The streets of the city were packed tighter than any place that Twilight had ever seen. The only ponies who seemed to be comfortable with this were Rarity, who frequently traveled to Manehattan, and Pinkie who was waving at and greeting every pony that she passed. They didn’t have much to go on, only the few words that Luna had spoken to them before they left.
They only reason that they were able to get there that day was Rainbow Dash holding up the train, not letting it leave until her friends were on board. The ride was long, but it gave each of Twilight’s friends a chance to try to help her feel better. It wasn’t much, seeing as it was only words, but it was enough.
“This city is just too big!” Twilight exclaimed in frustration.
“We might have better luck if we split up. Fluttershy and I will take to the skies and search for Discord.” Rainbow suggested.
“All right. Good luck you two.” Twilight replied. “While they’re up there, we might as well do something similar down here. We’re at a four way intersection right now, let’s meet up here again in three hours.”
Each of the remaining four ponies went their own way in search of the draconequus. Twilight was going on a path that led north. Most of where she was searching was going to searching through the countless neighborhoods that made up that district. There was a police office in there, which would be one of Twilight’s early stops. Maybe one of them would know something about the location of Discord.
Twilight stood before the large police building, debating how to go about her questions. Did she want to go with the direct approach or something more subtle? If that didn’t work, she’d have to convince them that she was working for Princess Celestia. There wasn’t a lot of time to waste, so straight to the point would be her best bet.
She walked in the door and approached the desk. Despite the lack of a line at the counter, there were about three ponies sitting off to the side. The pony who stood at the counter wore his uniform proudly, maintaining a posture to rival that of the Royal Guard. The officer’s hat was pulled down over his eyes.
“Can I help you?” the uniformed pony asked.
“Yes, I’d like to speak to whoever is in charge here. This is an urgent matter.” Twilight stated.
“Yeah, so are the rest of these cases. What’s your problem? Somepony steal your saddlebags?” the pony asked sarcastically.
“You know, I was just thinking of how your posture is similar to that of the Royal Guards back in Canterlot, but it seems that you are nothing like them. They show respect to everypony. I’m not wasting time with somepony like you; I need to speak to whoever is in charge here. I’m here for Princess Celestia, we need to find someone.” Twilight’s brow furrowed as she glared at the pony. She tried everything she could to not raise her voice, staying at a relatively quiet tone.
“You’ll have to wait in line here just like every other pony.” the stallion stated, clearly angry about Twilight’s tone.
“Actually, I’d like to speak with her now.” a voice from the other side of the counter. Twilight couldn’t quite see the point of origin for the voice, but it wasn’t that of a stallion.
“But Ma’am, what about the line?” the stallion asked.
“I am sure that if this pony was sent here by the princess than this must be a matter of some importance.” the voice replied.
“Fine…” the stallion grunted. “Right this way.”
A door to the stallion’s side lit up a bright yellow and opened up for Twilight to pass through. Once she was on the other side, she was greeted by a mule. The mule wore a police uniform that seemed to belong to somepony of a higher rank. Twilight assumed that this was the chief of that department.
They walked into an office where the mule took a seat behind a large desk. There were papers scattered randomly across the table, a sight that made Twilight cringe slightly. There were a few photos up on the walls of the mule at different locations. These included a house with who Twilight presumed to be her family.
“What’s your name?” the mule asked.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am a student of Princess Celestia and I was sent here to find Discord.” Twilight answered respectfully.
“Well, Miss Sparkle, I’m presuming that you mean the draconequus Discord as opposed to the state of being. In either case, I’m afraid that I don’t know where you should look.” the mule replied. “I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help.”
“All right… back to searching.” Twilight turned back to the door just in time to see it fly open.
“Major Burro! You need to see this!” the mare who had entered the room shouted.
“What is it?” the mule left the room and followed the mare to a window.
Twilight followed shortly after her. She could see pink clouds in the sky, floating above a nearby park.
“Pink clouds… Cotton candy! It’s Discord; he’s leading us to him!” Twilight exclaimed before turning around and running back out of the building.
“Spike, wake up.” Sombra said coldly, gripping the baby dragon with his dark magic.
Spike grunted and tried to shut his eyes tighter. Having forgotten his current predicament, and thinking that he was at home, sleeping on his little bed by Twilight. He was dreaming that none of the past few weeks’ events had ever even come to pass. It wasn’t until Sombra lifted him into the air and dropped him that he realized that it was all true.
“Get up!” Sombra shouted. “We’re moving.”
Spike slowly climbed to his feet and found that he could use them again. He thought about running away, but he remembered that he’d seen Twilight with Sombra before he’d fallen asleep. If he left now, he wouldn’t be able find out why Twilight was there. He had to go with Sombra, for Twilight.
The dragon quickly scampered after the stallion, following him deeper into the Everfree Forest. There were two places that Spike never wanted to be, one of them was the Everfree Forest. The other was a more recent discovery, and that was near Sombra. This was far from a comfortable place for him to be.
“We are here, the Castle of the Two Sisters. I have gone through so many castles of late that I am resorting to ruins. This is not befitting me, but soon I shall claim Canterlot’s castle as my new home.” Sombra groaned.
“Wow, never would have expected to hear you whining about living conditions.” Spike smirked.
“I’m not afraid to rip your vocal cords out through your throat you whelp.” Sombra growled, scaring Spike into silence.
Sombra led the dragon into the castle, taking him to a part of it that he’d never seen before. A basement room that Sombra quickly started altering to fit his personality. He kept the cobwebs in the corners and gave the room a dim green ambient light. He made a throne made of a black stone rise from the ground, and took the seat once it was completely revealed.
“Summon your Keyblade, I wish to see it.” Sombra growled from his newest throne.
Spike did as he was told; now fearing for his life more than he was before. The Keyblade appeared in his claw instantly. Just as immediately as it had appeared, the magical weapon was pried away from him. It slowly floated toward the king before vanishing and returning to Spike.
“I see, it doesn’t seem to like me very much.” Sombra smirked. He seemed as if he was waiting for something to happen. “You may speak.” he cleared his throat.
“The Keyblade doesn’t like you?” Spike asked.
“Yours doesn’t.” Sombra corrected. His voice told Spike that the question he’d asked was what Sombra had been waiting for. “Mine however, does.”
Sombra summoned a Keyblade of his own. It was solid black and had a design that looked similar to the top half of a heart at the tip. The guard where Spike would hold the Keyblade was jagged and a blood red color. The keychain attached to the end was the emblem that appeared on some of the Heartless.
“I didn’t think that a pony like you could get a Keyblade.” Spike commented.
“And just what kind of pony am I?” Sombra asked.
“If I told you what kind of pony that I thought you were, you would threaten to rip out my throat again.”
“Good decision. Now leave me. This castle is locked down by a magical shield that I’ve made, so you won’t be escaping. Feel free to explore, but get out of here.”
Spike walked out of the room, leaving Sombra on his own. Once the dragon was far enough away from him, Sombra created an illusion of Twilight.
“Soon I will have the real thing here. But until then, you will help me manipulate this dragon.” Sombra smiled at the transparent pony.
“Discord!” Twilight shouted. “Get down from there! I need to talk to you!”
“Sorry Twilight, but I’m perfectly comfortable up here. Besides, I need to rest, even with powers like mine; it takes some time to heal.” Discord leaned back on the cloud made of cotton candy. “Would you like a drink, I’m craving some orange juice right now?”
“What happened to the chocolate milk thin from that first time?” Twilight asked.
“It feels too cliché. It’s old now, and I don’t do old, or expected, and you clearly would have expected chocolate milk.” orange droplets fell from the pink clouds.
“What’s this?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up to Twilight’s side, followed shortly by Fluttershy.
“Orange juice.” Twilight grunted.
“Orange juice? What happened to chocolate milk?” Rainbow asked.
“Too cliché.” Twilight raised her brow as she looked back up at Discord.
“Fluttershy, how’ve you been, friend?” Discord asked.
“Discord, we need your help to save Equestria.” Fluttershy stated.
“I’m always willing to help a friend.” Discord had a tendency to put some unnecessary emphasis on the word friend, every time that he said it.
“Princess Celestia told us that you had a keychain to make a Keyblade that I could use to fight Sombra. I need it, please.” Twilight half begged.
“I’m well aware of this. The problem is that I don’t think that giving you that keychain will help you. Sombra showed me something, a Keyblade that he can use. It doesn’t belong here though, it comes from the same place as the Heartless and it can steal a pony’s heart. I can’t in good consciousness let you go in there and fight him.” Discord explained.
“I’m going in there with or without that Keyblade. So if you think that I’ll have a better chance to get out alive with it, then a friend would let me have it.” Twilight replied, turning away. “I’m going now, whether I have your Keyblade or not.”
“Wait!” Discord shouted, creating a wall in front of Twilight. “Here, take it.” a keychain that depicted a shattered stained glass window landed in front of the unicorn.
“Thank you.” Twilight smiled back at the god of chaos.
“Its name is Shattered Reality.” Discord turned away from Twilight and back to his clouds. “You know, I’m getting tired of orange juice, how about some strawberry milk?”
Twilight calmly walked away from the draconequus, wondering how exactly she was to fight Sombra and why Shattered Reality and Harmonious Retribution were the key to beating him. Celestia had called them the “strongest Keyblades” that she knew of, but why were they different. She remembered that the first time that she’d used the Keyblade that South Wind had given her, she’d felt like her magic was rejuvenated.
“Twilight, where are you going?” Rainbow flew up to Twilight’s side.
“We need to go back to where we all split up. The others are going to meet us there in about thirty minutes.”
“What’re we waiting for then?” Rainbow flew ahead of Twilight and Fluttershy, leaving them behind.
“What are you going to do now, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, hovering just beside the unicorn.
“I’m going to find out what Celestia wants me to do. Then I’m going to go and save Spike.” Twilight glanced at her friend.
“And I’ll be with you every step of the way… just with some distance… so I won’t be seen by Sombra.” Fluttershy smiled weakly.
The pair of ponies walked until they reach a small four way intersection. The stopped there and waited for just a few moments. Rarity was the next to arrive, being just slightly ahead of schedule. Applejack was only about a minute ahead of schedule, while Pinkie was about ten minutes late.
“Hi!” Pinkie shouted as she reached the group.
“It’s about time!” Rainbow grimaced at the pink earth pony.
“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.” Twilight urged.
The other ponies nodded, following the unicorn toward the city’s train station. The sun was beginning to set and there were only two more trains that would be leaving Baltimare that day. Due to the recent events Twilight had adopted a certain obsession with not being outside at night and keeping at least one light near her at all times. During her one night back at the library she’d kept a lantern burning overnight; just to feel a bit safer.
They missed the second to last train by about ten minutes, leaving them waiting in the train station another hour for the last train of the night to arrive. Rainbow Dash and Applejack went out as soon as they arrived to purchase some food. None of them had eaten in a while and Rainbow was getting particularly irritable due to hunger. They were intending to pick up a quick meal, just something to keep their stomachs settled until they arrived in Canterlot.
Twilight hadn’t realized it until somepony else said something, but she was just about as hungry as she was on the day that Princess Celestia had sent her the two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. Something to eat sounded absolutely fantastic to her at the moment. On the other hoof, she had a moment to think about what she was going to do next. She was supposed to be the only pony that would be capable of beating Sombra in a fight. Her Keyblades were the reason as far as she could tell, but there were other wielders, Spike for one.
Rarity and the others had told her of Spike’s newest ability during their time in the caves beneath Ponyville. Knowing that he could use the Keyblade made Twilight worry about him even more. If he could fight back, why didn’t he just run away? What was keeping him in Sombra’s possession?
“Do you think that she was able to find him yet?” Luna asked, remaining by her sister’s side.
“I have faith in her.” Celestia answered. “There is a reason that I trusted her with the task of stopping Sombra that first time. I have plans for that little pony.”
“What kind of plans?” Luna asked.
“Her destiny will be revealed in due time. This is just an unexpected test for her, one that I trust she can handle.” Celestia smiled.
“And if she can’t? What will we do?” Luna questioned.
“Have faith dear sister. She has yet to fail a single test in her life; this one will be no different.” The white alicorn aimed her head toward the origin of her sister’s voice. Her eyes were wrapped up in a bandage and even if they weren’t, her eyesight hadn’t returned yet.
“Spike, come now.” Sombra commanded.
Spike silently approached his captor. His face and body had numerous bruises from his various attempts at defying Sombra’s will. There was one instance where he ran at Twilight when he saw her and another when he just tried to walk out of the castle. The second one was possibly the worst decision that he’d ever made, resulting in a large blast of dark magic going through his entire body, making him feel like his insides were ripped out. He was still extremely sore from that one.
“Has my Vim told you about her Keyblade yet?” Sombra asked, leaning leisurely in his oversized throne.
“She isn’t your Vim…” Spike muttered the first words that he’d spoke in a long time. It had been days since his capture.
“What was that?” Sombra glared at the baby dragon. “Do you know why you’re still alive?”
“Because…” Spike felt a lump in his throat as he spoke. “Because I am just too hard to kill.”
Sombra crafted a sword from his magic and slashed into Spike’s chest, causing him to drop to the floor. “I don’t think that you honestly believe that, do you?”
Spike continued to lie on the floor, writhing in pain. Sombra looked down and smiled coldly with a slight chuckle.
The dragon climbed back upright and looked into the eyes of the King of Shadows. Something that no enemy of his had done in over a thousand years, especially not since he adopted the dark magic that he currently used. Sombra eyebrows raised to the sight.
“I do…” Spike grunted, turning his back to Sombra and preparing to walk out of the room.
“I’m not done with you yet.” Sombra gripped Spike’s leg and yanked him back to the foot of his throne. “You are bait to lure my enemies into my domain. You are nothing but an insignificant bug in my castle; I could kill you without a second thought.” There was a growling tone to his voice, he was getting angry.
Spike was flipped over to face Sombra one last time before being teleported into the dungeons beneath the castle. Sombra let out a long sigh and shifted his weight to the other side of his throne. He let his eyes drift across the room, thinking about how the last time royalty had been in there before him was the defeat of Nightmare Moon.
Legends of something called the Pony of Shadows had reached Sombra’s ears since his return. The Pony of Shadows was supposedly part of Nightmare Moon that was left in Equestria after her defeat at the hooves of Princess Celestia just over a thousand years before. If those remnants existed, then he hoped to gain control over them, manipulate them to add to his own power. He was a force to be reckoned with before, but with the power of an alicorn, a god, he would be immortal. Unstoppable.
The one problem with Sombra’s plan was that he hadn’t found a way to tap into the Nightmare energy that was left behind. The Elements of Harmony were used to stop the alicorn twice in the very location of the throne room, so use them to revive her, or at least her power, and it might work. Either he would need the Elements to be used in his new castle, or he would have to make a copycat spell, serving the same function as the ancient magic, but on a smaller scale. Just enough to give him the power to defeat those who wish to usurp his throne.
Twilight stood at the bedside of Princess Celestia. The princess had made a request for everypony else to leave them for a few minutes. There was a tension in the air that was only matched by the fear that Twilight felt.
“Twilight, my most faithful student, are you ready?” Celestia asked.
“I… I think so.” Twilight whispered back shakily.
“There is no room for self-doubt on this mission. You need to have a conviction that cannot be overcome by any means in the power of Sombra.”
A back gaseous form appeared in the corner of the room. It expanded until it was possible to see a face inside of it, Sombra’s face. The bright green glow of his eyes made Twilight stumble backwards. Celestia wasn’t able to see it, but she was fully capable of feeling his presence.
“How the mighty have fallen. What’s it been? A thousand years since we’ve actually met face to face. “ the cloud of smoke stated.
“I can’t actually say that, seeing as, well you know.” Celestia said, not raising her head from her pillow.
“Oh, yes, your eyes. I think that it suits you. A ruler should not be looked upon by the peasants of their kingdom. You let them speak to you in such a casual manner even, and so this happens, and you can no longer look upon the subjects that you care so much for.” Sombra smiled.
“And that is why you were defeated. You do not care for the subjects that you are supposed to protect. It is not the duty of a ruler to oppress the ponies; it is their duty to protect them.” Celestia argued.
“You aren’t doing a very good job at either of those right now though, are you? I have Spike in my care and just a couple of days ago, three of your ponies died trying to get to me. Speaking of death, how is the newly married royal couple doing? Last time that I heard of dear old Prince Shining Armor he was being crushed by a Heartless of mine and as for Princess Cadence, I haven’t seen hide or tail of her since she was sent away.” Sombra shot a glance over to Twilight who immediately began to try and hide behind anything she could.
It was in that moment that Twilight realized that she couldn’t fight him, she couldn’t even face him. It wasn’t that he was stronger than her, or that he had taught her so much dark magic. It was something that she couldn’t put words to; it was some indescribable fear. He was the reason that she feared going out at night, why she started keeping a lantern burning in her house.
“They are fine, now if you do not mind, please leave my kingdom immediately.” Celestia responded.
“As you wish. Oh, and one last thing, I’m in the old castle ruins, deep within the heart of the Everfree Forest.” Sombra rolled his eyes and the smoke faded away.
“Is Shining Armor really all right?” Twilight asked, thinking back to the last time that she’d seen him.
“I’d say that I am.” a stallion’s voice spoke as the door opened.
“Shining!” Twilight galloped over to her brother nearly tackling him to the floor.
“Twily!” Shining laughed quietly. “I know that you’re happy to see me, but you don’t have to try and break what few bones I have left that are still intact.”
“Where’s Cadence?” Twilight asked, backing off slightly.
“She’s back home, resting. She says that if it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be there. Thanks Twily.” Shining wiped a tear from Twilight’s eye.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t do anything sooner. If I tried anything, then I was afraid he’d… he’d…” Twilight trailed off and she turned away from her brother.
“Don’t worry about that now. I hear that you are the only pony that can stop him.” Shining Armor smiled at his sister.
“But I don’t know if I can…” Twilight thought about her fears. “I can’t even look at him…”
“Twily…” Shining Armor started. “I’ll go with you; together we can beat him if you don’t think that you can on our own. But I want you to know that your friends will be with you where it counts, even if they can’t go with you.” The stallion placed his hoof upon his sister’s chest. “They’ll be right here.”
Twilight nodded back shakily. “Thank you, for your offer I mean. I’m going to go in there and save Spike. I want you all to wait here and protect everypony. Sombra isn’t going to have a final battle on only on front. He is going to launch a Heartless attack here.”
“I’ll put up one of my shields. The pegasi will keep the skies clear of clouds. The light will hold them off until you can win.” Shining Armor stated.
Twilight nodded to her brother once more before stepping through the doors and leaving the room. Her friends all watched her in silence, hoping the best for her as she went to win the first war in a thousand years. Nothing was going to stop Twilight now. She’d doubted herself and she’d been able to convince herself to go on a little longer. Then Shining Armor gave her one last push, one last boost of confidence to help her on her way. She was ready and Spike was going to be coming home with her by the end of this.
As she reached the exit to the castle, she saw Princess Luna standing at the side of Midnight Vim. They both gave her a slight nod, acknowledging her quest.