Universe Alternate 3 ( What if Sombra was never stopped when the Crystal Empire returned after being gone 1000 Years)
And with that the two were back in Cloudsdale, ready to try and stop Starlight Glimmer from reprehensibly altering the past. As soon as Glimmer appeared Twilight didnt hesitate to launch herself in the air and lob several bolts of magic at Starlight Glimmer. They both exchanged fire a few times, before the next Portal opened up, This time Twilight grabbed Starlight and pulled her in to the time vortex , along with Spike and the time spell. As soon as they were through the portal, Starlight had a wounded look on her face. They were near the Cutie Map and Twilight's Castle was gone, but what shocked Starlight was how desolate and empty the town and the Surrounding area was.
"Is this a joke or something?" she spit out at Twilight.
" This is no joke, i wanted you to see what this quest for Revenge is doing to Equestria." Twilight retorted back at her, "Everything we did do, even the smallest amount affects the Future. You want equality for every pony, but you never realized the actions or consequences." she snarled. As they walked back to town, Starlight couldn't bare to take anymore of this in. She let Twilight and Spike hold onto the map.
"I.. I've never realized," Starlight was stunned by the realization that her quest for revenge had put all of Equestria in danger," how petty i was to try and get Revenge when it was doing so much more damage to others." She lamented.
"Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom not only connected me to my friends Starlight," Twilight felt somewhat pained as she said this,"But it was part of my destiny." She finished.
"I learned from an old book , that six mares were destined to form a connection and protect Equestria from danger," she went on," but because of you destiny was broken and thus allowed the various foes my friends and i had beaten to be victorious, which only made things worse" Twilight hoped that this was enough to finally convince Starlight to give up their duel. What finally broke her was their next stop. As soon as they got to where they were going, Twilight and Spike were shocked at what they saw. And Starlight finally let it all sink in. Everything that had happened was her fault.
She had to find a way to make amends for her arrogance.
Most of Ponyville was a ghost town, the Carousel Boutique was Boarded up, and so was Sugar Cube Corner. Things didn't feel right in this reality much less the other 2 that Twilight had encountered. But at least in the other 2 she was able to get most of it right. As they got closer to Sweet Apple Acres she could tell the air was getting darker. It wasn't until they rounded the corner that she realized that it had been industrialized for some reason. As they approached the barn, a tan mare with camouflaged clothing and a blonde mane hidden under a hair net came out pushing Barrels to a wagon. The Mare looked up to see Twilight and asked her if her and her friends were lost. Twilight realized that it was Applejack, but she got the sense that this version wouldn't know who she or Spike were, so asked why the town looked abandoned. Aj told Twilight that most of the Ponies had moved to support the War Effort. " what war effort?" Twilight asked. " Uh, you know , the war against King Sombra and Crystal Empire."
Not this Twilight thought, as if Running into Chrysalis was bad enough, Because of Starlight's mucking up of the timeline, Sombra was alive in this one? Ughhhh, she thought to herself. Part of Twilight wanted to strand Starlight here so she could see first hand how time travel was just was dangerous as it could be beneficial for quietly observing the past.
Out of nowhere Starlight collapsed on the ground. Twilight could immediately tell she wasn't 'faking'. Twilight thanked AJ for the information and let her get back to her job. She teleported Starlight to the nearest hospital in range of her magic. She wasn't prepared for what she saw when they got there. Half of the rooms for the Clinic were full of wounded. another thing that got to Twilight's heart was that in 2 of the Hospital Rooms were both Princess Celestia and a young pink pony. She stopped a nearby doctor and asked him what happened to PRiness Celestia, when asked if she was related or not, she told him was a cousin of the Princess. He told her that the Princess had been badly injured fighting King Sombra but that she was in stable condition. She walked to the other pony and gasped when she saw that it was Pinkie Pie. She asked the doctor about Pinkie and what he told her made her heart nearly crack in half.
"She was admitted here with 2 others. One was identified as her sister, Maud Pie, who i regret didn't survive surgery, and the other was a blue coated Pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash. She's in a room down the hallway to the left, if your interested in speaking with her. The doctor could tell without asking that Twilight might be the one pony to lift RD's spirits. Even though it was sort of against policy to just let her in there.
She got to Rainbow Dash's room and knocked on the door. She heard a raspy voice say " WHAT."
She opened the door and there on the bed was Rainbow Dash. This one had Scars over most of her body, presumably from the war. She turned to look at Twilight and nearly passed out. Without words Rainbow Dash could almost read the emotions coming off of Twilight's face. Twilight sat next to her and cupped a wing over Rainbow Dash. Dash didn't even question the act, even as Twilight pulled her close and hugged her. Dash could also feel the rage that was building inside Twilight. A rage towards a certain Shadow Pony. I'm going make him suffer for this she thought, for making this world so hellish. Twilight told Rainbow Dash where she was from and that she was here to fix things from being so screwed up. She also kissed her and told her how much she loved her in her reality.
"Then i guess I'll be waiting for you when you get back there." ,Dashie said coyly.
"I only wish i could stay here though, so i wouldn't be so far from you.", Twilight said this with a voice laced with sadness.
Rainbow Dash pulled her close and lifted her head to where they were looking into each other's eyes.
"I know you'll be there for me in spirit Twi, and i will hold on to that no matter what happens.", Rainbow could tell she had lifted Twilight's spirits a bit. Out of all the darkness around them, Rainbow was the one bright spot in Twilight Sparkle's life.
As they hugged one last time, Twilight whispered something into Rainbow Dash's ear, " I will find a way to fix this, I promise you with all my love." Then she got up and headed to the door. She looked back one last and smiled.
Twilight left the room and looked for the doctor. She thanked him for the information and for taking good care of her "cousin" and for taking care of Rainbow Dash. As she exited the Clinic she could feel her rage starting to burn a hole through her Heart as well was her soul. All this had happened because of Starlight wanting Revenge and not thinking about the Aftermath. Twilight was on the verge of a break down. She could feel that rage swelling inside her, but it wasn't the kind of rage you felt when the world need to be saved, it was the kind of rage you feel when a loved one had been hurt or worse. Twilight understood that there was only one recourse for her. She told Spike to hold on to the time scroll and to stay here at the Hospital with Starlight. And with that she launched herself into the air and set a flight path for the Crystal Empire. With or without the Crystal Heart, she was going to make Sombra suffer for causing this war, but on top that, it also became personal. She was going to make him suffer for what he'd done to Rainbow Dash. Twilight had known for some time now that she and Rainbow Dash had a closer connection that they did with any of the others. They loved each other with every fiber of their being. One wasn't complete without the other so to speak.
As she neared the front lines, she could hear shouts in the air and on the ground. She could hear the screams and tortured moanings of the Troops as they clashed. She could she the Aerial Combat units swooping down and assaulting Sombra's ground forces. and then she saw him. There standing on a towering rock formation, shouting orders to his troops and laughing manically, was King Sombra. She knew what she had to do, and she to do it without him noticing. Twilight flew high enough to where he wouldst hear or at least have the time to respond. She was heading for the one place that King Sombra had hoped no one would go. The top spire of the Castle, the spire in which he had hid the Crystal heart. Twilight know that was the one way to stop him, she didn't let her doubt seep into her mind at all. She had to stay focused and save what was left. What she didn't expect was that in this Reality, Sombra wasnt the only villain that was Free. The Guards around the area where the Crystal Heart was located was nonexistent. Most of the Cryrtal Ponies were off Fighting Celestia's Forces.
As Twilight snuck past them and into the room, she saw the Crystal Heart, and a vaguely familair Statue. What was the Statue of DISCORD doing in the Crystal Empire?!?! She put that aside and stayed focused on the task at hand, She levitated the heart over to her and teleported herself and the Heart to the center of the Courtyard. Before King Sombra could react she put the Crystal Heart in the center. The ground started to thrum with sound. Two pillars erupted from the ground and from the ceiling of the castle and held the Crystal heart in place.
An intense energy field erupted from the Crystal heart and expanded outwards, causing King Sombra to feel a burning sensation as he watched his coat glow and start to crack under the intensity of the positive magic, Suddenly he exploded right where he was standing, The light beams causing his essence to be erased from existence. All of the Crystal ponies that been fighting for him through the use of his dark magic, became disoriented and took off their helmets. But she knew that wasnt the end of it. She had seen the direction his horn had gone after the magic explosion. She found without much difficulty. As she neared the area, Sombra had already retaken his form. She landed near him, and glared at him.
"SO you think you challenge me wretch?", he said with traces of contempt.
" I'm going to kill you.", Twilight spat back. This was no longer about just saving what was left. This about revenge. Then an unexpected guest appeared next to Twilight. Rainbow Dash had been checked out of the hospital and given an ok to fly. Somehow she knew she had to be there with Twilight when she confronted the King of Shadows.
"Don't worry Twi, i'm only here to watch you beat the ever living crap out of him.", Rainbow told her mare friend.
Almost like a blessing Twilight unleashed hell on Sombra. The King couldnt believe his eyes as she hit him with her most powerful magic spell and then procceded to pummel him repeatedly. Then he felt the strangest sensation. He couldnt move. Something else startled him. His horn... was BROKEN?!?!?!. Twilight had used a spell to restrain him while she ripped his horn right off his forehead and smashed it on the ground. The last thing Sombra saw was red, as She incinerated him with a fire blast.
Her and Rainbow Dash hugged before they flew back to the hospital to check on Spike and Starlight Glimmer.
There was general confusion but after awhile they started walking up to Celestia's Forces and surrendering. She and Rainbow Dash landed and then went to see how Spike was doing. As soon as they to the door, Celestia was standing before with a confused look on her face.
" How did you... I thought you failed the Entrance Exam Twilight.", Celestia was still confused.
Twilight Explained that she was from an alternate reality, once in which her and her friends had helped to stop Sombra from taking over. It was with that knowledge that she was able to infiltrate Sombras castle just now and find the Crystal Heart and save what was left.