Return of the Ancient Mage

by Zoshe

Chapter 41: Revision

Sombra slowly made his way around the circle he found himself standing in. He experimentally reached out with a hoof, only to quickly pull it back with a hiss of pain when the newly constructed shield stopped him from going any further. "So, my old foe still had one last trick," he said as he looked with disgust at the magical design under his hooves.

"What have you done with Clover?!" Demanded Luna as she took a few angry steps closer.

He stared down his nose at her, a savage grin painting his features. "So you're the pony I always caught him pining over on moonlit nights," he said, eliciting a growl from Luna. "I wonder what it would take to break the last of his spirit?" He reached a hoof towards the dark blue alicorn, only for sparks to fly once it came in contact with the shield again.

"You won't be doing anything of the sort, Sombra." Celestia stepped forward and pushed one of her snowy wings between Luna and Sombra. "Even if you were to escape the prison that Clover has placed you in, you won't get far with all the magic in this room ready to turn against you."

"Ah Celestia," he turned his delighted eyes on her. "Princess of the sun and monarch of Equestria. I haven't forgotten how you and your sister took my kingdom away from me. I've spent a long time thinking about how to pay you back for that. Imprisonment? I don't think I could find a cell that could hold you. Torture? A classic, but it's lacking something." His eyes lit up in sinister glee, "what if I found a way to banish you to the sun? So you can look down every day and dread what I'm going to do to your little ponies."

"I'd like to see you try!" A raspy voice cut in as a rainbow mane peeked around the two alicorns that were standing off against the dark king. "You'd have to get through them and all of us before you'd have a chance at that."

"RD, Ah don't think you should be provokin the villian who made a kingdom disappear for a thousand years," Applejack said as she placed a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

"Oh come on AJ," complained Rainbow. "What's he gonna do while he's trapped in there?"

"Hehehe," laughed the dark king. "I like a little spirit in my servants. It makes it so much more enjoyable when I break them." He seemed to take a moment as he looked the mare up and down. "Of course, I need more than just simple servants and soldiers. The royal harem will need to be filled back out and I could use some good stock," he licked his lips as he finished.

Rainbow quickly backed away as a cold shiver ran down her spine, much to Sombra's delight as he began to double back with maniacal laughter.

"You're truly sick," spat Rarity. "I can see why you had a whole kingdom turned against you."

"Might is right," he retorted sharply. "Right and wrong don't play into it. It's just a matter of who is stronger." Shadows began to collect around him as his body faded into darkness. Without any further warning, the dark mass slammed into the shield with a resounding crash. The shockwave shook the surrounding ponies to their very core and even though the floor trembled with the impact, the shield held.

"Gah," cursed Sombra from deep within the shadows. "I tire of these games." The darkness began to condense further until it shimmered with the light from the surrounding crystals. In a single pulse, the darkness threw itself outward with explosive force. The shield still held, but this time large shards of dark glass were scattered all over the throne room and the concussive blast continued onward to shatter the remaining windows.

"I WILL GET OUT OF HERE!" Roared King Sombra. "And every last one of you that stood against me shall feel my wrath!"

Several ponies came out of hiding from behind the alicorns in the room while said alicorns had thrown up additional shielding to protect them all from the sudden blast of magic.

"What happened?" Luna asked as she looked down to Spectrum, the only creature who might have any sort of clue what was happening. "I thought Clover had him under control?"

Spectrum neglected to respond. Instead he turned his gaze away from her and in the direction of a different side of the spell circle where they now found Ret standing as she looked up at King Sombra with a smile on her face.

He wasn't the only one to notice as Sombra's gaze locked onto the gray unicorn as she stood there with a set of quills behind her ear and an open book floating beside her in her magic. "What are you looking at!?" He demanded of her.

Ret stuck out her chest and proudly proclaimed, "I'm looking at the mighty King Sombra. First of his name. May his reign last forever."

A resounding "What?!" filled the room as many shocked voices couldn't believe what they were hearing. Wasn't she supposed to be loyal to Clover? Was she about to betray them?

Sombra seemed to find this amusing. "Heh," he gave a short laugh. "At least one of you has some sense about you. I could use a loyal pony like you at my side."

"Good to hear it," she responded without even a trace of remorse. "And to further prove my loyalty, I know how you can escape that prison."

"What do you think you're doing?!" Demanded Celestia. "This sort of treachery won't be dealt with lightly."

Ret turned her vibrant red eyes on the sun princess. "Be silent!" She ordered in a tone that brokered no room for opposition.

An incensed Celestia opened her mouth again, but the only sound she was able to produce was a gargled choking noise.

"Princess Celestia!" cried Twilight who instantly appeared at her mentor's side. Celestia was quickly becoming panicked as she held a hoof to her throat as she continued trying to speak.

Ret gave a satisfied snort. "That's better," she said. "Now be a good little pony and sit there quietly."

"Hahaha!" Sombra cackled loudly. "Beautiful and powerful, you will make a fine queen my dear."

Ret gave him a smile and nodded towards something behind him. "Clover was hoping to use that to seal you away for good."

Sombra turned around and spotted the discarded Crystal Heart laying within the circle. "Ah, yes," he said gleefully. "It was so long ago that I barely remember anchoring myself with this stone. I don't really need that anymore as long as I have Clover's body."

"Destroy it," Ret suggested. "There's enough magic in there to destroy half the city." She gave a sinister smile. "It would be more than enough to break free of that prison."

"No!" Cried Cadence. "You mustn't!"

Ignoring her, Ret continued with a wicked smile. "Think of the despair such an act would inflict."

"Yes..." Sombra hissed as he scooped up the Crystal Heart in his hooves. "I think I will."

Sombra held the darkened Crystal Heart tightly in his hooves as he began to press in on it. The Crystal heart began to crack under the assault as the might of Sombra was more than the fragile crystal could withstand.

Sombra smiled in delight as he felt the last of his magic returning to him. His delight doubled as the cracks in the heart began to widen and more of its magic began to spill out and fill the space inside.

"Nooo!" Cadence cried out again as she began to rush forward. Her path was quickly blocked by the badly injured changeling as Spectrum stood before her. "Get out of my way!" She shouted.

"Don't let her get any closer, Luna," he said as he looked over to the lunar princess.

Luna's gaze widened as she appeared beside him to further hinder the love princess. "Stay where you are, niece," she commanded.

"Auntie Luna!?" Shouted Cadence as she glared at the older alicorn. "What are you doing?! We have to stop him!"

Luna shook her head, "we will do no such thing," she said sternly.

While this exchange was going on, the magic inside the barrier was growing more and more turbulent by the moment. "You've almost got it," Ret actively encouraged Sombra with a smile. She continued to hold her book out to the side with quills floating over it like she was waiting for something. "Just a little bit more."

A bright light shone from deep within the Crystal Heart as the shadows were forced to the edges of the circle. With a resounding crack, Sombra's hooves came together as what was left of the ancient artifact shattered into a million pieces. A deafening silence reigned over the room for only a moment before the world was washed out with light.

Finding itself no longer contained within the Crystal Heart, the magic it contained began to collect in a pool suspended above him as the darkness within, eager as it was to rejoin with the rest of its body, pulled itself free and drifted towards the dark king.

Some confusion made its way onto Sombra's face as he looked up at the accumulated magic, but soon found himself preoccupied as he began to drink in the errant darkness. Moans of pleasure echoed from deep within his chest as he greedily consumed the dark magic.

The light, now purified of the foreign magic, gathered overhead as it slowly began to pass through the shield and dissipate into the world. "I don't think so," Ret said confidently as she continued scratching away with her quills. The light regathered itself before it had a chance to vanish entirely as it sought out a new vessel and slowly began to make its way around the room.

"What's happening?!" Shouted Twilight, confused by what was happening and the weird feeling that kept flowing through the room.

"The magic is looking for somewhere to go," Spectrum said as he looked back to Cadence. "Now's the time," he said to her. "Hold up the new Crystal Heart."

Cadence sat there in shock and confusion as the words seeped into her. A moment later, she reflexively pulled the crystal she had been carving away from her chest and out to the light that was circling the room. The light paused as it passed near Cadence again. It floated near her offering and almost seemed to be considering her offering like a hungry cat. It slowly circled around Cadence a few times until in one fell swoop, it rushed into the new vessel as it began to fill the object with its glow.

The gemstone's internal light began to pulsate like a heartbeat, slowly at first but then it started to pick up speed as it shook in Cadence's grip. Spectrum watched closely, not once looking away from the spectacle like he was waiting for something more to happen. "Something's not right," he said with worry. "Why isn't it holding? Ret?!" He shouted to the gray mare.

"I'm working on it, you impatient love sucker!" Ret shouted back as she madly scrabbled over her writings. "It must be the imperfections in the facets, or maybe it's because she isn't actually a crystal pony," she muttered under her breath. "I got it!" She proclaimed.

The magic possessed within the Crystal heart was slow to take root due to Cadence not being the true successor to the crown. However, due to the love the crystal ponies felt toward her,

Without warning, Ret's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground. Her writing implements scattered on the ground beside her as she lay motionless on the floor.

"That's not good," said Spectrum as he snapped his eyes back to the heart that Cadence was holding. It was vibrating hard enough at this point that the light around it was beginning to distort. "I'm not going to pretend I completely understand how her magic works, but stopping it midway can't be good."

"What was she even doing?" Twilight wondered. "I don't think I saw her cast anything other than basic levitation."

"Not important right now," he said in a panic as he refused to look away from the heart. "We need to either find a way to stabilize it or slow down its deterioration until we can work out a solution. Does anypony know any time spells?" He asked as he looked around the room at the gathered faces.

Twilight raised a hoof, "I once went back in time and visited myself for a few minutes."'

Spectrum gave her a cockeyed look. "Really?" He asked her incredulously. "I don't even know where to begin with that. Anything else?"

The Crystal Heart was fine after all and everypony gets a cupcake.

They all stared in disbelief as the light within the Crystal Heart began to glow more softly and its violent shaking ceased. Once the recent panic had been quelled, they then found themselves with the mystery of where all the cupcakes littering the room had come from.

It didn't take long before they noticed Pinkie Pie sitting over by where Ret and her book had fallen. She currently had Ret's red quill sticking out from between her lips and an incredulous look on her face. "What?!" She complained. "I don't like cliffhangers." She seemed to think about it a bit more. "Although technically, we're not on a cliff, but in a castle. So, would that be a castlehanger?"

"Hehehe," Applejack chortled. "Why do Ah git the feelin that Pinkie just went and saved the day?"

"What would I save the day for?" Pinkie responded. "We've got lots of spares. Want a cupcake?" She asked as she held out one of the many cupcakes that littered the floor.

"Don't think about it too much, darling," Rarity said to Twilight who was beginning to get that look in her eye she got whenever Pinkie did Pinkie things.

"I think that's the one thing I'll never really get used to," Twilight said as she walked up to where Clover's accomplice had fallen. "Is she alright?"

"It looks like she crashed," said Spectrum as he fell to one knee, his recent exertions having taken a lot out of him along with his injuries.

"Crashed?" Pinkie asked as she cocked her head. "Ohhh," she said like just now understood. "That's kinda like what happens whenever Berry Punch has had a little too much at my special late night parties. I can fix that."

Before anyone had a chance to object, she picked up Ret off the ground as she dangled like a ragdoll and stuffed one of the many desserts scattered throughout the room into her mouth.

"Pinkie!" Objected Spectrum. "That's not going to do anything, we need to..."

A groan came from deep within the mare's throat as her eyes slowly fluttered open. "What happened?" She moaned as she licked some of the frosting from her lips. "And what tastes like sugar?"

Spectrum's jaw dropped as he stared at her, dumfounded. "That shouldn't have worked."

Ret looked at him confused while apparently still in a bit of a daze. "What shouldn't have worked? Last thing I knew I was..." Her eyes shot open the rest of the way as dread settled over her features. "The Crystal Heart?!" She exclaimed as she scrambled about looking for something. "Where is it?! It's not stable. I need to..."

She tried to get up, only to find a pink hoof holding her back. "Easy there," said a concerned Pinkie as she held her book out to her. "You should also eat another cupcake," she said through a goofy grin. "Get your energy back."

Ret carefully took the proffered book from Pinkie before scanning the room. After noticing the lack of panic, her eyes settled on Cadence and the Crystal Heart she was holding. Its soft glow looked very much like the original except now there were some slight traces of pinkish magic that could be seen inside if you looked close enough. Her confusion continued as she cracked her book open and began flipping through the pages. When she settled on one of the pages, a smile broke out on her face and she threw her hooves around Pinkie Pie.

"Oh you brilliant mare!" She cried out. "I could kiss you."

"Thanks," said Pinkie as she started resembling a deformed balloon with how tightly Ret was squeezing her. "I didn't think the cupcakes were that good, but ok!"

Cadence looked down at the new artifact she was holding. "I'm still very confused as to what just happened," she said.

"Oh, hehe," Ret chuckled. "I'll tell you in a minute." She turned to face Sombra, who had been strangely quiet for the last couple minutes as he was doing little more than just watching them at this point.

"Ok Clover," she said curtly. "It looks like we're in the clear. You can drop the act now."

"Finally," he said as he rolled one of his shoulders. "I didn't think I could pull off the supervillain act much longer."

Comments

[Witchery]

Wait. Ret as in... Retcon?

[Zoshe]

11072200
They said her full name in an earlier chapter.

[Witchery]

11072209
I must've missed it.

[Zoshe]

11072216

An annoyed sigh came from Clover. "Storm Chaser, Smokey Vines, and Ret Con are all made of the same stuff. Constituting their bodies was a collected effort from both me and Spectrum. Spectrum actually modeled each of their bodies while we were putting them together."

[Witchery]

11072234
Well, clearly it's a fitting name!

[UnamusedWaffle]

"Finally," he said as he rolled one of his shoulders. "I didn't think I could pull off the supervillain act much longer."

I have absolutely no words for you

[Fintushamy]

What happens when an unstoppable force a cliffhanger meets Pinkie Pie? Cupcakes apparently.