Chapter 20
The light seemed to pulsate around Crystal Prep as it started to expand, covering the entire area. On the rooftop, a familiar black crystal appeared as well as a dark cloud of smoke. The smoke started to expand as it took on form, that of a large man. The silver armor he wore matched with his coal black hair, while his eyes were enough to pierce through any darkness. King Sombra had returned.
“Finally…after all these years I have truly been reborn,” Sombra said. He looked around at the school disapprovingly. “This won’t do…this ‘Academy’ needs much more…” He raised his right arm into the air as a dark sphere appeared in his hand. The ground started to shake around Crystal Prep and suddenly, crystal spires started erupting from the top of Crystal Prep, going higher and higher, doubling the size of the school in a matter of seconds. More crystals appeared near the base, surrounding the school in a magnificent array of colors that sparkled in the light.
Sombra stared down at the group of people that had formed just outside the school, cheering for him. He smiled as he heard his name being called out by his new subjects. Even if they were bent to his will, they were subjects nonetheless. The Tantabus had served him well, even if she was gone now.
He sensed two presences, both a potential threat to him. The first was the Elements of Harmony, although it didn’t feel quite the same as those from Equestria. The second…was much more familiar to him. It didn’t bother him however. In time, he would deal with both of them.
The girls stared at what used to be Crystal Prep Academy. “That’s…new…” Pinkie commented.
“Just what the hell is going on?” Sunny asked. She then stared at Sunset and her face told her everything. “You know who that is, don’t you?”
Sunset sighed sadly as she looked down. “Not personally but…I’ve read plenty of stories about King Sombra. But it doesn’t make any sense…Twilight said he was ultimately destroyed by the power of the Crystal Heart.”
“Well, he looks very much alive now,” Rainbow stated. “So what? We just gotta get up there and kick his butt like everyone else!”
“It’s not that simple,” Sunset argued. “Sombra was a powerful unicorn wizard, part of a group of ponies called the Umbra, although they’re most known as Shadow Ponies, able to wield dark magic at their will. Sombra is supposedly the last of his kind but with his bloodlust and the darkness in his heart, he’s probably the most powerful as well. This will not be an easy fight.”
“Well, we can’t just let this guy take over,” Sugarcoat said. “That’s our school he’s standing on.”
“Yeah, don’t forget you guys have us now,” Indigo said. “That at least gives us a chance, right?”
“I suppose you’re right,” Sunset said. Now more than ever she wished Princess Twilight was here. Maybe Princess Celestia and Luna too, while she was at it.
The streets were literally crowded now as they walked their way towards Crystal Prep. The low chants of “Sombra” were slightly unnerving, especially to Sunny and the others, having to witness their own schoolmates looking and acting like mindless slaves. Surprisingly though, the crowd made no attempt to attack them, they were only focused on the structure before them. Sunset could only imagine Sombra had something in mind for them and for once felt a chill down her spine.
Finally, they reached the entrance, which also had been transformed to resemble something from a fairy tale. No doubt much has changed on the inside as well.
“If you enter now, do note there is no turning back…” The voice seemed to echo around them and suddenly a woman in a black cape appeared before them. The Canterlot girls braced themselves for an attack but the woman raised a gloved hand. “Peace,” she said. “I mean no harm. I am merely here for the same reasons you are.”
Twilight recognized her voice and more so her attire. “Wait…you’re the one who saved us down in the mine.”
“Indeed,” the woman said. “I couldn’t have the Elements of Harmony of this world be killed, especially on my watch.”
“Who are you and how are you able to wield Equestrian magic?” Sunset asked.
“Sunset Shimmer I presume?” the woman asked. “As you may have guessed, you and I are from the same world.” She then lowered her hood, allowing her light grayish arctic blue hair to fall to her shoulders. “I am Radiant Hope, former Empress of the Crystal Empire.”
“What!?” Everyone yelled.
“Whoa,” Rainbow said. “So she’s royalty? Are we supposed to bow or something?”
Radiant chuckled. “No need for that. Former Empress I said.”
“Are you saying…you once ruled alongside Sombra?” Sunset asked.
“Yes.” Radiant turned around and looked at the architecture. “I’ve known him since we were foals…children if that sounds more appropriate. Sombra…had a tough life, even when he was little. I may have been the only friend he ever had.”
“And that is supposed to justify what he’s done?” Sunset asked.
“No,” Radiant said sadly. “For the longest time, I hoped there was still good in him, but by the time I figured out otherwise, I was too late. You may have stopped him in Equestria, but he somehow found a way to come here.”
“And how did you get here?” Twilight asked. “No offense but…most of those we’ve encountered that came from the other side are usually our enemies.”
“Fair enough, I suppose I do owe an explanation,” Radiant said. “After Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated Sombra, he cast a spell that caused the entire Empire to disappear for a thousand years. After its return, I immediately fled. I may not have always agreed with Sombra, but since I served along with him, I was very much considered a war criminal.
“I fled as far away from the Empire as I could and for the longest time I was in exile. But soon, I found a purpose. There have been rumors that small tribes of shadow ponies still existed in Equestria, despite Sombra being the last. It took a long time but I was able to find them. I wanted to unify them, not to wage war against Canterlot, but as a way to do some good in the world, to show everyone that dark magic is not always something to be feared. Of course, I had to earn their trust and as a crystal pony, I wasn’t born with the traits to learn dark magic so easily.
“It took…many months to perfect my skills and to be honest, I feared I would end up just like Sombra. Dark magic is almost like a wild animal, you have to tame it or it will inevitably consume you. Once I showed the leaders of the tribe what I was capable of doing, I was able to unify them into one tribe.
“But back to the present. Dark wizards do possess the ability to cross dimensions, much like you have done yourself Sunset. I had heard about the events that had taken place here and was curious enough to come here myself. That was when I found out about Sombra’s plan.”
“He was using Crystal Prep as a hub of sorts,” Sunset said. “All the negative emotions were enough to revive him?”
“Dark magic works in interesting ways,” Radiant said. “But yes, that is right. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. Even if I could stop the process, Sombra would have found another way eventually. Now we have to stop him for good.”
“But how?” Rarity asked.
“Would the Crystal Heart work?” Sunset suggested. “I mean, we’d have to get it from Equestria somehow but-”
“That won’t work this time,” Radiant said. “Magic works slightly different here I’m afraid. However, if this resembles the palace of the Crystal Empire…”
“Oh I get it!” Twilight said. “Then there’s got to be a Crystal Heart here too!”
“Perhaps, but wherever it is, I’m sure it’s now in Sombra’s possession,” Radiant said. “But I think that’s enough talk now. We must press forward correct?”
“I don’t care how powerful this guy is, we’re gonna give him one hell of a beat down!” Rainbow declared.
“Alright, lead the way then Radiant,” Sunset said as the doors opened.
It was turning out to be a weird night, as Vinyl Scratch soon found out. The DJ was in the middle of a huge party down at one of the night clubs in downtown Canterlot when she got a call from Lemon Zest. She and Lemon had met up after the Friendship Games when they found out they had personal tastes in music. Well, technically Lemon was more into classic rock but dubstep did intrigue her somewhat.
Vinyl was now on Main Street as Lemon requested, parking on the curb and starting to set up her equipment. She said she wanted Vinyl to bring as much sound equipment as she had; speakers, bass cannon, whatever she had. Luckily, Vinyl was a firm believer in having backups and as such she didn’t have to worry about closing out the party early.
Lemon also asked to bring any old mix tapes she had. Vinyl found that odd but didn’t question her. Most of what she had was old eighties tracks, which she didn’t really listen to for pleasure but more so to see if she can wrap it into an epic remix. Octavia was more into that kind of music anyway.
Vinyl paused and frowned for a moment. Here she was, going into her senior year at school and she still had a crush on Octavia Melody. It was now or never; she would have to talk to Tavi, confess her feelings at the very least. If Tavi didn’t reciprocate, so be it then. Maybe she should give her a call…
It was then Vinyl noticed two things. One, there were a lot more people on the road than cars and judging by the situation, it didn’t look like a block party. Two, Vinyl at first had to clean her glasses for a moment to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, there was a large castle in the middle of downtown. Not one of those old medieval castles, the place was entirely made of crystal, which would have made it look bad ass if it didn’t give Vinyl the chills.
Vinyl just shook her head. Just another day in Canterlot, she told herself. That call would have to wait. For now, she got back to work setting up her speakers.
The girls could only stare at what was inside the building. “This is our school?” Sunny asked. The hallways, lockers, everything was now replaced with tapestries and impressive tile flooring. Sunset was reminded slightly of Canterlot Palace, but unlike that castle, this one gave off a more foreboding feeling.
“So um…Are all castles in Equestria like this?” Twilight asked.
“No…not all of them,” Sunset said. Despite only appearing moments ago, the castle carried the atrocities its owner had caused. There might as well have been blood on the walls.
“I must warn you, this castle reeks of dark magic,” Radiant said. “Sombra is a master when it comes to illusions and as such you’ll see things that aren’t really there, so keep that in mind…”
They walked up the stairway in the middle of the room, taking them to the second floor. “Just out of curiosity…what exactly did this guy do?” Lemon asked.
“Aside from enslaving an entire city and brainwashing his loyal subjects, I could only imagine,” Sunset said. “But I certainly wouldn’t put him above torture.”
As they also soon found out, Sombra also wasn’t above torturing his guests by creating stairways upon stairways. “Sheesh, have you guys never heard of elevators?” Indigo complained.
As they continued on, Sugarcoat was noticing Sour was becoming more and more nervous. “Guys…I think something’s following us…”
“You’re just imagining things,” Sugarcoat replied. “Besides, this castle probably feeds on fear or something so if you keep worrying its going to get worse.”
“That’s not helping Sugarcoat!” Sour snapped.
“Knock it off you two,” Sunny said. But even she couldn’t help but feel as if they were being watched.
Finally, they came to another large room with two large unicorn statues armed with lances in the middle. “The Imperial Guard,” Radiant said, looking up. “Their dedication to their King was one of loyalty, something that didn’t need to be forced on them.” She sighed and shook her head. “My apologies…let us continue on.”
As they were about to exit, a large grate closed on the door, barring them from exiting. The same occurred on the door they just came through.
“It’s a trap!” Twilight yelled.
The ground started to shake slightly, but it was from no earthquake. They all looked behind them slowly and saw it was the two statues that were moving, pointing their weapons at the intruders threateningly.
“Well shit…” both Indigo and Rainbow said.
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Rule 1 in evil castles, never EVER trust the statues.
Dang you're getting these down quick.
7989620
I'm in a bit of a time crunch.
7989742 Ah. I know how that goes.
Yeah, I was expecting something like this. This is going to be ugly and I've got the feeling that Sunset and the rest of the Seven will only be able to hold the line. This is the Shadowbolts' school and their bond with its magic might be the critical factor in defeating what is, after all, nothing more than a malignant spectre - an echo of a dead pony kept active only by dark magic.
The Heart belongs to Cadence by blood and right in the pony world. I wonder if the same will be true here?
Things are getting ugly in the ugly saloon.
Finally, after ten thousand years. I’m free! It’s time to conquer Earth!
Twilight channels her inner Ackbar.
frick