Shadows of My Past

by Calligraphy Legends

~Part 7: Battles~

It wasn’t long before word reached Celestia and Luna. When they heard of Stella’s death, it felt as if their hearts had been shattered into a million pieces. They just couldn’t believe that she was gone. Outraged at this Sombra pony, whomever he was, proclaiming himself king, the two sisters sent forces in to take the Empire from him. However, the guards either never returned or barely escaped with their lives.

The princesses argued for weeks over what to do, while Sombra enjoyed his new lavish lifestyle. He had no guard and he had no need for one. His dark magic was more than enough to overpower their minds. His reach extended beyond the core city to the rest of the Crystal Empire, reaching the borders of the other lands beyond. It was then that the sisters of night and day reached a conclusion, they had to face him.

They prepared for the battle, dressing in armor for added protection. They talked strategy on the journey to the core city, knowing he would be a difficult foe. Though she hid it well, Luna was scared. For he used dark magic, and she could feel a darkness growing within her. She couldn’t allow herself to go down the same path as him, she couldn’t do that to her sister.

When they reached the city, they stopped and looked on in horror. Black, jagged crystals circled the city like a wall, casting wicked shadows on all things good and light. A red tint seemed to rest around the city, adding a tone of fear to the air. They watched the ponies shuffle on in their shackles, forced to mine the crystals or be haunted by the nightmares. A dullness laid on them all, their crystal coats drab and toned down. They held no hope in their hearts, only sadness and fear.

The scene angered and saddened the princesses, giving them more determination than ever to bring about the end of his reign. Spreading their wings, they soared into the city. The citizens looked up at the two and hope began to spark in their hearts. They watched as the alicorns entered the palace with confidence and power.

“Where is he?” Luna whispered aloud, looking around the throne room.

“Keep looking,” Celestia insisted.

The pair trotted into a circular room, devoid of anything or anyone.

“Well, well, well,” a dark voice said, melting out of the shadows.

“Sombra!” Luna growled, horn aglow.

“I see you’ve found your way to the city,” Sombra was calm and relaxed as he spoke, unfazed by the presence of not one but two alicorns.

“Step down and release everypony!” Celestia ordered.

“Why would I do that?” Sombra scoffed.

“To keep thine hide safe,” Luna stated bluntly.

“I think you should take your own advice,” Sombra taunted.

“Surrender, immediately,” Celestia said quickly, preventing her sister from feeding into his taunt.

“I think I’ll just expand my empire some more,” Sombra shrugged.

“Than thou shall pay the price!” Luna exclaimed.

The battle began to rage, magic flying everywhere. They all shot and dodged, trying their utmost hardest to strike their opponent down. Sombra knew that he would have to take them down from the inside, so he attacked them with his nightmare spells. Knowing that if he could hit one, that would provide him the time and distraction needed to take down the other. He was hoping to hit the blue mare. She seemed more prepared to stop him with whatever means necessary, she seemed a larger threat. Whereas the white one seemed to want to reform him more than stop him. Still, he was just hoping to get one good shot. And, alas, he did.

Celestia collapsed to the floor, trembling with fear. Her eyes were glassed over, tears began to drip down her cheeks. Nopony could see the nightmares she saw, so many nightmares that haunted her darkest dreams. Some were contorted works of fiction, others were memories from long, long ago.

Luna was outraged and knew she had to protect her sister. Feeling an equal amount of light and dark emotions led something dangerous to happen. A chill entered the air, a chill that made even Sombra wish to cower. Luna’s pupils constricted as her mane became crazed, a dark laughter escaped her lips.

“Wh-who are you?” Sombra asked, trying his best to not cower.

“You think you are soooo powerful,” Luna laughed, her voice was dark but also carried a lightness and love. “Do you have any idea the powers you are meddling with?”

“Meddling? I am a master over them!”

“No, you are just a colt goofing around with some new spells! The same powers you absorbed and now utilize, those are powers I was born with.”

“What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“I am the Night. The Night is not like the Day, filled with warmth. Nor is the Night like the Shadows, only darkness. The Night is both. I am darkness and light, I control both good and evil. The powers you utilize are a mere fraction of my own.”

“You can’t stop me!”

“Oh, can’t I?”

Luna’s horn glowed and she began to trap him in a dark crystal, Sombra was unable to break her enchantment. Her magic was like nothing he had ever witnessed, it was as if he were battling a force of nature. Luna blinked and her pupils released, her mane fell back to it’s short cut, and her voice returned. Even her speech pattern was resumed. She touched her horn to Celestia’s forehead, breaking her out of the nightmares.

“Sister?” Luna said gently, nuzzling her warmly.

“Luna!” Celestia gasped, taking in the scene. “How did you…?”

“I held luck on my side. We must dispose of him, quickly.”

“Right.”

The sisters touched their horns together. Now that Sombra could not run, they had a clear shot. Their powers glowed and swirled together, wrapping around Sombra as he was exiled by the overwhelming magic of the forces of time and space. They weren’t sure where he would be exiled to, but they had no other choice but to use this spell.

What they didn’t know, was that he tied himself to the city. So as he vanished in a flash of white light, the magic amplified out. The entire city was wrapped in the light and then vanished. Leaving the sisters standing in the snow.

But they were changed. During the spell, they had tapped into new levels of magic. Celestia’s mane and tail gained a sea foam green, lilac, and celeste blue coloring. Along with that, she grew much taller; her wings and horn grew as well. Luna’s mane and tail became ethereal like her sisters, a rich blue that glittered with white stars and all of it outlined with an opaque lavender. She too increased in height, along with her horn and wings, but not so much as her sister. Luna’s coat even darkened a bit, the navy blue cloud of her cutie mark changing to black.

“B-but how…?” Celestia asked, looking around in confusion.

“Perhaps, Tia, this is the work of his dark magic,” Luna suggested. “Come now, we have a world to repair.”

Celestia nodded sadly as they flew off. They couldn’t believe it, all those innocent ponies were just gone. They couldn’t bring them back and they had no way to track them. They had made Stella a promise so many moons ago, a promise to help her protect her ponies. And now, they had broken that promise.