Sombra gazed down at the warriors as they were shackled. Turning from the window, he ascended to his weapon, and postured next to it.
"Greetings, 'Twilight,'" he declared in practice. "At last, we meet..." He grimaced. "No..."
Summoning a sword staff, he lunged to the stairs, pretending to hold his sword to his imaginary foe's throat.
"We meet at last," he said, grinning. "Yes. I like that." He placed himself besides the stairs, and held his head high. "Greetings, Twilight," he declared again. "We meet at..."
He swung his sword... and yelped as he nearly took Zecora's mohawk off as she ascended the stairs. To the zebra's credit, she barely grimaced, walking by him.
"Though your reign is in season, you are afraid for a reason," she said with a smile, walking by him.
"I'm not afraid," Sombra growled at her. "She's coming to me in chains." He smirked. "If anyone should be afraid it's..."
"You," Zecora replied, turning to him with a grin. She gazed lower with a darker smile, though Sombra was quickly to pull his robes away from the zebra.
"No, don't you even think about it," he warned.
Twilight and the others waited for Chrysalis to open the doors to the Crystal Castle's courtyard. Though tied down with shackles, Twilight tried to hold herself with an air of authority that the others had.
Rainbow Dash grimaced. "This better work out better than Pinkie's plan to cook rice in her stomach by eating it raw then drinking boiling water."
Pinkie grimaced at the memory. "Please tell me this plan is nothing like that plan."
"Okay," Twilight replied. "It's nothing like that plan."
Rainbow rolled her eyes while Pinkie giggled. "How so?"
But before Twilight could explain, the doors opened, and all six warriors froze in horror.
Immediately Rainbow Dash was glad Applejack had been left at the Celestial Palace. A wooden cross was planted into the ground, Tied to the cross was the still bloody skeleton of Master Big Macintosh. His head, unfortunately not cleaned of its fur and skin, rested on top of the cross.
"Big Mac....." Rarity whispered in horror. Tai Lung turned his head away with a grimace.
Chrysalis smiled as she tapped the blood soaked cross.
"This is what awaits those who defy King Sombra," Chrysalis said, glancing up at the corpse with mock sympathy. "It's unfortunate," she added, licking her lips. "Such a strong stallion would have been incredibly useful to my hive."
Rainbow Dash strained against her restraints. "When I get out of here," she promised coldly. "I'm gonna drop-kick you so hard, you'll smash through every floor in this castle." She glanced up at the incredibly tall castle.
Chrysalis chuckled at the pony's barbed tongue, before nodding to her children.
"Keep moving," she declared.
The ponies pushed the masters past Big Mac's corpse and into the castle. Twilight paled as she saw what lay ahead of them: a massive flight of stairs.
"So..." Twilight asked with a nervous laugh. "He's on the first or second floor, right?"
Chrysalis' smile just widened, causing Twilight to groan in despair. Yet, as the masters began the trek up the stairs, Chrysalis frowned as she took in their scents.
'One of them has a faint scent of spicy mustard and sweet custard. However with the leopard boy smelling like Urtica, I can't tell which one is my daughter.' She chewed on her thumbnail. 'Where are you, daughter? Would you really leave behind this leopard you've claimed as your own?' She sighed, before ascending after the masters. 'I suppose I'll have to wait and see.'
Sombra was ready. He stood by the stairs, his sword in hand, ready to rest against Twilight's throat as she came up to his throne room. Yet... something was... off.
Boom... "Ugh." Boom... "Urg." Boom...
Those weren't the footsteps of just any pony. They were the footsteps of a monster. A beast. Sombra hesitantly drew his sword from its scabbard.
BOOM! "Ugh." BOOM! "Oh." BOOM!
Sombra tensed. She was right beneath his feet.
BOOM! "Rah!" BOOM! "Ugh!" BOOM!
Sombra got ready to swing... and one of his yaks stomped up the stairs, Twilight on his back. She was breathing heavily and covered in sweat
"Sweet Celestia," she gasped, slipping off the yak's back. "Why does this place have so many stairs?!"
Sombra stared at the mare in disbelief. Though he could see a similar face to the one he had killed 19 years ago... that was pretty much it in terms of intimidation. Sweating, panting, being helped up by her cyan friend...
"Pony threw up on thirty-third floor" the yak added as he stepped to Sombra's side.
'This is nothing like how I envisioned the pony destined to stop me?' Sombra thought. The thought gave him courage, and he held himself up higher, striding to his weapon.
"Greetings, 'Twilight,'" he declared. "We meet at last." He smirked. "How are you liking my empire?"
She glanced up at him, catching her breath. "It's not bad," she admitted. "But it's luster has dulled with you as King."
Sombra's grin faded as Zecora walked over to the lavender mare.
"Hm," Zecora hummed, hooking her cane under Twilight's arm. "Though you have grown, you are smaller than I would have known."
"Um... excuse me?" Twilight asked, before Zecora grabbed her by the horn and peered into her mouth.
"At least you are healthy," she noted, before gripping Twilight's arm. "If not neccesarily wealthy."
Twilight yanked her arms free. "Look, I'm not sure what you're talking about... um..." she peered at Zecora. "Ma'am?"
"She's a girl," Fluttershy whispered with a blush. "I can, uh... I can tell."
"I didn't want to assume," Twilight admitted.
"Enough!" Sombra boomed. "Bring the prisoners to me."
"Excuse me, ma'am," Twilight said, striding forward. "Alright guys, keep your eyes peeled for... the... weapon."
Twilight's grin faded and her words stammered into a horrified gasp as they were brought right before the barrel of Sombra's cannon.
"The rumors were true," Pinkie whispered, gazing on the cannon in horror. "You took the party cannon technique and made it... evil!"
Sombra merely chuckled at her horror, sparing Twilight a contemptuous glare before turning to a still unpreturbed Zecora. "You honestly think this is the mare destined to defeat me?" he demanded of the zebra.
"I do not think," Zecora replied. "I 'know.'" She grinned at Twilight. "Wink," she added for the sake of her rhyme.
Sombra shook his head, cackling in genuine amusement.
"Oh, but look at her," he insisted. "A lifetime to plan her revenge, and she comes to me on her knees..."
"A lifetime?" Twilight asked. "Excuse me, 'your grace,' but we've had more important things in our life than you."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "We only knew about Master Big Mac a few days ago." She stretched her shackles. "And we're gonna avenge him!"
The zebra paused, blinking at Twilight in shock.
"But..." she mumbled. "You've come to avenge nothing else?"
Twilight tilted her head at her. "Well... I guess we'll want the metal pots and pans you stole." She glanced at the weapon nervously. "Though I've got a good idea where those went."
"Nothing else?" Zecora asked, her voice cracking in disbelief.
With everyone focused on Twilight, no one noticed Pinkie's tongue curl into her mane and pull out a bobby pin. A pin she started using to pick the lock on Tai Lung's cuffs.
"I mean... maybe he did some other evil things," Twilight replied. "I don't know." She looked up at Sombra, who was trying not to fall to the floor with laughter. "What else did you do?"
"You... don't know," Zecora whispered, nearly falling to her knees in shock.
"What?" Twilight asked, starting to become frustrated when Sombra continued to laugh. "What's so funny? What did you do?!"
"The very thing that you clearly know nothing about!" Sombra replied. Enraged, Twilight stood up.
"OKAY, ENOUGH WITH THE RIDDLES!" she demanded. "Will you both just..." However, she went silent when Sombra's blade materialized inches from her eyes.
"No one tells me what to do," Sombra growled at her, flicking his sword up. "Not you. Not my parents. And especially, not fate!" He turned to the cannon. "Take aim."
Twilight backed up as Chrysalis and her children aimed the cannon. Behind them, the yaks opened the doors to the castle balcony, leading to a straight drop at least several miles to the ground.
Pinkie leaned closer to Tai Lung, desperately picking at the lock.
Sombra briefly glanced back, allowing the frightened masters to see his ominious smile.
"Fire," he declared.
Chrysalis lit the fuse, and Sombra let out one final laugh. That... wasn't followed by the explosion of the cannon.
He turned back to the cannon. It had not fired.
"Chrysalis!" he demanded. "I told you to fire!"
"I did!" Chrysalis protested, lighting it again. But the fuse remained unlit.
"What the...?" Sombra demanded, shoving Chrysalis out of the way and seizing the fuse himself. "I always have to..." he grumbled as he lit the fuse...
And was promptly kicked across the room by Pinkie Pie.
"Surprise," she declared happily to the stunned King.
He spun back to the others just as Tai Lung's cuffs burst off. With a roar, he smashed the shackles on the others, quickly freeing his friends.
"But how...?!" Chrysalis demanded, before the shackled 'Pinkie' rose up, engulfing herself in green flames to reveal...
"Urtica?!" Chrysalis demanded, right before Rainbow Dash bucked her through the floor.
"Told ya," Rainbow Dash noted with a grin.
"Get the Weapon" Twilight yelled, charging at Sombra and blasting him against the wall.
"Tai!" Urtica barked, allowing the snow leopard to use her as a springboard.
Jumping up, Tai Lung axe kicked the head of the cannon, launching it into the air. Rarity immediately teleported above the weapon. Kissing her knuckles, she punched the cannon with such force, it crashed through the floors. A resounding BOOM of destruction followed shortly afterward.
"For Big Mac," She whispered as she landed on the ground... and was promptly jumped over by a returning Chrysalis.
"Traitor!" Chrysalis screamed, dodging past Fluttershy and Tai as she went for her daughter. However, Urtica matched her mother's charge, re-directing her onto the palace balcony.
"Nice to see you too, 'mother,'" Urtica spat, Tai and Fluttershy forming up behind her as they cornered Chrysalis against the balcony. Glaring at her reinforcements, Chrysalis tried for a motherly gaze.
"Why did you leave us, daughter?" she asked, her voice cracking in remorse. "Why abandon your family?"
"You wanted me to just be another you," Urtica growled, motioning for her friends to stay back. "Just another bloodthirsty changeling. The others may be willing to swallow your lies. But I'M NOT!"
She lunged, catching her mother with two painful strikes to the face. Chrysalis rolled with the punches, launching off the balcony and flaring her wings. As Urtica tried to dive after her, Chrysalis caught her with a beam spell, smashing her against the balcony archway.
"You were always too soft," Chrysalis muttered, as Urtica hit the ground like a rag doll. Immediately, however, Tai Lung jumped over her, standing protectively between Urtica and the changeling queen. Chrysalis sneered at Tai's snarl.
"Come now," the queen tempted. "Let me take my daughter back to the hive. I'll even let her have you when she becomes Queen." She smirked. "After all, creating Royal Changelings is a two creature job."
Tai narrowed his eyes, a dangerous growl bubbling from his throat.
"She will never return with you," he snarled, before a scream distracted him.
He chanced a glance back. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Fluttershy were engaged with fighting the yaks and changelings. But none of them had screamed. They were looking to Twilight, who was backing up from Sombra, her lavender fur almost white with fear.
In their fight, Sombra's robes had been shredded, revealing his silver and black armor. And on his shoulder was the same insignia that Chrysalis had. The same one that had triggered Twilight's flashbacks.
Only this time, Twilight did not just see her mother. She saw a figure pursuing her. A familiar figure.
"You..." Twilight whispered, staring at Sombra. "You were there!"
Sombra smirked. "Finally remembering, are we?" he mused, before his horn glowed, and he disappeared with a flash of shadows.
Tai Lung remembered himself and spun back to Chrysalis. But she had not charged. Instead, Sombra had appeared before her, tackling into her and forcing her to bear him away from the palace.
The others converged with Tai on the balcony, failing to see one of the yaks snatch a stunned Zecora away and retreat down the stairs.
"What the hay was that?!" Rainbow demanded, turning to a still pale Twilight. "You let him get away!"
"At least we destroyed that horrid weapon," Rarity said, glaring at Sombra and Chrysalis as they neared a lit building.
"I wouldn't be so sure Rarity" Twilight whispered, her voice shaking. "Remember when I said I had a good idea where the metal went?"
Right on cue, Sombra and Chrysalis landed at the lit building... and at least ten more cannons poked out of the building.
"Fire!" Sombra bellowed.
Ten cannonballs soared in an arc towards the palace.
"Oh, no," Pinkie commented in a shaky voice. "He's got way more."
"Oh..my," Fluttershy whimpered as her ears flopped against her head.
"Run for it!" Pinkie screamed, just as the cannonballs crashed into the palace.
The explosion knocked everyone across the room. Tai rolled, Urtica's unconsious body in his arms. Fluttershy squeaked as she hit the ground, her wing an ashy mess.
"My wing!" Fluttershy cried, holding herself in agony.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow said rushing to her friend
As the mares converged on their downed friend, Twilight tried to join them. But another explosion hit the palace, sending Twilight into the pit the first weapon had left with a scream of fear.
"Twilight!" Pinkie cried out, lunging to catch her. As both mares plummeted into the pit, Rarity managed to catch Pinkie's legs. The pink mare stretched like putty, but maintained her hold on Twilight.
"R-Rainbow Dash!" Rarity yelled, as another explosion nearly knocked her into the pit as well. "Tai! Help!"
But Rainbow Dash glanced back at the window. At Sombra, who was laughing maniacally as the palace slowly caved in.
"Bring it down!" he was demanding. "Smash them! KILL THEM!"
"Wait," Rainbow barked as Tai got to Rarity's side. "We need to get down to the lower levels." She indicated the ropes tangling around the pit as she hefted Fluttershy onto her back. "Use the ropes."
Pinkie and Twilight exchanged a glance, before Twilight managed to swing to the ropes and catch them.
"Try not to land in Twilight's vomit," Pinkie commented as she swung down with Twilight, and the group began to descend.
With Twilight and Rarity spamming their teleport spells, the group quickly made their way back to the ground floor. Yet, just as they reached the exit, another volley of cannonballs hit the palace. The exit caved in before them.
"We're trapped!" Twilight whimpered.
"Not yet!" Tai Lung snarled. Holding Urtica under one arm, he punched down one of the walls, leading to the outside...
And promptly found himself facing a firing squad of changelings.
"Fire!" Chrysalis boomed over her hive mind, as a volley of spells shot their way. Tai covered Urtica with his body, roaring as spells scorched his back.
Before they could down the snow leopard, however, Rainbow Dash lunged over him, smashing the spells aside with her hooves of steel.
"Get back!" Rainbow barked, as Twilight and Rarity formed barriers to aid her. With the changeling spells blocked for now, Rainbow was able to notice the palace beginning to tilt.
Rainbow briefly grinned, turning back to her friends as she tucked Fluttershy under her arm.
"The only way out is up," Rainbow declared, flaring her wings and indicating the side of the building.
"Up?" Twilight and Rarity demanded, before noticing the tilt of the building. Understanding Rainbow's plan, they turned to Tai, who was flexing his scorched back.
"Are you okay to do this, Tai?" Rarity asked.
Despite the pain in his voice, he managed a laugh. "Don't forget who I am," he declared confidently. "I'm the son of Luna Solaris!" And with Urtica under his arm, he followed Rainbow Dash out, flipping and jumping alongside Pinkie Pie as they followed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy up.
The unicorns exchanged a mutual glance of nervousness, before flaring their horns as one and following them up with another plethora of teleportation spells.
Sombra's cackling faded as he watched them climb back up the falling palace.
"Where in the name of the Umbra are they going?" he growled, before following the path of the building. His eyes brightening in realization, he turned to Chrysalis. "Chrysalis! Get your changelings to cut them off at the east side!"
But as Chrysalis exchanged his orders through the hive mind, the masters leaped from the falling building and into the streets of the empire. The changelings that tried to cut them off were caught by the building, their screams going silent as they vanished under the rubble.
Chrysalis gasped, stepping back as she felt their minds torn from the hive mind.
"My... children," she whispered, tears forming on her face.
"You'll make more," Sombra replied coldly, glaring at where the masters had gone before turning to the cannons. "Ready the changelings we have left. Get them ready to move. The Reign of Equestria ends tomorrow."
But Chrysalis glared at him in rage.
"Have you no sympathy?" she demanded. "I just lost thirty of my children!"
She stepped towards him threateningly, only to go silent as his drew his sword, aiming it at her eye. The changeling queen wisely backed down from the glare in her king's eyes.
"You'll make more," Sombra repeated with a growl. "Now get the ones you have ready to move. Now!"
Seething but reluctant to argue, Chrysalis turned from her king and to the changelings that had gathered before her. She didn't meet their gaze; she knew they felt the deaths of their brethren. But there was nothing she could do to console their grief.
"We move out tomorrow," she said, her voice struggling not to crack. "And we'll make them pay for the ones we've lost."
Meanwhile, the masters returned to Jasper-Jam Jail. Briefly, Rainbow Dash glared at two changelings that were guarding the door. But their eyes lit up as orders were relayed through their hive mind, and they quickly leaped into the air, vanishing into the shadows.
With the coast clear, the group raced inside. Rainbow Dash and Tai Lung settled the battered Fluttershy and Urtica into the beds in the broken cell. Tai had enough time to put Urtica on the bunk before he collapsed, his breathing ragged and the wounds on his back smoking.
"Oh my," Rarity bemoaned, firing up a medicine spell that covered his back like lotion. "Looks like the adrenaline was all that was keeping him going."
"It's... nothing," Tai insisted, even as he moaned in relief from the spell. "Just... some rest... and I'll be back up in no time..." As the relief from the medicine overtook him, he curled up next to Urtica, and his chest rose and fell in a peaceful slumber. Chuckling, Rarity set to work on Urtica and Fluttershy.
"You gonna be okay, Flutters?" Rainbow asked as Rarity fixed her wing with a flash of magic.
Fluttershy sighed in relief as Rarity's spells took effect. "I'll be right as rain in no time," she replied.
Nodding, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight and Pinkie, who's attention had been grabbed by the voluntarily imprisoned masters.
"What did you do?!" Bulk demanded. "It's pandamonium out there! What happened to stopping Sombra!"
"Oh-ho, now he cares about that," Pinkie noted to Twilight cheekily. "Am I right? Eh?" Her grin faded. "Twilight?"
Twilight didn't reply. At first, she stared at the ground, trying to process what had happened. However, her attention was soon taken by Rainbow Dash, who marched on Twilight with slowly mounting rage. Pinkie saw Rainbow's look, and tried to get in her way.
"Rainbow, wait," Pinkie begged, but the master shoved her pink friend aside.
"No, Bulk's right," Rainbow growled.
Twilight turned and was met with twin palms striking her chest, knocking her to the ground. She backed as Rainbow Dash bore over her.
"Start talking, Twilight," Rainbow snapped. "You had Sombra! You had him dead to rights! What happened?!"
"I... I... I don't know," Twilight stammered, looking away only for Rainbow to grab her face.
"Tell the truth!" the cyan master boomed.
"Rainbow!" Pinkie snapped, pushing the two apart.
"He... he caught me off guard," Twilight mumbled, looking away again.
Rainbow nearly charged her, before Pinkie's glare forced her to relent. She knelt down to Twilight's level.
"Twilight," she said softly, grabbing the unicorn's attention without force. "The truth."
Twilight opened her mouth to speak. But after a moment, her jaw closed with a click. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, but sighed in resignation.
"Fine. Don't tell me." She turned to Bulk and Flash before glancing at Fluttershy, Urtica and Tai. "Who's fit for travel?" she asked.
Fluttershy raised her hand. Tai's eyes snapped open, and he sprung to position. However, Urtica continued to sleep, Rarity shaking her head at Rainbow as the white mare checked the changeling's heart rate. The cyan master nodded before turning to the two masters.
"Keep them far from danger," Rainbow asked.
Flash nodded. "That we can do," he promised. "Real far from danger."
Twilight blinked, looking between them with confusion.
"W-What?" Twilight asked.
"You're staying here with Urtica," Rainbow replied, barely even glancing at the Celestial Warrior as she moved to the others. "Get yourselves together. We move out..."
"Hey!" Twilight snapped, pushing herself up to her feet. "You can't leave me here; I have to..."
In an instant, Rainbow Dash was up in Twilight's face. Twilight's words died in her throat. Tai's eyes were wide as dinner plates, while Pinkie tried to cover an equally shocked Fluttershy and Rarity with her body.
"Uh, oh," Pinkie whispered.
For a moment, Rainbow glared her lavender counterpart down. When she spoke, her voice was soft, but radiated authority.
"You're staying here," Rainbow Dash growled.
Despite her heart hammering loud enough for everyone to hear, Twilight shook her head.
"I can't stay out of this," she said, turning to the exit. "You can't keep me out of..."
In an instant, Rainbow Dash had flash-stepped between Twilight and the exit, and had spun Twilight around so that she was heading away from the exit. Slowly, Twilight turned back to Rainbow Dash, her eyes narrowing and her magic beginning to glow.
Unimpressed, Rainbow Dash's wings flared, and she formed her own combat stance.
"Guys, please don't..." Pinkie pleaded.
But her pleas fell on deaf ears. The cyan and lavender masters charged each other, magic blasting off the walls as Twilight tried to take down the winged master. Yet Rainbow Dash enveloped Twilight in a series of strikes, and no matter what Twilight did, she was forced to the ground again and again by the superior martial artist.
Yet, Rainbow Dash's efforts were in vain as well. For no matter how many times she threw Twilight to the ground, the mare flung herself back to her feet, her groans of exertion turning to screams of primal fury.
"Twilight, just stay down!" Pinkie cried, throwing herself on Twilight as the mare hit the ground for the tenth time.
"I can't!" Twilight shrieked back.
"Tell us why!" Rainbow Dash shouted in reply.
Twilight seethed, throwing Pinkie off her before trying to hit Rainbow Dash with another spell. Rainbow Dash dodged the magic and kicked Twilight into the wall. As Twilight hit the ground, her fists slammed against the wall before...
"He was there!" she snapped.
Rainbow Dash paused. The masters leaned in as Twilight covered her face.
"He was there the last time I saw my mother," Twilight admitted, tears soaking her hands and cheeks as she looked up at Rainbow. "He's the only one who knows what I am. Where I really come from."
Rainbow stepped back. Tai came forward, cautiously reaching a hand out for her. Though both paused as Twilight pulled herself back up to her feet.
"I have to go," Twilight insisted, looking away from Rainbow. "You'd never understand; you're too hardcore."
Rainbow's body tensed again.
"Dash?" Tai asked, before she shot away from his grip.
"No!" Pinkie screamed as Rainbow Dash charged Twilight...
Only for everyone to freeze as Rainbow Dash enveloped Twilight in a hug.
Fluttershy's jaw dropped. Never before had any of the masters seen Rainbow Dash openly show her emotions that way.
"I may be hardcore," Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight. "But I do understand." She let go of the unicorn, shaking her head. "But I can't watch my friend get killed. Luna knew it with Applejack, and I know it with you."
Twilight tried to speak, but her voice had abandoned her. Resting her back against the wall, Twilight slid down in utter defeat. Giving her friend one final, sad look, Rainbow turned to the others.
"Anyone else?" she asked, her voice gruff and devoid of emotion.
Pinkie and Fluttershy exchanged a glance. "So..." Pinkie noted teasingly. "You're okay with seeing... 'us' get killed?"
"Don't be a wimp," Rainbow Dash shot back, walking right by her. Pinkie grinned triumphantly at Fluttershy.
"She's back," she declared happily, even as Rarity rolled her eyes and Fluttershy chuckled softly.
Together, the Furious Five - or Four, in this case - followed their leader out. Tai Lung, however, paused, glancing back at Twilight as she rested her head against her knees. He walked back to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You saved me from being controlled by others," Tai said gently to her. "Don't let Sombra control you with this." He pat his chest. "No matter how your story began, don't forget where it's gotten you now."
Twilight smiled softly at the master's advice, before he glanced over at Urtica's sleeping form. Twilight followed his gaze, and brushed his chin with her hand.
"I'll keep her safe," she promised. Flash rested his head on the bars.
"We all will," he added.
Nodding in gratitude, Tai turned from Twilight's side, and raced after the Furious Four. With him gone, however, Twilight felt the weight of her despair return, pulling down on her heart until it felt like it was in her stomach. Bulk sighed, while Flash tried to rest a hand on her shoulder from inside the cell.
"Don't worry kid," Bulk said. "You're better off here."
Twilight looked down. It was true. She knew it. They knew. Everyone knew it.
And yet... questions plagued her mind. What if Sombra had captured her mother? What if he was hiding her in some secret place? What if there was a chance for her to actually meet her mother? What if... Twilight shuddered at the thought, but what if Sombra's defeat only ensured the death of her mother?
Luna had told her that inner peace would make this mission possible. But now? Twilight had never felt less at peace than now.
She had to know the truth. And the only way to find out for sure... was by confronting King Sombra.