Chapter 5: The King, The Empress,The Dragon and Hope
Many Years ago
Sombra walked along the crystal halls, bored. He had been left alone as the King and Cadance had gone off together, likely to talk more about her heritage and whatnot. Like they haven’t done that a lot already.
As he walked, he yelped as he tripped over a spear, one of the armoured guards chuckling as he lifted his spear. “Hehe, careful there, Sombra. Clumsy little guy like you could’ve gotten hurt. Sorry about that, I’ll be more careful with stuff like this, in return you should be careful to alright?” He smiled and petted the dragon’s head before trotting off, Sombra growling as he turned away, continuing his aimless walk.
“I’m a dragon...something like that wouldn’t even hurt me...and you shouldn’t leave a thing like that lying around anyway you idiot...” Sombra muttered testily.
The truth was, he wasn’t just bored. He was irritated. He was supposed to be a mighty dragon, but instead ponies laughed at him, mocked him, found him ‘harmless’. He read stories of the power and grandeur of dragons, they wouldn’t be treated like this, so why should HE?
If only Cadance hadn’t hatched him. If only this City hadn’t existed, then nopony would had taken his lost egg from the cold and hatched him here.
He just wished he could get rid of it all, or make them pay for this humiliation...
As he walked he found himself wandered lower towards the basement of the castle. Noone was supposed to come here, this area was off limits to everyone apart from the Emperor. Sombra didn’t care. He was tired of PONIES telling him what to do.
As he walked deeper he found himself in a hallway, light coming from a door far at the end of the hall. He stepped closer, peering through the door to see what was going on.
He saw Cadance and her father standing before a massive gemstone suspended over the floor by large chains. The gemstone was a delicious, bright red, a dark shadowy shape in the center. The gemstone looked like it’d make for a great snack but, more than that...something about the gemstone was calling him.
The stallion inside the room spoke. “One day, Cadance, when you are Empress, you may be ble to figure out the mysteries of this Gemstone, where I and my predecessors failed.”
“Why are you hiding it down here, daddy?” Cadance asked.
“This gemstone has some strange capabilities. ANypony who touched it was overwhelmed with intense fear, and whenever we tried to use magic on it like we would other gemstones it would actually DRAIN magic, which was probably why we found it among a cache of completely inert, ordinary gemstones devoid of magic....”
“That sounds kinda spooky...”
The stallion nodded. “Indeed, but it’s nothing to be feared, it’s merely a gemstone after all, a crystal like any other. All those events just mean it’s something of incredible magical power. If we just knew how to harness it, it could only benefit our Empire. We just need to figure out how...” He smiled at the filly. “Well, no need to worry about it now, you’ll have plenty of time to research yourself if the time ever comes. Come along Cadance, it’s time to head back up.”
The pair nuzzled each other and started to trot out of the room, Sombra hiding in the darkness as they walked, not noticing him at all. Sombra snuck into the room, gazing up at the massive gemstone, licking his lips as he leapt onto it and bit hard into the surface, swallowing the sweet crystal eagerly, opening a hole. He blinked as he saw the opening he made revealed the inside of the gemstone was hollow and a shadowy substance wafted out towards him, morphing into several shapes as it drew to him like an old friend.
As Sombra stared, transfixed, he somehow KNEW this thing was offering him something. In fact, it offered him EVERYTHING he’d ever want. All he needed to do was free it and he could accept its power as his own, and finally become the kind of dragon he wanted to be all along. And in return, the shadow would get what it desired: the need to be whole.
The opening he made was already started close back up to entrap the shadow again. Sombra grinned widely, eyes gleaming as he dug his sharp claws and teeth deep into the crystal and tear it asunder being sure to shatter as much as he could.
Upon freeing it, the shadow enveloped him completely, merging with him, making Sombra laugh with glee as he was given a new, powerful body.
And so it was that Sombra gained the power to erase an entire Empire in a single day.
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Present Day
Sombra opened his eyes as he sat upon his throne, growling as he sensed movement in the halls of his castle.
He turned his sight into his distant shadow in order to see what was happening. It would not do for someone to travel down those halls without his permission, and depending on who it was he may need to be...harsh.
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Cadance clutched the fragments of the Crystal Heart close to herself as she ran down the hall, Spike following after her as he tore off the dress he was wearing to follow her more easily.
“W-where are we going!?” Spike asked.
“I-I’m not sure...” Cadance admitted. “I...somehow I just...know this is the direction we have to go.”
“That’s...kinda weird. And creepy.”
Cadance chuckled. “Indeed it is. But...at least it’s something for us to do.”
As the pair ran a massive shadow grow along a nearby wall, Sombra’s massive claw coming down in front of them, his eyes peering over at them from the shadow.
“Where do you two think you’re going...?” The King asked, his tone icy. “This hallways is off limits to you.”
“Why’s that?” Spike asked, looking defiant.
“I see you removes that dress I prepared for you...” Sombra growled irritably.
“I’m not gonna be your queen or ANYTHING!” Spike called out. “I’m gonna try and help my friends however I can!”
Cadance gazed up at Sombra, something clicking in her head. “They’re down this path, aren’t they? That’s why you don’t want us coming down here...”
“...Perhaps.” Sombra smirked, stretching out his sharp talons dangerously. “You can’t get past me. Or did you forget that magic doesn’t work on me?”
“Let us through!” Spike shouted, leaping over and slashing at Sombra’s claw with his own smaller claws, driven by a desperation to see his friends and a desire to be free of the other dragon’s creepy attention.
“What do you hope to accomplish AGHHHH!?” Sombra was interrupted by his monologuing as he cried out in surprise and pain, as Spike’s attack tore large scratches into Sombra’s scales, causing him to pull back in pain, his shadow disappearing.
“That was...surprising.” Spike said, blinking in bewilderment.
“Let’s go!”Cadance said as she grabbed Spike’s arm and dragging him along, the action rather awkward for her as she was also juggling with holding the fragments in her foreleg. “The others must be down this way!” She ran down the hall with Spike, heading towards a large steel door.
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Sombra stared at his hand, eyes wide in disbelief.
He...got hurt. Somehow...something...someONE hurt HIM. Nothing had ever hurt him before. Not magic. Not razor sharp blades. Not falling from a great height. Not lava. Nothing.
But a tiny dragon managed to make him feel pain for the first time in his life.
He clenched his talons into a fist. If that was the case, he could not make any unnecessary risks, not if it meant feeling that horrid sensation again...or harming Spike.
Fortunately, he had other tools.
“Soldiers!” He called out. “To the mines! Capture Spike! Detain Cadance!” His gaze crew steely as he next spoke coldly. “Kill the rest. Perhaps loss will teach them the price of defiance.”
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Cadance and Spike looked up at the steel door. Cadance pressing a hoof to the door.
“How do we...?” Cadance wondered before her eyes widened suddenly. She frowned as she focused, a magical glow emanating from her hoof, pouring into the door, causing it to shudder and groan as it slid back, revealing a large dark stone tunnel.
“How...did you know to do that?” Spike asked.
“I’m not sure...maybe it was a lost memory coming back to me...” Cadance asked, unsure herself. “Either way, We should head in...”
Spike nodded as he and Cadance walked in, the unicorn’s horn weakly glowing to illuminate the dark surroundings around them.
“The castle has a mine underneath it...?” Spike wondered.
“What makes you think it’s a mine?”
“I’ve been near some mines, like Pinkamena’s. I know how they smell.” Spike explained, looking around. “Mix of wood for load bearing, some hints of musky dampness, and the smells of various gems, rocks and other stuff.”
Cadance nodded. “Interesting...”
As the pair walked the stone tunnel around them grew larger, Cadance squinting her eyes in the darkness as they adjusted, the pair soon coming to a large clearing where they saw ponies digging away at the walls of the mine, piling gems into large carts and barrels...Cadance gasping and running over as she spotted her wife and leapt onto her to give her a tight embrace.
“CHRYSSI!” Cadance called out, tears in her eyes. “Oh, Chryssi! I’m so sorry!”
Chrysalis giggled and stroked Cadance’s man gently. “Awww I missed you too, sweetie!”
As Spike walked over to look around Rainbow and her friends walked towards him, Rainbow pulling him into a tight hug. “I’m glad you’re safe...” The Pegasus said, stroking his head with her wing.
“I’m tougher than I look.” Spike chuckled, pushing Rainbow’s wing off of his head. “So...Sombra has you working away down here?”
“Yeah.” PInkamena said dourly. “I think he enjoys making us get his food for him. Like, we aren’t really ADDING much to the workload, I think he’s just making us do this specifically because he finds it funny or something. This entire set up is EXTREMELY inefficient.”
Cadance frowned as she pulled away hesitantly from Chrysalis, nodded slowly. “Yeah...sounds like him. I...know what’s going on with him. All this....is because he hates ME.” She looked around, taking in the miserable looking ponies around her. “he’s making these ponies suffer because of ME.”
“Uhhh why?” Rainbow asked. “It’s not like he’d really know you right?”
Cadance shook her head. “I used to LIVE here. I used to be the daughter of this Empire’s ruler...before Sombra took over.”
“Okay, yeah, I think we missed out like a LOT of stuff down here.” Twilight interjected.
“Long story short: a long time ago I was apparently frozen by my father to protect me from Sombra, who used to be a...friend, or at least what I thought of as a friend.” The Princess looked down. “I’ve been...getting flashes of...memories, its helping me figure out a lot of things but...there’s still a lot of missing gaps...”
Rarity walked over and gave Cadance a tight hug. “it’ll be alright...at least we can work together now...”
“So...did you...do something to make SOmbra so made he’d...what, overthrow your kingdom, destroy its surrounding territories...? Applejack wondered. “I mean, you said you used to be friends...”
Spike growled, glaring at the ground. “Having spent time with him...no, I doubt Cadance did anything wrong. I doubt anypony did. Sombra’s a prideful, hurricanist jerk who hates ponies cause they make him feel ‘weak’.”
Rainbow looked towards Spike. “And...what did he want with you? Why did he take you from us and not have you join us in the mines? Cadance I can understand now, but why you too?”
Spike clenched his fists tightly. “...I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Rainbow looked more concerned as she stepped closer to her assistant, who simply flashed her a reassuring smile. Rainbow nodded, accepting the silent exchange despite maintaining an unsure look.
“Okay so basically Sombra’s an evil jerk. Great, excellent, what a fantastic revelation. Totally didn’t know that already.” Pinkamena spoke up, rolling her eyes. “Not exactly helpful.”
Cadance nodded. “I...I did find...a possible solution but...” She blinked, looking around as she saw the crystal eyed ponies staring at her. “W-what the...?”
One of the ponies spoke up.”You said...you...you are Empress Mi Amore Cadenza...?”
Cadance gulped looking around at the ponies. “I...yes...I am...”
The ponies among themselves in disbelief as they gazed at the pink unicorn, one crystal pony walking out towards her, Rainbow noting it was the one who had spoken to them earlier when they were ‘brought’ here.
“Incredible...” The pony breathed. “You’re...you’re alive...this is too good to be true...”
“D-do...a-am I...supposed to know you...?” Cadance asked uncertainly.
The pony shook her head. “I’m just one pony...noone special...but you...you’re the Empress. You can save us...”
Cadance frowned, looking down. “I...I’m not sure I can...”
The Pony stepped closer, a hopeful look growing in her eyes. “No...you can! The Emperor can use the Crystal Heart, so...”
“It’s BROKEN!” Cadance blurted out, holding out the broken shards. “Look! Sombra destroyed it! I-I’m sorry but...I’m worthless! H-how can I use it? I can’t feel any magic from it...”
The pony blinked, eyes widening in disbelief as she looked at the shards, the crystal ponies in the mine slowly stepping back into the darkness to go back to work...except for the pony before Cadance, who reached a hoof to touch the shards.
“Empress...do you...do you not know how to use Crystal magic?” She reached out a hoof to touch at the crystal shards Cadance held. “We work magic into the crystal, and in turn manipulate the magic in the crystal, not the crystal working the magic for us....”
“W-wait...” a pony spoke up. “Y-you...you mustn’t...he...he’ll...we aren’t allowed to...”
AT that the pony frowned, looking hesitant, before gazing at Cadance, a spark of hope lighting up in her eyes as she reached out to touch the shards, her hoof glowing with magic as the shards slowly started to move and melt back together.
“W-wha!?” Cadance gasped, eyes wide. “But...but how...!? None of us can use magic...”
The pony gazed at Cadance’s face. “Our magic is deeper; it doesn’t require us to...shoot it out like unicorns. It stays in our bones, and we can use it to pull at the magic in the crystals around us, which help us move them...nurture them...help them grow.”
Cadance stared in awe at the shards as they glowed brightly in response to the pony’s magic, however the pony frowned.
“But...the Crystal Heart is special...this is an object of great power...it requires MORE than the nurturing touch of one pony....” *she looked around at the other ponies. “We...we have HOPE now...the Empress has returned...she has the Crystal Heart...” Her confidence grew as she spoke, a determined look on her formerly grim face. “Everyone! Come over here! Place your hooves on the crystal and share your magic! We can fix the Crystal Heart! We...we can sa”
She cried out suddenly gripping her head as she collapsed to the ground, black sparks appearing around her head as the darkness around them grew more oppressive, the other ponies whimpering as the fell the ground in submission.
Sombra’s eyes appeared within the shadows, covering the entrance in darkness. “You DARE try and defy me....? Perhaps I have been too lenient till now...perhaps I shall force your families above ground to suffer the same fate as you...?”
“N-no, Lord Sombra!” A Pony cried out. “W-we didn’t...we had no intention...!”
Sombra chuckled. “Of course not. You’re COWARDS. Not a single ONE of you stood to oppose me. And none of you shall EVER. Give UP, Cadenza. These ponies are not worth caring about, let alone saving.”
Chyrsalis leapt in front, frowning sadly. “You’re wrong! I can hear the pain in their hearts! Such fear...such despair...they are not at fault...” Tears fell from her eyes as she gazed at the shadows before her. “YOU are! You made them into this! Just like...just like mother...can’t you just stop this? PLEASE! It’s not too late to change! Just...just stop tormenting these poor ponies! Please, just forgive my wife! I’ll...I’ll do anything...”
Sombra was silent for a while.”Anything...?”
“Yes!” Chrysalis nodded hopefully.
“Kneel. Kneel and lick the floor.”
Chrysalis blinks, crouching low to the ground, slowly licking the dirty floor of the mine. “L-like this...?”
“Chryalis, stop that!” Cadance called out. “We don’t need to do what he wants...”
“if it means saving these ponies and ending this peacefully, I will do what it takes...” Chrysalis said. “You cannot feel it, but...his magic is so oppressive. See how they’re on the ground...? I wasn’t being metaphorical, he’s LITERALLY hurting them, with his magic....” She continued licking the floor.
Sombra chuckled. “Excellent. Now look up at me, let me look into your eyes.”
Chrysalis raised her head, looking out towards where she thought he was, eyes opened wide. “Like...like this?”
“You are doing well...”
“I-I am...?” Chrysalis gulped, smiling hopefully. “So...you’ll let them go...?”
At that, the ponies screamed loudly in pain, their bodies writhing as they shook their heads desperately, hooves flailing.
“W-wait stop!” Chrysalis got up. “This isn’t what I...!”
“No, it’s not.” Sombra chuckled. “But giving you that taste of hope...that small, tiny chance...seeing it grow brighter in your eyes...yes, giving you that HOPE only to CRUSH it and fill it with despair...that only makes it ALL the sweeter...”
Rainbow growled, snarling. “You’re a MONSTER...!”
“Dragons HAVE been called that yes...” Sombra spoke proudly. “So..whatever you are, Chrysalis yes? Let me see your despair...let me TASTE it...”
“Leave her alone...!” Cadance called out.
Sombra grinned widely. “Ah yes, she’s your wife, yes? Seeing her suffer must be sooo terrible...”
Chrysalis held out a hoof to Cadance, gently nuzzling her as she looked towards the shadows with sorrowful, pitying eyes. “Such a sad creature...to be able to find joy in making ponies suffer...I do not know what caused you to become like this but... I am so sorry, Sombra. I wish I could help you...”
Sombra froze taken aback. “Help...help ME!?”
“Yes...just like my mother...I wish I could have been able to see the kind of person you could’ve become, and I’m so sorry I do not seem to have the ability to help you get better...” She closed her eyes, horn glowing brightly.
Cadance gasped. “C-chryssi...! W-what are you...!?”
“These ponies have been hurt for so long, I did my best doing what little I could...but I guss doing only a little isn’t enough...” Her horn glowed brightly as she began to pull in magical energy from the ponies around her, pulling black energy to her horn.
“What!?” Sombra raged. “Impossible! NOONE CAN USE MAGIC! I MADE SURE OF IT!”
Crysalis groaned in pained as she pulled in the collective painful magic of despair into herself. “Only some magic, not ALL, and my magic is the most different of all! I-I was made to drain emotional energy...to feed on love...but...GNNN! I found I could use my magic for more...so...let’s see if I can steal more than love!” She screamed in pain, hideous green scars marring over her right eye, her hooves, her back, her belly and her flanks as she pulled the despair magic into herself, shuddering in pain as she collapsed to the floor and fainted.
Cadance screamed, pulling her wife close to her, tears in her eyes, her seven other companions crowding around in concern as the crystal ponies groaned and rose to their hooves, regaining their bearings.
“How...?” Sombra intoned in disbelief. “How couldmy powe be so easily...?”
Spike looked up at Sombra. “Cause you DON’T knw EVERYTHING! You’re just an arrogant BULLY! You have no POWER over ANY of us!”
“I can always summon MORE shadows...inflict MORE despair on...!” He gasped, stopping mid sentence as he saw the crystal ponies move forwards towards where the visitors had gathered around Crysalis.
“She...sacrificed herself...for us...?” A crystal pony spoke up.
“She...had no reason to...” Another breathed in disbelief.
Sombra glared. “BACK TO YOUR WORK, PEASANTS!” The shadows started to spread again heading towards the ponies,g athering around their heads...only for Crysalis’ horn to glow bright again, the changeling weakly opening a eye as she breathed heavily, drawing the magic towards herself.
“Cryssi!” Cadance cried out. “Stop!”
“No...if I suffer..in their place...” Chrysalis panted. “So...so...so be it...! I..won’t let his magic hurt ANYPONY...!”
“But y-you’re...!” Rarity began.
Chrysalis smiled, tears in her eyes. “I can...handle this...mother...mother made me feel far worse than this...”
The crystal ponies stared wide eyed. “Why...why are you...?”
Chrysalis chuckled, flashing a pained smile. “Because I have hope. I Believe in these ponies, this dragon...” she looked towards Cadance. “And this mare. I believe in them.”
“They are FLESH.” SOmbra snapped. “And BONE. I have no idea HOW you’re doing this, but that means nothing. I have MORE than one trick up my sleeve...or did you forget about my OTHER slaves!?”
The shadows suddenly dispersed...revealing a retinue of pony soldiers, clad in dark armour.
Rainbow extended a wing, trying to send out a spark of magic, but only managing to strain her wing muscles. “Even with chrysalis draining the magic, his power is STILL blocking us!?”
Pinkemena stepped forward, cricking her neck. “Well she was only draining part of the magic, not ALL of it. I think? I dunno. Either way, you magic users stay back. I haven’t gotten a fight in...well, forever. I’ve been DYING to punch SOMETHING.”
Applejack and Twilight both stepped up as well. “Don’t worry darling, we’ll be careful.” The fashionista chuckled, she and the purple unicorn beside her rushing forward to push the guards back away from the others, Pinkamena punching one guard into a wall.
The crystal ponies stared wide eyed at the sight of the three mares stepping forward to protect everyone, and they in turn stepped over, each placing a hoof on the remains of the Crystal Heart.
Cadance looked up, aghast. “W-wha...!?”
A crystal pony looked aside, which was difficult to tell since their eyes were solid crystal. “We...have been acting most shamefully, wallowing in despair...we can’t just blame Sombra’s magic, but...you, all of you are strangers, and you’re...risking everything to save us...”
“We...need to do what we can...to save our families too...” Another crystal pony said.
“This is OUR Empire, too!” Yet another spoke up. “If some strangers are going to help us, then we might as well do what can as well!”
One by one, the miners poured their crystal magic in, the sounds of metal clanging on stone and hoof to face ringing around around as Sombra’s guards were battled, the crystal glowing brightly as it was reforged, becoming a massive blue gemstone shaped like a heart, as big as a pony’s head, and glowing with power as it rose high, filled with the collective magic of the citizens of the Crystal Empire.
Cadance got up, staring wide eyed. “Oh...my goodness...it’s...beautiful...”
“It only leads one more...” The lead Crystal Pony said as she stood in front of the others. “You, Empress. It is your duty and birthright to complete the chain and wield this Crystal Heart.” She bowed. “As former Captain of the Royal Guard, I, Jasper, shall help protect our people.”
Fluttershy gasped, having been in the background for too long. “You have a NAME!?”
“Yes...the fog of despair has been lifted...I remember much now...” Jasper smiled. “Now...let me do one more thing. You’ll need tobe quite high up to properly use the Crystal Heart...”
With that she and the other Crystal Ponies surrounded Cadance, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike and slammed their hooves on the ground, making the ground glow brightly beneath them before it started rising higher, the ceiling moving aside to give passage as the pillar of pink crystal grew higher.
“Now...all we can do...is hope.” Jasper said as she turned and charged forward, forming a crystal a crystal blade as she sliced a guard’s spear in twain, saving Twilight from a close slash.
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Somba sat in his throne room, stewing in rage.
He was positive no pony could use magic, not with his prescene and power. But it seemed the Crystal Ponies were only stopped from the miasma of despair he had cursed them with, and thanks to the miners being freed thanks to that accursed MONSTER, nothing was stopping a mounting rebelling charging from the mines.
His guards were too weak and simpleminded to rely on, his magic was far more limited than he first thought. His Empire was crumbling beneath him with each second.
But.
But he still had ONE last thing up his sleeve.
He was still a dragon.
He started to flex his long unused wings as he began to rise up from his throne, the castle surrounding him beginning to crumble.
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Fluttershy cooed and giggled happily as she flew loop de lops in the air. “Wooow! We’re so high up!”
Cadance shivered and paled, clinging to the side of the massive crystal pillar she and he companions were standing upon, the pillar standing several stories above the castle and city below. “Peering down was a mistake...!” She started to close her eyes, breathing steadily. “Okay...calm down..calm down...have a job to focus on...”
Rainbow frowned, looking at the pink unicorn in concern. “Are you...scared of heights?”
Candance slowly stood shakily, pointedly avoiding looking at ANYTHING that was down or showed how high they were. “Course not! I’m scared of grounds!”
“Grounds...?” Spike raised a brow.
“It’s the grounds that kill you!” Cadance blurted adamantly.
“As a future Wonderbolt,” Rarity interjected, “I can attest that, yes, it IS indeed the grounds that hurt you when you fall.”
“Okay FOCUS!” Rainbow snapped, facehoofing. “Our friends and several ponies are risking their lives down there, so we should focus on saving their bacon and stopping Somba’s...craziness!”
Cadance nodded slowly, pulling up the Crystal Heart into her hooves. “Y-you’re right..this isn’t time for phobias no matter how justified....I just...I just hope this works.” She closed her eyes, trying to focus on pushing magic through her hooves into the Heart, an act she wasn’t accustomed to thinking of when spellcasting.
Rainbow, Spike, Fluttershy and Rarity watched while Crysalis lay unconscious nearby, the Crystal Heart beginning to glow with a bright pink magical energy.
“Wowww...” Rainbow breathed in awe.
Soon, a rumbling greeted their ears, the ponies and dragon turning their attention to see the castle falling apart, revealing what they just thought was part of the castle was in fact massive dragon wings that surrounded the entire city...and a massive, angry dragon with a long black mane and dark grey scales, his red eyes glaring spitefully as he let out an enraged roar.
“I don’t wanna rush you but CADANCE CADANCE CADANCE!!” Rarity stated shouting out in alarm. “HE SEES US HE SEES US HURRY HURRY HURRY!”
Cadance’s eyes opened and she held out the Crystal Heart, a wave of magic flowing from it, stray chunks of crystal floating upwards to fuse together over her horn and her shoulders, a large crystal horn forming upon her as well as a pair of large wings of pure crystal.
Cadance gazed at the massive dragon as magic was poured onto him. “I am sorry, but THIS ENDS NOW!”
Sombra chuckled, befoe sending a wave of shadowy flames from his mouth, pushing Cadance’s attack back as Sombra’s flames grew closer to the crystal pillar.
“Whether it be a pony’s or the crystal heart itself, your magic cannot harm me!” Sombra bellowed proudly. “I am a DRAGON! And YOU are just tiny, weak, insignificant PONIES! Now KNEEL!”
Cadance gasped, trying to focus. “N-no...e-even with this...? A-all our hope was riding on this....we can’t fail NOW...” However, her will was faltering, causing the Crystal Heart itself to begin to falter as well.
Rainbow looked in her bag desperately, her grip tightening in frustration as she saw the Elements were still dormant and unusable. “Nothing...nothing’s WORKING...how can we beat a creature without the Elements? Would they even work aganst him...?”
Spike looked between Rainbow, Cadance, the Crystal Heart, Sombra and the other ponies, looking lost.
Cadance screamed as a flick of black flame flew towards her, making her flinch in pain and fear...which was enough to cause the Crystal Heart to fall from her grasp.
Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Cadance and Spike all gasped, rushing forward to each try and save the Crystal Heart from falling...and failing to pay attention to Sombra as he grinned cruelly.
“Now don’t you see? Your foolish hope is nothing against the power of DESPAIR!” Sombra breathed forth a massive gout of black flame, and without anything to slow it back it was going to engulf everyone in it.
Spike saw the attack coming from the corner of his eye. He had no idea what Sombra’s dragon fire could do, but he knew there was no way it’d be pleasant even if it didn’t kill them outright. He fired his own gout of green fire, the biggest he had ever mustered in his life, surrounding everyone around him in it.
Cadance, Crysalis, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow blinked as they found themselves standing safely on the ground in the middle of the city.
“W-what just happened?” Rarity wondered aloud.
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Spike...!” She looked around frantically, her eyes looking up as she saw the massive figure of Sombra standing in front of a tall pillar of crystal, at the top of which was a huge wall of green fire, blocking the black flame. “SPIKE!” Rainbow cried out in terror, face paling.
Meanwhile, up above, Spike had falling on his back, managing to have caught the Crystal Heart while he did his best to send everyone to safety.
“Well...guess...guess this is it...” He panted. “That took a lot out of me...never had to transport ponies before, let alone a whole bunch of them...wonder why that black fire isn’t getting me yet...?” He looked around, surrounded by green flame. “Don’t tell me it’s blocking it...? That doesn’t make sense...”
He looked down at the Crystal Heart, the artefact looking tantalisingly delicious. “well...it’s not like it did anything to him so...and I’m PROBABLY gonna die here anyway so...what the hay, one bite can’t hurt.” He chuckled. “Sorry Cadance...but hey, at least you and Rainbow are out of here...you can probably think of something...unlike me, just a lame assistant...”
He leaned forward, taking a bite...and heard a voice. It was faint, and unfamiliar, but it told him one thing.
Fight. Save your friends. Do not give up.
And he remembered...he HURT Sombra. His flames was blocking his fire...
In one perfect moment of clarity, be it his own or assisted by the power of the Cyrstal Heart or something else entirely, he realised something.
And so he ate the entirety of the Crystal Heart.
On the other side of the green flame, Sombra growled. “Spike! I didn’t want to hurt you too, but you left me no choice! You could’ve been mine, but instead I had to destroy you with them!” He got ready to fire a another gout of flame, only to gasp as a burst of white light filled his sight, momentarily blinding him...and allowing a massive purple claw to strike at his face, leaving massive scratchs on his face.
Sombra screamed in pain and pulled back, one claw clutching at his wounded face as he opened one eye to see a massive, purple, wingless dragon, green spikes decorating along its back, sporting huge claws eager to tear into the shadow dragon.
“What!? There’s no hoard for you to use to activate your greed!” Sombra snapped in disbelief.
Spike growled, roaring at Sombra, a heart shaped light visible within his throat...before he fire a gout of green flame, making Sombra cry out in pain is it struck his chest.
“H-how!?” Sombra screamed in disbelief, flapping his wings as he rose high in the sky, flying above the city he ruled.
Spike looked up at Sombra, determination in his eyes. “Dragons are immune to magic...but not to other dragons. Which means that when we use our breath on each other...it just BURNS.” He fired a bust of flame, which Sombra hurriedly dodged.
“I see...makes sense, how else would our kind be able to settle disputes...? Thank you for telling me!” Sombra laughed, darting in the air rapidly, dashing behind Spike and slashing across his back, making the purple dragon scream in pain. “Those ponies really HAVE weakened you! Giving me an advantage by explaining things to me!”
“Nah...not weakness...just being fair.” Spike turned back, slashing his claws through Sombra’s right wing, making the dark dragon gasp as he fell, his wings no longer able to keep balance and keep him in the air.
Sombra smirked, his form suddenly turning pitch black, becoming a shadow that dived forward, wrapping around Spike’s body and keeping him bound in place, the real Sombra rising out from behind Spike again.
“Good thing I don’t just have the power of a dragon, isn’t it?” Sombra smirked. “I have the collective power the Crystal Ponies gave to me with their despair, accumulated CENTURIES! This power allowed me to keep them frozen in time, unagine, unchanging, unable to escape MY rule! And this best part?” Sombra wrapped his sharp claws around Spike’s neck, gripping tightly and making the purple dragon choke. “This power was ALSO in the castle, hidden beneath. They had NO IDEA what they had, and no way to defend themselves. They hoped to use it to save themselves, but instead it DESTROYED them! ISN’T. THAT. DELICIOUS!?”
Spike choked and struggled, trying to pull the shadows surrounding him off as Sombra’s grip tightened.
That was when Cadance fly outwards suddenly, using her new wings to fly by and used their sharp edges to slash across Sombra’s already wounded eye while he was distracte, making the dark dragon scream in pain as he instinctively flinched back and loosened his grip, giving Spike time to turn his head and fire a massive burst of green fire mixed with the light of the Crystal Heart.
Sombra screamed, his head enveloped in the green fire, and Spike turned to pin the dark dragon down, holding him in place as he poured more and more fire onto his foe. When Spike pulled back, panting hevailly, looking exhausted from the effort, all that was left of Sombra was a black skeleton of shadows.
Spike grimaced. “Geez...I...didn’t mean to go THAT far..”
Cadance flew close, nodding sadly. “You...did what you had to...” She blinked,tilting her head. “Wait...what the...?”
As she spoke, a large object fell from within the skeleton. Said object was a large, black egg. At the same time, what appeared to be Sombra’s skeleton rose up, it’s form shrinking to a more abstract shadowy form.
“W-what the...!?” Spike gasped out.
The shadow fly into the sky, too quick for anyone to process what happened before it was over the horizon, the field of darkness surrounding the city vanishing.
------------------
Pinkamena leapt in, throwing a punch towards one of the armoured guards, only for Jasper to grab her hoof and pull it back.
“What the hay!?” PInkamena turned to the Crystal Pony in annoyance. “We’re in the middle of a fight!!”
She shook her head. “No, the fight is over. Look.”
PInkamena looked forward and saw the amour of the guards shatter and dissipate, revealed the forms of crystal eyed ponies who looked arund in a confused daze.
“What.” Pinkamena said, looking puzzled.
“They were slaves, much as us.” Jasper said. “But, it seems the Empress saved us. There’s only one reason that amour would break...Sombra must have been defeated...” She slumped to the floor, smiling in relief, tears flowing from her eyes. “We are free...”
----------------------
Cadance slowly lowered herself down to the ground as Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and a now awake Chrysalis rushed over, and soon Pinkamena, Twilight and Applejack came running over from the opposite side of the city, the massive Spike walking over alongside Cadance.
Applejack stared up in fear at the dragon. “AH SOMB...wait...SPIKE!?”
“Look, magic didn’t hurt Sombra, but a dragon can.” Spike explained. “I don’t know the details, but as far as I can tell that’s how it works for dragons.”
Fluttershy squeed, flying around Spike in awe. “Oh booyy! That was INCREDIBLE! Sombra was like RAWRR and you were like GRAAA and he was BLEEEH! I can’t believe I got to see a REAL dragon fight and that I also got to learn about dragons a bit AT THE SAME TIIIME!”
“Oh yeah, you had a weird thing about monsters.” PInkamena dryly said. “I forgot about that, doesn’t come up too often. Also, yeah that’s a good explanation, except WHY ARE YOU GIANT, SPIKE!?”
Spike blinked. “Oh...uhhh...I kinda...ATE the Crystal Heart...?” He looked away bashfully. “And uhh it did THIS to me...?”
Cadance stared up at him. “You ate WHAT.”
“Hey! I needed it for a power, and size, boost!” He coughed. “And also thought I was gonna die and wanted a last meal before I went out...”
Cadance frowned but sighed. “Well, I can forgive you, since that DID help you save the city...you were much better good than me...”
“Hey, you saved my bacon there, Princess!” Spike replied. “If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve been DEAD!”
“Maybe...” Cadance looked down morosely. “But still...I feel like I let these ponies down...”
Jasper walked over from behind Applejack, shaking her head. “Empress Cadenza...I don’t know what happened here...but I’m sure you had a role in this all the same. YOU found the Crystal Heart. YOU helped to inspire us to fix it. YOU helped this dragon defeat Sombra, what I can gather. You did so much for us...and besides, there is something more important for you to do, now that there is no dragon to slay.”
Cadance blinked, looking towards the Crystal Pony.
“You are the sole heir.”Jasper said, gesturing around herself towards the other crystal ponies and the surrounding city. “With Sombra gone, we’ll need someone to lead us. I can think of no one better than the heir to the Empire...if you so desire, of course.”
Cadance looked around in thought. “That’s...quite an ask. I...had my own duties as headmistress of a magic school, I have never actually been in the position of running a whole city...”
Chrysalis trotted over quickly, nuzzling her wife’s neck. “But think of it! This is your birthplace, your homeland! Think about all you can learn here! And how much you can teach them about the world since they’ve been trapped in here! And just look at how wonderfully adorable they all are! I think it’ll be wonderful!”
Rainbow chuckled. “She does have a point. If you act as their ruler, at least for now, you can learn a fair bit and help them reintegrate with society at large, and help forge some sort of agreement with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Besides, I doubt you could be any worse than their LAST ruler.”
“Please do not joke about Sombra’s reign seconds after he was ousted, it’s way too soon for that.” Jasper admonished, frowning.
Cadance nodded slowly, turning to Jasper. “Yes, my wife and former student raise good points, and...I would like to learn more about my past. I would love to hear what can tell me, Dame Jasper, if you do not mind.”
“Not at all, Empress.” Jasper smiled, giving her a bow as the Crystal Ponies who had been aboveground all this time murmured amongst each other.
Rainbow turned to the giant dragon standing overthem, frowning in thought. “And what am I supposed to do with you, my number one assistant? You’re a bit too big to fit in the Library now...”
Spike chuckled in embarrassment,looking aside. “Uhh...I dunno...I’m sure we can think of...” His eyes widened as he began to cough and sputter. “Ugh..something...caught in...throat...!” With a loud cough he spat out the whole and undamaged Crystal Heart, yelping as he turned back to his normal size, falling onto Rainbow’s back.
As the dragon groaned Rainbow looked at him. “You...you okay?”
Spike nodded. “Yeah...yeah...though now I kinda feel exhausted...guess that Crystal Heart took a lot of me with that...spectacle.”
Fluttershy flew down, grinning widely. “Oh, go on and nap! You deserve it, you did GREAT!”
Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, you really saved the day there.”
Spike grinned proudly, Rainbow chuckling as she petted him, turning her attention to the bag that held the Elements. She slowly opened it...and saw they had returned to normal, no longer dormant and sparkling bright gold.
Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief.
“So what’s this?” Rarity asked as she poked the large black egg that everyone inadvertently surrounded.
“It fell from Sombra’s body before it...flew away...” Cadance said, her tone unsure.
“Huh. That’s weird.” Rarity said, continuing to poke and prod the large egg.
“Darling, I really don’t think that’s a good idea...” Applejack said warily.
“Oh it’s fine! It’s just an egg!” As Rarity poked it again, the egg began to shake, cracks forming on it, the unicorn gasping as she leapt back. “I didn’t break it!”
As everyone stared the egg shattered...revealing a tiny dark grey dragon, looking similar to spike and with the same height, sporting a small red horn in his forehead, a mane of black hair formed into a sizeable Mohawk, red eyes filled with fury and a pair of sizeable red wings that her rested over his tiny body like a cloak.
Cadance gasped, recognising him from her past visions. “Sombra...!?” She looked up at the sky. “Then...what was that...?”
Sombra snarled angrily, his voice still as deep, but not as booming, his gaze affixed to Spike. “You took it from me! I finally had the power to have my revenge! We could have RULED together, as is our right as dragons!”
Spike gazed down at the other dragon witheringly, unimpressed. “Dude. You lost. You don’t have that magic...whatever it was helping you any more. You’re surrounded by ponies willing to fight you and you’re no longer a big scary monster. It’s OVER.”
Sombra growled, clenching his tiny fists, face red in shame. “I’ll make you see...I’ll make EVERY PONY pay for my HUMILIATION! I WILL free you from them, mark my words! You haven’t heard the last of me, ANY of you!” Sombra spread his wings, flapping them rapidly as he turned to Cadance.
Cadance looked at him sadly. “You can still make up for this...whatever turned you into...THAT is gone now...We can stat anew...”
Sombra laughed. “The shadow only GAVE me the power, it NEVER controlled me. You always were a FOOL, you never DID understand me. Why do you think this happened in the first place?” His gaze turned icy. “Once I found a way to strengthen myself, I’ll make SURE you pay.” He lifted up, flying off high into the sky and out of sight.
Cadance looked down, sighing. “...I guess he’s right...I never did truly understand him...” She looked at Rainbow and Spike, noting their closeness. “Not like those two...” She muttered under her breath.
Rainbow frowned, opening her mouth to say something, only to gasp as she heard a ruckus and turned to see a retinue of Royal Guardsponies march in, lead by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.
“A-aunties!” Cadance blurted out in surprise. “W-what are you doing here!?”
“When the guards left behind on the train told us you all got pulled into a ‘black towering vortex’, we rushed as fast as we could to try and help.” Celestia said. “And when said vortex vanished we found...an entire city. What HAPPENED here? Has the souce of the black magic been dealt with?”
Cadance nodded slowly. “I...think so. As for this place, this is from what I gather the last vestige of what was once known as the Crystal Empire.”
Luna nodded. “Hmmm...first I’ve heard of it.”
“Same here.” Celestia admitted. “It wouldn’t be too much for you to tell us what happened, in detail?”
Cadance nodded. “Yes...there’s...quite a bit we’ll have to discuss, with Rainbow and her friends too, most important Spike, they all had their own experiences on this little adventure...also, I’ll have to inform you of something important that may involve me not living in Canterlot anymore, at the very least for a while...”
Celestia raised a brow, but nodded. “Very well. We have time, this place looks like it’ll need some cleanup anyway, so it’s not like we’ll be going anywhere.” She gestured to the debris that remained of the ruined castle.
Cadance sighed. “Yeah, you raise a good point.”
------------------------------
Watching from afar, Sunset Shimmer sat on her perch, the city no longer of interest as she saw a shadow fly from it. She stepped back allowing the shadow to land in front of her, forming itself into a skeletal black dragon.
“You were drawn to him once you were freed, yes?” Sunset spoke. “Your little waiting game is done with, now you can get what you want. You can be whole.”
The shadow screeched, flying into Sunset and allowing itself to be absorbed into her body. Sunset sighed as she stretched her muscles, getting used to the new power she felt coursing in her.
Her eyes turned a bright yellow with reptilian irises, a cold sneer gracing her features as she spoke. “Mmmnn the despair this fragment feasted upon is most sweet. But the knowledge I have another part of me back is even SWEETER. But we have much work to do, my little Sunset. We’ve waited a long time, but we must be patient still...I’m still yet to be truly whole.”
The Shadow Jester chuckled with Sunset’s voice, snow blowing over them as they suddenly vanished from the spot. Their own quest was still unfinished.
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Well, I just finished this, and you failed to make good on the narrative obligation with the Elements you created earlier. That's a serious hole in the fabric of the setting with implications beyond this story. Once again, I think you need to make edits to fill this plot hole.
If you don't want to rewrite this entire chapter to go back to your original plan and show it directly, you might be able to get away with a short scene that invokes my earlier idea that there was nothing wrong with the Elements. This would probably involve having a princess question them about the Elements, find out that they never tried to use them, and suggest that they probably could have just broken out the rainbow laser in spite of the recolor for an easy win.
Beyond that, I also wasn't particularly thrilled with what you did with Sombra. He was just fine being dead at the end of this, and the way you had him immediately hatch, say nothing changed, and fly off with no consequences really cheapened the ending. This is another area I think needs some serious rethinking, although my preference would be to have Flutters turn him into an omelet for a fun bait and switch.
Finally, this really needed another editing pass because there were a lot of glaring grammatical errors that made it hard to read, especially in the second half of the chapter.
I'm sorry I can't be more positive since these stories are generally rock solid, but this one has some serious flaws that need to be highlighted.
10336913
it's fine, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it that much, I hope what I have planned for alter well make up for it and I'm not going through a period of 'seasonal rot' as Tvtropes calls it
however, It should be noted that 1) the group only brought the Elements because they were explicitly a precautionary tactic and they always bring them along when they go out together now 2) I have always planned for SOmbra to not die (as his giant form is largely construct of made from the Shadow) and 3) there's actually a reason I didn't simply kill off Sombra here which you'll see in a bit.
Whether or not any of that helps is another matter, I'm just saying I have reasons and didn't just make arbitrary decisions.
10337029
No, that really doesn't help. This is exactly the kind of situation the Elements are a precaution for, and the way that you sidelined them felt very arbitrary. There are ways to do that right, just like there are ways to do Sombra surviving right, but this was definitely not it.
Remember, if you have to break out the "I planned to do it" excuse, it means something has gone horribly wrong.
10337873
well sadly, it's not an excuse, just an explanation. If I think of a way to change it to a better way, I will, but I need a bit of time to think because I need to be sure of how to go about editing things cause it'd require me to shift a lot of events, and I also wanna wait and see if it's a problem for anyone else before I go about meddling with the story (don't wanna fall into the same trap the Lunaverse has fallen into with regards to editing stories for no reason). As of right now, I'm sorry I disappointed you and hope this didn't put you off my stories :c
10338528
That's fair, and for what it's worth, I'll definitely keep reading. It takes a truly spectacular fuckup for me to completely abandon an author over a single mistake, and this is nowhere near that line.
As for the lunaverse, their problem is groupthink. I was briefly active on their forums and got caught in one of the most spectacular balls of idiocy I've ever seen. The short version is that RDD said something that didn't match the setting (specifically, he claimed it was after the industrial revolution instead of the dawn of it where it's consistently portrayed), I pointed out he was wrong, and I got dog piled with a mountain of hilariously nonsensical shit because no one could admit he said a silly thing. To give you an idea of the scale of stupidity, RDD tried to ignore the fact that Trixie was Luna's student and I had to repeatedly rub that basic pillar of the setting in his face before he shifted to assassinating Luna's character rather than admit he said one thing that didn't make sense.
Oh, and regarding the scale of fuckup it takes to turn me off, I still read the Lunaverse even after that. I just don't comment any more now that the largely inactive GrassAndClouds2 (who I gave leeway to because he was not part of that discussion and got similar abuse over the gala story) ignored my feedback on his latest story after explicitly saying he was open to it and willing to make edits to fix the kind of issue I pointed out in blog comments.
10341170
I sees o3o
10466801
I know! Hello😸
10468425
hope you're doing fine : 3 also responded t your emssages in the forum, sorry it was a little late but you know Fimfic doesn't notify on forum posts.
anyway hope you're enoying this installment in the AU!