//------------------------------// // The Guard // Story: The Return of King Sombra // by Dragon-Master-31 //------------------------------// Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. Seeing that it was bright out, Twilight stood up and stretched out her hooves. Not too long after Twilight woke up, the rest of her friends also started to get up from their mats. “Good morning, girls. How did you all sleep?” Twilight asked. “Well, despite the storm and the creepy stories last night, I'd say we all slept pretty well.” Starlight said. “Speaking of creepy stories, those were some pretty good ones. Of course, mine was the scariest.” Rainbow Dash said. “I don't know about that one, Rainbow. If anything, I'd say Pinkie Pie had the most downright horrifying story out of all of us.” Applejack said before turning over to her pink friend. “Speaking of which, where in tarnation did you hear that nasty tale, Pinkie?” “Yeah, I'm with AJ on that one. That story was so disturbing Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash said, remembering the gruesome details about what happened to the poor little filly in Pinkie's story. “You didn't come up with that story on your own, did you, Pinkie?” Twilight asked nervously as Pinkie Pie laughed. “Oh, no, no, no, silly Twilight. I didn't make it up at all. I got the story of the Candy Mare from a site where you can find a bunch of spooky stories. People usually call them Creepypastas. I'm not sure why though; pasta isn't creepy. Also, I never realized how much creepypastas people make about us. There are some pretty spooky ones for sure.” Pinkie Pie explained, leaving her friends once again, very confused. “What now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Uhh... I think it's best to say, just classic Pinkie Pie.” Starlight said as they all nodded in agreement. “I can show you girls later! But I'm also a bit hungry.” Pinkie Pie said as her stomach growled. As if on cue, Spike walked into the room, wearing a chef's hat and a little apron. “Good morning everypony. I hope you all had a good night's rest. Breakfast is just about to be finished.” Spike said as the girls wished him a good morning back. “Thanks, Spike. We'll head on over right now. Come on girls.” Twilight said as they all began to make their way to the dining room. Before Twilight left the room, she pulled Applejack to the side as the rest of the girls left. “Oh, need something Twilight?” Applejack asked. “Just wanted to thank you for last night. Your words really helped me a lot, Applejack.” Twilight said. “Aw, think nothing of it, Twilight. It's what friends do. We always support each other.” Applejack replied as they smiled. “Well, come on, don't want the others to eat everything before we get there.” Twilight said as the pair headed for the dining room. Spike had prepared a delicious breakfast of pancakes for the girls as well as for himself. It wasn't long before all the pancakes were eaten and there was nothing, but empty plates left on the table. Once everypony had finished their breakfast, Spike gathered up all the plates and left to wash them. As the girls were talking, a scroll popped out in thin air and landed in front of Twilight. “Huh? What's this?” Twilight asked as she lifted the scroll with her magic and opened it up. “It’s from Princess Cadance. I hope everything's okay” “What does it say?” Fluttershy asked as Twilight read the letter out loud so her friends could hear. Dear Twilight, Firstly, everything is okay, there's no danger or anything Shining Armor and I would like to discuss something with you Of course, you are always welcome to bring your friends along with you We would be more than delighted to see you and of course, Flurry Heart wants to see you as well Let us know if you can make it, if not we can always do this another time Love, Cadance “Something to discuss with me? Wonder what it could be.” Twilight said. “It does sound rather intriguing. What are you going to do, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “Well, of course I'm gonna go! It must be super important because Cadance and Shining Armor want to do this face to face instead of just through letters! Plus, I get the chance to spend time with my big brother, my sister-in-law, and my favorite niece!” Twilight said happily as she flapped her wings in excitement. “Um, isn't Flurry Heart your only niece?” Fluttershy asked, her question not quite reaching Twilight. “So, what do you girls think? Anypony up for a trip to the Crystal Empire?” Twilight asked, hoping that her friends would be able to accompany her. “Well, I got a few chores that need to be taken care of today, but I should be able to get them done this afternoon. I can arrange with my family to take care of the rest while I'm gone. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle.” Applejack said. “I'm sure Discord won't mind taking care of my animals at the sanctuary for an extra day or two. But I should still check up on them and at least stay until this afternoon. That way my animals won't have to worry about me.” Fluttershy said. “I got nothing planned for the next couple of days, so I'm good to go whenever you are, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said. “I will have to head to the boutique and recheck my schedule, but I am sure that I have no appointments or any orders due within the next couple of days.” Rarity said. “I can go anytime! I'm sure the Cakes won't mind if I take a couple days off. They're really understanding.” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced up and down. “That's great! What about you, Starlight? Wanna come?” Twilight asked. “Thanks for the offer, Twilight, but I think it's best if somepony stays and keeps an eye on the castle. You know, just in case.” Starlight said. “Oh, okay then. Spike?” Twilight asked as she saw Spike re-enter the room. “Huh? What's up, Twilight?” Spike asked. “Princess Cadance and Shining Armor have invited us all to the Crystal Empire. There's something they need to discuss with me. Do you wanna come with us?” Twilight asked. “Sure, I'll come along. It's always nice to see the Crystal Empire. Plus, I'm sure the crystal ponies are missing me.” Spike said with a grin. “(Chuckle) I'm sure they are, Spike. This is great! Let's all meet at the train station this afternoon.” Twilight said. With that, Twilight's friends said their goodbyes and left the castle to take care of what they needed to take care of before the trip to the Crystal Empire. After her friends had left the castle, Twilight made sure to send a letter to Cadance, informing her that she would in fact be on her way very soon. Meanwhile... “Yes, this is wonderful! Twilight and her friends are coming to the Empire! She says they'll be here either tonight or sometime tomorrow.” Cadance said as she showed Shining Armor the letter Twilight had just sent. “That's great! It'll be so nice to see Twily again. I know you missed your auntie Twilight a lot, right Flurry?” Shining Armor asked as he looked at their daughter who was sitting in her crib. “Goo, goo.” Flurry Heart said as she clapped her hooves together and flapped her wings happily. “Aww, so adorable! Our little bundle of joy.” Cadance said as she levitated Flurry Heart to her and held her, kissing her forehead. As Cadance and Shining Armor smiled at their baby, they heard a knock at the door. “Permission to enter?” A voice called from behind the door. “Permission granted! Come in!” Shining Armor replied as the doors opened up, revealing Flash Sentry. “Pardon the intrusion, but I have the results to the procedure.” Flash said. “And? How did the procedure go?” Shining Armor asked. “Unfortunately, sir, it wasn't successful. We didn't even leave a mark on the door.” Flash replied, looking rather disappointed. “(Sigh) I thought with that new guard's ability, we would be able to get that door open. I guess not.” Shining Armor said. “Do you think Twilight's magic will be able to open the door?” Cadance asked. “I'm not sure. We can only hope so. Otherwise, I don't know how we're ever going to get that door open.” Shining Armor said. “Captain Armor.” Flash said as he took off his helmet. “On behalf of the crew that was tasked with trying to break the door down, I sincerely apologize.” “You tell the crew that they have nothing to apologize for. There is no reason for them to feel any sort of guilt.” Shining Armor said. “That’s right, please let them know that we are not upset. I know that they did their best. Once you have given them our word, you may go back to your post.” Cadance said. Flash Sentry gave a respectful bow to both of them, before he left the room. Once they were alone, Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other. “Do you think Twilight will be able to help us?” Shining Armor asked. “I’m not sure, but I know she will do her best. She always does.” Cadance said. “You’re right.” Shining Armor said as he wrapped his hoof around Cadance. “The sooner we get that door open, the sooner we finally find out what is in that room.” Ponyville, a few hours later... It was just after lunch, when Twilight and the rest of her friends had all arrived at the train station. Thankfully, none of Twilight's friends had to cancel for any reason. Everypony had taken care of what they had to take care of for the day. Applejack was able to work out a schedule with her family so that when she returned to Ponyville, everything would go back to normal at the farm. Rarity was quite surprised when she saw that she really had no appointments for the next few days. Of course, Discord was more than happy to assist Fluttershy more and keep a watchful eye over her sanctuary and to take care of the animals. Rainbow Dash claimed that she was free for the whole week and had nothing else going on. In reality, Rainbow Dash did have some weather work to do, but this wouldn't be the first time she bailed from work. At least she was being honest about not needing to do any Wonderbolt stuff. Pinkie Pie was able to convince the Cakes to give her just a couple of days off, which they agreed to, since it was Princess Cadance who invited the friends to the empire. Starlight had come to the train station with the girls to see them off, as well as to assure Twilight that the castle was in good hooves. Soon, the friends boarded the train, and they all said their goodbyes, waving as the train departed for its destination. The train ride was fairly comfortable with only minimal bumps along the way. Twilight predicted that since they left Ponyville during the afternoon, that they would arrive at the Crystal Empire in the morning or early afternoon. During the ride, the friends entertained themselves with funny stories and simple party games. Since Pinkie Pie was there, a few of the games weren't quite so simple. A couple of them may have resulted in having to clean up confetti and apologize to fellow passengers for the mess. While she was having a pleasant time with her friends during the ride, Twilight couldn't help but wonder what Cadance and Shining Armor needed to talk with her about. Thankfully, Twilight had her friends there to help keep her calm. “Hey, you're not still worried about the letter from Cadance, are you?” Spike asked, seeing how Twilight was in deep thought. “Not really worried, more so just puzzled.” Twilight replied. “I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about, dear. Besides, if this was some sort of emergency, I am sure the letter Princess Cadance sent would have been much more dramatic.” Rarity said. “Yeah! Like, 'Help Twilight! The Crystal Empire is under attack! Come save us! It's the end of the world!' Or something like that.” Pinkie Pie said, after doing a pretty accurate imitation of Cadance's voice. “I reckon it's just some good old fashioned family meeting about Flurry Heart or something.” Applejack said. “Yeah, you're all probably right. Thanks, everypony.” Twilight said, giving her friends a thankful smile. “It will be so nice to see Flurry Heart again. She's one of the cutes fillies in all of Equestria.” Fluttershy said as she clapped her hooves together. “Oh, I wonder if she'll finally say her first words!” “That would be the best thing ever!” Twilight said as she imagined Flurry Heart saying her first words. For the rest of the ride, Twilight and her friends all thought about what the cutest possible thing was that Flurry Heart could say if she spoke her first words. Naturally, they all imagined Flurry Heart saying each of their names. Soon, the day had ended, and the night was approaching. The friends stayed up for just a little bit and then decided it was time to turn in for the night. That way they would be well rested for their meeting with Cadance the next day. That night, everypony had pleasant dreams and slept very nicely. There were no suspenseful feelings for Twilight that night. Twilight and her friends woke up around the exact same time, each of them having slept peacefully. Twilight looked out the window and saw that they hadn't arrived yet, but they would very soon. Breakfast was served on the train, and it was decent enough to fill all of the hungry stomachs onboard the train. After a nice breakfast, the friends continued to talk and have a jolly good time for the remainder of the train ride. A short while later, the train finally came to a halt and blew its loud whistle. They had finally arrived at the Crystal Empire. Twilight and her friends exited the train and once everypony was accounted for, made their way to the Crystal Empire. It wasn't long until the friends arrived at the gate to the Crystal Empire. As they arrived, they all stopped and took in the sight. The Crystal Empire was indeed a very beautiful place. The crystals glowed and shined beautifully with the help of the bright sunlight. The colors were so dazzling to look at that you could stare for literally hours if you wanted to. Of course, the crystal ponies themselves were very beautiful as well. The way they glowed was just so amazingly beautiful and glorious. Of course, their personality matched their beauty as well. The castle was always such a lovely sight as well. After admiring the lovely view, the friends finally began to make their way to the castle. On their way to the castle, they were all swarmed by crystal ponies. Each happy to see the Mane Six of course, but they were all mostly there to see Spike the Brave. Spike, of course, loved the attention he was getting and enjoyed being praised as a hero. After a bit of being praised and bombarded with questions, Spike finally managed to leave the crowd and flew over to his friends, who had moved off to the side to avoid being trampled. After walking through the empire for a bit, the friends arrived at the castle. There, they were greeted by three guard ponies. The one in the front stepped up and spoke to them. “Greetings! Princess Cadance and Captain Armor have been expecting you. Captain Armor apologizes for not being here to greet you personally, but he is attending important royal duties with the princess. You will find them up in the throne room.” The guard pony said before bowing to Twilight. “Thank you very much. It's great to be back. Come on, everypony.” Twilight said as they made their way into the castle. Before they could all get past the guards, one of the guards tapped Spike on the shoulder and began to start giving him praise and asking a lot of questions. Spike chuckled and told his friends that he would catch up in a second. “(Exhale) It really is nice to see this place again.” Twilight said as they walked through the castle. “I agree, it is quite nice to gaze upon the beauty of the Crystal Empire again.” Rarity said, admiring the décor and the crystal walls of the castle. “This place sure is something.” Applejack said. “I'm glad we were able to save this place.” “Yeah! We showed that good-for-nothing king what happens when you mess with us!” Rainbow Dash said, punching the air. “And we were able to keep the empire safe once again during the Crystalling thing.” Fluttershy added. “The Crystal Empire has for sure had a few troubles along the way, but together, we were able to keep this place safe.” Twilight said as they rounded a corner. Since she wasn't looking where she was going, Twilight didn't have any time to stop herself as she walked right into somepony, falling back on the ground a bit. “Oof! So sorry about that! Huh? Twilight?” Flash Sentry said as he shook his head and looked down at the princess. “Oh, hey Flash Sentry.” Twilight said as they both shared a laugh, Flash helping Twilight back up on her hooves. “(Chuckle) We really have to stop bumping into each other like that. It's becoming a tradition at this point.” Flash said as he laughed. “You're right about that.” Twilight agreed as they shared a laugh. It had been quite some time since Twilight had first gone to the mirror world and met the Flash Sentry from that world. The last time Twilight had managed to visit that world, she was able to spend some good time with Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her Canterlot High friends, including her counterpart. Of course, she also spent some time with that world’s Flash Sentry as well. Since they both knew they were from two separate worlds, they talked things over and eventually both agreed that it would be best to stay really good friends. Twilight remembered she was expecting to see Flash get really upset about it, but he took it very well and agreed that it was for the best. Of course, neither of them would ever forget the feelings they had for each other. When it came to this Flash Sentry standing before her, Twilight was able to become really good friends with him. They shared the occasional joke and laugh with each other and were really good friends. It was quite easy just like the human Flash Sentry, this Flash was just as kind and nice as the other was. The two were almost the same, with a couple obvious differences. Once the two friends had stopped laughing, they straightened back up and Flash bowed respectfully to Twilight. “Princess Cadance and Captain Armor await you in the throne room, Princess Twilight.” Flash said as he continued to bow. “There's really no need to bow to me, Flash.” Twilight said as she chuckled. “Well, you are a princess, so I have to show my respect.” Flash said. “Thanks for that, Flash. It was nice to see you again.” Twilight said. “You as well, Twilight. I'll take you all to the throne room.” Flash said as he led the girls and Spike, who had just returned, to the throne room. A few minutes later, they had all arrived at the doors of the throne room and Flash Sentry opened the doors and spoke up. “Presenting, Princess Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends!” Flash announced, allowing Twilight and her friends to pass. “Twilight!” Cadance and Shining Armor said as they saw Twilight enter the room with her friends. “Cadance! Shining Armor!” Twilight said as she flew over to them, first to Cadance before they began their little dance. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight and Cadance sang as they laughed and then gave each other a hug. “It's so great to see you, Twilight!” Cadance said as she hugged Twilight. “I'm so happy to see you too, Cadance!” Twilight said, hugging Cadance tightly, before she went to her brother. “It's great to see you too, B.B.B.F.F!” Twilight said, giving her big brother a big hug. “Aww, it's great to see you too, Twily! I missed you!” Shining Armor said, hugging his little sister tightly. “I missed you too!” Twilight said as they let each other go. “Where's Flurry Heart?” Twilight asked, looking around for her favorite niece. “Oh, she's up in her room taking a nap. Our little one was so sleepy this morning. We can see her really soon.” Cadance said. “Great! So, what did you guys want to talk about?” Twilight asked with a smile on her face. Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other for a moment and then looked back to Twilight, serious looks on their faces. “(Sigh) We'll get right to the point.” Cadance said, as Shining Armor spoke up. “Do you remember when King Sombra attacked the empire?” Shining Armor asked, the mention of the name causing everypony to perk up with interest and curiosity. “Yeah, I do. Why?” Twilight asked as her friends started to get very curious about where this was going. “Oh no! Is King Sombra back for revenge?” Fluttershy asked, wanting desperately to curl up into a ball. “King Sombra!? He's back!? Oh no!” Spike cried as he held his head in a panic. “King Sombra's back!? Where is he!? Tell us so we can kick his flank back into the icy ground!” Rainbow Dash said, putting her hooves up, ready for a fight. “It's the end of the world! Run for your lives!!” Pinkie Pie cried as she started to run around in circles. “What? Oh, no, no, King Sombra didn't come back for revenge.” Cadance said, making everypony calm down. “Oh, okay. That's nice.” Pinkie Pie said as she giggled to herself. “Twilight, do you remember when you went down to the room where you faced your greatest fear? Well, we were looking around down there recently, and we found something.” Cadance said. “Huh? What did you find?” Twilight asked. “We think it's better if we showed you rather than tell you.” Shining Armor said before nodding to Cadance. Cadance nodded back and motioned for everypony to step back a bit. As soon as everypony was a safe enough distance away, Cadance closed her eyes and her horn lit up with its magic. All of a sudden, Cadance's horn no longer glowed its usual magic aura of a bright blue. Instead, Cadance's horn glowed a horrific shade of purple and black, her eyes opened up to reveal a solid green color with a purple mist spilling out from the sides of Cadance's eyes. Princess Cadance was using the dark magic of King Sombra, no doubt to open the pathway that led to the room of fear. Once the path had been opened up, Cadance fell to the side, but was caught by Shining Armor. “Cadance! Are you okay!?” Twilight cried. “Y-Yeah, don't worry about me, Twilight.” Cadance replied, very much in pain and exhausted. “Flash Sentry! Stay here with Princess Cadance, I'll take the others down to the cavern!” Shining Armor ordered, with Flash immediately rushing to support Cadance, allowing her to rest a bit. “Alright, everypony follow me and stay close.” Shining Armor said as he led the group down the long flight of stairs. Twilight and Spike hated having to go back down these stairs, knowing what awaited them at the bottom. The rest of Twilight's friends were very creeped out by the eeriness of the situation as they continued down the stairs. Eventually, they made it to the bottom and in front of them was the door that led to one's greatest fears. However, almost instantly everypony noticed that there was now a second door. This door looked as if it had been bashed and beaten repeatedly by blunt objects and sharp objects, as if in an attempt to break the door down. The most eye-catching thing about this new door was that there was an inscription on the door that read, 'Sombra'. “Wait, is.... that?” Twilight asked, as Shining Armor filled in the blanks. “King Sombra's room? Maybe, but we have no idea to be honest.” Shining Armor said. “Don't know? What do you mean you don't know? Haven't you looked inside the room or anything?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That's the thing; we can't get inside the room. The door is shut tight, and we can't get it to open.” Shining Armor replied. “From the looks of it, y'all tried really hard to bust this here door down.” Applejack said, taking notice of how this door had clearly taken quite a beating. “Oh, believe me, Applejack, we have tried very hard to bust this door down. We hit it, we burned it, we tried to pry it open, we even shot it with one of our cannons and still, nothing.” Shining Armor said. “I beg your pardon, but did you say you tried to burn the door down?” Rarity asked. “That door looks to be made of wood and burning it did nothing?!” “Exactly! After the door survived being burned and being shot with a cannon, we concluded that this door has to be protected by some sort of enchantment or something.” Shining Armor said. “I’m guessing that you've already tried using magic to open the door, right?” Twilight asked. “We've tried that plenty of times. Cadance and I tried a bunch to get this door open with our magic, but the door still didn't budge. Sunburst even came in to try every spell he knew and nothing he did worked. We even tried using dark magic to open the door and it still did nothing.” Shining Armor explained. “How about trying to teleport into the room? Did you try that?” Twilight asked. “Cadance and I tried that multiple times and we weren’t able to get through.” Shining Armor said, shaking his head. “That alone definitely proves that there is some sort of enchantment here preventing us from doing anything.” “And you invited Twilight and the rest of us here because you wanted to see if maybe we could break the door down?” Pinkie Pie asked. “That's right. I'm really sorry we didn't make that clear in the letter, Twily. Cadance and I just didn't want you to worry.” Shining Armor said. “It's okay, Shining. We're happy to help out, right everypony?” Twilight asked. “Right!” Her friends replied. “Thanks a bunch, everypony! It means a lot to us. And if you can't get the door open, we understand if you-.” Shining Armor said before Rainbow Dash suddenly flew right past him and started to beat the door down with her hooves, as if she was fighting the fight of her life. “Hyah! Hyah! Ya! Bam! Ya!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she kept on punching and kicking the door with all her might. All the while, everypony else just kind of stared with confused looks as they watched Rainbow Dash eventually tire out from hitting the door for a good five minutes. Finally, Rainbow Dash stopped her assault and flew back to her spot next to Applejack, panting. “(Pant, pant) No good. That door isn't being opened anytime soon.” Rainbow Dash said as she shook her hooves, each one a bit sore from all the punching and kicking. “Alright here let me have a go.” Applejack said as she began to walk over to the door. “If the door just survived my rainbow combo, what makes you think it's going to break down after one kick, AJ?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying her best to sound like she wasn't about to collapse from exhaustion. “Well, for one, out of the six of us, I am the most powerful in terms of physical strength.” Applejack replied as she stood in front of the door, examining it for a good spot to kick it. “I mean, she's not wrong.” Spike said, recalling the amount of trees Applejack would buck almost every day. “Mmm, that's debatable.” Rainbow Dash said. “Huh, really? If that's the case, why didn't you break the door down yourself, Rainbow?” Applejack asked, a smirk on her face and her eyebrow raised. “Just do your thing and kick it already!” Rainbow Dash said, looking away from the farm pony. “Alrighty then. Here goes... YARGH!” Applejack yelled as she turned around and gave the door the hardest kick she ever gave in her life. As soon as Applejack kicked the door with her back hooves, there was a slight cracking sound, only it didn't come from the door.... “GAAAAHHH! My hooves!” Applejack cried as she fell to the floor, her friends gathering towards her. “Applejack! Are you okay!?” Twilight cried. “I told you that wasn't going to work! Now look what happened!” Rainbow Dash said as she tried to help Applejack stand back up. “Are your hooves, okay? Are they broken?” Fluttershy asked as she assisted in helping Applejack stand. “(Wince) I don't think so. They ain't broken but they're definitely not A-Okay either.” Applejack said as she winced a bit while trying to stand. “Don't worry Applejack, I'm sure I can help make things better. Shining Armor, is there a place we can take Applejack for a moment, I need her to be laying on her side for this to work.” Rarity said. “We can take her to a better spot than here, I'll carry her.” Shining Armor said, using his magic to levitate Applejack onto his back. “I really don't think this is necessary. I'm fine, really.” Applejack said, but Rarity wasn't having it. “Absolutely not! Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, come with me, I'll need your help.” Rarity said. “You guys go take care of Applejack, the rest of us will stay here and get this door opened up.” Pinkie Pie said with a smile. “Are you sure?” Shining Armor asked. “We'll be okay, Shining. Please take care of Applejack.” Twilight replied. With that, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor ran up the stairs to get Applejack some help. Once they were gone, Twilight looked to Spike. “Spike, do you think you can try to burn the door down using your fire? Maybe your fire is stronger.” Twilight suggested. “I'll give it a go.” Spike replied as he took a deep breath and blasted his fire at the door, nothing. “No good. Sorry, Twilight.” Spike said, looking sad. “It's okay Spike. It's not your fault.” Twilight said before Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Stand aside, Twilight. Let Pinkie Pie, have a try.” Pinkie Pie as she put on a very serious face. Pinkie Pie then pulled out a hard hat seemingly out of nowhere and placed it on her head before she carefully examined the door before her. Pinkie Pie walked up to the door and placed her hooves on it, feeling around as if she was looking for something. Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped and stepped back, nodding very slowly. Pinkie Pie then jumped up in the air, and somehow while she was in midair, straightened her body out. As she seemingly hovered midair, Pinkie Pie started to spin around like a top, only much faster. Then Pinkie Pie flew to the door and started to try and drill into it. After a good minute or so, Pinkie Pie stopped and landed back onto the ground, stepping back to examine her work. Aside from a bit of dents and chipping, the door remained closed. “Wow, this door really is impossible to break down. No door has ever survived my drilling technique before.” Pinkie Pie said as she took off her hard hat and tossed it to the side. “Pinkie... how did you... do that?” Twilight asked. “Psst, Twilight.” Spike whispered. “It's Pinkie Pie, there's no point in asking or trying to figure out how that works.” “I really thought my drilling technique would work. I guess not. Why don't you try next, Twilight. You're the main character, maybe your magic will work.” Pinkie Pie said, patting Twilight on the back. “Main Character? What?” Twilight asked, very much confused by Pinkie Pie’s words. “Go on, give it your all, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said as she cheered for her friend. Twilight decided to just go along with it as she stepped forward. Twilight took a deep breath and with all her might, pulled at the door hard with her magic. Twilight used every attack she knew and every spell she could think of. None of them worked. Twilight even tried to just teleport into the room, but that didn't work either. Seeing how nothing she did worked, Twilight sighed and turned back to Spike and Pinkie Pie. “(Sigh) Well, we better head up and tell Cadance and Shining Armor that we weren't able to get the door open.” Twilight said, a bit disappointed. “Yeah, and hopefully Rarity was able to help Applejack out.” Spike added. With that, the trio of friends began to make their way up the stairs. As they walked up the stairs, Twilight couldn't help but wonder what was behind that door. The curiosity was definitely eating at her, after all, if this was in fact the room that belonged to King Sombra, it could very well hold some ancient artifacts or maybe even some magic spells that could be used to help other ponies. Maybe there were some secrets to King Sombra's power or maybe something to provide more information about this king that Twilight knew almost nothing about. “Thanks a bunch, Rarity. I feel a whole lot better now.” Applejack said. “It was no problem at all, darling. Hopefully you've learned not to try and buck enchanted objects from now on.” Rarity said. “So, even your magic wasn't strong enough?” Shining Armor asked once Twilight had explained everything. “The door didn't even budge. I even tried teleporting to the other side of it, but it was like the door wouldn't let me. I'm really sorry we weren't able to help Shining.” Twilight said as she and the rest of her friends lowered their heads. “Hey now, it's okay. We know you all tried your best.” Shining Armor said, lifting Twilight's face to look back up to him. “And it's not like this is urgent or anything. It's more so the curiosity that's making this seem like a big deal. On the bright side, we all still get to spend time together.” Cadance said. “Come on, why don't we all go see how Flurry Heart is doing?” “Oh yes! May we go see her please?” Fluttershy asked as she flew over to Cadance. “(Giggle) Of course, this way everypony.” Cadance said as they followed her to Flurry Heart's room. As the group headed towards Flurry Heart's room, Cadance and Shining Armor talked about how much they loved their daughter and what they hoped her future would be like. Of course, the Mane Six were curious if Flurry had spoken her first words yet, which thankfully she hadn't yet. Though it was a bit puzzling how Flurry Heart was able to fly, use powerful spells, and even walk properly at her age, but she still wasn't able to talk. As they neared Flurry Heart's room, they rounded a corner and once again Twilight wasn't looking where she was going as she kept walking forward. As Twilight was laughing at a funny memory involving Flurry Heart, she crashed right into Flash Sentry again. “Oof! I'm so sorry Flash. I really have to start looking where I'm going.” Twilight said as she took a step back. “Heh, it’s no problem. You know, at this point we might as well start writing down how many times this happens.” Flash said as he chuckled a bit. “I’m guessing you’re all here to see Flurry Heart?” “Yep, I’ve been missing my favorite niece.” Twilight said with a smile. “Well, I’m sure she is excited to see you again. Please, go right ahead.” Flash said as he stepped to the side and extended his hoof outward, signaling them to pass. As everypony entered the room to visit Flurry Heart, Flash resumed his duties and smiled to himself. It always was a joy to see Twilight Sparkle again.