The Return of the King

by Bronyxy

4 The Triangulum Spell

The detachment of Royal Guard and Night Guard under the command of The Princess of Friendship flew on through the night, keeping the railway line below them as a guide. Twilight was performing a constant stream of mental mathematics, juggling distance versus estimated time of flight and had concluded that by now they should have been coming up to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. What was increasingly disturbing her was that there was no light from where she calculated the city should be, just the same barren blackness over which they had been flying for hours.

Suddenly one of the Bat Ponies called out and everypony trained their ears to listen, heads swivelling on high alert. Word spread quickly; down on the line ahead of them was the train. With no lights on, it was difficult to see, but Bat Ponies were renowned for the unparalleled night vision.

Twilight’s horn glowed gently as she cast a spell looking for traces of magic and suddenly gave a yelp, ordering the guards to turn sharply and descend. Without any hint of querying her orders, they all obeyed and followed her down to land close together on the railway line a hundred yards short of the derelict looking train.

“Gentlemen, there is a forcefield between us and the train” informed Twilight “If we had kept going even for a few more seconds, we would have hit it as solidly as a brick wall, and we wouldn’t all be quite so happy and comfortable right now.”

Murmurs of approval broke out as they all realised what a close call that had been; multiple injuries would have by necessity tied up a number of able bodied survivors and decimated their force before it had even reached the target.

“One thing this does tell us is that we’re on the right track, if you excuse the pun.”
Twilight emitted a cute little snort and mentally face hoofed at her poorly timed use of wit, but the guards humoured her and gave a polite ripple of little sniggers.

“I am going to have to find a way through this barrier” she continued, reverting to her more assertive tone “But we can expect that whatever magic I use will alert whoever set it up in the first place, and we will have lost the element of surprise, so from now on we must all be on a heightened state of alert.”

Twilight focused her energy and her horn lit once more as a stream of magenta projected forward, spreading outwards when it hit the invisible barrier and lighting it up in front of them. Now they could all see it for the first time, they gasped in unison at the size of the obstruction and suddenly appreciated how close they had got to hitting it.

The magical energy pulsed and modulated, lighting up the wall with an ever-changing pattern as ripples of different colours radiated outwards from the point where her aura made contact, Twilight sweeping it around while she tried different combinations of alicorn magic to probe for weaknesses across its vast expanse. The ponies that didn’t watch the amazing light display turned to see the equally impressive sight of Twilight; hooves planted firmly on the ground, brow furrowed in deep concentration as a cascade of sparks flew out from the tip of her horn.

Eventually, the visage rippling in front of them shimmered and Twilight ceased her exertions to recover her composure.
“OK; we’ve only got a few minutes to get in, so come on” ordered Twilight “But first, I need two Bat Ponies to fly back immediately to Canterlot and inform Princess Luna of what we’ve found.”
Nopony wanted to back away from the adventure that lay before them, so the Night Guard Squadron Leader nominated two ‘volunteers’ and despatched them on their way before stepping through the forcefield to join the others waiting for him.

“Do you think they know we’re here?” asked Rainbow in an unnecessarily quiet whisper.
“I’m guessing that the light show I made stood out even more clearly than a sonic rainboom” replied Twilight, making no obvious effort to soften her voice “So I think we can safely say ‘yes’.”

They all walked the few yards to the train as a group to see if it afforded any clues of life on the inside of the forcefield, and one by one noticed the faces of those inside, unmoving and unblinking. A couple of Bat Ponies were ordered inside to check it out and sprang up into the carriage, noting immediately that it looked like a still from a movie; a moment frozen in time. Some ponies had been caught in mid conversation, others reading newspapers while a group of colts and fillies sat together playing a game of cards.

One of the Bat Ponies checked for vital signs; breathing, pulse, temperature, but there was nothing. The positions they adopted gave no indication of their having died, but unlikely as it seemed, they appeared to be in stasis. Twilight jumped aboard and rapidly came to the same conclusion, seeing how the actions of daily life had suddenly been suspended and a single word crossed her lips, “Sombra.”

She used her position from the open door of the carriage to address the guards:
“Gentlemen, the carriage is full of ponies going about their business on a train ride, but they have all been frozen in time. This has happened here before when King Sombra was banished and he stopped time for all the Crystal Ponies he had enslaved, only for them to be awakened a thousand years later – I guess you all know the story.”

“This magic bears all the hoofmarks of Sombra’s meddling once again, so I can only assume that he is who we are facing this time too. He is a wily operator and particularly good at illusion magic, so be on your guard and follow me; we’re going to the castle.”

They took off at Twilight’s command, heading towards the centre of the great capital city over progressively more populated settlements and then emerging over the busy suburbs. Although it was night, the metropolis was unnaturally dark; no lights at any window or along any street. Instead, they saw just the silhouettes of familiar buildings and an ever-increasing number of eerie pony shaped statues that they knew were citizens fixed in time. This then, was the undying hell that had once been the vibrant heart of the Crystal Empire.

Twilight had a strong suspicion where she would find a light on; a porch light guiding them in as inevitably as a moth to a flame. The trick would be not to get their wings scorched.

Apprehension rising, she led the guards inexorably toward the castle, the jagged ruggedness of which added to the sinister sense of foreboding that was clawing to escape her subdued subconscious and burst out to overwhelm her with the terror she worked so hard to suppress.

Sure enough, light spilled out from the main entrance; an invitation for them to step into what was undoubtedly a trap.

Twilight set down a block away from the castle to confer with the Officers present, sharing with them the detailed layout of the castle and warning them in no uncertain terms about the powerful illusion spells she and Spike had encountered in there before. Having briefed them with the intel available, she listened intently to the four Officers; favouring the two Majors for their knowledge of hoof-to-hoof combat likely to be needed for the assault and the two Squadron Leaders for their knowledge of the tactical picture outside the castle. They agreed to split their forces across three assault teams, one a diversion through the main entrance whilst the two main teams would access the castle from the Royal Balcony and the parapet where Twilight and Spike had found the Crystal Heart before.

When the Officers went to brief their guards, Rainbow closed up to Twilight and gave her a gentle nuzzle to ease her tension.
“You’re doing really well, Twi” she reassured “Which team are you going with?”
“Probably best I’m with the team going in through the front door” responded Twilight after a brief pause, “There’s bound to be traps that way, and they’ll need my magic to escape.”
“Want some company?” asked Rainbow cheerily.
“Yes” said Twilight appreciatively “Yes, I would like that.”

She felt so totally underprepared. She wished all the Mane 6 could be there with the Elements of Harmony and she wished she had been able to bring unicorns to help with the magic, but there hadn’t been time. She was however glad that Rainbow Dash, her friend, her flying buddy and the bearer of the Element of Loyalty would be beside her. That one simple act of companionship sweetened the bitterness and she did not feel alone at the prospect of going into this battle.

Once everypony had been briefed on where to be, what to do, when to do it and what to expect, they set off in their teams to make it happen.

The frontal assault team made the short hop to the castle’s main entrance, and Twilight led with her horn lit so as to detect malevolent magic around them. As had been agreed during the planning, half of those present flew slowly just in case there were pressure activated traps on the floor while the other half walked forward in case there were spells aimed at ponies in flight. Nothing happened; no spells and no traps, so the party continued in to seek out the Throne Room.

Outside, the other two teams tried their respective entrances, but there was a forcefield at the doors of the Royal Balcony and another sealing off the parapet. It was clear they were all meant to going through the main entrance, so both teams met up to determine what to do next, despondent that their plan had fallen apart already.

Twilight led the way into the Throne Room and was taken aback by what she saw. A black unicorn wearing armour covered in an ermine trimmed red cape was sat casually upon Cadence’s throne, to his side a blank faced unicorn. On the floor in front of them was a magically etched triangulum symbol that Twilight did not recognise, but at two of the corners were two alicorns she knew well, both frozen on the spot, struggling to escape.

Cadence had her horn facing the centre of the triangulum and had clearly been trying hard to pull her head away, her hooves braced on the floor, mouth open and a look of pure terror in her eyes. Celestia was pulling back with all four legs, her face downwards, showing that she had been trying with all her strength to pull away. Twilight was grateful that she couldn’t see her face if the expression on Cadence was anything to go by.

“Sombra!” she called angrily.
“You are most observant Princess Twilight” he gloated in acknowledgement “The last time we met you were merely the bearer of the Element of Magic … now look at you, Princess.”

“Attack!” cried Twilight trying to run forwards, but her hooves were fixed to the floor. Quickly she turned and saw that Rainbow and the guards were all frozen in space, the pegasi and Bat Ponies who had been flying, hanging suspended in mid-flight.

“You see Princess Twilight, it’s just you and me, and we have unfinished business” he spoke with understated menace.
“What have you done?” she demanded.

“We have time enough to discuss your situation at length” he gloated “But I may grow weary if I have to listen to you for too long and just proceed to the end game.”

Twilight had no cards to play so she suppressed her internal rage, trying to read the terror on her sister-in-law’s face for any clues that could help her. Cadence’s face was widely regarded to be the most beautiful in Equestria and her countenance was always radiant, but the fear she saw was so awful, she found she couldn’t look any longer.

Sombra laughed demonically watching the colour drain from Twilight’s face.

“When you banished me, a little piece of my horn was left behind. I have worked through its presence to go through old spells of which you know nothing. Through slow and diligent study, I learned about the old ways and brought myself back to see you again. This time I have a few extra little tricks to ensure I succeed where you prevailed last time. In fact, I have been the model student Princess Twilight.”

“The stasis spell you see around you, you have seen before; the focused triangulation spell in front of you, you have not. It requires the willing assistance of three alicorns to deliver all of their power at once to make it work, and will ensure the total enslavement of all the ponies in Equestria, not just the Crystal Empire.”
Sombra paused, allowing Twilight to absorb the magnitude of what he had achieved and where he intended it to lead.

“You know Spell Nexus, I believe?”
Twilight shuddered as she remembered his delivering Nightmare Moon’s tainted ‘blessing’ onto her as well as all ‘The Children of Nightmare’.

“You see, he has a rather special bond with Princess Celestia which is why I could teleport her here to help me achieve my aims. I tried her sister too, but it appeared she was in the dream realm where I could not reach her, so I settled on Princess Cadence’s infant as the third alicorn.”

“You monster!” she screamed, unable to hold back.

“It looked like it was going to work, but when the power was raised almost to its maximum, she failed, and all the power flowed straight back into her. It blasted her right through the roof. I thought it had killed her, but no, she escaped.”

“How could you do that to her, she’s only a foal!” cried Twilight, tears of anger rolling down her muzzle.

Sombra laughed deeply and without any trace of pity.
“I knew where she would go, of course; straight to her foalsitter who would come running to help. You are so predictable Princess Twilight, and now you have kindly come to help me enslave all of Equestria. I want your magic.”

“I would rather die!” she screamed.

“Yes. That is a side benefit of the spell too once all the power is drained from you. Then, with three of the most powerful alicorns dead, there can be no meaningful resistance and I will reign unopposed throughout eternity.”

“I do give you one choice Princess Twilight” he offered.

She was too numb to prompt him to continue. She contemplated the raw power that Flurry Heart must have absorbed from Celestia and her mother. She knew what it had felt like to take all that power when she had fought Tirek, but to feed that into an innocent foal was beyond redemption.

“I have heard that the other alicorns hold your magic in high regard. Come, stand next to me and share what you know to make me stronger” he said gesturing to the space beside him.

Twilight was faced with either causing the imminent slavery of all the ponies of Equestria and the death of herself, Celestia and Cadence, or playing for time and making Sombra even more powerful. She had to play his game and maybe some rescue could be affected in that time; he would be omnipotent when he had killed her anyway, so giving him more magic would be a meaningless concept as he couldn’t effectively be even more omnipotent.

She nodded.

“A wise choice, Princess Twilight” he gloated “Please do not try anything heroic; it is insulting to think that I have not considered your every possible action.”

Twilight moved slowly and warily towards the throne and stood by the side of the seated unicorn as directed. She recoiled from his strong musky scent; it was like nothing she had smelled on a stallion before and cloyed in her throat making her feel sick. She had never stopped to consider what he smelled like before, but the experience brought home to her the sheer immediacy of the situation and she was rendered temporarily speechless.

“I … I could use a glass of water please” she stammered.

Sombra’s horn glowed as he conjured a glass in front of her and leered malevolently as she sipped from it.
“Now we will begin” he commanded.
“OK Sombra” she said slowly, wrestling with her conscience in the light of just having promised to share her magic with the most evil unicorn in recorded history “What do you want me to tell you about?”

“No, Princess Twilight” he revelled “You misunderstand. I do not intend for you to tell me, so you can leave bits out or attempt to misdirect me. Dear me, no. I will draw it from your mind by an extraction spell.”
“What? No!” protested Twilight “You can’t!”

“I hardly think you are in any position to argue” cackled Sombra “Especially as you already promised me. Really, what would your mentor say about reneging on your promises Princess Twilight.”

“I’m sure she would support me if I promised to kill you!”

“Really? Such a threat coming from the Princess of Friendship herself. I am surprised at you. It seems your suitability to hold such a position of responsibility is in question. Princess Celestia would doubtless tell you that you had failed; failed as a Princess and failed in your pathetic rescue attempt.”

“Enjoyable as it is to relax in your company, we waste too much time” he said with menace “Now open your mind to me!”

Twilight tried to run but found herself fixed to the ground. She twisted and turned with all of her strength trying to free herself, but through her peripheral vision she could see him slowly turn his head and point his horn directly at her. With one last pull, she strained her every sinew and just as she realised it still wouldn’t be enough to break free, she felt his aura reach out to her and screamed in terror.

Just as Twilight was about to lose consciousness she became aware of multiple whistling and zipping sounds around her, presumably some feature of the spell. She could have looked up, but she knew she had failed; she had taken on too much and been defeated by Sombra who would repay her overreached ambition by enslaving the whole of Equestria – and it was all her fault.