The Moon and the Star

by Ashura

The Crystal King

Chapter 10 : The Crystal King

Luna and Celestia had finally reached the heart of Crystal Empire, Sombra's forces had been unable to stop the from reaching the castle,

though they had certainly tried their hardest. The Royal Army had succeeded in pushing back Sombra's army, all that they needed to do

now was fight their way to the throne room and defeat Sombra. A task that was the sole responsibility of the two alicorn princesses, but

getting to the King was easier said then done. Celestia was inspecting the castle, wondering how to proceed.

“What do you think?” Celestia asked

“I'm not sure, but I suspect a trap. My spell revealed no presence inside the castle except the King. Not a single soldier, not a single guard,

nothing.” answered Luna

Celestia kept looking at the castle, thinking.

“I can only see one option, we enter the castle anyway and deal with the threats as the come.” said Celestia

“Agreed, I do not think it would be wise to bring the army, they could alert Sombra to our presence.” acquiesced Luna

Celestia nodded, she turned towards the commanders that waited patiently for orders, and told them how they would proceed into the

castle alone. The commanders argued, trying to dissuade the princesses of such a foolish plan. But they eventually fell silent when they

remembered who it was they were addressing.

“We are sorry, but this is the only way to take Sombra by surprise.” explained Luna

“My sister is right. Now, if we have not returned by nightfall, you must return to the castle with all haste, Sombra will not wait very long

before attempting to invade our lands.” ordered Celestia.

Luna and Celestia spread their wings and took off, the force of their wings blowing dust away from the area where they took off. They both

flew high in the sky, then bomb dived towards a window that had been chosen due to the fact that it was close to the throne room. Celestia

let a small but powerful beam of magic shoot out of her horn and cut a hole big enough for them to get through. Luna caught the glass

before it hit the floor, the two princesses entered through the hole, looking for guards or some other danger that they knew nothing about.

They advanced cautiously, casting spells meant to detect specific threats, as they slowly made their way to the throne room.

After several tense minutes, Luna and Celestia finally reached the throne room. They pushed open the doors with their magic and saw King

Sombra, facing them in a full set of armor.

“Welcome to my castle, Luna and Celestia, alicorns of Equestria.” said Sombra

“We are here to stop you. And you cannot defeat both us.” stated Celestia

“You're right... I cannot defeat both of you...” replied Sombra with an evil grin

Before either princess could move a muscle, Sombra fired up his horn and shot a spell at Celestia, who collapsed to the ground.

“'Tia!” screamed Luna, turning her head to where her Celestia lay on the ground, not knowing whether she was alive.

“You have nothing to fear, she is still alive... But you will not be for much longer!” shouted Sombra, firing another spell at Luna.

Luna, who not been totally unprepared for the attack, managed to get out of the way. The spell had still singed the end of her tail. Luna

leaped into the air, beating her wings hard, and shot a spell of her own at Sombra. Sombra raised a protective magical bubble that deflected

her spell like she would a ball. Luna attempted another spell but before she could, Sombra fired one of his own and it hit her on the chest.

Luna fell to the ground, stunned, while King Sombra laughed at his easy victory. Sombra walked up to where Luna was panting on the

ground.

“You are weak Princess Luna, that is why I chose to bring down your sister. She might have been able to defeat me, but you never had a

chance.” said Sombra “I shall boast of my victory over the two most powerful beings in Equestria. And now, you die...”

Sombra fired up his horn, dark magic crackling at it's base. He fired the spell, expecting Luna to turn to dust, but what happened was very

different. The curse rebounded of a force field that seemed to appear out of nowhere and almost hit Sombra, who leaped out of the way

with only a second to spare.

“How is this possible!” raged the Crystal King “You can barely stand!”

“Can't I?” asked Luna, except the figure that stood before Sombra didn't look like the alicorn princess that Sombra had shot down. This one

was closer to Celestia in size, and it's mane looked like a darker night sky, unlike Luna's mane that had stars twinkling in it.

“Where is Princess Luna?” demanded Sombra

“Her mind is still present, she is just overwhelmed by me.” answered the newcomer

“And who would you be?” asked the King

“I am a Nightmare. A Nightmare to the Crystal Empire! To all of Equestria! Nothing is more powerful then I!” said the stranger “You

attempted to destroy me, I shall now return the favor.”

“HA! You believe that you can destroy me?” laughed Sombra

“Yes, I do.” stated the Nightmare

Sombra stopped laughing and studied the third alicorns body language, she was completely relaxed and smiling slightly. There was no fear

in her eyes. Sombra took all this in and experienced an emotion he had never experienced before: it was fear. Sombra looked hesitantly at

the creature, getting ready to defend himself. The creature was on all four of her legs, smiling at Sombra. She loosed a spell at the King, who

barely managed to get out of the way, which made a small table behind Sombra burst into flames and then turn into ash in a matter of

seconds. Sombra looked at the table in shock, how had it burnt out so quickly? he wondered The only possible explanation is that she

channeled a time spell and a fireball through her horn at the same. But that's impossible! The amount of concentration required for such a

thing alone is beyond even the most accomplished unicorn. Sombra turned to look back at the creature.

“What are you? Where did you acquire so much power?” asked Sombra

“I do not know, and if I did know, and for some unknown reason, decided to tell you. You wouldn't be around to tell anypony else!”

exclaimed the powerful alicorn

With that statement, she fired a spell at Sombra. When it hit him, Sombra screamed. The spell was disintegrating him and turning him to

shadow. And so was vanquished the evil Ruler of the Crystal Empire. The Nightmare laughed as she saw her work was completed. She

could feel Luna begin to re-emerge.

“You may be coming back, but in time, Equestria shall be mine!”

And with that vow, Luna re-appeared, confused as to what had happened. Luna tried to get her hooves, when she realized that she was

already up. Luna looked around her, searching for Sombra when her eyes fell upon Celestia's immobile form.

“'Tia!” shouted Luna

Luna ran to her side and inspected Celestia, she was still breathing, she was just unconscious. Luna could have attempted to wake Celestia

up, but she didn't have the strength to perform the spell. So she settled on levitating Celestia until she reached the safety of their camp.

When she got there, she ordered the first patrol she encountered to take Celestia to the healers. She then went to meet with the generals to

explain all that had occurred in the castle.

After having explained in detail what had happened, Luna ordered the generals to prepare the troops for the trip back to the castle. The

sooner they got back, the safer she would feel. While King Sombra may have been defeated, Luna could still feel the power of a strange and

evil presence. Luna was resting when she heard several shouts coming from outside her tent. Luna rushed outside, expecting some sort of

counter-attack by Sombra's army, but she saw nothing. Luna stopped a Pegasus archer.

“What is going on?” demanded Luna

“It's the Crystal Empire” replied the pegasus “It's gone!” and with that, he flew away, going to warn the generals of this development, no

doubt. Luna stared at where the Crystal Empire had stood barely one hour passed. Celestia arrived at that exact moment, out of breath, a

team of healers rushing after her.

“Was Sombra defeated? How did you defeat him? What happened? Why is everypony panicking?” asked Celestia

Luna stared at Celestia, wondering where to start.