Elements Change the Dark Hearts

by Nightmare_0mega

Taking Back My Soul

"No! It can't be!" Twilight exclaimed. "The Crystal Heart destroyed you! We saw it happen!"

The form of Bael chuckled darkly at the statement. "Oh, little pony, that shadow was barely a puppet. A contingency plan in case Our efforts did not work out. We, the real Sombra, copied Our consciousness in case anything were to happen to Us while We ruled. When We failed, Celestia sealed the tower away, not knowing that she ensured Our safety."

Sombra gazed through his vessel's eyes. "Just as it was before We took over." The form sighed lightly before continuing. "We never did like the multitude of colors. But that can ALWAYS be changed. Now..." it said, leaning down towards Cadance, "We can do this peacefully, or through force. 'Tis your choice, my Queen."

Twilight turned to her sister-in-law, wanting to know what he meant, but saw the mix of horror and fury in her eyes. Whatever it was, it struck a nerve. Her response confirmed that.

"I will NEVER let you take the Crystal Empire. I swear it, as long as I still breathe!" She shouted back at the beast with the Royal Canterlot voice.

Sombra, though stoic through the beast's expression, was rather unamused at the answer. It then let an angry growl, before saying, "Very well. Thou will RUE the day you refused Us again! We will CRUSH YOU" It roared with a primal fury, causing a gale to push back lighter objects and citizens, and the sound to panic the general populous. Then, the remaining crystal guard were all swept away as it used its massive tail to strike them in a circular movement. When all opposition was cleared, the controlled giant toad then quickly moved up to Cadance's frail form, and rose its massive foot. He was going to keep his threat, literally.

It all happened so fast. She couldn't react properly. All she could do was shut her eyes in anticipation, preying it would not be painful. Then, there was the sound of something crashing against a solid form of energy. When Cadance opened her eyes to see, she realized there was a shield around her. She looked back, and saw her husband, his horn glowing brilliantly, sweat forming at his brow from the stress.

"Go! Let me take care of this!"

Cadance wanted to protest, but saw in his eyes that it wasn't a suggestion. With a firm nod, she fled to the tower entrance, hoping she could get to the top in time to activate the crystal heart.

Displeased by the turn of events, Sombra stopped assaulting the now vacant magic barrier, and smacked the Guard Captain at full force. The stallion flew against the wall and hit it with a crack, before limply tumbling to the ground.

"Shining!" cried Twilight in shock.

"Now, to remove you..." the voice of Sombra announced. The monstrous form leaned down, and opened its gaping maw, preparing to devour the downed Prince. It stopped, and jerked back suddenly.

"Errgh! NO!" the beast's original voice spoke, "I will NOT! Depart from me, treacherous spirit!" It flexed and squirmed, as if it were fighting with itself.

"Cease your defiance, beast!" Sombra's voice shouted out.

A blast of purple energy struck the toad's side, and another against the side of its face, causing it to flinch slightly. Sombra turned his vessel towards the nuisance, and saw Twilight standing firm in offense.

"Don't you DARE touch my brother!" She shouted angrily.

The beast growled and moved towards its aggressor. With the sudden shift of attention, Twilight fled her position and it began to give chase. However, she realized she was WAY too small to be able to get any distance, and it was much faster than it looked. Passing by other fleeing and panicked ponies, she figured there was only one option. With a brilliant glow of her horn, and a sudden flash of light, she disappeared.

"Teleportation? How cute. Never the less, thou little insect cannot hide from US!" A blast of purple energy struck it in the other side of the face. "Gah!" It turned to the source, and found the same little unicorn standing on a distant roof, closer to the edge of the empire. Sombra sneered, and began moving forward, mowing over entire buildings.

On the roof, Twilight stood, waiting for him it to get close enough. Just then, Fluttershy flew up beside her. "Fluttershy?! What are you doing?"

"I-I can ask you the same thing, Twilight," She said with the bravest face she could muster.

"I'm trying to lead it to the edge of the city. If my theory is correct, Cadance is in the tower where the crystal heart is being kept, and will be using it to cast a shield spell to throw the monster out. I have to make sure it's far enough from the origin point that the stress in pushing this thing out isn't overwhelming for her."

"But, you can't do that!" Fluttershy protested.

"We have to! This thing is dangerous, and we have to get it away from-"

"It's not his fault!"

"GRRRRAAAAAHHHH!" the beast bellowed, as it was moving at full speed, mere seconds away from the two Elements. Fluttershy squeaked in terror.

"Fluttershy, FLY AWAY!" Twilight commanded desperately. Fluttershy shot off like a rocket, away from her friend and out of harms way. The massive frog beast lunged forward, mouth open, ready to eat Twilight whole.

*CHOMP*

The beast tore off the top half of the building with its mouth, and rigorously chewed the materials, before swallowing the contents. Once finished, it smiled wickedly. "That is one insect exterminated," the voice of Sombra declared, chuckling darkly.

"T-twilight?" Fluttershy muttered, coming to tears, "N-no... It can't be." The kind and delicate pony slowly floated back towards the ground, utterly shattered from within. The world stopped around her, as she wept silently over the fate of one of her best friends. It was too sudden. Too soon. All she wanted now is to hope that when the beast faced her, whatever happens next would be quick and painless...

"You're going to have to do better to get ME, Sombra!"

Fluttershy turned towards the origin of the voice, and her damaged spirits lifted, relieving her heart and mind.

"WHAT?!" The beast turned to the east, and saw its prey at the very edge of the Empire, right next to the city shield. It growled, irritated that its prey escaped again. "Thou has evaded Us for the last time, little pony." It began charging towards Twilight once again. "Now DIE!"

The great behemoth toad reached full speed, and leaped at Twilight once again. Twilight summoned a shield around her, just as Sombra collided against it, teeth pressing dangerously against the surface. The Element of Magic strained under the pressure of the beasts jaw strength, quickly draining of energy. She preyed that Cadance made it in time.

As luck would have it, the sound of a soft boom echoed across the empire, as a teal sphere of energy began to rapidly expand. It passed over everything within the kingdom, from buildings to citizens, and began to approach the size of the surrounding shield. Sombra stopped his assault against Twilight and turned around just in time to see the oncoming wall of teal expanding energy. He smiled. Twilight's heart sank.

The expanding shield, the one that was supposed to be used to expel Sombra from the Empire, merely passed over his puppet's form. The puppet master chuckled darkly through Bael's lips. "Absolutely futile. This creature bares no ill will towards you on his own for whatever reason, despite his wicked heart. However, whilst We are in control, he hath nary a choice. Now, to finish you," he declared as he turned back to where Twilight stood... to find her missing. Instead, a hole in the ground was left in her place. "WHAT?!"

Back near the city, away from the now cursing and roaring giant toad frantically digging, Twilight pushed and dug her way back to the surface. The drill made of magic wisps she had in front of her, helping her dig, dissipated the moment she exited the hole in the ground. She collapsed against the road before the hole she exited. catching her breath and regaining her strength.

"I *pant* can't believe *pant* it didn't work," Twilight wheezed out in a mix of over exertion and panic. "This situation may have gone from bad *pant* to worse."

"TWILIGHT!" An exuberantly relieved voice shouted, as a yellow and pink streak tackled the unicorn to the ground. Fluttershy hugged her dear friend tightly, as if she were afraid she'd loose her again.

"Too tight!" the crushed pony squeaked out, before being let go.

"I-I'm sorry. I just... I thought..." Fluttershy fumbled, before breathing in deeply and calming herself, "I'm so glad you're alright."

"It's ok... But, I think we have bigger problems. My whole plan hinged on the shield working. If he can pass through, then we have no choice but to take him down, but that could be-"

"But, we don't have to do something that awful!"

"We have to if we can, Fluttershy. The monster is bad enough, but if Sombra is in full control, then he's that much more of a threat."

"But... He's not in full control."

Twilight paused at that statement. "Wait, what? How?"

"The little guy is trying his hardest to fight the big meanie's control on him," Fluttershy stated, matter-of-factually .

"It's not a little-" Twilight started, before thinking about what her friend just said. It could be possible that she's right. she thought. If Sombra was in full control, then-. She looked back towards the tower, where Shining Armor was just getting back up. Thank Celestia for small miracles. "Ok, so it's fighting Sombra's influence. Is there a way we can help remove it?"

Twilight didn't have a lot of time to think, as the big toad monster under the control of Sombra just finished its tantrum. "Fluttershy, go and tell my brother to gather the citizens and guards, and head to the tower. He'll know what to do then. When that's done, come back here. I have one more idea."

Fluttershy nodded meekly, and flew back to go and deliver the message from Twilight. Twilight, in turn marched forward, keeping calm and saving her strength. The great beast came charging in, but stopped just short of the Element of Magic.

"So," Sombra's voice started, "Hath thou come to accept fate?"

Twilight bit her lip in doubt, but swallowed her fear. "No, I've come to ask your vessel a question."

Sombra scoffed, "Do not trifle with Us. This body is under Our command now. It has no will other than the will of thine."

Just then, the body of the beast tensed up, and jerked to the side. "N-no! You do not have me!"

"Beast under Sombra's control. You despise your possessor, correct?" In a jerky motion, it nodded quickly in response. "Tell me, is there any way to free you?" Twilight asked, stepping forward, though with caution.

It jerked back, physically exerting itself as much as the beast was doing so mentally. It finally answered, "K-Kill me." The statement was as foreign to her as it was distressful. Death happened naturally in Equestria more often than not, and to take another life was almost unknown. The most wicked of the land would normally be imprisoned, bound, banished, and even exiled. Never executed. "I would rather return to my home with the shame knowing I died here than exist as this thing's puppet!"

Wait, Twilight thought, what did it mean by that? Does it treat death differently than us? The implications of such a notion was rather heavy for Twilight. Perhaps too much to understand at this point. However, despite such thoughts, she shook her head. No, death is death. I can't willingly take another pony's life. No matter who it is.

"I... I can't" she said defeated.

The great beast seized up, then relaxed again. "Too bad." Sombra said through the beast. "Cause, We would." Bael's foot rose up, and prepared to crush Twilight underneath.

Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl at that point. Twilight watched with each passing second, frozen in place, as that massive foot came down inch by inch. No longer in control of the situation, she watched as her life passed before her eyes under the shadow of that winter white flesh. All of her friends and happy memories, soon to be nothing more than the memories of others. She felt the tip of her horn get pushed down, and with that, she closed her eyes.

...

...

...

Twilight opened her eyes, and looked up. She was still under the foot of the great toad, but surprisingly not crushed. Said foot was then slowly pulling back and being forced to return under the great toad's form.

"I. EAT. What. I. KILL," the original voice of the beast declared, "Equines are off the menu!"

"You insolent burden!" Sombra exclaimed from the same mouth.

"Twilight!" exclaimed Fluttershy, as she gently hovered above the situation.

"Fluttershy, you're just in time! It's fighting back, but I don't think we have much more time to loose. I want you to look this thing over. Find if anything doesn't fit with the creature."

Fluttershy nodded and hovered near the beast, looking around its body. When she couldn't find anything that seemed to not fit the creature's unique design, she ascended overhead it, and viewed the field of ice on its back. It didn't take her very long to find a large, black crystal among the clear ones. "I found something!" She gently landed on the spot of concern. She gripped the crystal and tried to pull it, but offending object was stuck beyond her strength to pull out. She rose back up in the air, and flew back to her friend.

"The poor dear has a black crystal stuck in his back. It CERTAINLY looks like it doesn't belong there. I can't get it out though..."

"I think I can..." Twilight uttered as she closed her eyes, and concentrated hard to locate the source. It was time to use the last reserves of her energy. I just hope this works out. Sure enough, she located a concentrated source of dark magic, which was the size of a large crystal. She wrapped her magic around the invading solid. With a firm grip on it, she began to pull, with all of her remaining will and effort. Bael grit its teeth together, hissing in pain.

One would think that Sombra would attempt to prevent this, or at least express his displeasure of having such an important piece being ripped from his puppet. Foals.

Twilight tightened her eyes harder, letting the sweat drip from her face, as the magic poured from her. Just as she was about to collapse, the shard was removed from the beast's back, and was flung a distance away due to the force of the pull. Bael collapsed to his belly, out for the count, and so did Twilight. Fluttershy rushed to her friend's side.

The kind yellow pegasus gently tapped Twilight's cheek, trying to bring her back to the conscious world. It didn't take long for the downed unicorn to lazily open her eyes.

"Did it work?" she asked, exhausted from all the effort she put forth in such a short time span. Fluttershy looked back. A quarter of the city was damaged. The great toad beast laid placid just behind them, groaning lightly. Citizens emerged from the tower, still very much in fear of the recent attack with the more curious ones cautiously approaching them and the beast. Far out to the distance, she could see the black crystal, staked to the ground, right at the entrance of the city limits. As bad as things seemed to be, it could have been much worse, and the calm after the storm certainly settled the situation. Fluttershy turned back to Twilight, and nodded with a small smile.

Twilight sat up, straining under her weakened state, sighing deeply. "I'm glad."

There was a loud grumbling noise, as the monster they once pacified began to shift his body. Shaking the haziness from his head, and fluttering his red eyes, Bael finally became aware of everything once again. The dark influence that invaded him had been removed, and he was now in full control. He was also standing tall, among a large amount of very frightened tiny horses.

"Oh, thank goodness you're ok," Fluttershy said with a warm smile. As weary as she was, Twilight, and admittedly everypony there, raised an eyebrow to her friends concern for the behemoth.

Bael looked about, getting a better view of where he was. Just a hop away from the center of the city, out of the snow and cold. Surrounded by inedible walking meat sacks. A headache slowly growing in response to being controlled and violently freed. This is ridiculously uncomfortable...

Thinking that he has time enough to make it to his temporary hovel and make a few more improvements, Bael turned to leave. His attempt what cut short when another pony decided to speak up. "Just where do you think you're going?!" Spoke a very cross, and now fully awake, Twilight Sparkle.

"Leaving," Bael answered, shortly.

"And what about the damage you caused?"

The great toad scoffed, "As much as I would LOVE to claim responsibility for these recent actions, none of this is MY fault. And, even if it was, what makes you think I'd help you?"

"Because we freed you!"

The beast laughed darkly, "Hardly a recommended notion." Before Twilight could get another word in, he flexed his legs and leaped to the north, clearing the city, and easily passing through the barrier. There was a soft boom, coupled with the shaking of the ground that got fainter and fainter, no doubt signifying the beast's departure.

Twilight sighed deeply, "Great. Just perfect." She got up, and shook herself lightly, becoming fully alert once again. "I can't believe it's being so indignant."

"He's probably just tired. He had a very long day after all," Fluttershy suggested innocently.

With that, something snapped in Twilight's head. She couldn't contain her frustration over the situation any longer. "Would you stop that!? It's not some lost puppy, or a bear needing a back rub, but a massive mutant amphibian that could have killed any one of us! It feels no shame for what it did, and was just as quick to abandon us when it could have shown it was more than it presented itself to be! STOP DEFENDING THAT HORRIBLE BEAST!"

Everypony present became eerily silent. It took Twilight all of two seconds to realize what she just did, and by that time, it was too late. Tears were welling up in the meek pegasus's eye, as she began to shake, step backward, and began running off.

"Wait! Fluttershy! I-" She tried following, right up until Fluttershy took to the air, flying through the barrier. Dejected, and hurt for what she did, her head lowered. "- I'm sorry." At least, she thought glumly, from rock bottom, it's all uphill from here.

In the distance, there was a loud cracking noise. The sound of crystal material being split open.

Author's Note:

Arch Nemesis

Comments

[Jack Kellar]

Not showing consideration for a demon, even though it was innocent, indirectly weakens the power of friendship that fuels the Crystal Empire?
I can understand how that would work, but that doesn't stop it from being some seriously nasty stuff.

... go on, I'm enjoying it

[Nightmare_0mega]

2981420 Actually... that's not a bad idea, but, it's somewhat flawed. Sombra can't just wait for his opponents to get at each others throats. Bael just can get through simply because he has no ill will there. Sombra uses this to his advantage...