While the children were running around from house to house Nega went to see Twilight again. Learning from before he approached her in his own body rather than Sombra’s.
He looked to be pretty down.
“What’s wrong, Nega?” she asked.
“I… I don’t think they can win,” he said. “Things are already hard enough on them now, but if I go through with the idea I had for when they can’t get anyone to join them then they’ll all lose hope.”
“Everyone loses hope at times. What really shows who you are is if you can get past that to try again.”
Nega put a claw to his heart. “I don’t think it matters whether they’ll eventually win or not.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“I already hurt Flurry by attacking Starlight. I scared them all just now. I don’t think I can take the darkness that will blossom in their hearts when things get to the next stage.” Tears came down his eyes. “I know you said that this is going to help Spring in the end, b-but I don’t want to hurt my friends anymore.”
Twilight put a hoof on him. “I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but whatever you try they’ll triumph in the end.”
“Why?”
“Flurry and the rest defeated a Mayhem that was seriously endangering their lives. And if they could beat a crazed reality warper with only six ponies, then defeating someone of considerably less power with twice the amount of people shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”
Nega bit his lip. “But like I said it’s not about winning or losing. I don’t want to play anymore. Putting on the role of the villain is just making me ache.”
“I understand your reservations, but this adventure is also to save you too, you know. The pain and suffering you feel isn’t going to just vanish. It’ll only go away once Mayhem confronts his own feelings, and for that his victory needs to feel earned.”
Nega’s eyes clenched shut as he gently sobbed. “T-that’s easy for you to say. You’re not being the bad guy and fighting alone! I don’t feel strong enough for this!”
“It’s only been about three minutes out of the ten you gave them. What if I held you tight and showered you with love for the remaining seven minutes? Do you think you could handle it then?”
He wiped his eyes as he opened them, looking into her outstretched hooves. He quickly threw himself into them, holding her tight. “I… I don’t know if I’ll be ready, but right now I definitely need some love.”
“And I’ll be happy to give it to you,” she said affectionately, rubbing his back.
She heard some quiet sobs coming from him.
“Everything is going to turn out fine. You just need to believe in your friends. No matter what you throw at them their teamwork and love for one another will see them through.
“Darkness and light are polar opposites. When you shine a light down a hallway everywhere the light touches the darkness vanishes. Even if the light fades, so long as they have each other there’s no way they won’t be able to reignite the fire of their hearts.
“It’s just like what happened with Flurry. When Mayhem erased her memories she reverted back to the scared child she had been before, and almost fell into complete despair when she failed to defeat Mayhem. But even though she couldn’t remember her friends her heart still remembered their love, and that was all it took to get her moving again. One by one she rescued the other children.
“When her heart faltered because of the fake Starlight her friends gathered up their own hearts to protect her. She kept their fire, and even when things seemed hopeless she still fought for them, remaining defiant until the very end.
“Of course, because you have Mayhem’s memories you already know this. I’m sure it’s something he’s thought about quite a bit. But do you know why I’m bringing that up now?’
“N-no,” he replied.
She nuzzled his cheek with her own. “Because it’s not so different than what is going on here.
“Whatever it is you’re planning to do it will make things much harder on them, and that’s fine. It’s a good thing.”
“Good?” he asked, confused.
“Yes. There’s no surer way of making someone stronger than to make them feel needed. Pound never had the guts to confront Drill Bit when it only came to himself, but as soon as he threatened Pumpkin he lost all his fear.
“When someone is backed into a corner with no way out they can either surrender or push through the obstacles in their path. That’s how Flurry was able to defeat Mayhem. Her desire to protect them was so strong she felt no fear in confronting him. A far cry from when she first confronted him alone.
“The end result was that she did the impossible, and even wound up with her cutie mark because of it.
“Just think of how today will change all those children for the better. The point isn’t to just win. There has to be a challenge in it. It needs to feel earned. That’s why I told you that you needed to push them to the limit, because when they’re fighting for each other they’ll find out that they’re actually far stronger than they think they are.”
“It… it keeps coming back to the same thing, though,” he said with a sniff. “Even if it will be better for them in the end I don’t like hurting my friends.”
She stopped rubbing his back and gave him a squeeze. “You little sillyhead. You’re not hurting your friends. This is nothing like what happened with Mayhem, where their memories were erased and they thought they were going to be trapped forever or killed. It’s just a game, and you’re just playing a role.
“These adventures are mainly just improv stories. They set up a scenario and then play through it.” She released him and turned him around. “Without the hyper realistic magic it would just look like this.”
With a flash of her horn she created a small stage version of what they were going through, with the same low quality backgrounds and props from back when Pound and Pumpkin had pretended they were the children of Daring Do.
“I am the evil King Sombra,” said Nega, dressed in Sombra’s crown and cape. “Take this.”
He pulled out a black ribbon twirler, launching the green piece of material at Starlight.
“Ahh,” Starlight said overdramatically. “I have been slain.” With that she fell to the floor.
“Noo,” Flurry said melodramatically. “Curse you, King Sombra. I will have my revenge.”
She hugged him around his stomach as the scene vanished. “See how silly this all seems?"
That did get a small chuckle out of him.
“Don’t forget that you’re only playing a role in a game of pretend. While I personally believe that they’ll be able to overcome whatever you throw at them through their teamwork, there are no consequences for failure. It just means you won the game, and that’s it.
“You’re not actually hurting Starlight or torturing her parents. Everyone is just playing their part and hamming it up a bit for the game.”
He took in a slow breath. “But what about Spring Meadow? It’s fine for the rest of them, but she’s different.”
“I’ll have a talk with her. Not beating a pretend game shouldn’t shake her belief that she can overcome her inner feelings. There are twelve of them, after all, each with a different ability. She should have nothing to personally judge herself for if they don’t win.
“And you shouldn’t judge yourself either for just playing your part. I mean, do you think I’m a bad person?”
“Of course not, Twilight!” he said strongly.
“But before Mayhem created you I was going to be playing the part of Sombra. Would that make me cold or cruel or heartless?”
“Well, umm… no…”
“You have to separate your character from who you are as a person. Again, this is only a pretend game that you’re playing through. You’re not actually threatening them or doing harm to them. You’re just playing the part of an obstacle in their path they have to overcome.”
She turned him around again, holding him close. “So just believe in your friends and keep moving forward, okay?”
He didn’t answer, but he hugged her back. She thought he didn’t feel as tense, so she left him be to continue comforting him.
A few minutes passed by with neither of them saying a word.
Finally, he said, “I’m… going to believe, Twilight. I know it’s going to hurt a bit, but I know my friends can take whatever I throw at them. And, just like you said, I’m not actually King Sombra. I’m just playing a part.”
“Glad to hear that you understand.”
He let out a little groan. “This is probably going to be the last time I can get hugs, since only the battle is left in the game.”
“That’s true, but that also means your suffering will be coming to an end as well. If they emerge victorious in this battle I think Mayhem and Spring will be ready to forgive themselves, and that will help you heal too.”
“I’d like that. I can fight for that.”
He let out a sigh. “Well, time is about up. I have to go back now."
“Okay, Nega. Give it your all.”
She released him, and he reluctantly let go of her as well before getting back into the body of King Sombra. He let out another sigh. “Well… here we go.”
The children met up at the altar where the Crystal Heart was usually kept, feeling downtrodden. It was as fruitless as Sombra expected. The majority of the ponies didn’t respond at all to the knocking. They occasionally saw them hiding through a window, shivering in fear, but not a single pony agreed to join them. None of them were brave enough to defy Sombra, even when they heard that Flurry had the Heart. Its cracked state didn’t give anyone confidence that it would actually be successful.
Their ten minutes passed by far too quickly, with nothing to show for their efforts. Not a single pony agreed to fight against Sombra. They were too scared and hopeless.
“We couldn’t get anyone on our side,” said Tree Leaf. “What should we do now?”
“Well,” Pound said hesitantly, “the Crystal Heart gets its power from love, right? I know we’re not as good as the entire empire, but couldn’t we as least give it some power?”
Before they could answer a stream of darkness appeared in the middle of them, solidifying into the form of Sombra.
They all backed up. “Oh, my. I’m afraid your time is up.” He glanced around. “Just as I expected you couldn’t get anyone to join you. How absurd is it that mere children are showing more guts than adults?”
He shook his head slowly, chuckling. “Well, I guess it’s not surprising. You haven’t experienced my aura of fear for years like they have. Your spirits will dwindle quick enough.”
His horn lit up. “Prepare to experience fear like you have never known.”
He shot his shadows toward them, but to no avail. The gem around Flurry’s neck lit up, making a protective barrier around them.
“Hmm? That wasn’t your magic. I didn’t see your horn light up. So you have a trinket that protects you from my fear magic. Interesting.
“Ah, well. There are other ways of shattering your spirits.”
Flurry gasped as the Crystal Heart was pulled away from her. “What are you doing? You can’t destroy the Heart or everyone will freeze!”
“Destroy it?” he said as he set it in its pedestal where it floated. “Now why would I do that? I just wanted to power it up.”
They all looked at him with confusion. “Won’t that just destroy you?”
“Maybe, maybe not. But a powerless Heart is useless to both of us if the spell that keeps the blizzard away fades.”
He chuckled darkly as the light from his horn grew, but it seemed to suck the light away as it grew rather than illuminate a greater area. “This is just the start of the world of darkness.”
He shot the darkness at the Heart.
All of them gasped, thinking he had lied about not destroying it. It actually seemed to be far worse.
The bright blue color of the Crystal Heart grew monochrome, jagged spikes coming out around it.
But it didn’t stop there. The darkness of the Heart expanded, and little by little the darkness corrupted everything around them. The entire empire had grown devoid of light.
The children were speechless, most of them losing the ability to stand upright as they fell to their knees in horror.