Shards of Hatred

by ChaoticHarmony


Isolation

—— Shards of Hatred ——

---- Chapter XXII: Isolation ----


The castle was quiet. Not the quiet like you just woke up alone in the morning sort of quiet, but the kind that makes you think somepony just died in your house while you were asleep. They had all been inside the Crystal Palace before and it was usually empty save for a few servants darting about taking care of their duties they had been assigned. Without those servants the silence was deafening. Not even the gentle patter of the six sets of hooves sneaking throughout its halls was enough to make the place seem less deserted.

It seemed like only a few minutes ago Twilight had woken from the torrential flow of memories that Luna’s memory spell forced her to relive.


”We think that you know who it is that we speak of, Twilight Sparkle.”

An anger that she didn’t know she had rose up in her body, searing the edges of her thoughts as she stared at the black crystal that Luna held out to her then. Twilight brought it to her face and glared into its depths. “Sombra.” The roomed seemed to grow darker as she said the name, the crystal’s purple light pulsating along the walls like some sort of sickly beating heart. “You’re right, he needs to be stopped.” She looked over to her brother and noticed that instead of the normally clarity and wisdom that were in his eyes, there was instead a muddy cloud of anxiety. “Wh-what happened, Shining?”

Her brother didn’t do anything but stare back at her silently, leaving her anxious mind to dart off in all sorts of directions. Luna saved her from her mental freak-out, however, by stepping forward and laying a hoof on her shoulder. “Sombra has been busy while you… occupied Celestia’s and our attention, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight looked up at Luna with guilt settling in the bottom of her stomach, flashes of memories from her time under Sombra’s magical influence sending a mixture of disgust and confusion through her body. “I… I f-fought Celestia... A-and you…” She blinked a few more times before shaking her head, bringing her mind back to the present matter at hoof. “Wh-what has Sombra done?” She winced at the flash of pain in Shining Armor’s eyes as Luna answered without a pause.

“He has invaded and taken control of the Crystal Empire, imprisoning its occupants and forcing them into slavery as well as turning the guard-age stallions into beings of corruption to be used for his army.”

The room was completely silent for a few seconds, save for the wind that gently whistled around the tower, until Twilight brought forth another question. “Wh-where is Princess Celestia now? Is she out fighting him? Is she going to be okay? Does she have the Royal Guar—“ Her worried questions were brought to a halt by Luna as she lifted a hoof into the air, signaling that she wished for quiet.

“Peace, Twilight Sparkle, my sister’s actions may be lead by her heart but even she thinks about things before leaping hooves first.” Luna trotted past them and opened the door with her magic, gesturing with a hoof that they exit the tower. “She is in the War Room, deciding how Equestria plans to deal with the forces of Sombra and his shadow-corrupted army. That is where we are to be as well.”

As she trotted past the blue alicorn with her brother right at her side, Twilight couldn’t help but look over to Luna with her old curiosity. “But… what can I possibly do to help?” The second she said it, a pair of gears clicked inside of her mind. “The Elements…”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle, you and the rest of your friends will be a crucial part in the plan to defeat Sombra.”


“You okay, Twi? Ya seem a bit distracted.” The soft whispers brought her out of her recollection. She looked over to see Applejack looking back with a concerned light in her eyes. Twilight had also linked their minds superficially with a linking spell, superficially because she was sure that her friends wanted to have their own minds to themselves still. All her magic did was let the other ponies that were linked to the network see what any other pony in the network saw or heard, if they concentrated enough on the thread of magic to do so at least. If somepony was suddenly taken out of the network, however, they would instantly know what had happened. When Twilight didn’t answer, Applejack stepped over and nudged her worriedly with her side. “Come on, girl, focus.”

She shook her head to clear it, or at least as best as she could with five other minds tickling at her own. “Yeah, I’m okay, AJ.”

“Alright then, let’s keep goin’.”

It was strange, seeing all of her friends suited up in armor and ready to fight like they were, when about thirty minutes ago they had all been hugging her and cheering happily. Even Fluttershy had a look of grim determination on her face, mirroring the rest of her friends. Like Shining Armor always said when she had accused him of not paying her enough attention anymore when he had joined the guard, duty can change a pony in the blink of an eye.


Never before had a simple door seemed so intimidating, so immovable. “D-D-Do I just walk in?” Twilight glanced back at her brother and Luna worriedly, scared of what might be waiting for her on the other side. A very large part of her feared that her appearance would be met with nothing aside from cruel, cold stares or even some mutters here and there that were meant to be just audible enough for her to hear them. After all, she had been corrupted by Sombra, and for some ponies that sort of thing took a lot longer to forget even if it was no longer a reality.

Instead of the shake of a head like Twilight had desperately hoped for, Luna instead nodded and opened the door with her magic. “Enter, Twilight Sparkle. The council is waiting for you.”

After a few seconds of nervous shaking, and after a few desperate, wordless pleas directed at her brother, Twilight slowly trudged into the room, looking hesitantly around the room at all of the staring eyes.

Or at least she did until a certain pink pony tackled her to the ground in a hug, soon followed by at least three more, though it certainly felt like more than that the way they weighed her down. The only thing she could hear for about ten seconds was her name, spoken so happily that it made her own heart soar.

After another ten seconds within which all over her friends helped her to her hooves and enveloped in yet another group hug, Celestia coughed softly to get their attention. “My Little Ponies… I am sorry to have to breakup such a touching reunion, but there is much to plan yet.”


After the blueprints had been copied into each of their minds with a spell of Twilight’s casting and after they had all donned suits of lightweight armor that, much to Rarity's dismay, weren't the least bit fashionable, the Elements and their bearers were teleported into a storage closet in one of the far-off parts of the palace that they were now sneaking through with their hearts pounding in their throats. Each twist and turn throughout the corridors put them all closer to the edge of panic, which was only intensified by the different shadows and shapes that flickered in the sickly green light of the torches on the walls, their smoke floating up to the vents in the ceiling an unnerving shade of purple. Each time Twilight laid eyes on the producing elements of light, she couldn’t help but shudder as if the eyes of Sombra were staring back at her, something that she was sure their creator had intended them to do.

For all of their worrying, there wasn’t anypony to be found throughout the entire castle. “I… I think the plan worked.” Twilight’s whisper hissed along the walls, seeming to the six mares louder than it would ever be in actuality. “Wh-what do you girls think?”

“Well, we ain’t seen nopony yet, jus’ shadows and ghosts.” Twilight looked over to see Applejack shiver at the thought of ghosts, as well as the rest of her friends doing the same. “Cain’t believe it worked, didn’t think Sombra would jus’ throw out all his guards to fight like that.”

“Of course it worked; Celestia’s a lot smarter than Sombra is.” Rainbow Dash’s voice was as loud and brazen as ever, despite the fact that they were currently in the center of enemy territory. The result, of course, was a round of silencing motions and noises, the worst of which being Twilight casting a spell to cover Rainbow’s mouth and bring her back down to the ground.

“Quiet, Rainbow!” Twilight could feel the annoyance and fear emanating from Rarity’s portion of the mind link spell. “Do you wish for Sombra to know that we’re—“ Just at that moment, the entire hallway went dark, the torches along the walls ceasing to give off light as they were plunged into darkness. “Here.” Rarity’s last word in the sentence was weak and frightened, as if she had curled up and crawled into a shell. Twilight’s mind was instantly flooded with fear, both hers and her friends’.

Just as Twilight was about to conjure a ball of light in front of her, the torches on either side of their little group began producing light again. The corridor in front and behind them was dark, but they could at least see something again. They all stood there for a moment, unsure as to what they were going to do now until Twilight spoke up. “Alright everypony, we have to keep going.”

“Why keep going, Twilight Sparkle, when you’re already here?” Suddenly the little amount of light surrounding her didn’t seem like nearly enough as she looked into the blackness and saw a cloud of it moving closer to her, red-irises tinged with green and flowing auras of purple glaring right back as they bore down on their prey.