Obsidian awoke to a feeling of dread.
She was still in the underground cavern, but she was trussed up in some sort of hardened ichor that was brittle and snapped the moment she put pressure on it. She wasn't alone, either.
"I just... don't... GET it. HOW did YOU get FREE!?"
On the wall next to her was none other than Tourmaline, sealed in a similar ichor-like stuff - except his looked sturdy and solid. "She's used that spell on us over and over, and we never got free until she wanted us to! HOW did you DO it!?"
The others, unfortunately, were not here.
One day, Obsidian's altruism would kill her, really. Wasting time for comforting an already dead pony during a fight for the fate of Equestria - well, it certainly wasn't the brightest idea she'd ever had, and the fact that it felt good and correct meant nothing. BAH, she had spent only a few days in this cursed modern land and she was already softened up to the point of being outright suicidal! Or at least suicidally stupid, it seemed.
And apparently even a mortally wounded Onyx was still strong enough to get out of the dream realm on her own - too bad.
So it seemed that they truly HAD lost and...
... huh. What did Tourmaline do to deserve such a fate? Did he try to rebel... or maybe he actually killed Amethyst for real? He surely wasn't placed here as a guardian - otherwise he wouldn't be trapped.
"I am strong, stubborn and have the strength of a group of very dear friends... of which, have you seen them, perchance?"
She started to look around, perhaps a bit frantically - there had to be doors or tunnels leading to them; she had to save them! "And... why are you trapped here as well?"
Tourmaline scoffed. "You honestly believe, after all that back there, that I am still under the pretense of getting to live a life of freedom? BAH! If Onyx is the one father wanted to use for his plans, then I would much rather be somewhere where she isn't. And the nag could sense that in me. So, she dragged me in here and gooped me up. With YOU."
His irritation was evident, and he glared at Obsidian as she asked about the others. "My reason for caring about them is smaller than Onyx's capacity for mercy; she has them, all of them, at her stage in the center of Ponyville..."
He suddenly smiled. "Oh! And if you're expecting the remaining Elements of Harmony to save you, don't bother," he rolled his eyes, "Amethyst has already done her job, and they now work for Onyx. ALL of them."
He struggled in his bonds. "I'd ask you to get me down... but I'm fairly certain you would laugh at me for asking."
All of them? Uh-oh... hopefully there was still only ONE dead Element of Harmony at the moment - everything would be far, far easier if the rest were merely mind controlled, not murdered and zombified like an Umbral.
So Obsidian just had to get back into Ponyville without stumbling into any Umbral armada along the way, save her friends, save the Elements of Harmony and cruelly murder Onyx...
At least ONCE it would be very, very nice to have something SIMPLE and not SUICIDAL as a quest!
Maybe she should try to escape, just as Tourmaline tried? She wasn't really sure how she was still able to walk and breathe at the same time, considering how many stupid choices she'd made lately. Her horn flashed as she targeted the solid ichor trapping her brother.
"I'm FAR beyond the point of laughing, brother - QUITE far! Now, escape... I'll keep Onyx entertained for a moment or two, until she gets bored with torturing me, so you should have plenty of time to make a hasty retreat." Now, where was the exit..?
The blast smashed the hardened ichor... but the blast itself was an interesting thing. Dreams often didn't exist in reality, because they were, well, dreams. Flights of fancy borne upon the sleeping mind. It was foolish to believe that anything that happened in a dream was to exist in the real, waking world. And yet, the blast that popped Toumaline free was a twin rope of black and white energy, twined together like the one she'd used in the dream realm!
Tourmy fell from the wall, then popped up in shock. "That... that... where did you learn that!? Grey Magic? But that doesn't EXIST anymore!"
"Honestly, I really hope Onyx underestimates me as much as you do, dear brother of mine," Obsidian said with a straight face... though honestly, she was just as surprised as he was - though she was hiding it better. It was a nice bonus, though she would prefer to just keep the Light amulet and go straight to Ponyville, glowing with an ungodly amount of energy and blasting darkness right and left.
Being able to control both sides of power was nice - but at the moment she'd prefer quality over quantity. It felt exceedingly satisfying to just evaporate an entire Umbral horde at once, after all. "You should be fine. Now, which way do I go to get quickly to Ponyville?"
Tourmaline stared at her for a moment. "You... really aren't like the rest of us, are you? Ruby kept saying you were 'different', but I had no clue how different... until now, that is." He looked as though he were sizing her up for the first time, honestly gauging her as she was, instead of what he'd believed her to be.
"... South," he eventually said, "Ponyville is to the south from here. And don't worry about the Umbrals - when Amethyst finally got Twilight Sparkle, she rerouted all of them to her location; this place should be clear of them."
He stepped towards the door, then looked back at her again. "If... are you going to take over? I mean, if you defeat Onyx somehow... what then? Will you take her place? Turn everything back over to the Equestrians? What will you do?"
Obviously, Obsidian was different from them, especially from Onyx - she was at the moment victorious, while Obsidian herself seemed to be suffering failure after failure. Honestly, if her dear sister wouldn't make threatening her friends a habit, Siddy could just give up at the moment... but noooooo; apparently her the oldest sister was too stupid to just kill her or simply live and let her live, without giving her any new reasons to stand against her! It was almost as if Onyx really, really wanted to be sure that Obsidian wouldn't get bored of fighting with her!
"Oh, so Amethyst got free of my magical blockade? Interesting, Onyx seemed to imply that without magic she is useless." Hopefully Obsidian wouldn't have to go out of her way to spare her AGAIN.
Apparently, Tourmaline believed more in Obsidian than she herself did - at least it seemed he assumed she could win this fight.
"I liked the Light amulet of mine, so I'll probably try to get it for myself in a more permanent manner; I won't take her place, that's for sure - I consider all of her last actions quite ineffective and wasteful, and her goal of bringing back the rotted Umbrals is rather unsavory as well. At the moment, I just want to be sure she won't use another creature as a tool - ever again."
He nodded, as if he expected something like that. "Yes, well... were you considering taking over, I might have joined your cause, sister... but I am no creature of Light. There is far too much darkness inside me to ever bear being a 'goody-goody', such as YOU apparently are."
He turned back to face the doorway. "Still... I actually, honestly hope you find what you seek, Obsidian. And I also hope it's worth all the time and effort you've put into it. Go, face your destiny. And I... shall face mine." With that, he walked out, leaving her there alone in this cavern to do as she pleased. Eventually, the sound of his hooves on stone faded away.
Truthfully speaking, she was still too inexperienced to take over, but she was sure that Light didn't always have to be used for good. There had to be a way to turn Equestria into a kingdom basking in her glorious light, right?
Not that she really planned to do it. It was just a random thought, a reaction to being called 'goody-goody'. She just wanted to make a big, painful imprint of her hoof on Onyx's flank, get back everypony alive and then get some well-deserved sleep! It wasn't 'good'! If anything, it was practically selfish! The nerve of him... 'goody-goody', indeed; she wasn't a 'goody-goody'! Rrrrrgh...
First things first. She can be annoyed about that later.
South, south... now she just had to figure out which direction south was, preferably with the use of magic to do it as quickly as possible - and then start running.
It actually wasn't difficult to locate, once she got outside... the ominous black clouds over Ponyville were a dead giveaway. At a gallop, it took her about five minutes to reach the borders of the little village, and another two to reach the town center.
Upon arrival, she got a much better idea of how bad things had gotten; the 'stage' in the middle of town had completely flattened the pretty fountain that had once been there. It rose in layers, like the stone dias in the cavern, and was splashed with black ichor and red blood. In a cage next to it, Obsidian saw the tied-up forms of her friends; both Cupcake and Thunderclap had gags in their mouths, but the rest were simply exchanging worried looks as they seemed to have all formed a barrier around Gypsy, tight enough to where no one could see him. Hopefully, he was okay...
Onstage was an enormous Dark Crystal shard, and guess who was standing close by, holding both the Light and Dark amulets in her hooves?
"... and I beseech the power within to grant my wish, heed my calling, and return Sombra from the grave he so woefully was forced into... bring Life back to the conqueror who ruled an Empire with his black hoof... lead him to arise! Arise! ARISE!"
Standing off to one side was a very subdued and cowed Amethyst, who watched with a mixture of excitement and personal horror at what was unfolding in front of her, her horn notably free of the sealing spell Obsidian had put on her. Surrounding the entire affair was a circle of Umbrals, standing shoulder to shoulder, about seven deep - a barrier wall of undeath, prepared to fight anything that wasn't aligned with their Mistress. Onyx continued to chant and gesture with the necklaces.
Oh, great - Obsidian was in a wonderful place to admire the end of Equestria, decapitated with a single, decisive strike into its heart, with its' government in the hooves of the conqueror, its' defenders shackled... and with said conqueror summoning an even bigger fish, just to be sure that Equestria wouldn't have a single chance to get up after all these kicks it received lately.
Really, there should be walls around Ponyville... and far more soldiers. A barracks worth or two... even three. Placing a ruling princess's palace in an undefended village was a bad idea... but where was Discord? Celestia and Luna? Reinforcements from Crystal Empire, ruled by the usurper? Did nopony want to stop Onyx?
Now, could she just... sneak closer to the cage with her friends inside?
As she snuck closer, she got the feeling she was being watched... but fortunately, that feeling was correct due to the fact that her friends saw her! The looks of relief and hope passed between them as they all looked over to her... well, except the diamond dog; she still couldn't see him. But it was obvious they were overjoyed to see her.
Get us out, mouthed Mica.
Stop Onyx, mouthed Wart.
Meanwhile, though none of the Umbrals made any motion towards Obsidian, Amethyst's head suddenly jerked around as she began looking pointedly in Obsidian's direction; she hadn't seen her yet, but she could obviously sense her, at least somewhat.
Obsidian managed to get around to the side of the circle closest to her friends... but there were still several layers of undead between her and them at the moment.
Obviously, Obsidian was going to listen to Stalwart, and the best way to stop Onyx would be... ding, ding, ding, correct answer! Rescuing her friends!
How to do it, however, was a completely different issue. The current strategical position of the Equestrians and their allies was somewhat lackluster. The most important ponies here were already defeated and/or caged, there was an undead armada between Obsidian and the captured, and even despite the fact that Onyx was busy with her little chanting there was still the matter of Amethyst, who had a few reasons to dislike her younger sister and was most likely still sore about it. Wonderful.
Maybe there was some lamp oil in one of the nearby houses, and she could-... no, it would take too much time. Too bad she couldn't just use the lovely Light amulet to destroy the entire zombie army at once - but considering what little she had to work with, it was her best option at the moment. So she started to cast the undead-destroying spell, hoping it would be enough.
Before, Obsidian had the Light amulet around her neck, and had been emptied of all darkness... which meant the spell had been supercharged when it was cast before, and had decimated the Umbrals almost instantly.
This was not the same circumstance.
It was difficult at first; she had to work to get the first sparks of the spell going, due to the fact that she was no longer a paragon of Light... however, sure enough, she felt the spell building up and gaining strength as she concentrated.
"Return from beyond the veil, o Sombra! Return and bring forth your mighty power to RULE all of Equus! Bring back the darkness! Bring us into your fold!" Onyx kept chanting, still gesturing with the amulets and practically begging Father to come back to them. Amethyst was there onstage, pacing nervously as she both admired and feared her sister. "The covenant of Harmony is over! There shall be no saviors for Equestria this time! The Elements of Harmony have been broken, and there shall be none to stand in your way! Come home to us, and let us bask in your glory once again!"
The spell was almost complete... but it was still nowhere near the power level she would need to take out the whole wall of them; she might, however, be able to at least clear a path to her friends.
"... and you can come out now; I know you're here..."
DAMNATION! How did she always seem to know when-
"... draconequus."
Oh? What was this?
Slowly, the serpentine form of Jynx faded into view, coiled atop one of the nearby buildings... and she looked terrified; she still stood defiantly and glared at Onyx.
"You... took my father! I couldn't j-just stand here and do NOTHING!" Her voice sounded somewhere between an angry scream and a cowardly whine.
"You mean," Onyx smiled wickedly, "other than wetting yourself in fear?"
Jynx's glower grew harder, and she began to blush. "THAT was a coincidence, nothing more! I'd had a lot to drink, and I was, uh, coughing! Yeah, COUGHING!"
Onyx chuckled wryly. "Your power is sealed; I fear you not."
BY HARMONY-DAMNED DARKNESS, how Onyx could defeat a DRACONEQUUS? For that matter, two of them? And in the process, making one of them wet herself? Considering that poor Gypsy almost suffered the same fate when Jynx appeared near them, Obsidian could hardly feel any empathy towards her.
However, she was a nice distraction - Obsidian was truly grateful for that. Bah, Onyx had even stopped chanting! If she only had, say, a longbow, she could just snipe Onyx and it would all be done with.
Well, here goes nothing, Obsidian thought as she threw the prepared spell at the zombies - and braced herself to charge into the opening to reach the cage.
The blast was... different... than before. The wave of energy that came from her was both black and white in color; the white energy seemed to sap away the Umbrals' power, while the black energy ripped them apart! No, it wasn't as complete a destruction as the last time she'd cast it... but the path between herself and the cage was now clear.
Onyx's head snapped to face Obsidian as if it were spring-loaded. "OBSIDIAN!"
And that was when the draconequus launched herself at Onyx. However, before she could reach the dias, Amethyst's horn flashed, and a larger version of a Slave Helmet appeared over Jynx's head, and attempted to fasten itself down onto her.
Onyx turned to face her sister, and completely ignored the draconequus as she focused on what she perceived to be the greater threat. "Are you seriously trying to outfox me? Truly?" She began to walk slowly and calmly towards Obsidian, her own horn and eyes glowing with dark, pulsing red energy. "You utterly foolish idiot - you could have merely left here, walked away... and yet, here you are, no doubt trying to-"
"NYAAAAAHHHHH!! SHUT UP!" Jynx said, struggling to keep the helmet off her head, and snapped her claws.
Onyx smiled broadly. "I told you, you cannot affect me - I've had Chaos Magic sealed against me, thanks to your slave of a father. Stop. Trying."
"I can't... affect... YOU..." Jynx groaned as she struggled, "... but... I can affect... other things!" She snapped again, and the humongous Dark Crystal shattered into slivers.
Onyx's glare turned deathly cold. "You... overgrown... worm..."
A bolt of pure red hatred blasted from her horn and hit the draconequus full-on in the chest. Granted, it wasn't enough to kill the creature... but it was enough for the Slave Helmet to finally lock into place; Jynx went limp. Onyx's smile was like rock-solid ice, and her eyes were the North Winds.
Wonderful; on one hoof, her plan had certainly worked somewhat... yet on the other, she was obviously noticed. And on the third hoof, Jynx turned out to be a bit more useful than Obsidian thought by shattering the big crystal shard - which, as Obsidian assumed, was a very good thing that could delay Onyx's plans a bit longer. Of course, on the fourth hoof, Jynx was now turned into Amethyst's puppet.
Now that Obsidian was out of hooves, she could at the very least dash towards the cage while charging her horn to shatter the doors to her friends' prison in the simplest possible way.
The blast from her horn, black entwined with white, smashed the front door of the cage into splinters. Her friends stood up, all five of them slipping their ropes off; so THAT was why they'd been backed against Gypsy - he'd freed them all from their ropes with his sharp digging claws!
In a moment, all five of her friends were beside her. Clap, Gypsy, Mica, Wart and Cup. All together again. With their close proximity and the swell of their emotions, Siddy could feel that tingling in her horn again - even though she wasn't wearing the amulet!
Onyx, however, simply laughed mockingly. "Truly? I have to say, this is the BEST joke I've dealt with all day... Amethyst, if you please?"
Amethyst squeezed her eyes shut, and Slave Helmets appeared over Obsidian and all her companions.
"Now, I wonder who I'll have 'volunteer' to be eaten first?" Onyx cooed with obvious relish in her voice.
The helmets dropped... but all five of them were holding them back; physically holding the helmets as far away from themselves as they could, they all struggled and fought against them. Amethyst was sweating profusely, concentrating with all her might to bring those capture caps down on all their heads...
Until Tourmaline tackled her from behind, when all the helmets vanished.
It was actually a well-thought plan on Onyx's part to both throw her friends into a cage and tie them up - after all, it surely decreased their chances to free themselves... but even though it eventually failed, it was still a decent idea. It was also a novel idea to have a pony able to enslave others at her side. Plus, the zombie horde was a good measure.
Well, let's be honest, here - Onyx was crazy-prepared, while Obsidian had nothing but her luck and the 'fairy magic' of Friendship, and was making rather rash decisions that, if the world would be fair, should have already killed her.
Luckily, it seemed that the universe was amused by her antics.
But now, she didn't have too many options; she had her friends, and she could use magic, and she knew a few spells... she just hoped it would be enough. She focused on the tingling in her horn - trying to charge enough power to cast a spell that could possibly block Onyx's Dark Magic.
Onyx gave her a look. "Wait... are you trying to actually win???" She laughed uproariously... then, the red magic around her horn began to billow out around her, until she simply began walking on the cloud of red energy, making her way into the air for about a meter of two before stopping and smiling at her with wickedly sharp teeth.
"Well then, little froggy... let's see you jump!"
"HO-KAAAAY!" Cupcake yelled before whipping out his party cannon and firing it directly at her. A shotgun-blast of red bricks flew out and pelted the unicorn, making her cry out in surprise and anger... and maybe even a little pain, too.
"I will have your head for that!" she screamed at Cup.
"Why do you want it; 'cause yours is so far up your flank, you need a replacement!?" he retorted.
Multiple beams of angry red energy shot out of Onyx's horn, aimed for the lot of them... and smacked into Obsidian's shield, dissipating harmlessly.
The mare roared in rage. "NO! You had none of this power earlier! What did you DO!?"
Clap smirked. "She got friends, ya blowhard!"
Onyx now sent a torrent of beams their way, rapid-fire, and every one of them smashed on the shield that protected them all, doing no damage to them whatsoever. The shield, with each impact, manifested as an orb that was white with black waves rolling up the sides, and the red bolts made black ripples... but no holes.
"Way to go, Obsidian!" Mica piped up. However, the assault Onyx was making was draining Obsidan's magic; she couldn't keep the shield up forever.
Well now, her Friendship-powered shield turned out to be far more durable than Obsidian thought - and it seemed that protecting others with these things really was her specialty. However, no battle was ever won by defense alone, especially when enemy had so much magic in reserve.
"Gypsy... could you somehow collapse the stage?" Obsidian struggled to mutter while upholding her shield. They had to attack, and if Gypsy was going to succeed, they should distract Onyx, right? Or, er... distract her even more?
"Hey, Onyx, how does it feel to be the ugliest mare in the family?" Okay, maybe that was a bit lame.
Gypsy nodded vigorously, then grinned like a shark as he dove directly into the ground below him, leaving a hole where he went underground. Onyx continued the assault, but gave Obsidian a look that told her the jibe was ineffective.
However, Clap came to her rescue. "Naw, Siddy, like this: Hey Onyx, with a face like yours, you should style your tail and walk backwards - it'd be an improvement!"
It was good to have an underground fighter able to suddenly attack from each side and turn the soil itself against their enemies. Considering the entire situation, it was a wonderful strategic addition.
"No wonder you couldn't summon back our Father - it's obvious he would prefer the serenity of death to seeing the failure named Onyx!" At first Obsidian was going to just say that death was preferable to looking at her ugly muzzle - but in the current situation, it would sound a bit too grim for Siddy and her friends.
"I am NOT a FAILURE!!!" Onyx screeched before she sent a HUGE wave of blasts at Obsidian; the shield buckled, but still held strong.
"That's the way, girl!" Clap proudly proclaimed. "Make her feel like the manure she is!"
"How DARE you! As much as I've done, as hard as I've been working, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DECLARE ANYTHING ABOUT ME!" Apparently, Obsidian's insult had touched a nerve - in a BIG way.
"Oh, I have all the right! I've been crafted to look like Father's best friend - but you were crafted to be an eyesore! You are just an ineffective prototype! A lesson for our father to avoid repeating the same mistakes as he made with you!"
Hopefully Gypsy would deal some serious damage to the stage's physical stability before Obsidian would completely ruin Onyx's mental stability and kill them all in the process, as it seemed that Onyx was taking it rather personally.
"Prototype? PROTOTYPE!? All YOU are is a desperate shot at wish-fulfilment because Father wanted her back! I was the first! The greatest! The most intelligent and powerful!"
"What you are is one of the biggest windbags I've ever seen!" Clap spoke up louder. "Is your plan to talk us to death? 'Cause, with that case of Halitosis you're nursing, it just might work! Might do you some good to stop feeding yourself your own manure!"
There was a dull rumble, and the dias settled slightly to one side... then seemed to be sinking into the dirt slowly, with Onyx still atop it.
"You are a disgrace to our family! A disgrace to our Father! A disgrace to those stupid slaves of yours!" Onyx howled as the rage settled into place on her muzzle, making her ignore the tilt of the dias beneath her.
There was a yell, and the struggling forms of Tourmaline and Amethyst both rolled into view, both of them slinging hooves, biting, spitting on and otherwise being exceedingly unfriendly towards one another. They slammed each other into the floor, rolling on the ground like puppies at play. Harsh play.
"WILL you two stop!?" Onyx yelled at them both, but their fight continued. The mare pointed a hoof at them, turning to Obsidian. "Even these two are still worth more to me than you ever were!"
To prove her point, she turned and blasted them both, sending each one sprawling across the dirt, Amethyst on her back and gasping for air, and Tourmaline face down and shuddering in pain. "... and if I'll do that to them... imagine what I have in store for all of YOUUUUUUU!!!"
Then, with a muffled crack, the entire dias shifted to the left, sinking into the dirt a few meters on that side. So tilted, Onyx stumbled and fell from the dias... only to catch herself with the red magic, and lift up into the air with pure murder on her muzzle.
"You shall not live to see another day!"
That threat wasn't anything new, actually - considering that Onyx once tried to imprison her in an eternal nightmare, where she would have rescure her friends again and again, a mere death threat was an improvement. But there was still a chance she could make good on it; Onyx, just like always, was being the most stupid sister and boss ever, and hopefully it was going to bite her in the flank once again.
"Company - to the side!" Obsidian yelled, moving with her shield towards her two fallen siblings. One of them was - more or less - friendly after all, while Amy was... uh... well, they shared blood right? So Siddy should care about her too... at least a bit. Luckily they were both hurt by Onyx, so they might not be in the mood to backstab them.
The group moved as one, keeping close to Siddy while she scooted her way over to her siblings. They reached Amethyst first... and found her with a rictus of agony on her muzzle. Behind her, just below where her stomach would be, was a black steel dagger, sticking out of her back in almost the exact same place she'd stabbed Ruby at. Her pain was visible as they got near, and Mica stepped towards her.
"This way," he said, "I have some first aid training; I can try to see to her... if that's what you want, Siddy." Gypsy, meanwhile, popped out of the ground behind her and kept his head down as the others stood nearby.
Well, well, well... wasn't that some ironic yet poetic justice? To be fair, Obsidian briefly thought about just leaving the blade in place, or maybe even shoving it in a wee bit deeper - but alas, she was fully aware that Amethyst wasn't guilty of killing Ruby. No, that was only Onyx's fault - blaming Amethyst was just about as logical as blaming the blade itself.
Besides, Obsidian still wanted to see her words come true, with Amethyst surrounded by friendship, laughter and happiness... even if there was that tiiiiiiiny bit of malice that was making Siddy second guess it.
"Yes please, Mica - I'd do it myself, but..." she gestured towards the shield. Now she had something to look forward to, something so ironic that she couldn't possibly ever repeat it - the hateful dagger stuck in her older sister. Hopefully non-lethally, but well... accidents DID happen, yes?
"We don't have to be afraid of you, Onyx! You are just a damnable thief - stealing books, stealing amulets, stealing the lives of ponies better than your worthless, sorry hide! But don't you worry, sister - just give up and I promise to be lenient!"
At the moment, her shield was working quite well, and the angrier Onyx was getting, the more mistakes she would make... hopefully.
"Gypsy, is there any chance you could get to Jynx, perhaps? And where is Princess Twilight?" Obsidian asked, gritting her teeth to keep the shield powerful enough to withstand whatever came next.
Onyx's cheeks flushed crimson. "Stealing lives!?" She suddenly grinned sweetly. "Thank you for reminding me..." She threw her head back and bellowed, "DESTROY THEM!"
The remaining Umbrals now moved as a wall of undead, crowding in on all sides and pushing the shield to its' limits. Obsidian could feel herself sweating; this can't hold for much longer!
Mica moved to Amethyst and, despite her feeble protests, he began to check her over and do what he could - which, admittedly, wasn't much without at least bandages. He could possibly try to heal her... but she had no idea if he even knew how to heal others with magic; he WAS an earth pony, after all.
"Lady Siddy!" Wart called out, "allow me to leave the shield, and I shall carve us a path!"
"Are you nuts?" Clap said in response, "you're good, but not THAT good! Let ME out, Sids; I'll make short work of that worthless nag!"
Well, Obsidian didn't really think about the Umbrals; after all, they didn't exactly have any life to steal - they were merely animated bodies and so on. Too bad Onyx was too stupid to undertand what her younger sister said. Unfortunately, it also meant that they couldn't get to Jynx, and she still didn't know where the princess was! If only she could give the task of shield upkeep to another pony...
There were so many things Obsidian could do - heal Amethyst, cast her anti-undead spell and so on - but instead, she was stuck there on defense, and forced into a corner.
"No! No trading lives, no splitting up the group! We are together, whilst she is alone! Cupcake, do you think you could help me with the shield?"
Cupcake looked at her with a nervous glance, which was quite different than she was used to seeing from him. "Ummmm... I can t-t-try?"
His horn lit up with that weird 'white with sprinkles' energy, and Obsidian instantly felt some relief as the burden of the shield was shared with Cup. "A-am I doing it right?"
Meanwhile, both Wart and Clap seemed a bit disappointed that they weren't given any leeway to kick some undead flank, but both nodded at her explanation, and neither of them argued the point - they trusted Siddy with their lives.
As the Umbrals continued to rally around them, they shuffled their way over to Tourmaline... who was groaning and bleeding from his mouth and left ear as they got close enough for Mica to check him over. "... don't... touch... m-me..."
"Quiet, you," Mica muttered, "I'm only here because Obsidian wishes it; if it were up to me, you'd just keep lying there. Now, hold still..."
Onyx looked like the poster child for Unadulterated RAGE... and then, the necklaces around her throat began to glow.
"... wait... it worked... IT WORKED!" She began to laugh, sounding more like utter relief than madness. "Father is returning to us! He heard my call, oh it worked!"
The unicorn mare actually locked eyes with Obsidian... and surprisingly enough, she was so excited that she didn't even seem to bother hating her; she was just so happy that her actions had worked that she didn't even seem to care who it was she shared the moment with. Sadly, it was a fleeting glimpse of what might have been, if Onyx hadn't been so vile. "Oh, he's coming! I can feel it!"
Obsidian's problems were about to get much, much bigger - in fact, it was a problem for the entire realm of Equestria! Just a mere day ago, she would have been thrilled to see her father once again... but today? In this very specific set of circumstances? After seeing that her sister was a stupid flankface? Well, her enthusiasm was somewhat diminished...
But she wasn't going to suffer this parody of a mare winning!
So, with all the desperation from their situation, with her anger at Onyx for being an awful sister and leader, her extreme desire to erase that smile from her muzzle, the hope that she could ever defeat her older sister, and the connection she felt to her friends... she once again powered up her horn, to shoot a magic blast straight at Onyx.
Chances of one in million work in nine cases out of ten, right?
The shot fired out from Obsidian's horn and went straight at Onyx... and was split in two, and sucked into the amulets evenly.
Onyx gave an actual, fillyish giggle at that. "Obsidian... we've WON! Don't you see it? Father is... he's coming BACK! It's what we've always wanted! He'll return, and he'll set things as they should be, and you and I - we'll BOTH be sitting by his sides! No more disasterous mishaps or Equestrian meddling..."
She stepped back, both pendants glowing brightly - one blue, one red - and the necklaces floated up from around her neck, orbiting her head for a moment before they both gave up an orb of energy that floated around lazily.
"Siddy! What the Tartarus is THAT!?" Clap asked in bewilderment.
The orbs pulsed and sang with a keening vibration. They floated in lazy circles around Onyx's head for a moment before they both shot like bullets into her barrel. She gasped, then held her chest for a moment.
"Oh..." She gave a small grin. "Oooh, that kind of tick-"
>BLORTCH!<
Onyx exploded like a water balloon filled with blood, stuck with a pin. Blood and vile gore went in every direction, coating Siddy and her friends in a layer of... well, a layer of Onyx. And standing there, right where she had been...
"YESSSSSSSSSSSssssssss..."
Was King Sombra, The Slave Lord of the Crystal Empire.
"... oh manure," said Cupcake.