//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: My Little Pony: Lights and Shadows - Part III // by OmegaTale //------------------------------//                 Never before had a night in Canterlot been so somber and silent as it was that night.  Following the destruction of the castle, the Crystal Empire once again came under siege from the natural powers of the Frozen North.  Without the Crystal Heart there to protect them, the crystal ponies were forced to evacuate while their empire, their home, fell to an icy fate.                 The bitter loss of the northern-most kingdom bared down hard upon the princesses, who organized the sanctuary of the crystal ponies south of the Wilds.  This hardship was made worse with the prospect of dread drawn from the red star that grew larger and larger in the skies above.                 East of Canterlot, the land became black and lifeless beneath the shadowy influence of Erebus and his magic.  Slowly, the crimson shadow of the Red Star reached out across Equestria, bathing the land in its horrifying glow.  Hope became more scarce by the hour, and even though the ponies living in that region evacuated as well, it was becoming increasingly more apparent that something terrible was about to happen.                 The crystal ponies were granted asylum within Canterlot, but since the city could not hold them all, a temporary encampment was made just outside the city’s gates.  Thousands of ponies… all made homeless in the wake of Erebus’ return.  Their once shimmering, crystal coats became dull and lackluster once again, just like they had been upon the empire’s return all those years ago.  Dozens of relief missions had been launched to supply them with food and shelter while a more permanent solution for their loss was underway.                 King Gale had arrived from Griffonstone upon hearing what had happened, all of the leaders of the world’s kingdoms gathering in the throne room of Canterlot.  Eyes were turned to the east, where even now the Shadow Alicorn remained, awaiting the completion of his spell.                 “So… what do we do?” Spike asked, still looking out the window.                 Garble huffed.  “I’ll tell you what we do; we go and we take that loser down.”                 Luna shook her head.  “His magic is too powerful.”                 King Gale turned to the princesses.  “You don’t know that, we can summon our armies here, surround him, and then end him.”                 “He brought down the empire’s castle with a single spell,” Luna snapped at the griffon, turning away from them all and walking away a few steps.  “Imagine what devastation he could cause if we were to confront him on an open field.”                 “Well we can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Ember growled, her gaze rising to the star that shined almost too bright to look at in the sky.  “Whatever that thing is, I get the feeling we don’t want him to finish his spell.”                 Gale turned to the Dragon Lord.  “Hold your tongue, you sat and watched with the rest of the crowd whilst that monstrosity came into being!  Don’t you go assuming things to which you know nothing about!”                 Ember turned on the griffon king, the both of them glaring at one another.  “Oh yeah?!  And where were you your royal featherbrain?!  Out there searching for a black dragon that just so happened to be at the empire and caused all of this in the first place!”                 Twilight flew in between them, pushing the two apart.  “That’s enough!”  She looked to Gale.  “None of us knew that was going to happen, Stormclaw planned for us to bring Shadow to the empire, for all we know, he and Chrysalis orchestrated him heading there.”  She then looked to Ember.  “And fighting amongst ourselves is not going to help.”                 Both the griffon and the dragon parted ways, knowing she was right.  Rainbow looked to Sombra.  “And you didn’t know anything about all of this?”                 Sombra remained looking out the window at the blackened land to the east.  “The unicorn Starlight came to me with her suspicions.  It was only after she did that I realized we had played right into that dragon’s claws.”  He glanced over at them all.  “Neither Chrysalis or I knew anything about what he was planning, it was all a part of his scheme; to use us in order to reach this point.”                 Now that it had been brought up, Thorax stepped in.  “Where did Chrysalis disappear to?”                 Twilight shook her head.  “We don’t know… all it took was for us to take our eyes off of her for a moment and she escaped.  However, I think Sombra is right, she couldn’t have known that’s what he was planning.”                 “Ah don’t get it,” Applejack said, looking down for a moment before glancing back up.  “How does that there Stormclaw know so much bout all this magic stuff?  Ain’t dragons s’posed to be unable to use magic?”                 “He isn’t just a dragon.” Celestia finally spoke, and spoke softly.  Everyone turned to her in silence.  “He is part Alicorn.”                 “WHAT?!” Everyone who didn’t already know blurted out at once.                 Luna cut in.  “We will spare you the details for now, all that matters is that we find a way to stop Erebus before his spell is complete.”                 “Shadow.” Fluttershy said quietly, making everyone go silent again.  She lifted her head, speaking more boldly.  “His name… is Shadow.”                 Cadence, who was exhausted just like everypony else at this point, sighed.  “It’s not him anymore, Fluttershy…”                 “He is still in there somewhere…” Fluttershy continued.  “We can’t just… just…”                 Rarity and Pinkie were able to reach her before she started to cry.  Twilight’s ears went flat to her head as she didn’t dare to imagine how much this hurt the shy pegasus.  “Girls… could you bring Fluttershy back to our room and keep her company?”                 Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie all nodded, helping Fluttershy up onto her hooves as they all walked out from the throne room.  The atmosphere in the chamber had become more downcast at the sight of the weeping mare.                 Turning back to them all, Twilight took a deep breath.  “We all… lost a very dear friend of ours… but perhaps there is still a way to bring him back.”                 Celestia’s ears perked up, but she said nothing.  Gale looked to Twilight, unconvinced.  “Although I wasn’t there to see it, I have my doubts your friend can ever return, Princess Twilight.”                 “Twilight…” Ember said, unsure of what to say.  “I don’t think he’s coming back.”                 Twilight closed her eyes, having to take another breath.  The dark spell Erebus had cast over the sky kept it dark even through the shine of the sun, gone now and replaced with the moon.  Dawn was soon to be upon them and many of the leaders in that chamber had not slept.  Starfall recognized Twilight’s fatigue, lifting a hoof up onto her shoulder.  She opened her eyes and looked at him, smiling best she could and nodding to tell him she was alright.  She then returned her gaze to the rest of them.                 “I don’t know exactly what’s happened to Shadow…” She said, trying her best to cling to the hope she and Fluttershy had for him.  “But like so many before him, we need to believe he can come back to us.  Our friendship meant the world to him… I agree with Fluttershy, there must be some part of him left that remembers.”                 The doors to the throne room opened, drawing the attention of everyone to them.  Zecora stepped into view.  Celestia looked to her, slightly confused.  “Zecora?”                 “Apologies, my princess, I know you all have been busy of late.” The zebra replied.  “Someone has come to meet you, and help us all prevent Equestria’s fate.”                 Aura Song, the elder of the lost village of the nymphs, stepped beside Zecora.  Shock filled all four princesses, leaving them speechless in the presence of the presumed extinct nymph.                 “Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight,” Aura said to them, bowing her head.  “We come with aid from our home, and it seems we arrived just in time.”                 “You’re…” Luna said, still trying to form the words.  “You’re a…”                 Celestia then caught what the elder had said.  “We?”                 Everyone turned to the windows once again, where they witnessed dozens of carts of food entering the city through its gates, led on by dozens more nymphs of all colors.  They moved, without delay, to bring their relief to the crystal ponies.                 The five ponies sat in different places all over the room.  Rarity stood by the window, pretending to be examining the curtains while she really watched the darkened sky outside.  Applejack was lying down on her bed with her hat in her hooves as she spun it around.  Rainbow, similarly, was lying on her bed with her own hooves tucked back and underneath her neck.  Pinkie kept herself entertained by reading a copy of the Clover’s Dictionary at the table.  All this while Fluttershy brushed at her mane with her hooves while sitting upright on her bed.                 The air about the room was thick with tension.  Each pony wanted to say something, but none of them were quite sure how best to begin.  With everything that had happened, and everything they went through in the weeks leading up to it, the five of them came to realize they hadn’t been all that close as of late.  It wasn’t that they were growing distant from each other, but with the constant threat of Stormclaw burdening them, they hadn’t gotten nearly any time to just enjoy one another’s company.                 Before that, their experiences with the ancient crystals had severely crippled their morale.  It had seemingly disappeared for the Grand Galloping Gala… but the events of that night only made everything so much worse.  And finally when everything looked to be piecing itself together again… this happened.                 They were reluctant to let it show up until now, but losing Shadow to this… this creature, it was just too much.  So now here they were, silent and still, trying to find the words to carry on and help one another out from this despair.                 Fluttershy paused, lowering her hooves down to her bed sheets.  “Girls?”  They all looked to her around the same time.  “You all know how much I care about you, right?”                 “Of course we do, sugar cube.” Applejack replied, sitting upright.                 Rarity walked to Fluttershy’s side, nuzzling her.  “We’re the best of friends, nothing will ever change that.”                 The shy pegasus began to get more emotional, taking in a sharp breath.  “I just… don’t want you to think that… that I…”                 Rainbow floated down onto the opposite side of Fluttershy than Rarity.  “It’s okay, Fluttershy, with everything that’s been happening… we’ve just been kinda… distracted, you know?”                 “I’m so scared,” She replied, her eyes swelling with tears.  “I’ve never been so afraid for anypony in my life…”  She looked up and around at all of them.  “I want him back… I just want everything back to the way it was… before all of these terrible things happened.”                 Pinkie hopped on over as well, all four now closely consoling their crestfallen friend.  “Everything will, Fluttershy…” She said with a smile.  “We just gotta believe it will… for us, for Shadow, and everypony else.”                 Fluttershy looked at her, vision blurry from the tears.  “But he… I…”                 “We know, darling.” Rarity told her, hushing the pegasus in an instant.  The unicorn smiled, looking around at everypony else.                 “Y’all are more than just friends.” Applejack added in, smiling as well.  “Ain’t too hard to see, what with ya always wantin’ to be around ‘em and all.”                 “Yeah, it’s totally cool, Fluttershy.” Rainbow said, chuckling a bit.  “Shadow is awesome, and we couldn’t be happier for you.”                 Fluttershy looked around at all of them as they spoke, her heart nearly stopping as she turned back to Pinkie, who said, “No matter what happens, we have to keep believing in Shadow… he never stopped believing in us, right?”  Pinkie giggled, her smile brightening even more.  “I mean, he’s super fun to be around!  He knows how to PAR-TAY like a real party pony!  And have you ever heard his laugh?  It’s almost as contagious as mine!”  The beaming joy on Pinkie’s face hammered away at the remaining despair in the room, and her cutie mark began to give off a faint glow.                 Applejack chuckled at Pinkie’s remark, tipping her hat to Fluttershy.  “He’s a real partner, always willin’ to do his best to make our days just a slight bit easier.  If ah knew nuthin’ else about ‘em, that would be more than enough.  No matter what came his way, he always kept true to his word.”  As with Pinkie, AJ’s cutie mark lit up as well.                 “I have an eye for beauty,” Rarity added in, swishing her mane back.  “And Shadow stood out brighter than any star I’ve ever seen.  He asked me for lessons just so he could dance with you at the gala; and he did so beautifully.” She smiled and batted her eyes.  “He had been far more generous to any of us than I had seen anypony been in a long time.”  Just as the unicorn finished, her cutie mark began to faintly glow.                 Rainbow scoffed, flicking her mane back as well.  “And I don’t even think I need to say it; Shadow is just awesome!  I mean, to keep Stormclaw from finishing his plans, he was willing to move to the Crystal Empire forever, just to protect us from whatever scheme that bonehead dragon was up to!  If that’s not loyalty, I don’t know what is.”  Like with the others, the cutie mark on the blue pegasus’ flank gave off a dim shine.                 It came her very core, the warmth, the powerful feeling that came to overwhelm her despair.  From all of her friends, Fluttershy felt, once again, the reason why they had to believe.  For each other, for their friendships, for Shadow.  Her tears stopped falling, and her lips curved into the smallest of smiles.  Her cutie mark began to glow just like all the others, the five mares joining in for a group hug.  “You’re right…” She said, closing her eyes tight.  “Shadow is still inside there somewhere… and we need to save him.”                 “Girls…?” asked a familiar voice from over near the doorway.  Everypony turned to see Discord standing there, his claw and paw cupped together and his head hanging somewhat low.                 “Discord?” Fluttershy asked, the five separating upon seeing the draconequus so fragile-looking, much like how he was in his times of self-doubt in the past.                 Applejack tilted her head.  “Hold on just a sec; where were you during the festival?”                 Rarity perked up.  “Oh yes, that’s right, you were there…”                 “What the hay, Discord?!” Rainbow snapped.  “Did you decide to just take a vacation during the one moment we actually needed you?”                 It was Fluttershy that knew something was wrong before all the others.  Pinkie must have picked up on it next since she didn’t say anything regarding his absence.  His ears were flat to his head, and he looked absolutely destroyed on the inside.                 “I was there…” He said quietly.  “But when I saw-” He then flinched, stopping himself mid-sentence as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.  “When I saw him, I remembered hearing his voice in my head… I remembered everything, as if I’d just awakened from a dream.”                 “Oh, Discord…” Pinkie said, her own ears going flat.  “Twilight told us about how you looked into Shadow’s mind and got hurt-”                 “No,” He interrupted her, shaking his head.  “It was over a thousand years ago, back before I wanted nothing but Chaos.”  Wanting to skip a certain part, he carried on.  “Something happened that hurt me… so much so that I was willing to do anything to make the pain go away…”  He opened his eyes in a flash.  “That’s when I heard the voice in my head… it told me a way to forget my pain… and surrender myself solely to Chaos.”                 This was an alarming confession, so much so that none of the mares dared say a word for fear of him stopping.  They had never heard Discord speak about his past before, not even Fluttershy.  The draconequus walked in and saton the bed beside them all.                 “I didn’t listen at first…” He continued.  “But not long after Sombra had his way with the Crystal Empire… I felt like I had no choice anymore.  I gave in to it… that voice… and it granted me incredible power, at a terrible cost.” He lowered his head again.  “I knew what it was doing to me, but as the pain fell away… I didn’t care anymore… not until you girls showed me true friendship.”                 The girls watched Discord with shimmering eyes, a completely new level of respect for him rising in their hearts as they finally discovered the secret behind his past.  Pinkie was the first to hug him, then Fluttershy, and then AJ, Rarity, and Rainbow.  He flinched, but then quickly hugged them all as well, eyes closing tight as he felt that same warmth inside him.                 “I’m so sorry…” He told them, taking in a sharp breath.  “From this point on, I will never let any of you down.”                 Fluttershy nuzzled Discord.  “You never lost your friendships, Discord.  They’ve always been there in your heart.”                 Discord took a deep breath and set all five of the ponies down, reigning himself in.  “Yes, hmm, right!  What’s the plan my friends?” He exclaimed, making all matters of weapons appear around him as an army helmet dropped down on his head.  “To the frontlines and beat down that gloomy nightshade?”                 Fluttershy giggled a bit, lifting her hoof up onto his paw.  “No, not quite.  Come on, we need to go talk to the princesses.”                 “So… you’ve been living in that hidden village ever since?” Celestia asked Aura Song, who nodded.  The princess then looked to her sister.  “And to think, all this time, we thought the nymphs were all gone.”                 Luna looked from her back to the elder.  “And where is this, Leonyx, now?”                 “I appointed a group of adults to stay and watch over the young while we brought aid here to Canterlot,” Aura explained.  “Leonyx remained there to continue protecting the entrance in our absence.”                 “Such a shame,” Luna said, looking back to Celestia.  “Sounds like we could’ve used his help here against Erebus.”                 King Gale stepped up.  “We have all already sent word to our homelands to bring forth our armies.  It matters not how powerful you claim this Shadow Alicorn to be; he cannot possibly withstand an attack from us griffons, the dragons, the changelings, and ponies at the same time.”                 Twilight was steadily losing her struggle to keep force from being used.  Gale and Ember seemed convinced that the only way to proceed would be to destroy Erebus and therefore halt his doomsday spell.                 “There is another way!” Fluttershy said aloud as she and her companions arrived in the throne room.                 Twilight spun around in total surprise.  “Fluttershy?”                 “Shadow is still in there somewhere,” She said urgently, the six of them joining the group of leaders.  “We can still bring Shadow back!”                 Gale looked at them all, befuddled.  “And how in the world could you possibly know that?”                 “Because we’re his friends!” Rainbow yelled, landing down hard on the floor with her wings spread out wide.  “Shadow would never give up on us, so we can’t give up on him!”                 Thorax stayed quiet, but Ember shook her head.  “You saw what he did, Rainbow.  You honestly think the Shadow you know could do something like that?”                 “But that ain’t him,” Applejack said, trotting up to the middle of the group.  “That there Erebus had to have been the voice in Shadow’s head.  Fluttershy must be right; if there’s a chance, we gotta save him.”                 Celestia looked at them all, pondering to herself.  Sombra looked at her, and then over at the mares who were offering up this idea.  “How would you accomplish this?”                 The question hit them all like a brick wall.  Despite their enthusiasm, they had no real ideas outside of talking to him and making Shadow come back.  The gap of silence was quick to ware away at the leaders’ belief in the notion of saving him.                 “Twilight.” Celestia said softly, gaining her once-pupil’s attention.  “I would ask that you and your friends give us some time to think this over.  Ready or not, we must act before the day’s end, so we should all take this time to reflect on the best way to do so.”                 Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but she had been shut down practically the entire time she tried to speak, so she closed her mouth and nodded, turning to her friends.  “Come on, let’s go back to our room and get some rest; we are going to need it, everyone.”                 She walked past Starfall, the five mares, Spike, and Discord, all who followed her out from the throne room.  Celestia’s ears went flat to her head as they exited the chamber, turning her gaze back to the others.                 Hours passed since everyone had met in the throne room.  Peaceful sleep eluded them all, and when they awakened, the red glow from the windows only appeared stronger than when they had closed their eyes.  With no real plan in place, the thought of the confrontation was overpowering.                 Shining Armor had been taking care of Flurry Heart with Sunburst, Starlight, and Moon Frost while everypony else had been debating on how best to proceed.  Starlight and Moon found their way back to the room, where they too were given the chance to rest.  Although it was day, the darkened sky made it impossible to tell.  This played with the ponies’ minds as they woke up on occasion, confused for only a few moments as it was still dark outside and around them.                 Starfall sat just inside the door, watching over them all whilst most of them slept.  He knew he would find no rest, not with the impending confrontation within plain sight.  The girls had managed to keep their spirits high, and so he tried his best to do so as well.  He thought if they saw him keeping watch that it would help them feel more at ease, and maybe even help them sleep better.                 Stepping into the room from the hall, Garble paused, seeing the ponies most all asleep or halfway to it.  He then glanced over at Starfall, who shared the look.  The red dragon walked to the opposite side of him and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.                 “You aren’t tired?” He asked the pegasus.                 “Of course I am,” Starfall replied.  “But with everything that’s happened, everything that’s about to happen… there’s no way I could sleep a wink.”                 Garble huffed.  “Can’t argue with that.”                 “Knowing you, I bet you could.” Starfall scoffed.                 The dragon glared at him, holding the glare for a few more seconds before breaking into a chuckle, shaking his head.  “You aren’t half bad, Starfall.  You would’ve been one awesome dude if you had been born a dragon.”                 Starfall managed a chuckle.  “Gee, thanks.”                 The two were so caught up in their little talk that neither of them noticed Moon and Rarity walking up to them.  By the time they did, the two mares were already right in front of them.  They didn’t have long to react before Moon spoke.  “I wanted to thank you two… and Rainbow, for coming to save me back there… it was very brave.”                 Garble was able to brush off the gratitude rather easily, but Starfall nodded to her, smiling.  Rarity looked from him to Garble, who was trying his best to pretend not to be listening.  “You,” She said, managing to acquire his gaze.  “Walk with me.”                 Without another word, Rarity walked out from the room, leaving the three of them there rather speechless.  Garble huffed, shaking his head as he followed after the unicorn.  Starfall and Moon looked back to one another, both shrugging.                 After they were a ways down the hall, Garble snorted out a puff of smoke.  “What do you want now?”                 Rarity stopped, pausing for a moment, which halted and puzzled the red dragon.  “While I still think you’re a bit of a brute, and you have miles to go when it comes to your manners…” She said, making the dragon roll his eyes.  She then turned around.  “I was wrong about you, and I apologize.”                 It took Garble a few seconds to process that, and he stared at her during those seconds with a fair amount of confusion.  “What?  Because I helped save what’s-her-face?”                 “Moon Frost.” Rarity corrected him, a blank expression on her face when she said it.                 “Like I care,” the red dragon scoffed, looking away and crossing his arms.  “Ember told me I had an obligation to protect you ponies if ever you were in need of it.”                 Rarity eyed him.  “So you were just following orders then?”  Garble hesitated, snorting out another puff of smoke and making an agitated sound.  “You didn’t enjoy being the hero?  Like you were during the gala?”                 Garble turned back around suddenly.  “Starfall was the bigshot hero.  He got himself blown up, all I did was hold off Stormclaw until the rest of you broke free of the crystals.”                 “You risked yourself just as much as Starfall did.” Rarity pointed out.  “And it was only after you saw him get hurt that you were able to fight Stormclaw anyway.”                 “What’s your point?” Garble huffed.                 Rarity lifted her hoof up onto his arm, which itself made Garble’s expression soften in half-shock.  “My point is… thank you.”                 She stood there for a moment more before lowering her hoof back to the floor and returning back down the hall.  The red dragon watched as she walked away, then looked down, and then glanced back up at her again as she disappeared beyond the doorway.  He wanted to grimace, turn away and mutter something under his breath, but he didn’t.  The smile was small, and slow to come to his face, but it came all the same.  Tilting his head, he chuckled and shook it slowly, turning and walking down the hall in the opposite direction.                 Turning about on her bed, Starlight’s eyes opened slowly and just barely.  After a few long blinks, her vision honed in on her surroundings and she lifted her head slightly.  Most everyone was asleep, with Starfall and Moon up near the door talking to one another.                 It was only when she saw an empty bed that she realized Twilight wasn’t there.  Sitting upright, she glanced around a bit more, to be sure she didn’t miss seeing her somewhere else in the room.  The room they had been given was the Canterlot Castle Suite, which had several rooms, the bedroom large enough to fit their multiple beds.  Starlight looked over to the staircase leading up a floor, jumping down from her bed and walking to it after a bit of a stretch.                 The upper-most level of the suite was the top of the tower, which usually hosted a beautiful view of Equestria.  Only now the world was dark, and the now brightest source of light bathed the lands in its crimson glow.  It was there, just shy of the railing, that the Princess of Friendship sat.                 “Twilight?” She asked, walking over to and sitting beside her friend.  “Are you okay?”                 The purple Alicorn didn’t reply at first, her eyes cast upon the lands east of the castle.  It was there, somewhere within that now pitch black region of land that her friend remained.  It took a few seconds for her to shake her head to Starlight’s question.  “No… I’m not.”                 Starlight tilted her head for but a moment.  “Sorry, dumb question.”  She then re-acquired her seriousness.  “The others and I are worried…”                 “And you have every right to be.” Twilight said quietly, gesturing with a nod to the lands beyond.  “Our friend is down there, trapped inside this… Erebus… and no matter how hard I try to imagine a way to save him… I can’t.”                 Starlight nuzzled her friend lightly.  “We’ll find a way… together, all of us.”                 “But the girls…” Twilight began to say.                 “They are more fired up than Rainbow before a race,” Starlight insisted.  “Spike told me that when they returned to their room, they raised each other’s spirits… that’s why they returned to the throne room, they are more driven now than they’ve ever been!”                 Twilight looked at her, and then looked back out at the region to the east.  “But Stormclaw… his crystals drained the magic of the Elements of Harmony from them, he said so himself.  What can we do to stop him?”                 Starlight gave the princess a smile.  “You once told me that the Elements of Harmony are more than just stones.  That they are symbols of the power that lies within each of you, the ponies who represent them the most.”  She lifted a hoof to Twilight’s chest.  “You said that when Nightmare Moon destroyed the stones, and your friends came to your aid, that you felt the spark, and that it awakened the power of the elements within you… maybe the power of the elements isn’t gone... maybe you just need to feel that spark once again.”                 “Starlight…” Twilight managed, blinking a few times.                 “Shadow is our friend,” Starlight continued, lowering her hoof back down to the floor.  “Everyone he’s ever met will tell you he’s a good pony, and I know you know that.  Despite his hardships, despite his struggles, they always bring us closer together.  When he became lost to the sound of his name at Neighagra Falls, we came together and saved him.  When that magical storm threatened Ponyville, do you remember what he said?  He thought about us, all of us, and it freed him from the voice.” She smiled again, shaking her head.  “He’s not gone, how could he be?  Somepony as good as that can’t just disappear.”                 The more Twilight thought about Shadow now, the more she came to see Starlight was right.  He showed and proved that he too represented the Elements of Harmony just like the rest of them; Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity… he had them all.  When they came together, and he had his friends at his side, his power grew to unimaginable levels.  Without the burdens of his past there to weigh him down, he became a beacon of hope to his friends and to all Equestria.                 Twilight flinched, looking down at her cutie mark.  The star on her flank glowed faintly, shimmering like a real star.  She paused, but then looked back up at Starlight.  “You are one of the best friends a pony could have, Starlight.”                 The tow hugged one another, and Starlight felt her smile only widen as she closed her eyes.  “…I had a really good teacher.”                 The Red Star was massive now, with flares on its surface so bright, it challenged the intensity of the sun.  Celestia wondered what ponies all across Equestria thought it was.  Countless inquiries had been made from every city and town about what the star was and how frightened it had begun to make everypony.  What questions were asked had been met by silence on behalf of the princesses, for they had been busy with the evacuation of the Crystal Empire, and now with the planned confrontation of the Shadow Alicorn himself.                 As she stood there, looking out at the darkened lands below, Celestia felt only sadness.  She had seen Shadow for who he was, a kind, gentle pony that loved his friends, loved his home, and everypony in it.  She saw it in the courage of his heart several times, and no matter what the others said, she couldn’t help feel that fighting him was wrong.                 When all the facts were laid against her, she remembered what Etherus had told her:                 “If we were to stand in the way of a pony’s or dragon’s shadowy dreams, his desire to fulfill them will only grow.  But if he was shown a brighter dream, not by force, but by example, perhaps the choice he eventually faces will make him wonder if the shadows is what he truly wants.”                 It repeated in the princess’ head over and over again.  She said pony’s or dragon’s… was she speaking about Arkane?  Or perhaps… that whole time she was really warning Celestia about Erebus.  In the end, Arkane made his choice and was untouched by any of the attempts made to help him.  But Erebus… living as Shadow all this time, maybe that’s what she meant.                 “It would seem you seek solitude more so than even myself.” Sombra said softly, walking to Celestia’s side.                 “Tell me what to do.” Celestia replied almost immediately, which made Sombra glance at her, slightly surprised she said such a thing.  She turned to him with worried eyes.  “I do not know the way… tell me what I should do.”                 The unicorn lord paused, glancing back out at the reddened lands beyond the mountain.  “I see no other way than to fight.”  This reply made Celestia sigh, facing forward as well.  “However…” He continued, sitting down.  “Your pupil, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends have proven more than once how little I truly know about power.”                 Celestia looked back at him, sitting as well.  “What do you mean?”                 Taking a deep breath, he continued.  “I do not understand how she is able to attain such magic.  Each and every obstacle that she and her friends face are thwarted, one way or another, by a power within them greater than I could ever dream to achieve.”  He lifted his chin, smirking just barely.  “It is quite vexing, to one day believe I am the most powerful unicorn in the world… only to be shown there is a magic I can never master.”                 Celestia smiled faintly.  “I think you could.”  She then looked out at the lands beyond with him.  “Imagine how powerful your magic would become if you accepted friendship the same as Twilight.”                 “Entertaining thought…” Sombra mused, shaking his head.  “But I think not.  The darkness offered me great power in the wake of my misunderstanding all those centuries ago, power which I have used so many times, I know no other way.”  He looked up at the Red Star, grimacing.  “Without your precious Elements of Harmony, I fear force is the only way.”                 Celestia was afraid, just the same as he was.  They both knew fighting the Alicorn was a mistake, but as it stood, there was no other option.  If what Celestia saw in the future Starswirl showed her was correct, this spell was going to be the end of life in Equestria.                 Suddenly, Celestia felt a strong, magical imbalance.  She blinked a few times, looking down at her hooves as she thought she felt something tremor.  Sombra squinted, feeling the imbalance as well.  Upon seeing it, he nodded.  “It has begun.”                 Celestia looked up into the sky to see both the sun and the moon on opposite sides of the Red Star.  The crimson glow of the star had made noticing them impossible, for they had become dull, dimmed by the darkness in the sky.  More troubling than that, however, was when Celestia realized they weren’t moving anymore.  Her magic no longer had control of the sun’s movement.  Both celestial forms were left powerless in the sky, under the total command of the dreaded Red Star.                 Just as they noticed this, Sombra looked down upon the land, his gaze turning in several directions.  “It appears the time has come, princess.”                 Now looking down at the land as well, Celestia saw the 3 armies approaching Canterlot.  From the west, the changelings marched across the land led by Pharynx.  From the east, the griffons flew in formation led by Gilda.  And from the south, the dragons flew as a horde led by former Dragon Lord Torch.  The royal guards of Canterlot and the fallen Crystal Empire had already formed up at the base of the mountain, joined by what few nymphs Elder Aura came from Sunveil.                 The ponies, griffons, changelings, dragons, and nymphs came together under the fiery glow of the Red Star.  The hour of reckoning had come to determine the fate of Equestria, and the many lands beyond it.