Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, Element of Magic, Alicorn of the Dusk and Head Librarian of Ponyville walked at a measured pace through the Everfree Forest until she reached a large clearing, dominated by an ancient ruin. Highabove her, on the roof of a long decayed building stood Sombra, the Dark King of the North, his silhouet stark against the setting sun. As Twilight stared up at him, she felt a burning deep within her, a spark of life and magic, flare up in response.
“Princess,” the Dark King growled, his voice twisted by a millennium of hate. “What a pleasure to receive you, here at the apex of my ascension. Soon, I will be a true king, the Alicorn of Hate, and all will bow down before me. Girls, give our honoured guest a welcome.”
“With pleasure, master,” two voices said at once, an eariy cadence to their voices, as a pair of Unicorn mares strutted forwards, one pale blue with a silver mane, the other mint green with a two toned green and white mane. Dark magic, green and red and black, welled up from their eyes, thick, oily smoke clinging to them, whilst cruel expressions held their faces in grimaces.
“Lyra, Trixie!” Twilight shouted. “Let them go, you monster!”
“Jealous, Princess?” Sombra sneered. “Don’t worry, you’ll join them soon enough.” With a wave of his hoof, the two Unicorns leapt forwards, their horns charged with magic. Bolts of energy shot forwards moments later, but Twilight was already gone, a flash of purple magic teleporting her high into the sky.
Flying high above the battlefield, Twilight watched the scene below as the two unicorns—both of whom she counted as friends—searched for her below. I need to stop them, to break Sombra’s hold over them, but how? I can’t just wait until the rest of the girls get here, it’ll be too late by then. Twilight felt the spark within her writhe with impatience, as if it demanded action, just as it had done on numerous occasions before—her entrance exam, facing Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and Sombra, solving Star Swirl’s unfinished spell—all of these had set off what Twilight thought of as her spark, but none had satisfied it, always demanding more. So far, that is, but today is the day, Twilight thought to herself.
A bolt of blue magic brought her back to the present. Looking down, she saw that Trixie and Lyra had spotted her, and where now flinging bolts of magic up at her. Twilight tried to dodge the bolts, but her unfamiliarity with flying caused her to tumble downwards. With another flash of purple magic, she was back on the ground, stood behind the two Unicorns. They turned, but not quickly enough, and by the time they fired off their shots a purple dome had appeared around Twilight, effortlessly absorbing their blows.
“You’ve got to do better than that if you want to beat them,” Sombra taunted, casting a spell himself. Shadowy tendrils rose up from the ground, coiling around Twilight’s legs. Going taut, they pulled Twilight to the ground, stretching her legs in opposite directions.
Twilight briefly struggled against them, but the coils were as solid as stone. Instead, she closed her eyes and cast an illumination spell, the bright light driving the shadows back. Climbing back to her feet, she discovered that the spell had momentarily blinded Trixie and Lyra, who were now crouched on the floor shielding their faces. Twilight strode forwards and locked horns with Lyra.
Closing her eyes, Twilight summoned the magic deep within her and sent a mental probe deep within Lyra’s mind, quickly finding the vile enchantment that ensnared her friend. Remember, Twilight thought, remember how to love, summoning images of their time together at Celestia’s School, in Ponyville, at the royal wedding, and other such events. Waves of love and friendship rolled off Twilight, stripping away the webs of dark magic. Slowly, Lyra began to add her own memories to the mix, her own experiences of her friendship with Twilight, and the rest of her friends back in Ponyville.
Lyra’s amber magic flared, and the enchantment shattered. The oily smoke dissipated into the air as Lyra fell to the ground, unconscious, a smile of blissful relief on her face.
“Curse you, whorse!” Sombra cried. Twilight turned to face him, but an impact from behind knocked her to the floor. Staggering to her hooves, she saw Trixie approach, whilst Sombra laughed.
“Come on, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said. “The Great and Powerful Trixie desires to put you in your place.”
“Trixie, this isn’t you. You’re possessed!” Twilight cried. I can’t do to Trixie what I did for Lyra. She’s spent most of her life alone, and we haven’t spent enough time together to build up a strong enough friendship!
“Possessed? The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks not. I just wield power unimaginable,” she said, slowly circling around Twilight. “All thanks to Master Sombra. And when he ascends, why, then the Great and Powerful Trixie will be granted even more power! Power enough to challenge Celestia herself!”
“I thought the Great and Powerful Trixie would rather earn her own power, then receive the cast offs from somepony else,” Twilight taunted back, smirking as Trixie’s eye twitched.
“Silence, whorse!” Trixie shouted back, punctuating her words with a telekinetic blast. Twilight easily deflected the underpowered bolt.
“Borrowing curses from your master now? What next, his wallet?” Twilight said, smirking as Trixie’s eye twitched once more. That’s it—I need to get through to her pride! “Of course, the only reason you’re borrowing power from Sombra is so that you can match me.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need Sombra’s power to face you! The Great and Powerful Trixie is your equal with or without him!” Trixie cried, working herself into a frenzy.
Too easy. “Prove it.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie will!” She closed her eyes, and scrunched her face in concentration. A few moments later, the same oily smoke that clung to Lyra dissipated. Her eyes opened, and Twilight sighed with relief as she saw Trixie’s untainted, violet eyes shine through.
“Hah! Now you face the true might of the Great and Pow...” Trixie staggered, falling to her knees. “What... Where am I...” Trixie slurred, before slumping to the ground, unconscious.
“Damn you to Tartarus, Princess!” Sombra cried. “I’ll just have to take you down myself!”
Sombra leapt from the top of the building and onto the ground, black crystals shooting upwards from the earth. Twilight backed away. Not only were the black crystals toxic to the touch, but they also amplified Sombra’s dark magics. Still, being this far from the Crystal Empire, in the heart of the Everfree Forest, resulted in there being far fewer crystals than normal—only a dozen or so.
“I will break your body, then your mind,” Sombra growled. “You will be mine, completely and utterly in my thrall. And then I will throw your broken body before your precious Princess of the Sun, and she will know despair never ending.”
Twilight remained silent, instead focusing on placing herself between Sombra and the unconscious Unicorns. Sombra, however, caught on and cast a spell, a telekinetic blast hurling two of the crystals at his feet towards Trixie and Lyra.
Twilight felt the spark in her heart surge, and she threw herself before the crystals, a shimmering shield of purple magic flaring into existence.
The crystals shattered against the shield, dissipating into smoke. Twilight staggered against the blow, grunting as she strived to maintain the shield. Four more blows and the shield broke in an explosion of energy that flung Twilight backwards.
As Twilight climbed back to her feet, she saw with a smirk that half of Sombra's crystals had been used up.
"What's the matter, little pony?" Sombra asked. "Can you not face true power, the power of hated?"
"The power of friendship is greater than hatred!" Twilight yelled back.
"Hah! Don't make me laugh! Friends are useless fools who exist only to let you down. In fact, if friendship is so powerful, then where are yours? I do hope they didn't get lost."
"If you dare harm them I'll—"
"You'll what, kill me? I'd like to see you try."
Twilight, having regained her breath, fired a volley of magic blasts at Sombra, directing them silently so that they twisted and turned through the air.
Sombra summoned a wall of black crystal, blocking most of the bolts, but several made it through, throwing him backwards against the building with enough force to knock it down.
Twilight felt the spark burn brightly in her chest, but as the smoke cleared her heart fell, Sombra picking his way out of the rubble.
"Gah!" Sombra growled, beyond words, and charged at Twilight, his horn lowered. Twilight leapt forwards, her horn also lowered, and the two clashed with a burst of magic, horns locked together, purple magic competing with black.
Sombra swung his forehoof forwards, catching Twilight in the face and driving her back. Sombra used the distraction to gore her with his horn, leaving a long, deep wound along her barrel.
Twilight cried out in shock and took a step back. She could feel her wound grow cold, then freezing as blood continued to flow down her chest.
"I hope you approve," Sombra said. "It took me ages to gather all the ingredients for that poison."
Twilight's eyes widened in shock. "You poisoned your horn? Do you have a death wish?"
Sombra laughed. "You should be more concerned about your own health, you know. And besides, I figured that I would either be an immortal Alicorn, or dead at your hooves by the time the poison kicked in. Speaking of which, I do believe you only have a few minutes left."
Twilight frowned. Already, she could feel the coldness spread across her barrel and up to her withers, and the wound had yet to clot. Blood loss cause her vision to blur momentarily, but that was all the distraction Sombra needed to leap forwards and buck her in the face, flinging the Alicorn backwards.
Twilight landed in a crumpled heap between Trixie and Lyra. She tried to get up, but her limbs refused to obey her orders. Raising her head, she watched as Sombra sauntered forwards, arrogance in his every step.
"Well, it appears that even the untouchable student of Celestia can fall," he chuckled darkly, before driving a hoof into Twilight's stomach. "That's for driving me out of the Crystal Empire."
Twilight grunted and spat up blood, unable to respond. Her head fell back, and Sombra disappeared from her view, replaced by Trixie. Dimly, she heard Sombra talking, but she couldn't focus on him anymore.
Trixie, Lyra, everypony... I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough. The spark within Twilight flared angrily, as if it was displeased with Twilight's surrender. No... I have to be strong enough. Sombra seeks to destroy everything I care about, everything that makes life good. He must be stopped, so that ponies can live free, happy lives. Memories of her friendships filled her head, and her heart swelled with love. Sombra, I will stop you.
Slowly, Twilight raised her head and glared at Sombra. She gathered together every happy memory of her with her friends—Pinkie throwing a party, Applejack and Rainbow Dash racing, Rarity and Fluttershy at the spar, Spike and Celestia studying a book with her. She let these memories fill her, washing away her pain. The spark burned eagerly, as if this was the moment it had been waiting for, and she felt her magic grow, surpassing her previous limits.
She noticed Sombra looking at her oddly. "You should be dead by now," he said, coldly and dispassionately. "Why are you still hanging onto life? You've lost."
"Because friendship is magic." Twilight let loose her magic, magic built up from the memories of her friendships, in a tight beam of light, prismatic in colour. It pierced through Sombra's last crystal, through his armour, through his cold, black heart, striking him dead instantly.
There was a moments silence, and then he fell to the ground, whilst Twilight's spark blazed into an inferno.
---
Twilight was drifting through an endless void, her body turned into discorporeal smoke.
Am I dead? Am I on my way to the Summer Lands? she wondered. Idly, she looked around herself, somehow able to perceive her entire surroundings at once. She was ringed by orbs, clear spheres showing worlds unimaginable. One showed an endless plane of fire, tall towers rising from isolated islands. Another showed an endless city, stretching from horizon to horizon. A third was a realm of steel, death and nightmares born from despair. Twilight quickly looked away from that one. In front of her, drifting away from her—or maybe she was drifting backwards—was an orb that showed the endless fields of Equestria, the city of Canterlot perched above it all.
Goodbye, my friends. May we meet again in the Summer Lands, Twilight thought to herself, repeating the phase used at funerals. Never thought I'd say it from this side.
A sense of falling came over Twilight, and she quickly realised she had fallen into one of the spheres. Turning, she saw dark forests, foreboding castles and morbid churches, before it vanished, replaced with hard, cold dirt.
Twilight gasped, breathing as if it was her first breath, before wincing in pain. The poison was still eating away at her, blood leaking from her wound.
Noise. A figure stepped into view, it's steps crunching against the ground. Looking up, Twilight saw a tall, bipedal being, swathed in thick, black clothes, a hairless, pale face standing out.
Twilight gasped and reached out for the figure. "Please... Help me..."
The figure bent down, arm outstretched, but Twilight was already unconscious.
---
Cards unlocked!
Sombra, Dark King of the North 3BBB
Legendary Creature—Unicorn Pony Wizard R
Wither (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
You may choose not to untap Sombra, Dark King of the North during your untap step.
3B, T; gain control of two target permanents for as long as Sombra, Dark King of the North is tapped. (T is the tap symbol).
"That is mine!"
4/4
Twilight Sparkle, Head Librarian 3WU
Legendary Creature—Alicorn Princess Wizard R
Flying
3U,T; Search your library for three instant or sorcery cards, shuffle your library, then reveal them. An opponent of your choice chooses one to to go in your hand, one to go in your graveyard and one to go on top of your library. (T is the tap symbol).
"This is my book. And I'm gonna read it!"
2/5
The Great and Powerful Trixie 2UU
Legendary Creature—Unicorn Pony Wizard R
T; Put a 2/2 blue bear illusion creature token with "Sacrifice this creature whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability" onto the battlefield. Sacrifice it at the end of turn.
T; Choose and reveal an instant card with a CMC of one or less in your hand. You may cast it without paying its mana cost until end of turn.
T; Tap two target creatures.
(T is the tap symbol).
"Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"
2/2
Power of Friendship 1WW
Enchantment U
As long as you control an Earth Pony, Pegasus Pony, Unicorn Pony or Alicorn Princess creature, whenever a black creature takes combat damage it's owner sacrifices it at the end of turn.
If you control no Earth Pony, Pegasus Pony, Unicorn Pony or Alicorn Princess creatures, sacrifice Power of Friendship.