//------------------------------// // Darkness Rises // Story: Legends Never Die: The Return of the King // by bookhorse125 //------------------------------// The cold wind whipped Flurry’s mane into disarray, and she couldn’t care less. Because the scene of devastation in front of her was too awful for her to even think about anything else. All the long journey to the Crystal Empire, Flurry had been wondering how King Sombra would fare when he realized that the Empire was empty and devoid of any citizens - the only thing there was the Crystal Heart. Perhaps he would take the Heart’s power and use it to conquer other parts of Equestria. Or perhaps he would give up. That last one had been far too optimistic. And now she knew. He ruled the Crystal Empire with the Crystal Heart kept securely in his possession, and the citizens… the innocent ponies he brainwashed into defending him… were stolen from other parts of Equestria. All this time, Sombra had been journeying the land, finding ponies on their own and taking them hostage, spelling them with his mind control before they even knew what was happening. Once he had enough for a small army - enough to protect him, at least - he marched into the Empire and took it by storm - not that there was any need for it, anyway. His actions had been so stealthy and secretive that nopony had even realized what was going on. Well, Flurry knew now. And every moment she had to witness it, every moment she had to think about it, was worse than the last, and she wanted to curl up into a ball and declare the situation hopeless. And yet, she forced herself to do so. This was her home. It was where she had been born, where she had been raised, where her mother and aunt and father had made their last stands to protect her and preserve harmony and friendship in Equestria for generations to come. It was her destiny to rule this beautiful city of crystals, and she was not about to let some jerk in a fancy cape take it all from her. But wishful thinking wasn’t enough to stop Sombra, and most of Flurry’s motivational thoughts faded away when faced with the overwhelming hopelessness of the situation. As she watched, two ponies, one a unicorn and one a pegasus, ponies Flurry had never seen before, their eyes completely green, their expressions blank, dragging an earth pony between them, heading towards the city. The earth pony struggled and cried, much weaker now than he might have been when he had first been grabbed, the wind and relentless snow and ice pelting the party as they moved towards the castle, which was barely visible in the distance through the protective shield that surrounded the Empire. Occurrences like this were daily, and Flurry wished she could do something, but she knew that her magic was no match for Sombra’s mind control, and fighting them would just mean letting Sombra know that she was here. Then he would come looking for a fight, and then - No. She wasn’t ready for that yet. Still. Just standing here, while innocent ponies were being dragged to Sombra so he could increase his army, while her kingdom was being covered in black crystals and devastated beyond recognition, was making her soul hurt more than all thoughts of Sombra put together. “Flurry?” A warm blanket settled onto her shoulders, and she turned to see Izzy approaching her, dressed in a warm, thick blue jacket that brought out her eyes. “You sure you don’t want to come back inside? It’s plenty warm.” “I’m fine,” the alicorn insisted. “You’ve been standing out here for stars know how long,” Izzy told her, sitting down in the snow and wincing as her flank came into contact with the frozen stuff. She patted the ground next to her. “Sit.” Flurry sighed and sat, and as she did, she realized how weak her legs were - they were ready to give out from under her as it was. Being raised in the Crystal Empire, Flurry had more tolerance for the cold than most ponies, but there was still only so long she could stand still in the middle of a blizzard, staring off into the distance. “Everypony else okay?” Izzy shrugged. “They’re managing. But…” She laughed, trying to make light of the situation. “It’s really cold out.” “I could generate a magical shield to keep us warm,” Flurry suggested slowly. Her power was nowhere close to what the Crystal Heart could do, but she could keep out the worst of the elements - even simply eliminating the wind would be a huge game changer. Izzy gave her a look. “Right, and how much energy would that take?” Flurry avoided her gaze. “Not much,” she lied. She wouldn’t be able to sleep, and it would cost her nearly all her energy, but she would do it for her friends. But she knew they would never agree to it if they knew the toll it would have on her. “There’s… something that worries me,” she began, trying to steer the topic away from that. “The Crystal Heart. If… Sombra has it, he could put it anywhere, and we need it to defeat him. We can’t stay out here forever, but once we start looking…” “He’ll know,” Izzy finished her sentence. “So… we can’t do that until you - until we’re ready to face him.” Flurry took a deep breath. This was the part she had been dreading - the part she knew her friends would object to, the part that needed to happen, no matter what. “The thing is… you can’t face him. Only I can do that. And I’ll need to do it alone.” “What? Why?” Izzy demanded, taking one of the alicorn’s hooves and squeezing it. “Flurry, you can’t do this alone. You can’t - you aren’t-” “I know,” Flurry whispered. “I’m not ready. But I have to do it. The Crystal Heart - it can only be activated by the current crystal princess, and right now… that’s me. I have to find the Crystal Heart and activate it and defeat Sombra… on my own.” As if sensing that this was one fight she couldn’t win, Izzy sighed. “I’m still going to try and talk you out of it, you know. But what can we do? You may have to face Sombra on your own, but we’re not going to let you waltz into the Crystal Empire and start searching for the Crystal Heart without backup.” Flurry thought of the three ponies she had just seen, now lost in the swirling storm of snow and ice. “The ponies Sombra’s been keeping prisoner. He’ll try to get them to fight us, but we don’t want to hurt them - remember, they’re not in their right mind. I would appreciate it if you and everypony else could… trap them so that they can’t hurt us, but make sure that they’re uninjured. Once I… defeat Sombra, they’ll be free, and we’ll need to get them back to their homes and families.” “That, we can do,” Izzy agreed, squinting into the storm. “What’s that?” A dark shape was barreling towards them, and it wasn’t until the figure was a few meters away that Flurry realized who it was. “That’s Zi-” The rest of her sentence was cut off as a pegasus crashed into her, knocking her down and sending both of them sprawling. Flurry lifted her face out of the snow and wiped the snow from her face before it could melt and refreeze. “Zipp!” Izzy cried, running over to the pegasus and helping her stand up. The white pegasus would have been practically invisible if it weren’t for her hot pink mane and bright purple jacket with holes for her wings… wings that were held out at an unnaturally stiff angle. Flurry sucked her breath in sharply as she recognized that Zipp’s wings were frozen. Izzy must have noticed it, too, because when her hoof gently brushed against one of the pegasus’ wings and Zipp flinched, Izzy’s eyes grew wide. “Hitch!” she called over her shoulder, having to yell over the howling wind. “HITCH!” Their camp was in a large cave, where they had set up their tents in a circle with a fire in the center. Flurry could vaguely see the mountain in which their cave was located through the storm, and if she squinted, she could see the pony hurtling through the snow at an alarming speed, panic giving him super speed. “What’s wrong?” Hitch panted as he skidded to a stop beside them, showering Flurry with snow, though she couldn’t care less. Izzy looked at him, at a loss for words, but he read the desperate message in her eyes. “Oh, no,” he whispered. He and Izzy supported Zipp as she hobbled back to the cave, Flurry tailing behind. She glanced behind her at the shimmering magic shield behind her, disappearing quickly into the swirling snow. Was it just Flurry, or was the storm getting worse? Pipp was standing at the mouth of the cave, looking frightened. “What’s going on?” she asked Hitch, but when her eyes landed on her sister, she gasped and ran forward to take her weight from Izzy. “Zipp? Zipp, are you okay?” She managed a weak smile. “I’m fine,” she lied through gritted teeth. “No, you’re not,” Pipp asserted, leading her over to the campfire. Izzy and Flurry came into the cave, holding a large pile of snow suspended above their heads with their magic, which they dumped in a corner. Hitch scooped up some in his hooves and turned to Zipp, forcefully rubbing the snow on her wings. “OW!” Zipp tried to pull away, but Hitch held firm. Pipp yelped. “What are you doing?” she demanded, taking her sister’s hoof and patting it comfortingly. “What does it look like I’m doing?” Hitch muttered, too focused to talk much. Sprout, Flurry, and Izzy all grabbed some snow and got to work on Zipp’s wings, while her sister talked to her in a low, comforting voice. After several panic-filled minutes, Zipp sighed with relief and moved her left wing. “Thanks, sheriff,” she told Hitch. He grinned. “No problem.” “What happened to you?” Pipp asked, panic still prominent in her voice as she clung to her sister’s hoof. “Was it Sombra?” Zipp winced. “No. It was… Well, I heard this strange noise and went to go investigate. I’m not completely sure, but I think I saw these glowing shapes in the clouds, and this high-pitched whining sound, and it was a lot colder all of a sudden, and I lost the feeling in my wings as I tried to fly back, and the rest is history.” Pipp sighed and curled up next to her sister. “That was very stupid of you,” she murmured, “but I’m glad you’re okay.” Sprout noticed that Flurry was looking panicked - more panicked than before, that is - and said, “Are you okay?” “Hm?” Flurry gave a little start, as if she was being jolted back down to earth. “I… no. That storm out there… I can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner, but that’s no ordinary storm. That’s magic. And what Zipp saw… those were the Windigos.” She began to pace anxiously by the mouth of the cave. “But this doesn’t make any sense. My aunt dispelled them into the ether permanently. How could they have returned?” She turned to her friends and studied their expressions. She expected to see panic and fear - that was what she was feeling - but instead she saw determination and courage. These ponies were ready to face whatever life had to throw at them, as long as they did it together. There are times when hate overpowers friendship, but friendship prevails in a way hatred can only dream of. Flurry sighed. “There is one thing, though. If those are the Windigos, we aren’t going to stand a chance out here - even my magic is no match for this. We have to get into the city. Sombra will only be occupying the main palace - just about anywhere else is fair game.” She nodded towards Zipp. “And we can’t have something like that happen again.” A half hour later, their camp was packed up, their fire extinguished, Zipp had her wings bandaged (her sister had been very adamant about her not flying until they were completely better), and they were staggering through the dome and into the Crystal Empire. The moment they did, black crystals rose up around them, trapping them in as a pony laughed at their demise. The darkness crowded into Flurry’s mind, and she blacked out.