At The Edge Of Sanity

by Apollo and Artemis

Ch.1: The Awakening

The sky had darkened for a moment as Sombra's dark cloud loomed over the Crystal Empire, but it was short-lived. The light of the Crystal Heart and the love of the Crystal Ponies shattered his darkness. All the Crystal Ponies rejoiced at the destruction of their tyrant king. All except for one.

At the top of the Crystal Tower that held the Heart, a grey mare awoke from a deep slumber. Her eyes shot open and her memories of the last time she was awake rushed to her. Her eyes darted left and right as her memories returned. They came as blurry splashes of color, but slowly began to take shape. She saw a dead stallion. Then she saw a lifelong enemy of hers. Then she saw the smiling face of a friend. Then she saw her hooves coated in blood. And finally, she saw the face of the one she hated most. She shook her head to allow all her memories to settle. She recalled the familiar walls and the rune in the center of the room she was in. This allowed all her memories to stick. Her face scrunched up in anger and her bones shivered as she recalled all that transpired. She then shifted her gaze towards one of the openings in the room and her face was drained of what little color it had. A dark cloud was cracking under a wave of light. At the center of the cloud was Sombra, his expression one of anger and agony.
"NO!" She screamed as she jumped out the opening and jammed the sword on her back into the wall of the tower to slow her descent. Her expression of anger was slowly replaced with panic as the number of cracks on the cloud grew. As she reached the ground, she jumped and sprinted towards the cloud. All her senses were dulled as she sprinted as fast as she could towards Sombra's dark form. All that she heard was turned into a dull thumping sound. All that she felt were pinpricks against a stone wall. All that she saw was the path before her, and the increasing number of light cracks on Sombra. She pushed herself harder to reach him, but it was all in vain. Sombra roared in anger as his gaseous body shattered and the light engulfed him. She stared on in disbelief as she slowed her running to a staggering gait, her jaw hanging open. She collapsed on her belly as remnants of Sombra fluttered to the ground in a rain of dark wisps. She lay on the grass, motionless as the dark wisps fell around her.

"I thought I could make it..." She thought as she buried her face in her forelegs. She sobbed quietly as the dark flakes fell slowly in the calm breeze.

Rainbow, in her smug expression of victory, flew up high. In the air, she noticed a lone mare crying in the middle of Sombra's falling darkness.
"Hey, guys! I think somepony's crying over there." She said as she landed and pointed towards the edge of the city. Twilight was naturally the first to speak up.

"We should go see what's going on." She said as she lead her friends to the crying mare.

---

"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad..... I failed you.... I couldn't fulfill your dying wish... Forgive me...." Elcia thought as she continued to cry into her forelegs. With her only goal failed, she found no reason to live. All of her training, all of her sacrifice gone to waste. She shakily rose to her hooves, her crying not ceasing. She was going to return into the heart of the city, when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Hey, are you alright?" A mare said. She wiped her tears away quickly and she turned to face six mares. One was pink, another yellow, one white, one cyan, one orange and one purple. She regarded them with disdain and she put a scowl on her face as new hope burned inside her. At the sight of these mares, she found a reason to live. Or at least, she tried. "These ponies came into contact with Sombra's magic. Knowing that bastard, he may have a backup in case he failed. I might still have a chance at finding and killing him!" She thought. In reality, she was grasping at any chance at killing Sombra, no matter how far-fetched.

"Whoa, what's with that look?" Rainbow said and another thought crossed her mind.

"Wait... The purple one smells of the Crystal Heart... She's the one who did this..." Elcia thought and she grit her teeth as she locked eyes with Twilight, who was frightened at the aggression she was putting out. Her gaze hardened and her eyes shimmered with anger and malice.

"Um... Why are you looking at me like that?" Twilight asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking and showing her fear.

"Do you know what you've done, kid? What you've all done?" The grey mare said as she approached Twilight in an aggressive manner, who was now backing up from her.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Rainbow said as she got between her friend and the angry mare. She simply laughed at her.

"Heh... Won't even hear me out? Well, I think a little discipline is in order." Elcia said as she grabbed Rainbow by the throat. Before her friends could react, Elcia threw the pegasus into the ground. The impact was a solid thud and Rainbow screamed in pain as she landed on one of her wings, breaking it with the sickening crack of bones echoing around them. Rainbow's friends gasped in horror at the show of violence.

"What are you doing!?" Twilight shouted and Elcia answered.

"She was being a bitch. Now, answer my question. Do you know exactly what you've done?" She asked as Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie rushed to help their injured friend.

"No, I don't. But whatever it is, I don't think it warrants you assaulting my friend!" She said, now with more force than she usually held. But Elcia didn't care. She laughed loudly at this.

"Doesn't warrant assault? You just crushed the dreams of an entire organization and family. But most importantly, you just crushed my dreams. Every night, I would dream that I held Sombra's heart in my hoof and I crushed it. YOU made that dream impossible to achieve." She said as she cracked her neck to both sides and she beat her hooves together, a malicious smile painted on her face. "And I am going to make you pay!" She said as she reared her hoof back to strike at Twilight, but she felt something tug at it. She looked back to see that the orange mare had captured her hoof with a rope.
"Where did she get that rope?" She thought as Applejack pulled the rope hard, causing Elcia to fall to the ground. She landed on her jaw and her teeth clashed inside her mouth; the pain was intense, shocking through her skull. She bit past the pain and she quickly drew her sword and cut the rope with a quick, downward stroke. She rose up and sheathed the blade. "Beating the shit out of them will be MUCH more satisfying." She thought to herself as she noticed movement from her right. It was Rainbow, who was charging at her with anger and determination in her eyes. Elcia flashed her a malicious grin, revealing her canines and sharpened incisors. This caused a wave of hesitation to go through Rainbow's body.

"What the- What is up with her teeth!?" Rainbow thought. Elcia used this moment of distraction to attack. As Rainbow approached, she slammed her hoof against the back of her head. The strike wasn't strong, but it was enough to redirect her course. She landed face first into the cobblestone road with a loud crack. There went her nose. She moved to finish the job, but somepony grabbed her from behind and restrained her forelegs. Knowing that she would not be able to break free quickly enough, she swung her head backwards, her head impacting against Twilight's. The force knocked Twilight back and she screamed in pain as she landed on her flank. Elcia had struck the second most sensitive point in a unicorn's body: the horn. This meant that Twilight would not be able to use magic for a while.

Applejack lunged to restrain her, but she was too slow. Elcia made a downward swing with her hoof and it impacted with the apple farmer's head. She was sent straight into the ground. Like Elcia, the shock of impact into the ground jaw first shot through her skull. Now unlike Elcia, whose body was accustomed to large amounts of physical trauma, Applejack's was not. Several of her teeth were chipped by the force and her vision swam. Her world was turned into many different colors that separated from each other.

Elcia moved to Twilight, who was nursing her injury. She loomed over her and she flashed her fanged grin, striking fear into her. "Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking us?" She asked and Elcia scowled. She punched her in the face, knocking her on her back. Elcia rose to her hind legs and grabbed Twilight by her throat. She raised her up and Twilight tried to pry herself from her vice-like grip. It was all in vain. She could feel Elcia's grip become tighter and her face turned a deeper shade of purple. Her vision was growing dark and she looked to Elcia, who had drawn the massive blade on her back. She pulled Twilight close and whispered to her.
"You brought this on yourself." She said as she prepared to impale Twilight. She gripped her sword and it seemed to come to life, growling like a manticore and showing its desire for blood. She would relish in Twilight's death. Her choking as she pulled the blade out. Her trying to grip onto what remained of her life. Only for her to grind her face beneath her hoof and extinguish her life. But, fate had another plan.

"TWILY!!!" Shining screamed as he approached them with a squad of guards. Elcia looked from Twilight to Shining and she grinned her manic grin at him as she dropped his unconscious sister. She turned her back to Shining and began walking away.
"Hey!" He shouted, anger burning in his eyes. Elcia turned and made a mock expression of surprise.

"Oh my! I apologize! I forgot to attend to you." She said as she drew her sword and stuck it into the ground. She got into a fighting stance and waved a beckoning hoof to the soldiers.
"Now, shall we dance?" She asked and Shining commanded his squad to attack. Elcia reacted immediately. As one of the soldiers approached with a spear, she sprinted towards him and slugged him across the face with her hoof, knocking him off his hooves. She picked up his spear and parried the attack of one of his squadmates. She disarmed him and impaled him with the spear. She heaved his body towards another guard and used him as a shield, protecting her from another attack from a guard. She saw another guard approaching quickly and she grinned at his reckless behavior. She picked up a loose rock and threw it at the approaching guard, distracting him. She dashed up to the stallion and drove her hind leg into his face. Like in one of her favorite movies, time seemed to slow as her hoof dug into his face. Several cracking sounds told her that his face would be very disfigured if he lived, which she didn't allow him to. One of her small mercies. She quickly stomped on his head as soon as he was knocked down, coating the ground with brain matter and blood. She then turned to Shining, who was stunned at the amount of violence she was capable of. She dashed up to him and pressed her body against his.

"What? You don't like a mare who can fight? Or is it that you can't believe you and your squad got their asses kicked by a single, untrained mare?" She said with a playfully seductive tone. She caught him lighting up his horn for a spell and her expression changed to a disappointed one. "Don't think so, buddy." She said as she applied a quick, heavy blow to his temple. His eyes rolled back into his head and the glow from his horn disappeared. He collapsed and she looked to the three other mares who simply stared on in shock. Elcia laughed.

"Well, it seems that you little maggots get to live for now." She said as she walked off, towards her sword. She swiftly pulled it out and sheathed it across her back. She had lots of work to do for her revenge, but she didn't mind. Hard work always payed off.