//------------------------------// // Power // Story: A Rainbow in the Dark // by Misty Green //------------------------------// Sambra's castle was easy to find with Rainbow Dash flying at mach speeds. She would have to give herself a pat on the back sometime considering how much weight she was towing. Even with all of her best friends and a big hot air balloon tethered to her, she managed to execute a perfect Sonic Rainboom! Which was just as well. It took Celestia and Luna to defeat Sombra (or one Crystal Heart, but that was all the way in the Crystal Empire). So if they planned to best Sombra, all six of them were going to have to face him together. At least that's what Twilight said, but Rainbow thought the Element of Magic could handle him on her own. On the other hoof, they were going to have to hurry if they were going to save Spike in time. At this speed, however, the Everfree Forest seemed as small as an alleyway. Rainbow could easily get from one side to the other in only a couple of minutes, so it didn't take long to find Sombra's castle. Sombra's new castle wasn't anything special. It was just a collection of large dark crystals that appear as though they grew off a single boulder. Anypony would mistake it for an average, oversized crystal if it weren't for the large set of doors and the multitude of Windows. To Rainbow Dash, it looked like something a high-class changling would live in. She giggled at the thought of Sombra sharing a throne room with Chrysalis. Slowly, Rainbow came out of mach speed as she approached the castle, but before they all came to a complete stop, Twilight jumped out of the balloon. "Twilight," Rarity yelled as Applejack let the air out of the balloon, "Darling, wait!" The alicorn completely ignored her, or didn't hear her. Rainbow quickly untied herself. "Oh, I've got to see this," she said just before noticing how her remaining friends glared at her. "What? She's an alicorn now. She can handle Sombra, can't she?" Rainbow flew ahead of them to catch up with Twilight, who was already through the main entrance, down the entrance hall, and standing in the central room, attempting to pinpoint the origin of the deep laughter that filled it. The room was overwhelmingly undecorated. It was just a cave that was carved out of metallic crystals, making it appear even more changeling in origin. Fortunately, the minimal light helped to hide its boringness. Suddenly, Sombra's chuckles were replaced by speech. "So, the princess of friendship has come to save her pet. How touching!" The castle began to shake as Twilight screamed, "Give me my friend back!" Shards began to fly off the walls. "Tell me princess, how do you plan on saving your pet when you're busy fighting for your own life!?" The shards floated in various groups around the two ponies. Slowly, they came together to form around twenty dark crystal stallions in the air just above the ground. Just as each one finished forming, their eyelids opened, revealing the bright white eyes beneath. As they fell to the ground, they producing a dull thud. Rainbow reacted immediately, bucking the nearest ponyquin. It flew back in countless fragments, defeated as Twilight destroyed another with a blast of magic. Together they fought, easily dispatching the crystalline guards. But when Rainbow stopped for a moment she'd noticed more and more of them forming. They were closing in. "There's too many, Twilight," Rainbow yelled as she watched them walk closer. Their sporadic, sharp movements caused by their crystalline bodies constantly cracking and healing made them slow. But their sheer numbers were overwhelming them. Twilight growled and bowed her head. Rainbow could have sworn she saw smoke come from Twilight's mane as she charged her spell. A swirling circle of energy formed between them and the evil sculptures, that grew into a sphere and exploded outward, vaporizing all in its way. They now stood in a twenty foot crater. "Woah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as the rest of them trotted trough the now missing door, and slid down the side of the crater. "Remind me never get on Twilight's bad side!" "Is that all you've got, Sombra!" Twilight screamed, "Come and face me yourself, you coward!" Sombra only giggled. "Very well." A doorway appeared in front of Twilight. "If you're so inclined to face me, then be my guest." "Come on girls," Twilight said as she began to trot towards the door. "Hold up, Twi!" Applejack interjected, "Somethin' just ain't right about this." "Sombra's demeanor does seem off," Rarity added in. Rainbow refuted with, "Who cares!? Did you just see what Twilight just did!? Those statues didn't stand a chance!" Twilight simply stopped and turned around. "I don't care! No pony runs off with my dragon the way this coward did. Not if I have anything to say about it!" Fluttershy decided to speak up. "But Twilight, it isn't anything like you to charge in like this. Don't you think you're being a bit hasty..." Then she noticed how Twilight was glaring at her, "oh, um, sorry. Carry on." Twilight was about to speak when Applejack hit her. "Ow!" "Now listen here, sugar cube. This ain't you. Since when do you charge in without so much as a thought about what yer doin'! You ain't even sent word to the princesses. How did Sombra even take Spike, anyhow?" Twilight answered in a slow, angry voice. "He had him with his telekinesis and he was..." Twilight eyes widened and her mouth gaped as she recalled Spike's condition when he was taken. "Gagged," she finished with a whisper. Her friends looks told her everything. "I'm sorry girls. I don't know what got into me." "It's quite alright darling. We're here now, and all that's left to do is save Spike," Rarity said. Applejack nodded. "Can yu' send word to the princesses?" Twilight shook her head. "Even from Ponyville I wouldn't be able to teleport a letter to Celestia. The distance is just far too great." "Ooh! Ooh! We could send Rainbow to get them!" Pinkie offered. "I could get there in only a few minutes," Rainbow agreed. Twilight looked at the swirling portal in the doorway behind them. "I don't think we have that much time. I'd imagine Sombra's getting impatient, even now." Fluttershy was quivering. "We could just leave," she squeaked. "No, no Fluttershy, that..." Twilight paused again. "Could actually work," she finished slowly. The collective gasp didn't surprise her. "Twi, don't make me punch yu' again," Applejack warned. Twilight giggled. "No need. What I mean is, while five of us distract Sombra, Rainbow could quickly fly over to wherever Spike is, and get him out of here. Spike could send me a note, a leaf, or something to let me know he's out, then I could teleport the rest of us out of the castle." "That could work," Applejack admitted as she warmed to the idea. "Pinkie could go as well," Rainbow added, "she's pretty good at keeping up with me. So between the two of us, we could cover the whole castle in half the time. The castle shook. It was time to move. "Sounds like time's up," Twilight observed, and with that, Rainbow flew through one of the doors in the room as fast as she dared. It only took a minute for her to search her half of the castle. The odd shape had lead her to the door leading to the throne room, where she met Pinkie. Did every hallway lead to this door? "No luck?" She asked Pinkie. "Nope. Maybe darkie in there has him." "Let's find out." The door lead to a circular throne room that was about forty feet wide, and like the rest of the castle, was largely undecorated. Sombra sat in a large throne in the center with Spike in a floating, clear, black bubble behind him. He was firing a purely black ray of magic at Twilight who had created a force field to counteract it. Twilight fought to maintain her force field, but Rainbow could tell it was taking every ounce of her strength. "Hey, you coward!" Rainbow yelled, as she charged Sombra. "Let her go!" She flew straight into his force field, and bounced harmlessly off. Just as she hit the ground, a bright, multicolored light flashed between Sombra and Twilight, momentarily blinding everypony. Once the light cleared, a green alicorn was revealed, standing where the light had originated. He had a brown mane with a red streak running down the middle of it. His eyes were also a fierce red, but his hooves were a subtle black. He was about as tall as Luna, but his body was shaped more like a pony's than a stallion's. A little dazed, Twilight stood up straight. "Who are you?" "Get back," the alicorn said. "I know we just met, but shouldn't we fight him toge..." "I said, get back!" The alicorn's eyes turned rainbow-colored as rainbow-colored bubbles formed around the six friends. Rainbow sensed something familiar about the magic bubbles. Of course, she'd been around magic her whole life, but though she could not use it herself, she felt she knew the kind of magic the bubbles were made of. As she and the others fought and complained, the alicorn turned back towards Sombra, "Using black magic to pick on ponies. Not cool." "And who are you to you mingle in some other pony's business?" Sombra replied. "I am merely here to bring balance to the situation." Sombra giggled again (Rainbow was getting tired of hearing that). "If not for you blinding me, I would have already defeated one alicorn. How could a second fair any better?" "Let's just say I know more than you." "No pony knows black magic but me." "And you're proud of that?" Sombra was confused by the question. "What, prey tell, is that supposed to mean?" "It's simple," The mysterious alicorn answered. "Only cowards need that much power to get what they want." Sombra growled as they began circling each other. "I will kill you, though you're not worth it." He appeared to be filling up with some sort of black liquid, like water being poured into a glass. Likewise this new pony seemed to be filling up with a rainbow liquid, as he circled. Rainbow also expected him to have another smart flank comment, but he was quiet. "Uh, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What's going on?" "I, don't know." In an instant, the two charged each other, while more energy appeared in front of them, essentially turning them into living fire balls. Once they collided near the center of the room, they stopped in mid air, both trying to plow right through the other. Their spells ended and they flipped back to the ground, charging up their energy once again. They performed the attack a second time, but once they landed again, Sombra used his black ray. The alicorn quickly created a rainbow-colored force field around himself. While he was repelling Sombra's onslaught, the alicorn teleported above him and focused energy on his hind hoof in a kick attack. Sombra dodged, causing the attack to hit the ground, literally shattering it. Sombra bucked the alicorn, sending him flying into the wall behind him. As he flew into the wall, the alicorn began charging up another onrush attack, and once he collided, he used it. Sombra just barely dodged the attack, but was able to land another kick on the alicorn once he did, breaking the alicorn's spell, and sending the alicorn into the opposite wall. This time the kick was fueled by black energy, forcing the alicorn so hard into the wall that he sank an inch into it, causing large cracks to form in it as well. He pried himself out, landing on his hind legs. The alicorn began focusing rainbow-colored energy into a ball in front of him. Sombra did the same. As the the spells charged, the room gradually grew darker until the spells were released in two thick beams that hit each other dead on. The resulting explosion ripped the roof of the room clean off. Once the light cleared, Rainbow saw that Sombra was the one who was hit. The king of shadow was sitting against the wall that had been behind him, his cape was torn, and armor was fracked as well as dented. He opened his piercing green eyes, so full of rage, took one look the green alicorn who approached him, and teleported. The alicorn turned in circles searching for him under the light from the moon above, growling and charging his onrush attack all the while. Once it was clear Sombra had run, the alicorn screamed, "Coward!" He flew straight into the air, releasing his spell as he did. Rainbow immediately recognized the rainbow-colored ring that spread across the sky. As the alicorn curved back around to dive bomb the battle scene Rainbow knew what was coming next. Did this alicorn remember that they were still in the castle? Was this pony, with all his sarcastic humor really going to do this? "Brase yourselves!" Rainbow yelled at her friends, though she doubted it would do anything against an atomic rain-nuke. She had, after all, used one on one of the old barns on Sweet Apple Acres. She waited for what seemed like an eternity before she heard the explosion. The intensity of the light was so strong it pierced through her eye lids, everything shook around her, and her ears screamed for quieter noise. But when everything settled down, she discovered, first: that she was fine, and second: the castle was utterly razed. "I'm alive?" The statement was more question than excitement. "That was the most fun I've had in a millennia!" The alicorn exclaimed as he released everypony from their bubbles, including Spike. That put Rainbow off. She did't see how scaring her half to death was fun. Then again, she did get a kick or two from scaring Fluttershy. But something about this alicorn wasn't right. How could a fight be fun if somepony almost died, especially if it was one of her friends? Her train of thought was interrupted by the alicorn. "Hello. I'm Data Swift."