Twilight furiously cast spell after spell trying to regain the trail that would lead to Sombra. She knew she had to work fast, because if the torture chamber trap had not been prepared in advance, then it meant that his powers had recovered far more than she had expected, and he simply had to be stopped before he got any stronger.
She found a faint trail and noted that there were no longer spots of blood on the floor. Either he had bandaged himself or he had managed to regenerate physically as well as magically; she prayed it wasn’t the latter.
Suddenly she became aware of a fluttering movement behind a hanging tapestry on the side of the room they had just come from, and not the direction she had been looking in. She kicked herself for having missed the obvious ploy and blasted the rail holding the elaborate historical embroidery in place, the shattered metal rail tumbling to the ground, but the noise being muffled by the restraining effect of the unwinding tapestry that acted like a pillow.
“Come on!” she shouted, “This way!”
Once again, the guards entered another passageway, starting to feel as if a course in navigating narrow mazes would have been more appropriate than the close quarters combat in which they were so adept.
This time, Twilight found the door at the end of the passageway open on its hinges, inviting her to step out into the Great Hall once more. She cast a spell where she stood at the end of the passageway from where she had a good view across most of the hall, but there was no trace of him.
He had to be in this room, he just had to be, she told herself. She knew she couldn’t stay where she was lest Sombra close the walls up on her and the guards. She also knew he thought he had the element of surprise and would be waiting for her. This meant she had the chance to cast one spell, and one only before he could hit her with whatever hideous necromancy he had in mind. She thought quickly and chose the one spell that seemed most fitting; one that would repay him with whatever generosity or malevolence that he was intending to cast upon her, a ‘reflect magic’ spell. In that way at least, he would be in charge of his own destiny; provided her plan worked.
With her heart in her mouth, Twilight sprang out of the passageway facing the direction hidden by the door from where she had been standing, casting her spell in mid-flight.
Before her hooves hit the ground, she had been hit by a volley of purple bubbles tinged with green. This was just what she had hoped for; it meant he was there and just about to get a nasty shock. The spell collided with her aura then reflected back towards a blank looking section of wall, but impacted something before it got there; the spellcaster himself.
Sombra howled as his writhing form became visible right where his spell had found him. He struggled against his rising pain to defuse the darker elements of the magic, but was unable to neutralise them all completely and succumbed slowly to his own stasis spell, captured in a contorted pose trying to escape his creeping ossification.
Twilight stared down at him, savouring the poetic justice that had just been served on him. She observed that his horn had indeed started to regenerate as she had feared, and theorised that whilst this may have given him the power to cast his spells, it may have contributed to their being slower to respond as it drew upon his own magical aura to rebuild its power. As she stood watching him, she pondered about how long it had taken him to freeze and how slowly the torture chamber had disappeared, and how close she had been to getting caught in that hellish room.
“Interesting” she mused, as the observational scientist within her took over from the warrior leader.
“Major, Squadron Leader” she said in quietly measured tones “I want you to look around the castle for a horn cover; it’s something used on unicorns to prevent them from using their magic; either to protect medical staff from the wayward spells of mentally ill unicorns or for disabling dangerous criminals. When I start bringing everypony out of stasis, I don’t want to have to round him up again. I suggest you try the sick bay and the cells in the first instance.”
Both Officers saluted smartly and detailed teams of their guards to fly off in different directions to carry out Twilight’s orders.
Twilight sat on her haunches and looked at Sombra, alert to any indication that could suggest he had been successful in turning his magic against the spell that held him, but none came. However, she kept a whole list of spells rehearsed ready just in case he was somehow to make a move of any kind.
Within ten minutes a pair of pegasi returned with a horn cover as requested and Twilight fixed it firmly onto Sombra’s horn.
“Now tie him tight” she ordered, “And remember once I lift the stasis spell he will recover too, so make sure you use slip knots that will let you tighten him as he begins to move; I do not want him getting away. And do not under any circumstance leave him unattended.”
Then as an afterthought she added “Take him to the Throne Room. It would be best if Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence could confront him as soon as they recover. I suspect it would do them good to deal with him personally."
With everything in order, Twilight set off to the library to find out how to unfreeze the stasis spell.
***
“Let’s see now” said Twilight to herself flipping through the alphabetically listed contents in a likely looking spell book “Startling spell – Starwort applications – Stasimon spell … Ah! Here it is – Stasis spell.”
She ran her forehoof along each line as she read it, making occasional “ooooh” and “aaaah” sounds as she got to grips with its intricacies. Finally, she rocked back where she was sitting with a smile creeping across her face, “So that’s how it’s done then” she said triumphantly.
She reread the spell right through once more just to make sure she had got it right. She remembered all too vividly what had happened when she had cast the first half of a teleportation spell and completed it with the second half of a dimensional viewing spell that was written underneath it. She wasn’t prepared to make that kind of mistake again, especially when the stakes were so high.
As she finished rereading the spell, she became aware that the first rays of sunlight were creeping stealthily in through the windows.
“Wow” she thought to herself “That was a busy night.”
Carrying the book with her, she descended from the library and entered into the Throne Room to see a large contingent of guards keeping a very close eye on Sombra, but as far as Twilight could see, he hadn’t moved at all.
Twilight strode up the stairs to the throne and surveyed the scene in front of her; two alicorns and a unicorn all frozen and looking as terrified as each other.
“Gentlemen” she announced “I am ready to attempt the spell that should remove the stasis lock. I don’t know whether I will be able to lift it right across the Crystal Empire at my first attempt, but I do expect to be able to release the Princesses and Sombra, and also the assault team with Rainbow Dash. If Sombra gets out of hand, I also know how to cast the stasis spell and will subdue him at the first signs of trouble, but first I would like to give the Princesses a chance to have a gentle word with him.”
The guards took appropriate places ready restrain Sombra who now looked somewhat ridiculous wearing a cone on his horn that looked more like a jolly party hat.
Twilight composed herself and began the spell, feeling the magical energy being drawn in from everything around her as she reshaped it to her will, building her power and then releasing it in a surge. Immediately Celestia snorted and bucked backwards while Cadence pulled so hard sideways she span herself round so she was facing backwards, both Princesses gasping with suspended exertion as they realised they were no longer in thrall to Sombra’s evil magic and began to settle down.
Sombra too lurched back to life and immediately felt the restraining bonds around him tighten under the strong hooves of guards placed all around him. He let out a roar of frustration and focused his energy into his horn ready to vent forth with all kinds of evil magic, but when he tried to project his spells, they did not work and he railed impotently against his captors as his bonds pulled tighter.
“What have you done with Flurry Heart?” demanded Cadence looking as angry as Queen Chrysalis in a really bad mood, all softness gone from her face. Celestia stared into Sombra’s soul as her conscience only just succeeded in holding back the worst excesses of her lust for revenge.
“Flurry Heart is safe Cadence” said Twilight “She’s being looked after by Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders; you have nothing to worry about.”
“I will kill you” uttered Cadence for the first time in her life, directing every word unblinkingly against the Umbra unicorn.
“No Cadence” said Celestia shaking her head gently “We will banish him to Tartarus.”
Cadence’s glare remained unflinching as she wrestled with arguing the toss against her aunt, but narrowly decided not to; “I will see my baby is safe, and if she is not, I will kill you. Be warned.”
Celestia let those last words sink in. Deep in her heart she agreed with Cadence, but the years of wisdom and experience told her that this was not the right thing to do.
Cadence would never know, but if she had pushed, Celestia would have given in due to the abhorrence they shared about what Sombra had been doing when Flurry Heart had appeared to explode in front of them. The veneer of social expectation had been preserved, but only just.
“Do you have the power to banish him now Celestia?” asked Twilight.
“Yes, yes I do” she replied and directed her yellow aura towards him.
Sombra was levitated briefly and then he was gone in a yellow flash, the restraining ropes all severed at the point where they had been intersected by the spell.
A sudden wave of relief ran through the ponies assembled in the Throne Room and a recently unfrozen Rainbow Dash wailed in frustration that she had missed out on all the action.
Twilight took Celestia to one side and explained about the guards lost in the torture chamber. She listened patiently, looking at her former student with sad eyes and placed a white wing gently over her and led her away from the others who were now beginning to celebrate their victory.
“My dear Twilight” she said gently “I have heard of such manifestations running backwards and forwards through time, but they are unpredictable and nopony I have ever heard of has been able to master them. Yet, It would appear that Sombra has that power, and as such, the knowledge must be here in this castle. If it is any consolation, the fact that it is a time capsule means that by the time a method is found to release them it will appear to them that they walk out only a fraction of a second after they were shut in.”
“Yes Princess” said Twilight “But time will be passing for their families and loved ones and they may never meet again unless I can find the magic to free them.”
Celestia gave Twilight a gentle, sorrowful kiss. She was right.