• Published 28th Apr 2022
  • 1,265 Views, 111 Comments

Legends Never Die: The Return of the King - bookhorse125



With the return of King Sombra, Flurry Heart must find the light and hope in her heart to defeat him.

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Nightmare Come To Life

When Flurry Heart’s eyes opened, she wished she had never woken up. Because this was her nightmare - but in real life.

She shut her eyes hurriedly, eager to return to the blissful relaxation of the dream world, but she quickly found that she couldn’t - and even if she could, there was no point, because now the waking world and the dream world had become one and the same - one massive nightmare.

Everything was so similar, yet so startlingly different.

Flurry stood up, her hooves trembling, and her mind went blank with fear when she saw the black crystals that surrounded her, meeting above her in a jagged peak. Through cracks in the cage, she could see the throne room of the Crystal Empire - so recently thawed by her and Sunny and Izzy - that felt like forever ago - now covered with dark crystals like these, jutting out of the floor and the walls and all pointing towards the place she knew the throne sat.

And the pony upon it…

“No,” she whispered, backing away until her flank hit the cold crystal wall. Even then, she pressed herself against the black stone, trying to get as far away from him as possible. Then she felt something in her bones, a kind of darkness radiating from the crystals that made her feel worse than she already did - filling her with dread and hopelessness. Flurry scrambled away, still muttering incoherently to herself, “It can’t be real… No… No no no…”

Something stopped her in her tracks, a deep laugh that made her freeze, sent her heart beating a hundred times a minute, and she knew instantly who it was - but that only made it worse.

“It’s very real, my little pony,” King Sombra told her, his face appearing in one of the breaks in the crystals, his malevolent gaze fixed right on her. “Your precious little kingdom has fallen, your friends are under my complete control, and you had no idea it was even going on.” He barked a laugh. “Of course, even if you did, you were much too afraid to do anything except run away. There really isn’t much point in me controlling you - everything you’re living through right now is already your greatest fear.”

The very sound of his voice was enough to make her feel like she was going to faint. She staggered back a step and collapsed, covering her ears with her hooves in an attempt to block out the sound, but his voice slipped into her mind and paralyzed her completely.

“You thought you could escape me,” Sombra chuckled, lighting up his horn, and a new crystal sprang up a meter away from Flurry. She sprang to her hooves and scurried away, and he laughed at the amusing display. “You thought that just because your weak parents, your pathetic aunt and her useless friends could stop me meant you were safe? I’ve always been here, lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike back. And now that those silly villains have given it to me, I’m not going to waste it!”

Hearing him mock her family somehow made the fear temporarily recede from Flurry’s mind, and she had a moment of clarity long enough to catch Sombra’s last words for what they were.

“Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow released you,” she whispered. Sombra caught that and laughed.

“I’m amazed it took you this long to realize that. Of course, it was to their own demise. The stupid creatures think that, just because I failed last time, I’ll fail this time. Well, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are gone, and the Tree of Harmony is destroyed, anyway. There’s nopony to wield the Elements anymore, and I have possession of both the Crystal Heart and the last remaining crystal princess - nothing can stop me now!” He sneered at her and gestured around him. “I’ve been building up my army, Flurry Heart, and once it’s big enough, I’ll take all of Equestria for my own - including those good-for-nothing villains who let me out!”

With a roar, he shot a blast at the wall, and a new crystal sprang up, pushing aside the pale blue wall and making Flurry flinch.

He doesn’t know that Sunny’s friends are the new Elements of Harmony, she realized. He’s been gone for so long that he doesn’t know what’s going on - and I can use that against him.

But he had her friends under his control - he could use them against her.

The thought that she might be forced to fight her friends - might accidentally hurt them without meaning to, or the other way around, and they would have no idea - was enough to bring the fear and panic back to Flurry’s mind.

My friends are strong. They can handle anything Sombra throws at them.

She took a deep breath and let the comforting thoughts flood her mind, chasing away the darkness and shadows and fear that Sombra had planted there. With her friends by her side, they could do anything… right?

Sombra’s face reappeared in the gap, and he was snarling now. His calm demeanor had faded away, and Flurry took it to mean that something had gone wrong - and even the thought that something in this evil pony’s malevolent plan had gone astray, no matter how small it may be, made Flurry feel so much better.

It must have shown on her face, because Sombra snarled and lit up his horn. His eyes glowed green, and then the green and purple smokey shapes drifted towards Flurry. Her heart practically thumped out of her chest, and she backed away as fast as she could. But the fear crept closer and closer, and she could already feel it tugging at her mind, could see blurry new shapes on the edges of her vision that hadn’t been there before, and she curled up into a ball, throwing a wing over her head to try and protect it when-

The fear disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Flurry caught her breath, waiting for it to come back, but it never did. She opened her eyes and her breath caught in her throat.

Because she was glowing.

A shimmering white light surrounded her and even made the crystals around her seem to wilt and fade away. She turned to Sombra, wondering (and her mind must clearly be delirious if she was hoping that Sombra had the answer to her question), but there was no answer on his face - only fear. He looked completely panic-stricken, and Flurry felt herself smirking at that.

Then something caught her eye. Past the walls of her crystal cage was another glowing light, pulsing bright blue. Flurry spread her wings and lifted into the air, flying to the top of the cage, which shied away from the light she was emitting.

Suspended over Sombra’s throne (her throne, she thought furiously), was the Crystal Heart, held in place by two black crystals that were slowly filling it with black cracks.

The sight was so familiar to her that, a few days ago, it would have made her freak out, thinking that Sombra was returning and was going to end everything. But seeing the ancient relic that powered her kingdom and kept it safe filled her with hope instead of dread - especially at the fact that it was glowing just like her, pushing away the darkness.

Flurry flew forward, intent on grabbing the Heart and activating it, somehow, and defeating Sombra for good, but down below, the demonic unicorn himself snapped out of his trance of shock and let out a roar, sending a blast of darkness straight for her.

The light absorbed the blast, vaporizing it, but that was all it could take - the glowing sheen faded away until Flurry was just Flurry again. The Crystal Heart stopped glowing, too. Sombra saw this and, gleefully, sent another blast, and Flurry lit up her horn, surrounding herself with a bright yellow shield that absorbed the impact, though it sent her tumbling through the air.

As she struggled to right herself, five ponies ran into the room, and the sight of them was enough to send Sombra into a full-blown rage attack.

Zipp dodged the first blast, and it created an ugly black scorch mark where she had been standing a second ago. She saw Pipp take to the air, too, and together, the two of them flew around Sombra’s head, distracting him. Izzy would teleport all over the place, and Hitch and Sprout snuck around behind Sombra to the Crystal Heart, suspended over the throne, and tried to free it.

Flurry’s first instinct was to fly over and help the stallions with the heart, but she heard Sombra screech, “Guards! In here, now!” and she knew she would have to choose between her friends and her kingdom - a choice she had long dreaded making because she didn’t know what she would pick.

A dozen ponies filed in, all green eyed and blank faced. Sombra pointed a hoof at the intruders.

“Round them all up,” he snarled. “And don’t let one get away! Use force if you have to!”

The ponies all nodded in unanimous agreement before splitting up and charging each of the ponies, two for each one. Sprout and Hitch were almost to the Crystal Heart, but at the sight of their new pursuers, they ran in opposite directions, trying to shake them off. Zipp and Pipp both flew around in crazy circles above the throne room, but half of the guards were pegasi, and they spread their wings and chased them down. Izzy dodged two of her unicorn pursuers and ran to help Hitch, who was under attack from four ponies, one unicorn and three earth ponies.

Hitch tackled the unicorn while Izzy lit up her horn and suspended one of the earth ponies in midair. He struggled but was unable to move.

The remaining two earth ponies snuck up behind Hitch quietly, but Sprout suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rammed into them, knocking them aside. He readjusted his footing to a defensive stance, and he glared at the offenders. Then his face went pale, and his mouth dropped open.

“Toots? Sweets?” His voice cracked, and he shook his head, unable to believe it. “What are you doing here?”

Neither the chubby stallion nor the pink mare made any response, unless you count charging at him again. The shock from seeing ponies that they knew well under the control of Sombra was enough to cause Hitch and Sprout both to forget how to fight, and Izzy failed to keep off all four of them as two more came as reinforcements.

Up above, Zipp was dodging the pegasi chasing her with complicated maneuvers she had taught herself during all those lonely days in the airstation in Zephyr Heights. She glanced back to throw them a smug look (she had four on her tail while Pipp only had two) when she recognized the two in front and forgot to flap, plummeting a few meters before she managed to right herself.

“Thunder and Zoom?” She blinked hard, then shook her head, hoping it was just an illusion. “But… but how are you here? You’re supposed to be protecting my-” She stopped, the fear prominent on her face as the four pegasi surrounded her. Sombra, who was watching from below, recognized this pony as the reason that none of the others were still under his mind control, and who really wanted to shoot somepony, lit his horn and shot a powerful blast of darkness, which hit Zipp right in the wing.

Her scream of pain was enough to gain the attention of her sister, who stopped, crying, “Zipp?” as her pursuers slammed into her, pulling her to the ground with Zipp, Izzy, Sprout, and Hitch, who were all rounded up in the center.

Sombra laughed as he lit his horn, the strange dark light dancing up and down the curved red object. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” he told them. “Do me a favor and tell Twilight Sparkle that I finally beat her, won’t you?” He sent a massive blast of dark magic right at the group, who was far too slow to defend themselves, and then-

Then Flurry was there, standing bravely between the group and the magic, her horn lit as a bright yellow shield protected them. She grunted as Sombra’s magic wore away at her strength, sweat pouring down her face, and it was too much, too much-

“Flurry, you have to get out of here!” That was Izzy, who was standing up and looking right at her eyes. “You have to escape so you can save the Empire - but you can’t do that if you’re stuck here!”

“Can’t… leave… you…” Flurry whispered, every ounce of her energy being poured into her shield. “He’ll… kill… you!”

“You have to save Equestria!” Izzy put her hoof on Flurry’s shoulder. “It’s all up to you now.”

Flurry closed her eyes and made her decision. “No,” she said, “it’s up to all of us.” There was a bright yellow blast, and six ponies disappeared from the throne room.

Author's Note:

I am super sorry, everypony, but I got very minimal writing done last night, so I think it's just going to be two chapters today. I should finish this over the weekend, though, so there's good news! Except I still haven't finished the title image for my NEXT story, so... It's complicated, that's all I'm saying.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!