In the Absence of Twilight Sparkle

by MyHobby


Echoes of Ruin

Chrysalis looked over the sea and spotted a boat nearing the docks. Neighsay piloted the vessel, which was just large enough to handle the choppy waters. As he pulled alongside the docks, she caught the line he tossed her.

Neighsay placed a briefcase on the dock before helping her tie the boat down. “It’s good to be back in familiar territory. I’ve been getting homesick—”

“I’m not here for small talk,” she snapped. She picked up the case and marched back towards the warehouse. “The doc wants to see you when you get the boat secured. We’re headed out.”

“Already?” Neighsay looked down at the ropes in his hands. He continued to tie down the boat with a huff. “I thought for sure I’d get a day or so. I didn’t expect the doctor to have everything set up for—”

“Hey.”

Neighsay looked up just in time to see a fist speeding its way towards his nose. Before he could react, it crashed into him full-force. He fell to his knees, his vision blurring and his nose bleeding.

“That’s for Wallflower,” Chrysalis said, stalking away.

A strangled curse was all Neighsay had to reply with.

***

Dr. Twilight tapped at a keyboard in the computer lab, using two fingers to type. The information Chrysalis had compiled on Sunset’s family was by no means comprehensive, but it had been enough. Though Sunset kept off social media, Pinkie Pie was not nearly so reclusive. All they’d had to do was compare several sympathetic posts with police records Chrysalis had broken into to know just what Sunset had been going through the past couple of years.

From there, records of Sunset’s history with Twilight, her brother, with the Apples, with everybody… The schools they’d attended, the jobs they’d had… The lives they lived, all brought together on one hard drive.

“Special delivery.”

Dr. Twilight watched Chrysalis enter the dark computer lab and place the briefcase on a nearby desk. The other woman rubbed her right hand absently, staring into space, appearing to be somewhere else.

“So…” The doctor pressed the delete key, eradicating several incriminating files. “Those are the fairy strings.”

“They came at a high price.” Chrysalis had the presence of mind to narrow her focus on Dr. Sparkle. “Neighsay’s on the dock, hopefully bleeding out. He’ll be by in a few minutes.”

“No. We need to move fast.” Dr. Twilight rose from her chair and grasped the briefcase’s handle with a grip like death itself. “Call everybody to the central room. Have Starlight organize us to ship out. We need to get people to the mainland as fast as possible.”

“The mainland?”

“Where the portal is.” Dr. Twilight brushed past her on her way to the door. Chrysalis almost didn’t move out of the way, but a cold hand to the shoulder convinced her. “It’s going to take us at least two trips as it is.”

“I thought you were going to use the device before we shipped out.”

“I’m going to work simultaneously.” Dr. Twilight felt the surface of the meta briefcase with the palm of her hand. So much work and sacrifice had gone into retrieving the fairy strings… It would soon all be worth it. “I’ll take the last boat. After everything is perfect.”

Chrysalis rubbed her upper arms as a shiver ran throughout her body. “And who’s going to stay behind to make sure you don’t barbeque yourself with that machine?”

“It’s going to work, Chrysalis.” Dr. Twilight gave her what she thought to be a warm smile. “I have no doubt in my mind. The calculations have been checked and triple-checked. They match my teacher’s perfectly.” She pulled open the door, but paused as a thought occurred to her. “I’m keeping Sunset Shimmer here to witness the transformation. If she just sees everything finally come together, there’s no way she’ll be able to deny its worth anymore. She’ll be just as onboard as you, or me, or—”

“Wallflower?” The face was expressionless, the voice colorless, but the intent was clear as day.

Dr. Twilight nodded to Chrysalis, clenching one fist. “Yes. As onboard as Wallflower. She was a good friend, but she made a mistake and we all have to suffer because of it.” She patted the briefcase, magic sparking on her fingertips. “We’ll honor her by moving forward.”

She turned to leave, nothing more needing to be said. Chrysalis stopped her with a word. “Wait.”

Dr. Twilight huffed. “Chrysalis, we don’t have time—”

“I’ve been keeping dibs on Dulcimer’s communications.” Chrysalis held up her phone, shaking it like she was dangling keys in front of a kid. “He hasn’t had any contact with Fancy Pants since he came here. Pretty sure this is all a ruse.” Her jaw tightened behind her cheek. “Which would mean Wallflower died for nothing.”

“If that’s true…” Dr. Twilight bobbed her head and quickened her pace. “Dulcimer will get his due. For now, our goals align.”

Chrysalis exited the lab and leaned on the railing overlooking the indoor courtyard. Fire licked at her limbs as her magic briefly overpowered her self-control.

Dr. Twilight reached her private laboratory just as Double Diamond climbed to the top of the staircase to her level. “Doctor! I need to talk with you.”

“I’m busy, and so are you.” Dr. Twilight pointed downstairs to the few milling students who weren’t packing. “Our second boat just arrived. Get our people ready to sail.”

“That’s part of what I need to talk with you about.” He stretched out a hand to lean against the doorframe, halting her progress. “Your ‘prisoners.’ We can’t just leave them behind.”

“I’m staying with Sunset for the moment.” Dr. Twilight hugged the briefcase to her chest. “Do what you want with the other two, so long as they don’t interfere with my project. And so long as they don’t alert the authorities to our presence.” She poked his chest with a finger, and a bubble of telekinetic energy pushed him back a solid foot. “Now if the interruptions can stop, I’m going to begin the process of changing the world.”

Without another word, Double Diamond untied the bonds holding Sombra and Celestia. A hushed word of warning prevented them from reattempting their earlier heroics. A whispered promise was exchanged between Celestia and Sunset, but Dr. Twilight paid it no mind. She was focused on the Alicorn Device. Her pride and joy. The future of all peoples. The only goal worth attaining.

“Sunset Shimmer,” she said, her breath short, “I invite you to witness history.”

***

Twilight Sparkle’s knees shook. All four of them. The pressure in her horn became aggravating as she stared into the glimmering blue eyes of a king she knew to be far too dangerous for comfort.

Her discomfort didn’t seem to affect him. King Sombra leaned around the back of the chair to peer into the depths of the laboratory. “Young Master Spike! Please, come here and let me get a good look at you!”

Edgy Spike tiptoed out of the lab, stuffing a sheet of paper into his bags. He had the look of a man facing certain death. “King Sombra. Y-Your Majesty. Hi.”

“My, how you’ve grown.” Sombra looked back at Twilight, who dared not speak. “The both of you. It does my heart good to see you once again.”

“King Sombra…” Edgy Spike eased himself closer to Twilight, putting his body slightly between Sombra and Twilight. “How… how is this possible? I thought you were possessed—”

“By the dark magic of the Tantabus.” Sombra’s eyes turned downward, and his smile frayed at the edges. “Yes, unfortunately, this is still so. You no doubt saw the monster as you entered the castle.”

Twilight nodded, her throat constricting until she could barely breath.

“I am… unsure how to quantify this… apparition you see before you.” Sombra touched a hoof to his chest. He took a sip of the tea and sighed. “Perhaps I am some final remnant of Sombra’s right mind. Perhaps I am all that remains of the king, stripped of everything save memories. I know not.”

Edgy Spike reached out a claw. The sharp nails slid through Sombra’s body unabated by flesh or sinew. He was merely an image. Or maybe an afterimage, like what remained on an old TV after it was shut off.

“All I know is that I haven’t much time to speak with you before the Tantabus reasserts control,” Sombra said quietly. “I can already feel myself slip back into the darkness. Piece by piece.”

Edgy Spike glanced at Twilight. He narrowed his eyes; he didn’t want her to speak. Twilight shared the sentiment. She wasn’t even sure if she could, much less if she could remain standing in the presence of the king.

“We are still searching for a cure to your condition.” Edgy Spike picked three books off the shelf at random, scanning their inside covers for data on their print date. “Among other things. It’s chaos out there. We felt like it was worth the risk of coming to the castle.”

Sombra’s expression softened further. “I’m afraid it is too late for me, Spike.”

Edgy Spike had a book halfway off a shelf. He turned to the king with a half-baked smile. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I gave up long ago. After Twilight left.” King Sombra shook his head and reached for Twilight. “Why did you only return after so long, my student?”

Put on the spot, Twilight figured she had to say something. Anything. Something small. Maybe Sombra didn’t know about the doctor’s more horrific experiments? If he didn’t bring them up, she sure as heck didn’t need to. “I—I’m sorry… I lost my way.”

“Haven’t we all?” Sombra stood up, his body blocking most of the light from the fire. He set the teacup on the coffee table, where it vanished into the shadows. “When you left, I lost hope. I grew desperate. I knew that without you, there was only one way to destroy the Tantabus once and for all, so that it would not hurt anybody ever again.”

He took a looming step closer to Twilight, and she took a step back. He outpaced her by far with that single movement. He was taller than Big Mac. Taller than Princess Celestia, even. She looked him right in his blue eyes, once so noble, now clouded over with a grim apathy.

“I tied the magic of the Tantabus, one molecule at a time, to my very body.” Sombra shook his head slowly, his voice seemingly on the verge of tears. “Now, when I die, I shall take the Tantabus and its corrupted power with me.”

“No!” Edgy Spike dropped the books on the coffee table and reached out for the king, even if he could never touch him. “There has to be a way. Twilight’s here, and all we need to do is—”

“No, Spike.” Sombra looked at the young dragon with a sigh like the final breath of a dragon. The castle’s foundations rumbled to match. “Twilight cannot help you. Nothing that I have done can be undone.” His expression darkened as the shadows of the room grew deeper still, as though they had form and substance. “Just as nothing that Twilight herself has done can be undone.”

Twilight’s ears flopped down to the sides of her head. “Oh sh—”

Edgy Spike grasped her shoulders and pulled her behind his back. “What do you mean? She… she hasn’t—”

“Twilight, you knew that anything you could ever want, I would provide.” Sombra’s looming head was as black as night, backlit as it was by the blazing fire behind him. “Why did you think it necessary to turn my greatest shame into a reality?”

Twilight’s ears turned red as blood rushed to her face. “A-actually, that—You see, there’s been a misunderstanding—”

“I knew the process that Celestia showed me was too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands.” Magic leaked from the edges of Sombra’s body, merging with the shadows and deepening them. His expression grew clearer, no longer happy to see them, nor angry. He was sad, mournfully so. He had the appearance of one who had lost something dear to him. Perhaps one who had lost everything. “So I modified the schematics. I changed the Alicorn Device into a bomb.”

His eyes lost their luster completely, becoming pure black holes, sucking in all light. Purple magic swirled in a corona, like magic tears pouring from the corners of his eyes. The pressure in her horn became an excruciating headache, splitting her vision and nearly throwing her to the floor.

“When your laboratory was destroyed the first time, I did not want to believe that you could have done something so heinous.” His legs vanished into the floor, which roiled with shadow and sorrow. “I should have seen the signs. I should have stopped you before you lost yourself completely. Truly, my inaction has cost you your equinity, and it has cost the world one of its greatest scholars.”

He reached out for Edgy Spike with a tentacle-like limb and shoved him away. He opened his mouth wide as he approached Twilight. She shrunk against the coffee table with her hooves held up. “No! Wait! I’m not your Twilight! I’m from another—!”

Green eyes shone from the darkness, enveloping red pupils. His newly grown fangs and the rumble of an earthquake could not conceal the grief in his voice. “I was glad to see you, one last time, before we are both extinguished by our failures. Farewell, Twilight.”

Edgy Spike picked Twilight up and slammed shoulder-first through the door to the study. Shards of black crystal erupted from the ground where she had been standing. He ran as fast as he could with her tucked under one arm, his tail flailing as he booked it for the nearest exit.

Twilight swallowed hard as she realized that the closest exit was the one they’d entered by; the main entrance.

She looked behind them at the unearthly screech of Sombra. The laboratory and study of Dr. Twilight Sparkle erupted into flame, destroying all the information within. Sombra burst forth like a storm cloud through mountains, lightning and crystalline shards in his wake. “No! Twilight must die!

“We are screwed,” Twilight hissed.

“Just…” Edgy Spike neared the small hallway to the throne room. Smoke poured from his nostrils. “We can figure something out.”

“He’s not listening!

“I thought—” A steaming tear fell from Edgy Spike’s eye before he wiped it aside. “That’s not the king. He’s gone. He’s been gone for a long time.”

Spiiiiiike!” Sombra’s shadowy head chased after them with a howl. “Why do you protect her? Release her and you shall live!

A crystal arrow sang through the air and struck Edgy Spike in the side. It bit deep into his scales, drawing boiling green blood. He cried out in pain and surprise, falling to his knees. He hefted Twilight and threw her through the doorway. “Go! Get out of here!”

Twilight picked herself up despite the bruises, cuts, and scrapes. She didn’t have time for pain. She turned to Edgy Spike, who was nearly swallowed by shadows. She looked him right in the eye and saw her fear reflected. He looked away and closed his eyes, sparing her from watching him succumb to the onset of death.

Her horn blazed a brilliant lavender. She pushed back against the pressure in her skull and threw magic across the room. Sombra’s roar abated for but a moment. The shadows drew back for a blinding instant. She gripped Edgy Spike in a cocoon of magic and dragged him into the hall.

“There’s no way in Hell or Equestria that I’m leaving you here, Spike!” She pulled him to his feet with a glimmer of magic and gave him a shove in the proper direction. “Now move your caboose!”

His jaw fell open. “But—”

“Move it!”

The walls bent inward, as if a massive weight was dragging the castle down. Grit and grime showered them with every step forward, and the grasping tentacles of shadow nipped at their feet. She tripped and fell nose-first into the ground. Edgy Spike hoisted her upright and helped her along until her vision cleared.

The throne room was lined floor-to-ceiling with crystal shards. Massive spires reached the rafters, and smaller patches of spikes lay waiting to cut the limbs off any who passed by. There was no safe passage.

Twilight Sparkle shut her eyes tight and sent magic to her horn. “Come on. Teleport. Teleport!” The equations flashed in her mind. The spell was tuned to perfection. The only thing that remained was the power behind the spell. The emotion. The driving force. The mental state of being required to exist in two places at once. What was it? What could it possibly be!?

Sombra’s unhinged laughter shook her to the core. Maybe the emotion was “blinding terror.” She completed the spell, and there was an eye-searing flash.

She stood in the very same spot she had been a moment ago. She threw her head back with an exasperated scream. She pressed her hooves against Edgy Spike’s chest. “What spell did you sneak into your bag? Was it the sealing spell?”

“N-no.” Edgy Spike passed her the small piece of paper he’d been able to retrieve. “It’s the spell that pierces the fabric of reality. It’s Twilight’s mirror-world transportation spell. The one she used to escape seven years ago.”

Twilight’s ears stood upright. She took the paper in a telekinetic glint. “Alright. So if we can’t think of another way out of this…”

Edgy Spike held a claw to his wound. “You can’t be serious—”

His eyes grew wide. He threw Twilight to the floor as a beam of terror flashed over her head. Sombra’s head appeared in a crystal, screeching in rage. He vanished and reappeared in another part of the room, readying another spell.

Twilight lifted her head and found her heart caught up in her throat for the umpteenth time that day. The paper floated away from her, carried on currents of wind that blew through the broken stained glass windows. She tried to grasp for it, but Edgy Spike pulled her away from a crystalline spear.

It was then that the center of the room caved inward. Stone and silt gave way and became a yawing abyss filled to the brim with Sombra’s crystal teeth. The tremors rumbled throughout the foundations as the entire world seemed to writhe in pain. In short, the castle was coming down.

Edgy Spike held an arm out to prevent Twilight from sliding to her death. He shared a small, unconvincing smile with her. “Well, I think I’m starting to see the wisdom in your idea.”

***

Big Mac gaped as the castle listed to one side, the horrible call of the monster king drawing it towards total collapse. “Shining! We gotta do somethin’!”

Chrysalis snagged his tail with a cloven hoof. She held him back, yanking him to a seated position. “You can’t help her now. The plan failed. It’s up to her to escape.”

“You’re kidding me!” Shining Armor hoisted the bag holding Twilight’s clothes, squaring them on his back in case he needed to bolt for it. “She’s risking her neck for you, and you’re just going to let her die?

“We all knew the risks!” Queen Chrysalis bit her lower lip as she watched the castle billow with purple smoke. “It’s likely the spell was destroyed long ago. Our hopes of stopping Sombra were just that… hopes.”

Princess Celestia strode forward towards the castle, easing Chrysalis gently off to the side. “Then you misunderstand what hope is, Your Majesty. Hope is not a toothless wish. Hope is a certainty you hold in your heart. Proof that you have your faith because you know it to be true. We have hope in Twilight. We have faith in her and Spike. That is why, in their hour of need, we are going to help them.

General Care glanced between Celestia and Chrysalis, her eye looking to either one for some sort of command. “Your Majesty… Spike’s still in there, too.”

Little Spike stepped beside Princess Celestia, with Princess Twilight close behind. “We can at least give Sombra something to think about,” he said. “Distract him enough to get the others out.”

“There isn’t going to be a castle to get them out of!” Queen Chrysalis spread her forelegs and wings, trying and failing to stop them from moving forward. “Do you know how many people I love who I’ve had to watch die? No more! Let Cadenza have the blasted kingdom! Let Sombra burn everything to ashes! If we run, we’ll still have each other!”

Big Mac stomped a hoof on the stone road. It was loud enough to make Chrysalis jump. “It ain’t that simple! I can’t live with myself knowin’ I coulda helped Twilight but didn’t! Even if there’s nothin’ I can do, I need to be there for her! And I know I can’t do it alone! We need to face the king!”

Shining Armor looked over General Care’s assembled troops with a hoof raised. “We can’t rest until he’s stopped!”

Little Spike attempted to juke around Chrysalis, but she held him in place with a strong spell. “He’ll keep tearing down your trust!”

Celestia took the changeling queen by the shoulder and waited for her to extinguish her horn. “Harry you and all your people till your kingdom’s naught but dust.”

Princess Twilight took to wing and scanned the layout of the castle, taking note of weak walls and open windows. “We can save them if we hurry and attack him from the north!”

“So it’s time for your decision, folks!” Big Mac bellowed. “It’s time! To! Sally! Fooorth!”

He galloped as fast as his four legs could take him without tripping, Shining and Little Spike hot on his heels. He didn’t know what came over him, but as his heart pounded, as magic flowed through his newfound fairy strings, words and melodied rose to his mouth. They spewed forth, unpremeditated, yet they fit what was in his heart so clearly that he couldn’t help but allow them to sound.

“In the dust
In the night
In the kingdom of a monster
There’s a horror that has
Stabbed us like a knife

“There’s my girl
And her friend
They’re both trapped inside a castle
With a villain who’d
Exterminate their life

“He’s a king
Who was lost to his madness
And his tragedy endlessly stings

“But we’re armed
And we’re mad
And we look pretty rad
For Twilight! Edgy Spike!
Face the king!”

Queen Chrysalis flew overhead, shouting at them at the top of her lungs. “Shining! Shining, please, I can’t let you die again!”

“That wasn’t me!” Shining Armor shook his mane and narrowed his eyes at the castle as they rapidly approached. “I’m not your Shining, Chrysalis. You have to let me help my sister.”

Princess Twilight grasped Chrysalis’ hooves in her own. “Go. Run while you can. Get your people regrouped and ready to fight. We’ll get our friends out.”

General Care hollered to the queen, “Don’t tell me we’re giving up Spike!”

Queen Chrysalis gritted her teeth, looking over the half of an army she had waiting for her. She shut her eyes to block off the tears. “Those of you who want to help Spike, go with them. Those of you who want to live, stay with me.”

General Care took off like a bolt of lightning. “I’m helping Spike!”

“I’ll go!”

“And me!”

Roughly a dozen ponies joined them, a small fraction of their number. The gallop became a stampede as the two princesses, two soldiers, a dragon, and a farmer led the motley crew towards the crumpling castle.

“Whet your blades
Shake your spears
Our hooves rumble like a thunder cloud
We’re following Big Mac to
Certain doom

“After long
Endless war
Joy is scarcer than clean water
We are ready for a really
Big kaboom

“It’s our king
And we miss him so dearly
In memoriam ave we sing

“Here’s our time
Here’s our chance
Take a strong-footed stance
Fight for friendship and romance!”

Big Mac craned his neck to look at the tallest of the rapidly-tilting towers. Eyes of purple, red, and green anger and raw, animal fury blazed at him and his company. “Watch out for his big, floating head!”

Blades of blackhearted crystal erupted from the stone before them, while arrows of pain made manifest rained from above. Princess Twilight cast a covering shield that protected them from the overhead onslaught, while Little Spike broke apart the forest of flesh-rending fangs.

Big Mac slowed only for a moment as he rounded the spines, careful not to touch the dangerous magic.

“I don’t know
How to help
I just know I need to be here
Even if I can’t assist
With anything

“Twilight’s great
She’s the best
Of this fact I can attest
How could I possibly do less?
To face the king!”

Princess Twilight landed beside the north wall of the castle, far to the left of the westward main entrance. She turned around and barked in a booming, magically-assisted voice. “All earth ponies! We need to push this wall in and straighten it out! That means you, Big Mac!

General Care turned to her troops. “Fritz! Green Tea! Vanilli! Do as the princess says!”

Big Mac joined the other three earth ponies in pressing against the wall. At first, he couldn’t feel the slightest hint that he was doing anything except getting crushed by solid stone. Princess Twilight came alongside him and pressed her own hooves beside his.

“Feel your heartbeat, Mac,” she said. “Feel that magic I’ve already seen you use. You ran a mile in three minutes. That’s the power of an earth pony with his heart on fire.”

When Big Mac looked back, he could see that Shining, Little Spike, and the Princess Celestia were still a ways off, picking through the crystal minefield. When had he even had time to break away? There wasn’t time to think too hard. It was time to feel. To do.

He pushed the wall alongside the princess and the others, and the stone bent to their will. The wall was strengthened. The castle’s collapse was slowed. Princess Twilight glared at the ever-present darkness of Sombra and lit her horn.

“We bought time
Let’s go in
Earth ponies should take the small gate
While the pegasi will enter
On the wing

“Unicorns
Launch your spells
Come on folks, let’s give ’em hell
And help the mission to go well
Let’s face the king!”

Big Mac was the first through the gate, and was met with a veritable wall of black spines. He gave one a solid, magically-assisted kick that shattered it in half. The earth trembled in response. He and the other earth ponies pushed forward as best they could, calling out for Twilight or Edgy Spike.

“Face the king!
Face the king!
Face the king!”

They smashed their way through layer upon layer of solidified magic. If Big Mac strained his ears, he could hear Twilight screaming above the quaking of earth and the roar of a demon. He focused on that sound, pushed towards its source, seeking its owner who he loved so dearly.

He crushed a spike beneath his hooves and skidded to a stop. The castle opened up to a large chamber filled floor-to-ceiling with crystals. The floor had caved in towards the center, giving it the appearance of a leech’s mouth. Up and to the left, he could see Twilight and Edgy Spike picking their way across the edge of the room, dodging spells cast from the horrifying head of Sombra himself.

A second head hovered before Big Mac, similar to the main Sombra head, but lacking definition. Or eyes. “Begone, fools! Lest the Tantabus slay you as well!”

Big Mac skipped past the horrific visage. “Eee’nope.”

Twilight caught sight of him from across the room. She practically leapt for joy. Or maybe she was just terrified that he was there. “Mac! Get outta here!”

“Come towards me!” He reached out a hoof to her. “We’ll lead you outside!”

I think not!” Sombra’s head lanced fire and fear towards the hallway Big Mac stood in. Mac dove forward, while the other earth ponies retreated as fast as they could. The hall caved in and sealed over with deadly crystal shards.

Princess Twilight Sparkle flew through a hollowed-out window. She fired a kinetic blast at the crystal Sombra was using for an anchor, and sent it crumbling into the yawing pit. Sombra screamed in annoyance and shifted positions, dancing around the alicorn princess and exchanging spells back and forth.

“Mac!” Twilight pointed down, to a position near him. “That paper! Make sure it doesn’t fall into the hole!”

Big Mac scrambled to his feet and made a beeline for the page. He grasped the paper in his teeth, hoping that his saliva wouldn’t make the ink run. He looked back up at Twilight. “Hngeee?”

Not as articulate as he’d hoped, but she seemed to get the message. Edgy Spike grabbed her foreleg and helped her down, tooth by crystalline tooth.

A blade the size of a small house erupted from the wall, aimed straight for Big Mac’s head. He ducked, covering his eyes with his hooves. His pulse increased even more than on his run. He felt frozen, like death was imminent and there was nothing he could do. He peered upwards and saw a hail of arrows sail through the air on a collision-course with his heart.

Princess Celestia landed beside him with her horn alight. She hoisted a slab of crystal between them and the attack, causing the spikes to dribble uselessly into the hole. Little Spike leaped from her back and picked the first crystal off of Mac’s back.

“Be careful of the magic in this room, Big Mac!” Celestia said, angling the shielding slab for another attack. “The Tantabus amplifies fear! Don’t let it control you!”

Big Mac still shook, but he was able to stand without the literal weight of a building on his back. He ran for Twilight’s position just as they became level with each other. She leaped up and grasped his neck in a hug.

“Thank God you’re alright,” she hissed, out of breath. “Where’s Shining?”

Edgy Spike pointed at the window Princess Twilight and Celestia had flown through. “Giving us a way out.”

Shining was perched on the window sill, letting down a rope. It was visibly difficult for him to use his hooves, but he was making the best of it. If Mac strained, he could head General Care shouting orders and encouragement from outside.

Twilight’s voice brought him back to the here and now. “Guys… I think I have an idea to defeat Sombra.”

Princess Celestia shielded them with her slab, dragging another up from the depths with a flash of her horn. “You found the sealing spell?”

“No, it was destroyed.” Twilight shook her head as she gently took the paper from Big Mac’s mouth. She showed the spell written on it to Celestia. “But Edgy Spike was able to find a way to open a portal to my world.”

Big Mac leaned closer. “So we can escape? We can go home?”

“We could…” She nibbled her bottom lip and looked up at her brother. He was far out of earshot. “But then we’d be leaving this world to deal with Sombra alone.”

Celestia lowered her ears as Sombra roared. He nearly blasted Princess Twilight out of the sky, but she responded with a shield that reflected his attack. Celestia winced. “What’s your idea?”

“He’s drawing power from the ambient magic of this castle. Of this whole world.” Twilight Sparkle gave them a grim smile. “What if we took him somewhere that had no ambient magic at all?”

***

“We’ll be back for you,” Principal Celestia had promised.

Sunset Shimmer held tight to that promise. She could hear the second wave of passengers readying themselves for transport to the mainland. The first trip had reportedly taken an hour to make landfall and disembark.

In the meantime, Sunset was forced to watch Dr. Twilight Sparkle prepare.

She opened the briefcase the way an archeologist would open an ancient tomb, with an air of reverence and discovery. Two jars came out, each glowing with the magic of the dead. Dr. Twilight climbed a cylinder and slowly, carefully, opened a jar and released its contents. The silky threads spread out as they bathed in the nutrient-rich fluid. They soon took on the appearance of a simple stick-figure, a head, a heart, and four limbs. She did the same for the second jar, until the Fairy String Triptych was complete.

Dr. Twilight tucked in her shirt and slipped into a black jacket that billowed down to her thighs. She put her hair up in a tight ponytail as she surveyed her work. “Nearly done. Nearly there.”

“You know I’m not going to let you turn me into an alicorn.” Sunset Shimmer fought against her bonds once again, and once again found herself doing little more than bruise her wrists. “I’m going to fight you every step of the way.”

“I don’t care.” Dr. Twilight took in a deep breath. She didn’t look at Sunset; not even for a moment. She was entranced by her own Alicorn Device. “You’ll see I’m right. You just need to witness everything come together.”

“You’re nothing but a murderer.”

“And you’re nothing but a failure. As a student. As a hero. As a pony.” Dr. Twilight finally turned around, and Sunset was surprised to see tears in the doctor’s eyes. “But that’s not the real us. That’s not our true selves. You and I are the same. We’re alicorns in spirit. In our innermost beings. We can finally achieve everything with this one action.” She held a hand to her heart. “When you join me, we’ll prove that we’re more than our failures.”

The doctor rushed off without a chance for Sunset to reply. She activated the control pad for the Alicorn Device, sending a deep thrum throughout the school. Dr. Twilight let out a breath of exhilaration. “It’s priming! It’s working, Sunset! Yes!”

She took a step back to check a monitor. Magic and electricity flowed into the cylinders at a set ratio. “It’ll take a while, but once it’s fully primed, we’ll really see the sparks fly. Please take note of what you see. I’ll be able to record my own experiences, but an outside perspective is invaluable.”

While the doctor worked at her abominable contraption, Sunset spun magic of her own. While she couldn’t cast a counter-spell to the enchantment in her bonds, she had been able to figure out exactly how they worked. That meant, when Dr. Twilight’s attention was elsewhere, she could begin to undo the spell step by step. It was a painstaking process, and she had to stop whenever the doctor glanced her way, but she was making progress. It was just a matter of whether she would be able to finish before the device was primed.

And then, it was a completely different matter what she would do once she was free…

***

Twilight licked her lips as the faces around her became a mixture of puzzled and fearful. She felt much the same, being honest with herself. Didn’t blame them one bit.

Edgy Spike laid a claw on Twilight Sparkle’s shoulder. “There’s no guarantee he’d be vulnerable in your world.”

Little Spike snapped a claw. “But there’s a one-hundred-percent guarantee he’d be weaker there.”

Twilight shrugged, her eyes jumping to the roaring apparition of the fallen king. “Well, we are definitely out of options. It’s that or watch Princess Twilight fight to exhaustion and probably die.”

An earth-shattering crack was sounded as the castle’s tallest tower crumbled, crushing the roof beneath it on its way down. The ground leaped and nearly sent them all tumbling. Shining Armor fell from his perch. He gripped the rope tight and dangled in midair, the only thing keeping him from falling to his death being the grit and determination of Care’s troops outside.

“Shining!” Twilight broke out of the circle and rushed for her brother. “Hold on!”

Even as she ran to help, she felt the eyes of Sombra lock on her. The pressure in her horn built back up to headache-level as he prepared an almighty blast of sheer power. She shut her eyes and focused on her horn, past the pressure to the knowledge she’d stored in her magnificent brain. A shield. One that she’d seen the princess use just a moment ago. It was similar to a few things Sunset had taught her, just enough that if she mixed the spells just so…

Sombra’s bolt reflected off her shield, but she still felt the agony drive deep into her bones. Thankfully it was just a dull ache, rather than complete obliteration, but she knew it had been too close. She reached out with her horn and caught Shining just as his hoof slipped. Celestia, Macintosh, and the Spikes reached her a moment later, securing them beneath Celestia’s makeshift shield.

“If you rush off like that again,” Celestia said, her voice rising, “I cannot guarantee your safety, young Twilight!”

Shining Armor wrapped a foreleg around Twilight’s narrow shoulders. “Well, I’m sure as heck grateful! Do we have a plan?”

Twilight looked up to see that the rope was frayed and useless, having been cut off halfway up the wall. The rest of it was on fire. “I think we’re finally narrowing it down.”

Another tower fell, this once crushing what remained of the front gate and making the hallways impassable.

Edgy Spike touched the side of her face with a gentle claw. He looked her right in the eye with utmost certainty. “Believe in yourself, Twilight. You got this.”

Little Spike leaned against Celestia’s shield as Sombra’s spell sought to rend it asunder. “What he said. Please and thank you.”

Twilight took in a deep breath through the nose and let it slowly out her mouth. She took a few steps forward and held the spell in front of her face. It was lengthy and complex, but it was all made of things she had learned. Mostly basic spells linked together in unexpected, genius ways. All that was needed was a cool head, a big brain, and a buttload of magic.

Twilight lit her horn and began to cast the spell. At first the air shimmered, as if on a hot day. Soon the magic grew thicker, more like smog. A force tugged at her mane, drawing her towards the epicenter, but she stood fast. She threaded additional spells into the mix, like crocheting a sweater. A sweater that crossed the barriers of time and space. The next time she opened her eyes, she saw fractals appear in midair, repeated shapes that copied and combined to form larger versions of themselves. At certain angles, they were reflective, showing different corners of the room as it shook.

Twilight saw herself in a reflection, and nearly shouted when she saw her own human face.

She knew the spell would only last as long as she poured power into it. She opened her mouth and strained her voice to reach the ceiling. “Princess! Drive him into the spell!”

The far wall caved in, sending stone and crystal falling to the ground in equal measure. The rest of the castle crackled as it sought to join the total collapse.

The roof bowed inward. Twilight shut her eyes and ran headlong towards the spell. “It’s now or never! Run!”

A thunderous spell from Princess Twilight struck the demonic presence of Sombra and sent him flying towards the gaping hole in reality. She dove after him, never letting up her assault. Twilight led the charge from the ground, dodging falling rafters and crystal spines alike. Little Spike hitched a ride on Big Mac, while Edgy Spike rode astride Shining Armor. Princess Celestia brought up the rear, clutching her walking cane in a tight telekinetic bubble.

They all entered the spell at the same time, just as the structural integrity of the castle reached zero.

***

Queen Chrysalis stood at the edge of the rubble, looking over what was left of Canterlot Castle. Her army stood behind her, all equally silent.

General Care approached with her dozen troops. She leaned against one of them and limped, her leg having been injured when the castle collapsed. She lifted her head to look at Chrysalis with tears running down her cheeks.

“I…” Queen Chrysalis shook her head slowly, eventually finding her voice through a steadying breath. “I do not feel pressure in my horn. Sombra’s presence is well and truly gone from this world. Whatever they did… it saved us all.”

General Care sat down a few steps from the queen. She ran her bleary eye over the ruins of Canterlot. “There’s no sign of any bodies. Not so much as a splatter.”

Queen Chrysalis gave her a somber nod. “Does this give you hope that they’re alive?”

General Care scratched beneath the strap of her eyepatch, even as she daubed away tears. She sized up the crumpled castle and nodded. “I believe in Spike. And I guess that’s enough.”

Queen Chrysalis looked to the north and spotted a troop of ponies approaching, led by Princess Trixie Lulamoon. The reunion was imminent. She signaled a few ponies to begin setting up camp. “Then I believe it’s time to make the most of the gift they’ve given us. It’s time to take back Equestria.”

The general saluted and hoisted herself on her three good legs. “I’ll be right behind you, Your Majesty. Every step of the way. For Spike.”

Chrysalis raised her head as she lifted a regal foreleg. “For Spike, indeed.”