"So, we're taking you south now?" asked the confused chariot puller. He and his partner were white with blue manes and wore the armor of a royal guard.
"Yes, sir," Applejack answered. "Princess' orders."
The first pegasus rolled his eyes at what he thought was the princesses being indecisive. "Alright then," he said. Applejack walked to her friends at the other chariot.
"You think she's telling the truth?" his partner asked.
"That's the Element of Honesty, if I'm not mistaken. And, frankly, I don't wanna deal with the princesses' if she's not lying." His partner nodded in agreement.
The doors to the castle opened with Twilight and Rainbow Dash stepping out. "There ya are, Twi!" Applejack said excitedly. "You ready to get goin'?"
Twilight looked around at her smiling friends, almost like they were guilt tripping her to get this mission underway. Celestia's voice played back in her head, They will be fine. She then sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be," she gave an insecure smile.
"Great!" Dash blurted out. "Let's go, Magmare doesn't seem like the patient type." She took Applejack to their chariot. The southern team stayed with their troubled friend.
"Good luck, girls," Twilight smiled.
"We'll see you again tonight, Twilight," Rarity said comfortingly. "Worry, not. The portal will be open by the time you reach yours."
"Yes, but, you have the easy part. You just have to fly to the north pole and switch on a portal. My future might have a super powerful fire deity trying to kill us off. I don't like being split up like this, we're stronger together."
Pinkie gave her worried friend a hug, giving the alicorn a bit of a startle. The earth pony backed away and stared Twilight in the eyes, "We'll be here for you, don't worry."
"Now go, Twilight," Rarity said. "Magmare isn't going to stop herself, you know."
Twilight smiled and gave her friends a group hug. She shed a tear behind their backs, and when they pulled apart she walked back to her chariot. "You ready Twilight?" Applejack asked with a smile.
She nodded.
"Then hop in, slowpoke!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "We got a world to save! Twilight climbed into the back of the chariot and the guards took off. Only a few seconds past before Twilight couldn't fight the urge to look back anymore. She glanced just in time to see her three friends climb into the back of them and disappear into the clouds. She looked away and slumped over the side of the chariot, drawing attention the attention of A.J. and Rainbow in the front of the cart. Dash went to talk to Twilight, but Applejack stopped her with her hoof.
"No, let her be," she advised, eyes still fixed on the depressed alicorn. "She's gotta move past this on her own." She looked Rainbow Dash in the eye. "Believe me, I would know." Dash looked at Twilight again, and backed up.
Hours passed, and Twilight still hadn't said a word. Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued to talk casually about their daily lives in an attempt to get their minds off the whole impending doom scenario going on. For the most part, it worked. A.J. thought about her family back home and Rainbow kept her mind set on flying practice and, of course, her new title as a Wonderbolt. They had nearly forgotten about their friend who sat quietly a mere few feet away for all this time. She finally let out a sigh, giving her friends the indication that she hadn't made much progress in moving on.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared the same sympathetic expression. "I think it's time we talked to her," A.J. suggested. she leaned over the side of the chariot next to Twilight. "You hangin' in there, Sugarcube?" she asked with a smile, hoping it would rub off. The alicorn turned away.
Dash walked to where Twilight would see her. "C'mon, Twilight, you can't let this keep eating ya," she said.
"She's right. You're not yourself," Applejack leaned closer. "Look, there's nothing to worry about. Everything's gonna be fine, you'll see."
'That's just it!" Twilight blurted out. She raised her hooves in the air, "Everything's not fine! In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have the cleanest track record when it comes to dealing with large threats like these!" she lowered her voice a bit and lowered her hooves. "Plus, the only reason we overcame those challenges was because we stuck together. It's our unity that makes us strong."
"Twilight, I'm sure Princess Celestia knows what she's doing by splitting us up," Rainbow said. "Believe me, I worry for the others too, but sometimes we won't always have each other to rely on."
"Yeah, we ain't got time to keep moping around, Twilight. You need to take matters into your own hooves."
"But."
"But nothin'!" Applejack yelled. "If you let this doubt control ya, you'll get us and everyone we love barbequed! So snap out of it, Twi. We got a job to do." She stared the alicorn angrily in the eyes.
Twilight gave a loud sigh. "You're right, I'm losing it," she said. "Just gotta stay focused."
"Good," the annoyed Applejack commented. They sat there quietly for a few more seconds. The trio continued looking over the side of the chariot and out to the dark grey clouds that blocked their view of the ground. A blizzard raged around them, so these three were completely blind. The pegasi pulling the chariot descended so the clouds weren't in anypony's way, but the snow still served as a blinding hazard for the passengers. The cold air didn't bother them much, having scaled a mountain and sprinted through the blizzard surrounding the Crystal Empire
Rainbow Dash had enough of the awkward silence. "Well while we're busy moving away from that conversation, I wanna discuss our team name," she suggested. "Can we change it to 'Alpha Squad' or something? Cause 'Team 1' doesn't cut it for me." The others chuckled at her request. "What? What's so funny?"
They never answered. Applejack got an idea in her head, "Hey, how 'bout y'all fly on ahead and make sure the way is clear? I doubt those guards can see much better than we can beck here."
"I'd appreciate the lighter load," one of the guards said quietly, his partner snickering when he said it.
"I learned in the Wonderbolt Academy to never go flying in a storm without a partner," Dash answered. "And while I have Twilight here with me, we don't wanna leave you hear by yourself."
"Don't!" Twilight hesitated, "bring that up again. Please." Dash nodded to her.
They heard a guard call to them through the storm. "We're coming up on the South Pole, ladies!"
"Yes, finally!" Dash said in excitement. "'Bout time we ca-." She looked back over the side of the chariot, and her eyes widened. "Wait, what's that?" Twilight and Applejack looked over as well. They could make out a faint red light in the blizzard and they looked a little closer.
They didn't have to look for long. The light grew brighter, until the trio could make out a large, bright orange ball of flames heading straight for the chariot. "Incoming!" Applejack alerted them. Before they could duck the fireball impacted on the side of the chariot, launching the ponies flying out in a massive explosion. They were flung into a free fall about a hundred feet above the icy ground. They all screamed and flailed as they fell down. Finally, it clicked to Twilight and Rainbow that they had wings, duh. Sadly, by the time they remembered, Applejack was too close to the ground for them to catch her.
The earth pony fell helplessly into a large, puffy pile of snow, leaving her head embedded deep inside. Twilight and Rainbow Dash slowly descended and hovered over the ground behind her. "Um, A.J.?" Dash asked, trying to hold back her laughter. "You, pfft, you ok?"
Applejack pressed her hooves against the snow and pulled her head out. She stood there for a minute, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Thanks for yer help," she said bluntly, and walked away.
Rainbow chuckled, "You're welcome." Twilight darted her in the eyes, and Dash just shrugged with beet-red cheeks.
"Hey, y'all outta come see this!" A.J. called. Her friends followed her voice right to her. Applejack was looking down at the two guards lying motionless in the snow. "What do we do?"
Twilight leaned down to a guard's mouth, and felt a warm puff of air come out. "Phew!" she wiped her forehead. "They're fine, but we should keep moving. Which way was the South Pole again?" The fall had completely disoriented them, leaving them stranded in the snowy wasteland. They looked around hopelessly, trying to find something through the thick snowfall. No luck.
Twilight heard a hissing in her ears, and she stood straight up. She looked around more frantically. "You girls hear that?" They listened closely, trying to hear something unusual. Dash just gave a shrug, and Applejack didn't respond. Twilight heard it again, and she turned to her right. "This way!" she bolted in that direction. Dash and A.J. followed close behind.
They kept running forward, hoping Twilight was right. She just followed the sound of the hissing until she found something. "Just a little further," she said hopefully. Suddenly the hissing in her ears stopped. "Huh?" The sudden emphasis on the blizzard's roar startled her, but Twilight kept running. She she caught a glimpse of a structure reveal itself out of the blinding snow for half a second before she rammed into it head-first.
After some head rubbing, Twilight looked up to see a large circular structure in the snow, around three times her size. The rock wasn't frozen, in fact it looked green and mossy. There were swirled lines carved into the large blocks traveling up to the top. "We found it!" she said excitedly.
"Oh, it appears you have," said a powerful voice behind the three friends. They gasped and looked behind them to see none other than Magmare herself, and by Celestia she was gigantic! She was at least twice the size of Celestia at that. The ground where she stood was covered in a ring of fire that melt the ice from under her. "To be honest, I never would have guessed Celestia's little rescue team would have made it this far."
"Um, I think we agreed on Alpha Squad," Dash commented.
"Such a shame, since soon all will be left are ash and rubble," she grinned. She backed up into the sky and extended her wings out wide, her orange horn glowed red, and her eyes white.. A ball of fire began to grow at the tip until it matched the size of her own head. Magmare drew her head back as the three ponies below her cowered behind their hooves.
That's when the beam of yellow magic shot at her side and launched the fireball into the sky. Magmare looked up at the misfire in shock and then turned angrily towards the origin of the attack, growling. She watched as a white alicorn half her size descended to the ground, staring the Mistress of Flames in the eyes. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out in excitement.
"Hmph," Magmare grunted. "I should have expected to see you here. I knew not even my own kin would want to see this world burn."
Alpha squad looked at the Princess with wide eyes. "Her what now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Celestia ignored them and continued to focus on the fiery alicorn. "There's a reason this world is the way it is Magmare," she said. "This world has balance. It is a world where both hot and cold are a factor. This is a world where life can reside and prosper in peace, and I will not stand by while you destroy it!"
"And what chance do you think you stand?" Magmare questioned. "That fireball was a mere taste of my power. I am fire! I burn everything in my wake!" she paused, and took a breath. Her horn glowed red again and she shot a cone of fire at the ground below her, melting the ice, vaporizing the water, and leaving a circle of fire twice her size in diameter. "And I will destroy my own blood if I must."
Celestia turned to the three friends, "Girls, activate the portal. I can't hold her off forever, I need you now." She gave them a loving glance before she turned back to face Magmare. The Mistress of Flames growled and lit her horn once more. The fire below her released two plumes of smoke on each of her sides which shaped themselves into a pair of alicorns. Celestia was unmoved, while the three friends sat there with jaws dropped to the ground. The hazy alicorns burst into balls of smoke, releasing a bright orange light that blinded all four ponies beholding them. After shielding their eyes from the flash, they looked back in horror.
Two full size copies of Magmare stood just below her hooves, maniacally laughing in unison. Celestia looked upon the trio off alicorns in shock, paralyzed from their eerie laughter. "Girls, we gotta get moving," Twilight encouraged. Her friends gave simultaneous nods in agreement, and they turned to the portal behind them. They stood in a semicircle, Twilight in the center, Rainbow Dash on her right, and Applejack on her left. They held hooves, and they started to hover in the air, backs straight up and front hooves curled up.
Behind them, the Magmares were dealing with Celestia. Their horns glowed and pointed towards the white alicorn in a triangular formation. A red beam shot from each, but not towards the princess. Instead, they shot at one another, feeding into one each other a short distance before the trio. Slowly, an fireball grew where the beams crossed. Celestia's mouth gaped open and her pupils small. The fireball reached the size of all three Magmares combined, and the beams of red magic cut away from it. They laughed once more, and the two clones manifested into flame and flew into the massive ball of fire. It flashed as the fire merged with it, giving it a bright yellow color. The remaining Magmare's eyes glowed white, and the fireball propelled itself directly at Celestia's feet. The princess was launched far off into the distance, completely out of sight behind the ice hills.
"What?" Magmare asked herself. "That's it? A blast like that should have incinerated her entirely! Blasted snow makes me weak." She saw a bright flash from out of the corner of her eye, and her heart sank. "Oh no." She looked back and saw the three ponies hovering with white eyes and Twilight's horn glowing in a mix of purple, orange, and light blue. "You, little whelps!" Magmare charged her horn, prepared to attack, until there was a flash of bright light that broke her concentration. Twilight's horn shot a white ray of magic into the center of the portal, filling it with a pale light. The swirled carvings on the edges glowed in bright blue, and emitted a large pulse of magic toward the surrounding area. The blast launched Magmare and the trio back into the snow.
"Mission: successful," Rainbow Dash said confidently.
The friends rose to their hooves and brushed the snow off their bodies, but were startled by some rustling in the snow by Magmare. The massive alicorn struggled to get to her hooves, even the fire on her body and wings burned more softly. She shivered with the slight viability of fear in her eyes. She wiped the expression off her face quickly, replacing it with a burning rage. Seriously, the flames on her body lit up in a bright orange glow as she struggled to a stand. The ground below her instantly burst into flame and Magmare's fire was reinvigorated in seconds. She stood straight up with her back to the three ponies behind her. "You think, you've won haven't you?" she said calmly. "Think that you've brought to an end to my inevitable reign over this world?" she turned her head to them. "Then answer me one question," she faced the three ponies with her whole body. "Where's my brother?"
They looked back at the portal. The carvings still glowed blue, but Frostborn was nowhere to be found. "But, how?" Twilight asked in horror. "The others should have activated the portal by now."
"Hahaha," Magmare laughed. "Really? You thought it would be that simple for them!?"
"Rainbow Dash stared the fiery alicorn in the eyes with much rage, "What did you do?"
"One does not simply take over the world without covering all their weaknesses," she replied, and she would be crying from laughter, but the tears kinda evaporated from the heat. "Let's just say I found an alibi to guard that northern portal for me. Well, girls, it's been fun. Oh wait, that's a lie! It's been dreadful! And because you have squandered my time with you're pointless shenanigans, I am going to enjoy destroying you where you stand!" Her horn glowed a bright red and the three ponies in front of her cowered in fear.
"Come on, girls," Twilight said to herself. "We need you."
Team 2's journey started off blissfully. They soared over the mountains of the icy north, worry free of their task at hand. The weather could have been nicer, though, as a blizzard similar to the one to the south bombarded the northern mountains. The team reached their destination roughly a half hour after they departed from Canterlot. Throughout the ride they sat calmly with full confidence in their friends on the opposite side of the world. Rarity looked through her scarves in her pink saddlebag which she packs for any trip, because, fashion. Fluttershy looked over the side of the chariot at the frozen mountains below to look out for any rare creatures to note on her travels, maybe a yeti? Pinkie hummed some face paced songs after being asked by her fellow passengers to stop over-crowding the chariot with balloons.
"We're coming up on a good landing zone, ladies!" one of the chariot pullers alerted the friends in back.
"Thank you, dear," Rarity replied. "Be ready, girls. Just because we have some time doesn't mean we shouldn't be hasty," she wrapped her pink-striped scarf around her neck and tucked her saddlebag shut. The chariot descended gracefully through the snowfall into a valley through the mountains. The passage grew thinner and thinner as it went on, making it a tight squeeze for the chariot any further down. They settled down in an open section of the valley and the passengers exited the chariot onto the blanket of snow that covered massive boulder peaking from the ground.
"Follow this valley and you should reach the North Pole in just a few minutes," the guard informed them. "We have to head off, just take the portal when the others open it and meet up with them on the other side. They'll escort you safely back to Canterlot."
"Thank you so much for you're help," Rarity waved.
"Don't mention it," he responded. "I'm not waiting around to get burned, either," they took off in the direction from which they came, back into the blizzard. Rarity and the others turned and started strolling down the valley, with the exception of Pinkie Pie who decides to bounce wherever she goes.
"Anyone else think it was a bit rude to leave us here in a blizzard when we can be back in minutes?" Fluttershy asked the group.
"Yes, but he made a fair point with our reunion with Twilight and the others on the other side of the portal," Rarity said.
"That's not exactly a short wait," Pinkie argued. "We'll be out in the freezing cold for hours and hours, exposed to whatever dangerous creatures are living around here-"
"Please stop, Darling, you're going to give Fluttershy a fright," Rarity interrupted. "Oh, look," she pointed ahead in excitement. "I think I see the portal right over there, in that, crevice, I believe. I'm a tad rusty on my geography."
"Twilight was right, this is easy!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "By the time she reaches her teams' portal, we'll have ours o-" she fell mid-jump as terror filled her body from the sound of a faint howl in the mountains around them, like a war horn being blown into. "Um, you girls hear that?" she asked the others who were looking around for wolves in the hills.
Rarity wasn't too phased. She kept a more curious expression on her face than a fearful one. "Probably nothing. We should just keep moving." Pinkie got too her hooves and shook the snow off before following Rarity, and Fluttershy stayed behind to shudder at the terror the howling had instilled in her. "You coming, Fluttershy, dear?" Rarity asked a few meters away. She didn't respond, just continued to look fearfully into the mountains. "Let's go, Fluttershy. We haven't got all night."
They heard the howling again, slightly louder than the first.
The poor yellow mare choked on her fear. Her teeth chattered and she shivered, but not from the cold. Her eyes darted rapidly back and forth in desperation to find where it had came from, and at this point even Rarity was feeling worried. A third howl came roaring through the mountains in deafening volume, and also releasing a massive black mist to come flooding from in between the mountainsides. "Fluttershy," Rarity said quietly with eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"Mmm, hmm?" she managed with a gulp.
"Run." There was no hesitation. Fluttershy practically teleported towards the portal leaving a cloud of dust where she once stood. Rarity was soon to follow. All three of the ponies sprinted to the portal in the pit below the fault lines, closely followed by the dark haze that closed in from all sides. Eventually they reached the stone base of the portal. It was identical to the southern one, the same mossy color, the same carvings in the same shaped blocks to form the same circular hole. The friends sat in fear at the edge of the portal, watching the approaching shadow close in. The mist swallowed the rocky spires up to their peaks, surrounding the crevice in a full circle.
The trio cowered before the unknown force. This wasn't Magmare's doing, there was no fire nor melting ice to be seen. The air was still cold, in fact, and growing colder, like the chill running down their spines. The shadowy mist began to laugh softly with a voice that sounded like it had a dry throat. "Far too easy," it said darkly. The haze revealed a pair of eerie green eyes that radiated purple magic behind them, followed by a smile that bared a pair of vampric fangs on both rows of teeth. A curved horn extruded from the dark grey face of the monster within that turned red towards the tip. The red irises pierced through the petrified ponies that shuddered at the base of the portal. "Even by your standards."
"Wait, King Sombra?" Pinkie questioned. "But, you exploded when we put the crystal heart back! You were all like, 'Aaaaaaagh, it hurts,' then you were like, BOOM!"
The head of shadow extended itself to the pink mare, "Indeed, and it's quite relieving to hear one refer to me as a king," it circles the three ponies. "Thank you for that reassurance. As for my, 'explosion,' I thought that you ponies would know better than to assume the living embodiment of fear to be dead," Sombra's head descended to the ground and the facial features all disappeared, leaving a single ball of shadow. The haze broke away, giving way to the king in his true form. His red cape waved in the arctic breeze and his green eyes turned white. "As long as even the slightest shred of fear resides in the hearts in just one pony in Equestria, rest assured I will be here." He turned to Fluttershy, "And I have this one to thank for such a generous contribution."
The yellow mare hid behind her hooves and shook on the ground. "That's enough!" Rarity demanded in an attempt to protect her friend. "We've defeated you once, and we can defeat you again if I have any say in it!" King Sombra's horn emanated it's dark magic and a circle of large black crystals jutted out from the ground, encasing the white unicorn with barely any room to breath. He gave a smug smile, Turning to Pinkie Pie and trapping her in another cage of her own. The two trapped ponies pounded against their crystal prisons as they screamed for help.
"Not very entertaining to be so close to your one goal just to have it taken right from your grasp, isn't it?" he growled. "Consider this my revenge, and you have your precious princesses to thank for granting me this 'curse,'" his eyes glowed green entirely, no pupils or iris visible. His horn was surrounded in black magic as the imprisoned ponies paused inside their cages as the whites of their eyes turned to green and irises a dark red. They sat down and stared off into space with depressed expressions drawn on their faces. They spoke not a word, just sat in silence as they lived through their worst fears. Sombra turned once more to Fluttershy, who continued to cower behind her own two hooves. "Such a shame, I was hoping that I would have three ponies to make cower before me. Sadly, you live your entire life in terror, there's no need to bring you to your knees. I spit towards the weak and spineless that dare consider themselves worthy of a life of wealth and prosperity, and you are just about the most pitiful pony my eyes have ever had the burden of being exposed to."
Fluttershy stopped shaking, and brought her face up from behind her hooves. "Oh really?" she asked with a tone of hatred in her voice. Sombra grinned behind her back. "Weak and spineless, huh? Not worthy of wealth and prosperity?" her tone grew darker, the rage building. She stood slowly, "I've grown since we've met, King Sombra. I've learned a few things. I've toughened up as I've gone on with my life. I wasn't always like this, you know, but if there's anything I have learned over time," she turned her head over her shoulder, her eyes slanted in anger and a sinister smile. "It's not to let ponies keep walking all over me!" She pulled a full 180 and charged the dark grey unicorn, who didn't bother moving. He kept the smile on his face and his horn charged up. As the little yellow pegasus darted towards him, a ring of black crystals surrounded her, stopping Fluttershy in her tracks. She kept fighting, squeezing her hooves through the spaces between the crystals in attempts to reach the smug King of Shadows.
"Much better," he said over Fluttershy's grunting. "It's not as often I can feed off the hatred of my slaves," he leaned his head closer in just to pull it out before the mare's swatting smacked him across the jaw. "Well, while we wait for the flames to start burning over the horizon, let's say we pass the time." A crystal spire about the size of the unicorn himself sprouted from the ground to Sombra's left side, sitting next to it was a set of three matching rings small enough to fit in his hoof. Sombra picked up the set of rings and walked back a few meters and turned back to the pillar. He held one of the rings in his mouth and tossed it towards the crystal spike and landed the ring around the top. He took the second ring and took another shot, but it bounced right off the side and landed in the snow. He growled at the failure, then took his final ring and scored again.
A few hours passed by, and the storm had stopped. Sombra continued to play his little game, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were still stuck in their cages under his nightmare trance, and a now calmed down Fluttershy lay in boredom on the cold ground in her prison. "So, this is what you do in your spare time?" she asked.
"Indeed," King Sombra replied, focused on his pastime.
"You just sit here, in the middle of nowhere, playing crystal ring toss?" her tone was full of disappointment.
"That would be correct."
"And there isn't anything else you could possibly be doing right now?"
"Pardon me, but I'd like to see you find something to bide your time with in exile. In case you haven't noticed, I am limited to merely this snow and my powers. Entertaining? NO, but it burns a few hours a day."
Fluttershy rolled her eyes and decided to move on, "So how did you end up helping Magmare again?"
"An excellent question, little one, and an even more amusing tale," he looked away from his ring toss game and glanced to the sky to help recall the memory. "It all started this morning..."
The sky was clear in the arctic north that morning. Sombra sat in the icy hills with a set of three dark crystal rings and a crystal pike several feet before him. He took a ring and tossed it, and it bounced off the side. He mumbled under his breath and went to pick up another ring, but before he did, the smell of smoke caught his attention. The king stood up straight and looked around, until he traced the scent to the south. He ran to a cliff edge a short distance to his left to see his past home standing against a massive wall of flames. The light-blue shield was the only thing keeping the fire from closing in on the Crystal Empire itself and destroying his former kingdom.
Sombra was enraged, he stared disapprovingly at the mayhem that faced his great city. The fire in his eyes burned just as fiercely as the blaze below him. The unicorn looked closer at the fire, and he noticed the smoke actin in a strange manner. The haze rose from the fire and gathered above the flames in one large, black sphere. The smoke orb slowly lessened in size, revealing a gigantic orange alicorn with a dress made of fire and blazing feathers on her wings. Her lips moved as if she were yelling something, but Sombra was out of earshot. The alicorn backed up and formed a massive ball of fire above her horn and propelling it towards the shielded city. The barrier began to fade, the light-blue coloring became less saturated and transparent. The king's heart sank, and almost instantly became infuriated again, taking a stomp forward and growling at the flaming alicorn. The noise echoed all around the mountainous terrain surrounding the city.
The alicorn looked up into the cliffs behind the empire and caught a glimpse of the dark grey unicorn in the red cape looming over the city. The shield protecting the city flashed white and faded back to it's original blue glow. The flaming alicorn smiled, and dissipated back into shadow, and returned to her fire wall. The king watched a thin trail of blaze retreat to the south, as if fleeing the attack she had clearly won. At the same time, a similar trail rushed up the mountain side beside Sombra, and the startled unicorn took a step back and charged his horn. The fire molded itself into the alicorn he saw before, and she loomed over him, at least tripling his size. He shot a beam of magic towards the massive figure before him, who's body turned black and the attack passed through a thick body of smoke, literally.
The smoke reverted back to her true form and she stood tall before Sombra. "Watch it, whelp," she said shortly, leaning in on her opposer. "Listen, I came here for a reason. I've been watching you for a while now, observing your studies and advancement in the dark of dark magic."
"And what would you know about that?" the king demanded. "My practices are my own. My own talent. No pony I have come across has been able to unlock the power that I wield."
"It's easier than you know, Sombra," she continued. She backed away and her horn radiated the same black magic that the unicorn was famous for. She shot a beam towards the ground and sculpted a full scale sculpture of herself out of the dark crystal without effort. "Hatred runs deep in all of us, fear just the same. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Magmare, the Mistress of Flames. I would bow, but the only pony I have ever bowed down to, and ever WILL bow down to was my father, the Father."
"Charming," Sombra muttered. "Now tell me how you have been watching me. How do you know who I am?"
"I'm going to assume you know the tale."
"That I do. Get on with it."
"Watch your tongue. I wouldn't want to have to find a replacement henchman. One that isn't a pile of ashes in the snow," she took a few steps in the opposite direction. "As you know, this world was stolen from me from my not-so-dear brother, Frostborn. You also know how he banished me in the Earth's core, where I waited patiently as I managed thaw the world out from the inside. Over the countless millennia that have passed since my imprisonment, and I have gained knowledge over those painful years. Such knowledge, was of you, King Sombra."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I am no king anymore," Sombra said, trying to hide the shame he held inside.
"Well, then don't I have the deal for you?" Magmare said excitedly.
"Where is this going?"
"Frostborn's soul was divided into two separate entities when the ice was split. He constructed a pair of portals, one on each side of the world so he could be brought back one day." Magmare glanced to the Crystal Empire below them, "This attack is bound to draw some attention to my presence, and Princess Celestia will likely send somepony to the portals to activate them. I want you to defend the north."
"Why don't you just defend both at the same time?" Sombra asked. "You've demonstrated you're ability to be in two places at once," he pointed to the tail of fire leaving the scene of the attack.
"I can only spread so far if I want to retain my full power. My time locked away has left me weaker than usual, and while I can still put up a fight, I won't last long against my brother. We can't allow him to return."
"Save the 'we' part for when you tell me where I will benefit from this."
"I do not need total control of this world to become unstoppable. In fact, all I need is my brother out of the picture. So, for your service, I will be willing to grant you some of my land." The blaze at the Crystal Empire circled the entire city in a matter of seconds. "I'll keep it safe for you, but if anypony opens that portal, you and your precious empire will be burned to a crisp."
Sombra pondered the offer. "Trust isn't something that ponies get out of me so easily. Why should I make this exception?"
Magmare's horn glowed red and a circle of flame burned around the king who questioned her. "It's not an option. I'll be back tonight, and if I found out the portal was turned on, you know what's coming." The alicorn's body was consumed by a puff of smoke, and when the cloud faded she was gone. The ring of fire around Sombra's feet dissipated, leaving the king alone in the icy mountains once more.
"And that's how Equestria's inevitable downfall was established," Sombra finished. Fluttershy sat still in her cage, the urgency surging back to her. Out of the blue, something caught the yellow mare's eye. She glanced up into the air and looked back down at the unicorn.
"Oh, sounds like a good plan," she remarked. Sombra gave her a smug smile. "It would be a shame if something came in to stop this brilliant plan that you brought to life and have clearly executed so perfectly." The figure in the sky closed in. Some dark creature was flying towards them with haste.
Sombra's smile faded, "That's exactly what's about to happen isn't it?" once that sentence ended, a ray of blue magic met the back of the king's head, and growled in pain.
Fluttershy smirked. "What makes you say that?" she shrugged.
"Now what could that be?" Sombra asked himself, turning his head to the source of the blast. His eyes widened as a dark blue alicorn mare descended gracefully to the ground. She stood about three meters away on even ground with the king. He smirked, "Oh, this was a rather, pleasant surprise. I've been waiting to get a fight out of a fellow master of darkness without her perfect sister joining in."
"You and I both know that I could overwhelm you without the help of Celestia, Sombra," Luna replied. "And I believe you confuse dark magic for magic of darkness."
"And what would the difference be, exactly?" he asked smartly.
"I'm not one for explanation. It never sank in to me when I was banished, and it never seems to sink into anypony I speak too." He soared a couple feet into the air, "I prefer using a demonstration." Princess Luna charged her horn, and shot another beam of magic toward the king. Sombra didn't move, just simply converted his body into a shadowy mist as the attack passed through it. The haze closed in on Luna and if manifested back into Sombra when he was inches away from her face. His horn radiated in the dark magic, and he fired a blast at point blank towards the princess. The resulting explosion launched her back onto the snow-covered ground by the imprisoned ponies. Sombra took advantage of Luna's incapacitation, and trapped her in her own cage of crystals.
"Marvelous, is it not?" Sombra questioned. "The power of true dark magic?" his horn glowed again and one by one, small, sharp shards of crystal began to jut out of the inside walls of the princess' prison. "Don't you just love it when you're right, princess? The magic of darkness can't possibly compare with mine," he taunted. Luna tried to keep calm, any second now those shards of crystal closing in would begin to stab at her. She had to think. She took a glance to the other imprisoned ponies in their cages, and Fluttershy pleading for help. She looked back and forth at the ground, desperately searching her mind for the solution. She eventually found it.
Though she hated the idea, Luna knew it was her only option. "You want to see the full extent of my power, Sombra?" she asked, falling under the effects of intimidation. "I suppose you have not yet caught wind of the events that took place short after your banishment one thousand years ago. Needless to say I tapped into my true self that day. The darkness that resided deep within my veins." Luna stomped with all the force she could muster, and the walls around her shattered into pieces from the shock wave. She stood hunched over, her pupils growing to immense size. A black mist spiraled around her body, and she ascended gracefully into the air. The black haze formed an orb around her body and turned an intense orange. The orange light exploded into two sets of blue that eerily resembles a starry night sky coming from the mare's mane and flank. Luna's coat had become black, and her wings had changed shape. They were more curved than her old ones, and the tips came to a sharp point. She had also gained a set of blue armor, now having a her own helmet, boots, and a breastplate that depicted a crescent moon in the center.
"It does feel nice to be in my full power once more," she boasted, her voice noticeably deeper than before. "Almost tempting to relive my past faults, too. Sadly, Sombra, I've learned from my mistakes. You should have done the same." She charged her horn for an attack, launching a magic bolt at the king's feet to his surprise. The blast launched him straight into the air, leaving him momentarily vulnerable. Nightmare Moon would have taken the chance to attack him again, but she had a better idea. While Sombra was helpless, the moon princess took a turn and shattered the three dark crystal cages one by one with blast from her horn. When the cages were destroyed, Rarity and Pinkie shook their heads and broke free of the trance. "Girls," Nightmare pleaded. "Go, activate the portal. We haven't much time, Twilight and the others await your success."
The girls gathered together and shook heads. They stood in a semicircle around the portal with Rarity in the middle, Pinkie on her left, and Fluttershy on her right. They held hooves, and began to hover straight up in the air.
Nightmare and Sombra continued to duel. The king rose to his hooves after the hard landing on an icy rock. He stared deeply into the eyes of Nightmare Moon. They stood still for a couple seconds, until Sombra fired a quick blast to her chest, leaving a scorch mark on Nightmare's breastplate. She was pushed back by the force of the blast, but forced herself to stand up straight again. Her eyes glowed white and her horn blue, and several bolts of lightning came down to strike Sombra, who didn't get the chance to react. He collapsed to the ground, his face getting coated in the snow. He lay there in pain, growling at Nightmare, then transforming his body to shadow. The haze darted towards the alicorn at top speed. Nightmare Moon wrapped her own mane and tail around her body, turning her whole body to a cloud of purple smoke, and charged towards Sombra's shadow with the same speed. Both masses passed clean through each other, and with a few meters separating them, both ponies manifested back into their true forms. They stood with their backsides facing one another, each standing still and silent.
Nopony moved, just stood in one place for a short time. About a half minute passed before Sombra was instantly taken over by a surge of unbearable pain all across his body. His knees shook, and after two seconds of unstable legs, the king finally broke down, falling flat on the snow-covered ground. He breathed slowly, a cold mist coming from his mouth only about once every ten seconds, and it was clear that even breathing that frequently hurt him. Nightmare wasn't in her best condition, either. She stood opposite of the fallen king with her eyes shut tight and her sharp fangs clamped down on each other as she tried to hide the massive pain she also felt. Eventually, her entire body glowed white, and it shrunk down. Her giant curved wings and body armor were gone. Her coat was a dark blue instead on black, and her mane and tail gained a purple border around the starry night texture. She was back to being Luna.
Luna managed to find a breath as the pain alleviated, but it was still somewhat there. She glanced over to the three friends at the portal while gasping for air. Thankfully, it seemed that they had succeeded. Rarity's horn glowed in a mix of white, pink, and yellow. It shot a beam of magic into the center of the portal, filling the hole in the middle with a randomly distributed assortment of all the colors. The swirled carvings on the rim of the structure filled themselves with an icy-blue magic, and the area around the portal exploded with a white light. None of the ponies were affected, not even Sombra. The flash of light faded, leaving nothing unusual in it's wake.
Except for what the blast did to the weather. Suddenly, the skies were clear. There was no snowfall, no clouds in the sky, just sunlight pouring in and reflecting off the ice and snow in a rather beautiful way. And just when things couldn't get weirder, something began to rise out of the ground behind the three who activated the portal. A massive icy-blue colored orb, roughly the size of Celestia, sprung out of nowhere, and slowly mad it's way for the portal. The three friends desperately crawled out of the orb's way, tripping over themselves in the process. The glowing sphere came in contact with the multicolored magic-filled center of the portal, and caused sparks of electricity to fly everywhere as it passed through. Another flash of white light came from the portal when the orb was completely through. All the ponies there just stood there in shock, except for Sombra who still lacked the strength to get up.
"Well that's something you don't see every day," Pinkie Pie commented.
"And because you have squandered my time with your pointless shenanigans," Magmare exclaimed as the three friends cowered before her. "I am going to enjoy destroying you where you stand!" Her horn glowed bright red, and the trio shook in fear.
"C'mon, girls," Twilight said to herself. "We need you."
At that instant, the portal behind them sparked wildly. All four ponies on the scene looked up, totally startled by the sudden electrical crackling. Twilight and her friends backed up as a large blue orb revealed itself from the portal. Magmare's heart fell into her stomach, and her horn stopped glowing. She felt a strong presence from behind her, and saw an icy-blue glow out of the corner of both eyes. She jumped forward and looked back to see an orb identical to the one passing through the portal rising from the ground behind her. The orb behind Magmare ascended out of the ground completely, and rested a few inches above the snow. The first orb finished passing through the portal, and slowly moved towards it's sister orb until they merged together. The four ponies shielded their eyes from the bright while light that filled the area upon the convergence.
The light faded, and where the two balls of light last were, stood an icy-blue colt equal in size to Magmare. He was equipped in boots, a helmet, and chest plate all chiseled out of blocks of ice. His helmet covered the entirety of his head, save for hie eyes and nostrils, and the bottom was completely open so he could still move his mouth and talk freely. His mane and tail looked very thin, consisting of curved white lines that resembled a snowy breeze. He stood tall and turned to his sister in the flaming dress. "Sister," Frostborn said.
"Brother," Magmare said, her voice dripping with hate.
"I'm back."