//------------------------------//
// Ultimatum 
// Story: Defenders of Harmony 
// by chillbook2 
//------------------------------//

	I was suddenly… nowhere. Nothing was around me, just white. I was definitely standing on something, I could feel my feet touching the ground. It was both hard and soft, cold and warm at the same time. Interesting. I walked forward a couple steps, when, out of nowhere, a full sized mirror appeared in front of me. I gazed into it and saw I was naked. Slightly concerned, I looked around for anyone. No one but me. Still, I wished I had some clothes. No sooner had I formed the thought, I looked into the mirror again, astonished by the sudden appearance of jeans and a black t-shirt on my body.
“Anybody here?” I called into the nothingness. I turned around and was face to face with a man, grey skinned, black haired, and red-eyed. I say face to face, but he was so tall, I only actually got up to his neck.
“Hello.” he said in a deep, growling voice.
“Hey, I know you! We ran into each other at Jackson’s!” I shouted.
“Really? Is that the only place you know me from?” he said, calmly. I wracked my brain, thinking it over. Oh, yeah. I have seen him besides that.
“You were at Sugar Cube Corner, too.” I said, proud that I figured it out. Then something clicked. “Wait a second. How did I see you in Jackson’s and Sugar Cube Corner? For that matter, what was I doing at both places?”
“Finally got there, did you?” he said. “About time, too. That is a good question, by the way. How was I both in Equestria and on Earth? I think you can ask a slightly better question, though.” I thought about it, and something else odd came to mind.
“Who are you?” I asked, a little frustrated. He was making me feel stupid, and I didn’t like it.
“There you are. Well, let’s play a game. I always loved games. Guessing games, to be precise. So, guess who I am.” he said. I looked at him hard, concentrating. Just then, I noticed his gray steel armor and sheathed sword. He saw my look of horror and smiled a fanged smile.
“Sombra!” I shouted. “Where are we? What have you done with my friends?”
“Not too bright, are you?” he said, condescendingly. “Think about it! What have you experienced lately?”
“I… lived on Earth for a while. Then I was in Equestria.” I said, slowly piecing together the puzzle.
“Yes, yes, but more than that! What happened in both places?”
“On Earth, it was my birthday. I was hanging out with Isaiah, Robert, and Mat and Pat? Why would I be hanging out with them?”
“Because that is what you want more than anything.” replied Sombra. “Well, that’s part of what you want.”
“I don’t want to be friends with those jerks!” I said.
“No. You want them to not be jerks. What else was on Earth that’s different?”
“My mom. She didn’t hate me.” I replied, remembering. It was like waking from a dream and trying to piece together what happened. “And my dad! He was alive!”
“Yes, he was indeed. Understand now?” said Sombra impatiently. “No? Well, let’s keep going. In Equestria, you were getting married to Fluttershy. Why do you think that is?”
“No idea. I imagine you know. It was probably you who did it.” I said bitterly. Where was Celestial when you needed it? Other things seemed to just materialize, so why not my weapons?
“You aren’t getting your weapons because I have them right here.” said Sombra, raising my gun and sword. “Since you don’t seem to be getting it, I’ll explain. You might want to sit down for this.” Two chairs appeared out of thin air, facing one another. Sombra took one and nudged the other towards me. I sat down carefully, waiting for some sort of explanation.
“Well?” I said, crossing my legs. “Explain.”
“You have tasted two lives, each perfectly imperfect in their own ways. On Earth, you have loving parents, a pretty girl, and the one thing you want more than anything: to fit in. All you want is to be accepted and loved, so I showed that to you. In Equestria, you had no parents, five close friends, and a beautiful fiance, who you were going to marry in the morning. I gave you a peek at the only other thing you could want: Fluttershy.”
“Why would you show me that? What do you gain?” I asked, leaning forward.
“Me? I gain nothing. It’s what you gain. And what you gain is the perfect life. If you play my game, of course.”
“It’s always a game when you have power. Give someone too much control, and they stop taking things seriously.” I said, unamused. “Not that I’m bending to your demands, but what’s the game?”
“The game is simple.” said Sombra, pulling Lunar from off of his lap. He chambered a single round and passed it to me, grip first. I grabbed it, confused. Was this some sort of trap?
“Why are you giving this to me?” I asked.
“So you can play the game.” he said, standing up. “The game is this: I’ve shown you two lives, your two perfect lives. Choose.”
“What?” I asked. I didn’t understand.
“Choose.” he repeated, snapping his fingers. Next to him appeared my mother, wearing an apron, and Fluttershy, wearing a wedding gown. “You have one bullet in your gun. You can choose your mom or your wife-to-be. Whoever you shoot will be erased from your reality. You will be inserted into the moment when you left, with no memory of this or your past. You will remember things that never happened, your time with Fluttershy or your past with your mother. It will be as if you had lived that life in that world your entire life.”
“You want me to choose? What’s the catch?” I asked.
“No catch. There is no way for you to lose this game. Whatever makes you happy will become real. So what will it be? You can be Christian Brookes on Earth, or Silver Rift in Equestria. Just pick.”
“I have to pick? Why would I do that when I can just go and be both?” I asked.
“Because it’s the only way out of here. You must decide, or you will rot here for all of eternity.” he laughed. “So, maybe I lied when I said you couldn’t lose. It’s just really hard.”
“Where are we?” I asked fearfully.
“We are in your subconscious, deep in the recesses of your mind. But that’s besides the point. Just choose. Is it that really so hard? Why can’t you just decide? It won’t hurt them. It’s mostly symbolic. I was going to give you the sword and say you had to ‘sever the bonds you had’ but that seemed overdone. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you, whatever your choice may be. You deserve happiness, so I’m just trying to give it to you.”
“I can pick which life I want? And no one will be hurt by it?” I asked. 
“No one will even notice. You have to decide, though.” growled Sombra. Could I? Could I really choose one over the other? I turned Lunar over in my hands, thinking. I would be happy either way, so what was the big dilemma? I just had to choose.
“Flutters or Mom?” I said to myself. I took my time, thinking it over once more. Finally, I had reached a decision. I pointed the gun at my target and gripped the butt of my gun. I aimed carefully and took a deep breath, when suddenly my brain felt a quick ZAP! What was I doing?! I couldn’t do this! There had to be another way. I lowered the gun, thinking again.
“What are you doing?!” asked Sombra angrily. “You must choose!”
“I’ll choose, after I explain my choice to you. You okay with that?” I said. “Good. You see, I just figured out what you’re trying to do. You are trying to destroy me, destroy what I am and what I stand for.”
“No, of course not!” said Sombra.
“Yes, you are. But, ya know, I learned something a while ago, from my mother. Me and my mum didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but she gave me good advice, advice I follow to this day. Whenever I felt like quitting, she would remind me of something. She would say ‘Everything in life has two abilities. They have the ability to create and the ability to be conquered.’ And this ‘game’ of yours is not my favorite thing in this world. I just have to find a way to conquer it. You see, you’re evil, pure evil. But even evil does not destroy.”
“Evil doesn’t destroy? Then what do you call what I did to the Crystal Empire?” he asked smugly.
“Creation. You created the necessary strength for your victims to keep fighting. Even now, as you try to destroy my life, you are creating power, power for me to make a choice.” I said, raising Lunar.
“So, you will still choose? What will it be?” growled Sombra.
“Well, I was going to shoot my mom.” I said, pointing the gun at her. “But then, I thought, ‘Eh, maybe I’ll shoot Flutters.’” I turned the gun onto Fluttershy.
“Which is it?!” cried Sombra. “You must make a choice.”
“You say that whichever life I pick, I’ll win. You are wrong. If I pick either of these I will lose.”
“So pick the one where you’ll lose less.” said Sombra angrily.
“Ah, but I can pick the third option.” I said knowingly.
“There is no third option! You must pick between the two!”
“You said whoever I shoot will be erased from my reality.” I said, placing Lunar’s barrel against my temple. “What if I want to erase myself from this reality?”
“What are you doing?!” yelled Sombra. He seemed to be losing it.
“I don’t want to make this choice, so I’ll remove myself from a world in which I have to. You had me backed against the wall, Sombra, and I was gonna make a choice, but you made the mistake of giving me a way out. You underestimated my intelligence, and I’ll make sure you regret it, that’s for damn sure.”
“What are you doing?!” repeated Sombra.
“What am I doing?” I said, gripping Lunar. “I’m winning. Isn’t that what you wanted?” And I pulled the trigger.
BOOM!



I opened my eyes slowly. I looked down at my right arm and noted the IV needle. I sat up and ripped it out of my arm. I turned to my right and saw Conjure standing at a counter, flipping through files. I jumped to my hooves and stretched out my back. Ugh. Stiff, like I had been sleeping for a while. I shrugged it off and examined my side. Someone had bandaged it up. It was sore, but otherwise I was fine. Isaiah still hadn’t turned around.
“Hey. What’s up?” I said cheerfully. “I’m awake! We should plan a new attack.” He jumped at the sound of my voice. He turned around quickly, staring at me. He stepped up to me and tapped my nose softly. He stepped backwards and punched the air.
“Hell yeah!! It worked!! I am a genius!” he shouted with excitement.
“Someone’s excited. Jesus, I was only out, what a couple of hours? A day?” I said.
“A couple of hours?” he asked, sorrow replacing his excitement. “Dude, you were out for-”
“It doesn’t matter.” I said, ignoring him. I ran out of my room to an empty hallway with no other rooms. Conjure must’ve been rearranging the house. I ran down to the middle of the hall, looking for a door. I looked down and saw a hidden trap door. I stomped hard, knocking it open. I went into Silver Rift form and floated down. I walked down to the training room, assuming that’s where everypony was. In the middle of the the room were the Mane Six, minus Fluttershy, huddled over a table. Their manes were messy and Pinkie seemed to have just recovered from a bout of tears.
“Hey, guys.” I said. “Where’s Fluttershy?” They turned around quickly, and stared at me. They looked very tired and worn down.
“Oh my…” said Twilight. “Isaiah was right.”
“What exactly was he right about? And where is Fluttershy?” I asked worriedly. I heard a few quick, heavy hoof-falls from behind. I turned around and saw Fluttershy at the steps. She looked at me and broke into a run. I extended my arms to hug her, but instead was met with a fist.
WHAM!
Fluttershy’s fist collided with my nose, shattering it. I looked up at her and noticed her face, covered in dirt and scars.
“You asshole!” she shouted angrily. “You have some nerve coming back now. I’m going to go for a quick flying. If you’re smart, you won’t be here when I get back.” She left the room in a fury.
“Wad happened do ‘er?” I asked through a mouthful of blood. She messed me up bad. “How did she gid so strong?” It was Rainbow who spoke.
“She had three years to work out. She took advantage of it.”
“Three years? Wad are you talking about?” Twilight walked over to me and fixed my nose with her magic.
“I’m sorry, Silver. I’m so, so sorry. You’ve been dead for three years.”