Tales of the Oppressed

by Terran34

129. The Last Night of the Kings

The night drags on. Shadows dance among the summit of the tower, upon which the final battle is to take place.

The five of us spread out, each one of us moving with caution, in case Sombra decides to attack us all at once. I take a position between Cadance and Chrysalis and immediately get into a defensive stance. I'm armed with my rifle and sword, knowing fully well that I'm going to have to use every technique and ability that I've ever learned in order to keep up with the monster before us.

King Sombra doesn't move an inch, even though I'm sure he's fully aware of our presence. The wind, much calmer up here than down below, blows across the tower summit. Sombra's shadowy mane and cape gently flutters in the breeze.

It's dead silent. Not a single one of us makes a sound. Sombra is gazing silently into the tranquil surface of the twisted Crystal Heart. From what I can see of his reflection, he's wearing a stoic and unreadable expression. I can't even imagine the thoughts that might be running through his head right now.

Sombra closes his eyes briefly, and an invisible wave of magic flows over the summit. It's so dense I can physically feel it passing over my skin, causing goosebumps to form. When Sombra opens his eyes again, his sclera have turned a vivid green, and streams of purple magic trail back from the corners of his eyes.

The Crystal Heart sinks down into the floor with the rest of the crystal construct, leaving us all standing atop a bare crystal platform.

The king turns his head ever so slightly, gazing back at the five of us with one malevolent eye. Dread fills me up inside, and I almost step back under the intensity of his gaze. He's hardly using any magic...but I can feel his evil power...and it unsettles me, even more than when I faced Chrysalis the first time.

“Thou art most tenacious, princesses,” Sombra observes in his deep, unearthly voice. His eye turns to focus on only Celestia and Luna. I suppose that's because they're the only ones he knows personally, besides me. “Despite every obstacle ye hast faced...here ye stand, at the summit of mine tower.”

Sombra turns slowly, his armored hooves clanking on the smooth crystal floor. When he's facing us, I can see the amulet that Hawke gave to him...the Alicorn Amulet...pinned to his chestplate. The gem in the center of the amulet is pulsing an ominous red. Remembering Hawke's words...that amulet enhances his power even further past its natural limits. I can't help but gulp with trepidation.

“Thou hast not changed, in the past millennia. Thou never wouldst give up in the face of hopeless adversity,” Sombra addresses the two princesses again. I'm a little confused; it seems like he's complimenting them. “I admire thy determination. What drives thee, that thou feels thou must rail against thy fate?”

“I would not expect you to understand, King Sombra.” Celestia is the one who answers him, the princess stepping closer to him. “There is far more at stake here than a simple grudge between you and I. You have never understood the pain you inflict upon those whom you oppress, those whom you enslave, and even those who serve you.”

“Ah yes...thou believest that thy unprovoked assault on my kingdom was for the sake of justice, if I recall correctly,” King Sombra returns, his eyes narrowing. “As I explained to thee during thy attempts at diplomacy, the fates of mine servants art not thy concern. The task of any king is to create a lasting empire to span the ages. To accomplish this, they art given resources...tools...in the form of ponies, capital, and natural resources. I have done nothing but use what was given to me...surely thou understands?”

“That...King Sombra...is why we declared war on you,” Celestia responds without missing a beat. She stomps her hoof on the floor, the impact causing a thunderous sound. “Ponies are not tools to be used; they are wondrous creatures, each one with the ability to laugh, love, and cry. They are to be nurtured and cherished. To enslave and torture them as you have is the highest of moral crimes.”

“Thou was not given any resources to utilize, tyrant! Everything that thou hast, thou hast stolen from the innocent crystal ponies! Thou hast no room to speak of royal duties, knave. Thou art no true king!” Luna accuses him, moving to stand beside her sister.

“And that's not all!” I suddenly find my voice again, the words I've been dying to say coming to me in a flood that I can't control. I step up beside Celestia and Luna, earning Sombra's attention for the first time. Despite the way his glowing eyes bore into mine, I force myself to keep talking. “You weren't satisfied with just taking over the Crystal Empire and treating them like shit. No, just because you saw the possibility that it would be you that lost, you decided to come to my time, ruin my life, and kill off my entire race! What about us!? Were we just tools to be used, all for the sake of creating some pointless empire that isn't even yours!?”

King Sombra is silent in the wake of our combined denouncements. I'd like to say that he showed at least some form of reaction to our words, but I would be lying. His expression is as stoic as ever. If he's unsettled by anything we've said, he's not showing it.

“Ye know nothing, all of thee. Ye believe that my kingdom ought to belong to you, solely because ye disapprove of the way I govern...such audacity,” Sombra returns, closing his eyes briefly. “All I have done is for the sake of showing the world an eternal empire ruled by true power...my power. Laughter, love, and tears...these feelings are fickle and fleeting, disappearing into the sands of time in the blink of an eye. They are but trappings, holding one back from attaining true strength...the strength to endure time itself.”

“Thou claimest to love and cherish thy subjects, princesses, but they are but tools to you as well. Every kingdom is built upon the shoulders of its citizens. How these citizens are used and treated is up to the discretion of its ruler...yet in the end, their nature as tools is unchanging,” Sombra criticizes the two princesses harshly. His eyes shoot to me again. “Seth Rogers...I see thou continuest to endure. Despite all expectations, thy species is a hardy one. Art thou here to exact revenge upon me?”

“No, I'm not,” I tell him flatly. Sombra raises a brow, obviously taken by surprise at that response. “Don't get me wrong. You do need to answer for all of the crimes you've committed...against my race...and the ponies. There's no doubt about that. But that's not why I'm here.”

“I have a future waiting for me back home...a happy future, of the likes that I've never had the chance to pursue before...and that's why I'm fighting you,” I finish, cracking my knuckles. Celestia and Luna both give me approving glances at my words.

Sombra's lips turn downwards into a snarl. “What a disappointment. 'Tis good thou accomplished thy purpose before losing thine individuality to these Equestrians. Perhaps thou wouldst have made a better tool if thou had shared my goals...like my Governor-General,” he derides me harshly, looking genuinely disgusted at my response. He straightens up, angling his head towards the sky. “'Tis time thou art dealt with. Hawke, attend to me.”

Nobody moves as Sombra's command peters out into the clouded sky. Sombra's brow wrinkles in confusion as there is no response to his call. He repeats his command, only to be ignored once more. I can't help but smirk at his expression.

“That won't be happening, Sombra. The human race isn't going to be ruled by you anymore,” I snap at him confidently. “Hawke's with us now, and you're without your last backup plan. You won't be powering up any further.”

Sombra, for the first time, looks truly surprised. “Hawke hast betrayed me?” His question seems almost innocent in the way that he phrases it, as if this outcome had been the last thing that he had ever expected. Anger fills the king's face, and then he slams his hoof into the surface of the tower, shadowy magic erupting from his hoof. The force of impact is so great, I feel the entire tower shake beneath me, once again letting me know just how strong he is. “This was unforeseen. Nevertheless, he hath served his purpose. I shall simply have to deal with thee myself.”

“This is pointless,” Chrysalis finally interrupts impatiently. The queen had been standing there quietly, taking in Sombra's features, but at this point it looks like she's had enough. “All we're doing is standing around. It's obvious that none of us are going to change our minds, so let's just get on with it and crush him now!”

Chrysalis stares back confidently as Sombra turns his gaze onto her for the first time. She doesn't show any kind of fear, though I can't tell if that's because of true confidence or just ignorance. “Who art thou, creature?” Sombra demands curiously. “I have not seen thy kind during mine experiences.”

“You wouldn't have, of course. My name is Queen Chrysalis, sovereign of the changeling race,” Chrysalis introduces herself with a bow. “Usually, I'd be offering you an alliance, because I don't really care one way or another whether Equestria falls or not. But...I can't exactly feed off of undead, so as it stands, I'm here to kill you.”

“Indeed. It's time to bring this whole war to an end, and give the crystal ponies back their home!” Cadance joins in next, glaring at Sombra fiercely. “We've overcome each and every one of your strategies and traps; you can't stop us now!”

“My strategies?” Sombra repeats, a slight smile appearing. “Thou art mistaken. Beyond the formal declaration of war, I had no involvement with thy war.”

That gets all of us to stop and look at him in shock. I mean, I thought it was odd how he held a banquet while we were marching on his kingdom...but...to think that he didn't take part at all? That can't be right. What about all those traps we were caught in?

“You mean to tell us that you were not coordinating the assaults on Equestria?” Celestia questions, as surprised as the rest of us. Sombra shakes his head firmly. “I was certain you intended to take revenge for your defeat in the past. If you were not in charge of the war effort, then what were you doing for all this time?”

“I was waiting...waiting for thee. I knew that I need not act personally against thee, as given enough time, thou wouldst return to challenge me thyself,” Sombra explains. “I left the war in the capable hooves of General Shatter and Governor-General Hawke. 'Twas they who maneuvered thy armies into a trap.”

Sombra's magic slowly starts to rise, the king's eyes narrowing. All of us react by taking defensive stances, watching Sombra closely. “No, thou wouldst approach me. Thy misguided sense of justice made this meeting inevitable...” The very floor beneath us begins to shake, making it harder to keep my footing. “'Tis now that I will test my newly acquired strength...the strength which I hath endured a millennia of imprisonment to attain...”

King Sombra plants his hooves firmly on the floor and begins gathering an incredible amount of magical energy around his body. The very air twists and dilates around him, forming tendrils of utter darkness that stream to his body.

“Here he comes....get ready,” Cadance whispers to me. I nod and ready my rifle, transforming it into a drummed machine gun. I'll let Celestia and Luna handle him up close. I'll fight from a distance at first and deal as much damage as I can.

“Prepare thyselves...” Sombra's horn becomes shrouded with reddish black magic, green electricity sparking from the tip ominously. His muscles tense and his teeth bare, and then magic explodes from around his body, releasing a shockwave across the entire summit of the tower. I hold my arms in front of my face, warding off what looks like an ocean of reddish blackness as it washes over us. When my vision clears, Sombra is revealed, tongues of shadow licking up his body like flame. Like before, I can't feel the entirety of his magical might. It's too far out of my comprehension as I am right now. When Sombra next speaks, it's in an guttural roar. “Thy fate is at hoof!”

Immediately, all five of us power up at once. Pillars of magical energy erupt from each of us and shoot up into the air. Celestia's white golden energy is the largest of us all, surging up from around her in a torrent of sheer power, causing her mane to rise in an ethereal wind. On either side of her are Cadance, with her light pink aura engulfing her; and Luna, with a wave of starry black magic shooting up into the sky.

Beside me, Chrysalis's sickly green energy makes itself evident as she powers herself up all the way for the first time since I saw her at the royal wedding. She wasn't lying about training; she's definitely stronger than she was before.

As for me, I'm going all out from the very beginning. At my current level, I won't even be able to put a scratch on Sombra. I break past the mental barrier in my mind and push myself to the limit, moving directly into my transformation. My hair flows upwards as if suspended in water, and cuneiform runes streak over my body like ethereal chains.

Luna and Celestia, with their weapons held high, charge at King Sombra at the same time, followed closely by Cadance and Chrysalis. The first thing I do is leap forward in a roll and level my machine gun at Sombra. I immediately squeeze the trigger and unload a stream of deadly magical bullets into Sombra's general direction.

The king turns his head to glare at me. Seconds before my bullets, Celestia, and Luna reach him, he explodes into a thick cloud of black smoke. Weaving through all of us, the smoke streaks around us in a circle and swiftly forms a tornado of darkness that encloses all of us in. Sombra's menacing laughter seems to echo from everywhere at once.

Before I can process what's happening, something slams into my upper back, knocking me right off of my feet. I yelp and hit the floor hard, rolling over and over several times until Cadance lowers herself down and stops me with a hoof. As she's helping me up, I look back to where I was standing, but I don't see anything that could have hit me. Nothing...except the whirling black wall of smoke that's holding us in.

“Stay away from the smoke!” Celestia warns us all. Immediately after she says that, Sombra appears out of the smoke behind her with his front hooves wreathed in darkness. She immediately notices and whirls around, lifting her shield just in time to intercept the king's vicious attacks. Each hit sends Celestia skidding backwards.

“What a cheap tactic!” Chrysalis scoffs. She gallops to intercept Sombra and Celestia, swinging a hoof directly at the king. Her hoof passes through nothing but shadow as Sombra dissipates into the smoke once more. Chrysalis hisses in frustration.

“He's closing in!” Cadance alerts us. My eyes shoot to the smoke...and see that the walls are indeed closing in. Luna cries out from her position as she's forced to intercept Sombra as the king appears and strikes at her without warning. She manages to block his hoof with her sword just in time, but can't counterattack in time before he retreats into the smoke again.

This happens repeatedly as Sombra appears all around us, attacking us repeatedly at increasingly intervals as the walls close in. Unable to focus on anything other than defense, the five of us group close together, fending off the king's fast and relentless assault.

Above us, a dark cloud of magic starts to form, green electricity sparking from inside the cloud. Chrysalis is the first one to spot it. “He's trying to group us together!” she warns us. Seconds later, lightning bolts of Sombra's magic shoot down from the cloud, forcing us to dodge in every direction to keep from getting shocked.

The moment I near the wall, Sombra appears from within and attacks me, his hoof slamming into my side and knocking me back towards the center of the vortex...right in the path of one of the lightning bolts.

Celestia immediately shoves me down with her side, lifting her shield in time to block to the lightning bolt. The metal on the shield dents and cracks from the collision with Sombra's incredible magic power.

“Everyone fly! Get up above the clouds!” Luna calls out frantically, flying up into the air. I break into a run, distancing myself from Celestia and taking to the air, narrowly dodging another bolt in the process. Together with Chrysalis and Cadance, we force our way out of Sombra's magical trap.

Down below, Celestia and Luna stand in the center of the whirling tornado of smoke. Celestia narrows her eyes and stomps both hooves on the floor, releasing a burst of golden magic in all directions. The smoke dissipates like fog in the morning sun before her power...except for one streak of darkness that whirls through the air up towards us.

I cry out in surprise as Sombra appears in midair right in the middle of Chrysalis, Cadance, and I. The bottom half of his body is obscured in a wisp of shadow that trails down behind him. Despite the fact that he's not an alicorn, he is flying just like us.

Wielding my sword once more, I join Chrysalis and Cadance in attacking him all at once. I grunt and swing my sword in a vertical slice, aiming for his head. Sombra, his face stoic and focused, lifts up a gauntleted hoof and redirects my attack, a shower of sparks falling to the floor below from the impact. He immediately turns and fends off Chrysalis and Cadance's punches with just his hooves, handling them with practiced skill. From below, Luna waits until she sees an opportunity, and then she fires bolts of starry magic from her horn up at the king.

When Sombra is dodging Luna's magic, I attempt to seize the opening and unleash a series of attacks with my sword, making sure to angle the blade towards the weak points in his armor. I immediately have to halt my assault when Sombra ducks beneath my weapon, which puts Cadance right in my way.

Sombra's hoof barrels into my unprotected stomach, sending unbelievable pain running through my body as well as winding me at the same time. As I'm keeled over, coughing, the king grasps my neck and hurls me over his shoulder into Cadance.

Cadance and I both hit the floor together painfully, leaving Chrysalis up there to fight Sombra on her own. “I have to thank you for getting them out of my way,” Chrysalis confidently says to Sombra as the two of them exchange a furious array of punches. Her right hoof slams into his cannon bone, and then his left hoof collides with hers. It's not that evident, but I can see Chrysalis wince with pain. Even she is starting to feel Sombra's raw power. “Now I can take you down on my own.”

“Is that so?” Sombra responds. He takes a moment to back away from Chrysalis and avoid Luna's attacks once more...and now Celestia is starting to return to the fight. His horn flares with magic, and the air seems to crack open behind him in the shape of a horizontal crevice. Hundreds of razor edged crystals fire from the crevice in a seemingly endless torrent, raining down on Luna and Celestia and keeping them busy defending themselves.

Chrysalis smirks and takes his moment of distraction to attack head on with a double hoofed strike...only for her hooves to pass through the empty air where Sombra used to be. The king's shadowy form surges beneath Chrysalis and up around her, reforming on her right. Before Chrysalis can react, his hoof snakes out and collides directly with her cheek. Chrysalis gasps in shock and pain as her head is snapped to the side, saliva and blood flying from her mouth. Reforming his legs, Sombra uses gravity as well as his own momentum to perform a skilled flip, levering his hind hooves unto Chrysalis's body and sending her crashing down onto the ground just beside Cadance and I.

“Come on...we've got to get back into it,” Cadance says to me, offering me a hoof. I take it and get back to my feet, still panting a little from how hard Sombra hit me. I nod and run with Cadance back towards where Luna and Celestia are fighting Sombra at the same time.

Sombra summons a black crystal from nothing and uses his magic to shape it. The crystal thins and elongates, one end tapering to a point. The edge of an axe forms on that same end, until the crystal has become a halberd. With it, he blocks both Celestia and Luna's blades at the same time. The impact creates a sound like that of thunder, and the floor cracks and shatters around them. High speed winds gust out from the point of impact, blowing across my face and hair as Cadance and I rush to join them.

With Luna on one side and Celestia on the other, they both swing their weapons again and again at Sombra. The king's halberd whips through the air faster than what seems physically possible, blocking every strike that comes his way. Each impact causes similar shockwaves as the first...a testament to the insane amount of magical power being released.

King Sombra never moves. Even as Celestia and Luna circle around him in an attempt to find a blind spot, he does not move a single inch. His body spins in place in the blink of an eye as he rotates to fend off the two princesses, but that is the extent of his movement.

Cadance rushes ahead of me as I kneel down and aim a long ranged rifle at Sombra from several meters away. Putting my eye to the scope, I maneuver the sights on him, waiting for a moment to fire.

With the three princesses attacking him at once, Sombra appears to be occupied, giving me the perfect opportunity. I squeeze the trigger, which fires a thin beam of piercing magic through the air towards the king's head.

Sombra's eyes narrow. When he brings up his halberd to clash against Luna's blade, he brings it down to the ground and uses his free hoof to bat Luna aside like she's nothing, sending her tumbling across the ground. He immediately turns in place to block both Cadance and Celestia's attacks with very little effort, his halberd flicking around like a hornet.

He easily ducks beneath Cadance's hooves and rams his shoulder upwards into her chest, knocking her into the air. A split second later, his weapon collides with Celestia's. With a burst of magic, he repulses her away just in time to turn and slice my shot right in half, if that's even possible. That whole exchange took place in the short amount of time it took for my shot to reach him.

“That's enough of this...I will not be humiliated...!” Chrysalis growls furiously from behind me. I turn my head slightly to see her rising from the floor, her horn flaring with her magic. My eyes widen as her magical power exerts itself on the air around me, indicating that she's about to use an incredibly powerful attack. “Know despair, false king!”

She lowers her head and her spell fires, forming a beam larger than my standard rifle blast. It surges towards Sombra with the promise of imminent destruction to anything caught in its way. Celestia immediately moves out of the way, as does Cadance.

Sombra remains still, turning his head slowly to gaze at the incoming beam of magic. His face is tinted with the green light of the powerful magic heading his direction. “It appears it is time to begin taking this seriously,” Sombra observes. Just before the beam reaches him, he leaps up and completely deflects the beam up and away from him with a single sweep of a darkness covered hoof.

“B-But...what...? That was...I...” Chrysalis stammers, taking a few steps back as King Sombra starts to approach her. Cursing, I step in front of the shell shocked queen and form a chain dagger in my hand.

“Don't just stand there! Keep moving, and don't waste your magic!” I criticize her. In an attempt to keep Sombra away from her, I shoot out the chain knife with a flick of my wrist. Sombra avoids the first one, but when the second lashes out at him, he lifts a hoof and lets the chain wrap around it. Even though I realize what he's about to do, I don't have time to react before I'm tugged right off of the floor and hurled through the air.

I cry out with pain as my back slams into one of the pillars surrounding the summit, the structure giving way before my momentum. I hurtle backwards through the air for several seconds before I gain my bearings. Immediately, I fly back towards the battlefield, firing a pistol towards Sombra, who is now contending with Celestia, Luna, and Cadance again.

Luna leaps back and sticks her sword into the floor. A glowing circle of blueish magic forms there...seconds before a larger one forms in the air above Sombra. Several points of white light form in the larger circle, forming the outline of a familiar constellation....Orion.

Sombra immediately moves to get out of the circle, but he's met by Celestia, who turns her body and lashes out at him with both hind legs. Sombra blocks the attack with his halberd, but it's enough to force him back into the circle. When he tries to move the other way, Cadance blasts him back with a blast of her own pink magic.

“Taste the fury of the night skies! Orion!” Luna shouts, her horn flaring with starry black magic. A bright white line connects the stars of the constellation, and then the whole thing slams down on Sombra. The king manages to catch it with one hoof, and is starting to repulse it...when another constellation falls from the circle. “Aquarius! Cancer! Gemini!”

Sombra grunts and buckles beneath the weight of each different constellation as they fly through the air and surround him in a web of pulsing white light. The shining light intensifies, and then they all explode violently around him.

Luna's triumph doesn't last long. The cloud of crystalline dust and rubble from the explosion is suddenly blown away by Sombra's magic. His aura seems to have doubled in size...much to my horror. He's already taking everything we throw at him without any real damage...how much stronger can he get!?

“Allow me to show thee...” Sombra growls. When Celestia, Cadance, and I move to attack him head on, he leaps above us, using his mastery over shadow to fly through the air. Once he's high above us, he shoots bolts of green electricity down to the floor...though he's not aiming at us. He fires four bolts, each of which land on a separate point on the summit corresponding to the four cardinal directions. Walls of electricity shoot across the floor to connect each point, forcing all of us to dodge frantically to avoid getting fried.

“Don't let him fire off that technique!” Celestia orders us all. Nodding, I form my standard rifle and fire pillars of emerald light up towards him. My shots are accompanied by beams of magic from everypony else as all of us shoot up at him at once.

Sombra forms a large ball of roiling shadow in his forehooves. With a shout, he hurls the orb down at the center of the cross formed by the electricity. The ball of magic comes into contact with all of our attacks, absorbing and negating them.

“Brace thyselves!” Luna yells to the rest of us. Seconds before the ball hits the floor, I break into a run, intending to get as far away from the blast as I can.

In the end, it's pointless. When the ball collides with the floor, it combines with the electricity and causes the entire summit to explode with a pillar of darkness that surges up into the air and evaporates the clouds in its way. The explosion is so loud it deafens me, and is so destructive that it destroys all of the pillars surrounding us. I'm blown completely off of my feet and right off the edge of the tower.

I'm not the only one falling through the air. Chrysalis, Cadance, and Luna are hurtling end over end with me. Just as we're starting to slow our fall, Sombra zooms through the air and appears in the middle of us.

I cry out in surprise and right myself just in time to block Sombra's hoof on my forearm. It hurts like hell, but I power through the pain and block several other of his attacks. However, the last one is a double hoofed strike that powers right through my block and sends me shooting down to the snowy ground outside the Crystal Empire itself.

Groaning, I open my eye and look upwards to see Chrysalis, Cadance, and Luna fighting Sombra all at once, their hooves striking out at him again and again, their bodies wreathed in magic. Sombra is just too much for them. He dashes between them in a wave of shadow, unleashing volleys of darkness and onslaughts of punishing punches and kicks. As I'm rising from my position on the ground, Luna slams into the ground next to me, groaning in agony. Cadance follows soon afterward.

“Ggh...you're not that tough! I'll...!” Chrysalis grunts as she contends with Sombra on her own. She and the king land on the snowy ground not far from us and engage in a vicious melee with one another. Each impact of their hooves on the other's guard sends out a black and sickly green shockwave that rushes over me, blowing back my hair and clothes.

Sombra smirks at her determination. He catches one of her punches with no effort, holding her in place. He turns and bucks her backwards through the air, causing the queen to cough up greenish blood. However, he's not finished with her. He streaks around her like a comet and appears behind her. He punches her right in the barrel, completely halting her momentum. He punches her again and again, overwhelming any defense she might have attempted to mount and beating her into submission.

“It seems thou hast misconceptions of thine own power...a delusion to be pitied,” Sombra criticizes Chrysalis as he slams her into the ground with a single hoof. He presses her head into the snow as she chokes in agony. “This is no place for thee, changeling. Thou art nothing but a foal, playing in the arena of kings.”

“Get off of her!” I yell out, getting to my feet and charging Sombra before he can deal any more damage to her. We can't let her fall here...we still need her! Sombra's head jerks up at my approach, and his eyes narrow.

“Seth...” Sombra rumbles. He moves away from Chrysalis and meets me head on, ducking underneath my blade as it whistles overhead. I choke as he uppercuts me into the air...only to reappear above me and flip kick me right back into the snow.

“So...strong..” I grunt, leaping to my feet just in time to block his follow up attack with the flat of my blade. I can feel my sword straining under his sheer physical strength. It won't last long if I try to use it as a shield.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Luna moving to heal Chrysalis. Cadance seems to be moving to support me. Okay, I just need to buy time for Chrysalis to get back in the fight.

I push Sombra away with the flat of my blade and then quickly reform the weapon into an archaic arm cannon, consisting of a bladed barrel and a single handle upon which my hand is clenched. I pull the trigger and fire blasts of runed magic up through the air. Sombra blocks each and every one with his hooves, but he is forced back into the air.

Sombra deflects another shot and retaliates with a beam of his own from his horn, forcing me to frantically dodge in order to avoid getting incinerated. Now that he's free to breathe, the king lifts one hoof and starts gathering magic there, the limb seeming to ignite with sparking shadowy fire. With a yell, Sombra turns in midair and plummets to the earth, aiming directly for me.

I look up in panic, forming a pistol. I won't be able to block that...I can tell from the immense magical pressure emanating from his hoof. In a last ditch effort to fend him off, I point my pistol at him and squeeze off shot after shot. Each bullet just bounces off of his breastplate, causing me to panic further. If that hits me...I'm fucking toast.

Just before Sombra reaches me, Celestia appears in front of me, her armor damaged and her weapon missing. She raises a blazing white hoof just in time to block his shadowy hoof. The collision sends out a dull rumble through the air and ground at first...and then a bright light flares out from where their two hooves are connected. I cry out and throw myself to the snowy ground seconds before a massive explosion ensues, melting the snow nearby and blowing all of us away.

I land over by Luna and Chrysalis, the latter of whom is back on her hooves, albeit shaken. Upon my appearance beside them, Luna helps me back to my feet. “Art thou injured, Seth?” Luna asks me worriedly.

“Yes...but nothing for you to waste your magic on,” I grunt in response, nursing my aching limbs. I feel like I'm hurting all over. I don't think we've hurt him at all yet...and I'm already winded.

When the explosion dissipates, Sombra and Celestia are revealed, the two of them exchanging destructive blows with one another. Snow rains down around them, having been thrown into the air from the explosion. As the strongest amongst us, Celestia is managing to hold her own against Sombra's immense strength, but it's clear that she's losing ground. Every so often, Sombra will power past her defenses and deal her a nasty blow to her face or chest.

Celestia grunts and grabs Sombra's hoof as he moves to punch her again. She spins around and hurls Sombra right back up into the air, following up by firing a beam of golden magic after him. Sombra rights himself...but he's too late to guard himself from Celestia's attack.

Sombra blows away the magic after a moment, revealing that his armor has been singed and his body is slightly burned in a few places. However, it doesn't stop him from charging up an incredible amount of magic in his horn. With a roar, he fires a massive beam of destruction down at her.

Celestia immediately turns to the ground and draws something in the snow around her with the tips of her hooves. Just before the beam of darkness reaches her, she turns and gives us all a meaningful look.

Seconds later, the beam collides with the ground. The explosion that ensues is so large, a mushroom cloud forms from the point of impact. Celestia's form is completely obscured...and for a moment I start to fear the worst. If she's taken down...we're all screwed, because she's the one around which our entire plan hinges.

When the smoke clears...Celestia is nowhere to be seen. Sombra lands nearby and looks at the crater formed by his attack, searching for any sign of his foe. “Strange...that should not have been enough power to vaporize her...” Sombra doesn't appear convinced that his attack worked. As he starts to look around for Celestia, I realize what just happened.

“Come on! We've got to stop him!” I tell the other three. Understanding dawns in their eyes as they reach the same conclusion that I did. Celestia must have used a spell to teleport away...and now she's charging up the attack that will hopefully bring us victory. Now...all that's left is for us to buy time for her and damage Sombra as much as we can.

Sombra turns his head to us as we run towards him. He is clearly more skilled than I am in close quarters combat, so I hang back and run in a wide circle around him, tossing shurikens and firing rifle shots every time I see a opening.

Chrysalis gallops ahead of the other two, her eyes alight with fury. She reaches the king first and fires a blast of magic at point blank range. “How dare you call me a foal!?” Despite the fact that Sombra emerges from her blast practically unharmed, she presses her attack. “I have lived for hundreds of years...I am no foal!”

Goddammit, Chrysalis is letting him get to her. Sombra knows this, as he's now grinning wolfishly. Despite how much magical power Chrysalis is putting into her attacks, he easily matches her and blocks or avoids everything she sends at him.

“Queen Chrysalis, calm thyself!” Luna warns her as as she and Cadance join Chrysalis in attacking Sombra. Sombra shows off his skill with magic as he uses his hooves to combat Cadance and Chrysalis, and his halberd to block Luna's sickle sword, all at the same time. As for my shurikens and bullets, I can't seem to damage him at all. He dodges my shurikens and just lets my bullets hit him; they just bounce off of his skin and armor. Never once does his concentration falter. I grunt in frustration. His magical protection is ridiculously strong...even Vanta took damage when I shot him.

“I will not be made a fool of by some smug tyrant!” Chrysalis rages, swinging her hoof wildly at Sombra. The king moves his head to one side, letting the queen's hoof zoom past him. Using the opening, he steps forward and knocks Chrysalis's head up with a swift uppercut to her chin. Then, he blasts her right off of her hooves with an explosion of shadow right to her chest.

Goddammit, she keeps getting herself hurt for no reason! I rush in with my sword to keep the pressure on Sombra, but it isn't long before my blade clashes with his halberd. Every time I swing down at him, my blade collides with his halberd. One thing I notice is that his weapon has split into two smaller versions of itself, and he's now using the both of them to fight Luna and myself, hardly even needing to move his own body.

Beside me, Luna and Cadance cease their onslaught and clasp hooves together. Recognizing what they're trying to do, I dash around Sombra using my increased movement and attempt to occupy his attention. I try to zoom around him like I did to the Mega Oppressed...only to find that Sombra is just as fast as I am. He and I run alongside one another, our weapons clashing together and showering sparks on the ground.

Eventually Sombra skids across the ground and cuts me off, his halberd ramming against my sword. He moves forward and viciously headbutts me, his horn cutting a gash into my forehead. My vision flashes red and I swear I see stars.

Finally, Luna comes to help me before Sombra can take advantage of my disoriented state. She kicks the king in the side and then brings her sickle sword to bear...only it looks very different compared to its usual appearance. The blade is shining a bright white, and is outlined by a telltale pink light that trails behind it. Sombra eyes the blade suspiciously and immediately blocks Luna's uppercut with a halberd.

Sombra grunts as Luna's blade explodes with a mixture of pink and starry black magic. Taken by surprise, Sombra is hurled upwards into the air...where Cadance is waiting for him. She lets out a yell and blasts the king all the way back into the ground with a pink beam of magic that's tipped with a crescent moon.

“I remember...” Chrysalis's voice grunts out from beside me. I look over to see her next to me, battered and burnt from all the hits she's taken from Sombra. “You and Luna used that same method to damage me...how would one do this?”

“You want to combine magic with one of us?” I ask in surprise. Chrysalis seemed like the type who would be too proud to resort to combination attacks.

“What I want...is to make that Sombra eat his words! I don't care how I do it!” Chrysalis hisses at me furiously. Not far from us, Sombra emerges from the cloud of snow thrown up from the explosion. His cape is burnt to rags, and his armor is singed black in several places. His skin is mostly uninjured, but if we can keep catching him off guard, we might be able to deal some actual damage. “Now tell me how!”

I nod and hold out my hand to her, remembering Iron's description of combination spells. “Just give me your hoof, and channel your magic to me. You'll know what to do after that,” I explain to her. Chrysalis nods and thrusts her hoof into my grasp. My fingers close around her, and I focus on channeling magic to her. A moment later, I feel her magic running through me...and god, it feels fucking weird. It's like there's tiny insects running through my skin. It makes me shudder. “Okay. Now let's go help Cadance and Luna before Sombra counterattacks!”

King Sombra is looking between Luna and Cadance, no doubt putting two and two together. Therefore, the moment his eyes fall upon Chrysalis and I with her hoof in mine, his eyes narrow and he zooms toward us, propelling himself forward in a cloud of shadowy magic. Oh shit, he knows what we're up to.

Luna and Cadance throw themselves in front of him, lashing out at him with their hooves. Sombra bats Cadance aside with a single hoof, knocking her into the snow and gouging out a trench in the land. Luna's sword flicks towards Sombra in a flash of dark metal, only to be blocked by Sombra's halberd. To Luna's horror, Sombra reveals his other halberd and brings it around. Luna attempts to dodge, but isn't fast enough. She cries out as the axe blade slices through her armor and leaves a bleeding gash behind.

“Dammit, come here!” I meet Sombra next, my sword engulfed in sickly green flame. The king appears to recognize the threat, and as such he leaps and dances around me, his halberds flashing in. Each time, Chrysalis's magic running through my core helps me keep up with him. Every time my blade clashes with one of his, Sombra leaps away in case the sword explodes. However, that's not what I'm planning.

He and I trade blows again and again, until finally Sombra fuses his two halberds together and knocks my sword right out of my hand with a swift flick of the shaft. The green flame dies away from the blade as it falls, which causes Sombra to grin again.

His grin disappears when I leap into the air, Chrysalis's magic running through my right arm. As I raise my fist to strike him, the skin on my arm blackens and solidifies, forming a chitinous shell with holes running through it, looking very similar to one of Chrysalis's limbs. Small bulbous green orbs are embedded in my skin and claws extend from the tips of my fingers, giving my arm a demonic appearance.

Time seems to move in slow motion as Sombra brings his halberd up to block. Finally, my transformed fist collides with the halberd...and completely shatters it to pieces. “Down you go!” I yell. Sombra's eyes widen, but there's nothing he can do to stop my fist from plowing right into his side.

The king slams into the ground with a grunt of pain. The ground ruptures and forms a crater beneath his body. When he rises from the ground, I notice a bruise forming where I hit him. I doubt I pierced his magical protection, but perhaps he hadn't expected me to get past his halberd, and as such didn't bother to focus magic in that spot.

Sombra growls and flares out his magical aura, melting the snow around him. “Hey!” Chrysalis calls out to the king, just as he starts to head for me. Sombra turns around to see the queen standing at the top of a hill, her horn alight with two different shades of green. Cuneiform runes much like the ones running across my body and in my aura now snake across her body, giving her an otherworldly appearance. “Talk tough after you take this!”

Chrysalis lowers her head and fires all of our magic together at once in the form of a dense beam of magic. Accompanying the initial beam is what looks like a volley of gunfire emanating from her horn as if it were a rifle.

Sombra leaps to face the incoming attack, his aura growing larger. “Enough of this!” Sombra growls in frustration, and then he fires a beam of magic even larger than Chrysalis's from his horn as well, meeting the emerald beam halfway. For a moment, both beams halt in place, neither one able to gain any ground. The air shudders with the raw magical energy, such that I can feel it blowing across my skin and bearing down on me.

At last, the two beams merge and explode in a roiling pillar of emerald and dark energy. The explosion tears up the ground in a large area, blowing droplets of half-melted snow and rock outwards.

King Sombra reveals himself by blowing away the debris near him with a wave of his own power. Glaring at Chrysalis, he brings one hoof up emphatically. The ground beneath Chrysalis cracks, causing her to look down. A split second later, a colossal black crystal erupts out of the rock at an incredible speed, knocking Chrysalis high into the air.

Chrysalis yelps and rights herself, but the moment her flight stabilizes, Sombra appears behind her and hammers both of his hooves down on her head. I curse and run sideways until I can catch Chrysalis before she can hit the ground. There's so much momentum behind her flight that it sends the both of us skidding several meters backwards; I can feel the soles of my feet gouging into the rock beneath me.

“This...this is ridiculous! Nopony should possess this much strength! It's unreal!” Chrysalis curses, the reality of the situation starting to dawn on her at long last. Sickly green blood is trickling from her nose and from the top of her head.

Luna and Cadance walk up along side us. The gash in Luna's side is closed now thanks to Cadance's healing, but the both of them still look beaten and battered. The fur on Cadance's face is matted and stained with blood that's trickling from her mouth and nose, where she's taken the most hits.

“Come on...we can do it. Let's work together and deal as much damage as we can!” Cadance attempts to encourage us. We all gaze towards Sombra, who is glaring at the four of us with annoyance stamped on his face. We haven't really done anything to him apart from a few lucky hits...but I'm hoping we've at least managed to drain his magic a little.

“All together!” Luna calls to us, and then the four of us simultaneously break into a run, charging across the cratered and torn landscape towards the king. Forming two drummed machine guns, I open fire at Sombra's hovering form.

“'Tis time ye understand...ye are outmatched!” Sombra asserts, letting himself fall to the ground. The muscles in his body visibly tighten as he calls upon his innermost reserves. His hooves dig into the rock, and I swear I can feel something in the air change. He's preparing something truly powerful. With a grunt, Sombra lifts a hoof and jabs it at the air in our direction.

My eyes widen in shock and horror as the entire landscape shifts around us. The ground beneath my feet becomes soft and muddy as the structure of the rock itself alters to Sombra's whims. Ridges form on either side of us, growing larger and larger until they tower over us.

Suddenly, the tops of the ridges form streams of black spiky crystal that spiral through the air towards us. There are so many of them, they form what looks like a wall of black thorns. Unable to halt my momentum, several of them hit me directly. Pure agony ripples through my body as thorns covered with Sombra's magic break through my protection and slice into my skin all over my body.

Judging from the screams I hear from the other three, all of us have been caught up in this monstrously powerful attack. Powering through the pain, I summon up my magic and release a shockwave, breaking free of the crystalline vines. I leap to the nearest strand of crystal and run along its edge, hoping to find the others and break them free as well.

Sombra appears beside me without any warning. I immediately propel myself from the strand of crystal...just as the king shatters it to pieces with an explosion of shadowy magic. Even though I avoided the main attack, the blast knocks me off course, causing me to slam into another strand of crystal near where Luna is imprisoned.

Luna grunts and breaks free from the thorns, followed by Cadance and Chrysalis. As I'm kneeling on a strand and nursing my wounds, the three of them confront Sombra directly. It looks almost like a deadly dance as the three of them clash with him, leaping from strand to strand to avoid one another's attacks.

Sombra charges directly towards Luna as the princess brings her sword down to him. Without even bothering to summon a halberd, Sombra swings his hoof at the weapon. To Luna's shock, his hoof shatters her blade as if it were made of glass. She quickly attempts to block his next attack, but it doesn't matter. There's so much force behind his strike that it powers through her guard and sends her hurtling downwards...where her side collides with one of the strands of crystal and breaks through it.

As Chrysalis attacks Sombra head on, Cadance flies above him, charging a blast of pink magic on her horn. She yells and jerks her head downwards, hurling the bolt down at the king while he's distracted. Thankfully, the bolt hits him head on, causing him to grunt and back away from Chrysalis.

King Sombra looks up and swipes his hoof to the right. Cadance yelps as a strand of crystal comes to life and rams her right in the side, carrying her away.

Chrysalis, who is caught behind the strand, snarls and shatters it with her hoof. She rears up on her hind legs and spins rapidly in place, her forehooves trailing behind blades of sickly green magic. Sombra lifts his hooves and blocks the blades as they reach him, not even budging an inch. However, Chrysalis isn't finished.

Chrysalis leaps into the air and lifts her forehooves, a ball of green magic forming there. I recognize the attack and force myself to my feet. I've had enough time to rest...and she needs some time. As Sombra moves towards her, the air around Chrysalis erupts with a ring of emerald explosions, forcing him back momentarily.

Before Sombra can power through them, I land agilely on the strand of crystal behind him, my sword forming in my hand despite the fact that it was knocked away from me earlier. I swing it down over my head in an attempt to take him by surprise, but he turns in a blink of an eye and shoves my blade aside with one hoof. The other hoof rams into my chin with such force that my bottom teeth ram up into the roof of my mouth, splitting the skin and drawing blood.

I recover as fast as I can and exchange several vicious blows with him, my blade clashing with his gauntleted hooves. He's so strong that each impact is jarring and painful, vibrations running down the blade into my arms. Sombra moves to one side, my sword whistling past his head. He swiftly pins the blade to the crystal beneath us with one hoof, and then his free hoof shoots out and flashes with magical energy.

From the crystal strands surrounding me, spikes of black crystal shoot outwards, all of them hitting me simultaneously. The razor sharp tips snap off thanks to my magical protection, but the impacts themselves bruise me badly, to the point where I can't help screaming in pain. Sombra wastes no time in following up with an incredibly powerful blast of magic to my torso. I focus as much magic there as possible, but it's still powerful enough to shatter the spikes and carry me all the way down to the ground, where I fall prone with an intensely stinging burn on my chest.

“Good work, Seth. Nice to see that you can be useful for something,” Chrysalis compliments me. The orb of magic that she's been charging up is now at full size. She wastes no time and bringing her hooves forward and tossing the formidable ball of magic down towards King Sombra. “Beg for mercy, Sombra!”

Sombra whirls around immediately, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the large ball of magic heading right for him. He reaches up a single hoof and stops the orb there, keeping it from hitting him. For a moment, I start to think that he's just going to deflect that too. However, as Sombra's hooves dig into the crystal, he starts to realize otherwise. He lifts the other hoof, holding the deadly orb back with both of them now.

“Having trouble!? Have some more!” Chrysalis flies forward and shoots a stream of smaller balls of green flame into the main orb. Sombra's eyes widen, and the strand of crystal shatters beneath him. He lets out a low growl as the orb carries him further and further down to the ground, forcing him through any strand of crystal that gets in his way.

As Sombra nears the ground, I realize that I might be caught in the explosion if I keep lying here. I start to get up, but it's really hard. Pain shoots through my body, making it slow going. Panic spurs me on as I start to think that I won't get out of here in time.

“I've got you!” Cadance shouts, galloping past me and lifting me into the air with her magic. Luna is right beside her, and together the three of us get out of range just as Sombra hits the ground and the orb of green flame detonates.

The explosion forms a pillar of searing green flame that rises high into the air, completely engulfing Sombra's form. The strands of crystal are all incinerated in the blast, leaving the area beaten, torn, and empty.

Cadance stands in front of me, covering her eyes with her hooves and my body with her own as the shockwave from the blast rushes over us. Luna is just in front of me, applying what little healing magic she can spare to me to take the edge off of my pain.

Chrysalis lands just in front of us, a smug grin on her face. She's as worn and beaten as the rest of us, her mane matted and her body pockmarked with cracks, each one oozing greenish blood. She watches the conflagration of her magic, until it finally starts to dissipate. What she sees in the clearing causes her jaw to drop in disbelief.

Sombra stands in the center of the area, his cape burnt to shreds and his armor seared partially black. His mane is slightly singed and his body has trace burns on it, but other than that, he looks fine. I start to lose hope at the sight. Even with an attack as strong as that, he's taking only minimal damage. In comparison, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep fighting. With Luna's healing, I'm able to stand back up, but my body is battered and I'm running out of magic.

Sombra takes several steps forward, and then he seemingly disappears. Before I can attempt to pinpoint his location, he appears directly in front of Chrysalis. The queen hardly has time to lift her guard before he's upon her. With one hoof, he wrenches her guard aside with a painful sounding crack, earning a shriek of agony from Chrysalis. Then, he grabs the queen by the neck and lifts her clear off the ground before slamming her into the ground hard enough to form a crater.

Luna, Cadance, and I rush him next, attempting to get him away from Chrysalis. We don't even get close. Sombra rears up on his hind legs, his horn lighting up. The ground beneath us writhes and rumbles, forcing us to slow down or risk losing our footing.

Jagged black crystals of various sizes rupture the ground from below and shoot upwards. I leap upward into the air to avoid them, but they're rising faster than I can, and there's practically no space between them. One of them catches me on the side, traveling at what feels like the speed of a train. My body is knocked upwards, turning end over end. Lightning bolts of pain shoot through my chest from what are no doubt broken ribs. The others don't fare much better. Each of them, including Chrysalis, are caught by the massive circle of crystals emerging from the ground and knocked into the air.

Sombra appears beside Luna and kicks her towards the center of the circle. She attempts to counterattack, but he's already moving. He dashes to Cadance and bats away her attempts to stave him off, and then he lowers his head and rams her with his shoulders. With his head, he hurls her forward until she collides with Luna.

Chrysalis grunts and turns her body, but Sombra's already in front of her, no mercy in his cold red eyes. With a spin of his body, he knocks her towards the center as well. Just as I'm starting to piece together what he's doing, he zooms through the air and forms beside me in a burst of shadowy energy. I lift my sword to block, but his hoof snaps the weapon right in half before ramming into my sternum.

I collide with the other three in the center of the circle of crystals. “We need to move...he...!” I try to warn them, but it's too late. Sombra flies through the air until he's directly above us. He lifts both hooves and forms an orb of darkness between them. Before we can scatter, he throws it straight down...and it hits us all at once.

I gasp and wheeze as I hit the ground on my stomach, winding me completely. My mouth fills with the iron taste of blood, until I can't help but cough it out onto the snow. Around me, Chrysalis, Luna, and Cadance land nearby, each of us badly damaged from that attack.

“Have...have to get up...” I tell myself, steadily attempting to rise. I cry out pitifully with pain as I slowly rise. I crane my head up to look around...only to stare directly into Sombra's cold eyes. The words “oh shit” pass through my mind seconds before he wrenches me right off the ground by my arm and slams me into the ground again. My screams intensify as I feel my arm bone pop out of its socket, dislocated by the force of Sombra's throw.

“I'll...I'll help! Seth!” Cadance manages to rise and rush Sombra as well...only for the king to bat her aside without much effort, sending her tumbling across the ground like a ragdoll. This is bad. It's not even a fight anymore...we're all so badly hurt it's becoming an effort just to stand. Celestia...where are you? We need you...now more than ever.

Chrysalis forces herself to her feet, firing a blast of sickly green magic towards Sombra. “Enough...” Sombra says calmly, batting the blast aside. He lowers his head, charging a blast of magic that will no doubt wipe Chrysalis out if it hits her. “'Tis over. Thy struggle has ended.”

Chrysalis, one eye lid swollen and drooping over her eye, hardly has the strength to stand. All she is doing is staring helplessly as Sombra orients his horn on her. Recognizing what's about to happen, I force myself to my feet and break into a run.

“CHRYSALIS!” I yell out hoarsely, throwing out my own working arm just as Sombra fires his attack. Realizing that I'm not going to make it, I throw my body forward, ramming into Chrysalis' side and carrying us both to the ground. Chrysalis squeaks with pain as we both skid across the snow, but it's worth it. The beam of magic passes right over us, searing the skin on my back in the process. I have to physically try not to cry with pain when I land on my dislocated shoulder.

“You...idiot...you should...have let me die...and hit him instead...” Chrysalis criticizes me weakly, but I'm too out of it to answer. “Heh...we can't win...who'd have thought...I'd die here...with you...”

The battlefield is quiet, save for the sound of the wind whistling eerily through the destroyed wasteland. The sounds of the battle in the Crystal Empire carry faintly over the wind. Cadance is lying on her side not far from us, groaning and struggling to move. “C-Can't move...it hurts...” she whines.

Luna is similarly affected. She's lying on her knees, her body burnt and damaged. Her armor is in pieces, falling off of her body bit by bit. “I...sister...I cannot...”

As for me...my body feels like it's on fire. My ribs are broken...I think some of my insides are damaged too, if this blood coming up my throat is anything to go by. My right arm is useless, my sword is broken...and I can hardly move. I guess we did...the best we could.

King Sombra stands in the middle of us all, gazing down upon us with an unreadable expression. He's breathing a little harder than before. “Ye were worthy opponents...I shall afford ye that compliment,” Sombra expresses. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “But ye cannot stand in my way. I must attain more power...until I stand above the gods themselves.”

Sombra suddenly pauses, as if sensing something strange. He turns his head to look around. “Thy princess...Celestia. Her absence begins to trouble me,” he expresses. He starts to walk away from us, not even bothering to finish us off. “Rest where ye lie...I shall return to finish ye once thy princess is dealt with.”

A bolt of adrenaline runs through my body as I remember Celestia's words. The one thing that she told us to do...the one hope that any of us would get out of this alive.

“Remember the plan, everyone. When I retreat to build up my magical energy, you must keep him from searching for me. If I am interrupted, we are lost.”

I press my bleeding and cut hand onto the ground, pushing myself upright slowly. My eyes are fixed upon Sombra's retreating form. I can't...I won't let him leave. “Everypony...we have to...we need to stop him...” I grunt out, taking a step forward. “We can't give up here...all of our struggles...up to this point...will mean nothing....if we can't stop him here...”

“You're right...I have somepony I have to go back to...I promised...I promised!” Cadance forces herself to her hooves and flares her magic. “Get up, everyone! I'm not ready to give up yet!”

“Indeed...as long as I draw breath...I will never stop fighting,” Luna asserts weakly. With Cadance's help, Luna gets back to her hooves as well. “I do this for my sister...and for the Equestria that we have built together.”

“I have a future waiting for me...one that I'm not going to give up on just yet...I too, have somepony waiting for me...and I won't disappoint her!” I assert, stepping unsteadily towards Cadance and Luna. I don't know how I'm going to fight with only one arm, but I'm with Luna. I'm not going to stop fighting until I'm dead. I've come too far just to let Sombra end everything here.

“Easy...for you all to say...” Chrysalis chokes out, still lying prone. I turn back to face her, noticing how beaten she is. I've only seen her badly hurt once before, back at the Royal Wedding. She's much worse than that now...I don't even know how she's still conscious. “I don't have anyone waiting for me...no friends to welcome me back...”

“Don't be fucking stupid,” I snap at her, stopping just in front of her Chrysalis looks up at me sharply at my scathing words. “You have an entire hive waiting for you to come back and help them. Hell, you can hear what they're thinking all the time, right? Listen to them, Chrysalis. What are they saying?”

Chrysalis freezes, her eyes going blank for a moment as she does what I suggest. When her eyes refocus, there's new vitality and strength there. “Heh, I guess you're right. They'd be utterly useless without me...” Chrysalis admits as she struggles to rise. She blinks as I offer my hand to her. “You...what are you doing?”

“Let's stop Sombra, Queen Chrysalis. We've got your back,” I say to her, hardly realizing the significance of my words until they're already out of my mouth. Chrysalis looks up at me, her jaw slightly falling open. She takes my hand and I help her to her hooves, albeit painfully. “Let's do this.”

Chrysalis gives me an appreciative glance. Her eyes trail down to my arm...and then she slams a hoof directly into my shoulder. I howl with pain as a sickening crack emanates from my joint. I almost fall back over from the pain, but she holds me up, unwilling to let me fall. Seconds later...I realize I can move my arm now. It hurts like a bitch....but I can move it. She helped set my shoulder back in place.

“Are ye ready, everyone?” Luna yells out, starting to move towards the form of Sombra in the distance. “All together! Let us show King Sombra our true might!”

“Yeah!”

“Damn straight!”

“For my changelings!” With that, we all break into a sprint, ignoring the immense pain in our bodies.

King Sombra casts his gaze around the clearing as he follows Celestia's magical signature. So intent is he on his search, that the last thing he expects is for all four of us to appear around him in a circle. “What?” he emits in shock, seconds before Luna and Chrysalis knock him clear off his feet with a magical combination attack between the two of them.

The king rights himself in midair and blows away the magic that just hit him. He powers up once more, his oppressive aura flaring into existence. Before he can counterattack, Cadance is running alongside him, firing laser after laser from her horn into his side. Sombra winces and moves his head to orient his horn on her.

“Don't even think about it, bastard!” I run directly towards him, firing my pistol again and again. Sombra glares at me fiercely with one eye, not even bothering to block the bullets as they bounce off of his armor and skin. When I reach him, I leap into the air and bring my knee forward, the limb wreathed in emerald flame. Sombra raises a hoof and blocks it, repulsing me backwards with hardly any effort. “Gah!”

“Have at thee, fiend!” Just as he's turning to fight me, a beam of starry magic slams into his side, sending him skidding back a few feet. Luna gallops directly towards him, her hooves lashing out, aiming for his head. Sombra spins in place and kicks her away. He starts to charge up another bolt of magic...but then Chrysalis's hoof barrels into his chin, snapping his head to one side.

“I. Won't. Fall. Here!” Chrysalis yells, punctuating every word with two swift punches to Sombra's face and neck. Sombra growls, starting to get frustrated. However, the moment he repels Chrysalis with a vicious punch of his own, Cadance's blasts impact with his body once more.

Cadance lets out a yell that rises in volume as scores of magical beams fire up into the air from her horn. Each one arcs down upon Sombra and explodes violently around him, causing him to grunt and retreat in an attempt to avoid them.

“Don't give him a chance to fight back!” I yell to the others, attacking Sombra directly from behind. My magic coalesces around my hands, forming a set of emerald gauntlets with lethal spikes extending from each knuckle. As Sombra retreats from Cadance's assault, my fists catch him right from behind. My first punch manages to get through to him before he can focus magic in that area, leaving four bleeding gashes in his back.

We attack Sombra relentlessly, each one of us dashing in and dealing as much damage as we can before he drives us away with his overwhelming strength. Every time he repulses one of us, another is in there to harass him.

“Ye are most obstinate! Perish!” Sombra roars, and he blasts us all back with a shadowy shockwave, green electricity sparking from his body. Now that we're distanced from him, he lifts his hoof and sweeps it to one side. A wave of green electricity surges across the ground around us, knocking us all off balance and throwing us away.

Sombra straightens up, expecting to have some room to breathe after that. To his shock, Chrysalis and Luna dash out of the smoke to combat him. We all are bleeding, battered, and burned almost beyond recognition, but we won't fall. Not yet.

“Aaaaaaah!” Luna roars, her magic enshrouded hooves swinging forward to ram into Sombra's side. Chrysalis screeches out her battle cry, attacking from the other side with her entire body wreathed in sickly green flame.

Sombra redirects Luna's hoof and rams his own into her midsection. A burst of shadowy magic explodes on impact, sending Luna's smoking form tumbling across the snow. He swiftly turns and blocks Chrysalis' next punch. Much to his surprise, Chrysalis grins, and green traces of her magic start to slither down Sombra's hoof.

Sombra kicks Chrysalis away viciously and retreats, looking suspiciously at Chrysalis. “What are thy plans, insect?” the king demands. He attempts to step forward...only to find that he can't. Letting out a cry of alarm, he looks down to see four emerald whips of changeling magic wrapped around his hooves, holding him down. He strains against his bonds, slowly starting to break free. “A pointless endeavour. Thou canst hold me for long with such feeble magic.”

“I won't have to,” Chrysalis informs him with a toothy grin. The resulting look of understanding on Sombra's face causes her grin to grow wider. “Let him have it, you two!”

The dust cloud thrown up from Sombra's previous electrical attack finally dissipates, revealing Cadance and I, her hoof clasped in my hand. I let go of her and hold my left hand back, an emerald green orb forming at the tip of my finger. Cadance throws her right hoof back, a similarly sized pink orb forming there.

The two orbs meet and merge together, forming a pulsing pink and green orb that steadily grows larger and larger in size, until it's the size of a watermelon. Sombra's eyes widen and he doubles his efforts to get free, but it's too late.

“I'll give it everything I've got! Hyaah!” Cadance and I yell out and bring our assorted limbs forward at the same time, bringing the orb with us. With a sound unlike anything I've ever heard, the orb shoots forth into a beam that's easily twice the thickness of a redwood tree.

Sombra isn't able to get free before the beam plows right into him and engulfs his form with an explosion that shoots into the air in a pillar of roiling pink and green light. The magic twists around itself within the blast, forming a vortex at the base of the pillar that tears up the ground in a large radius.

Cadance and I slump down after that, breathing hard. I barely have any magic left...my transformed state is starting to fade. Cadance looks pretty winded herself...I only hope she can stay conscious a little while longer. We both know that was nowhere near enough to kill him.

When the magical explosion dissipates, Sombra walks out of the crater left behind, free from his bonds. His cape is completely gone, and his armor is starting to fall apart. His body is more noticeably burned, to the point where it actually looks like we've really damaged him. He's breathing noticeably harder now, but he still looks very capable of fighting further.

“Very well...ye has pushed me far enough. It is time I bring an end to this struggle...my kingdom awaits,” Sombra says in a dangerously calm voice. Even with the trouble we're giving him, he's still keeping his cool. Despite everything, I have to admire that about him. His horn starts to spark dangerously with black lightning, something that I've never seen him do. “Ye shall bear witness to my most powerful technique...”

“And you shall bear witness to mine!” The air fills with the sound of flapping wings as Celestia descends from the skies above, revealing herself at last. Behind her, the light of the dawn shines down upon us, giving her an air of true majesty. The four of us look up at her in exhilaration. She's here! With luck, we can bring everything to an end right here and now! Sombra lifts his head and glares up at the princess, one hoof scuffing at the ground. “Your end is at hoof, King Sombra! It is now that you answer for your crimes against ponykind...and humankind! Face the fury of the unbridled sun!”

Celestia closes her eyes briefly. When she reopens them, her entire body seems to ignite. Her mane and tail physically catch fire, turning from their natural cool colors to a blazing red. Her eyes have gone pure white, tongues of flame trailing back from her corneas.

Behind her, a small orb of flame appears. However...just by looking at it, I can tell it's no ordinary fireball. It seems much more pure...more primal. As the ball grows larger, I can see what looks like magma roiling across its surface...except it's not magma. My eyes widen as the ball surpasses Celestia in size and continues to grow at an incredibly rapid speed. I know what that is...that's not just a ball of flame. It's almost as if...that's a true sun behind her. That's impossible on so many levels...but I have no other explanation for what I'm seeing.

Sombra takes a step back, fear filling his eyes at the sight of so much power accumulated before him. No doubt he truly understands now why we were fighting so hard to keep him from finding her....but it's too late for him to do anything about it. The sun, if that's what is is...is now so large, it makes Celestia look tiny in comparison.

Celestia lets out a chilling battle cry, pure wrath evident in her voice. She flaps her wings forward, and the sun slowly starts to move forward, the very air dilating around it from the sheer heat emanating from its surface. Celestia flies around behind it and kicks it forward, sending it hurtling down towards the king.

“Thou underestimates my power! I am the king!” Sombra roars. The black lightning sparking around his horn increases in intensity. He plants his hooves firmly on the ground and thrusts his head upwards, firing a beam of pure shadow so strong, that waves of black electricity form rings around it.

As the two attacks meet in midair, the entire landscape beneath us shatters and ruptures. Any debris thrown up from the turbulence in the air is disintegrated by the waves of incredible magic power emanating from the struggle above.

Sombra grunts and pours more power into the beam, causing the sun's momentum to slow to a halt. He grins and steps forward, slowly starting to push the sun back up, despite Celestia's efforts to push it down upon him. However...his grin disappears when he sees what's happening above them.

Chrysalis, Luna, Cadance, and I are standing in a circle high in the air behind the sun. We are all linked together...them with their hooves intertwined, and me with my hands holding onto their hooves. Together, as our unique individual magics channel between us, our will becomes as one. We break apart and turn to face the struggle below, our bodies filled with the combined magic of one another.

“This is for all the suffering you've caused...to my friends, my family, and to all those you enslaved! Hah!” Cadance lowers her head and fires a brilliant beam of pure rose forward.

“My hive will not fall to the likes of you, scum! This is payback!” Chrysalis adds her power to the mix, firing a beam of brilliant emerald down towards the sun.

“We shall never fade! Not while tyrants such as thee exist! Fall, King Sombra!” Luna jerks her head forward and fires a beam of brilliant navy blue, pinpricks of stars forming within the deadly magic.

Without a word, I lunge forward, using the combined magic given to me by the others to propel myself forward. I fly forward directly into the point where the three beams mix, merging my entire body with them. Together, the magics merge together into a single pillar of destruction, colored a bright sparkling gold. Like a golden comet, I surge through the air down towards the sun.

“Let's end this!” I cry out. I pull my fist back, and then just as I reach the sun, I slam it forward, right into the roiling maelstrom of sweltering heat.

The surface of the sun seems to press inwards beneath my punch. It gives me resistance, but I use every last drop of magic in my body to overpower the force of Sombra's magical beam. Down below, Sombra's eyes widen with horror as the sun slowly overcomes his magical might.

“What? No! My power...my power cannot be overwhelmed! Not by this!” Sombra's yells of denial turn into a cry of pain as the sun presses into his skin and pushes him right into the ground, the rock melting on contact with the sun.

I hover there in midair, my transformed state fading away, leaving me void of all magic. Even the amount that I'm using to stay afloat is leaving me, my body wobbling in the air. I don't move, though. Instead, I watch the sun pressing down against Sombra's body, disintegrating his flesh and tearing apart his body.

“Come away with me, Seth!” Celestia's hooves close around me, her appearance back to normal. As the last of my magic runs out, she carries me away from the battlefield...just as the sun explodes.

“CELESTIAAAAAA!” Sombra's roar of utter agony echoes across the landscape as the resulting detonation obscures my vision with pure white. I have to cover my eyes to keep from being blinded...because all I can see is white. If I had to describe the scale of the explosion...the only word that comes to mind...is a supernova.

Celestia holds me tight and keeps me safe from the tumultuous shockwaves that rush across the landscape, completely obliterating any natural formations nearby. The explosion sounds as if hundreds of speeding trains are zooming past my ears at every given moment. The winds that pass over us are akin to that of a hurricane's...and if it weren't for Celestia's strong hooves holding me close, I'd be blown away like a leaf in a storm. It seems like an eternity before the world finally comes back to normal, the light fading away and the shockwaves dissipating. When I open my eyes, my jaw drops.

The landscape for a large radius is now a blackened wasteland, flat and devoid of life. In the center of it all is a dark and wide crater; the center of the explosion.

Celestia lowers me to the ground beside the others, who are as spent as I am. She looks down at all of us, a proud smile on her face. “I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to see that you are all okay,” Celestia expresses to all of us fervently. Heh...that's subjective. I'm pretty sure that most of me is broken right now...or at least that's how I feel. Celestia lowers her head, her horn lighting up. “I only possess a small amount of magic, but I will do my best to soothe your pain.”

Celestia stands over us all, a faint stream of golden magic descending upon each of us. I can feel it trying to ease my burns and fix my broken bones...but it's going extremely slowly. At best, she's treating the most life-threatening injuries...but it's clear we'll all need medical treatment soon.

“Is...is he gone?” Cadance rasps from where she's lying on the ground a short distance away.

“I believe so. I have never concentrated so much magic into a single technique before. It...was quite taxing,” Celestia reveals, sweat beading on her brow from her healing efforts. Her words cause me to remember my lessons with Twilight. According to her, our cores are generally capable of holding much more magic that we can put out at once. However...if one of us were to spend a great deal of time continuously releasing magic and concentrating it into a single technique...we would be capable of producing an attack far above our current ability. “However, I believe it would be prudent of us to make sure of that.”

“That would be best...” Luna grunts, starting to stir now that she's slightly healed. Celestia's spell soon peters out. My whole body is still burnt and battered...but I can at least move. “I will...join thee...”

“Me too...I need to see for myself,” I agree. Celestia gazes at us all soulfully, and nods. She helps her sister stand, and then proceeds to do the same to the rest of us. “I won't relax until I see him in a pile of ash.”

I try to take a step forward, but one of my legs gives out. Before I can hit the ground, a hoof grasps me by the arm painfully, earning a cry from me. “Oh, quit complaining and lean on me...” Chrysalis grumbles, placing my arm around her shoulders. She staggers a bit herself, but with the two of us supporting one another, we manage to stay upright. She colors a bit when she sees me looking at her. “Don't look at me like that! You're an utter fool...but you did save my life, for whatever reason.”

Similarly Celestia supports both her sister and Cadance, despite her own visible signs of fatigue. Together, the five of us slowly approach the dark crater where King Sombra supposedly met his end. In the distance, we can still hear the sounds of battle raging in the Crystal Empire. Despite Sombra's apparent defeat...there's still one general left. There's no way to know for sure whether or not Sombra is truly gone.

I curse softly as Chrysalis and I nearly slip into the crater. The lip is precarious and the angle of descent is steep. If we aren't careful, we could tumble all the way to the bottom and further injure ourselves. I let out a low groan of agony as I have to put weight on my legs to keep from falling as we descend into the crater.

“There is no need to push yourselves...travel at your own pace,” Celestia assures us as she navigates Luna and Cadance down into the crater with her. Right...that's easy for her to say. It feels more painful if I move too slowly...but I can't speed up either.

It feels like forever before we reach the bottom with the other three. The ground we're walking on is completely changed in composition from before. Well, I say that, but I don't really know what it used to be. I'm just sure there wasn't obsidian involved before. Celestia's attack must have melted the ground, which then quickly froze back over. It's a bit scientifically farfetched, but whatever.

At the very bottom of the crater, there's a fine layer of ash...and what looks like blackened bits of warped metal. If I assume that's what's left of Sombra's armor...then...I start to think we may have succeeded after all.

Something glints in the ash pile, catching my eye. “Let me down for a second...” I grunt at Chrysalis. She wordlessly releases me, almost causing me to fall over. I get down on my hands and knees, conscious of the others watching me. “I see something in here...aha!”

I pull out an ash covered Alicorn Amulet from the pile. Surprisingly enough, the thing is not only in one piece, but it also looks completely untouched. Celestia approaches me as I dust off the ash from the amulet, revealing the ominous red gemstone, which shines with a pristine brilliance.

“The Alicorn Amulet...it is said that it cannot be removed by anyone other than its bearer,” Celestia observes, lowering herself down beside me. She lets out a soft exhale. “If you have found it...then perhaps we may assume that we are victorious.”

Sighs of relief sound from each one of us. Cadance promptly falls unconscious in Luna's grip, carrying the both of them to the ground. Chrysalis just lets out a low hiss, too exhausted to say anything. A small smile crosses my face. We did it...he's gone. Now I can go back to Rainbow...and Ponyville. I have never missed that town more than I do right now.

“What of the battle?” Luna questions weakly. “The undead still press upon the city...yet none of us possess the magic to fight them.”

“Perhaps not...but I will return and assume command of the defense. We may be outnumbered, but I have faith in our allies. We shall not lose to the remnants of his army,” Celestia assures us all. She spreads her wings in preparation for take off. “Let us go. I shall escort you to the rear camp for treatment.”

“That sounds amazing. Let's go already...” I say, forcing myself to my feet. My legs wobble beneath me, causing me to reach out a hand to Chrysalis's back to steady myself. The other hand is still holding the Alicorn Amulet.

As I walk with Chrysalis towards the edge of the crater, I lift up the amulet to look at it. I've never really had a close look at this thing...but apparently it's supposed to make you really strong, at the cost of corrupting you. I guess Sombra was corrupt to begin with...so it never affected him that much.

I peer closer at it, the gem winking up at me invitingly. The way the light reflects from its surface is fascinating...it kinda makes me want to try it on myself. The second that thought runs through my mind...the amulet comes to life in my hand.

The amulet releases a deep thrum that sounds eerily like a heartbeat. A small wave of air dilates away from the center of the device...and something in my body starts to feel very wrong. “Ga...aaagh!” I choke, pain running through my whole body. It feels as if my very insides are rebelling against me, pressing against my outer skin in every direction.

“Seth? What is it?” Chrysalis demands. A look of alarm crosses her face as I fall forward onto my knees. I can't look away from the amulet. The central gem seems to be pulling me in like a black hole. I try to let go of the amulet, but my fingers won't loosen around its frame. “Celestia! Something's wrong!”

My vision blurs and unfocuses as the feeling of my insides roiling inside me intensifies. I blink to attempt to clear my vision...and the first thing I see denies all explanation. Something is coming out of my body...shimmering and undulating as it tugs fiercely against me in an attempt to get free. The Alicorn Amulet is glowing brightly now, drawing the shimmering apparition forward towards the central gem. As my vision grows even more unfocused, I realize with a shock that the apparition is a ghostly reflection of myself.

As soon as I realize that, the central gem appears to grow larger and larger in my perception, until the image of glimmering red crystal is all I can see. A rushing sound fills my ears, growing rapidly louder in volume until it overwhelms my every sensation...and then everything goes dark as my consciousness fades.

The last thing I hear is the sound of Celestia and the others frantically calling out my name.

---

When consciousness returns to me, I become aware that I'm lying on a cool, smooth surface. I lie there for a while...until I realize that I don't feel any pain. My eyes open in alarm as I remember what happened before I passed out, and I quickly lurch upwards and look around.

The first thing I see is the color red. There's so much red around me, it's hard to make out anything else. The smooth, reflective surface of the floor is colored that same red, as are the walls and faceted ceiling. Wait, facets?

Looking up at the ceiling, I confirm my initial findings. The ceiling is indeed faceted like that of a gemstone, and made of the same red material as everything else. However, it's slightly translucent, as I can see up through it to an empty blue sky, far away in the heavens.

Where the hell am I? Getting to my feet, I start to walk. The clicking of my burned boots across the crystalline floor echoes eerily throughout the expansive room. Come to think of it...I can't tell how big this place is. I see the walls supporting the ceiling all around me, but they don't seem to be getting any closer, no matter how far I walk. I'm completely and utterly confused. We defeated Sombra, didn't we? So what happened?

“Shall I explain it to you?” the deep, unearthly voice echoes eerily in the wide open space, coming from behind me. I whirl around immediately...and then freeze in shock and horror. King Sombra is standing several meters away from me, alive and completely unharmed.

The king takes several steps forward. Unlike before, he's not wearing anything at all. There's no crown, no armor, no cape, no nothing. There's just a dark gray stallion before me, his shadowy mane falling to either side of his face now that there's no crown to hold it back.

“It seems that my destiny is tied to thine own, Seth Rogers,” Sombra addresses me solemnly. He clicks his tongue, his eyes closing momentarily. “That it would be thy hand that clasps the amulet...Fate's whims are fickle, indeed.”

I finally find my voice, dread sinking into the pit of my stomach just at the very sight of this stallion. “What...what's going on? How are you still alive?” I demand, a hint of despair in my voice. I don't know where or how he brought me...but if it's just him and me...I'm beyond screwed. “We watched you die!”

Sombra inclines his head in agreement. “You are correct. I was outwitted and outmaneuvered by thy clever plan. To think that Princess Celestia would feign destruction in order to build up an attack of such magnitude...my body is no more,” he reveals, shaking his head as if disappointed in himself. His expression turns into a hard stare. “But I never enter a battle without a plan. As it was one thousand years ago...the same holds true now.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask him, not liking what I'm hearing.

“There was another reason I requested Hawke to retrieve the Alicorn Amulet,” Sombra begins calmly. “This gemstone is of a particularly unique strain...as it is one of the few gems that can house a living soul.”

“You mean...!” Everything starts to make sense...and I think I'm starting to realize what I'm doing here.

“Thou art standing within the amulet itself,” Sombra reveals, lifting a hoof and sweeping it through the air, indicating our surroundings. “I enchanted it to receive my soul should my body retain irreparable damage...and to steal the soul of the first to lay hoof upon its surface.”

“You stole my...you...you took me down with you?” I step forward, fury running through my body. It overpowers my despair and seems to run through me like an electrical current. Every part of me rebels against what I was just told. “You couldn't just die, could you!? You couldn't just let go of your ill-gained empire and this ridiculous quest for power!? I had something to live for, you son of a bitch!”

“Destroying thee is indeed the goal...but I will not be destroyed with thee,” Sombra corrects me, ignoring my outburst entirely. “We are both trapped within the amulet...but it is enchanted to expel its contents when only one soul remains. Let me make mine intentions clear to thee, Seth. The only nearby vessel capable of sustaining a soul...is thy body.”

“I can't believe this. So let me get this straight. You want to kill me here...and then take my body?” I repeat in disbelief. It looks like I'm going to have to fight after all. I don't understand how one soul fights another...but I'll be damned if I'll let him have my body. “It would never work. You'll be found out immediately! If not by Celestia, then by anypony else who even remotely knows me!”

“The aftermath does not concern thee...for thy tale ends here, Seth Rogers,” Sombra tells me threateningly. He starts to walk forward, shadowy power swirling up from the floor around his hooves. “I will not die. I will crush thy soul and continue to live, so that I may attain even more power.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I retort, lifting a hand. I try to flare my aura...only to find that my core is completely absent. Wait what? How is that possible? This isn't like before, when my magic was stolen. Then, I could feel my core...but it was devoid of all magic. Now, it's just gone. “What the hell? My magic!”

“Thy core is embedded in thy body. Thou wilst not be able to access it from within the amulet,” Sombra explains. That doesn't make sense...if I can't access my magical core, how is he doing it? “As a soul, thy strength is a manifestation of thine own will. This is a battle of minds; thou hast no need of magic.”

I become completely still after that explanation. A strange feeling of calm rushes over me as I truly understand the situation for the first time. Nothing matters here, in the amulet. My friends, the battle, my home...nothing exists here except for myself...and King Sombra. None of us can leave until the other is defeated.

“A battle of will?” I say softly, walking across the crystalline floor towards the king. I briefly close my eyes, picturing for just one second what would happen if I fell here. My eyes shoot open...and they're blazing with emerald magic. “You made a mistake.”

Sombra takes a step back, his eyes widening as I seemingly disappear from his vision. “How...?” is all Sombra has time to say before I appear in front of him. My fist streaks forward and barrels into his chest, and then my forehead smashes into his savagely. My blazing eyes glare into his surprised red pupils...and then I spin on one foot and kick him ruthlessly away from me.

Emerald light explodes outwards from the impact. Sombra hurtles through the air, smoking from the burns he just sustained. Just as he rights himself, I appear above him in midair. “You made a mistake, Sombra!” My body spins like a top, gaining momentum until I kick him right back down into the ground. “You won't be taking my body. You won't even destroy my soul.”

Sombra growls and meets me head on when I appear in front of him. His shadowy hooves collide with my fists, a shockwave shooting outwards from the impact. For once...King Sombra and I are on an even playing field...no, this isn't even. This isn't even at all.

The king's eyes are wide with shock and disbelief as I easily overpower his guard and bring my fist down from overhead, plowing him into the floor. “What are you fighting for, King Sombra?” I demand, dashing across the floor in a streak of emerald light.

“Power...and recognition. I will gain power to rival that of the gods! I will not be stopped by thee or thy allies!” Sombra responds fervently. He slides across the floor and leaps to his hooves. He thrusts his horn forward, and hundreds of emerald lightning bolts streak through the air with a fizzing zap.

“Are you serious? That's it!?” I reply angrily. Everything seems to just come naturally to me...my movements...and the “spells” that I'm using. I know that none of this is true magic...but it doesn't matter. The magical aura around me turns from emerald to a blazing white. I sweep my hand in front of my face, causing a massive white circle of magic to appear in front of my body...its inner workings dotted with thousands of cuneiform runes. When Sombra's lightning bolts collide with the circle, I thrust out my palm, causing the circle to flare brightly and redirect each and every one of the bolts, changing them to the color of my own power. “Power, power, power! That's all you ever say! Is that the only reason you fight? There has to be more!”

“I...aaagh!” Sombra roars with pain as every single bolt slams into his body, engulfing him in an explosion. He blows it away with a shockwave of his own power and slams his hooves on the ground. Two shadowy circles of his own power form in the air behind him. Sparks of green electricity gather together in the center of each one and shoot forth in the form of two solid beams of dark magic. “It is of no concern to thee...I will crush thy soul with my will alone!”

“What will!?” I shout back at him, catching both beams on each of my palms. I'm forced back several feet from the force...but the skin on my hands aren't hurt. They don't hurt at all. With a yell, I redirect the both of them to either side, where they detonate harmlessly. I zip forward at speeds I never once thought I was capable of before...but come easily to me now. I appear above Sombra and somersault through the air, bringing my fists down on his guard. He and I are strain against one another, neither of us giving any ground. “The will to get stronger, no matter who you hurt in the process; and the will not to die!? Did you really think your will was strong enough to triumph!?”

“What then, dost thou suggest, impudent human?” Sombra grunts and forces me back, spinning in place and bucking me back several meters. I quickly land on my feet and dash back to meet him. “Dost thou think thy will is stronger than mine own?”

“You're goddamn right I do! In fact, I have to thank you.” He and I clash together once more, exchanging vicious and thunderous blows that visibly distort the air around us. “If it weren't for you...I likely never would have come to understand the things I do now. People aren't the scum I thought they were...”

I twist and swing my foot in a kick, which he blocks on one hoof.

“They're capable of pushing past the surface to see who we truly are...”

Ducking beneath Sombra's punches, I swiftly stand back up and uppercut him in the chin.

“They're capable of kindness...laughter...generosity...honesty...loyalty...and so much more!”

Sombra skids backwards across the floor after receiving a fierce kick from me. He's breathing heavily now...and his body is starting to waver in form. He looks panicked, his last plan failing no matter how hard he's fighting back.

“It's a magic I never thought I'd be able to understand...so for that...I have to thank you,” I tell him, slowly walking across the floor to him. I crack my knuckles threateningly. I'm not going to stop until I've destroyed him. Only one of us is getting out of this alive. “But you...do you even know how many people you've hurt? How many ponies?”

“It...it dost not matter...they wert...” Sombra attempts to say, but I'm not having any of it.

I raise my fist and clench it, white flame erupting around it. “Do you even know their names!?” I shout viscerally. Sombra doesn't respond, instead backing away from me. I don't let him get any farther, dashing to him and knocking him high into the air with an explosive punch. “I'll tell you...”

I circle in the air around him, zooming in and punching him mercilessly. I don't even let him fly backwards; I fly around him so fast that I hit him right back into the air. I punch him again and again, shouting each and every name that I remember back at him. Sombra's mouth is open in a scream of pain as he takes my relentless attacks. I yell the names of the princesses, the Islanders, the changelings, the crystal ponies, the soldiers...everything that I can remember. At last, I come to the most important ponies to me.

“Celestia!”

“Twilight Sparkle!”

“Pinkie Pie!

“Fluttershy!”

Each name I yell, punctuate with several vicious punches. Sombra never even reaches the ground, due to the sheer amount of hits he's taking. As I continue to shout out more names, I speed up faster and faster.

“Rarity! Applejack! Rainbow Dash!” I slug him right into the ground, which shatters beneath his body. Sombra grunts and coughs, getting to his hooves slowly. His body is beaten and battered...and it won't stay in focus. I land in front of him. “And that's just the ponies...I wish I could tell you the names of each and every human you ordered killed...but I don't know them myself.”

I slide forward and slam my elbow into him before he can raise his guard. “But I do know Amaryllis! I do know my mother, Elaine! I do know my father, Gerome! My brother, Adam!” My assault never lets up, to the point where my fists are starting to sting from all of the times I've hit him. I kick him up high into the air. “I know Hawke, the one you manipulated! And this is for making my life a living hell!”

Sombra flips in midair and grunts, fury overtaking him. “Cease thine endless prattle! I care not for these names...they mean nothing to me! Only power!” Sombra's horn lights up like a lightning rod, channeling an immense amount of power. A massive runed circle appears in the air in front of him, colored pure black. Hundreds of smaller circles spread out from the central circle, forming a curved arc...with me at the focus point. “I will not die!”

“You won't stop me here!” I propel myself off of the ground at the speed of a rocket, my fist arcing back and igniting with power. My energy spreads out from my body, sweeping across the entirety of open space in the amulet behind me. Everything becomes awash in white. Around me, shapes form in the white flame...coalescing into the likeness of Amaryllis, my family, Hawke, Celestia, Rainbow, and every single other individual that I'm fighting for...manifestations of my will.

My fist collides with Sombra's magic with a colossal crash. My power washes over his...crashing together like a tidal wave against the shore. An array of concentric circles emanate from the point of impact, trailing back over my body and drilling in the floor far below me. His power holds me back...but I won't let it stop me. Sombra's eyes open wide with horror as his will only slows me, rather than stopping me outright.

With a rising yell, my fist shatters his magic like glass...and then my arm shoots right through Sombra's middle. Our magic merges together and explodes around us...but I can't feel any of it. All I can see is the shocked face of Sombra in front of me...and the sight of him impaled on my arm.

“That one...is for all of the humans and ponies whose names I don't know,” I whisper to him softly. I rip my arm out of his chest, leaving behind a gaping hole that shines with a bright white light.

“What...what is this...” Sombra lands on the ground and presses a hoof to the blazing hole in his chest. Already, cracks are starting to form in his body, white light leaking through from within. He squeezes his eyes shut as he attempts to keep his body together...but to no avail. “No...I cannot die...I will not die...I need..power...more power! This...isn't enough!”

I stand there and watch calmly, breathing hard, as Sombra nears his end. The king's body fragments and starts to crumble. “I...need more power!” Sombra roars. Suddenly...he pauses, as if accepting his end. “Why...why did I...desire power? What...was I fighting for? Can't...recall...”

Sombra's eyes suddenly open. His pupils...instead of being dark red as they always are...are now a calm shade of green. Understanding dawns in his face as his body falls apart. “Ah...yes...now I remember...the Crystal Fair...”

With that, I have to cover my eyes as Sombra's body detonates, a bright white light filling the entire area. It gets so bright to the point where I can't see anything else. My senses are soon overcome by that blinding light...until nothing is left.

---

I suddenly jerk awake, familiar pain filling my body from all of the wounds I sustained in the battle. I open my eyes to see a canvas ceiling. In the background, I can hear the soft tones of Fluttershy soothing a wounded soldier, telling me exactly where I am.

The moment I grunt in an attempt to rise, I hear the sound of scores of hoofbeats galloping towards me. The first thing I see is a cyan pony poking her head in my face. “He's awake! Everypony look! He's back!” Rainbow exclaims happily. The whole room explodes into chatter, the loudest of whom is Pinkie.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Rarity gasps from somewhere around. “Somepony get Fluttershy!”

“I'm here...it'll be okay.” I wince as I feel a wet cloth brushing against my burns. Despite their protests, I force myself into a sitting position...to see everyone looking at me.

I mean everyone. Everyone from Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and her friends; to Iron, Salamul and the Islanders; to Chrysalis, Pterax, and the changelings; to Trixie and Swift from my team; to Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, each of them still badly injured, but forcing themselves to stand.

“Seth...are you alright?” Celestia asks me anxiously, rushing to my side. I nod, and she gives a small sigh of relief. “Is it over?”

I look down at my hand, where I've apparently been holding the Alicorn Amulet so hard that it has cut into my palm. The gem, once so lively and bright...is now dull as a stone. As I watch, a crack runs through the center of it.

“Yeah,” I say with a sigh, true relief settling upon me for the first time since this whole war began. “It's over.”

Author's Note:

Damn, this one was a real pain to get out. I didn't think it would be anywhere near as long as it was...but now that it's done, I have to say that this is the longest fight scene I've ever written. Hell, this chapter is three times the length of a normal chapter...so I'm hoping that's at least worth the wait for you.

Also, I cannot even tell you how many songs I went through before finally settling on a proper battle song for Sombra. I went through tons of brony songs, to different anime and fantasy songs, all for the purpose of finding something that captured his strength and the desperation and epicness of the fight. I settled upon Cantata Mortis and God in Fire after a long time of deliberation.

I had the basic idea for how this fight was going to go down a long time ago, but it was still difficult to fully implement everything that I wanted without making it seem rushed. In the end, I KNEW I wanted Seth to beat the absolute crap out of Sombra inside the Alicorn Amulet.

Anyway, the story isn't going to end right now. I still have maybe one or two more chapters, due to the fact that I still have a lot of loose ends to tie up. Hopefully this will be enough to tide you over until I can get the next one out. Heh, I stayed up pretty late looking over this one, so I'm actually falling asleep trying to write this author's note.

Anyway, thanks to Schadenponi for editing this, and don't forget to leave your comments and tell me what you think! Especially on this chapter, considering what it means for the story as a whole.

Comments

[Kichi]

Too bad it's only a couple of chapters left but well... It's a good story after all.

[GoldenCyclone4]

(Whistles) Damn.... That final fight tho! I actually busted out my 3DS for YouTube so I could actually listen for once. I've only done so for one or two other fics, but I knew I had to do it. The Nightwish song was perfect, and I'm currently listening to Fairy's Glitter as I type this. Excellent work, dude. This was amazing.

[Ipon]

Great chapter as always. I wonder what happened at the Crystal Fair to make Sombre go power crazy.
By the way, you forgot the speech mark after Pinkie Pie

“Pinkie Pie!

Its a tiny mistake but I just noticed it.

[Cereal-Killer]

It's obvious that Sombrero needed power at the crystal fair to hit the bell in that one carnival game to win a stuffed plushy.

[Cereal-Killer]

Awesome chapter btw.

[BrianPony]

BRAVO! BRAVO! What an epic masterpiece! Definitely worth every minute waiting and every word read. Loved it!

[Schadenponi]

6361854

Damn, thought I got everything. With how long this chapter was, small things could slip through. Thanks for the comment.

-Schadenponi

[Celestial Petrichor]

From the moment I followed you on around chapter 32 or something like that, I knew this would be a great story. I'm loving it, and I'll be really sad to see the final chapter, as I looked forward to these every week or two.

Thank for you the magnificent story.

[Bonk]

Wow. That fight, tho.

Random question: have you ever thought of having Discord in this story, as an arc or at least longer than small cameos? It just seems hilarious to me if Seth and Discord met and got in a conversation/argument, especially the earlier personality of Seth.

[TwiAmeliaSparkle]

i want to cheer, because its finally over.
I want to cry, because Seth's story is ending.
I want to laugh, because they all made it.
I want to scream, that Sombra didnt suffer enough.
But most of all, I love this Story. It has taken me on an amazing journey, and while it must end all I can do is thank you for showing it to me. Allowing me to come along for the ride. This whole story has shown that Friendship really is magic. If only others out there could see that too. Thank you again Rainbow.

[Pontiac56]

... Holy shit... that was just so fucking awesome!

Holy crap, that battle, I mean, you went all out. Every second I was reading it I could just feel the intensity and desperation being exerted. It was just so well done, from the individual attack styles to the dialogue. This was the absolute perfect climax for the story.

So we start off with a brief dialogue, where we find that Sombra hadn't been doing anything. Before now he left the entire war effort to his generals and has just been waiting around for Celestia and Co to show up and fight him. He can't seem to understand everypony's resistance. He actually had to ask to try and understand why they would fight him so hard. Hell it wasn't even just then, he was asking why Celestia even involved herself the first time around. His reactions here were perfect. His evil and corruption is just great that it's like he can't even understand the emotions of others on any level. Viewing all of the crystal ponies as tools to be used to further his rule, and genuinely feeling slighted that Celestia and Luna stuck their noses into his business despite how horrid his actions were. Then after Celestia and Luna admonish him, Seth throws into the ring, telling him that he had no right to involve humanity in his rise for power, that they and the ponies aren't just disposable tools for royalty to use.

Eventually though the talking reaches its end and the fight begins. Sombra starts off using his cloud technique to avoid the majority of the hits, though it seems the attack must drain him, as he switches to more physical forms of attack soon after, using a halberd as his weapon of choice. The fight is just completely insane. Seth and Cadance are the weakest combatants, focusing more on distraction and speed attacks to draw in Sombra while the heavy hitters Luna, Chrysalis and Celestia come at him full force. Eventually Celestia leaves to charge up a super attack to nail Sombra with while the others keep him occupied. Chrysalis' smug attitude from last chapter really earns her an asskicking here. She keeps rushing him head on trying to take him by herself, and getting completely wrecked each time. It wasn't until half way through the fight she seemed to legitimately understand that this fucker was more powerful then all of them and if she kept rushing him alone he would end her. Hell he almost did until Seth caught her ass before she smashed into the ground. Soon the combo attacks get brought back out and start doing so damage. I loved it when Seth and Chrysalis did a power up together and he ended up with a changling coated fist that smashed through Sombra's defence, then Chrysalis nails him with a massive laser strike. Luna and Cadance keep up the work too, using a lot of teamwork attacks and generally being a lot more up close with Sombra while Seth stayed somewhat distanced unless the others had been cleared back from Sombra.

However after Chrysalis tries her giant flame attack and fails, Sombra performs a dark magic finisher that almost disables them all. Hell Chrysalis was almost completely annihilated until Seth tackled her out of the way. After that, sombre started to get a little iffie about Celestia's whereabouts. Surprised the distraction held up as long as it did, but then again, the group was really friggin persistent. Once they all realise that Sombra is catching onto the plan, it is Seth who manages to rally them all, just like Luna did for him during his fight with Crysalis back during the invasion arc. Cadance and Luna hall themselves to their hooves, their loved ones and pony subjects on their minds. chrysalis almost counts herself out until seth reminds her that her changlings need her. Together they go into a final stand against Sombra. At the end of their rope and barely holding together, they go all out, hitting him with everything they have. They get up close, throw kicks and punches, hell Seth ,spawns himself a pair of gauntlets to do some serious damage.

Still even that isn't enough. Sombra knocks them all back, but before he can finish them off, Celestia returns to the fight with a god damn miniature sun in her possession. Holy heel, I somewhat expected her finisher might be something like this, but damn, with the music going and the awesome fight, the scene just becomes fucking unbelievably epic. Sombra even realises the kind of power that thing has and freaks out. He manages to hold it at bay with his magic, until Cadance, Luna, Chrysalis and Seth all power up together for one 4x powered finisher. Chrysalis, Luna and Cadance all fire their magic together and Seth rides it down like a fucking bullet and smashes that sun straight into Sombra, destroying his defence. It drains seth of all the magic he has left, but fuck what a finisher. Celestia gets him o0ut of the way and friggin supernova goes off and obliterates sombre. That is like one of the best death scenes I have ever read. Awesome!

The dust clears and the group all decide to do the smart thing and check to make sure that Sombra is dead, rather then do the stupid (and too common) thing and walk away. They check it out and see that all the remains is some shredded armour and the alicorn amulet (I really hope he was hiding the element of magic somewhere else or they may have just fucked up here). Seth grabs it, but the thing drags his soul inside.

Now When he grabbed it and it started reacting to him, figured maybe the amulet might suddenly turn him evil or something, but instead its a last ditch effort defence Sombra left to ensure even if he died, there was the chance he would live on. That is an awesome concept. A battle of the souls to determine the fate of Seth's body and whether Sombra will continue to live on. Sombra unfortunately didn't seem to quite grasp the strength of will that Seth possess. After everything that has happened to him, all the experiences he has gone through. The battles he has fought and the personal growth he has achieved. In contrast to sombra's only desire for power, Seth's will is far, far superior. He just completely wipes the floor with Sombra. The dark pony manages to through up a few defences, but he never even manages to scratch Seth. In contrast, Seth just fucking owns him until he manages to impale Sombra on his fist and break him apart. Sombra's real death here was just amazing. With his soul breaking apart, his memories fall away until his final memory is something in his past that drove him to power, until he is completely wiped away and Seth wins. Completely and utterly wins.

He wakes up and discovers that the battle has been won (or at the least, the fighting has slimmed so much that the majority of the characters are all able to assemble here with no issue) and the amulet is dead in his grasp. Equestria has won and humanities destroyer is no more.

What an amazing chapter. that was the best battle of the entire story. It was just so perfect, showing everything it needed to and more. The story may be closing down, but damn did it go out with a bang. Amazing work.

[Fawkes]

6364115 DAMN YOU FANCY HAT!

[HoneyBadgerr]

Whew. What a chapter! I'm exhausted just reading this.

[blackfang]

Noooooooooooo not the end what am I gonna read now plz tell me you are making another story or know of one

[Terran34]

6364706

Yeah, I'm planning to write three more stories at least. Give me a follow and you'll know immediately when they're ready

[AdmiralPopeyesBeard]

leaving us all standing atop a bare crystal platform.

Heh heh, Fall of the Lich King anyone? (WoW: WotLK)

Ho-ly fucking shit, this chapter. All of the different phases of the battle was awesome.

First phase was interesting seeing the five of them fight together against Sombra and him still barely taking any hits at all despite him only being powered up like a third of the way.

Second phase once Celestia disappeared was what I really enjoyed, where some actual hits taken by Sombra and him taking at least a little damage.

Third phase was epic after the four got beat down and Sombra thought he won, seeing them get back up then attacking him in tandem doing even more damage to him, I liked that scene along with his "defeat".

Then the last phase.. that was truly awesome. A battle of wills, and Sombra stood no chance whatsoever.

This story has been one wild ride, and I've enjoyed every bit of it. Once you toss out the last few chapters and finish the story, I'm gonna reread this story all over again. I'm still amazed at how long this story has gotten -last I checked the 15th longest story on the site- and I've read all of it. Also the longest story I've read.

Keep up the good work, I'll be following you from now on.. which I should have long ago.

Edit: Also have to thank you for uploading in a somewhat timely manner.

[Blade Dancer]

sombra lost ?

[hiddentiara]

6365456

Of course he did. It would have been really bad storytelling, not to mention sadistic, if Terran had us read this incredible, heartwarming story of Seth's development....only to kill them all off at the end. It would be one giant waste of our time.

The better question is...why would you even want him to win?

[smarioman64]

I... I have no words. This was FUCKING AMAZING!!
Dude best fight I've ever read!
Also Praise the sun! \[T]/ Celestia's attack was beautiful.

[Blade Dancer]

why wouldn't i want him to win ?
and who said to kill them all in the end ?
i only said that sombra should win

[Fireeaters]

When the arm went through Sombra's chest, I thought of teamfourstar's frieza stabbing that soldier through the chest. I couldn't get a youtube video of only that scene, and taking the url for a specific time wouldn't work.

[DezzarTac]

Oh no, we're losing! There's no hope!
*dramatic line from Seth*
Yes! We must fight for Celestia!
No worries, for she is here!
*Mega-blast of nuclear super-power*
NUUU! I turn to ash!
YAY! He be deaded!
Oh NU, the crztal, its a trap!
So souprised!!
-----------------------------
When I reached the part about him being destroyed, I thought "well that was fucking lame. I expected some, you know, retribution or realization".
Then the crystal battle, wow. That was a bit more fun. Slightly lame on Seth's part, with the whole 'fighting for those you love' but Sombra's tirade of fighting for power was amusing, and I loved his final moments. I wonder the significance of the Crystal Fair.

I'd just like to say that G-Chrome is suggesting that ' sombra's ' should be corrected as ' sombrero's '.
img15.deviantart.net/b78e/i/2012/320/c/a/king_sombrero_by_pixelkitties-d5l51zy.png
I love this end for him because it fits the story, but DAMN if I don't love'im! Wish he could'a lived. Even if as a servant of Chrysi.
derpicdn.net/img/2013/4/14/297666/full.png

[Terran34]

6368905

*Sees that last image you posted*

dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw9347-roflbot.jpg

[Danziel]

6369101 really good chapter I really enjoyed it especially the alicorn amulate fight and the part where Seth was saying names

[The Potato Guy]

129 chapters leading to this, and I can confidently say it was worth the wait. What an epic and heart pumping battle! For nearly all the chapter, I completely forgot I was reading a fanfiction and honestly believed I was reading a best selling book. Easily one of the best, climatic and satisfying fights I've read in a long time.

[DauntedSuperior]

... I don't know what to say. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe this fight, it goes so far past that. I'm sad that this is coming to an end soon, but at the same time, I can't wait to read it.

[Lunae Lumen]

“Yeah,” I say with a sigh, true relief settling upon me for the first time since this whole war began. “It's over.”

[Stjonal]

it is now 3AM. This was worth waking up groggy toworrow. who am i kidding, i know i am going to read the rest before dawn.
This is the chapter to end all chapters.
Whilst reading the beatdown of Chraduneth (Chrysalis, Cadence, Luna and Seth) I've noticed a similar eventstructure to that of Luna and Seth against Chrysalis: fighting a distraction of a battle until deus ex machina. If this were true, you would have had to add some new dire objective in order to have surprised me positivaly. So when Celestia concluded in the crater that Sombra was no more I was almost heartbroken. Luckaly you delivered with the last stand of Sombra in the amulet. it was awesome.

funny thing: my headcanon of the origins of the amulets strength and corruptive nature is that they stem from a part of Sombra's soul imbedded in it.

Im going to read on. see you on the other side.

[jack the reaper]

the final fantasy thirteen battle theme would go so well with these fights

[NightmintHLW]

Chrysalis forces herself to her 'feet', firing a blast of sickly green magic towards Sombra. “Enough...” Sombra says calmly, batting the blast aside. He lowers his head, charging a blast of magic that will no doubt wipe Chrysalis out if it hits her. “'Tis over. Thy struggle has ended.”

feet? dose Chrysalis have feet?

[The Lone Ranger]

One long boi

[Thenewbluebrony]

6364741

“A battle of will?” I say softly, walking across the crystalline floor towards the king. I briefly close my eyes, picturing for just one second what would happen if I fell here. My eyes shoot open...and they're blazing with emerald magic. “You made a mistake.”

the song is broke but may i suggest this

[Terran34]

10040920

I just fixed the link. My music choice was rather important there.