//------------------------------// // The Return of the King // Story: The Return of the King // by MisterEdd //------------------------------// Princess Celestia paced back and forth in the throne room, her guards watching uneasily at the sight of their monarch appearing so distraught. According to Twilight's letter, the Flashstone was just a red herring, a misdirection with the sole purpose to get the Elements as far away from Canterlot as possible so that King Sombra could attack it without fear from the only tools powerful enough to stop him. Time and again, Celestia had remained conscious of the dark sorcerer's cunning nature but he once more proved himself far more devious than she would've given him credit for. Now it was the moment she'd been dreading ever since Sombra had broken loose: their rematch of a conflict one thousand years past. Nothing was more dangerous than a foe that was strategically-minded, had a personal score to settle and possessed the will and ruthlessness necessary to carry it out. Celestia turned towards her aid Raven Inkwell. "Raven, send out a royal decree that Day Court is cancelled for the foreseeable future and that the castle is not accepting visits from any civilians or foreign dignitaries." The unicorn dutifully jotted this information down and peered at her employer through her thick-rimmed glasses. "What of Prince Blueblood, Your Majesty? He is due back from his vacation in Monacolt any day now." "Send a letter to my nephew explaining that the castle is going through some renovations. He is going to stay with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire." Celestia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "If Luna returns to the throne room, tell her I need to be alone right now." "Yes, Your Majesty." "Thank you, Raven. You're dismissed for the day." Reluctantly, Raven Inkwell bowed and exited. Celestia heaved a heavy sigh and soon followed, informing her guards to remain where they were in case Luna came back. If Sombra was going to sneak in, it would be unwise to leave the throne room unguarded. As for her own safety, Celestia knew that Sombra wasn't going to try any underhoofed tactics with her, his own arrogance and umbrum sense of honor refusing to go that low. She knew that he wanted to destroy her but it would be in a fair fight, her magic against his and this, in truth, scared her. Perhaps a change in location would aid her in coming up with a solution. ~*~ High above Canterlot Castle, Princess Luna was surveying the area for any signs of unrest, her body tingling with excitement at the prospect of a battle with King Sombra but also fear at facing such a dangerous adversary. In this era, wars were not as prevalent as they were in her time so she was often left bored, her dream-walking sessions being one of her few instances of entertainment since her return. That and bowling, which she'd taken to like a duck to water and acted as a an excellent way to blow off steam. Both Luna and Celestia were rusty when it came to combat scenarios but she was certain that they could hold their own against Sombra long enough until Twilight and her friends returned with the Elements of Harmony. She furrowed her brow in contemplation, recalling something that she'd forgotten until now. Last time, the Elements merely prohibited King Sombra's ability to wield magic for a limited time. Would they even affect him now? She gracefully landed onto her bedroom balcony and found a pegasus royal guard awaiting her. "What are you doing in my room?" The guard saluted, "My apologies Your Majesty, but Princess Celestia requests your presence. She is waiting for you in the royal garden, in front of the hedge maze." Luna looked the guard over, almost positive that she'd spotted him patrolling the southwest exterior of the castle. She shrugged and chalked it up to a mix of anxiety and exhaustion. "Thank you. You are dismissed." Making her way towards the royal garden, Luna soon spotted a familiar white mare standing alone a few feet away from the hedge garden entrance. Slowly approaching her sister, she stood on Celestia's left side, finding her staring off towards the the hedge maze, her face etched with melancholy. "Sister?" The elder alicorn turned. "Luna? I...I just needed some fresh air..." "You don't need to explain yourself. I understand." They remained silent for a few minutes before Luna spoke again. "This was your spot, wasn't it? Your's and Tour...I mean, Sombra's?" Celestia nodded. "We used to visit here every day." She smiled softly in reminiscence. "He would chase me into the hedge maze and tackle me to the grass. We would roll around and just lay there in exhaustion, staring at one another. No matter where I ran, he always knew where to find me." In their youth, the two were the best of friends and it was only by the ironic twist of fate that they'd become the worst of enemies. Luna loved both of them dearly and it broke her heart to see them reduced to this but she had no control over ponies. She might as well as been asked to move the ground or permanently change species. Sombra may've been a victim of circumstances but he made his choice to become what he is and for that, she did not pity him one bit. She gave Celestia a reassuring smile while all the while uncertain how to help her sister in matters of the heart. "That's because he could always spot your enormous backside a mile away." Celestia snorted and shook her head but her smile soon vanished once more. She turned her whole body towards Luna and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Luna, I hope you know that I love you." This confused Luna. "But of course I do. Tia, I don't understand-..." "I'm so sorry that you had to be involved in this," Celestia continued gravely, tears streaming down her alabaster cheeks. "Just know that I never wanted to hurt you but I can't let you interfere." Celestia then bowed her head, dissipating like mist just as a black and purple light struck Luna in the chest. Before she could recover from the shock, she found something creeping up her limbs and over her back and midsection. Her body was rapidly becoming encapsulated in a black crystalline shell that soon traveled up her neck and muzzle. Before her eyes were concealed, she could make out the form of a penitent-looking King Sombra. And then, all was dark. ~*~ Twilight Sparkle was panting as she soared through the air, her lungs burning and her muscles aching with fatigue. Getting from the Badlands over past Dodge Junction required her to alternate between galloping at full-speed, tirelessly beating her wings and teleporting several times over a few miles. Coupled with keeping Spike secure on her back, she was beyond exhausted but knew that she could not give up just yet. Even if Princess Celestia received her letter, Twilight couldn't allow the two to try and kill one another, one being her mentor and maternal figure and the other her coltfriend. Sombra wasn't evil; deep down, he was just a hurt, broken stallion that had difficulty putting the past behind him. I won't leave this up to fate. If there's even a one percent chance that I can alter the outcome of their fight, then I will take it. I can't lose either one of them. I won't. "Twilight, I think you need to take a break!" Spike exclaimed, noticing the sudden drop in altitude. Blinking away the debility, Twilight puffed, "I....can't. I have to stop Sombra and Princess Celestia from fighting!" "Watch out!" An oncoming flock of geese nearly collided with them, sending Twilight into a tailspin, corkscrewing downward to avoid impact. Spike held on for dear life as the two plummeted, narrowly evading a series of treetops before diving headfirst into a nearby river. Thankfully, the water wasn't too deep and the low current enabled them to paddle to shore, where they proceeded to roll over and pant. As they caught their breaths, Twilight let her head drop on the moist grass and shook her head from side to side. There was still a lot more ground, as well as air, to cover before they made it back to the castle and stopped the conflict but Twilight was feeling tuckered out. "I can't do it," she murmured and swallowed with an audible click. "I can't go any further. I-I'm just too tired." Spike rolled onto his side. "It's okay, Twi. We'll just take a couple of minutes and rest-..." "We don't have time, Spike." Twilight stared up into the great blue yonder. "For all we know, Sombra has already made it to Canterlot and is fighting Princess Celestia right now." She let out a frustrated scream and smacked her cheeks with both hooves. "Why didn't I send Rainbow Dash?! She would've gotten there fast and ended things without breaking a sweat! Fluttershy could've used her stare or Pinkie Pie...well, I don't know what she could do but the point is, anypony else would've been a better choice than me!" Twilight fought back the tears of frustration, the crushing weight of her ineffectiveness causing her to feel like the biggest failure in Equestrian history. Something deep inside of her agreed with that assessment, practically whispering discouraging statements about how out of her league she was. It wasn't quite a voice, rather it was more of a niggling sense in the back of her head reminding Twilight of how this was all her fault. She never checked to see if Sombra's magic had returned or made certain that he was properly secured with anti-magic dampeners. Instead, she let her emotions blind her to the truth, that Sombra was a lost cause and would never change his ways. Not even for me. "You're wrong, Twilight." Twilight turned to meet Spike's gaze. "What?" The drake sighed, "You said that anypony would've been a better choice than you. That's not true." Pausing, Spike gave her a small smile. "You did what nopony else could: you saw the goodness in King Sombra. The way you talk about him, the way he acts when you're around...it's obvious that you both have had an effect on the other. You got Sombra to lower his defenses and open himself up to friendship. That's what he needed. Not loyalty, generosity, kindness, laughter or honesty but friendship. Anypony can be nice or open with others but it takes a real special somepony to take that extra step to let somepony else know that they have a place in the world. That's what friendship is: opening your heart and letting someone in, even if everypony else thinks it's a bad idea." The negativity bubbling inside of Twilight fought to rise to the surface, to overflow the alicorn and consume her. It was, however, still too weak and with the end of such an impassioned speech, it retreated back to the recesses of its host's mind to patiently await the day it'd take her over completely. For the time being, the Darkness would just have to feed off of the scrapes of insecurity and helplessness until it came time for the main course. Only then would it finally have its revenge, not only on Princesses Luna and Celestia but on all of Equestria. They would all cower before their true princess...no, before their queen. Twilight sniffled and took Spike in her forelegs. "Thanks Spike." "Anytime," Spike chuckled, settling into the warmth of his ersatz sister's embrace. Picking them both up, Twilight unfurled her wings, looking northward with renewed purpose. "Let's end this." ~*~ Smacking her lips, Princess Celestia placed her empty wine glass on the table right next to a half-empty bottle. Or was it half-full? She could never figure that one out. A thousand years old and she had yet to grasp a simple rhetorical perspective test. If one were to ask Luna that question, she'd probably retort that the bottle's volume was trivial, the only matter of importance being if there was enough for celebration. Celestia snorted humorously at this but once her laughter subsided, realized how much of a challenge her rematch with King Sombra was truly going to be. For the past few decades, Celestia had become more of a diplomat rather than an active combatant, signing peace treaties instead of leading armies. The changeling invasion a year prior served to demonstrate this fact, illustrating her comfortable role as a bureaucrat rather than a warrior. True, while Queen Chrysalis was empowered by love energy and Celestia was no longer the Elements bearer, it didn't change the fact that the Princess of the Day had gotten rusty. Her magic was always more defensive in nature, with Luna's being offensive, serving as a great counterbalance between them. In the years since Luna's absence, she'd come to rely on the Elements far too much and as a consequence, lost her connection to them and had to hide them away until new worthy bearers were selected to continue the fight. Meanwhile, there was Sombra, a powerful spell caster that'd spent decades honing his skill in the arts, both in light and dark magic. Coupled with his naturally strategic mind and ironclad will, not to mention a burning desire to see Celestia's head on a plate, Sombra was a dangerous adversary to go up against. Lord Tirek was a powerhouse when it came to battle while Discord and Queen Chrysalis had their respective out-of-the-box thinking and cunning ruthlessness but none of them matched Sombra in terms of keen intellect or raw magical prowess. For Faust's sake, it took the might of two alicorns and the Elements of Harmony just to take him down the first time. The Elements may no longer be in her control but she still had Luna to aid her in the upcoming battle. Celestia lifted her head up, wondering what her sister was up to. "No sense in staying locked up here with a belly full of wine." The path from her bedroom to the throne room was pretty straight forward, not only architecturally speaking but also in consistent repetition. More than a millennium had passed and Celestia knew this castle like the back of her hoof, confident that she could make the journey while blindfolded and walking backwards. It wasn't long before she found herself pushing past the double doors, finding that the platoon of royal guards were still stationed there. She smiled as she approached them, each one of them bowing their heads towards their princess. She stopped in front of Flash Sentry. "Any news?" "No, Your Majesty. Princess Luna is patrolling the royal garden and so far, nothing is amiss." "I see." Something felt off. Surely by now, Sombra would've made his presence known. What was keeping-? The double doors to the throne room were blown off their hinges, landing with a loud thud as the entryway was filled with debris and smoke. A series of black clawed hands shot forward and seized each royal guard, the arms wrapping around them like tentacles and slamming them to the floors or walls. The arms congealed into crystalline pillars, trapping each guard and holding them in place as a figure slowly strode into the throne room. The newcomer's gaze burned with the intensity of a thousand suns but was as icy as the coldest tundra. He smiled at Celestia though it was devoid of any warmth or humor, instead carrying with it the expression of a predator ready to seize its prey. "King Sombra!" Celestia bellowed, horn blazing with a golden aura. "Princess Celestia," King Sombra replied condescendingly. "And friends. So nice to have an audience." "'Audience'? An audience for what?" "The holmgang." All humor drained from King Sombra's face, the umbrum adopting a look of severity. "You and your kind have besmirched the honor of me and my kind so now we will fight to the death." Celestia growled at him, "Enough of this madness, Sombra! You can't hope to defeat us!" "'Us'?" King Sombra looked around. "There's just you. No lackeys, no Elements of Harmony and no sister." Celestia's eyes widened at the implication. "It's just you and I, here and now." "What...did you do...to Luna?!" Embers sizzled as they drifted down from Celestia's mane. "None of your concern, beldam. Now face me!" A stream of crackling golden energy lanced right past Sombra's left cheek, followed by another that nearly took his head off. Sombra countered with a magic projectile of his own, the malice oozing off of Celestia as she glared spitefully at him. This was it. This was the ultimate culmination of their combined fate stretching back to their initial meeting so very long ago. The final battle.