Celestia looked over to the sleeping Clover as he laid in Luna's embrace. "Is he alright, Luna? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"He's fine," Luna said softly as she stroked his mane. "He's only sleeping. He must be completely exhausted after fighting that thing for so long." Luna looked over at the place where he had bitten her. The fur was slightly matted with her blood and while it did sting, it was already showing the signs of the rapid healing that she and her sister had been blessed with at a young age. "Do not concern yourself with my injuries. What about you though?" She tilted her head at her. "We noticed that thou canst speak again?"
"Oh?!" Celestia startled herself as she lifted a hoof to her throat. "You're right, I can speak again. I barely noticed." She turned her gaze to the red crystal laying on the ground that only a few moments ago was a full sized unicorn, and a powerful one at that if she could do something like that to her. "How was she able to do that?"
Clover was unable to answer that question since he was unconscious, however even though he wasn't in the best shape either, Spectrum attempted to provide an answer. "Even if Clover was awake, I doubt he'd answer that question," he said. "All he ever said about her abilities is that if she ever had enough raw magic at her disposal, that nothing would truly be beyond her limits."
"Can she really be that powerful?" Twilight asked, appearing a bit concerned with that answer. "Where did she come from? I'm not even going to pretend to understand how you and Clover made her and the others, but..."
Her thoughts were cut off as a cough from the changeling cut her off. "Leave it be, please," he said weakly. "The rest of that question has a very intimate answer to it and it's not my place to give away Clover's secrets. Besides," he tilted his head slightly in the direction of the restrained beast. "We sort of still have that to deal with. Any suggestions?"
"What..." Cadence gasped, she was still unsteady on her hooves after having her magic channeled through the newly reformed Crystal Heart. "What exactly was Clover's plan at this point?"
Spectrum frowned as he looked in the direction of the cracked red crystal laying on the ground. "Ret was the plan," he sighed. "I still can't believe Clover tried this with her at the weakest she could be." He looked back up and around the room. "Given enough time, I'm sure he could come up with something."
"The Elements..." Twilight wondered aloud as she held up a hoof to the crown resting on her head. "Would the Elements work?" She asked aloud as she looked at each of her friends and the Elements of Harmony that each of them wore. "Do you think this is why Whisper wanted us to bring them with us?"
A collective jump ran through everyone as the beast tried to lunge at them despite the chains that kept him firmly secured. A rattling sound resounded through the room as the links keeping him secured were pulled taut. However, in the end, Sombra's efforts to break free barely afforded him a couple inches of freedom.
"Ah think we just got our answer, Twi," said Applejack as she stepped forward.
"Yeah!" Rainbow cheered. "Looks like the big ugly knows he's in trouble now. Good thing we brought these along."
"I wonder why we didn't bring them with us the first time we came here?" Pinkie pondered before giggling. "Seems kinda silly when you think about it."
Fluttershy stepped forward with the rest of them. The beast shot her a glare, forcing her to shy away as she went and hid behind Rainbow.
"Well I for one will be glad to have this whole ordeal behind us," said Rarity as she shot a look at the sleeping Clover. "It may sound unladylike, but I plan to have Clover find a way to pay me back for all the time I've had to spend away from my shop. Maybe I'll have him model for me for a while," she gave it some thought. "I can think of several things I can do with his colors."
The rest of her friends cringed at that. They had all been goaded into modeling for Rarity at some point or another when she got in the creative mood. However, if she caught them trying to prank her, they could look forward to several hours of that as payback.
Twilight shook her head free of that image as she narrowed her focus on the chained monster in front of her. "You girls ready?" She said confidently.
"Ready!" They all cheered in unison as they stood around her.
Twilight stood tall as she charged up her horn. Magic flowed from her body and into her crown, coursing through her as she was lifted into the air. She felt more than saw as each of her friends were lifted up alongside her. Each of their necklaces, their respective Element of Harmony, lit up in turn as the Element of Magic sent out a multi-hued ribbon of power to connect them all together.
As the circle completed, the magic returned to Twilight stronger than it was before. A brilliant light radiated from her eyes as warmth filled the room. The chained beast that lay before them began to violently struggle in its bindings again, a look of fear reflected in its eyes as it stared transfixed at its incoming doom.
Rainbows spiraled up and collected above Twilight before finally coming down on the captive Sombra. He howled in agony as the power of harmony worked its magic until his howls quieted. The sound of the magic went silent and they looked at the remains to find...
The beast lunged at them. Its bindings being pulled taut as it strained against them. It clawed and scratched at the ground but wasn't able to gain any more ground before it was forcefully pulled back to between the crystals.
"I don't understand," said Twilight as she stared, shocked at the lack of results. "Why didn't the elements work?"
"Try it again, Twi," Applejack encouraged. "Maybe we just need to give em another go."
Twilight gave her a sharp nod. "Alright," she said. "Let's try it again."
Same as last time, the magic flowed from her out to her friends and lifted them one by one. However when it reached Rainbow Dash, this time the magic started to flicker as it struggled to lift her. She made it a few feet up before wobbling and falling back to the ground. When she fell, the magic failed as everyone else fell to the ground as well. The sudden drop caught them off guard as not one of them touched back down smoothly.
Twilight winced as she pushed herself up off her rump, that fall hadn't felt particularly good. "Rainbow, what's wrong?" She asked as she looked over at the prismatic pegasus.
Rainbow Dash had her hooves wrapped around herself as she looked up at Twilight. The corners of her eyes making her look like she was about to cry. "It's my fault isn't it, Twilight? Don't deny it. It's my fault the Elements aren't working."
"Rainbow..." Said Fluttershy as she approached her friend. She tenderly laid one of her soft wings across her back.
Rainbow didn't seem to be having it as she pulled herself away from Fluttershy's embrace. "Don't coddle me, Fluttershy," she sobbed. "Of course it's my fault. It's always been me. First with the timberwolves and then Twilight needed me to... And don't get me started on how I rushed into a fight which ended up with me and Rarity sharing a body. And now... And now... And now I've gone and let a while kingdom down. Every time I need to come through for somepony, I fail. Some Element of Loyalty I am." She looked down at the Element resting against her chest. Tears streaming from her eyes as she tore the talisman from her neck and threw it to the ground, bouncing until it came to a rest at Fluttershy's hooves.
Fluttershy looked back at her friend, wanting to say something, but Rainbow didn't give her the chance. She had completely broken down by this point and didn't want to be comforted. Before anyone had a chance to say anything more to her, she turned tail and bolted from the room, slamming the door behind her as she left.
"Rainbow..." Twilight muttered under her breath as she took a few steps towards the door.
"No, Twilight," Fluttershy said sharply, being far more assertive than she normally would. With as shy as she usually was, any time she put her hoof down, ponies tended to listen. "She needs some time to sort this out," she said as she bent down and gingerly picked up Rainbow's discarded necklace. "Let me worry about her."
Twilight wilted under Fluttershy's gaze, but she slowed nodded as she watched her run after their lost friend.
"Ah don't know if Ah've ever seen Rainbow lose it like that before," said Applejack.
"The poor dear," Rarity said solemnly. "I knew she was having some trouble. I may have gotten a teensy bit of insight into that when we found ourselves connected. But I didn't realize it had gotten this bad."
Celestia gave a deep sigh, "it sounds to me like her confidence has been shaken." She look back to the bound monster, who had stopped struggling against his bonds for the moment. Actually, it seemed to be laughing. Like it had found the whole drama incredibly amusing. "So..." She said. "What do we do about that?"
Spectrum's movements appeared sluggish as he pushed himself up off the ground again, his injuries clearly taking a lot out of him. "I think we're fine for the moment. Clover should have some ideas once he wakes up," he said as he glanced at the magic that held Sombra hostage. "I've seen his notes on that binding spell. It'll last at least a week assuming nothing goes wrong."
"You alright there, pardner," Applejack helped him up when she noticed he was shivering. "Yer not looking too good."
"We have a fire going in the other room," Cadence offered when she saw how bad he was actually looking. "We should move him some place warmer."
"I would like that," he said as he continued shivering.
"Just one moment," said Shining Armor, who had shown up just long enough to assess the situation. "I heard you say the spell will hold if nothing goes wrong, right?" He asked the creature he was pretty sure he hadn't seen enter the castle earlier. "What could actually go wrong?"
Spectrum looked over at the prince and nodded. "The crystals at the edge of the circle hold the spell together, if anything were to happen to them..."
"Say no more," said Shining Armor as he looked over to his wife. "I'll keep guards posted around the clock until this is over."
"Ok, Shining," said Cadence as she walked over and nuzzled her husband. "Just be careful. I hate to think what would happen if he were to get free."
The Barracks were bustling with activity as the guards scrambled about. Some were taking a much needed break, while others were gearing themselves to carry out the new orders that just came down.
"Is the Crystal Empire always this exciting?" Asked Flash Sentry as he resettled his armor onto his back, making sure his wings cleared the edges before tightening it the rest of the way.
"If you don't like it, feathered one," said one of the crystal guards. "You can always transfer back down south."
"Yeah," chimed in another one. "Maybe then we won't have to listen to that noise you call music."
"I need the practice, and it's not my fault that the electric guitar was invented while you all were frozen," Flash snapped back.
"All of you, shut up and suit up!" Commanded the sergeant as he came around the corner. "The prince wants us guarding that monster around the clock and you three are on the next shift. If the three of you have time to start gabbing like a bunch of mares in season, then you have time to relieve the last shift early."
All three of them snapped a quick salute. "Sir, yes sir!" They said in unison.
"Good. Then get to it," he turned and left the room.
Flash reached down to pick up his helmet, somehow missing it and sending it rolling across the barracks. "Good job, feathers," said one of the other guards as he made his way to the door.
Flash trotted over to pick up his helmet. When he reached down to where it had stopped, a dark shadow spilled out from behind it. He tried to call out in alarm, but the shadow was too quick as it lunged at him and silenced his voice.
"Quit fooling around," said the other guard. "If the sergeant catches us in here again, we're gonna end up with more PT."
Without another word, Flash placed the helmet on his head and fastened it in place. His eyes glowing green for a moment before returning to their normal color. "I'm coming!" He shouted as he chased after the other guards.