safer?” “they’ve got flowey,” Sans told her. “he’ll keep them safe. not because he wants to or anything, just because he likes killing things.” Flowey considered that for a second, before deciding it was a good thing and nodding. “That doesn’t make me feel any better…” Twilight muttered to herself. “Relax, egghead,” Rainbow said. “If he tries anything on us, I’ll be there to stop him.” “If you run into any important contacts and have to engage,” Steel Down told them, gathering their attention, “be sure to call it in to the other group. Luna herself added a communication spell to your armor, tap the right pauldron twice for com access.” “Ohhh…” Rarity theatrically groaned. “I had forgotten about the horrid armor until just now...” “It’s either that or nothin’, Rares,” Applejack reminded her. “An’ trust me, y’all want somethin’ to protect yerself with.” Rarity pouted, but said nothing more. “Umm…” Fluttershy interjected. “I don’t mean to be a bother, but, um, which part is the pauldron?” “It’s right by your withers,” Steel said. “It’s the round part with the moon emblem on it.” “Are we all prepared now?” Raven asked. He took in the nods from everyone there, and nodded himself. “Good, let’s set out.” Later, Sombra’s Castle Sans and the rest of the group moved quickly, with him and Twilight taking out undead patrols with swift burst of magic. They searched rooms quickly, only stopping for thirty seconds at maximum if the room showed any promise of containing anything of interest. “I think this might be a fake wall,” Inferno reported. He quickly jumped out of the way as Sans snapped his fingers, and a Gaster Blaster shot directly at the wall. The group examined the wall after the blast, and noticed how it was scratched and burnt, but definitely still standing. “real wall,” Sans decided, and the group moved on. Around half an hour in total had passed before they had gotten a call in from the other team. “We have engaged and terminated an undead patrol that was guarding the entryway to the crystal heart,” Steel Down’s voice sounded. “It seemed to repel any attacks by the negative energy reanimating the undead, but only for itself. There was also a dark magic trap that caught the Element of Generosity when she attempted to retrieve the heart. Flowey destroyed it. We’re now extracting up towards the battlement and will attempt to fortify there. Be advised that we are noticing patrols in greater quantities, and patrols seem to be more durable now. Out.” The skeleton thought for a moment, considering the message they had received. Before one of his teammates could ask him what was on his mind, he made his decision and turned to the three guardsponies. “listen, you guys are going to have to protect the elements. me and birdy are going to the battlement, picking up flowey, and looking for the core.” “...I should be overruling you right now,” Raven Feather told him. “But continue.” Sans continued. “if you don’t hear back from us for at least an hour, you need to retreat. if we don’t win here, we can’t afford to lose the elements.” “You say that as if you’ll be in serious danger,” Twilight pointed out. “That’s because we are,” Raven told her bluntly. “There’s a very real chance that the core is being heavily defended, perhaps even by Sombra himself.” “But that means you might die!” “yep,” Sans sighed. “what we’re about to do is dangerous. and if we don’t do it, we’ll just be in more danger.” He shook his head for a moment. “this is why I hate making promises. it doesn’t matter how long it takes, they’re always at risk of breaking.” “Let’s go,” Raven told him. “We need to move quickly. Think you can teleport us there?” “with all this dark magic floating around?” Sans chucked, distracted from what he had been thinking about. “yeah, I could. it’ll probably take us somewhere else entirely, but I could.” “So no teleporting, then. Well, let’s get going.” “sure.” Later still, Sombra’s Castle Once again Sans found himself moving quickly through the wild and dark hallways of the castle. If anything, this time was even quicker than last time, now that he didn’t have to watch out for six other ponies. The other team’s report hadn’t lied; they were now constantly having to dodge patrols. Every corner they turned and every stairwell they came across had troops, waiting and guarding. There wouldn’t be this many guards just scattered around, so if he had to guess, Sans would say they were getting close. As they turned the next corner, staying out of another patrol’s line of sight, they saw a group of undead guards standing next to a large set of double doors. Sans glanced back at Raven Feather. “I think you might want to call this in. it's too heavily guarded to be nothing.” The sergeant nodded and turned to report to the rest of the squad and the route they had taken, while Flowey looked up at Sans. “You think that Sombra’s in those doors?” He asked. “That he teleported back to defend his castle?” “I’m not a hundred percent sure, but based on how much stronger the guards got when we found the crystal heart, I’d say so. he’s probably behind those doors now, lying in ambush and waiting for us to try and destroy his core.” Raven, who had now finished telling the rest of the squad what was going on, joined flowey and Sans in their conversation. “So, how are we going to approach this? Are you able to teleport inside?” Sans just shook his head. “never been there and there’s still a ton of dark magic, so it’ll be tricky taking people with me. unless you like maybe being moved into solid mass, it’s a bad idea. I’ll take out the guards in the front and then we’ll go in. it’s safer, and if king edge really is in there, he’ll have less guards to call in for support when we’re fighting.” Sans held up a single boney hand. A Gaster Blaster appeared directly in front of the guards that were posted at the door. Sans closed his hand. Before they could react, the blaster fired, instantly vaporizing the guards and blasting open the door. Sans, Raven and Flowey rushed into the empty room, but stopped at the darkness within. A light dusting of smoke covered the mostly empty room, making it difficult to see to see through the darkness. Even the light from outside didn’t help them see. Most smoke tended to reflect at least a bit of light, but his smoke drew in light and killed it. The door slammed shut behind them, but none of them turned to look at it. They kept their gaze on a tall, imposing throne in the center of the room. As they watched, two glowing eyes opened slowly and pierced the smoke. “The LIviNg AnD DeAd joiN aT laSt.” A black unicorn with red highlights on his mane exited the smoke, horn glowing. “It MatTErs noT, fOr FaTE hAs AlreADy PasSeD.” “Sombra,” Raven growled. Sans’ eyes darkened, and his hand twitched. He felt his magic flow through him, and sent it towards the figure. Sure enough, it was what he suspected. ‘Somber Heart/King Sombra. LV 13, EXP 12940. HP 0/0, ATK 230, DEF 100. The King of Shadows, skilled in necromancy, crystal magic, soul binding and will breaking.’ Sans pushed his magic even further. ‘Soul type: Perseverance. Also contains high amounts of Integrity, and trace amounts of Determination.’ Sans let go of the Judgement spell. That tiny bit of determination had to be what kept Sombra from simply falling apart. ‘so that explains that 0 hp thing, I guess.’ Satisfied, Sans scoffed towards Sombra. “never really believed in fate myself, to be honest. if fate existed, I’d be dead right now.” Sans lifted his hand again and summoned another Gaster Blaster, his eye becoming a shining green beacon in the darkness. “now let's see if you are really as unkillable as they say you are.” Sans closed his hand and the blaster fired, causing the unicorn to hit the back of the throne and collapse into a cloud of black smoke. Suspicious, Sans fired again, dispersing the smoke a little. After a few seconds, he lowered his hand. “You know it’s not done, right?” Flowey asked him, one eye raised. “of course,” Sans muttered, distracted. “this is too easy, and things are never this easy.” Sure enough, the smoke gathered together, and Sombra reformed on his throne, a truly awful smile on his face. “aTTacKs ArE FuTILe, yOu CANnOt KiLL wHAt CAnnOT DiE. YoU shaLL PaSS whErE yoU LIE!” Sombra’s horn lit up showering the whole room in a violet light, and a lance of purple raced towards Sans and Flowey. Sans disappeared in an instant and reappeared behind the sorcerer, launching bones as soon as he found his bearing- as in, immediately. Again they pierced the tyrant's body, only for him to pull the bones out - now bloodstained- and hurl them back at Sans. “YoUR fiGht Is PoiNtLeSS,” Sombra taunted, “yoUr PowERs WEAk. yoU CANNot kilL ME!” “listen, sombrero man,” Sans sighed in resignation, “you need to chill with the creepy voice. I realise that you are trying to be scary and all, but you’re, uh… not really succeeding at that. ‘sides, I’m not the only one you should be worried about.” At that comment a large thorny vine pierced Sombra’s barrel and came out the top of his neck. A swarm of white bullets followed, all piercing his body. The king shuddered and fell silent, his eyes darkening, before once again falling to smoke and reforming to rejoin the “living.” “ThE tiMe DrAws NEar, For yOu anD THoSe yoU hoLD deAR,” responded the necromancer as he once again launched a furious wave of attacks, both from his horn and from the waves of undead minions he called upon and spawned. Flowey sighed as he was pulled away from a wave of crystals spreading across the ground, courtesy of Sans. “I’m starting to think that this guy really is unkillable… we need to find that core, and fast.” Raven Feather snorted as he pounded yet another corpse back to where it came. “You think? I’m just not sure as to where he’s keeping it… He regenerates at the throne, so maybe it’s encased in it?” Sans grunted as the Gaster Blaster he was was using as a shield was destroyed by a beam from Sombra. “it’s a good a guess as any.” He glanced over at Flowey, who was occupied with strangling multiple corpses at once. “hey, weed. I’ll try and distract him, you think you can break open the throne with your vines?” Flowey threw his victims against the far wall and smirked at Sans. “Across all the different timelines that we’ve fought, Sans… and you think a simple stone throne can stop me?” Sans laughed dryly at that, flicking a hand and idly setting up a cage of blue bones to encase several minions. “I dunno know, you’ve been stopped before by a child with a stick before. you sure you’re up for destroying the throne?” Flowey rolled his eyes dramatically, ducking through the crystal floor to dodge a dark blast. “We both know that child is a special case.” “fair point. now ready up, we go on three.” “One,” began Flowey. “Two,” Raven continued. “dIE!” Sombra shouted. “three!” finished Sans quickly. At that moment all three moved. Sans summoned a massive swarm of bones and sent them all at Sombra, clashing with the crystals Sombra had just launched towards them. Raven Feather moved to protect Flowey from the abominations that were now flooding in through the doors. Flowey grew vines with red flowers on the ends. The flowers quickly bloomed into metal drills, and he began to drill into the throne, slowly making progress through the dense stone. Sans called out to Sombra over the clash of bones and crystals. “you know, this isn’t like most of my fights. you’re already dead where you stand. all I have to do is enforce it!” Sombra considered Sans for a moment, before chuckling and flaring his horn. Unlike the other times, where his horn was an ugly mixture of purple, green and black, this aura was a fairly uniform blue. Flowey stopped as he and Sans were encased in a blue aura. “YouR GreATesT feARs cAn NevER cHangE or HiDE. WatCH as i CAll UpoN tHE ThiNg yOU FeAr mOSt!” Sombra’s horn crackled with dark energy again, and Sans suddenly felt a violent tugging at his soul. He looked down, and his revealed soul was writhing in a pool of purple and green. He snapped his fingers quickly, turning his own soul blue and dispelling the dark clouds that were floating around it. Confident in his success, he looked back up to gloat to Sombra, but paused. Sombra seemed just as smug as he was before, but he wasn’t the center of the skeleton’s focus. Behind him, a brightly glowing orb of light flickered quickly between light green and blue. A smaller orb of purple and a darker green flashed inside it. “What’s he doing!?” Raven called. Sans had no idea. Something to do with what he just did to their souls. Whatever it was, it was definitely better if he didn’t get to do it. “flowey, destroy the throne quick!” Flowey only nodded before returning his focus to rapidly drilling into the throne, carving out large chunks of obsidian. Above him, Sombra grunted in pain. The orb of light suddenly shifted, flashing rapidly from red to blue. Sombra gave another wicked smile despite the pain he was in. “thE INStrumENt yOU fEAR Is noW HerE. WeLcOME yoUR DOOM!” The orb spluttered and sparked as Sombra pushed more magic into it. Flowey looked up, still drilling into the throne, as it began to emit a high-pitched whine. They all felt, rather than heard, a low rumbling underneath the squeal. And suddenly, after several seconds, everything fell silent and something fell out. It hit the ground and stayed there, unmoving. Despite the now static green light coming off from the orb, it was too dark to see what it was. The most they could tell was that it seemed vaguely green. Flowey gasped lightly. The whole room froze. Even Raven turned to look at it, as all the corpses had collapsed when it fell. Sombra slowly approached the shape on the ground and shoved a hoof into it. “WhaT maNNer oF cReatuRe is thIs?” He looked back over to Flowey and Sans, the former’s pupils having shrunk in fear and the latter’s filled with confusion. He began to laugh, loudly and darkly. “A cHilD? ThiS iS yOUr gReaTEs-” His laugh was replaced by a quiet gurgle as a knife found its way into his throat. The child picked itself up and looked around. “Ahhh… His voice was getting rather annoying. You are welcome for me shutting him up. Now, where am I?” Sombra once again regenerated at the throne, ignoring Sans’ gasp and more furious than ever. “YOU DARE?” he questioned, purple fire burning from his eyes. “Geez, Mr. Dark and Broody, you need to chill. At least greet me before threats.” The small child turned to the throne, knife glowing. “Well… I suppose you did bring me to a place with new friends to play with. It was getting terribly boring back down there. So, as thanks, I shall do just a LITTLE property damage to you, and then I will kill you. It would be foolish to just leave free EXP lying around now, right?” The child walked lazily to the throne and swung her arm, knife in hand. Her knife carved through the throne, and a mark of red stayed behind and cut itself deeper into the stone. If she was surprised, she did a good job at hiding it. She slashed again, and once more. After the third slice, the throne began to crumble and crackle. She swung once more, and the throne fell apart, a dark red energy escaping through the top. “No! nO! HoW DAre YoU aTtaCk Me? i aM yoUr SummOnER! YoU ArE tiEd to mY wiLL! OBEYING ME IS YOUR FATE!” The girl turned to look at him, before giving a laugh darker than one he had ever given. “I never was one to believe in fate.” Without taking another step, she suddenly swiped her arm out, leaving a frozen red mark in the air. Her arm returned to her side, and the mark suddenly leapt forward towards Sombra. It cut into his chest before he could dodge, and he fell forward with little more than a gasp. A purple heart appeared over his body, shaking violently- And Chara grabbed it in her hand and squeezed until it shattered. “Now, onto the others…” She turned back around, a smile on her face which vanished when she saw who her opponents were. Her eyes narrowed, “Oh. You.” Her grin returned stronger than ever. “Well, well, well. After killing an evil unicorn, I expected a lot of things- but YOU weren’t one of them! So this is where you had run off, is it? How are you doing, it has been so long since I have last saw you, huh? Oh, and Flowey! We really need to catch up! Especially after you left oh so rudely! Give my regards to Alphys, by the way.” The knife in her hand gleamed evilly. Raven Feather leaned to Flowey, who was trembling with fear, and whispered, “You know this thing?” Flowey could only nod stiffly in response. “chara…” Sans growled out. “I thought I was finally done with you.” Chara laughed again. “Oh, comedian. You always find a way to make me laugh, don’t you? ...Actually, wait, never mind. This is the first time you have made me laugh. Hmm.” Chara considered that, before shrugging and turning back to the monster. “In any case, you were wrong. You will NEVER escape me.” “chara…” Sans’ eye blazed green, and a blaster appeared beside him. It was joined by another, and another. “listen to me, demon. we’re done being hunted for your twisted game. this is your final chance to turn back. go back to the underground, and never step foot here again.” “Hmm, yes, I shall take it into consideration…” Chara seemed bored by the conversation. “Honestly, my least favorite thing about you is how much you insist on standing in your way. We all know I will win, so why are you even fighting?” “how do you know you’ll win?” The skeleton’s words sounded more like a threat than a challenge. “It’s simple, comedian. I can do something that you can’t.” Chara’s hand moved to the side, and seemed to push down on something invisible- *Determination. *File SAVED. “That.” Sans breathed heavily through his teeth, and turned to Flowey. Flowey looked shocked, and barely responded to Sans’ look. Chara hummed to herself, and decided on something. “You know what? I think I will let you live for now. Go on, little skeleton. Run and hide with your friends. I think I shall see what this world has to offer me. Only THEN will I come for you.” Sans stared her down for a few seconds. “you know, I hate you.” “I hate you too, comedian. See you then.” And with that, Chara walked towards the wall, struck it with her knife and made her own way out. Everyone watched her go, with Flowey slowly stopping his trembling and Sans’ eye reverting from a green blaze back to a dark void. “we have to go.” Sans grabbed Flowey with one hand, and Raven with the other. He thought for a moment, and gathered his magic. Chara felt the world stop, and smiled to herself. Hunting prey was so much more fun when it ran. Five minutes later, Canterlot Castle Celestia teleported into the throne room to see the Elements of Harmony, and Luna’s special forces unit. They were all surrounding Flowey and were speaking to him questioningly. Coughing lightly to get their attention, they all turned to face her. “Princess Celestia!” Twilight greeted warmly. “My dearest student, I am glad to see that you are unharmed. How did your mission go?” In truth, Celestia already had a fair idea of how the mission went. All of Sombra’s creations were no longer reanimated, which could only mean he had been defeated. “Well, after all of the zombies that were attacking us died, Sans teleported up to us and told us we needed to leave,” Pinkie returned. “He was really serious, it was kinda creepy…” Celestia turned to Raven Feather, concerned. “Where is Sans now then? He did teleport with you, correct?” The Sergeant bowed his head, “Indeed, your majesty. Sans did teleport us back, after a brief conflict with a creature that Sombra summoned into this world. He was unable to subdue the creature, but retreated with us after being, for lack of a better word, ‘spared.’ After returning with us Sans teleported off again. He appeared to be shaken by the creature.” Celestia frowned. That didn’t sound like Sans at all, he had faced down Chrysalis without so much as a blink. “Did this creature have a name?” “Yes your majesty, I believe Sans referred to it as…” Raven thought to himself. “I… I’m sorry, your majesty, I can’t remember what he-” “Chara.” Celestia’s eyes widened at Flowey’s voice. She looked down, and saw him in his pot. His petals were drooping, and he sounded defeated. “It was Chara.” “You…” Celestia shook her head. “Are you certain that is what he said?” “I was there,” he reminded her, but he didn’t have the energy to be snarky. “It was Chara. She’s here.” Celestia was silent for a long time. Inside, her mind was racing. If the demon Sans had described was truly here… “Master Sergeant Raven Feather, I will need you to give a full debriefing to Luna when she returns. I need to go now, I’m afraid.” “Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked. “Where are you going?” “Sans.” Celestia teleported away, not bothering to explain beyond that single word. Ten minutes later, Celestia’s room When Celestia found Sans, her heart nearly broke in two. He was sitting on the bed in his room completely still, with a very confused Papyrus holding on to him. Papyrus appeared to be saying something to Sans, but if he heard it, he didn’t answer. Celestia walked in, and tried to get a look at Sans’ face. She didn’t know what she was expecting. Perhaps he was just asleep, or angry. He may have even been crying, like the day he came to her world. But instead, he looked completely apathetic. Like with his brother, if he knew Celestia was there, he didn’t show it. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Eventually she gave up and sat beside Sans. One of her wings stretched out to Sans, and she pulled him into a hug. Papyrus looked at her, nodded and, without a word, sat down on his other side and wrapped his arms around his brother. ‘It was Chara.’ Flowey’s defeated voice echoed in her mind, and she shook her head slightly. Just from what Sans had told her, she knew of the danger Chara possessed. Now that the demon was here, what were they going to do? Editor's note: Honestly, this story is a joy to help with. I feel like the last line of defense for it before it goes out, and that just makes me feel nice. I remember when I read the first chapter of the story. It had potential, but it needed editing. And then a request for an editor was made. And then I offered to edit, and, well... it's just been good times all around. I won't lie when I say editing for this story is often the highlight of my day. For this chapter specifically, I was in the middle of dinner when I saw the message. I, uh... I think my supper's still in the fridge. I should go eat that eventually. But, yeah. I'm just glad I could be a part of this, and I can't thank EmeraldLeafeon enough for accepting my help. It'll be a while until a new chapter is out, but that's fine. Just because it'll be gone for a little bit doesn't mean it's fated to die off. And even if it is... I'm not one to believe in fate. I guess that makes three.