Descent Into Madness Without the Ones You Love

by UnamusedWaffle

Descent Into Madness

“Ahahaha! What can you do now that I’ve captured all of your friends?”

I can only stare on in horror as I watch Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Cadance, Shining Armor, and every other pony I’ve come to know over the past several months be ripped away from me in blank tendrils as lines of purple electricity pulsed up and down them.

And they could only stare back at me.

I grit my teeth. Stay calm, remember what they taught you. Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay ca-I CAN’T!

“GRRRRRAAAHHH DAMMIT SOMBRA!!” I roar before clutching my chest and falling to the ground. I feel a searing pain in my chest and I start to sweat and breathe heavily. I can barely make out voices over the ringing in my ears.

“Blister! Blister!” I can barely make out who it is. That’s Luna? No, Twilight? Shit, I can’t tell.

“You have to calm down! Remember the breathing trick we taught you!” I’m sorry! I’m trying but I just ca-

“AAAAAAAH” I cry out as the searing pain spreads out from my chest to encompass my entire body. I start to breathe even more heavily. My only focus is on not passing out right now. I won’t pass out now.

I can’t. There’s too much at stake here.

My vision starts to blur. I can’t even move any of my body parts now. I’m too weak.

No, not NOW! PLEASE NOT NOW! I’m begging you! Whatever deity can hear me, PLEASE!

My breathing starts to slow and my vision goes black.

I’m too weak.

---

“Oh no,” Celestia whispered. Luna was silent. Twilight was hyperventilating.

Sombra chuckled lightly.

“Look at the mess your savior has been reduced to. Any second now our duel disks should automatically shut themselves off and then the Crystal Empire shall be MINE ONCE AGAIN!”

Sombra smirked and looked back at the ponies in his grasp. He motioned with his right hoof and the tendril holding Luna moved closer until she was inches away from his face. When Sombra spoke, she immediately recoiled in disgust.

“Hmm, you shall all make fine prizes. After I throw that wretched guard captain to the torture chambers, I shall make you all mine.”

Luna’s eyes widened before she growled and spit in Sombra’s face. Sombra growled in response and slapped her.

“Why you little ungrateful-I should have you beheaded for this you insolent-”

“You will be doing NOTHING! GET YOUR HOOVES OFF OF HER!” A raspy and almost demonic voice draws everypony’s attention towards it just in time to see Blister rocket towards Sombra and deliver a left hook to his face.

Shaking herself from her momentary shock, Luna tried to reach her hoof out.

“Blister, I’m right here! Come h-”

Luna is cut off as the tendrils rip her and everypony else behind Sombra once again. Now that they could get a good look at Blister again, Cadance gasped.

There, hovering not 20 feet away from them via his wings, was Blister, but not a familiar one. His once turquoise eyes were now reduced to a crimson red with one singular focus. Sombra.

“What in the hay is up with his eyes?” Applejack asked.

“Anypony else feel that radiating off of him?” Twilight asked. Celestia spoke up first.

“I think this is what he was trying to hold back, what we were helping to hold back this entire time.”

“But we can’t be there for him right now!” Cadance growled as she and her husband thrashed in vain to escape the tendrils.

“What do we do, Princess?” Twilight asked. There was a certain desperation in her voice that gave Celestia pause. What could they do?

They couldn’t stop Sombra in his current state now that he had absorbed the Crystal Heart, it would take lots of magical power and time they didn’t have to pry it out of him, the rest of the Crystal Ponies were all imprisoned in their homes making it impossible to power the Crystal Heart, and now it was all down to their otherworldly friend who just wanted to go home.

Why did this have to happen? Celestia thought as she thought over the situation. The more and more she thought about it, the more chilling a realization she came to. Despite everything they had done and everything they did, it was hopeless.

Completely and utterly hopeless.

“I-” Celestia started, but cut herself off. She let out a shaky breath and tried again. “I am sorry, dear Twilight, but I do not know. I don’t know if there is anything we can do.”

She never wanted to let her student down like this. She never wanted to watch the expressions of her subjects, sister, niece, and dear student morph into various states of shock and horror because of her.

But she had to.

She didn’t have a choice.

Just as Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to protest, she was cut off.

“You invade this kingdom, uninvited. You kill innocent ponies, you hurt my friends! You threaten RAPE! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER IN THE FIERY PITS OF HELL!” Blister shouted, much to the horror of everypony in front of him. All except for one.

“You-” Sombra started.

“ENOUGH! I WILL HAVE NO MORE OF THIS! IT’S MY TURN FUCKER, I DRAW!” Blister shouted as he dramatically raised his duel disk over his head and drew his card, his hoof arcing across the sky.

“I play Amazing Pendulum! When I have no cards in my pendulum zones, I can get two pendulum cards from my extra deck! Xiangke Magician and Xiangsheng Magician are back to set the pendulum scale and make you SUFFER MY WRATH!”

After Blister swiped his hoof across his duel disk, two beacons of blue light shot out from the ground up into the sky from either side of him. In the same moment, two humanoid figures appeared in the pillars and proceeded to float up into position above Blister. A stylized “3” appeared below the one on the left and a stylized “8” appeared below the one on the right.

“No, Blister! Please listen to me!” Luna shouted from behind Sombra. “This isn’t you! Snap out of it!” But it falls on deaf ears.

“I can once again summon monsters SIMULTANEOUSLY! I PENDULUM SUMMON!” Blister shouted as a hole in the sky ripped open in between Xiangke and Xiangsheng Magician. Through it came a single crimson light that took shape into a hulking dragon. The light gave way to a crimson red dragon with four white spikes coming out of its head and back as well as a huge blue orb in the center of its chest.

“RETURN TO THE FRONT LINES TO FIGHT! ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON!”

Sombra growled.

“That is just one measly dragon, how-”

“SHUT UP YOU COWARD! I’ve had to listen to your FUCKING ARROGANT BABBLING ALL DAY NOW IS THE TIME TO SILENCE IT FOR GOOD! I WILL CRUSH YOU!

I play the spell card, Monster Reborn!”

As Blister’s hoof swiped across his duel disk again, three chains rocketed out from his duel disk and into the ground below, causing the crystal to crack and shatter as the chains worked their way down. When they started to pull up, Sombra could only look on in horror at the dark behemoth of a monster he had destroyed earlier in the duel.

“Cloaked in shadows and relentless in its objective,” Blister chanted. “I once again call upon the most dangerous of dragons! Resurrect, Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!”

The dragon’s slender and sleek purple neck contrasted horribly with the spiky and black wings protruding from its sides in a newly terrifying way that nopony had ever experienced before.

Sombra took a step back.

“And now for my FINAL TRICK! I activate Xiangke Magician’s pendulum effect! It turns Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon’s rank into a level!” Blister shouted once again. It was a miracle his voice wasn’t shrill at this point.

Sombra’s eyes went wide.

“What?! Impossible!” He growled.

Blister just ignored him.

“And finally, I activate Xiangsheng Magician’s pendulum effect! It raises Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon’s level to match Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon’s level! The stage has been set for your downfall!”

“I can’t believe it.” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“He has two level seven monsters on his field.” Twilight finished.

“Oh, no,” Celestia muttered. “What have I done?”

“I overlay Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. With these two dragons, I build the overlay network!” Blister shouted as the two dragons on his field devolved once again into streams of light that flew into the spiraling black hole beneath him. After the black hole exploded in a flash of light, he began to chant again.

“Dragon with dichromatic eyes, resurrect from the deep darkness and burn everything in the world with your flames of anger! I XYZ SUMMON! RANK 7! THE BLAZING DRAGON CALLED FORTH BY CALAMITY, ODD-EYES RAGING DRAGON! PREPARE TO FEEL MY WRATH”

Sombra, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all watched in horror as something that could only be described as truly demonic emerged from the flash of light.

Fluttershy just had her eyes shut.

The dragon, if it could be called that, was an abomination. Odd-Eyes’ usual crimson skin had somehow turned an even deeper red with four demonic-like horns protruding from the beast’s head. Dark Rebellion's wings looked like they had been torn open and were now shooting fire into the surrounding air.

“This beast will send you back to the fiery pits of hell where you belong!” Blister shouted. “I activate Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon’s effect! By using one overlay unit, it destroys all cards on your field and Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon gains 200 attack points for each one!”

One of the purple orbs of light circling Odd-Eyes flew into its mouth and the fire from its wings seemed to get even hotter.

“I activate my trap card, the Phantom Knights Fog Blade!” Sombra said as best he could with his eyes still fixated on the demon in front of him. “I can equip this trap to your monster to stop it from attacking or using its effects!”

“You will stop NOTHING! I activate my counter trap, Solemn Judgement! By paying half my life points,” Blister screamed in pain as a pillar of darkness erupted out from underneath him. “I can negate your trap card and DESTROY IT!”

“What?!” Sombra cried out as a bolt of lightning erupted down from the clouds above and destroyed his trap card.

“Nothing can stop my FLAMES OF ANGER! GO ODD-EYES! BURN EVERYTHING DOWN!” Blister thrust his hoof out in front of him as spikes of flame erupted from Odd-Eyes’ wings to pierce the surrounding area. After Odd-Eyes maneuvered itself in a 360° spin, streaks of melted crystal were all that was left of the dozens of crystal homes that once surrounded them.

Celestia couldn’t help a little spark of happiness at seeing Sombra’s field clear of his Phantom Knights of Break Sword and several trap cards.

Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon: 3000 ATK -> 4000 ATK

“Battle.”

Sombra recovered and his expression morphed into a vengeful frown.

“You fool! I have 5200 life points left! Even if you attack me, I will still be able to end you on my next-”

“There won’t be a next turn!” Blister interrupted and Sombra growled.

“Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon can attack twice per turn! This is it, SOMBRA! PREPARE TO SUFFER MY WRATH! GO ODD-EYES RAGING DRAGON!”

The demon reared its head back as a ring of blue fire appeared in front of its face.

“DESTRUCTION BURST OF RAGE!”

The demon swung its head forward again only to release an absolutely massive beam of blue fire and the air around them all started to grow more and more as the beam approached them. Celestia wondered for a moment if they would be baked alive along with Sombra.

And Celestia wondered if Sombra could somehow read her thoughts as she and the rest of her friends suddenly found themselves face to face with the oncoming fury.

“If I’m going down, I’m bringing you all down with me!” Sombra shouted and cackled madly. “Even if I lose I win!”

“Oh no you don’t, you FUCKING BASTARD!” Then, to the complete and utter shock everypony else, they watched a Blister swiftly reached his hoof out and swung it hard to the right. As he did so, the entire group was enveloped in a dark aura that chilled everypony to their bones. But they had no time to ponder that as they were violently thrown to the side into one of the long since cooled melted buildings.

Blister simply watched as Sombra’s entire body was enveloped in the blue fire and was slowly yet surely melted down until there was nothing left. No bone, no crown, no sign of the former mad King save for a single pile of ash.

Once Odd-Eyes had disappeared, Blister walked over to the pile of ash and stared down at it.

He blinked.

---

My vision starts to fade back in. Where am I? Breathing heavily, I whip my head around. Crystal streets, crystal houses. At least, I think they were crystal houses. What happened here?

Wait, Sombra!

But I am unable to ponder that anymore as I am ripped from my thoughts by the sound of groaning and a gasp from my right. I whip my head towards the noise and my eyes go wide at what I see.

There is Luna, Celestia, Twilight, Cadance, everypony, scattered across one of the melted houses. All looking to be in terrible pain. But the most sobering thing of all was the black and singed spots of fur that littered Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Cadance’s coats. I stared back at them in shock.

And they all stared back at me in...fear? Why fear? I look down at my hooves and I start to sweat. Wait, what was it that I just summoned? What did I do?

I start to breathe heavily. It all comes flooding back to me.

The last thing I hear is a very muffled call of my name before my vision rapidly fades to black.