//------------------------------// // Spellhold // Story: Shadows of the Crystal Empire // by AdrianVesper //------------------------------// Spellhold An impenetrable wall of rock towered before Twilight Sparkle. Craning her neck back, she followed ice spider-webbing up through cracks and crags with her eyes until her gaze reached the tower clinging near the pinnacle of the icebound island. She lifted a forehoof and rested it against the stone. Rainbow Dash groaned with a weary exasperation. “I don’t see anything!” “If there is a door here, it’s well hidden,” Rarity said. Twilight glanced at her friends. Trixie trudged through the snowbank at the base of the cliff, scanning the rocks. Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity trailed behind her, with Fluttershy hanging further back. Applejack nodded in agreement. “Are you sure we’re on the right side?” Trixie stopped short. She turned her head and looked at Twilight with a red gleam deep in her eyes. A shiver ran down Twilight’s spine. Trixie grinned. “Positive.” With that, she jumped straight forward and vanished into solid rock. Rarity stepped up to the spot and reached out experimentally. She passed her forehoof through the stone up to her elbow. With a small shrug, she stepped through. Applejack followed a moment later. Rainbow glanced back at Twilight. “Coming?” Twilight nodded. “Of course,” she said, finding her mouth suddenly dry. She swallowed and walked forward. Her joints felt stiff, and willing each hoof forward was far more of a challenge than it should have been. Rainbow slipped through the rock, leaving Twilight with Fluttershy. “Are you okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy said. Twilight avoided Fluttershy’s soft blue eyes. “Fine, just tired.” Fluttershy nodded, then stepped through the wall after Rainbow Dash. Twilight took a deep breath. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but after Trixie looked at her some part of her felt wrong – violated. She shivered again as the lonely white expanse seemed to surge around her, as if to swallow her whole. Even her simarculum had dissolved into snow and dust. With her heart pounding in her ears, she rushed forward. She reached out to test the rock. Without any sensation, her forehoof passed through the solid wall. Convinced, she dove through. After a moment of darkness, she stepped into a cave lit by Trixie’s glowing horn. Distinctly artificial rectangular columns melded with rough stone. A carved path led to a teleporter array set into the floor. Gathered around the array, her friends waited for her. “Unfortunately, I don’t have your mastery of spellcraft, Sparkle,” Trixie said. “You’re going to have to do the honors.” Twilight nodded. “And this will work even though the Grey Wizards locked me out?” “It’s older than the rest of the gateway network,” Trixie said. “A back door, if you will.” "Alright then," Twilight stepped up to the array and lit her horn. "Let's go." Her destination leaped out at her. A dark room, somewhere above. It was a short, easy hop. With a thought, she ripped open the gate. The hooves of six ponies clip-clopped down a marble hallway. Ethereal magelights lit Twilight’s path as she followed Trixie. They hadn’t gone far from the gateway, and Spellhold remind her more of Canterlot Castle than a prison. She could already tell there were far more rooms buried within the rocky island than the tower could possibly contain. Trixie paused at an intersection. “His office would be...” She looked both ways. “Ah!” she said, turning sharply left. The echos of a giggle echoed down the empty corridors. Twitching, Twilight’s ears strained against the eery silence. Another giggle, from the right. “Pinkie!” She took off to down the right passage at a full gallop. The corridor cornered sharply. Scrabbling at the smooth marble, she slid around the bend. Darkness greeted her. There were no active magelights around the corner. “Twilight, I’m here!” a voice cried out. Directly ahead, light shined through a rectangular window blocked by two bars. “Twilight?!” Applejack shouted after her. Twilight could hear the beat of her friends hooves on the floor as they pursued her. She focused on a spot beyond the bars, and without hesitation, cast Dimension Door and teleported. Her hooves touched down on a padded floor. A cylindrical room with off-grey walls awash in a brilliant white magelight greeted her. A steel door with a barred window blocked the only exit. Squinting against the brightness, she made out a figure hunched against the wall. A pony with a blue coat, and frazzled white hair. Her heart fell. I could have sworn, she thought. The figure turned to look at her. “Why are you here?” he said, his voice creaking like an old piece of furniture. Twilight braced her hooves against the padded floor. “No reason,” she said, noting that the pony in the cell had no horn. Apparently, Pinkie wasn’t the only earth pony the Grey Wizards put here. “I’ll just let myself out.” Twilight glanced at the bars, about to cast another Dimension Door. “There must be a reason,” the pony said. “Causality, A results in B. Predictability. That’s the rules.” Something in the pony’s tone held Twilight back. She hesitated. A hoof pounded on the cell door. “Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her face appearing in the window. “What’re you doing?” “I thought it was Pinkie,” Twilight said. “I’ll be out in a second.” “Ah,” the pony said. “Her.” Twilight whirled to face the pony hunched against the wall. “You know her? Where is she?!” “You came running straight here, didn’t you? Predictable, just like him. Rules,” the pony said. Twilight bounded forward and wrapped him in her levitation. With crushing force, she slammed him against the wall. “Where is she?!” “Of course,” the pony coughed. “Power makes the rules. Brute force. Control.” What am I doing? Twilight thought. She took a step back and released him. The pony slumped to the floor. “I bet you like being in control,” the pony said, raising his head to glare at her. “Don’t you, Shadowspawn?” Twilight froze. How does he know? “I hate rules,” he said. “I like the unpredictable.” His eyes flared with a sinister yellow light. “Could you predict this?” Before Twilight could think, the floor beneath her hooves sucked at her and crawled up her legs. The space around her warped and bent in on itself. She fixed on the yellow eyes and launched a half-dozen magic missiles at them. Instead of lavender orbs, six white eggs volleyed out of her horn and shattered when they struck the ground. Ethereal green serpents emerged from the eggs and twisted toward her with a chorus of hungry hisses. She moved to draw her swords, but instead of a controlled pull of levitation, the blades were launched at the wall. With a near-simultaneous thud, her swords impaled themselves up to the hilt in the grey padding. Her eyes wide with panic, she backpedaled. The floor gripping at her hooves made her overbalance and tip over. Flopping onto her side, she glimpsed the steel door and the barred window. The six serpents surround her and rose up, hissing and swaying as they slowly drew closer. The door launched inward off its hinges. It clipped the floor, flipped once over her, and hit the far wall with a dull thump. From the shadows beyond, a rippling wave of black crystal slammed into and engulfed the pony in the cell. In the blink of an eye, the serpents dissipated, and the warped space returned to normal. “Go back to sleep, Screw Loose,” a deep voice said. “That’s enough fun for today.” Twilight looked up. Piercing green eyes met hers. A unicorn stallion with a dark grey coat and shaggy, black mane with grey streaks stood over her. With a smile, he extended a hoof to her. “He likes to make Discordance Zones. Usually, the magical reactions are mild, but yours seems uniquely interesting.” Twilight took the hoof, letting him pull her to her feet. “Who’re you?” “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself,” the stallion said. “My name is Sombra, and I am the Headmaster of Spellhold.” “Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said. She turned back to see what had happened to Screw Loose. A jagged formation of black crystals held him suspended against one of the walls. It fully engulfed him. His eyes were closed. Some form of petrification, she thought, though she’d never heard of the particular spell before. Distracted, and almost as an afterthought, she added, “Baroness of Ponyville.” “Twilight, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash said. As Twilight turned back to the door, Rainbow gripped her shoulders. “What were you thinking?!” Soon, all of her friends were joining in. With a gentle push of her magic, she shook herself free. “I know I heard Pinkie,” she said. She focused on Sombra. “Do you know where I can find my friend?” Again, Twilight walked down a marble corridor. This time they followed Sombra. She glanced at the doors to closed cells as they passed, wondering what lay inside. “I have to warn you,” Sombra said, “she may not be the way you remember her.” “Why not?” Twilight said, her eyes narrowing. “What did you do to her?” “If you hurt her—” Rainbow Dash added. “There won’t be enough left of you to bury,” Applejack finished. Sombra stopped. “It wasn’t me.” He turned. “I do everything I can to repair the minds of those that are sent here.” He shook his head sadly. “It was the one they sent with her: Sunset Shimmer.” A tightness gripped Twilight’s chest. “Where is she?” “Dead,” Sombra said. “Sometimes, patients are too dangerous for this institution to contain. In that case, execution is simply the only option. She escaped from her confinement and she hurt your friend. I’m sorry I allowed it to happen.” Dead, Twilight thought. It was too good to be true. She eyed Sombra. If it were true, she had to wonder what the pony in front of her was capable of. “No matter what, she’s Pinkie. I need to see her.” Sombra sighed. “Very well.” He turned to a cell door behind him. A locked panel covered the barred window. His horn lit with a crimson aura, and the door slowly swung inward. Twilight stepped forward. Light from the corridor spilled into the dark room beyond the door, painting her silhouette on the far wall. A pony curled in the corner turned to look at her. It was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie’s mane hung straight, obscuring her face like a curtain. With a hoof, she swept her hair back over her ear and stared at Twilight with dull eyes. She bore no signs of physical harm. “Pinkie!” Twilight cried. She surged forward and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie. “I found you,” Twilight said softly. “You’re safe.” Pinkie Pie giggled. With surprising strength, she set a hoof against Twilight’s chest and pushed her away. She lifted a foreleg and held it to the side of her mouth to hide a whisper. As if she were talking to a pony beside her, she murmured, “Twilight thinks she’s real, Wallace.” A lump rose in Twilight’s throat. “I am real, Pinkie. We’re all here to take you home.” Pinkie’s eyes lit slightly. “Ponyville?” Feeling moisture in her eyes, Twilight nodded. “Ponyville.” Pinkie twitched. In a deep, dignified voice she said out of the side of her mouth, “Don’t listen to her Pinkie. She’s fake.” Twilight blinked back tears. “It’s me, Pinkie! Your friends have come for you.” Pinkie shook her head. “My only real friends are in my head.” Twilight flinched back, her ears pinning against her skull. “What did she do to you?” She swallowed. “We can fix it, Pinkie. We’re here for you.” Pinkie curled against the wall and covered her ears with her hooves. “No!” she shouted. She rocked back and forth. “Lies! All Lies! Fake! Go away!” Twilight winced. “I’m not leaving without you, Pinkie.” “Go away!” Pinkie screamed. Her hoof lashed out. Twilight barely reacted in time to flinch back a step. It was a half-hearted blow, and it clipped through the air in front of Twilight’s snout. “No!” Twilight yelled. She wrapped Pinkie in her levitation, restraining her. “I will carry you out of here if I have to!” Pinkie writhed in the field of Twilight’s magic, and with a kick, spilled out. Twilight’s eyes widened. Pinkie rolled to her feet and swung a punch with one of her forehooves. Twilight saw it coming toward her. ... And she opened her eyes sprawled on the floor, pain blossoming through her back. Pinkie stomped slowly toward her. A foreleg wrapped around Twilight’s chest from behind and dragged her backwards through the door. The last look she had at Pinkie before a red glow slammed the steel door shut was a pair of blue eyes glaring down at her. Twilight struggled to her feet. “Pinkie!” she roared. A slam answered her. The door dented outward. “Don’t come back!” “You can’t reach her, Twilight,” Sombra said. “If you want to help your friend, you need to back off.” Twilight swallowed. She raised her forehoof to touch the door. Trembling, she leaned against the steel. “I’m sorry, Pinkie.” A hoof touched her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Twilight,” Rarity said. Through the metal, Twilight heard sobbing. The lump in Twilight’s throat broke. Tears ran freely down her cheeks. She turned to the closest shoulder she could find and buried her face into it, her chest heaving as she tried to stay in control. Wings wrapped around her. “It’ll be okay,” Fluttershy said softly in her ear. Sunset Shimmer, if there is anything left of you in the Abyss, you will know no peace, Twilight silently swore. Death isn’t nearly enough for you. Twilight paced in front of an arching, fluted door. Green shadowy magic swirled inside of it, like a portal. Her hooves fell on a velvet carpet in an otherwise bare room. “I’ve never heard of anything like this,” she said, eying the door. “It’s the only way you can save your friend,” Sombra said. He gestured at the doorway. “The realm of the mind lies beyond. I’ve tried to help her, but she doesn’t know me.” He looked at Twilight and smiled. “She might respond to you.” Applejack sighed. “Can’t say I like this, but if anypony can get through to her, it’s you Twilight.” Twilight chewed on the inside of her cheek. It was hard not to be nervous. “Do I have to go alone?” Sombra nodded. “It’ll only work on one pony at a time.” Twilight came to a stop. It was hardly a choice. “Fine,” she said. “Let’s do it. How does it work?” “All you have to do is step through,” Sombra said. Gritting her teeth, Twilight approached the door. She glanced over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash gave her a reassuring nod. “We’ve got your back.” Off to the side, Trixie cleared her throat. “For what it’s worth, I hope we all get what we came here for, Sparkle.” “So do I,” Twilight said. With nothing left to say, she stepped through the swirling mist. Beyond the threshold, her hooves touched a padded floor. It was pitch black. She lit her horn. She stood in a spherical room, not unlike the one she’d found Screw Loose in. Interlocking rings of arcane runes wrapped around the walls. As they started to glow, the magic in her own horn dimmed, until her horn extinguished. “We’re sorry,” Rarity said from behind her. Twilight turned. The doorway was still there, but the mist was gone. Her friends were gathered beyond. “But we really think this is for the best,” Applejack said. “If there were a better way...” Rainbow added. Twilight’s mouth dropped open. She worked her tongue, searching for words. “What are you talking about?” she said finally. “Don’t you see, Twilight?” Fluttershy said, nearly choking on sob. “You need to be locked up here.” “We could tell you were trying,” Rarity said. “But you can’t overcome what you are,” Applejack said. An aura of magic, blue like Rarities, wrapped around her swords and pulled them away from her. She reached out for them, but nothing happened. The runes pulsed brighter. “You and Pinkie have to stay,” Rainbow said. “What?” Twilight said. She dropped onto her haunches, her mind dull with shock. “You’re too dangerous,” Fluttershy said. “This is the only safe place for you,” Rarity said. The door started to swing shut as her swords passed through it. Twilight rushed toward it. “No!” she cried. “Don’t do this to me!” “We’re doing this for you,” Rainbow said. The door slammed shut. Twilight rammed into the steel, bruising her shoulder. “Let me out!” she screamed. She pounded on the door with her hooves. “Let me out!” There was no response. Pure, desperate power built in her horn, surging to a bursting point. The runes around her flared until they were nearly blindingly bright. Lightning jumped from the walls and struck her from all sides. White hot pain seared her mind. The padded floor rushed up to meet her. When her muscles finally stopped twitching, she curled into a ball and cried. The runes had stopped glowing, leaving her in pitch darkness. There was nothing left to do. I’m alone, she thought. They finally left me. How could they do this to me? “I’m alone,” she said. Saying it out loud made it somehow more real. She sniffed and dried her eyes with a foreleg. She pulled herself to her feet. I still have to save Pinkie. “You’re not alone,” the voice of the spectre whispered. “We could be one.” Red eyes floated in the black. Twilight took in a deep breath. The runes stopped her from using magic. But will they stop my divine power? She closed her eyes. She tore down every barrier in her mind. The chains of light dissipated. Her friends weren’t her friends anymore anyway. I deserve this, she thought. I deserve to be strong. She delved deep, submerging herself in shadow. Her power was a means to an end, nothing more. It was a tool for her to use. I will not lie down and die, Twilight though, not without a fight. She grasped the shadows in her core and let them envelop her. Her head swam. Pinkie would fight for me, she thought. Pinkie sacrificed herself for me, just like Star Swirl. She grit her teeth. A dam broke inside her. A dull presser pushed out from inside of her back. I’m not letting her slip away like Star Swirl. I will save her. A swirling red glow enveloped her, lifting her off the floor. Wings spread from her back. She twisted her head, marveling at them. Long black feathers, tinged on the edges with crimson, graced her wings. She was a god. “Finally,” a voice shouted. Like a pane of glass, the cell shattered. Twilight found herself hanging spread-eagled, suspended from manacles around all four of her legs. Her chin slumped against her chest. Alert, she lifted her head. Reflexively, an unfamiliar pair of wings spread from her back. Trixie stood on a platform in front of her, a smirk on her lips. Sombra stood beside her.  “Everything was for this moment,” Trixie said. Twilight glanced wildly from side to side. Pinkie was chained in a similar posture beside her. Her head hung low, and her straight hair fell around her face. Arrayed around them in a diamond, her friends were chained on top of pedestals. One by one, their eyes flickered open. Gags in their mouths kept them silent. “You shouldn’t have come for me, Twilight,” Pinkie said. Trixie and Sombra’s horns lit simultaneously. Every muscle in Twilight’s body tightened. She arched back. A terrible pull encircled her chest, drawing something out of her very core. A shadowy mist seeped out of her, so thick and tangible she didn’t need Truesight to see it. It ebbed into Trixie and Sombra in a pulsing flow. Her wings crumpled in on themselves. Twilight screamed until her lungs were out of air. A slow drain sucked her essence out of her. It felt like hours before the pain passed and she could finally draw breath again. She slumped in her chains. Black feathers fell around her. Nothing was left of her wings. In front of her, Trixie slowly spun, her mouth agape. Black wings spread from Trixie’s back. She flapped them experimentally. “This is certainly a far better option than Lichdom would have been,” Sombra said. He had changed as well. His stature was swollen, and his horn glowed faintly red and curved to a wicked point. Every trace of grey in his hair was gone. With a quick flourish, he draped a red cape over his shoulders. “Dispose of them,” he said, turning away. “They’re worthless to us now.” His cape trailed behind him as he descended steps down from the platform. Trixie looked up at Twilight. “Don’t look so sad, Sparkle, you weren’t using it anyway, not until we made you.” Twilight gasped for air. An empty void tugged at her chest. She hadn’t given her essence up willingly, and something had been left behind. She lifted her head to glare at Trixie as it all started to come together in her mind. Twilight remembered what Pinkie had said while the Grey Wizards dragged her through the portal. ‘It’s all a lie.’ She licked her lips. Illusions, Twilight thought. That’s how Sunset Shimmer made more than one Simulacra. They were fake Simulacra. It had been so real. She focused on the amulet around Trixie’s neck. If it enhanced Trixie’s power, there may not have been subtle inconsistencies in the illusion. “It was you all along, wasn’t it?” Twilight said. "Sunset Shimmer was you." Down the steps, a door slammed shut, marking Sombra’s exit. Trixie grinned. “It took you this long to put it together? Did you really think there was another unicorn wizard alive today that could compare to you? I gave you something that you would believe. I created a nemesis to compete with you so that you would never realize what was truly happening.” She opened Twilight’s manacles with her magic. Twilight plummeted like a stone until she hit the platform. She laid there groaning. Her body had no strength left. “The truth is, there was nothing that could match you. You are so effortlessly talented. So blindingly brilliant.” Trixie delivered a swift kick to Twilight’s ribs, making her curl in on herself. “And you squandered it all!” she shouted. “Luck? A good teacher?!” She kicked Twilight again. “Leave her alone!” Pinkie cried. Trixie leaned in close to Twilight’s ear. “I hate you, Twilight Sparkle! You have everything a pony could want. You have friends that would die for you. Divine power. Incomprehensible magical talent. And you bore it like a curse!” “You had to be so difficult,” Trixie growled. “I couldn’t just take you here and finish the process. Even Sombra couldn’t keep you contained for long. Everything had to be ready. You had to be baited, coaxed, and trapped. It took enormous effort to lead you step by step to a door that showed you your greatest fear. There was no way to fight you directly.” she said. “At least you were predictable. She told me all about you.” Twilight choughed. “Who?” “Chrysalis,” Trixie said. “She knew what magical license you would use to teleport to Canterlot, and she knew every move you would make from there. She knew you would not stop until you found Pinkie, and that you would come right here, right where I wanted you to be.” Trixie placed a hoof on Twilight’s head, pressing her cheek against the stone platform. “And now, I have your power, after capturing you and bringing your Divine Essence to the surface. After saving your life from the Grey Wizards. After dragging you here through the Frozen North when the Thieves Guild didn’t come through.” Trixie ground her hoof down. “You didn’t even have to work for it. You were just born with it, and still, you never took credit for it.” Trixie spread her black wings. “If you ever leave this place, you will gaze up at me in envy. I will be Great and Powerful, not you!” She picked her hoof up off of Twilight's cheek and stomped down. Something cracked in Twilight’s nose. Blood seeped from her face. Her head swam. As her vision faded, she watched Trixie walking away, black wings spread wide. Death isn't nearly enough for you, Trixie.