Behind the Broken Horn

by SasayakiYoru

Risky move

For the first time in a thousand years Sorrow felt fear, a terrible darkness arising in front of him, an age of devastation and death over Equestria. Noche was the ruler of the land, but he wasn’t alone, something that resembled an Alicorn was beside him but with dragon wings instead of the classical feathered ones of a pegasus, a tri horned head with clawed hooves and a dragon tail.

“Sorrow, are you ok?” He heard an annoying voice “Hello! Equestria calling to Sorrow!? Did you have a Heart attack or something?!” In front of him was a crystal filly, her face extremely close to him, basically eye to eye “I think he’s dead”

“Of course I am not dead yet pitiful Filly!” She screamed and jumped back, banging against the wall.

“Jade, this is serious, don’t bother him.”

“She wasn’t bothering me Mr. Iron and I must apologize to all of you, I was just thinking” Everypony was already stressed, there was no way he would more to the long list of problem they already had. If Midnight embraced the path of his father soon Sorrow would see the end of Equestria.

“And how are we even supposed to create these new elements? I don’t think that someone has a book of manual full of instruction or something like that, do you?”

“The creation of a powerful magic like the Elements it’s not something that can be found in a book my dear Unicorn, you must believe it and the universe will do the rest”

“Ok… do you remember how the Primordial Elements were created?”

“It was an accident”

Nopony could believe those words. The creation of the Primordial Elements was an accident? How were they then supposed to create new ones? From all of them only one still believed that they could create them.

“It doesn’t matter if I die creating them, I will defeat my father!”

“I hope so” Sorrow kept on thinking in how call him the transformation of Midnight. Umbricorn? Unicumbrum?

“Master! The Crystal Prison! It’s shattering!” The voice came from the exterior but it resonated through the interior of the cavern but who could survive the snowstorm on the outside and how in the name of Tartarus could they see Canterlot from there? It all seemed like a nightmare to the six ponies.

“I cannot understand this. Why did the princess would send us so far away to look for answers from someone who is giving us so little information? We’ll never reach Canterlot on time” Whisper’s word, usually as quiet as a mouse echoed through the cavern.

“It was a risky maneuver and we felt right on it” Everypony immediately looked at Zenith who had been quiet this whole time. He had been analyzing their situation but there was still something missing on the equation “Sorrow, what kind of powers Noche had when you fought him?”

“Well, all the usual abilities from an Umbrum, I mean, he can shape shift, materialize nightmares and even-” Sorrow stopped at that point knowing exactly what Zenith thinking “The Crystal Prison was not created to keep him inside… it was to keep us outside of the Canterlot!” Zenith’s words started to make sense now “That bastard was only playing with us! He wants the power of the Crystal Heart and the Scepter!”

“Listen to me well my little ponies. You NEED to create the new elements and the only way they would be able to do it is if you stay united”

“Yeah well, you told us you create the Primordial Elements by accident! That means you have no idea on how to it!”

“I said they were made by accident not that I do not know how to create them. That time I was not alone. With me there were an earth pony, a pegasus, a dragon, a deer and I. We were fighting that terrible menace at the place where everything started and everything ends; The Everfree Forest. And we truly thought it would end there since Noche had already corrupted the forest, we were still too young then and without experience, but we all had the same objective in mind. Inside of each of us there was a spark of magic, elemental power, and even those that used brute force were capable of feeling them. That night the five of us combined the power inside and formed the new Elements and with them we expelled Noche from this world.”

Everypony looked at each other and the words that Sorrow had said but there was something wrong. Haven’t he said that during that battle he had ascended and lost his horn?

“I recognize those faces and I do know what you are thinking, didn’t I lose my horn then? And yes I did, but I was the one who broke it due to the great amount of power and information that it brought me. Just a few minutes with that kind of power pushed me to the brink of insanity. Now go, the answers you look for are in the Everfree Forest, because the answers you look for are in the Everfree and you must be nimble because the Crystal Prison will shatter and Noche will use all of Equestria against you. You six are the only ones that will be able to stop him.

“No offense Sorrow, but I think you went completely insane” Jade was quick to say as she lightly tapped him on the shoulder with a hoof “the only one of us that can fly is Quetzal and his wings are basically frozen and unless you out that old horn back on your forehead and teleport us, U don’t see any way for us to… wait a second” Jade knocked both hooves as an idea appeared on her head as she turned to watch Whisper and Midnight “you two are unicorns and you’re supposed to know that kind of magic! We could have avoided this damn boring journey in that damn train!”

The mentioned unicorns did indeed know that spell but the amount of energy that it would require the big teleportation jump was a little too much for them. Having to teleport six ponies could be extremely dangerous, but if there was a time in which they had to try it, it was now.

Meanwhile, as the ponies tried to organize some kind of plan, a small unassuming box felt on top of Sorrow, and after a couple of seconds of being stunned, the box magically opened revealing a set of pure crystals.

“Well, I don’t remember having those around but they will be useful”

“How can you not even remember having them? Jade’s eyes were inquisitive. Her friends had never seen her like that before, almost as if she was blaming Sorrow for something.

“As I said my little pony, I don’t remember even having them. One curse from being immortal is the sad reality of forgetting many things as the years pass. No matter, these crystals will work and in the Everfree you will use them to channel your inner magic. If Noche wants to beat you is because you six are the only ones that can beat him” Sorrow immediately turned around and began searching for something in a chest. After a couple of minutes he showed them a small map showing the area around the Everfree close to an unassuming village “In this point” The alicorn said, pointing a small clearing “there is an anomaly that allows for magical energy to be syphoned, is this energy that gets absorbed by plants and in the end travels around Equestria”

“So is in that point where we can concentrate all the energy on the crystal! Alright then everypony, if Midnight and Whisper are ready we can start the next part of this adventure”

“Whisper, you know I will try it with everything I have and I’m sure we’ll make it”

“If Equestria ends tomorrow then nopony would be able to say that we didn’t try it. Right here, on this cold I am useless but with the energy among th Everfree there is nothing that will be able to stop my wings”

“Noche won’t know what hit him!”

“Then let the games begin!”

“Shards, please, take things seriously” Zenith said slapping Jade on the shoulder. Jade was more than used to that kind of reaction to a joke but all of them knew how much her attitude relieved the group’s stress.

They didn’t know it but Sorrow was afraid of what he had seen on that premonition. If Noche ended up corrupting his son then it would be the end of times, there was simply no other choice but for him to let all the pieces move around the board by themselves. He didn’t say a thing about his worried and he simply said goodbye to the young pony friends. And just like that, Midnight and Whisper concentrated and they all disappeared.

Sorrow walked to the entrance of his cave to see the outside world for one last time for now before returning to his reclusion and self-imposed exile, once more ready to continue his research about all that was happening outside of their plane.

“Are you sure they will make it? They are but so young” The voice that had been heard before was heard once more. Sorrow simply turned to look at his old friend, a silver dragoness that practically camouflaged with the snow and wind.

“My dear Heaven, if Noche made such a dangerous maneuver on this game, then I don’t see why we cannot do the same. Now, if you excuse me I have some things that need to be done, I have no time to lose to be worried”

“That way in which you can seal your own feelings has been as impressive as the first time we met Sorrow, and as bothersome as always, but for now I’ll keep on watching, there is more in play than just this world and soon thing everywhere will change”