Twilight Sparkle had faced a great many trials in her relatively short life. She was still in her late twenties, but had been through incredible things most ponies could never dream of more times than she could remember. However, for the first time Twilight felt as though lives could really be on the line.
Twilight had never seen a pony die by some miracle, but she had just witnessed two fallen evils return from beyond the grave.
Spike had ordered Twilight to leave for exactly that reason, being as he was made of much tougher stuff. She felt horrible for leaving him, but Twilight knew the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Spike could handle himself, and Twilight knew she needed to get Shining up and moving.
Somehow.
Twilight had managed to teleport everyone into the castle, and had ordered all non-guard castle personnel to stay holed up in the study until someone came for them. It was down to around forty of the guards, Twilight, an unconscious Shining Armor, and a jittery Wordplay.
The guards were all strategically placed around the throne room, their current base of operations. Twilight had Shining Armor propped up against his throne, and was currently trying to meditate in hopes of speeding the rate her mana recovered at. Teleporting a whole group was almost as tiring as trying move Spike.
"Twilight...? Is Spike going to okay?" Wordplay asked meekly, not really wanting to disturb Twilight.
Twilight sighed and gave up on her meditation. There was simply too much going on for her to focus. Wordplay had simply been the nail in the coffin.
Twilight opened her eyes, looking to the normally vibrant floor of the crystal palace.
"I don't know. I'd like to say yes, but things don't look good. I'm almost completely tapped out on magic, and Shining is so low on mana he can't stay conscious. Spike is one heck of fighter, especially if he can keep up with my big brother. But we're dealing with some serious dark magic, likely older than Celestia and Luna. I'm out of ideas." Twilight admitted, just loudly enough for only Wordplay to hear.
Wordplay nodded, already knowing things were likely at their darkest.
Wordplay too felt helpless, just as all the crystal ponies had felt under the hoof of Sombra. Wordplay desperately wished to help, but she was no alicorn, or dragon, or even a competent magician. Her special talent was words and word-games. Which only served to give her a good range of options on how to describe the dire situation.
But Wordplay knew other things than just words too. She knew Twilight Sparkle is the most competent mage of the century, that their king wouldn't fall so easily, and that she felt a personal debt of gratitude to Spike.
"Twilight, is it possible to give King Shining my mana?" Wordplay asked, phrasing it as more of a suggestion.
Twilight examined Wordplay, and aside from being emotionally exhausted she seemed fine. It seemed likely that Wordplay would still have an ample mana supply, at least for an average unicorn.
"It's possible, but only for higher level unicorns. I can take it, and give it to Shining myself. It's uh... just gonna be kind of awkward." Twilight answered uneasily.
"Awkward how?" Wordplay questioned.
Twilight blushed, but knew the situation was too dire to pass up an opportunity like this.
"I need to cross horns with you, and we need to take each others hooves until the process is complete. I'll do all the work, I just need you to keep calm and stay still." Twilight explained.
Wordplay consented, and without hesitation leaned in to Twilight, crossing their horns. Had Wordplay been just a bit off the two would have kissed. Twilight and Wordplay were both a bit embarrassed, but they took each others hooves as needed.
Twilight lit her horn, and without her knowing it Wordplay's horn responded in kind. Twilight's magenta aura soon arced with similarly colored electricity, conducting to Wordplay's horn. As soon as it hit, Wordplay's golden aura was tinted magenta and she began to feel very tingly.
The sensation of getting her mana siphoned away wasn't unpleasant, as Wordplay thought it might have been. She felt as though she was drunk, or lightly anesthetized. While Wordplay felt herself becoming tired, it also seemed to ease her nerves. Likely due to the fact that she was in such close proximity to Twilight.
Twilight wasn't experiencing the same sensation. Quite the opposite actually. She could feel herself becoming less fatigued, but still not fully refreshed. Though Twilight found herself a bit more distracted than she would have thought, looking into Wordplay's big, half-lidded, golden eyes.
After a few minutes of seemingly too-comfortable closeness, Twilight stopped the process. She left Wordplay with enough mana to function, and even use some minor levitation magic in a pinch. Luckily, Wordplay seemed to have a fairly large mana pool to work with, even though she didn't know many helpful spells.
Twilight began funneling the mana into Shining, the process being much easier when Twilight herself was the source. Twilight gave her brother everything she could spare, leaving herself only enough to function. Shining was the king, and it was only right that he be the one to aid Spike once he was able.
As soon as she was finished, Twilight and Wordplay sat in silence for a couple minutes. Wordplay nervously rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, then looked back to Twilight. She was unable to handle the quiet any longer, especially with the question that was on her mind.
"So, uh... Probably not the best time, but do you maybe wanna grab a drink if we survive? Maybe dinner? If you don't want to it's fine, just... I dunno? I'm suddenly very aware of my own mortality... And how pretty your eyes are."
Twilight blushed a shade of red that would have given Big Macintosh a run for his money, having never seriously considered a relationship with a mare. However, after spending a fair bit of time with Wordplay on her stay and their very recent extended physical contact it seem like an interesting prospect.
"Uh... Sure? It's been forever since I've dated, but why not?" Twilight accepted bashfully.
Unfortunately, before anything else could be said Shining began to stir.
"Ugh... What's happened? I feel like I just OD'd on punches."
Twilight and Wordplay helped Shining up. Twilight pulled her confused brother into a hug once he was stable. Shining reciprocated, and meanwhile looked around the throne room. The normal light the crystal palace gave off was growing continually dimmer, reminding him of what had happened.
Shining broke free of Twilight's grip, holding her across from him by the shoulders.
"Twilight, where is Spike? Where's the monster? Why are we back in the castle?"
Twilight could barely look Shining in the eye, but she wouldn't lie to her brother.
"Spike is out there fighting that thing. You were drained, and the citizens needed to get out of the area. Spike told me to take everyone and leave, so we could all be safe. But for now, we need to come up with a plan." Twilight informed Shining guiltily.
Shining's eyes dilated at the thought of Spike out there alone with the macabre creature that had once been Sombra and Chrysalis.
Shining quickly fired a blast of energy at the crystal atop his throne, triggering the secret passage that had once been used by Sombra.
Now it was the castle's armory, full of all manner of unpleasant weapons.
"Guards! Suit up, full gear! Squadron one is unicorns in binding formation, bows for backup! Two is pegasi with with wing-blades! Three is earth ponies with side-shields and mouth-swords! You've got three minutes before we march!" Shining bellowed, gaining the attention of every guard in the castle.
Each and every guard swiftly made their way down the staircase, determined to serve king and country. They all switched to heavier duty armor, and the unicorns armed themselves with bows and crystal arrows, the pegasi with wing armaments that made their extra limbs deadly, and the earth ponies were wearing tall shields off either side of their armor, making them walls as much as warriors.
Twilight and Wordplay each donned some protective gear and a sword each to be safe. Shining however had donned a gleaming suit of silver-colored armor, complete with a tall blue comb on the helmet and a matching sword at his side. On the other side was a metal shield matching the one on Shining's cutie mark. It too was outlined in silver, and it seemed attached to the armor. All Shining would need to do to block an attack was turn himself in time.
Such preparedness was the best option while magic was so scarce between Shining and Twilight.
Twilight had rarely seen her brother look so focused, having never truly witnessed Shining in his element. It was easy to forget that beneath the goofball she knew was a hardened soldier, but Twilight was currently looking him in the face. Had Twilight not known her brother would never harm her she would have been scared, but as they were about to head to the battlefield together it was reassuring.
As soon as everyone was fully prepared, Shining stood before his three squadrons with Twilight and Wordplay at either of his sides.
"Ponies of the Crystal Empire! Today is a dark day for us. Two enemies long dead have returned from the grave, catching us all unaware. Now Spike, someone we all know and love is out there fighting for us. We owe Spike a great deal. Me especially.
"So let's go defend our country, for ourselves, for our families, and for our hero! The Crystal Empire will never fall again!" Shining cried out, motivating the troops.
The response was uproarious, all of Shining's loyal guards heeding the words of their king. With Shining at the head of the forces they marched up out of the armory and out the castle doors. The courtyard was soon filled as the soldiers filtered out of the castle, looking out at the crystal pavilion.
What they saw there was mortifying.
Somblis was patiently standing there, waiting for them. Spike was nowhere to be seen, but another black dome had been erected in the pavilion behind Somblis.
"About time you got here. I've already broken my last toy. I can't wait to play with all these little tin soldiers." Somblis mocked.
Shining Armor saw the fresh coat of red on Somblis's horn, and his heart felt like it had stopped dead.
The very next instant, Shining lit his horn. With tears dripping from his eyes Shining released all his magic in one go.
Around himself Shining Armor had formed a great sphere of energy, three layers thick. It was a massive version of the move Shining Armor had tested out against Spike weeks ago. The outer layer was covered in spikes, and the whole thing was three times the size of Somblis itself.
Shining Armor was exhausted, and obviously breathing heavily. He could feel his mana reserves were once again dangerously low, but Shining Armor was fighting his body's urge to succumb to unconsciousness again. Shining needed to hang on, at least until Somblis had been reduced to a fine paste.
"*huff* Gonna *huff* kill you *huff* again!" Shining wheezed angrily.
Somblis sneered in response, anticipating Shining's reaction.
As soon as Shining got the death-ball rolling Somblis attempted to dodge. Unfortunately, it found itself unable to move. The unicorn squadron was holding it in place with bindings made of mana. Before Somblis could do anything about them, Shining Armor's attack was upon it.
Somblis was flung into a nearby building, a liquor store to be precise. It smashed through the outer wall at a remarkable speed, causing crystal debris to scatter about.
As the dust cleared, the building and much of the ground around it quickly became pitch-black.
Somblis was standing in the wreckage, several serious injuries marring it's already disgusting form. The energy stolen from the building's crystal served to heal the wounds, knitting the gross monster's flesh back together.
"That hurt. Fortunately, I am all powerful here. With all the crystal of this land I am unstoppable, but I will continue to humor you for a time." Somblis grinned maniacally.
Somblis's horn glowed a deathly poison-colored purple, but was soon caught off guard as the pegasus squadron took wing.
With speed unlike one would expect an armored pony to have, Somblis found itself being circled and occasionally being nicked by wing blades. Somblis growled, standing still and ignoring the cuts in it's shell-covered flesh. Within another few seconds of charging its horn Somblis had readied another spell.
The wing-blades of the pegasi flying around Somblis were assaulted by purple magic. Within a few moments the once lethal weapons rusted to nearly nothing.
Shining Armor whistled and the pegasi squadron retreated.
It seemed the considerable time Shining had spent molding his ponies into a well-oiled military machine were paying off. At the very least things didn't seem to be getting any worse.
Shining went in for another smash at Somblis while the earth pony legion slashed at it with their swords. Between the two, Somblis couldn't defend and took to the air.
It appeared that it's undersized wings were functional, but not on par with the speed of the average pegasi. Taking a moment, Somblis used it's air superiority to draw in more energy from the empire itself.
Shining watched Somblis heal it's wounds, a powerful glare on his face.
"Twilight?! Can you manage a spell that can ground this thing?!" Shining shouted down to his sister.
Twilight knew a great number of spells that could have been useful, but without ample mana to fuel them the situation looked dire. But just as Twilight was about to tell Shining there wasn't anything she could do, Wordplay of all ponies took up arms.
Having dove into the demolished liquor store when nopony was paying attention, Wordplay had crafted a number of Molotov cocktails.
Using what little energy she had left, Wordplay flung the bottles at Somblis. The effect was rather immediate, and the resurrected villains found themselves burning.
She is getting the biggest hearth's warming bonus. Shining thought to himself as he began running at Somblis once more.
Just as soon as Somblis hit the ground Shining rolled over it with the death-ball at high speed. Shining even went so far as to keep it in place while it spun, doing as much damage to the undead monstrosity as possible.
"ENOUGH!" Somblis roared.
Shining's death-ball's first two layers shattered, blowing Shining a fair distance away. The last protective layer burst once Shining landed, but the king was quickly picked up by some of his soldiers. As Shining recovered his balance, he and the others watched Somblis in a rage.
Somblis's horn lit up with a frightening, dark intensity like never before. In one go, Somblis had begun to drain every last bit of magic the empire had to offer. Not only did the grievous injuries it's body had just sustained heal, but Somblis began to grow to a tremendous size.
Very quickly, every bit of crystal in the empire was darkened pitch black and even the coats of all the ponies became duller than ever before. All of them becoming poor, pale imitations of their original colors.
"I have to admit you've harmed me more than I thought possible, but the novelty of playing with you lot has worn off."
Somblis's horn once more glowed a sinister dark purple that could be almost distinguished as black. A terrible sphere of malign energy coalesced above Somblis, growing more and more. Before very long it seemed as though it would be large enough to wipe Shining, his troops, Wordplay, and Twilight off the face of the earth.
Shining Armor took his sword from it's sheath in defiance, but found his neck was too tired to support the added weight. For all his efforts, it appeared as though Somblis had won. It was a miracle in itself that Shining was standing, having exhausted his magic twice in the span of a little over an hour.
Wordplay and Twilight had taken to passing around the surviving bottles of liquor, seeing few other options. It appeared that it was now or never to share a drink. Albeit not how either of them would have liked it.
Just as Somblis was about to let the ball drop, a burst of light filled the empire. It originated from the direction of the crystal pavilion, which had until now been encased in another black dome. The light was powerful and blue, the color of the crystal heart.
The light seemed to burn Somblis, and the dark sphere was obliterated by it's purity.
When the light gave out and everyone's vision returned to normal, a true miracle stood in the crystal pavilion.
A purple dragon the size of a castle, with each and every scale glittering with crystal magic. The sight of their hero rising out from the darkness rekindled the hope in the hearts of the crystal ponies, and brought tears of joy to their king.
"Spike." Shining Armor cried, knowing everything was going to be alright.