//------------------------------// // Against the Shadow Spire // Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Equestria. The Crystal Empire. The Shadow Spire. A fearsome form of Dark Magic that has caged the entirety of the Crystal Empire. Difficult to get through unless you have access to such magic, it was also troublesome to get rid of considering the very few known methods that work on it. Ash-Sombra was prepared to use one of those methods. Sombra was an Umbrum, thus, giving him a strong connection to the shadows. But even Sombra was unsure of his own capabilities when it comes to the Shadow Spire, however, encouragement from Ash would change that as the duo planned to merge Aura and Shadows together. "Listen. The Shadow Spire is full of the cruellest form of Dark Magic possible. Even to me, an Umbrum, it's incredibly volatile. Anyone would hesitate to deal with this kind of magic. If we want to get rid of it as soon as possible, the very top is what matters. Once this spire is down, the Crystal Empire will be free. And besides, I don't have that much time left when it comes to controlling your body so we can't afford to keep this thing up" Ash-Sombra spoke. "Got it. The very top." Ash replied, taking control of his body for a moment. "Together!" In unison, Ash and Sombra would unify their respective elements. Aura and Shadow. Aura would appear on the right arm of Ash's body while the Shadows appeared on the left. With both of these respective powers forming, Ash-Sombra clapped his hands together, allowing the Aura and Shadow to merge as one. Ash-Sombra then elevated the shadow tower, further rising through the air. Ash-Sombra already confronted the Windigos from earlier so he was already close to the top. The very top of the Shadow Spire resembled that of an eye. And at that very top, the entirety of the spire was held together. But as Ash-Sombra got close, everything became darker. The top of the Spire carried the most amount of darkness, altering the vision of the Duo King. Ash-Somrba would then raise his arms, sending the Aura Shadow upwards in the form of a stream. With both of these respective powers unifying, they ended up boosting each other in strength. The Aura Shadow Stream struck the very top of the Spire, hitting the eye as a shockwave emerged from it. And already, when making contact with it, the destructive nature of the Shadow Spire would latch itself onto Ash-Sombra. The darkness travelled through the Aura Shadows, meeting his Ash-Sombra's body and much like how it gave a shock to Twilight, Ash-Sombra was met with an equally shocking feeling. His body was hit with something truly malicious. Something so vile and horrid that it could make anyone pass out if it lingered too long around them. And with Ash's body being used, it felt that sensation which carried an unbridled amount of malice. He grit his teeth as one eye closed in response to this feeling. His legs trembled and his arms even shuddered. However, with the combination of Ash and Sombra working together, they had to endure it. "Don't lose your focus! I can use my shadows to raise our durability but it won't be enough to fully overcome this!" Ash-Sombra growled with Sombra being the one to speak. He instantly used magic to raise his durability, allowing him to last longer. Unlike Twilight, who pulled back the moment the shadows came into contact with her, Ash-Sombra would stand his ground, continuing to pour Aura Shadows into the spire. Waves of throbbing, nauseating pain pulsed within his abdomen as Ash-Sombra's mind raced, half panicked half determined. His head felt heavier and heavier as each pulse of throbbing pain pounded his senses over and over again. An overwhelming feeling of dread took over but that was something neither Ash nor Sombra aimed to let pass. There was no way they'd let the Dread League win in any way. Not when the stakes were this high. Meanwhile, Shining Armor, Gengar and Sirfetch'd watched as Ash-Sombra combated the shadows above. And with seemingly no interruption. At least not yet. The remaining Sableye and Golurk were still an issue. Prior to this, Shining Armor and his guards managed to subdue a handful of them but eventually lost due to exhaustion. They were recently held back by the struggle that Ash-Sombra and the Windigos had but now they were prepared to close in once more. Shining Armor, still pretty beat up, decided to try and defend Ash-Sombra from any outside attacks. But the number difference was still staggering. Even with Gengar and Sirfetch'd here, it would be pressurizing. The Sableye crept up to where Shining Armor, Gengar and Sirfetch'd were standing while some of the Golurks would land to confront them. Even with Windigos gone, this one problem persisted. Sweet Fang's control was truly powerful. Shining Armor attempted to go for his Poke Ball, recalling that Aegislash was still injured and had yet to be healed. He only had two of Ash's Pokemon to help him here. Or so it seemed. A group of Sableye would suddenly leap out of the shadows, striking at their fellow Sableye and catching them off guard. These Sableye would drop the ground thanks to this sneak attack as they never expected it in the first place. Neither did Shining Armor or the others. That was because these Sableye were the first ones Ash-Sombra bumped into when passing through the Shadow Spire. Not only that, but they were the first ones to be free from the mind control as well thanks to Sombra's magic. "Gengar?!" Gengar said to these Sableye, wondering why they were suddenly attacking their own. "Sableye!" But it quickly took the answer from one Sableye to let Gengar know why this was the case. Ash-Sombra obviously hasn't managed to free every single Sableye. He was focused on going to the source after all. However, he did take the time to free a few of them along the way when attempting to pursue the vampires. Appearing from above and knocking the Golurks were other Golurks that Sombra's magic managed to free. They were also caught off guard by their fellow species, receiving a swift yet hard smack to the heads. The Golurks descended with few numbers, blending into the scenery and appearing to be under the control of Sweet Fang. But not any more. With them playing it safe, they managed to land some sneak attacks against the other Golurks, away from the sights of others. However, the number gap was still noticeable, at least when it came to the Sableye. The Sableye surpassed the Golurks easily. "Oh...Are you back to your senses now?" Shining Armor asked the Golurk and Sableye that snuck on their fellow species. "Golurk!" To show that, the Golurk would collectively salute at Shining Armor, regaining their loyalty to the Crystal Empire. Well, it always there but under the influence of someone else with completely different intentions. This brought further relief to Shining Armor. He could smile knowing that were still some hope managing to pour out. But he was still hoping to see the rest of his family first. He already knew where two of them were but the other one, baby Flurry Heart was a mystery. "That's great and all, but we're still outnumbered here." Shining Armor pointed out the obvious. "And those ones are already closing in on Ash and Sombra up there. At least tell me you know where my baby Flurry Heart is?" Underground. Still underground. That was where she was. She and Sunburst were still travelling the underground of the Crystal Empire, evading the conflict from above for the sake of Flurry Heart's safety. With Sunburst's Lampent leading the way, lighting up the place with its flames, they seemed to be going nowhere with how large the underground was. At least they didn't have to worry about any of the Golurk and Sableye showing up here. "We're getting nowhere with this. Maybe it's already resolved back up there," said Sunburst. While things weren't so vampire-heavy back up there and the attack of the Windigos had subsided, it was still dangerous thanks to the Shadow Spire and the Pokemon that were still under Sweet Fang's control. However, they weren't the only ones down here. Here in the underground, Lampet's light suddenly showed a face that was staring directly at the group. And it was relatively close, having an intense look. Sunburst saw this face once the light of Lampent revealed it as he was immediately startled, jumping back. The same went for the others who saw this intense face. And the one who ended up scaring Sunburst, Flurry Heart, Azumarill and Lampent was none other than Ms Harshwhinny. Only she could make such a face. And she wasn't alone. With Lampet's light piercing through the darkness, other ponies could be seen behind her. "So you made it down here as well?" Ms Harshwhinny said to Sunburst. "Including the Royal Baby?" "Oh, it's just you all." Sunburst sighed, relieved to see some friendly faces. Especially ones that weren't under mind control. "You came here too?" "We had to. Out of nowhere, the Sableye started attacking us and caught us off guard. Our homes and workspaces were completely overtaken in seconds. Luckily, some of us fled to the underground of the Crystal Empire." Harshwhinny explained. "But why's the Royal Baby here with you? Is everything still fine up there?" "I-I'm not sure. Plus, she just came to me all of a sudden. She did have her mother and other self with her, but they were unfortunately taken away by the Dread League." "The Dread League?!" Hearing that name made the Crystal Ponies bellow in shock. Vampires were behind this and that only struck fear into their hearts, especially now that they've learned that two of the princesses had been kidnapped. "Vampires...!" Harshwhinny had a different reaction from the others. "So does that mean that the Black Crusade has started?" "I think so. They tried taking the baby but thankfully, that didn't happen. And I don't know what's happening up there right now. I was hoping to find something down here but...that didn't pan out. We're sitting Duckletts here." Sunburst sighed. "Not yet. While we were done here, we were trying to find a way out of this place. But there are these shadows that are blocking us from doing so." Harshwhinny referred to the Shadow Spires. Even down here, it was seen by her and the other ponies. And soon, Sunburst would be shown it as Harshwhinny led the way. Through the rest of the Crystal Empire Underground which was full of nothing but crystals, Ms Harshwhinny guided Sunburst, Flurry Heart and the Pokemon to another part of the underground. Nothing really changed down here. Unlike the Canterlot Mines, this underground was left alone for so long that nothing interesting formed at all. The best thing the underground could be used for was the constant supply of crystals but no one has even capitalized on that yet. Not even the Sableye. But now, because of the Dread League's sudden attack, something else formed here. Seeping at the bottom of the Crystal Empire which led all the way back to the top where Ash-Sombra was struggling as the rest of the Shadow Spire. The spire truly managed to encompass all of the Crystal Empire. Not even the underground was safe from the shadows. And since it was rooted at the very bottom, past these spires was the exit of the crystal empire as the final Crystal Walls were seen, leading to nowhere else that was surrounded by crystals. Sunburst's eyes widened at this spire of shadows which stabbed into the bottom of the underground. "It's been here for a while. But now, it looks like something's happening with it." Harshwhinny added. Little did she and everyone else know that Ash-Sombra was currently doing all he could to destroy this spire and free the Crystal Empire at last. "Can we get rid of it?" Sunburst asked. "As if. We tried but no one here is strong enough to break it. Our magic is completely pointless." A pony shrugged, seeing it as a pointless endeavour since none of them could destroy it. And there was quite a handful of ponies here. And when hearing this, that was when Flurry Heart stepped forward. Or rather, hovered forward. "Princess Flurry Heart?" Harshwhinny looked up at the Baby Alicorn as many wondered why she was suddenly stepping up to the spire. But it was already obvious to Sunburst. Much like how she copied the Electric Shield from the book, the baby alicorn was attempting to throw her own effort into this. She wanted to see what she could do about this spire. Outside. Meanwhile, on the outside, Twilight Sparkle, Radiant Hope, Pikachu and Espeon soon noticed this as well. They saw the spire shake as if it was made out of gelatin. The spire rumbled in response to the Aura Shadow that was being fired at it. Not only that, but the energy that Ash-Sombra was outputting was flashing in the sky. Up above, a flash of Azure light would rumble through the clouds. But this was not the sign of a thunderstorm. And when seeing the spire shake along with flashes, Twilight and Radiant but realized what this could mean. "Oh! I think they're weakening it now! It's just as we thought, Twilight!" The Pseudo Alicorn said to the Official Alicorn. "Can always count on Ash to get somewhere. But I guess in this case, I also have to thank Sombra for the help." "Sombra can be reliable with his magic. For the most part, he's always focused on himself but ever since he met Ash, that's changed. This is our chance to get rid of the spire since they're both weakening it for us." "Right. One more attempt to absorb that Dark Magic." Twilight faced the spire, prepared to try and absorb the Dark Magic once more. She figured that if it was weaker than before, she would have an easier time. There was only one way to find out. And that required her to empty out her natural magic and Rift Magic. Once again, the two magics would flee Twilight's body, making her an empty vessel for any magic. It still amazed Radiant Hope at the fact that Twilight came up with this method herself. After emptying out a huge chunk of her magic, the Princess of Friendship use the last bit of magic she had left to absorb the darkness. Once more, the Dark Magic that was so unspeakably cruel, would gravitate itself towards Twilight's horn. Twilight closed her eyes, bracing herself for the worst. And indeed, even when weakened, the Dark Magic responded to Twilight with a brutally violent force. Twilight gasped once the Dark Magic met with her, making Espeon worry even further about what could become of her trainer. "Espe?!" "It's okay, Eve!" However, this time, Twilight didn't pull back. Instead, she stood her ground, digging her hooves deep into the snow as she did not move from the spot. The Dark Magic continued to flow into her horn like a horrific poison stabbing into her repeatedly. "I can do this...!" Having a strong sense of determination, Twilight continued to fill herself with Dark Magic, taking the punishment for herself. But she'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt. Because doing this for a few seconds or more was utterly dreadful. It was a pain most foul to the point where nothing else could really compare. There was no other pain in the world that could describe or rival the one she was feeling. And yet, she wouldn't let that get her down. Back at the Crystal Empire, Ash-Sombra was feeling that pain as well. Both of them endured it. For the sake of everyone here. And when fighting against the Shadow Spire with the Aura Shadow, that's when he felt it. Ash-Sombra felt the spire diminish all of a sudden and it wasn't just his Aura Shadow that was behind it. "Twilight..." Ash said, knowing exactly who was behind this. With how close the two of them are, both sides knew exactly why this was the case, further strengthening their bond. Ash regained control of his body just to grin and mention Twilight's name before focusing on the spire once more. In unison, from two different positions, Ash-Sombra and Twilight were pouring their soul into this, doing everything they could to destroy this spire. However, the Spire's Dark Magic was so violent that it was actively fighting back against them. It fought against the Aura, the Shadows and the Vessel, refusing to let them destroy it. At the same time, the Golurk had closed in on Ash-Sombra, attempting to knock him out of the sky. But this was soon interrupted by the Golurk who managed to be freed from Sweet Fang's mind control. They instantly intercepted their fellow Automatons, defending Ash-Sombra and letting him continue his work. Soon, a confrontation between Golurks in the air would begin. Gengar and Sirfetch'd knew what had to be done. They had to give Ash-Sombra enough time so that he can destroy the Shadow Spire once and for all. Sirfetch'd would be the one to attack and defend thanks to the Leek Sword and Shield he possessed. Gengar already descended into the shadows, ready to surprise his opponents when they least expected it. Even with the Windigos gone and the Vampires fleeing, the remains of the Dread League were powerful and refused to diminish. Not until everything was covered in dread. "This is...This is unbelievably tough!" Twilight said to herself, still struggling to absorb all of the Dark Magic. She breathed in and out as she felt her body heating up and freezing at the same time. This was thanks to the Dark Magic and its cruel effects. Even with her strong will, Twilight was still feeling the pressure. And at this rate, the Dark Magic would most definitely overwhelm her and emerge victorious. That is until Radiant Hope stepped in. All of a sudden, Twilight felt a different magic surround her body. A hopeful and vibrant magic that was rather welcoming. Her eyes shifted to immediately see that it was Radiant Hope that was behind this. "Radiant?" "I've got your back, Twilight." Radiant Hope reassured, bringing further levity to Twilight. "We' 've made some progress and we can't have it escape us. I'll use my magic to try and hold back the darkness." "Thanks, Radiant! Eve! Do you think you could help out too?!" "Espeon!" Espeon was already on it. Thanks to the Shadow Spire weakening, the Sun Pokemon saw this as the perfect opportunity to attack it. Prior to this, no attack aside from Pure Light would have worked on it. But now, using it when it wasn't as powerful might have an impact. The Psychic-Type lunged into the air, covering her body in a dazzling aura of Fairy Magic. She became a star in the cold night sky, soon shooting rainbows at the Shadow Spire in succession. The rainbows crashed into the Shadow Spire, making it shake even further. Indeed, thanks to the efforts of Ash-Sombra, Twilight and now Radiant Hope, the Shadow Spire was starting to weaken once more powers got involved. "Pika!" Pikachu saw this as an opportunity for him to strike as well. Thunderbolt was the way to go for this. He slapped his face before also leaping into the air. Pikachu gathered 100,000 volts from within, creating a thunderous flash in the sky that soon unleashed a powerful lightning bolt which joined Espeon's Dazzling Gleam. Now, it was a struggle between the Shadow Spire and different elements. Aura, Shadows, Electricity, Fairy Magic and a force that was pulling it in. And yet, it was still putting up a fight, refusing to let itself be destroyed so easily. A storm was brewing above thanks to the clash. Everyone fighting against the Shadow Spire grit their teeth, pouring everything they had. Pikachu unloaded as much electricity as he could while Espeon continued to launch rainbow rays to pierce through the darkness. "Come on...!" Ash-Sombra growled as his hands were trembling. "This kind of Dark Magic ridiculous. To think it's this powerful. But all the more reason I won't lose to it!" Both Ash and Sombra said this, thinking the same thing. And it was at that moment that the eye of the Shadow Spire was beginning to crack. The spire felt something new enter the scene. A new powerful had struck it and this one seemed to be just as powerful as the ones that were already beating onto it, if not stronger. And it was simply one power and not multiple. And the one responsible for this was the natural prodigy and the first Baby Alicorn Princess Flurry Heart. Her magic would also be poured into the Shadow Spire, gaining a reaction out of it. Her magic far surpassed anyone here in the Crystal Empire and beyond. She has already proved it multiple times, even from birth. The residents of the Crystal Empire watched in amazement as their future Ruler was showing just how much of a prodigy she truly was. What others couldn't do together, she could do by herself, allowing her future subjects to gawk. And with Flurry Heart's involvement, the Shadow Spire felt the full force of an alicorn. Albeit a young alicorn. Ash-Sombra, Twilight, Radiant Hope, Pikachu, Espeon and Flurry Heart, with all of their might managed to overwhelm the Shadow Spire which trapped the castle in darkness. All of their colours flew into it, meshing with the darkness before beginning to replace it. The Shadow Spire's very top was pierced by the Aura Shadow as it broke through the clouds themselves. Twilight absorbed what was remaining of it as the Spire shattered as if it was made of glass. One minute it was acting like gelatin and the next, as fragile as glass. With the spire shattering into pieces, the dark clouds above would disperse. The Aura Shadow broke the darkness that covered the Moon, bringing levity back to the Empire. The citizens who were tied up looked up to see the amazing sight before them. The destruction of the Shadow Spire had been pulled off along with the freedom of the empire. Even the Golurk and Sableye had to look at this for themselves as they were no longer boxed in and stuck here. It took a combined effort and a suggestion from the Windigos but they succeeded in getting rid of another problem that the vampires had left behind. But this came with some drawbacks. And those drawbacks ended up being the effect it had on Ash-Sombra and Twilight Sparkle. Sombra's time controlling Ash's body was up. Dealing with that Shadow Spire only accelerated the process as he relinquished control back to Ash's body. His Spirit and Soul had returned. Alas, this meant that the tower of shadows he stood on along with the levitation would fade away. And an injured Ash, who rather tuckered out because of the Dark Magic would fall. Twilight would also fall on her back after taking the last of the Dark Magic. She was overwhelmed and perplexed in many ways. And after taking it all, she emptied the Dark Magic from her body, wanting nothing to do with it. The Dark Magic would fly out of Twilight's eyes and mouth, howling out in anger as it failed to overcome the opponents that fought against it. Radiant Hope ran up to Twilight while also watching the Dark Magic fade away, failing to do anything else now that it was truly destroyed. Ash was set to drop on the crystal ground, only for one of the Golurk that had been freed to catch him. The Automaton Pokemon saved Ash who would've definitely become unconscious had it not been for this save. Ash had a smile on his face, knowing that he, Sombra and a few others made this happen. "I hope you were watching that Windigos..." Ash said, laughing while feeling some pain in his arms. They almost went limp because of that struggle. But now the struggle against the Shadow Spire had ended. There was still a lot to deal with. The Controlled Sableye and Golurk, the Kidnapping of the Two Princesses and the further handling of the Black Crusade now that it has begun and many other things to come. The vampires truly left an impact that they wanted to linger and last as this was only the beginning of their terrible crusade. As the journey continues. Chapter 138 End.