Needless to say, this was panic time for the denizens of the Crystal Empire. Their once bright and beautiful kingdom was once again shrouded in darkness. The palace had transformed into black crystal, the pristine clear blue of the castle was slowly becoming corrupted. It was clear to all who was behind this, although they had hoped beyond all hope that the tyrant king was gone forever, it was plain to see that he was back, Sombra was now in control of the Crystal Palace. The Guards were ejected from the palace like foreign matter within a body, many landing in buildings or others just being denied entry.
Inside, Cadance was being held captive, forced to watch as her possessed husband and sister-in-law helped Medo with the preparation to change Cadance into a suitable queen for Sombra. The black unicorn stallion watched from the window as his power flowed through his Empire once again, changing it too match the image of his glorious return. From here he would spread darkness throughout Equestria, and from there, the rest of this miserable world.
“You won’t win, Sombra!”
“Oh my dear, I already have. This is my victory lap.” The dark being turned to Cadance and walked over to her, smiling wickedly as he did so, relishing this sight of the “Crystal Princess” brought low before him. “Once my friends have the circle prepared, you’ll be mine, Cadance. Besides, I don’t think Shining Armor will mind, right?”
“Nope, she’s all yours,” said Ira-Shining Armor.
“Well there you go.”
Cadance looked to Twilight and Shining Armor desperately. “Please, Twi, Shining, you have to break free! I know you two are stronger than them, you can do it, I believe in you!”
Tristeza-Twilight stopped what she was doing. She trembled and groaned as if in pain. The other three spirits looked to her in wonder. “Cady I…I…!”
“That’s it Twilight, break free!”
“I…Got you! HA, HA!”
“Good one ‘sis’.”
“I thought so.”
“There’s no getting to them, not at all,” said Medo.
Cadance wept a little, she was helpless to stop any of this from happening, and what’s worse she’d soon be a part of the madness that was Sombra and the dark spirits.
Suddenly the room was filled with laughter, echoing throughout the throne room.
“Find something funny, Cadance?” asked Sombra.
“It’s not me!” Cadance spat bitterly.
Sombra looked to Tristeza-Twilight, who shrugged unknowingly as well. The dark spirits stopped their work and looked around the room. The laughter seemed to increase in volume, it was mocking laughter, the kind of superior tone that Sombra used on his crystal slaves long ago, but it was directed at them.
“Oh Sombra, did you really think that you could conquer the Crystal Empire and not think to be thwarted!?”
“Trixie!” Medo growled.
“‘Got her magic’ he says, yeah right.”
“Enough, she is of little concern. Besides, what’s a wannabe usurper like you going to do? No matter what magic you possess, it still won’t be strong enough to face me,” said Sombra.
“You’d think that, but Trixie has something that you don’t Sombra, something that separates her from the rest!”
A loud explosion went off as the front doors to the throne room were blown off and sparkling purple smoke flowed inside. A bright blue and magenta glow approached the doorway, and Trixie was standing in it. Her trade mark hat and cloak flapped in the wake of her power. Her horn flared with magical might, resonating in intensity with that of the Star Staff that hovered close by her. Trixie then stood on her hind legs and brought the Star Staff overhead, spinning it rabidly and slamming the butt against the floor, sending a wave of magical energy through the air and into the dust, and striking a heroic pose while gazing at the dark ones from under the rim of her hat.
“Showmareship!”
“I took your power once, I can take it again!” Medo shouted.
“Yes you did.”
The spirit of fear rushed towards Trixie, but a flash from the staff and her horn ignited the sparkling dust around her, setting off a kind of flash bang explosion, blinding the occupants within the throne room. Medo stood there, disoriented from the blast, he then looked to his left as the dust parted, making way for a blast of magical magenta light as it pierced through the smokescreen. The attack slammed into Medo, sending him smashing against the opposite wall.
“And Trixie will be taking it back!”
Trixie then fired second beam, but this one did not blow up upon impact. The beam struck deep into Medo’s chest and ripped out a glowing ball of magenta light, her magic. The orb was brought back to her and absorbed by the Star Staff and back to her before disappearing into the smoke.
“Impossible!”
“How did she –!”
“Worry about yourselves!”
Popping out of the smoke were now two Trixie’s, both pointing their Star Staffs at Ira-Shining Armor and Tristeza-Twilight. The two possessed siblings fired twin beams of dark magic at the duplicate Trixie’s. But as soon as the attacks struck, the clones exploded with a comical poof. At that moment, the floor beneath the two possessed ponies shined with a brilliant golden light, locking them in place and cancelling out their magic. They looked and saw that Trixie was standing at the foot of the throne behind them, the Star Staff pointed at them as she muttered a spell under her breath.
Runic symbols and sigil script flowed around the star crystal, glowing the same color as the circles themselves. The words and symbols revolved faster and faster till they became a blur of light energy. Trixie’s horn flashed and the staff fired a twin beam of golden light at the two possessed ones. The beams surrounded Twilight and Shining Armor. Trixie then raised the staff up, and in so doing, slowly separated the dark spirits from their hosts.
“WHAT IS THIS!?” yelled Ira.
“A modified version of Sabio the Wise’s warding spell. Instead of keeping darkness and evil away, I modified it to expel impure spirits like yourselves from a host body. And don’t even try and take their magic, this spell cuts you off completely!”
“HOW!!? You're just a second rate magician!”
“I am not a ‘second rate magician’!” Trixie raised the staff higher and fully exorcised Ira and Tristeza from Twilight and Shining Armor. “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!!!”
The azure mare then flicked the two spirits right at Medo, who was now getting back up, only to be hit with both of his fellow spirits at once. Trixie then encased Twilight and Shining Armor in magical bubbles and brought them close to Cadance. She then erected a barrier around them, giving her a brief respite.
“Trixie…How did you…Where did you –!?”
“Long story short, Sabio left this relic behind, and now I’m saving you!” Trixie then struck the ruby crystal that trapped Cadance; her power resonated through it, shattering it to pieces. Cadance shook the remnants off her body, and fluttered her wings from being held in that cramped space for so long. “Hold still.”
Trixie brought the tip of the staff to Cadance’s horn, using a variation of the spell she had just cast, Trixie sent her power into the alicorn mare’s horn, dispelling the seal put on it, and allowing Cadance’s magic to flow once again.
“Thank you Trixie.”
The magician smiled, happy for the gratitude. Trixie and Cadance then heard a stirring from the two siblings lying on the floor. Cadance helped Twilight up, while Trixie helped Shining Armor.
The white unicorn stallion slowly opened his eyes; a familiar pain throbbed in his head. The same kind he had when Chrysalis messed with his head a long time ago. Shining Armor turned to his right side and saw Trixie standing close to him, despite everything that had happened she still smiled down on the stallion.
“Hello big brother.”
“T-Trixie…What happ –?” Suddenly his mind kicked in with the memories of what transpired right before the full possession. How Ira egged him on, feeding into his paranoia and anger about Trixie. He then averted his gaze from her, shame and guilt filling his heart.
“Cadance…” spoke Twilight.
“You’re alright ladybug, Trixie saved you.”
The lavender alicorn looked to her half-sister, smiling at her. “Looks like you finally realized your full potential.”
“Yes, and it only took a world ending event to make Trixie embrace her power, who knew?”
“Weak.”
Trixie, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Twilight all looked in the direction of Sombra and the three dark spirits. The King of Shadows looked down upon the dark ones with fury in his eyes.
“That will not go unanswered for! I will tear her horn off!” Ira declared.
“Not after I rip out and syphon every last bit of her magic!” Medo roared.
“Only when I’m through putting her through tortures she can’t even begin to imagine!” Tristeza growled.
“No.” The three dark spirits turned to Sombra. “Your presence is better served another way.”
“And how’s that?”
“By making me stronger!”
Sombra transformed into a giant cloud of darkness. He swirled about the three spirits, and along with came the screams and wails of pain. The others couldn’t believe what was happening. In the few glimpses they were able to see from the gaps in the cloud, they watched as Sombra began to devour the other three spirits, literally. Within the dark cloud another transformation occurred. Like a butterfly emerging from his cocoon, Sombra emerged from his cloud of darkness.
He was bigger, standing higher than Princess Celestia, and larger, bulkier. A triangle of three orbs marked the spirits by color, Ira was red, Tristeza was purple, and Medo was yellow, their powers glowed on his chest and flowed into him. His eyes were demonic, and his blood red curved horn shimmered with greater dark magic than before.
“Now I am complete.”
Trixie, with a determined gaze stood up and walked till she was on the other side of her barrier. Twilight tried to rush towards her, but found that the barrier prevented her from exiting.
“Trixie what are you doing!?”
“This is my fight Twilight. You and Shining Armor are too weak to help, and Cadance, you need to keep your magic at full strength in case you need to flee.”
“We won’t run and leave you behind, Trixie! You’ll die if you fight him alone!” Cadance shouted.
“…Then I die protecting my family.”
Trixie walked slowly towards Sombra, she channeled her mana into the staff, focusing it at the tip. The Star Staff released the mana particles, solidifying until it became a hard-light spear. Trixie took a defensive stance and pointed the staff right at the abomination. Sombra looked down upon Trixie, smirking at the unicorn’s attempt to stand against him.
“You realize that you will die here today, Trixie Lulamoon.”
“Spare Trixie the ‘I’m so powerful and mighty, and you’re so weak and powerless’ speech, because I’ve used it before!”
“Well, there is another option besides death.”
Trixie lowered the Star Staff a little. “Speak tyrant.”
“You obviously possess a great magical power, Trixie. One, if honed, could out match many in this world. Take hold of the power of darkness, you can become so much stronger. Join me, and together, we shall shroud this world in darkness, and all will be under our control.” Sombra leaned down to look the azure mare in the eyes. “I’ll even allow you a place to rule, and those two as your personal slaves. You’ll be Great and Powerful forever, second only to me.”
Trixie gave Sombra a smug grin. “Sorry, but Trixie doesn’t play second fiddle anypony!”
The unicorn mare teleported a few feet back, she then whipped the Star Staff around and fired a magical lightning blast at Sombra. The lightning struck him, wrapping his body in magenta electricity. But one flash of multicolored light from Sombra’s horn dispelled the attack.
“Pity,” Sombra stomped his hoof, from the floor rose an obsidian scythe, “you had such potential.”
Sombra rushed towards Trixie. She quickly brought up the Star Staff just in time to catch the blade of Sombra’s scythe. Trixie’s mind recoiled from the impact and power behind the blow, but held fast. Sombra pushed down on the staff, inching his obsidian blade closer to Trixie’s head, a black aura, highlighted with the colors of the King of Shadows and the dark spirits, ignited around his body as he watched her struggle against his power.
Trixie glared at Sombra, her magical aura flaring up at the same time as his, although not as big, she still held great power. The azure mare teleported away, making Sombra lose his balance from the sudden loss of his target. Trixie reappeared behind above him, holding the Star Staff in the crook of her hooves, and brought the shimmering light blade down on Sombra, piercing his back.
The King of Shadows roared with pain, but wasn’t going to relent now. From his body, black tendrils shot out. Wrapping around Trixie’s hind legs and pulling her up and off of his back, Sombra then flicked the magician right out the window!
“TRIXIE!” Twilight cried.
Trixie fell through the air, watching as the ground grew closer and closer. She wasn’t about to let this be her end. Concentrating on the Star Staff, the ancient relic removed itself from Sombra with painful grunt and teleported to her side. Trixie then turned in the air, touching her hind hooves on the shaft of the staff. She locked herself, magically, to the staff. Before she hit the ground Trixie used her telekinetic magic and propelled her off into the sky.
“WOAH HA HA!” Trixie shouted, half screaming, half laughing.
She was literally, surfing in the air. Trixie almost reminded herself of the old pony tales of unicorn witches who road on broomsticks in the night sky. Please, I’m way cooler than a witch. Trixie continued to fly, surfing the air on her wand as her cape flapped in the wind. The magician redirected her Star Staff right back at the window she was thrown from, Trixie’s horn flashed again, and the tip of the Star Staff fired a beam of magical energy right through the window.
Sombra was barely able to block the attack with a dark magic barrier, digging his hooves into the floor as he was pushed back by the sudden attack. It was at that moment he saw Trixie zooming into the room. She flew in a circle around him, activating another spell to create magical doppelgängers that mixed with the original. Sombra slashed with his obsidian scythe, cutting down one copy as it disappeared in a poof, only to receive a blast from another copy. Sombra rounded on the copy that shot at it, hitting it with a dark magic blast of his own and destroying it on impact. This only earned him a double dose of magical beams from his right side and back behind him.
“ENOUGH!!!”
Sombra let up his horn and release a wave of dark magic the destroyed all the clones at once, and shook the very castle. When the copies evaporated, Sombra looked around and saw that the original was not among them. But what he did see was the very faint glow of a magic circle right underneath him.
“It took a bit longer to create it than with Ira and Tristeza, but Trixie believes you’re worth the extra effort!”
“HOW!!?”
“Invisibility spell, I had learned it for my magic shows but couldn’t make it last longer than a few seconds, but now it’s foal’s play!” The golden symbols and ancient writing floated about Trixie’s Star Staff, resonating with the circle beneath Sombra. “This is the end for you Sombra, return to whatever darkness you came from!”
The circle glowed with greater intensity as it prepared to banish Sombra from this realm of existence. Sombra, however, did not look afraid. His curved horn discharged dark magical energy right to the circle, shattering it completely as if it were fragile glass. Trixie was thrown to the floor from the backlash, but quickly got back to her hooves, staring dumbfounded as to why the circle had not worked.
“Do not think me so easily banished, Trixie Lulamoon. I’m not like the others, I was once mortal, and therefore, I still have a stake in this world. Well, that, and I am a genius magician. Did you really think you could master such a complex spell in such a short time?”
Trixie smirked at the King of Shadows. “You know, for a second, Trixie did think she could. But I seem to be giving you a run for your money, oh great Sombra.”
Sombra gave Trixie a wicked, toothy grin. “Maybe so, but I wonder, can your so called ‘family’ say the same?”
Trixie’s eyes went wide as she watched Sombra slash the air with his scythe, creating a crescent arc of dark magic that flew right at the barrier protecting Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadance. The black energy blade smashed against the barrier, cracking it, Cadance immediately summoned her own barrier, reinforcing Trixie’s. Sombra’s horn flared as he fired a beam that spun out like a tornado, striking the dual barrier relentlessly. The entire dome was blanketed in dark magic, the sounds of splintering glass echoing underneath the assault.
“NO!!!”
Trixie galloped towards the barrier, Sombra willed the black crystals that made up the floor to jut out and impale the unicorn mare. Trixie nearly got skewered a few times, utilizing short-distance teleportation to get around them and closer to the dome shield. Sombra stopped his attack, just as the dome shattered completely, destroying the last defense the three ponies had. The King of Shadows channeled his dark power into the blade of his scythe as he prepared to cut them down.
Trixie, with only a moment to spare, teleported right in front of her family, she stood on her hind legs and raised the Star Staff up in her hooves. As Sombra brought down his scythe, Trixie slammed the butt of her relic on the floor, creating a wall of pure energy the separated the two them just as the blade made contact. The obsidian blade grinded against the protecting wall sparks of magenta and dark light flying everywhere as Sombra’s reaping blade slowly cut through her shield.
The unicorn magician held fast, her horn and staff glowing with the full might of her magic, sweat dripping from her brow as the toll of this battle was starting to show. All the while Twilight and Shining Armor stood in awe at how fervently Trixie defended them, Shining Armor was especially, and after everything he had done, after tearing apart that one precious memento of her foalhood Trixie was still protecting him.
“Such valor, such strength, all wasted on fools who are underserving of it.”
“Shut up!”
“Look at them!” Sombra pushed further, the tip of the obsidian blade piercing the wall slightly. “A half-brother that distrusts and despises you, doubting himself and questioning his own loyalty to the mare he married, Shining Armor, the noble and valiant prince, the one who was ready to kill you at a moment’s notice!” The blade dug deeper, the dark power lapping off of it like flames. “And let’s not forget your half-sister over there, Twilight Sparkle, the kind and loving alicorn princess, whom you’ve driven into sadness and despair over the eventual destruction your presence will cause her family! So tell me, Trixie Lulamoon, is defending them really in your best interest!? Are they worth risking your life for, these ponies who probably wish you never even existed in the first place!?”
Trixie looked back at Shining Armor and Twilight; their eyes filled with guilt and shame, and sadness for how Sombra had stripped them bare and laid out their inner turmoil to Trixie. For a moment, the two of them had a look on their faces, one that told Trixie that they wouldn’t blame her for bringing down the barrier.
“He’s right Trixie…We’ve, we’re horrible…” Twilight spoke in a shaky voice.
“Cadance…take Trixie and get out of here…” Shining said in a low and depressed tone, accepting his fate.
Trixie gritted her teeth, turned to Sombra, and poured more of her magical power back into the barrier, increasing its density.
“One does not choose their family, Sombra! Yes, I know of Twilight’s sorrow for what my presence will mean for her family, and I wish it weren’t so! I also now know of Shining Armor’s anger towards me, I do not blame him…as much as I want to, I can’t! I lost the only family I thought I had in this world! But then Twilight brought me into her home and Shining Armor into his! And for the first time in my life I felt like I was at home, that I had real home and family! I won’t let anything, especially YOU, take that away from me! Not again, not ever!!!”
Sombra scoffed, “You’re truly willing to die for them, to lay down your life!!?”
“YES!”
Sombra’s horn flared once again the blade of his obsidian scythe passed further into the barrier wall, coming dangerously close to Trixie’s head. “Then allow me the knowledge before you die, why!?”
“Because………I LOVE THEM!!!”
At that moment the entire palace shined with bright blue energy. A rumbling sound could be heard coming from deep beneath the castle, causing Sombra to cease his attack. Suddenly the floor between Trixie and Sombra exploded in a shower of black crystals, Sombra, Trixie, Shining Armor, Twilight, and Cadance stared in stunned silence at what had broken through the floor. Hovering before them, shining with brilliant, warm, and powerful light, was the Crystal Heart. Trixie, Twilight, and Shining Armor looked to Cadance.
“It wasn’t me, I didn’t summon the Heart!”
“MY CRYSTAL HEART!!!” Sombra roared.
The King of Shadows lunged for the sacred object, but was just as quickly repelled by the Crystal Heart’s aura, throwing him to the other side of the room, roaring in pain as the Heart’s light burned his body from the brief contact.
“If Sombra didn’t call it, and Cadance didn’t, then who?!” asked Shining Armor.
The Crystal Heart floated before Trixie, feeling the Star Staff and her horn connect to the ancient magic of the Crystal Heart, filling her with its warmth and brilliance. Trixie didn’t shy away from the welcome embrace of the Heart, accepting its power to flow through her, and her power through it.
“Could it be…? Did the Crystal Heart come because of Trixie?” asked Twilight astonished at the sight.
“It’s responding to her, to the love she has in her heart,” said Cadance, feeling the power of the Crystal Heart’s intentions through her connection, “it wants to help her!”
Trixie stood upon all four of her hooves. She then pointed the Star Staff at the Crystal Heart, funneling her magic through it and firing a beam of her own magical energy. The Crystal Heart absorbed her power and fired it out the other end, magnifying it tenfold!
Sombra stood once more, his eyes and horn blazing with fury and hate! He opened his mouth and unleashed a concentrated torrent of dark magic at the incoming beam. The two attacks sped towards each other, impacting at the center of the room, and sending a thundering boom throughout the Crystal Empire. The beams struggled for control; Trixie would push back with more of her magic, gaining a few inches of ground. But Sombra wasn’t allowing that, he called upon Ira’s wrathful power, adding a red tint to the dark beam and pushing Trixie’s attack further back.
Seeing this as his ticket to defeating his opponents in one fell swoop, Sombra called upon Medo’s and Tristeza’s power as well, adding a purple and yellow tent to the dark beam, tripling its size and nearly engulfing Trixie’s attack. The dark magic attack was gaining ground, a couple of feet every second. Trixie was starting to panic, was this the full extent of her love and power?! Was this all she was capable of, even with the Crystal Heart’s power and the Star Staff!? Trixie started to weep, her determination to defeat this darkness and save her new family was slipping away before her eyes as the dark power was almost about to wash over her.
But then, Trixie felt something, a new power adding to hers. She turned to her left and saw that Twilight’s horn was glowing with her rosy-purple magic, firing a beam of it right into the Crystal Heart. The ancient artifact absorbed Twilight’s magic and added her power to Trixie’s, doubling the size her beam and halting the advance of Sombra’s attack.
“Twilight what are you doing, you haven’t recovered from the possession!?” Trixie shouted.
“I’m helping my little sister! What’s it look like!?” Twilight shouted back, smiling.
Just then Trixie felt another power being added to the mix. She turned to her right and saw Shining Armor doing the same as Twilight, funneling his magic into the Crystal Heart, tripling its power, pushing the dark magic attack back a few feet.
“And you too!? UGH!”
“What kind of big brother would I be if I didn’t help my little sisters!?” Shining Armor shouted, smiling smugly.
“You two are stubborn as mules!?”
“Must run in the family,” the siblings spoke in unison.
Trixie felt a fourth magical energy being added to the Crystal Heart. Next Shining Armor was Cadance.
“Hey, I’m part of this whacked out family too! Let me in on this!” Cadance yelled with a happy vigor.
Trixie, despite her insistence that her half-siblings and sister-in-law should be recovering, was happy to have them at her side. The warmth and brilliance of the Crystal Heart seemed to grow stronger, blazing like an inferno. It spread to Shining Armor, Twilight, and Cadance, connecting Trixie’s feelings of love with their own, making the Heart shine with a divine white light. The four ponies closed their eyes and concentrated on this feeling and the swelling of magical power.
Sombra kept trying to push back against the beam, even retracting the power he used to transform the castle and the Empire, scraping up every last ounce within himself and in the air to fight against this brilliance. But no matter how much power he called upon, it wasn’t enough to overcome this light. Eventually, he had nothing left, canceling his attack, having spent everything he had. That was the moment to strike.
Twilight, Trixie, Shining Armor, and Cadance’s eyes opened and shined with the same powerful light as the Crystal Heart itself. Their cutie marks appeared around it, Shining Armor’s was above Cadance’s on the right, and Trixie’s and Twilight’s appeared on the left. The four marks united around the Crystal Heart, forming a new emblem. A shield, with a heart at the center, wings spread on either side, and within that heart was a six pointed star, with a wand standing at the center of that six pointed star. The Crystal Heart released its full fury, flooding half the room in the united mana and love of the family.
Sombra roared and hissed as the light bathed him in its divine power. His body cracked and fissured with white light, he tried to resist its power, but it wasn’t working, he could feel the power of Medo, Ira, and Tristeza being purified and burnt away, leaving his true essence to take the full brunt of this power.
Sensing that this was it, the family of four released everything they had, making the massive blast grow to a monstrous size. Sombra felt something impact his chest, and saw that a hole the shape and size of a heart had been shot through him, filling him with the power of love and light. He could no longer hold on as his body was incinerated in the attack. The enormous beam of white light burst through the wall of the Crystal Palace, streaming out into the distance and further into the sky as it died out, leaving a twinkle of light. And then, all went silent…
Trixie felt exhausted, more than exhausted, she was spent. She slowly opened her eyes, feeling someone nuzzle against her head. Slowly opening her eyes, Trixie looked up to see who it was that was disturbing her sleep, she couldn’t beat them up of course, neither did she feel she had the strength to give them a tongue lashing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t glower at them, whoever it was. When Trixie looked up, she let out a gasp.
Shining Armor was standing above her, his head lowered down to her as the look of worry on his face was replaced with one of relief. “You okay, Trixie?” asked the stallion, offering a hoof to the magician.
Trixie gingerly put her hoof into his and allowed him to help her up, groaning from the aches and pains she was now aware of thanks to her adrenaline levels dropping. “Tired, very tired, but Trixie is – I mean – I am otherwise alright.”
“Good.”
“What about Twilight and Cadance?”
“Over here.” Trixie looked behind Shining Armor, seeing Twilight leaning up against Cadance, the Crystal Heart floating in the pink alicorn’s magical aura. “We’re okay too,” said Twilight.
Shining Armor looked to the part of the throne room that still had a dust cloud dispersing, allowing him to see a little bit of the destruction their attack wrought. He winced when he noticed the gigantic hole.
“Well…That’s going to take a while to fix,” said Shining Armor.
“Good thing this happened after Ms. Harshwhinny inspected us for the Equestria Games, huh?”
Twilight and Shining Armor chuckled from the memory of almost losing the privilege to host the Equestria Games a few months back, and thanking Faust that this didn’t happen during the inspection. Trixie couldn’t help but join in, remembering Twilight regale her with that fiasco of a tale. But as they enjoyed their laughter, Shining Armor stopped suddenly, causing Trixie to look at her big brother with concern.
“Shining Armor, what’s wrong?”
“Look.”
The white unicorn stallion pointed his hoof towards the disappearing dust cloud, Trixie’s eyes widened in shock from the sight. Lying on the floor, was the ghostly image of Sabio, it wasn’t Sombra that much she was sure of. The Crystal Heart in Cadance’s magical grasp shined once again, confusing everypony in the room.
“I swear I’m not doing this. It’s reacting to someone’s love.”
In the distance, behind the hole the four ponies created, there was a light, much like that of the Crystal Heart. From the light walked out the ghostly image of a ruby red unicorn mare, with pink colored eyes. Her coat was sparkling and shimmery, just like the crystal ponies. It didn’t take long for Trixie to recognize this mare, how could she not, her portrait and Sabio’s hung in his study.
“That’s Graza the Graceful…”
She certainly earned her name; none of her movements were wasted, gliding upon the floor with every step, swiftly and beautifully. The ghost of Graza looked to the four ponies; she smiled and nodded to them. She then turned her attention to the ghost stallion lying on the ground, nuzzling the side of his face lovingly.
“Sabio, wake up my love.”
Sabio stirred, blinking his eyes a few times. He looked around, dazed and confused, before he caught sight of Graza.
“G-Graza…You’re here!? How is this possible!?”
“Your soul is no longer trapped within the darkness, you’re free now. It’s time to come home; all our friends have been waiting and hoping to see you again.”
Sabio’s lips curled up into a smile, but just as quickly, it fell into a frown. He turned his face away from Graza, tears falling from his eyes.
“I don’t deserve to be with you, Elysium is not for me…not after everything I’ve done…!”
“Sabio.”
“I killed our Queen and took the throne for myself! I enslaved the citizens I swore to protect, banished the entire kingdom for a thousand years, lost in time! I summoned the dark spirits and used the power they gifted me…! I don’t deserve paradise…I deserve imprisonment in Tartarus.”
Graza placed her hoof on her love’s shoulder, “Sabio, you did those things under the influence of the dark magic. You had no control when Sombra arose.”
“WRONG!” Sabio turned to Graza with a sorrowful yet angered face. “Sombra was part of me! My darkest ambitions, the evil within my soul! He was always there, the dark magic just allowed him – ME – to let it out! I’m beginning to wonder if I was ever a good stallion at all…I’m a monster, a cruel monster…”
“You are wrong!”
Trixie could no longer stay quiet and watch as Sabio berated himself. She walked towards the two ghosts, but stumbled a bit from her drained state. Shining Armor rushed to catch her, letting Trixie rest against his side, together, the two of them walked to the ghostly couple, where Trixie gave Sabio a stern look.
“Would a ‘cruel monster’ have left this behind!?” Trixie reached into her cloak and pulled out the Star Staff, having reverted back its wand form. “You left this behind, Sabio. You saved this last Star Staff in hopes that somepony would rise up and stop you. You hid it in your study, and protected that room with spells that would prevent yourself and any dark spirits from entering it. That was not Sombra’s doing, that was your’s, Sabio the Wise!”
Trixie took breath and calmed herself before continuing. “I was the same as you. I feared myself. Ever since I used that blasted Alicorn Amulet, I feared that that was what my true magic was, and that I was subconsciously holding myself back because I didn’t want to become that demented version of myself. You took a risk, going up against your darker half and securing a way for your kingdom to fight back, the same as I when I took that which you left behind and risked accepting my full potential. The truth, Sabio, is that I couldn’t have saved my family if you yourself hadn’t hidden the Star Staff.”
Sabio then turned to Graza, nodding in agreement with Trixie’s words. “She speaks the truth, you could’ve just given up and allowed yourself to become one with the darkness, but you fought it. Even during that battle I could see you struggling within. A cruel monster would not fight the darkness, but a wise and good pony would.”
That seemed to be the last straw, the dam of emotion broke and Sabio rested his head against Graza’s chest, crying tears of happiness and sadness. Graza wrapped her foreleg around her love’s head, brushing his mane with her hoof as comfortingly as she could. Trixie let a few tears of her own fall, leaning up against Shining Armor for comfort. To which he attentively nuzzled the top of her head.
The portal of light flickered a few times, as if signaling to them that it was time to come home. Graza and Sabio saw the flicker. Sabio rose up to his full height, matching Shining Armor. He then turned to Trixie.
“Thank you, Trixie Lulamoon.”
Trixie smiled and bowed before the Pillars of Magic, Sabio the Wise and Graza the Graceful. Twilight walked up beside Trixie along with Cadance, now by her husband’s side. The three of them bowed as well, in respect to the ancient sorcerers of the Crystal Empire.
After bowing in gratitude the two ghosts turned around and walked towards the light, staying close together, and intertwining their tails as they did so. Further in the light, more ghostly images appeared. Those of other crystal unicorn pony magicians, the Queen, and all the other crystal ponies who were lost during those dark times of war. Once the two lovers joined the group, all made their way into the light.
Trixie, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadance watched as the portal closed behind them, leaving behind a few sparkles of shimmering gold light that dispersed and faded away.