Screams permeated around the city as the platform clouds swayed and shook on Cloudsdale, The faceless curse stood idly by, watching the chaos ensue with little interest. Some of the pegasi residents tried to fly to safer land down below, but a veil only sent them back to where they first started. Halting any progress the ponies may have tried to achieve.
A sudden boom quaked the city, the Pony of Shadows emerging from the destroyed infrastructure, a crooked smile plastered on his face.
"So this was your plan? Letting that thing destroy Cloudsdale?" A voice commented from behind the curse.
"I've already told you, Sombra. Freeing the Pony of Shadows is but another step to achieving my goal. Plus, our real target isn't to cause mindless destruction. It's that." She said, pointing at the Rainbow Factory.
"I don't get what's so good about it."
The curse sighed, her eyelids drooping in annoyance. "Colours, Sombra."
"We came all the way here, just for colours?"
"Don't you get it? Colours are a fundamental aspect of this world. It can easily change the mood and set the atmosphere for any situation. Think about it, ponies are so easily swayed by emotions if we can reverse engineer the machine responsible for colour production around the Equestria and imbue it with some cursed energy. We can set the stage for pure negativity to spread across the lands nationwide."
Sombra smirked, "Such an ambitious project. Aren't you worried I'll change the course of your plan? I'm a villain after all."
"I foresee the possibility. But you wouldn't, my plan aids your goal of attaining the Crystal Empire and killing the Elements. it serves you no purpose other than ensuring the erasure of your existence again. Remember, I brought you back into the world, Sombra. Along with the Pony of Shadows from limbo. I can easily kill you should I so desire."
Sombra scoffed, "Fine, I'll follow your lead for now. Usowamoto."
On land, a flash of purple magic teleported Twilight, Rainbow, Okkotsu, and the young six close to where Cloudsdale was set the crash. Flaring her magic, Twilight spawned purple pillars underneath the falling city while expanding her telekinesis to slow the descent of the city so it doesn't just come to a sudden halt against the pillars.
Even with all that, the city of the skies came crashing down onto the magic constructs. Caving and crashing the pillars with great might.
The untold strain caused the princess of magic to begin bleeding from her nose as her eyes pulsated with veins creeping into the whites of said organs. Panting, Twilight began to sweat and her vision wavering.
"Princess Twilight!" The six called in worry.
"Don't worry about me! Go and figure out what's the situation in Cloudsdale! Once I have everything settled here, I'll join you!"
"Understood, C'mon!" Yuta replied, signaling to the young six. Surging his legs with cursed energy, he leaped into the air and onto the cloudy platforms with the young six and Rainbow following close behind.
Landing on the edge, Yuta noticed the giant curtain surrounding the city, wasting no time and touching the veil, he had expected his hand to come to a stop. But it passed through without interference.
"What is this thing?" Smolder asked.
"A curtain. Used to trap curses in and keep the general public out. Looks like it's designed with the intent of keeping Pegasi in. But in exchange, it lets other species in."
On the other side, Pegasi banged at the barrier, the expressions of fear and blood clear on their faces. Yelling to be let out.
"Wait, so I'm stuck outside?" Inquired Rainbow.
"Correct."
"Dang it!"
"Don't worry, for specific curtains to take effect, a catalyst is usually used in conjunction with it. The point of origin is generally at the center point, although it varies from barrier to barrier, if we destroy it, we can take down the curtain and evacuate all the civilians trapped inside. Rainbow Dash, ensure there isn't anybody trying to escape. As for the six of you, split up into groups, one guides those who are injured to safety, and another to find those trapped under rubble."
A round of affirmation sounded by the six, as Rainbow took a step back. "Don't hold out on me for too long!"
"Yea, We'll head in first."
"Let us out!" Cried a pegasus.
"Please! My kid's hurt!! Please release us!!" Yelled another.
Answering their calls for help, a hand reached through the veil.
"Sorry, we're coming through." The voice of the strongest said, his insurmountable amount of cursed energy causing the pegasi to scatter in panic as he along with the young six entered the city. Taking a step forward, Yuta's foot sunk through the clouds, but was quickly caught by Silverstream and Gallus each holding onto an arm. "That was close!"
"Not just any creature can walk on clouds you know," Gallus remarked.
"Please be careful!" Silverstream added.
Ocellus lighted her horn, casting a cloud walker spell onto Yuta. "I just cast a spell that allows you to walk on clouds, you should be able to now!"
Nodding, Yuta took a wary step forward, prepared to experience the falling sensation again. However, the feeling of stepping on the hard surface ground touched his feet. With that, he turned to the six.
"I'll go on ahead!!"
"Okay!" replied Sandbar.
"Got it." Smolder agreed.
"Wait for us!" Rainbow informed.
"Alright then!" Smolder replied, pulling up the invisible sleeve on her bicep up to her shoulder. "Let's go!" Spreading her wings, she blasts off in search of survivors. As the rest of the group began searching for those trapped beneath the rubble.
Meanwhile, Yuta hopped through clouds and onto a building, surveying the area, he noticed a hospital sprayed across several blocks in pieces.
'So it targeted the vulnerable first?' Okkotsu thought.
Racing through the streets at great speeds, he could hear he was reaching closer and closer to the sound of explosions. 'It must be near.'
Suddenly, he spotted smoke rising from the ground, continuing his speed, he sped towards the source. Upon arriving at where the smoke was originating from, he saw a large pony clouded in shadows laughing at the mayhem.
Bodies of pegasi guards littered the ground, assumedly from fighting the shadow pony. Spears of black fog pierced the dead bodies and a low-lying smoke hovered the ground.
"Finally free from that wretched space!!" He yelled, raising his hoof above another guard trying to crawl away from the space. Right as his hoof connected with the ground, a torrent of shadows blasts from his hoof, furthering the spread of darkness across the battlefield.
But there wasn't any sickening crunch the darkness pony was accustomed to when killing ponies. Checking where he had stomped, the pony guard was gone.
"Are you the Pony of Shadows?" The young sorcerer asked, the guard pony now in his hold, setting him aside as he himself approached the shadowed figure.
The pony turned around, looking at the little human approaching him. "Why yes, I am."
'He's emitting cursed energy while taking a shadowy form, his cursed technique should have something to do with shadows. Just like Fushiguro-san.' Yuta thought. "Are you allied with a little girl cursed spirit with no face?"
"And if I say I am?"
"Where is she?"
"And pray tell, why would I ever divulge that information to you?"
"It's been a long day for me, so my patience is running thin," Yuta said. Now standing in front of the cursed pony. "So speak. Before I take away your ability to."
"Cocky little bastard, aren't you!?" The pony of shadow manifested a flurry of shadow polearms to his side while summoning spears to spike from the ground to attack Yuta from where he stood.
Yuta didn't flinch, instead, he flipped backward. Dodging a good chunk of the attack from the ground spikes while landing on his feet. Immediately, he lashed out with both hooves, unleashing a barrage of the kept spears by his side towards Okkotsu.
A pale hand slapped the wave of spears away with ease, as Rika's form emerged from darkness not of the Pony's but of Yuta's.
The shadow's eyes widen in surprise as he looks into the face of the special-grade cursed spirit beside Yuta before looking back at the human. Now inches away from his face. Swinging his arm with ferocious accuracy, he had nearly missed the Pony of Shadow. Grazing his cheek with the tip of his blade.
'What speed!' The etherial pony thought.
Falling backwards, the Pony of Shadow tried to regain his footing, only to feel a cold blade pressed against his neck.
"You will answer my question, now." Surging his katana with cursed energy, the Pony of Shadow showed signs of being in visible pain. "So you are a curse, huh?"
The cursed pony smirked, shifting his form from that of solid to vapour. Yuta flipped his sword's handle and jabbed it into the ground in an effort to catch the Phantom Pony but to no avail.
He shifted back to his normal form once he was a good distance away from Okkotsu, face scrunched up in irritation. Materialising a large number of bows equipped with shadow arrows, the pony of shadows took aim. Firing a hail of arrows directed at Yuta.
Turning his heel, the sorcerer bolted to his right in an attempt to move out of the way of the splash zone. But the arrows corrected their course, like homing missiles, they already had their target locked on him. Hundreds of arrows constitute a wave of arrows.
Sliding to dodge the first wave, the arrows missed and lodged themselves in the ground.
Knowing he couldn't stay close to the ground for too long, he took a few steps backwards, and then leapt into the air. However, the second wave of arrows was already there to greet him.
Turning around, he swung with his cursed imbued blade and easily erased a majority of the second wave of homing arrows with minimal difficulty. That said, some arrows did land their mark, as Yuta's body was pelted with arrows from the clouds of smoke which obstructed his vision. Grunting at the situation, Yuta kept a cool mind. Assuming the worst has already come to pass. Although he hadn't anticipated a third wave coming for him so soon.
Realising he needs to make a break of it the moment his foot connects with the ground, Yuta steadies himself. In the corner of his eye, he could see the original first wave of arrows lodged into the ground oddly bulging. Almost as though it was filled with gas.
Okkotsu' s eyes widen.
Turning back to the third wave, he observed similar a event occurring above him as well as the arrows embedding into his body.
"Explode." The shadow pony commanded.
Yuta could only remove the arrows on his body and tossed them to the side before the shadow constructs did as the name suggests. The arrows above, below, and beside Yuta exploded with great force, which seemed to be the reason why so many explosions were going off near the cursed pony.
"Pest." The Pony of Shadows said.
Despite being showered with explosives in all directions, Yuta came out unscathed with a ring in his hand, looking as if he was just about to wear it. The reason why the sorcerer hadn't put it on was that he was shielded by a bubble flowing with a purple aura.
"It took me quite a while to stabilise the support beams, but it's done." The princess of friendship said. Her benevolence and presence finally graced the battlefield.
"We meet again, Princess." The cursed pony stated.
"Unfortunately," Twilight replied. "How did you escape from Limbo?"
"It must be the cursed spirit that sent me here. If it can open portals through universes, dimensions don't seem to be out of reach." Yuta adds.
Twilight hummed in acknowledgment. Her curiosity was piqued at the thought but she knows now isn't the time for questions. "Rainbow told me about the curtain, go, Okkotsu. I'll handle The Pony of Shadows."
With a nod, Twilight released Yuta from her magic. Allowing him to make a dash, but a wall of shadow was quick to block his exit. This doesn't hinder his progress, however, as Twilight casts a teleportation spell to transport Yuta through the wall.
"You know, on my way here. I've counted 204 of my little ponies dead. Not to mention the 40 more in this area. I am to assume you caused this?"
The pony of shadows gave a hearty laugh, he was laughing so hard he nearly lost his balance, wiping a tear from his eyes, he looked at Twilight. "With pride."
"That's all I needed to hear."
Lighting her horn, Twilight teleported beside the ethereal pony, firing two magical blasts at point-blank range. The curse tried to dodge, but Twilight was quick to stomp her hoof onto his own to prevent him from running. Forcing him to take the full brunt of the attack head-on.
The pony of shadows was quick to take a more ghost-like form, flying away from the princess to create some form of distance. This was quickly put to a halt when Twilight activated her telekinesis and forced all the particles that were the curse to compress together into one spot to such an extent that he regained his physical form.
'Such magical strength and prowess!!' He thought.
The pony of shadows wasn't wrong with that statement, if anything, it was an understatement of Twilight's abilities. Along with the responsibilities of ruling an entire nation. She hasn't given up on furthering her pursuit of discovering and understanding magic to its fundamental core, hoping that by doing so, it serves to be useful in furthering the development of Equestria.
Of course, with the physiology of a mature Alicorn coupled with her natural talent and affinity for magic, and her refined magical talents and vast knowledge. The Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, currently sits atop the pyramid of strength in Equestria, including the other Princesses.
Going back into the battle, Twilight strengthen her grip on the pony of shadows, making him cough up some blood.
With a slight wave of his hoof, blocks of shadow held Twilight in a tight position as a guillotine formed around the princess. As soon as the blade was formed, it came slamming down, severing Twilight in half by the torso.
"Gotcha!!" The pony of shadows yelled victoriously.
Although Twilight's body was indeed severed in half, there was no blood, and neither was her telekinetic grip loosened. Instead, the two halves took a cloudy shape, floating and swirling around the trapped pony. Before materialising into two Twilight Sparkles, showering the poor thing in a clobber of buckings.
His head jolted back and forth from the intense pummeling he was receiving, his head spun like crazy and it felt nauseating. Bellowing out a yell, a surge of darkness shoved the two Twilights back as they merged into one.
"How!? How are you this strong!?"
"My goal isn't to banish you, I'm here to kill you."
A manifestation of another Phantom Pony grew behind the princess, wielding a scythe in a magical grasp. Aiming for her head, the manifestation swung with ruthless intent.
.
..
...
"Huh?" Was all the shadow pony could muster before his head was severed with his own strike with Twilight standing a couple of meters away, clear from the attack.
"It's illusionary magic," Twilight stated, walking over to the beheaded curse. "I casted a spell over the general area before entering to confront you. Your sense of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and even taste has been altered to fit my whim."
Crouching down, she stared into his eyes, her own looking uncharacteristically cold for the one titled and crowned princess of friendship. "With all the innocent lives you took, how does it feel to be struck down by your own blade? Of course, I don't expect a vengeful spirit like you to show empathy. That said, normal rules don't apply to curses like yourself as compared to any other creature. Hence, special considerations will be put into place."
Leaning in closer, Twilight was only a few inches away from the face of the pony of shadow. Her beautiful dark purple eyes showed the reflection of the sorry state he was in. "For the lives of the innocent young foals, folks, and elderly killed by your needless destruction in Cloudsdale. I will make you suffer a thousandfold."
"I've heard enough!" The curse yelled, amplifying the spread of shadows from where his head rested to cover a wide area, reforming his body in the process.
'He neutralised my illusionary magic?' Twilight thought, flying in the sky.
As the shadow pony stands up, the ground beneath him explodes with a blast of black smoke. The pony of shadow commanded spikes to shoot up to Twilight. Which she blocked effortlessly with her own magic protection spell, continuing to pile on the pressure, the hardened spikes take a snake-like appearance, wrapping around the shield Twilight cast and being to compress with great force.
"Die." The pony of shadows stated as the black orb squeezed her tighter than a proverbial sardine tin. "that should have done it."
"Oh? Are you sure? How about running the test again? Seems to be the results are woefully lacking." Twilight asked, standing behind the compressed The Pony of Shadow. "It's still a millennium too early for you to kill me. Whatever you can do, I can mimic and perform it better. My special talent is magic, after all."
The cursed pony smirked, "Look around you." Doing as she was told, Twilight looked around. Realising that the lingering shadows on the battlefield had formed into tentacles and picked up large debris of broken-down houses and buildings nearby to surround both himself and Twilight. "I was buying time for this!"
"Is this another one of your sorry excuses for a trap-" Clasping his hooves together, he focused all of his cursed energy to surge and materialise. Bringing forth his ultimate art.
"Domain Expansion:-"
Shadows hovering on the ground where the two of them stood burst forth and shot upward, and along the broken walls of clouds and concrete. Utilising them as a makeshift construct to act as the foundation to form the realisation of an innate domain.
"-Everlasting peril of The Abyss."
The tendrils wrapped themselves around Twilight and the cursed pony, as he chuckled with amusement, "You still have a lot left to learn, Princess."