The Diplomat's Life

by Evilhumour

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

The group was largely quiet as they sped their way to the Crystal Empire. In Twilight's mind though, things were not quiet.

Magic? she asked. Why didn't the binding spell work?

I'm honestly not sure, the Mantle admitted. Logically, it should have, with all of you donating power. Even if you weren't all fully tapping your Mantles to fuel the spell... She shook her head. It's likely he just had more power than any of us calculated.

Twilight's ears drooped. And now he's loose...

Be at ease, Twilight, Magic told her. You'll figure this out, and you and your friends will defeat him. And I will be with you all the way.

Twilight smiled mentally to her friend. Thank you.

The stronger your bonds, the greater your power, Magic told her, smiling back. Including certain new ones. I must admit, I was thinking you, Moondancer and Trixie would end up a trio, but I wasn't sure it would be this soon. But I am happy for the three of you. Twilight felt a mental embrace from her Mantle, and smiled even more.

Then she felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Are you all right?" Celestia asked.

Twilight nodded. "Just having a talk with Magic," she said, and Celestia smiled understandingly.

"I am still impressed that you are all able to communicate with your Mantles, and do so regularly," Mistmane said. "We are not Powers ourselves... Harmony only ever spoke to us once, but it was an experience we will never forget."

"I must concur. From what I understand, Day and Night rarely if ever communicated with Celestia and Luna during our time," Starswirl noted. "That yours speak to you regularly is certainly different."

Celestia nodded. "Day still is a quiet sort," she said. "My sister has yet to comment on hers."

Starswirl gave her a nod of his own, then turned back to Twilight. "When did you first hear from it?" he asked.

"Her," Twilight corrected. "And it was after she and I became one to defeat Tirek and sent him back to Tartarus..." She sighed. "He tried to comprehend what we'd become, and it broke his mind," she confessed.

"Goodness!" Meadowbrook gasped.

Twilight nodded. "Scorpan, however, does not blame us for what happened," she said.

Starswirl looked startled. "My old friend still lives?"

"He does, and we - my fellow Bearers and I, and Spike - have met him, in Laronda," Twilight told him. "And I bet he'd be really happy to see you again."

"If we are still free when the Pony of Shadows is defeated, I will have to make sure I do," Starswirl said. "But for now, we must focus."

Celestia nodded. "My niece and her family, and her people..."

"Did Luna have another child we weren't told about?" Flash Magnus asked.

Tempest shook her head. "She was adopted by Celestia when she ascended to alicornhood," she explained. "Cadance is descended from the last rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire though, so she's its rightful ruler now."

"The usurper, thankfully, is gone," Celestia said. "My niece and her husband, with the aid of the Crystal Ponies and the magic of the Crystal Heart, were able to destroy much of him. One of the wolves of the Packlands finished the job when he destroyed Sombra's horn. His mother Umbrea is also gone, but unfortunately, we have yet to eliminate the... Umbrum Forces..." Her eyes widened in realization. "Or the Shadow Pony Sect. The ones she and later Sombra sought to unleash! They are what the Pony of Shadows is after now?"

"It would seem so," Starswirl said grimly, looking at her. "If he succeeds in releasing them, he would be able to shroud all Equus in darkness, and wreak havoc upon the land."

"Then we'll stop him first," Twilight said. "Somehow."

Starswirl nodded. Then he looked curiously in Twilight's direction. "What land do you rule over, young Twilight?"

"I share responsibilities with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in Equestria," Twilight told him. "I'm happier that way."

"Still... you are a princess, you should be given a fiefdom," Stawrswill said. "Celestia, did you ever revoke my guardianship over you?"

Celestia sighed and shook her head. "No I do not think I ever did. Regardless, I know what you are planning right now and I am asking that you do not usurp my power along with countless others to give Twilight control over Ponyville as plans for the future."

Twilight paled and nodded her head in agreement with Celestia. "As I have said, I'm happy doing what I do and I am not going to usurp Mayor Mare's position just to learn how to rule over a nation. I have enough to do running my school, acting as a diplomat for Equestria, and helping Princess Celestia when she asks, I don't need to rule a town or kingdom or anything like it all by myself." Twilight blinked and turned to face her. "Can he even do that, Princess? Remove Mayor Mare and give Ponyville over to me?"

"Technically, he can as neither Luna or I renounced his guardianship over us when he vanished," Celestia said with a hoof over her face, groaning at this unintended trouble she had left behind and wondered if this is how Twilight felt when her former student had to deal with the old troubles she hadn't taken care of thoroughly. "Though it would need to go through the proper channels first, and given your objections, Luna and I can scrap it before the ink even dries. And Starswirl, while I do appreciate you trying to help Twilight in growing into her role, I would kindly ask that you did not ignore my fellow's princess's wishes and upend countless governmental laws and statutes in the process."

Starswirl looked somewhat taken aback but nodded his head. "I... see. There is much we need to talk about after this Celestia, provided there is an after for us all."

Raising a hoof, Somnambula waited until Twilight was looking at her. "You teach?" she asked, clearly trying to divert the conversation.

Twilight smiled and nodded. "I opened my School of International Culture and Friendship last fall," she said. "We accept students and teachers from all over the world, and we teach them about the different cultures of the world so as to promote friendship and understanding between all races. In fact, Scorpan's great-grandson is one of our teachers," she added.

"Fascinating," Rockhoof rumbled.

Starswirl still looked a little startled. "I would never have imagined such a thing was possible," he said.

"Yeah, Twilight's just that awesome," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. "She spent a whole year traveling and learning about other cultures, from minotaurs to merlions, and then came back and announced she wanted to teach what she'd learned to everyone. There've been one or two hiccups, but those weren't her fault - one involved Tirek attacking Ponyville while school was in session, and you know what he's like."

"One of the students actually found Flash Magnus's shield back before he was a student, and told us where he'd stored it when he found out we needed it," Spike added from the front. "Without Garble changing for the better from Twilight's teachings and helping us out like that, we probably never would have been able to free you guys."

"It just goes to show, the magic of Friendship is a powerful thing," Moondancer said. "Something I understand you were supposed to know, seeing as how you befriended Scorpan all those years ago before Tirek's first defeat?"

Starswirl looked uncomfortable. "Yes, well... perhaps my understanding was not so great," he admitted.

"I'll say," Applejack said. "If it weren't for you not gettin' friendship so much, Ah doubt the world would be like it is these days. After all, friendship was the key to finishin' one of the spells ya left behind but never got done on yer own."

The old stallion perked up. "Oh?"

"I became an alicorn by finishing that spell and thus creating new magic, in conjunction with the Elements of Harmony," Twilight told him. "From all of us together, together we're friends. With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end. The original was From one to another, another to one.."

"A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled," Starswirl said, looking at her in surprise. "I remember. That you changed it in such a way, and achieved this... that is indeed impressive."

Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted when Spike spoke up. "Crystal Empire, straight ahead!"

Everyone looked out the windows as best as they could, and saw the Pony of Shadows still hammering against a massive pink and blue shield surrounding the capital.

"We'd better get out there," Twilight said. "Spike? Open the doors, we're going out!"

"You got it!" Spike gave her a thumbs-up, and then watched as she dove out with a cry of "Geronimo!"

Rainbow Dash grinned. "You heard the lady! Banzai!" she yelled as she went after Twilight.

"Look out bel-oooow!" Flash Magnus called just as eagerly as he followed her.

"Yahooooo!" Pinkie yelled as she leaped out.

"Eat boot, sucker!" Tempest and Applejack added simultaneously as they did the same.

"Why meeeeee?" Rarity wailed as she went too.

Starlight and Sunburst didn't have battle calls, but Starlight lit up a bubble around Sunburst and herself before levitating the two out, Moondancer and Trixie following her example.

"It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to do this," Celestia mused. Then she leapt out too. "Wa-ha-ha-hoo!"

Fluttershy fidgeted nervously. "Um... woohoo?" she said softly before following after them.

Still in the airskimmer, Starswirl looked after them. "They are all completely mad," he said.

"I agree," Rockhoof said. "But I'm currently of the opinion that I love it! Aaaaaaaah!"

Then, still bellowing, he leapt out as well.

"This should be interesting," Somnambula noted before she spread her wings and went after her teammate.

"Um, I think the rest of us should land before we go out," Meadowbrook told Spike.

"Gotcha." Spike lowered the airskimmer to about ground level. "You guys go help! I'll be with you as soon as I can."

Mistmane, Meadowbrook and Starswirl all nodded and exited, running across the snow towards the Pony of Shadows, while Spike turned the skimmer around to fly it to safety.

"I'll be back, Mom," he promised. "Count on it."

---

Outside, the eighteen ponies were busily hitting the Pony of Shadows with everything they had, and he was not amused.

"Enough!" he finally roared, before stamping his feet against the ground and releasing solid vines of shadow from his body, knocking them back. Then, his horn brightening, he slammed into the shield one more time, breaking it.

"No!" Twilight gasped as she saw him flying through. "Come on!"

Everyone hurried as fast as they could, but they soon saw a massive hole in the palace doors. Strangely, there didn't seem to be anyone else around, but Twilight didn't have much time to think about that as she led them down the halls and into the throne room, where they found the Pony of Shadows standing in the middle of the room. "Where is it..." he muttered. "Ah, there!"

Then he fired a beam at the top of the throne, triggering a hole to open in the floor, causing Twilight to gasp and the Pony of Shadows to look back at her.

"So you know about this," he said, grinning and exposing his serrated silhouette of a mouth. "Did my brother's work leave an impression on you?"

"Brother?" Twilight repeated. "Sombra had a brother?"

"Oh, close enough," the Pony of Shadows said nonchalantly. "Mother Umbrea called all us Shadow Ponies her children, even the ones older than her, regardless of how we were born - be it magic and shadow brought to life, or flesh turned to shadow, or shadow infused into crystal and made flesh like him! Of course I shouldn't call Sombra my brother anymore, traitor that he turned out to be. Imagine, thinking he could steal Mother's powers and take her place as our leader. But I will complete what she started! I and my people will envelop the entire planet in darkness!"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Eternal night, again? Tch. It figures."

"Darkness is what we were born from!" the monster thundered. "We, the children of Tambelon, were made to rule the night! And when we do so, the first thing we do will be to destroy that cursed wolf who drove our master from his rightful place as ruler of the land, and sealed us away!"

Twilight's heart skipped a beat as she realized who he meant.

"Now though... it is time!" The Pony of Shadows lit up his horn, and sent tendrils of shadow into the hole in the throne room floor. When they emerged, they carried with them the door Twilight had once faced herself. Another spell transformed it into a red crystalline shape, which set itself into place on the throne.

"Behold, the door to the Shadow Prison! Behold, your worst nightmare!" the Pony of Shadows bellowed as he fired another beam at the crystal, causing a swirling vortex to appear.

From it emerged billowing clouds of darkness, flying out around them and gradually taking solid forms. They now appeared as phantom horses, almost like the windigos, but in advanced state of decomposition with scrawny, skeletal bodies, their teeth exposed and bared in menacing grins.

"Come forth, Umbrum Forces!" the Pony of Shadows bellowed. "Together, we shall succeed where my mother and her master failed, and engulf the world in with our shadows!"

"No, you won't," Starswirl said as he stepped forward. "We shall still defeat you!"

"Old fool..." the Pony of Shadows sneered. "You don't stand a chance against us! Go, my people, and destroy!"

"Not so fast!"

Twilight turned and saw three new arrivals entering the throne room. "Cadance! You're all right!" Then she looked worried. "Shiny's okay, right?"

Cadance nodded. "He and Sonata are with Flurry Heart," she said. "And everyone else started evacuating to safety the instant we saw this maniac outside."

"Enough talk! Let's take these freaks down!" Aria bellowed from where she was hovering.

"Verily," Lady Aputsiaq pronounced as she flew forward.

Then both began firing waves of sound and frigid wind at the hovering shadow ponies.

"Come on!" Tempest shouted, releasing an explosive burst from her horn at one of the creatures.

"Right there with ya!" Flash Magnus hollered, grinning as he flew into the mass, smacking another of them with his shield.

And with that, the battle was joined again.

The resulting conflict was brutal. Several Shadow Ponies ganged up on Fluttershy, only for Pinkie to pull her Party Cannon out of somewhere and blast them away with confetti, while Rarity ran from another pair, only to suddenly turn around and telekinetically hurl a wave of needles from her saddlebags at them. Rockhoof and Applejack simultaneously bucked one Shadow Pony straight into the wall, leaving it dazed, while Celestia's horn was ablaze as she carved a swath through the horde like living lightning. Rainbow Dash and Somnambula hovered back to back before speeding around the room, building up a cyclone that sent Shadow Ponies flying. Meadowbrook managed to spray them with pollen that caused their faces to suddenly swell up, leaving them unable to see, while Starswirl, Mistmane, Sunburst, Starlight, Trixie, Moondancer and Cadance all had their horns going as they did their best to take out the swarming monsters.

Twilight, meanwhile, was fighting her way towards the Pony of Shadows, who was standing back and laughing evilly, until he saw her glaring at him.

"What's the matter, little pony?" he taunted her. "Did I offend you somehow?"

Twilight continued to glare at him. "You..." she hissed. "Are going. Down!"

Then she leapt into the air and tackled him backwards.

"Fool!" the Pony of Shadows yelled as he summoned more tendrils, grabbing hold of her. "I am the greatest of the Umbrum! With Mother and Sombra gone, I am the true heir to the maker of all Shadow Ponies! I am the one who represents Grogar's power now, and you don't stand a chance against me!"

"You wouldn't be so quick to say that," Twilight grunted. "If you knew I was the pony who added more seals - errgh - to his prison a while ago!"

"Oh? Then perhaps I should take your strength, and add it to my own!" The Pony of Shadow began to draw her closer, pressing her against his chest, the black surface bubbling like tar as it began to ooze up her legs.

"Twilight!" Moondancer called. Smashing her way through a Shadow Pony, she and Trixie raced forward, and both released ropes of power from their horns, wrapping around Twilight's body. "Hold on, we'll get you out of there!"

Twilight looked down at the shadows climbing her, then back at her marefriends, and smiled. "Moondancer, Trixie... I'm going to try something crazy," she said. "And I need you to hold onto me. But no matter what happens, I love you. Always."

Then she dove forward, and into the black mass.

"Twilight!" several voices cried out at once, including a smaller one that had just entered the room.

The Pony of Shadows laughed. "Foolish girl... her might shall be mine!"

Then a wave of flame struck him in the face, causing him to rear back as Spike unleashed his rage, and the battle was joined again.

---

Inside the Pony of Shadows, all was dark as Twilight did her best to move through it, Trixie and Moondancer's magical ropes still holding her firmly. She smiled as she felt the love within their magic. Don't worry, she thought reassuringly. I'll be back.

Finally, she reached her goal: a unicorn stallion, cocooned in a web of shadowy vines.

"Stygian?"

The other pony looked up. "Who... who are you?" he asked.

Twilight smiled. "I'm Twilight Sparkle," she said. "I'm here to rescue you."

"You're who?"

"I'm here to rescue you," Twilight repeated. "I know it's not too late, I can pull you out!"

"N-no!" Stygian stammered. "You can't - he's too powerful!" He sighed. "Rabia's strong... nobody can beat him!" His face fell. "And it's not like I have anyone who wants me, anyway."

"That's not true!" Twilight protested. "Rockhoof, Somnambula, Starswirl and all the rest? Deep down, they want you back... even if they aren't willing to admit it to themselves."

"That's a lie!" Stygian glared. "I wanted their respect. I brought them together. I planned strategy, and I read all I could about the beasts we faced. But I didn't have magic or strength, so nopony ever noticed me. I went to Ponhenge to make my own copies of their artifacts, so I could be a Pillar, too, and stand by their side in battle. But instead of sharing and letting me help, my so-called friends threw me out." His voice deepened, growling. "Then I found Rabia, in the Well of Shade. He accepted me, unconditionally. He gave me his power, and for a while, it worked... until he took me over and turned me into a monster." His face fell again. "Now I have nobody who wants me, except as a body."

"Stygian... we want you," Twilight said softly. "You made a mistake, but it's not too late to fix it! Let me help you!"

Her eyes glimmered as she looked at him, and finally, he nodded, reaching out a hoof for her.

"No!" the Pony of Shadows' voice thundered. "I will not let you take him!" Shadowy vines began to wrap around both of them.

"Twilight!" several voices called, and the white ropes of magic around her began to glow more brightly.

Twilight's own horn lit up, and a rope of her own shot forward, piercing the darkness around Stygian and wrapping itself around him. Pulling him closer, she yelled, "Now!"

And then the ropes began to retract, pulling both of them back.

Out of the darkness.

Out of the Pony of Shadows.

Landing on the ground with a thud, Twilight looked up to see her marefriends. "Thank you," she said.

Moondancer shook her head. "Twilight, I love you, but don't ever scare me like that again!" she said fiercely.

"Trixie concurs," the blue mare said, her face full of worry.

Twilight's response was cut off by a scream of rage from the Pony of Shadows.

"You fools!" he yelled. "I'm not done with you yet! My brothers, my sisters... to me!"

Darkness swirled as the Umbrum Forces answered his call, each flowing into the hole in the shadows of their enemy's chest, until they had all vanished within and the hole closed.

"This isn't over!" he snarled before taking off, flying out the hole in the castle doors, and leaving the exhausted fighters and Stygian behind.

---

It took them some time before anyone was feeling up to talking, but finally, everyone had recovered enough, and Stygian sat next to Twilight and her marefriends.

"How much does everyone here know about me?" he asked.

"We know that you were once a friend of Equestria, before something went horribly wrong," Cadance said, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, you could put it that way," Stygian said, looking embarrassed. "I wanted to be able to fight alongside the Pillars as an equal. So I tried to copy their artifacts, to make myself more powerful. None of them were willing to hear me out when I tried to tell my side of the story though, they just assumed the worst."

Somnambula bowed her head. "A foolish mistake on our part," she admitted.

"After that, I went wandering," Stygian said. "Eventually, I ended up in Hollow Shades. I found this structure, hidden beneath the town. It was full of shadows, and they spoke to me. They told me they'd been in hiding for years when all they wanted was a friend. They also told me that without a living pony to share their body with them, they'd be trapped down there forever. I fell for it, told Rabia he could use my form, if I could use his power to protect Equestria. He agreed, and we merged. Then we went out and stopped this one monster... but soon after, when I was asleep, Rabia seized control of my body for his own purposes. He tried to destroy my former friends, because he knew they could be a threat to him. That didn't work out, and after a while, we all ended up in Limbo together."

He sighed. "After Rabia took over my body, he told me he'd been using me all along. He wanted to free his people and take over all of Equestria - Lady Umbrea had helped him slip out of the Shadow Prison long ago as a contingency plan in case her first one, Sombra, failed to break them out. Which, I guess, turned out to be the case?"

Celestia nodded. "Sombra betrayed Umbrea and stole much of her power for himself," she said. "Though it would appear he did have plans to release the Shadow Pony Sect at some point, before he was destroyed."

Stygian winced. "Well, that's good, that he failed. But anyway, Rabia made it to the Well of Shade to build up his power so he could go back and free everyone when he was ready. The Pillars stopped him before he could though."

Twilight raised a hoof. "When we were fighting, he said Grogar was the creator of the Shadow Ponies?"

"Yeah," Stygian replied. "He made both kinds - the ones that started out as raw dark magic and developed sapience, and don't ask me how he managed that because I have no idea - and the ones who started out as normal ponies before he slowly corrupted them and they converted themselves into living shadows at his urgings."

Twilight cringed, and Stygian, seeing this, gave her a reassuring look. "None of them were innocents when they came under his influence," he said. "Umbrea was the worst of the worst, planning to betray Grogar and seize power for herself from the start, but the rest were already pretty bad too when Grogar found them."

Twilight gave him a pained smile, and gestured for him to continue.

Stygian nodded, and did so. "The Shadow Pony Sect were one of his big plans for conquering the world," he said. "But then the Alpha of the Packlands interfered. He trapped them in this big prison, and then drove Grogar into the far north, where this pony named Gusty the Great sealed him under the Yaket Range. While she was doing that, the Alpha hid the Shadow Prison crystal elsewhere in the frozen north. Eventually, Princess Amore sensed its power and built the Crystal Empire over it, to use the power and positive reinforcement of the cosmic spectrum stone as an added level of security over it - she figured the Shadow Ponies would be trapped forever that way, since they couldn't tolerate exposure to so much positive magic."

"It would seem the Pony of Shadows had power to spare, to protect them from its influence," Starswirl said, stroking his beard.

Stygian nodded. "I know... Umbrea, before she helped Rabia escape, told him that when she got free, she'd be taking the world for herself and not Grogar. She told him that if her plan failed and she didn't make it, he should do the same thing - take over the world, but do it for himself instead of for Grogar." He snorted. "Treacherous as she was, I guess it's no surprise Sombra turned out the same way."

There was a round of nods and "Uh-huh"s, before he looked at everyone, and Starswirl and the other Pillars in particular. "Look... I know I made a lot of mistakes, but I really did just want to be more effective at helping you guys save Equestria from the monsters out there. Can you forgive me for what I did?"

"I can," Flash Magnus said. "We should have listened to you."

Somnambula, Meadowbrook, Mistmane and Rockhoof all nodded in agreement, and finally Starswirl bowed his head.

"It would seem that I should have taken Twilight's words that you were not beyond saving more seriously," he said. "Stygian... can you forgive this old fool for his errors in judgement?"

"Of course." Stygian smiled.

Starswirl then turned to Twilight. "And I owe you an apology too," he said. "Here." Removing one of the bells from his hat and hoofing it over to her, he bowed. "You truly do understand friendship better than I do."

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, when she saw a rainbow glimmer sweep over the bell.

"What was that?" Tempest asked.

"That... is something I have seen only once before," Meadowbrook stated. "When we planted our great seed."

Everyone's ears perked up, and Somnambula continued. "Soon after we were first brought together, we had come up with an idea. We wanted to create something that could protect Equestria in our stead. So together, we fashioned a crystal seed, and each of us infused it with magic while focusing on our strongest traits. Hope..."

"Beauty," Mistmane stated.

"Healing," Meadowbrook contributed.

"Bravery," Flash Magnus added.

"Strength!" Rockhoof said cheerfully.

"And Sorcery," Starswirl concluded. "When we did so, a wave of rainbow magic swept across it, and then an ethereal being appeared before us. He told us he was called Harmony, one of the great Powers that was a part of our world, and that our creation mirrored his elements in many ways, so he would unite them with it to make it even stronger than we had dreamed. He also told us that in time, its powers would be called upon to protect Equestria. Then he vanished, and we planted the crystal seed."

"The Tree of Harmony!" Celestia gasped. "I had no idea you had created it!"

"The Tree is the source of the Elements of Harmony," Twilight explained. "And it set us on the road to awakening our respective Powers - Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic."

"It would seem, then, that this magic that has occurred is connected to the Tree." Starswirl stood. "We must go to it at once!"

"I'll get the skimmer!" Spike said eagerly.

"I'll take you there!" Cadance told him. "Come on!"

Everyone rose up and hurried after them, and soon, Spike had returned with their skimmer.

"The three of us had better stay here," Cadance told them as they boarded. "I think it's a little crowded in there..."

"Yeah," Aria added, giving Starswirl a look. Beside her, Lady Aputsiaq sniffed, but said nothing.

Starswirl did his best to look dignified. "Quite. But miss Blaze, you and I clearly have things to discuss after this is all over."

"Right." She turned and flew back into the palace.

Cadance gave Twilight a quick hug before she boarded. "Be careful," she said.

"I will," Twilight promised, then climbed aboard and shut the door behind her, the skimmer taking off.

---

The trip back to Ponyville was a quick one, and luckily, all seemed quiet when they arrived and headed into the Everfree.

"This place is a lot calmer than Trixie expected," Trixie noted.

"It's a lot safer since we returned the physical Elements to the Tree," Twilight told her. "And I think returning that one branch also helped."

"Oh... right," Trixie realized. "The one you put back when Moondancer was with you to see it." She blushed. "She filled me in on that..."

Twilight nodded. "The very same," she said. Then she frowned. "And I just remembered, there's something else about the Tree I'd been working on. But with everything we got caught up in, it's been so long since I had the chance to really do more with."

"The chest?" Celestia asked.

Twilight nodded. "When we returned the physical Elements to the tree, it sprouted a flower with a crystal chest inside it," she said. "It had six locks in it... we haven't figured out how to open it yet though. I guessed it might have some kind of power similar to the Elements, but... seeing as how the Mantles were with us all along, who knows."

"Somehow, I have a feeling the keys are closer than you know," Moondancer said, tilting her head.

"Hopefully," Twilight told her.

"All this is far beyond my own understanding," Starswirl told the pair. "But I am sure you can solve it."

Twilight smiled gratefully at him.

The group finally made it into the cavern where the Tree stood, and the Pillars all looked at in awe.

"So this is what has become of our creation," Starswirl murmured.

"It has certainly grown big and strong," Somnambula said.

"And its flower is beautiful," Mistmane noted as she saw it.

Twilight nodded, approaching the Chest. "What do we need to do?" she asked it.

There was a tingling sensation, and she gasped. Taking the bell out, she set it atop the chest, and it began to flow, before levitating and shifting into...

"A key!" Celestia breathed.

"But... why?" Trixie asked.

"I think I know," Twilight said. "Before I got the bell, I had to face up to a challenge to my Element... from someone who didn't truly understand it then. But I stayed true, and taught them that friendship isn't something you should give up on so easily." She flashed Starswirl a look. "Then he gave me the bell... and it became my key."

Rarity gasped. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "Twilight, while you were gone, I had to deal with a pony who took advantage of my generosity. But I didn't let it make me abandon my generous spirit... and her assistant, dear Coco, learned from my example and then gave me a spool of thread!"

Fluttershy nodded. "And I had to... be cruel to be kind," she admitted. "The Breezies came through Ponyville, and some of them got separated from the rest of the group. They just wanted to stay with me, but I had to make them move on and go home, back to their people... and after I encouraged Seabreeze that he needed to be kinder and not so harsh, he gave me a flower for it."

Applejack nodded too. "Ah had to tell Grand Pear the hard truth, no matter how much it broke mah heart," she admitted. "About how upset Ah was over his abandonin' Mom. He told me he shouldn't have kept the truth in about how much he still loved her, even if he didn't approve of her choice of husband then, and gave me some pear seeds afterward."

Pinkie raised a hoof. "Oh, and I had to realize that seeing my friend laugh was more important than proving I was a better party planner than Cheese Sandwich!" She grinned. "Cheesy gave me his rubber chicken... and I taught him that he should have been more sensitive about my involvement. I wouldn't have gotten nearly as upset if he'd just asked me if he could join in and work with me instead of randomly popping up and taking over the party planning."

"Hey, yeah!" Rainbow Dash realized. "I... I kinda had a moment like that, after Loyalty started talking to me," she admitted. "Getting some stuff out in the open really helped, but he said I needed to do one more thing. And I think it happened when I had to have a talk with Soarin'."

"What happened?" Pinkie asked.

"He'd been... pretty upset with Spitfire over some stuff," Rainbow Dash said with a sigh. "He basically wanted to quit the team so he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. I... well, actually I agreed with him when I found out why he was so upset, but I got him to come back anyway, and then gave her a telling off for not respecting him just because he made a few mistakes, and pointed out how much he valued their friendship before she kept being a jerk over a few minor things. She realized I was right, and that she hadn't been loyal to someone who was loyal to her... so they talked things over, she apologized, and then she gave me an official Wonderbolts pin."

"Those must be the other keys!" Twilight said. "Girls... go get them. It's time. Oh - can anyone else teleport them back to Ponyville?"

Starswirl, Starlight, Trixie, Moondancer and Celestia all nodded. Each taking one of the Bearers by the hoof, they lit their horns, and the ten vanished.

Soon, they were back, and each placed their item on the chest. One by one, the thread, the flower, the seed, the rubber chicken, and the pin all glowed and reformed themselves into a key.

Now is the time, Twilight, Magic spoke. Use your keys! The Pony of Shadows is approaching Ponyville, and he is stronger than ever!

Twilight nodded, and spoke aloud. "Place your keys in the chest, girls! We have to do this together!"

The others nodded, and did as she said. Then, all of them placed a hoof on their key, and turned them.

The locks clicked.

The chest opened.

And then a rainbow sprung out, flying towards the Tree of Harmony. As the two met, its light flowed through the tree to each of the Elements, before shining on the six Bearers as everyone else watched in awe.

Manes and tails extending, new colors flowing down them, the six were transformed. In an instant, they flew out of the cave.

Outside, they saw the Pony of Shadows, now grown much larger. "Hah-ha-ha-ha-hah!" he gloated. "With all the power of the Well of Shade within me, I am even stronger than before! Now, at last, I shall complete what I began, enveloping this world in darkness! And the night shall last- forever?" He blinked as he suddenly saw the six hovering in front of him. "What is this?"

"This is the end for you, Rabia!" the six declared. "For within us, together, we carry the most powerful magic of all! The magic of friendship!"

The Pony of Shadows and the Umbrum within him had no chance to reply as a wave of rainbow light swept over them, forcing them back.

"The way to extinguish a shadow is to increase the light," the Bearers declared. "The light of life. The light of friendship. The light of Harmony!"

"No... you can't do this! Noooooooooo!" Rabia wailed as the rainbow of light swelled and, with a final push, enveloped and consumed him.

And then he was gone, taking with him the last traces of the Shadow Pony Sect.

The battle was finally over.

Comments

[TheArbiter1]

Well, at least the keys do something other than making a new castle for Twilight. Yeah, Starswirl needs to do a lot of talking afterward and reflect on how his worldview needs adjusting.

[Asolem2]

"I agree," Rockhoof said. "But I'm currently of the opinion that I love it! Aaaaaaaah! "

I agree

[DGJabberwocky]

"I'll be back, Mom," he promised. "Count on it."

Wonder what he means by that

[Booster Spice]

You get a key, you get a key, and you get a key and Rabia, they get the New Key Ly.

I always thought te idea of a single central castle was so that you could stick lots of residents in it for protection and living etc, instead of covering lots of land with homes that otherwise could be used for growing food for the people growing the food? Lowest overall costs are resident workers?

[SpikeSmolder fan]

The talk during the ride toward the Crystal Empire was enjoyable, not to mention each one's battle cries jumping off the skimmer!

The first round against the Pony of Shadows (or Rabia as we found out) sure was intense, right up to Twilight jumping inside it to get Stygian. Course the part that stuck out to me the most was what happened after Twilight went inside Rabia :

The Pony of Shadows laughed. "Foolish girl... her might shall be mine!"
Then a wave of flame struck him in the face, causing him to rear back as Spike unleashed his rage, and the battle was joined again.

Yep, you don't wanna incur either Twilight or Spike's wrath in times like these!

Loved the chest's role in the final push against Rabia here, well played!

Wonder if we'll get to see Spike molting before the tale's over? That would be the cherry on top for me.

[TheArbiter1]

10402424
Somewhat, castles served as seats for nobles to project their power across their domains. Within castles, you had garrisons which could be sent out on patrol for bandits and enemy forces. They also served as sanctuaries for the peasants in times of war which was a key aspect of the feudal social contract.