//------------------------------// // Chapter 68- Breached // Story: Of Flame and Shadow // by Garuda IV //------------------------------// Since he'd told Twilight, Soul's kept his attention focused solely on Sombra. After a while had passed with him not moving from his spot, Soul began to grow bored. However, his brow furrowed when Sombra suddenly began to move closer to Cadence's barrier. "He's moving, Twilight," he called out. Ever since the crystal guard engaged Sombra's army, Twilight and Celestia ceased their supportive fire and took a moment to rest themselves. "Can you tell us where, Soul?" Twilight asked. "Yeah. He's coming closer." Hearing this, Cadence strengthened her barrier a little more and smirked. "In that case, he'll find getting through my barrier a challenge," she confidently proclaimed. "He failed to break through last time, and ever since then, Shiny's been helping me improve my defensive spells. If he couldn't get through before, then I doubt that he'll get through now." "Well, he didn't exactly do much to put pressure on your barrier before," Spike pointed out. "Last time, all he did was wait you out until you exhausted yourself." "Either way, I think we may find out," Soul spoke up. "He just stopped outside of your barrier, Cadence, and is just standing there." Seconds later, Cadence winced and yelped in pain as she felt her barrier being torn open before it sealed itself back up. Her eyes widening in fear, Cadence walked over to the ledge facing the direction she felt the breach come from, and where Soul had been staring at. "My barrier has been breached!" she said in a panic, immediately gaining everyone's attention. With fear in her eyes, she looked down to Soul. "Where's Sombra right now?!" Maintaining his senses, Soul quickly spotted Sombra's position, but had a look of confusion as he did. "That's weird," he muttered to himself before looking up to Cadence. "He's still outside." "But he opened up my barrier! Why would he do that if he wouldn't pass through it?!" "It is curious," Celestia commented. "What I'm more curious about," Twilight began, "is why Sombra would even try it. I mean, even if he did somehow manage to break through your barrier, Cadence, he would still have to deal with the Crystal Heart keeping him out." "Okay, okay, so let's go through what we know," Rainbow said as she paced around while hovering. "We have an evil king who's come back for revenge, he just broke through a barrier that he wasn't able to before, just to not go through it in the end, and to top it all off, he did all of that probably knowing that the Crystal Heart is still here to keep him out. Now, did I miss anything, or is that about it?" "She's right," Cadence agreed. "Sombra's smart enough to know that the Crystal Heart is still active, so it wouldn't make any sense for him to do this." "Unless he wasn't alone right then," Celestia spoke in thought. "Soul, can you sense anypony else near Sombra's location?" Focusing his senses, Soul felt for any emotions other than Sombra's anywhere in that area. However, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Princess Celestia, but I can't tell," he answered. "If there is somepony else over there, then their emotions are being overshadowed by Sombra's." Frowning at the thought of Sombra working with somepony, Celestia looked over the others. As she did, she gave a small chuckle when her sight came over Rainbow as she anxiously shifted her weight around on her hooves, and her wings fluttered. Hearing Celestia, the others turned round to face her. When they did, Rainbow's eyes made contact with Celestia's. "Go ahead, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said with a nod. "But make sure to be careful and come back if you do see somepony down there. Also, for your own sake, do not engage them." Happy to have something to do other than waiting around, Rainbow gave a salute to Celestia before she launched herself off the platform and into the air. Flying around in the air again, Rainbow smiled widely for a moment before focusing on her mission. Reaching the outskirts of the Crystal Empire's houses, Rainbow glided around the area Cadence and Soul talked about. While she did see Sombra standing on the other side of the barrier with a grin on his face as he eyed her, he wasn't the one that she was looking for. But that didn't stop her from taunting him and chuckling to herself when she saw that grin of his fall. Ignoring him, Rainbow hovered high above the ground and looked around anypony who might've entered. However, she wasn't able to see anypony wandering around. And with the massive distance between Cadence's barrier and the line of buildings, Rainbow was sure that if anypony would've made it through that they wouldn't've gotten that far already, even if they were in a gallop. Becoming a little annoyed, Rainbow grumbled to herself and continued the search. "Should've brought Fluttershy with me," she muttered. "She could see a lot better as Flutterbat than I can, even with this moonlight." Spending the next ten minutes searching around, Rainbow still didn't find anypony. With Sombra still outside and nopony inside, Rainbow spared one last glance at Sombra before making her way back to the castle. Once the pegasus was out of sight, Sombra chuckled to himself before it gradually rose into laughter. While at first he'd thought that she might find his companion, he was relieved that she didn't spot any signs of him. If only she'd landed in front of him, then she might've noticed the set of pair of hoofprints in the snow leading towards the Crystal Empire. "Those fools," Sombra chuckled. "They have no idea of what's coming to them... speaking of which..." Lighting his horn, Sombra shot a signal flare up into the night sky. Once it was high above the peak of Cadence's barrier, it exploded in a flash of red light that shown brightly against the darkness of night. Seconds later, a loud screeching sound echoed across the landscape. "Ah, there we go," he said, now looking over towards the area where his army was engaged with the crystal guards. "Now, let's see how you fare against this?" Returning to the castle, Rainbow landed on the platform with a dissatisfied grumble. "Nothing," she spat. "What do you mean, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "Besides Sombra idly standing exactly where Cadence and Soul said he would be, I didn't find anypony else anywhere!" "Did you look around the houses on the outskirts?" Cadence questioned. "Yeah! I searched everywhere from the edge of you barrier, to the first few blocks of the Crystal Empire!" Twilight hummed to herself in thought before she looked back to Soul. "Do you sense anything now, Soul?" "Nothing," he answered with a shake of his head. "Other than Sombra, I can't sense anypony-" Soul went silent as a loud screech echoed throughout the Crystal Empire. Scared by the new sound, Soul quickly found himself shivering in fear as he huddled down beneath Twilight. "W-W-What w-was th-that?" he shakily asked. "Gryphons," Rainbow growled. "Sombra didn't go to Griffonstone and recruit them, did he?" Pinkie nervously asked. "Because I really don't want to have to fight Gilda." "Nah. I doubt that she would join him." "But he does have dark magic," Twilight reminded them. "He could've put them under some kind of mind control spell." "It's not mind control, Twilight." Turning around to face the source of the voice, everyone flinched in surprise when they saw Fluttershy standing at the other side of the platform. However, sometime during Rainbow's return, she had transformed herself into Flutterbat and was now looking back at them with her glowing, blood-red eyes. "Fluttershy?" Celestia wearily called, unsure if that was really her or not. But when Flutterbat smiled and nodded, she let out a small sigh of relief. "Like I was saying, Twilight," Flutterbat continued, "it's not mind control." "How do you know that?" Twilight questioned, watching as Flutterbat pointed a hoof out towards the horizon. "Because I can see them flying towards us," she answered. "And it's not just gryphons, but also pegasi as well." Rainbow walked up alongside her and peered out and saw a black speck in the distance. "Are you sure, Flutters? Because I can barely see them out there." "Didn't I tell you already? As a bat pony, I have much greater eyesight." Flutterbat turned her head towards the battle raging on. "From here, I can also clearly see everypony fighting down there." "Do you see Shining and Dark?" Cadence questioned, getting a small nod in return. "He, Dark, and Princess Luna are leading the charge, but are split up. Princess Luna and Dark are each on their own on either side of the crystal guards, and Shining Armor is up at the front." Twilight had a small smile, but was quickly overtaken by her frown. "Thanks for the update on them, Fluttershy-" "Bat." "-whatever, but we still need to know about these gryphons and pegasi." "Oh, right." She returned her gaze on the incoming fleet. "Like the rest of his army, they are all undead skeletons." "If so, then how is it that they can still fly?" "While they appear to all be skeletal, their wings still have enough skin and feathers to allow for them to fly." "In that case," Celestia began was she too walked up alongside Flutterbat, "we shouldn't waste anymore time." Lighting her horn, Celestia began charging to fire a large beam of magic. Seconds later, she was joined by Twilight, and surprisingly, Rarity. "What? You didn't think that I would stand by and not help my friends, did you?" she innocently asked. "Then why didn't you help them before when they were supporting Dark and Shining Armor?" Rainbow wondered. "Because they also had Pyre with them. Here, the only ones standing between them and Cadence's barrier are Princes Celestia and Twilight." "In that case, I might as well try too," Spike shrugged. "Are you sure, Spike?" Twilight questioned. "I know that you've improved on you magic, and if the tremors in the castle these last two weeks are any indication, you've been practicing it on your own, but it's still going to be tiring for you." As if to answer her, Spike brought his glowing claws together out in front of him to create a green orb of magic. With him and the others charged and ready, they all fired a beam of magic directly at the heart of the enemy fleet. However, before any of their attacks could strike, they were all blocked and neutralized by an invisible force field with the appearance of an aurora borealis before fading again. "Oh, ponyfeathers," Twilight cursed, immediately recognizing the colors patterns. "It's him! It's Lady Aurora's former apprentice!" "Then this isn't looking good for us," Celestia frowned. "We're not only dealing with Sombra, the former Apprentice of Shadow and Death now, but also the former Apprentice of Light and Life." "Was that an anti-magic field?" Rarity asked. "Yes, it was," Twilight answered her. "And if that's the case, then we better go help Cadence reinforce her barrier." "I'm counting somewhere around one thousand of them," Flutterbat spoke. "Between their numbers and the undead unicorns that are bombarding her barrier, she'll definitely need the extra help." "Especially if he's up there with them." "I didn't see any living pony up there, but then again, he could be hidden somewhere within them. Also, before you say anything, Rainbow, no, you're not going out there to fight them." "Oh, come on!" Back down in the middle of the battle, Dark leaped up in the air as he swung his Death Reaver and cleaved a minotaur's head off before conjuring a pillar of fire in front of him. Landing back on the ground, he used the darkness the night provided him and created a swarm of shadowy tendrils all around him. Despite the moonlight shining from above, it didn't negatively affect any of his shadow magic as he thought it would. On the contrary, his shadow magic actually felt like it was being boosted by the moonlight. Wonder if it has anything to do with that magic transfusion Princess Luna gave me, Dark wondered to himself as his tendrils pierced through the surrounding undead, leaving him to think in peace before giving a shrug. I'll have to talk to her about that later and find out her opinion on it. Until then, I guess that I should- Dark was cut off by the sound of screeching echoing across the night sky. Looking up and around, Dark searched for the source of the sound. After a few minutes of searching in the safety of his ring of tendrils, Dark was about to go back to fighting when he saw several colorful lights glowing from the platform where Twilight and the others were. A moment later, he watched as four beams of magic fired out off to the side. Following their trajectory, his eyes widened when he saw the beams all blocked by a wall of multi-colored light. After the beams and the force field faded, Dark then saw a signal flare from Luna, ordering them to regroup. Figuring that this was important, Dark Shadowported back behind their allies just in time for Luna and Shining to teleport in as well. "Princess, what was that?" Dark asked her. "It's the fugitive that Twilight and I tried capturing," she darkly answered. "You mean the alicorn that we've been looking for?" Shining clarified. "The same. I would recognize that aurora borealis anywhere. And if it's protecting whatever the others fired at, then it would mean that he has in fact joined forces with Sombra." "But what were they firing at... and what was that screeching? It kinda sounded like a gryphon." Casting a pair of spells to grant her improved sight and night vision, Luna looked up towards the area where the beams ended. When she did, her eyes widened before canceling the spell. "It would appear that Sombra has a fleet of roughly a thousand pegasi and gryphons flying directly towards he Crystal Empire from the east," Luna informed them. "And it looks like they have an anti-magic field around them," Shining said, noticing how the force field neutralized the magic fired at them. "What now then?" Dark questioned. "We can't leave these guys or else they'll all probably die, but our magic can't do anything against that fleet." "If our magic can't harm them," Luna smirked, "then perhaps a dragon and his fire breath can." Dark gave her a deadpanned look. "As much as I love and had missed the thrill of battle, Princess, I don't think that it would be a good idea for me to fight against a fleet of magicproof pegasi and gryphons." Luna chuckled. "I wasn't talking about you, Dark." Firing another, much larger signal flare into the air, Luna waited until Pyre flew towards them. Bursting into flames, Pyre shrunk himself down and landed safely next them. "What is it?" he grumbled. "I was having fun out there." "Well, you're about to have even more fun," she smirked while pointing a hoof out. "We've just discovered a fleet of one thousand pegasi and gryphons flying in from the east. Also, they appear to have something that's blocking our unicorn magic." There was a glint on Pyre's eyes. "Are you asking me to go fight them?" "If you're feeling like it." Without another word, Pyre launched himself up into the air and in a burst of flames, returning to his normal size as he made his way to intercept the incoming fleet. By the time Pyre was far out of hearing range, Dark grumbled to himself under his breath. "Something up, Dark?" Shining asked. "I should've asked him to breath some fire on me to Amplify myself," Dark answered. "With him gone, we've lost a powerhouse, and I'll need my Amplify to help make up for his absence." "If it's fire that you need, then why don't you just use the fire Pyre left behind?" Luna suggested, but before Dark could answer, Emerald came rushing up to them. "I'm sorry to interrupt," he apologized, "but Lord Dark, we've just gathered a few dozen more of our fallen." Guess I'll just have to absorb his flames later, Dark mentally groaned before addressing Emerald. "Alright, let's go." Dark rubbed his forehead as he followed after Emerald. Once Dark was out of their hearing range, Shining and Luna looked back to each other with matching frowns. "He won't be able to keep this up for much longer," Luna said. "Yeah," Shining sighed. "If he keeps reviving our fallen, then he won't have much left in him for when we fight Sombra and that other guy." "Then let us finish this quickly before that happens." It didn't take Pyre long before he spotted the Sombra's fleet. Once he did, he pumped his wings faster with the intent of increasing his speed and ramming through them. Less than a minute later, Pyre intercepted the fleet and tucked his wings in, quickly diving through their fleet and taking a few dozen of them out in his first strike. However, what he wasn't expecting was to run head-first into a large crystal obelisk that the gryphons and pegasi he ran into were carrying. Landing, Pyre shook the dizziness out of his head and looked down at the black crystal obelisk that was now imbedded into the ground. Picking it up, he began to examine it until he noticed that the horseshoes and gauntlets that the pegasi and gryphons respectively were wearing were glowing for a moment before going out. Examining their gear better, Pyre was able to spot the carvings on them, along with the ones of the four sides of the fifty foot obelisk in his claw. Enchantment ruins, he thought to himself. Increased strength in their horseshoes and gauntlets, and increased durability in the crystal obelisk. Just what are you planning, Sombra? Looking back up, Pyre watched for a moment as Sombra's fleet increased their altitude and speed. Watching as they flew higher until they were above where the cloudline would be, Pyre's eyes slowly widened as he began to piece everything together. Without another thought, Pyre launched himself up into the air and began breathing fire on them. And while his flames did burn most of them away, a large number of the pegasi and gryphons who weren't carrying any obelisks began fighting him back to cover those who were carrying the payloads. Doing his best to ignore them, Pyre continued to target the ones carrying the obelisks, trying to get them down before they got above the Crystal Empire. However, it was being made more difficult with the ones that were attacking him. And while they didn't possess any Draconium to hurt him with, the strength enhancements on them were doing their job when it came to them striking or blocking Pyre as a group. Despite being a Scaleless Dragon, when faced against a few hundred pegasi and gryphons with strength enchantments on them, even Pyre was finding it annoying. Quickly growing tired of this, on his next run, before he made contact with the fleet, Pyre sucked in a quick breath before spewing fires all over them. Why didn't I just do that in the first place? he mentally groaned with an eye-roll. Oh well, at least I'm not getting shot at by freaking unicorn lasers and stuff. Focusing back on track, Pyre rammed into the obelisk closest to him, crashing through the pegasi and gryphons who were carrying it before continuing through another. And while he found this method fun, it was also taking too long as they were closing in on Cadence's barrier. Picking up the pace, Pyre flied above them and breathed his fire breath down below, covering them in his fire before dropping their obelisk into the snow far below, knocking up snow and dirt as it crashed into the ground. A few moments later, pyre had successfully incinerated Sombra's fleet and saved Cadence's barrier from being destroyed. Breathing a sigh of relief and chuckling to himself, Pyre looked proudly at the burning skeletons littering the ground below him. "Hah. And they thought that they would make it," he said cockily with a grin. "Perhaps next time Sombra will think twice before sending such weak-" Pyre went silent as he heard another screech behind him. Snapping around, his eyes widened in dread as he saw that a second, much smaller fleet, had flown in around him from the west. Then, with him hovering in place from shock, Pyre watched in slow motion as they dropped ten black crystal obelisks from hundreds of feet above Cadence's barrier, all aimed around the castle. Getting ahold of himself, Pyre snarled and went after them. While he may not be able to stop the obelisks, he could still at least stop the gryphons and pegasi from doing further harm. Still hidden from sight by his invisibility, the cloaked stallion stood by the Crystal Heart as he awaited the signal. Upon hearing the gryphon's screeching directly above him, he chuckled to himself and turned his gaze to the artifact. "It's finally time," he said with a wide grin. Using his magic, the cloaked stallion grabbed the Crystal Heart with his magic and with after a few tries, he pulled it from its resting spot. With the Crystal Heart removed, he immediately felt its force field fade. At that moment, the sound of shattered glass filled the sky as Cadence's barrier shattered. Throwing his head back, the cloaked stallion laughed out loud as the ten crystal obelisks impacted the crystal floor around the castle. With everything going as planned, the cloaked stallion used his power and bent the light around the Crystal Heart, turning it invisible as he took to the skies with it in tow. Holding her horn with her hooves, Cadence cried out in pain as she collapsed to the ground. With all of their attention focused on Sombra in the south, his army battling the crystal guard in the north, and the fleet that Pyre had fought in the east, they were completely unaware of the smaller group that had snuck up on them from the west. But, despite her barrier shattering under the combined impact, Celestia and Twilight were more concerned with Cadence's health from the severe backlash that had left a large crack in her horn. Combining their magic, Celestia and Twilight began to sooth the whimpering Cadence as they began to mend her horn. While they were busy, the others were on the edge of the platform looking up. "Looks like you'll be getting that action that you've been wanting, Rainbow," Rarity said. "Heh. Looks like it," Rainbow briefly smirked before turning towards Cadence. "But what about Cadence? Is she going to be alright?" "She'll be fine," Celestia said. "If left unattended, the damage could be permanent. However, Twilight and I were able to get on it in time to prevent that." "Will she still be able to cast magic?" Rarity worryingly asked. "In time. She'll be limited to levitation for a while, but after a month or so, she'll be back to normal." While he felt the worry and concern emanating from his friends and family, Souls snapped around as he felt something else. "Princess! Sombra's coming!" he shouted. Maintaining her spell, Celestia's gaze shifted over to him. "Are you sure? The Crystal Heart's force field should keep him out." "Yes. He's coming this way. Also," Soul turned around to directly face the others, "is the Crystal Heart suppose to be moving?" If Sombra's approach didn't catch their attention, then this certainly did. However, to everyone's surprise, the answer didn't come from Celestia or Twilight, but from Cadence. "N-No... it's... not," she weakly answered him. "Did somepony move it?" Twilight wondered. "If so, then why didn't I sense then?" Soul questioned. "And why didn't I see them?" Rainbow asked. A moment of thought later, a realization dawned on Twilight, causing her to facehoof. "Of course!" she exclaimed. "Remember that Sombra's partner has power over light?" "Yeah," everyone but Cadence answered together. "Well, think about it. If he has power over light, that means that he could bend the light around him, just like how Dark can do with shadows." "Alright, but what does that have to do with anything?" Rainbow questioned. "It means that by bending the light around him, he can turn himself invisible," Celestia grimaced, causing Rainbow to snort in anger. "No wonder why I couldn't find him!" she shouted. "That little punk was invisible and hiding the whole time!" Twilight nodded conformingly at Rainbow before she looked to Soul. "Soul, can you track they Crystal Heart's location?" "I can, but it's airborne right now, so it'll be hard for me to keep track of it," he answered. "In that case, you can guide me to it," Rainbow said. "What?" "I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria, remember? With you riding on my back and guiding me, we'll be able to catch whoever's got the heart in no time." "I'm coming too," Flutterbat said, her eyes glowing red with determination. "But I'll be carrying Soul with me, Rainbow. That way, you'll be able to move a lot faster without having to worry about him accidentally falling off." "Are you sure, Fluttersh- bat?" Rainbow questioned, biting her tongue and correcting herself upon receiving a glare from Flutterbat. "I mean, what if this guy comes after you?" Flutterbat gave a loud hiss, revealing her pointed fangs. "I'm not as weak and frail as what I was before, Rainbow. Now, let's get going before he gets away." Crouching down, Flutterbat waited for Soul to get on. Once he was settled down and secured, she and Rainbow flew off to chase after the thief. With them gone, Celestia and Twilight returned their full attention on repairing Cadence's horn while the others stood behind watching them. "Umm, Twilight?" Spike spoke. "Yes?" "What if Sombra comes after us?" "We do what we can for now. Besides, I doubt that he'll find us all the way up here." "You would be surprised," a voice from behind them darkly chuckled. Recognizing that voice, everyone but Cadence turned around to see Sombra standing on the other side of the platform. "It's about time that we met face-to-face, don't you think, Princess Twilight Sparkle?" he mockingly asked before his gaze swept over the others. "Ah, Spike, the Brave and Glorious," he chuckled briefly before glaring at him. "How could I forget about the lizard that helped lead to my downfall? I must say, though, that you do appear to have grown a little since I last saw you." Without thinking, Spike fired a beam of magic from his claws. Taken by surprise, Sombra stumbled back as he was struck in the face. "I'm a lot stronger than I was back then," Spike growled. "So it would seem," Sombra too growled. A second later, he fired a beam of magic at Spike, but was blocked by a golden barrier. "Ah, yes. How could I ever forget about the almighty Princess Celestia?" "You are not welcome here, Sombra," Celestia warned. "Turn yourself in now and no further harm will come to you." Sombra, finding her offer amusing, laughed at her for a while before coming down from it. "Do you really think that I would just surrender like that?" he questioned. "Face it, Celestia, you are without your corrupt sister and the Elements of Harmony. How do you hope in defeating me when I've already won?" "What?" Without warning, Sombra's eyes were suddenly glowing green as he took them by surprise with a spell. When his eyes returned to normal, he was pleased to see that everyone's eyes were complete copies of his own red and green eyes, including the purple mist. As they began to tear up from witnessing their worst fears, Sombra was about to laugh in victory when he saw that Twilight was the only one who wasn't affected by his spell. Casting it again, he waited for her to fall victim to it, but it never came. "What's this now?" he questioned, lighting his horn to run a magic scan on her. A moment later, he arched an eye. "I see. You have been touched by Nocturne, Lord of Death. No matter. Even with my former master's blessing, you're still too weak to stop me." Narrowing her eyes, Twilight sent a pulse of magic through the area, cleansing the others of their curse. However, the damage was done as they were all unconscious from the curse. Gritting her teeth, Twilight levitated them all in her magic and teleported them all to the castle's medical wing. With the others out of the way, Twilight spread her wings and stood firm against Sombra. "Awww. Does the little princess wanting to fight?" Increasing the magical output in her horn, Twilight's magic grew more fierce as the sheer power of it gradually lifted Twilight off of the ground. Her eyes now glowing white with power, Twilight glared at Sombra. "You'll find that I'm a lot stronger than I appear to be, Sombra." A split-second later, Twilight fired a beam at Sombra, hitting him and sending him flying back. But before he could fly off the edge of the platform, Twilight encased the area in a barrier, causing him to crash up against it. Taking a moment to protect herself, and more importantly, her unborn foal, Twilight casted several barriers around herself along with a magical exoskeletal-like shell. Feeling safe, Twilight barely flinched when Sombra fired a blast of magic back at her. Firing a few more beams of magic, Sombra growled as Twilight remained unmoving where she magically hovered. Lighting his horn with a purple and green aura, Sombra sent crystal spikes jutting out from the crystal floor beneath Twilight. When they crashed against her barrier and shattered, Sombra roared, his mane flaring with his anger. Sprouting shadows from his body, Sombra used them to strike out at her barrier. Putting more force behind the strikes and thrusts, Sombra's shadowy tendrils began to put a crack in Twilight's first barrier. Seeing and feeling this, she began firing beams back at him in retaliation. Within seconds, the two were battling it out with Twilight trying to hit Sombra with her magic and blocking him with her barrier, while he would lash out with his shadows, and block with a wall made of crystals. As their fight continued, more effort was put into their spells with Twilight's attacks were now cracking the crystals, and Sombra having sprouted a dozen shadowy tendrils from his body, along with his increase of magical projectiles, and crystals rupturing from the ground below Twilight. Having finally broken through her first barrier, Sombra chuckled as he watched the white glow of power leave her eyes and setting her back on her hooves within her barrier. "You have indeed gotten powerful," he complimented her, "but I can give you even more." "No thanks," Twilight told him. "I don't need power from you." "You may come to regret that decision." Twilight's brow furrowed. "Are you threatening me?" Sombra gave her a sly grin. "Not at all. I'm merely saying that if you were to join me, you could become more powerful than you'd ever imagined. After all, the powers of a queen are far greater than that of a princess." Twilight snorted. "Sorry to disappoint you, Sombra, but that will never happen. Besides," Twilight tapped a hoof to her ring, "I'm already engaged, and I don't think that my fiancé would appreciate you trying to take us from him." While she remained firm and unmoving on the outside, Twilight was squealing giddily on the inside for having called Dark her fiancé for the first time. Having not noticed it before, Sombra's eyes widened in fury when he finally saw the silver ring around Twilight's horn. With a roar loud enough to echo throughout the Crystal Empire, Sombra shifted his body into a mass of shadows and encircled Twilight and her barrier. However, when he did, he was further angered upon seeing Twilight smiling to herself. "What's so funny?!" he shouted. "Your tricks won't work on me," Twilight answered. Seconds later, she casted Soul Eyes on herself and gazed into the shadows. "I can see where you're hiding inside those shadows. Tell me the truth, Sombra. You were never really able to actually convert your body into shadows, were you? You only use them to conceal yourself." "SILENCE!" As though as one, every inch of Sombra's shadows that brushed against Twilight's barrier compressed on it, cracking her second barrier. With a few more pushes, Sombra broke through her second barrier, leaving her with two left. But before he could begin working on the next one, Twilight used her magic and held Sombra in place. With Sombra held firmly in her hold, Twilight began to fire a laser out of her horn directly at Sombra's chest. However, when her laser had hit him, she didn't stop and instead continued to burn a hole into his armor. And while it was working from the sounds of his pained roars, she soon found her laser blocked by another wall of crystals. Grunting, Twilight yanked Sombra towards her, pulling him through his crystal wall and face-first into her barrier. Now close and personal, Twilight brought her horn to the edge of her barrier and blasted Sombra with inches between his face and her horn. Canceling the spell, Twilight looked up to see that Sombra's shadows were gone, and all that remained of the area where he stood was a scorch mark on the crystal floor. Sighing in relief, Twilight turned around to see if he had somehow gotten behind her when she felt another of her barriers shatter. Wincing from it breaking, Twilight blinked and saw that crystals were jutting at her barrier in all directions from all around her. Sending a pulse of magic out, Twilight shattered the crystals with ease. However, with all of the magic she'd spent, and the side effects of her pregnancy, Twilight began to feel a little woozy. Sitting herself down to rest, she canceled the barrier that was holding Sombra in with her to conserve her magic. "You're not looking so good," Sombra said with a laugh. "Perhaps you'll rethink my offer now?" While Twilight didn't want to admit it, Sombra was right about how she wasn't feeling as well as what she should be. Remaining silent, she lit her horn again to create another barrier along with launching three signal flares. It's only a matter of time now, she mentally assured herself. Seconds later, she felt her barrier coming under siege again and began pumping more magic into it to reinforce it. I just hope one of them gets here soon. Wanting to draw this out until help arrived, Twilight began mixing her attacks up and distracting him by launching fireballs and lightning bolts. As she was casting those, she began to subtly cover the floor outside of her barrier in a thin layer of ice. With Sombra distracted and the floor iced-over, Twilight then used her magic and created a gust of wind, blowing a confused Sombra across the ice before he sprouted a crystal behind him and stopped his movement. However, while he did manage to stop himself from sliding away, Twilight's attacks didn't stop as he found himself being electrocuted one moment, then being sent bursting through his crystal the next by one of Twilight's beams. Watching Sombra as he was knocked off the ledge of the platform, Twilight stopped her spellcasting, minus her barrier, and took a moment to relax. As she did, she winced and rubbed her head to try and relieve her of her oncoming migraine. Hopefully that'll buy me enough time, Twilight thought before sighing out loud. They were right. I shouldn't be fighting. Not while I'm like this. Back down on the battlefield, the battle was starting to turn in their favor. With the sight and sound of Cadence's barrier shattering, everyone felt an extra pressure for them to succeed in defending their home. And while Dark and Shining wanted to go back initially, words of assurance from Luna convinced them to both stay for a bit longer. Now though, after seeing the variety of spells and signal flares coming from the platform, Dark and Shining were becoming all the more nervous. "Not good," Dark muttered to himself before landing in Pyre's fires. "No sign of Sombra or the other guy, and now this." His mind beginning to wander to darker places, Dark began to absorb the fires around him while also managing to incinerate a few skeletons along the way. Less than a minute later, Dark had absorbed all of Pyre's flames. With his Amplify active, he darted back to Shining and Luna, leaving a blazing trail behind him. "Feeling better?" Luna asked him. "Much," Dark sighed. "I feel recharged and ready to go again." "Good," Shining frowned, "because somepony's going to have to return to the castle." "I would offer to go," Luna began, "but if I were to leave, the troops may lose morale." "And since I'm their prince, the same would happen if I were to leave." Seeing where this was going, Dark nodded. "So you're wanting me to go." "As much as I want to go back and check on everypony, you're the best pick." Dark rolled his eyes. "You know, all you had to do was tell me to go and help them. You didn't have to beat around the bush like that." Shining facehoofed. "Just shut up and go already." "Are you sure? Because if somepony dies while I'm gone, I won't be able to bring them back to life like before later on." "We are," Luna assured. "We got most of them already, so we'll handle the rest while you go help the others." With a nod, Dark shrouded himself in shadows and disappeared from their sights. "Are you sure about this, Princess?" Shining questioned. "I am. After all." Luna smirked at Shining as she reached into his bag with her magic and fished out an item. "You haven't shown them what you and your crystal guard can do yet, have you?" Getting her meaning, Shining took the item in his hoof and casted a spell to magically enhance his voice. "Attention, everypony!" Shining shouted, gaining the attention of all of his guards. "Time to eat up and end this battle!" Using their magic, Shining and Luna created a barrier and blocked Sombra's army out from their own. With them safe, each of the crystal guards reached a hoof into a pocket on the inside of their armor and pulled out a Rage Pellet. Then, as one, Shining and each of the crystal guards tossed it into their own mouths and swallowed. Seconds later in a flash of light, Shining and his crystal guard shined like a second sun briefly before it died down. When the light dissipated, Shining and the others all had a white-hot coat, and their manes and tails appearing to be on fire. Now in their Rage Shift, the crystal guard barely waited long enough for Shining and Luna to lower their barrier before running back into the fray. With newfound adrenaline and power coursing through them, they forwent their weapons as their bare hooves were more than enough for them to punch and buck through the armor plating on the undead army. Back on the platform, Twilight began firing volleys of beams at Sombra, who'd used his magic over the shadows to return back to the platform. The moment he returned, her efforts to keep him at bay until help arrived continued. But while Twilight was doing her best, she was becoming more tired from all of the spellcasting. Not only that, but Sombra was also using his crystals as a shield again. Dang it! Where is everypony?! Twilight mentally shouted. "You're nearing your limit, aren't you?" Sombra questioned, chuckling when he saw Twilight's face. "Yes, I know. Your spells have been gradually getting weaker." "Even so, it's still enough to stop you," she countered. "Only because I wanted to play with you a little before I took you." His eyes glowing pure green, Sombra rose his front hooves before driving them down, cracking the crystal floor from the strength of the impact. Within seconds, Twilight yelped in pain as a bunch of crystal spike, much sharper than the ones that Sombra had previously used, had pierced her barrier and were now mere inches away from poking her. "Now then," Sombra soothingly said, "what do you say about leaving that lowly fiancé of yours for a real stallion?" "Never!" Twilight spat, only to get an amused chuckle from Sombra. "Sorry to say, Princess, but you don't have much of a choice in the- RAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Sombra roared out in pain as he felt a pair of fangs bury themselves deep in his neck while a weight clung onto him from his back. Bucking and jerking his head, Sombra tried to remove whatever it was that had him in their jaws. After a moment, he was able to catch a glimpse of what it was. But, to his surprise and Twilight's, it wasn't whom they were expecting. "F-Flutterbat?!" Twilight yelped in surprise. Her eyes darting over to her, Flutterbat gave a slight nod before biting down on Sombra's neck even harder, paralyzing him for a moment from the shock of feeling her fangs sinking deeper. "Why are you here?! You were suppose to be chasing after the Crystal Heart with Rainbow and Soul!" Shifting her weight around and using her increased strength, Flutterbat pinned the paralyzed Sombra down below her and removed her blood-soaked fangs to speak. "I saw your signal flare and came to help," she said. "Don't worry, I left Soul with Rainbow before I came here." Her face turning to a grimace, Flutterbat licked up Sombra's blood in her mouth and spat it out. "Disgusting. Your blood tastes horrible, and it has an even worse aftertaste. Nothing at all like Discords~" "Get off of me!" Sombra shouted, sending a shadowy tendril out from his back against Flutterbat. Once it pinned her up against the ceiling, it crystalized itself and held her there. "Do you think this will hold me?" Flutterbat questioned. With a few jerks of her body, the crystal began to crack. "I may be weak as a pegasus, but when I'm like this, I am far stronger!" Jerking again, Flutterbat freed her left foreleg and brought it down on the crystal to free her right one. Seeing that she could pose as a problem, Sombra closed the space between his crystals and Twilight until they were poking the magical shell protecting her hide. "If you care for you princess, monster, you will stay where you are," he threatened before quickly turning on Twilight. "As for you, Princess, don't even think about trying to teleport yourself out of there. These crystals are the exact same ones that I used on that trap I placed on the Crystal Heart. If you teleport out, you'll find yourself right back where you were. Now, if you care for any of the others, you will dispose of that ring and become my queen!" While Flutterbat hissed angrily, Twilight felt a sense of fear beginning to take her as she felt trapped. Facing Sombra, she kept her face stoic as to not show him her emotions. Watching Sombra as he slowly made his way closer to her, Twilight's mind began running though options on how to deal with this and get her and Flutterbat away from him. However, in one moment, all of that fear and worry was washed away, leaving Twilight with a knowing smirk that halted Sombra in place. "What's that look for?" he questioned. "You've lost. Your friends and princesses are either wounded, indisposed, preoccupied, or in your bat friend's case, captured. And last I saw of Pyre, he was off chasing the rest of my fleet. So, why is it that you're acting like you've won?" As it to indicate to him, Sombra saw Twilight glanced over his shoulder behind him. Turning around, Sombra was met with a darkness that wasn't his own. Confused, he quickly darted his eyes to see that it wasn't darkness, but a black dragon-like claw. Before he could react, Sombra was gripped by the black claw, encasing his whole body and feeling it slowly crushing him under its grasp before being thrown far away from the castle. Sighing in relief, Twilight watched as an Amplified Dark returned the arm and claw back to the shadows before running up to her. "Twilight! Are you alright?!" he worryingly asked. "Yeah, I'm fine," she breathed. Using his flaming mane, Dark shaped it into fifteen flaming tendrils, one for each crystal spike that was jutting up against Twilight. Carefully, he guided a tendril around each of the crystals before breaking them off enough for Twilight to fly up out of. With her free, Dark looked back to see Flutterbat breaking out of her own crystalline prison before feeling Twilight run into his chest and wrapping her forelegs around him. Happy that she was safe and unharmed, Dark wrapped an arm around Twilight as he pulled her closer. What he did next, though, took twilight by surprise as his tendrils all began to gently wrap themselves around her, mainly her stomach. Hearing her humming in content, Dark knew that the temperatures of his tendrils were warm enough to provide her a comforting warmth. "I know I already asked, but are you okay?" he gently asked. "You didn't take any big hits, did you?" "No. I managed to stay safe behind my barriers up to the point before you came in," Twilight answered him. "I think you mean before I came in," Flutterbat corrected as she walked up next to them. Releasing Twilight, Dark took a moment to look over Flutterbat. "Feeling alright there, Fluttershy?" "It's Flutterbat," she groaned with an eye-roll. "Honestly, why can't anypony get it right?" "Sorry. Just that the last time I saw you like this, you weren't exactly in control." Flutterbat's blood-red eyes softened. "It's alright. I'm in control of it now. It's just that I tend to become a little... moodier, when I'm like this." Not quite the word I was thinking of using, but that works too, Dark thought. "Thanks." Feeling a nudge on his chest, Dark looked to see Twilight as she gave him a quick peck. "Not to be rude or anything, but don't you have an evil king to defeat?" Twilight reminded him. Smiling, Dark shared a kiss with Twilight before turning to hug Flutterbat, who returned it along with a smile of her own. "Stay safe, and I'll see you two soon." "Good luck, Dark," Twilight wished him. "Kick his flank for us," Flutterbat smirked. With a resounding nod, Dark shrouded himself in shadows and took off into the direction he'd thrown Sombra. Flying through the sky as a cloud of black fog, he soon spotted another one heading directly towards him. Coming out of his shadows and crashing into it, Dark shrouded his claw in darkness and pulled Sombra out of his own shadows before plummeting down to the ground with Sombra in his hold. In a dive-bomb, Dark threw Sombra downward and spread his wings to prevent his own crash. Landing on his hooves, Dark summoned his Death Reaver into his right claw and waited for the kicked-up snow to settle. Once it did, he was met with the sight of Sombra getting back up to his hooves with a groan. Locking eyes with him for the first time, Dark raised his sword and pointed it at Sombra. "Death comes for you, Sombra. And I am pissed."