//------------------------------// // Attacks (Part One) // Story: Dark Cloud // by D5ky //------------------------------// Twilight was hurtling back down the steep mountain slope as fast as her legs could carry her, Spike barely keeping pace with her. He was panting hard, and only kept going due to the knowledge of how grave the situation was. "We'll have to split up," Twilight began as they approached the town boundaries, "You make sure that the Crystal Heart stays safe, and I'll go up to the throne room to talk to Cadence." "O...kay," Spike replied, in between labored breaths. They didn't quite know the layout of the Crystal Empire yet, and stopped as their skin began sparkling slightly. After deciding which way to go, they moved into the full boundaries of the city. Their bodies began to sparkle and glow, but they didn't stop to appreciate the beauty of the effect. Instead, they moved towards the palace, passing crystal ponies that had no idea they were in any danger, who were just enjoying their lives as usual. She didn't tell any of them what was happening out of fear of creating widespread panic. As they approached the palace, two crystal-pony guards stopped them in their tracks. Twilight skidded to a halt, and Spike keeled over on the ground beside her, clutching the stitch in his side from all the running. "What business do you have with the Princess of the Crystal Empire?" one of them formally asked. "My name... is Twilight Sparkle," said Twilight, who was still panting slightly from the long run, though not nearly as much as Spike was. "I need to see Princess Cadence immediately. It's urgent." "Do you have an appointment?" he asked her. "Uhh..." Twilight faltered. She had momentarily forgotten how tight security was in the Empire, as they were still pretty shaken up by Sombra's previous attack, even all these months later. "All conferences with the Princess need to be scheduled at least three weeks in advance," the guard said. "If you would like to schedule one, send a letter to--" "Look," Twilight interrupted, throwing caution to the winds. "Your empire is in danger. I need to see the Princess, right now." The guard's eyes widened, and then narrowed again. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" "Can't you send the Princess a note, telling her Twilight is here to see her?" Twilight said, growing more desperate. The guard looked to the other. "I suppose," he said suspiciously. "But only because our empire might be at risk." He pulled out a paper and quill, and scribbled a quick note to the princess. When he was done, he handed it to another Pegasus guard, who flew to the balcony above. After a minute, the Pegasus flew back down to rejoin them. “She said it's fine,” he told the two guards. “Come in,” he said, looking at Twilight. Looking slightly off-put, the two guards moved aside, allowing Twilight and Spike to cross the threshold. After King Sombra had been defeated, the castle had been completely destroyed, his hidden passage along with it. They had completely rebuilt it, and Twilight didn't know the new layout. The guard led her as they moved up towards the stairs, rapidly approaching a room that held the Crystal Heart. With a nod from Twilight, Spike hung back next to the Heart. Twilight went up more stairs and into the throne room. Cadence was sitting on her throne, shining and looking perfectly cheerful. When she saw Twilight come in, she jumped off her throne in excitement. “Twilight!” she said, as she ran towards her sister-in-law. When she got there, they immediately did their regular greeting routine. ”Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” Cadence laughed, and although Twilight had done the little dance, she wasn’t smiling. Sombra was her first concern at the moment. “It’s about time we got together!” Cadence said enthusiastically. “I’ve only seen you lately when the fate of Equestria has been hanging in the balance!” Twilight hesitated, hating to crush her old foalsitter’s good mood. “Yeah... about that...” she said, awkwardly. She watched as Cadence’s face fell. “Don’t tell me...” she said, looking crestfallen. "What's happened?" Twilight explained how Spike left Ponyville, the mysterious letter in Celestia's throne room, and finally, the events that occurred just north of them. As Twilight finished talking, Cadence looked slightly shocked, but still relatively calm. "As long as the Crystal Heart is being powered, Sombra can't get in," she said. "I'm not too worried about it. Celestia will be able to banish him." "He's bypassed the Crystal Heart before," Twilight retorted, thinking about the first time Sombra had invaded the empire. "Why couldn't he do it again? He's even more powerful now than the last time he attacked." "He was a citizen of the Empire the very first time he conquered," Cadence replied dismissively. "He had clear access to the heart." As she finished this sentence, a letter delivered itself to Twilight's magical inbox. As she pulled it out, she spotted the royal seal, and tore the letter open. She read it quickly, and then held it out for Cadence to read. Twilight, If you haven't already done so, meet with Princess Cadence. I'm sending reinforcements immediately, including Ventus and Prince Shining Armor. If Sombra corrupts the Crystal Heart again, the rest of Equestria will quickly follow. You must protect the Empire. -Celestia "Celestia seems to think there's danger," Twilight said. Cadence re-read the letter, unwilling to believe it. But halfway through, her eyes widened, and her head whipped around towards the window. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "The heart," Cadence said, with complete surprise in her voice. "It's being moved!" "What?" Twilight gasped, as indeed, her skin stopped sparkling. The visible reflections of love and harmony suddenly vanished from the sky, and ponies on the street began to scream. (=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=) Spike stood sentinel, guarding the Crystal Heart from anypony who tried to touch it. There was nopony in sight but the guards who were protecting the palace gates, but he stood there regardless. Twilight had seemed worried that somepony would try to disrupt the heart, so he didn't abandon his post. "Hello, Spike," a voice said suddenly. Spike jumped, and turned to see a pony leaning against one of the pillars. The newcomer had a black cloak on, the hood of which shrouded their face completely, but Spike could tell it was a stallion due to the deep voice with which he spoke. "Who're you?" Spike asked, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer. "How did you get in here without the guards noticing?" There was a low chuckle from the hooded stallion. "It doesn't matter. I'm not here to hurt you." "What do you want, then?" Spike asked. "I need this heart moved," the stallion said, falling to all fours and beginning to trot towards Spike. "But I can't move it myself." Spike was about to call out to the guards, but something in the back of his mind stopped him. He didn't know why, but he felt that the stallion coming towards him was sincere. An overwhelming feeling of trust suddenly washed over him, and he knew the stallion was on his side. After all, if his overall intentions were bad, the Crystal Heart would've expelled him, right? "You're the only one who can move it," he told the dragon. "You brought the heart to the Princess. You have to be the one to remove it." "Yeah," Spike said. He didn't know why the stallion would want the heart removed, but if he was asking, it needed to be done. So Spike walked up to the heart, and easily removed it from its stand. His scales stopped sparkling abruptly, and screaming filled the streets. He dropped it on the ground at the stallion's feet. "Thank you," the stallion said. "SPIKE!" Spike looked up to see Twilight and Princess Cadence running down the steps. They skidded to a halt right in front of him. "What did you do?" Twilight asked. "Where's the heart?" "Its right here, with--" Spike began to reply. But as he turned to point at the hooded stallion, he saw nothing but air. The Crystal Heart was also gone. "...Where'd he go?" Spike asked, looking around in confusion. "He was just here!" Twilight tilted her head slightly, and then began magically examining Spike. He made a sound of discomfort as he felt Twilight's presence in his mind. She couldn't read his thoughts, but she could see the way his brain waves were working, and she could tell something was wrong. "Interesting," Twilight muttered. "What's wrong?" Princess Cadence asked. Twilight didn't respond immediately, but continued looking at his mind. "There's an anomaly in his cerebral cortex," Twilight began. "It looks like parts of it are being overlapped." "In Equestrian, please," Spike said. "Somepony is controlling parts of your thoughts," Twilight finished. She and Cadence both looked at him. His eyes had widened. "That's crazy!" Spike exclaimed. "I feel fine! I'm not... being controlled, or anything! "I think we'll have to worry about it later," Cadence interrupted suddenly. "Right now, we have to prepare the Empire." "Right," Twilight replied, suddenly remembering the serious threat lurking beyond the town boundaries. The screaming was growing worse, and Twilight could tell it would be outright panic soon. They ran outside the palace, moving towards the gate guards. "Princess, what's going on?" one of them asked. "What happened to the Crystal Heart?" "The Empire is under attack, Commander," Cadence said swiftly. "I need you to gather your forces, and meet me in the courtyard in ten minutes." "Right," the Commander replied, galloping away immediately. Within a minute, there was a loud, deep gong, and Twilight thought of a clock tower bell ringing. But she quickly realized what it meant, as a stallion's magically magnified voice rang through the entire land. "This is not a drill. All citizens apply defensive plan Theta. All military personnel gather in the castle courtyard immediately. I repeat, this is not a drill." Twilight turned to look at Cadence, who was smiling slightly. "We're more prepared than Celestia thinks," she said. "How many defensive plans are there?" Twilight asked. "There are six," Cadence said, proudly. "We have drills once a week, switching plans every time." "That's incredible," Twilight said, amazed at how quiet the streets now were. "We should start doing the same thing everywhere else, too." They began climbing the steps back into the palace, and ascended the stairs to the courtyard balcony. There were already a couple hundred ponies gathered there, all wearing golden armor similar to that of the Canterlot palace guards. After several more minutes, there were at least a thousand ponies gathered in the courtyard. Cadence cleared her throat, and cast a spell on herself to magnify her voice. The courtyard went dead silent when she was ready to speak. "As you all know, the kingdom is in grave danger," she began. "The Crystal Heart, due to unknown circumstances, has vanished." There was an outbreak of muttering at that, as the soldiers quietly voiced their surprise. Cadence held up a hoof for silence, and then continued, gesturing towards Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle has sent for reinforcements from Canterlot, which are on their way. Now, I think it's time you knew the nature of the threat." She hesitated a moment, wondering what the general reaction of the crowd would be. "Sombra has once again returned to conquer our empire." Even more muttering broke out at this, and the tone of it sounded much more frightened. Some soldiers were visually shaking, while others hardened their faces, seeming ready to fight him. This time, Cadence waited for silence to descend on its own. After a short time, it did. "We don't know the full extent of his power, only that he is more powerful than before." She hit the balcony rail with her hoof. "But we too are much more powerful than before!" She said, both glaring and smiling down at them. They looked a bit more hopeful. "We have fully restored our powerful military, and more! Crystal Heart or not, we are strong!" A few loose whoops followed this statement, and the army below suddenly seemed much bigger as those who had been slouching in despair straightened up again, turning their full attention to their princess. "We came back after a thousand years! We have endured hardships most can't even imagine! And we won't let somepony like Sombra manipulate us anymore! We'll show him that we can't just be wiped off the map again! We'll remind him who we are! WE ARE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!" There was an eruption of cheers and stomping, as the crystal soldiers' morale was greatly increased. Cadence had thrust one hoof in the air as she finished her statement, and now slowly let it back down. She turned to a grey stallion next to her, who was enormous and powerfully built. "They're all yours, General." He nodded as she cast a voice amplification spell on him. "We'll be using offensive plan Shining. Commander Cinder, your squad will take position A..." "That was a good speech," Twilight said to Cadence as they descended the stone steps into the throne room. "Thanks," Cadence replied. "Now, I have to get ready myself. Sombra could attack at any time." "Right," Twilight said, as Cadence ran off. She ran outside, finding Spike next to the slot where the Crystal Heart belonged, right where they had left him. "Come on," she said to him. "Let's go." "Where are we going?" He asked, as they began to move out of the palace boundaries. "The train station," Twilight said as they began moving through the streets. "We'll meet up with the reinforcements and fight with them." They continued moving towards the edge of town. After a couple of minutes, a voice rang out through the whole city. She recognized it as the voice of Princess Cadence. "King Sombra. Your actions today have been a declaration of war against the Crystal Empire. This is your only warning. Surrender, or face the consequences." A few moments of silence. Then, "This is your only warning, Princess Cadence. If you don't surrender, my forces will kill every single pony hiding beneath this city." "Sorry. I don't respond well to threats," Cadence replied coldly. "Have it your way then," Sombra said. A loud, high-pitched screeching filled the air, and Twilight had to stop in order to cover her ears with her hooves. She screwed her eyes shut in pain, as the screeching was so loud. As it stopped, a deep rumbling shook the ground, and she heard the distant sound of weapons clashing. "Come on!" Twilight said. She levitated Spike onto her back as she continued to gallop toward the distant train station. They were drawing closer to it, when Spike yelled to her from her back. "TWILIGHT! ON YOUR LEFT!" She looked left, just in time to hurl herself forward, barely avoiding the dark figure hurtling itself at her. She whipped around to look at her assailant. It had the shape of a pony, with the same body, legs, and head. But it was covered in what looked like black fire, and its eyes were a gleaming, bright yellow. It looked at Twilight and Spike with the expression of seeing a delicious meal after not eating for days. It charged at them again, and they dove in opposite directions. Twilight took note of the fact that it couldn't change directions very well. Twilight lit her horn, and a streak of orange flames moved toward the dark creature. It barely avoided them, and shot forward to attack again. This time, Twilight shot a beam of white light straight at it, which hit it right in the chest. It screeched another high-pitched screech as it burst apart, the remainder of the black fire slowly dissipating into the air. "Are you alright?" Twilight asked Spike. "I'm fine," he replied, looking shaken. "What... what was that?" "I don't know," Twilight replied. "I've never read about anything like it..." Spike suddenly went rigid again, staring at something directly behind her. "What?" She asked. When he didn't reply, she turned and saw, quite plainly, what. She also froze in place. There was another shadow pony behind her, but this one looked quite different. It too was glowing with the black fire, and still had the yellow eyes, but its colors and mane were an exact replica of her own. It smiled at her with her own teeth, and lit up its horn. She moved to the left slightly, but her dark doppelgänger mirrored her movements precisely. Even as she charged a spell to hit it with, it blocked it. They began to fight, perfectly synchronized. As she couldn't simply overpower herself, she began to analyze her own weaknesses. She had a tendency to leave herself slightly exposed just before casting a spell. As she prepared to take advantage of this fact, the doppelgänger hit her in the side unexpectedly, taking advantage of the weakness she had just spotted herself. She crashed to the ground in a heap. As she stood up, the doppelgänger stepped on her chest, forcing her back to the ground. She looked into its eyes, as it charged a spell to kill her. Twilight waited to receive the blow, but it never came. She opened her eyes and watched in surprise as her dark doppelgänger disappeared into the air, just like the one before it. Looking left, she glimpsed a large, silver train that had just docked in the station; the Princesses' VIP train. Standing in the doorway was none other than... "Shining Armor!" "Hey, Twilie!" he said, as she galloped forward into his embrace. He was fully decked out in golden combat armor, which was light enough to grant almost full range of motion, but heavy enough to protect him from a lot of damage. Behind Shining Armor stood at least five hundred ponies from the Canterlot Palace Guard. To the left stood Ventus, who had just exited the driver's compartment. He grinned at her. "Glad to see you're still in one piece," he said. "What's happening, Twilight?" asked Shining Armor, letting go of her. "Why did that... that thing look like you?" "Honestly," she began, "I have no idea. King Sombra is attacking, and somehow managed to remove the Crystal Heart." "Celestia said he'd find a way," Shining Armor said, grimly. "But do you remember the names of the plans they were using?" Twilight racked her brain, thinking hard about the words she had heard before the battle began. "The defensive plan... was plan Theta," she said, suddenly remembering, "offensive plan Shining." He turned to the palace guards, who he had once commanded himself back in Canterlot. "In your terms, we're running D-A and O-F," he said to the soldiers. "You'll take the west side." It made absolutely no sense to Twilight or Ventus, but the rest of them seemed to understand, for they instantly began filing past them out the door. Shining Armor then turned to Ventus. "I'd understand if you wanted to stay here," he said. "I know you don't have much combat experience, and you don't have any armor." "I’m Celestia’s Chief of Security," Ventus said, looking slightly annoyed at being treated as a civilian. “I think I can hold my own.” "...All right then,” Shining Armor said, looking slightly embarrassed. “Let's go." "Hang on," Twilight said, looking around. "Where's Spike?" "Spike's here?" Shining Armor asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't see him outside with you." (=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=) Spike ran as fast as he could through the city, waiting to meet opposition at any moment, but no monsters or spells met him as he moved. What his destination was he didn't know, but he knew he had to keep moving. He ran through alleyways, making a beeline for the boundaries of the Empire. He finally reached it, and stopped running. He was winded, but didn't pant as he stood there, waiting. After a few minutes, a dark, hooded pony appeared seemingly from nowhere, just as Spike knew he would. "You brought it like I requested?" the newcomer asked. In answer, Spike reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Crystal Heart, which had been shrunken to the size of a large gem. "Good," the dark stallion said. "Now, hand it to me." Spike extended his claw, and dropped the miniature heart into the dark cyan hoof that the stranger had extended. "Thank you," the deep voice said. "Why do you need it?" Spike asked. He still felt guilty at the fact that he had stolen it, and he didn't even know why he had. "Don't worry, it's in good hooves," the stranger replied. "Just make sure nopony knows where you've been, or that I was even here. Try to make it look like you've been fighting." "All right," Spike replied. He still didn't understand it, but he knew that what he was doing would help Equestria in the long run. He turned to run back into the city, as a corridor of darkness appeared just behind the hooded stallion. He disappeared into it, carrying the Crystal Heart with him. (=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=) "He must be out in the fight," Shining Armor said. "We should be, too. Let’s go." Twilight didn't argue. After all, she knew the only way to find Spike would be to get out there. The three of them ran from the train and into the streets. There were a few more of the shadow ponies lurking around, and they hit them with beams of light as they passed. "I've never seen anything like this!" Twilight called to the others as she blasted yet another shadow into oblivion. "Where did Sombra find these things?" "He must have had some traveling time," called Shining Armor, as he too blasted some more shadow ponies into nothingness. They came to a fork in the road, and paused. "You guys keep moving, and kill as many of these things as you can," Shining Armor said. "I've got to find Cadence and lead the troops." He took the fork on the right, while Twilight and Ventus headed left. They didn't come across any more shadow ponies for a minute, but instead heard a mighty crashing up ahead. "What do you think that is?" Twilight called. "Something big?" Ventus said, rather unhelpfully. But as they rounded the next corner, they indeed saw something big. A fully grown Minotaur was smashing through buildings in the road ahead of them. It turned to look at them, and charged at them, letting out a bull-like roar. Twilight managed to dive out of the way as it rocketed past her, but Ventus wasn't nearly as lucky. It smashed into him with full force, sending him flying backwards several dozen yards. He crashed into the ground, hard. "Ventus!" Twilight yelled in horror, as the Minotaur whirled around to charge again. She tried to throw him aside, but to her horror, found that she couldn't affect his range of motion quickly enough. She instead skidded on her hooves, and slid underneath him. He looked around in confusion, as Twilight hit him in the back with a disintegration spell. However, his skin was so tough that it had no effect. He turned to swipe at her, but missed. She continued darting around him, trying to come up with something that could affect him, but she was fresh out of ideas. She was becoming tired, and knew she wouldn't last against him much longer. Finally, she stopped moving. The Minotaur turned, and looked right into her eyes. She knew there was nothing she could do. He reached down, undoubtedly to pick her up and throw her aside like a rag doll. But as his monstrous hand was about to close around her, his entire body began to glow light blue. He was lifted slightly into the air, and was launched sideways at high speed. There was a terrible crash as the creature smashed to the ground twenty yards away. Twilight looked around to see who had saved her. To her great astonishment, she saw Ventus standing there, horn aglow. "Ventus?" she said, not believing her eyes. "Come on," Ventus said, helping her up, "before it wakes up again." They resumed their journey towards the palace, galloping hard away from the figure of the Minotaur. "How are you not... you know, dead?" Twilight asked, still astonished. "That thing smashed into you hard! You should at least be knocked out!" "I was," he replied. "I woke up, and saw him about to smash you." She was still amazed. When he had been hit, he created a small crater in the road. She thought for sure that he was dead. But instead, he had saved her. They continued moving up the street, not meeting anything as horrible as the Minotaur had been; though still meeting a lot of shapeless shadow ponies. "How did Sombra get a Minotaur on his side?" Twilight asked, blasting yet another shadow pony aside. "I thought they were some of the most independent creatures alive." "Probably the same way he got all of these things," Ventus replied, blasting some shadow ponies into oblivion as he spoke. "I can see the palace ahead!" Twilight looked, seeing that they were indeed only a few blocks from the Crystal Palace. The street they had just entered was thick with shadow ponies, all evidently trying to force entrance into the palace, but were being held back by the soldiers in the courtyard. The back half of the group turned, staring right at the two newcomers. They looked at each other. "You sure you can handle all of these?" Twilight asked. "I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied, grinning. "I bet I can kill more of them." "Is that a challenge?" Twilight said, giving a half smile. "Only one way to find out, isn't there?" They waited a split second longer before launching themselves forward, horns glowing white identically. They both began launching pure, white light at the creatures, killing an almost equal number. There were tons of them, but they seemed pretty weak, especially the ones who weren't specifically mimicking anypony. Twilight and Ventus kept attacking, and had soon killed about half of them. The ones closer to the front, however, seemed to be stronger than those in back. Some of them actually managed to dodge the light spells. Twilight began breathing more heavily, and though Ventus didn't show it, his horn was beginning to hurt from casting all of these light spells, and his head was pounding. He could tell that he would have a splitting headache the next morning. The shadows began dodging the attacks more frequently, and one approached Twilight from behind. Ventus saw it in time to launch it away from her, but it was a close call. Twilight just kept firing spells, her mind only intent on killing as many of these things as possible. That is, until she saw the colorings of a pony she recognized. Though it was still covered in black flames, it had a yellow coat and a long pink mane that curled once on one side of her face. Twilight couldn't help but cry out. "Fluttershy?" She had frozen. The shadow version of Fluttershy had somehow retained her exact eye color. It was this detail that had caused her hesitation. Ventus looked over after deflecting a shadow pony's attack to see her frozen in place. "It's not real, Twilight!" he called, as he struggled to cast another light spell. The battle was becoming even harder, and his headache was already forming. "That's not a pony!" Twilight quickly came to her senses, and took a fighting stance. The shadow ponies seemed to take on the potential of the pony they were mimicking, and she knew that the Cutie Mark Crusaders called Fluttershy "The Stare Master." She had never found out why, and didn't really want to in this moment. She took comfort in the fact that Fluttershy was a very timid pony, but didn't like the way that this shadow pony was looking at her. To her astonishment, the dark figure launched itself at her with blinding speed. She dove aside, rolling to avoid the attack. When she popped up, the shadow pony landed on its hind legs, and then spun around backwards, bringing up a hoof to kick Twilight in the head. She barely managed to lean far enough back to prevent this. The Dark Fluttershy began throwing a series of fast punches and kicks at her, and she was having difficulty moving fast enough to block them all. Sure enough, the seventh kick caught her in the stomach, and she fell to the earth in a heap. The shadow closed in, preparing to deliver the final blow. As it was about to do so, something hit it from the side, and it staggered. The punch hadn't been that hard, and it looked up. Ventus was standing there, having looked in time to see Twilight fall to the earth. Due to the fact that his head now felt like it was going to split in half, he had abandoned his spellcasting and had thrown a punch at it instead. As the Dark Fluttershy ran towards him, a brilliant white light enveloped it from the side. There was a long, high-pitched scream of Fluttershy's voice as the pony lost its form, and dissipated into the air. Twilight's horn ceased fueling the light, and it vanished. She sat up roughly. "I think I killed more of them," Ventus teased, holding out a hoof for her to grab. "I was a bit distracted in killing the most powerful one," she retorted playfully, taking his hoof and standing again. "It counts as twenty." "Oh, come on," Ventus complained, a smile still on his face. "No it doesn--" Before he could finish the sentence, a deep rumbling shook the earth. They wobbled slightly, but managed to retain their balance. Soon after it began, the rumbling stopped. "What do you think that was?" Ventus asked. "I don't know," Twilight replied, slightly apprehensively. "I'm not too sure I want to know." After another couple of moments, they resumed moving up the street. Twilight felt something odd, as if everything was calmer than it should've been. The reason suddenly struck her, and she paused in her tracks. "What's wrong?" Ventus asked. "You remember how only half of the shadows fought us?" she asked. "Yeah," Ventus replied, tilting his head slightly. "Then where'd the rest of them go?" He opened his mouth to voice his confusion, but he realized what she meant right at that moment. His eyes widened. "Oh, no," he moaned. They immediately resumed their gallop towards the palace. As they approached it, foreboding in their hearts, they stopped at the ominous sight before them. "Sweet Celestia," Twilight exclaimed softly. The gate was nothing more than charred, twisted iron. They could still see part of the gate attached to the hinges. The rest appeared to have been blasted clean off. With a sense of dread, they clambered over the iron wreckage into the deserted courtyard. "Where is everypony?" Ventus asked. Twilight raised a hoof, pointing at the Crystal Palace. The front wall was in a similar state to the courtyard gate, but on a much larger scale. However, they could see a blue magical field covering the large hole that had once been a thick wall. "Someone's got to still be alive to cast that," she pointed out. They moved up to the large palace. Twilight knew that after the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, Celestia had worked to modify the shield spell a little bit. Instead of merely repelling them, it now burned through them. Sombra had experienced it firsthand the last time he had invaded the Crystal Empire, though in that particular instance, having part of his horn cut off ended up helping him in the end. Assuming that this was the same type of magical shield, Twilight slowly extended a hoof to test it. "No, let me," Ventus said, holding his leg up to impede her progress. "Cadence has known me since I was a little filly," she pointed out. "Her shield is more likely to recognize me." Reluctantly, Ventus withdrew his leg. Twilight resumed extending her hoof, and tentatively touched the shield with the very tip of it. She let out a sigh of relief, as her hoof passed through it rather than being burned off. "Wait here," she said to Ventus. "I'll get someone to raise this for you." He nodded, and she stepped into the immense entrance hall. She galloped through several rooms, repeating her route she had taken in her earlier visit. She ran past the plinth where the Crystal Heart had been, and up several flights of stairs. She saw the large set of double doors, and moved through them into the throne room. Hundreds of ponies had been stuffed into the throne room. The remaining unicorns were healing the injured in a back corner, while others simply lay on the ground, recovering from the intense battle. Up on the throne platform stood Shining Armor and Cadence. Twilight galloped straight to them. "Twilight!" Shining Armor exclaimed, as his sister ran forward into his embrace. "You survived..." "Raise the shield out front," Twilight said to Cadence over her brother's shoulder. "My friend is still out there." Cadence's horn glowed slightly, and an opening appeared in front. As soon as she sensed a pony move through it, she shut it again. "How many survived?" Twilight asked, letting go of her brother. "There's five or six hundred of us in here," Shining Armor said as they were joined by Ventus. "There are also a few foals upstairs, being watched by some guards." "Foals?" Twilight exclaimed. "Yeah," Cadence replied, sadly. "After you left, some of the soldiers brought them here. Apparently, they were just standing in the street." "What happened?" Ventus asked, looking between the three of them. "Why'd Sombra's army retreat?" "We aren't sure," Shining Armor replied. "Right after that earthquake, they all just disappeared." They stood in silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts. Twilight was worried sick about Spike, who she hadn't seen since Shining Armor had arrived. "Spike isn't in here, is he?" she asked, looking between the Prince and Princess. They shook their heads. "Nopony's seen him," Shining Armor said, "but that doesn't mean he's dead. We'll find him. But right now, we need to re-coordinate." He turned to a nearby guard. "Gather the commanders, and tell them--" But he was cut off as all light was suddenly drained from the room, despite it being mid-afternoon. It wasn't a natural darkness either. Even though it was totally dark, they could still see each other clearly through the darkness. They exchanged worried looks, as sounds of shock and fright filled the hall. There was a sudden glow of deep red, as something began materializing just above the throne. Through the now crimson-tinged darkness, Twilight could see a pair of scarlet eyes, and a set of silver armor. She recognized the figure immediately. "Sombra." Shining Armor hurled a throwing knife at the evil king with magic, but it sailed straight through him. "I'm afraid that won't be of any use to you, Prince," he said, as Shining Armor appeared shocked. "You see, I'm not actually here." "What do you want?" Shining asked aggressively. "Why'd your troops retreat?" Sombra merely chuckled darkly. "They retreated because I told them to. You see, I have one final offer for you all," he said, looking around at the crowded throne room. "Either you surrender and survive, or you all die. I'll give you ten more minutes. Anyone who surrenders within that time limit survives. Everypony else... won't be so lucky. Your ten minutes start... now." Upon saying the word 'now', his figure vanished, and they were all blinded as the real afternoon light hit them once more. Fearful voices filled the hall, as the impact of what had just happened hit them. "What now?" Twilight asked, looking between the two royal ponies in front of her. Shining Armor's face had hardened. "We keep fighting," he replied, looking around. "I need to talk to the commanders." He left the throne platform, and disappeared into the crowd. "What am I going to--" Twilight began, but Cadence held up a hoof to cut her off. Her horn was glowing slightly, and her ears were perked up, listening hard. "There's something at the front door," she said, eyes widening. "A pony?" Twilight asked. "I don't think so," she replied. "It doesn't feel like one." Twilight, Ventus and Cadence descended the stairs and exited the throne room, moving back down towards the front wall. As they entered the entrance hall, the sun was setting, and the newcomer was nothing more than a silhouette. As they drew nearer, it came into greater focus, and Twilight recognized what it was. "Open the shield," she requested. Cadence's horn glowed blue once again, and a gap appeared in the shield. Knowing what was about to happen, Spike attempted to scurry past Twilight, but to no avail. He was lifted into the air by a lavender field of magic, floating back the way he had come. He was then physically trapped in Twilight's grip. "Where did you go?!" Twilight was half crying into his shoulder in relief. "What happened?!" "I was fighting one of those dark pony things, and you just disappeared," Spike said, relieved that she wasn't yelling at him. As she set him down, however, Spike's sense of security of shattered as he looked at her face, which was now contorted with rage. "Do you know how worried I was?!" She yelled. Spike shriveled up and backed away on the floor in the wake of her terrifying anger. "You could've been dead for all I knew!" It seemed to go on forever to Spike, who was now cowering against a wall. He didn't have a chance to interrupt, and was forced to sit there and wait for Twilight to pause, which took a while. "I'm fine!" he interrupted loudly, when Twilight finally paused to take a breath. "I'm not even hurt!" Twilight's face didn't lighten. "Don't. Ever. Do that. Again," she snarled threateningly. Then her face finally broke, as she pulled him into another hug. "Don't make me lose you... not for a third time..." "I won't," he said, patting her lightly on the back. "Pinkie Promise." "Well," Cadence said, sounding amused at Twilight's behavior, "we should get back upstairs, and find out what Shining Armor is planning." "Yeah, come on," Ventus said, also sounding slightly amused. (=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=) As they re-entered the throne room a minute later, the last of the injured were being hurriedly healed, and the soldiers were gathering up their gear, preparing to resume battle. Shining armor was standing on the throne platform again, sorting through his weapons. He looked up as the group of four rejoined him. "Hey, Spike," Shining Armor said, grinning at him. "Where've you been?" "Oh, around," Spike said, evasively. "There's no time for this," Twilight interrupted, looking daggers at Spike. "There's only five minutes left." "Yeah, because you wasted three of them screaming at me..." Spike muttered under his breath. Luckily for him, Twilight had stopped paying attention. "Right," Shining Armor said. His expression changed into that of a general about to direct his troops. "Twilight, I think you, Spike, and Ventus should get the foals out of here." "How?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "The streets are about to be full of fighting ponies again." "We built an escape route," Cadence began explaining, "in case we ever needed to quickly evacuate the castle. It leads straight from here to the train station. You can take them through that, and get them back to Canterlot." Twilight nodded, but something else was bothering her. "I'm not good with foals," she said. She especially doubted that she'd be able to control a bunch of foals who were scared out of their minds. "You'll be fine," Cadence said. "Besides, you're the Element of Magic. You should probably get out of here as fast as possible, so there's no chance of losing the Elements of Harmony." She still wasn't convinced, but due to the lack of time to debate the matter, she agreed. "Where are the foals?" She asked. "Upstairs," Cadence said. "I'll lead the way." They once again exited the throne room, ascended one staircase, and entered a small room. There were about 15 colts and fillies huddled in the middle. Some of them were still crying in fear. The rest were looking fearfully around at the sound of the opening door, but looked slightly happier to see the princess crossing the threshold. Cadence walked up to them, wearing a warm smile on her face, and began to point at each of the newcomers in turn. "This is Twilight, Ventus, and Spike. They're going to get you to safety, but you have to do exactly what they say, okay?" The foals remained silent, but a couple of them nodded. Looking nervous, they stood up and shuffled over to the group. They all followed Cadence back out of the door. "I'm not good with foals either," Ventus told Twilight in a whisper as they descended the stairs. "There were never very many of them on my train, and when there were, well..." he hesitated. "They were children of the richest ponies around." He didn't need to say more. Twilight understood what he meant. The foals he had seen were rich, meaning that a lot of them had probably acted similarly to Diamond Tiara. "We've still got to try," Twilight whispered back. As they re-entered the throne room yet again, the crowd of soldiers parted, making a path that led to the throne. They walked up to it and stopped. Cadence's horn glowed, and the whole platform slid aside, causing several of the foals to cry out in shock. When it had finished moving aside, they beheld a spiral staircase that descended into darkness. "I'll go first," Ventus offered. He began to descend the new staircase. Twilight found it slightly odd that he hadn't lit his horn up to provide light. He just walked, until the darkness had swallowed him whole. Spike began to herd the young foals down the steps as well. As he did so, Twilight turned back to Cadence. "I'll see you guys when this is over," she said. "I hope so," Cadence replied, rather gloomily. Her face then lightened. "Thank you." "For what?" Twilight replied, looking puzzled. "For warning us about Sombra, and telling Celestia in time to get Shining Armor back up here," Cadence said, smiling. The two mares trotted forward, and embraced each other briefly. Time was running short, and they both knew it. "There's still two minutes before time's up," Shining Armor told her, as she next hugged him. "Hurry, and keep the foals safe." "I will," Twilight said. She turned and began to descend the staircase, lighting her horn as she did so. "Good luck!" Cadence called after her. The throne then slid slowly back over the hole, clicking loudly into place. Cadence turned to survey the remaining guards, as her internal timer told her they were reaching the end of the allotted time. She looked to her left at Shining Armor, and they could each tell that the other was feeling the same thing. Cadence's eyes filled with tears, and Shining Armor's had a sense of finality in them. He began counting down the last minute in his head. "Get ready," he called for the whole room to hear. "Time's almost up!" The soldiers began quickly moving out of the throne room to take up their assigned positions. Shining Armor grabbed Cadence's hoof, as there were only 20 seconds left. "This time..." Shining Armor continued loudly so all of the soldiers could hear, "either we're going down, or they are!" He counted down the last seconds aloud. "Five..." "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "One..." Current Equestria Population: 1,562,348