The Downfall of King Sombra
The captain helped me to my feet. He reached up with a hoof and brushed a fleck of spit that was hanging from my earlobe. He turned and led us back to the palace.
We stepped up into the palace and wove our way through the to the throne room where Twilight and all of my friends stood.
“We know what we have to do!” Twilight exclaimed pumping her hoof into the air in victory.
“What’s that?” her brother asked raising an eyebrow. Twilight’s face dissolved into worry as she saw the stallion’s face.
“What happened?” Twilight asked rushing to her brother’s side to inspect the bruise. Shining flinched away from his sister’s touch.
“I got hit in the face.” He told her. Cadence came down off of her throne.
“What hit you?” she put a hoof under Shining’s chin pulling his eye closer to her. Shining shot me a glance. I nodded at him. The captain sighed out of his nose.
“Ol hit me.” He mumbled.
“What?” Cadence questioned.
“Ol hit me.” Shining threw his hooves up in the air exasperatedly. The princess and her sister both looked at me with looks of horror upon their faces and for some reason I found it laughable.
“What happened to you?” they asked in unison looking me up and down.
“The king found that I do not taste as good as I appear.” I answered back without a ghost of a smile.
“Whu-“Cadence whipped her head to look at her husband. “What does that mean?” The captain sighed again.
“He went out into the snow.” Shining Armor declared. Cadence stared at her husband in disbelief.
“If he had not been at the shield when I had gone down I would not be standing before you now.” I told them. Cadence and Twilight each looked between the captain and me.
“Is this true?” Cadence asked pointing her hoof at me.
“Yes.” Shining told his wife with a straight face.
“I don’t know what to say.” Cadence stated. The princess turned and headed for the terrace. Twilight and her friends didn’t move.
“I want to go talk to her but we have a fair to get back to.” Twilight said watching Cadence leave.
“A fair?” I raised an eyebrow at Twilight. She pulled a book out of nowhere and showed it to me.
“This is the history of the Crystal Empire.” She said as the pages flipped open before me. The smell of old parchment hit my nose as runes passed before my eyes.
“How does a fair help fight against Sombra exactly?” Shining Armor asked looking at the book as well.
“It’s going to cheer up the crystal ponies and fill the Crystal Heart with love and compassion which will hopefully banish the king back into shadow.” Twilight said pulling the book away.
She turned to leave and the other girls followed her out. Shining Armor looked to me. I smiled at him sheepishly.
“I’ve done my bit to help, this is on you now.” I told him. Shining Armor sighed.
“I’ve faced down raging guard officers, an insane unicorn king and even Princess Luna, but she scares me most of all.” The captain said. A thought came to my mind.
“’No one should put faith in a maiden’s words, nor in what a woman says; for their hearts have been fashioned on a turning wheel and their breasts formed fickle.’”
The captain stared at me.
“I don’t know if that’s helpful but who said it?” he asked.
“An old wise man who is much older than I, his words are so powerful they are written many places, captain.” I told Shining Armor. “Now go apologize to your wife, it is a dark home where man and woman hold wrath for their loved ones.”
Shining lowered his head and went to go see his wife. I frowned as I watched him go and thought of my own wife.
By now she had probably wed again. I nodded at the thought. You had to sacrifice your own good for the good of others as I was doing now. She would be proud as would my boy. I felt empty inside as I thought of my family, an odd sensation to say the least.
I could hear the two ponies talking from the terrace. I moved further away so as to not intrude upon their conversation which had begun to get heated. I moved to the throne and sat on one of the lower steps fatigue taking hold of me. It felt good to rest after the debacle in the snow. I looked down at my hands still covered in the king’s spit and blood and even a few chunks of bone. I picked the flecks of tooth from my skin and threw them onto the floor. From the terrace the volume increased for a moment from the captain.
“I’m sorry!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Cadence did not match his outburst and brought conversation back to a level I could not hear.
I continued to clean myself of bone when Rainbow Dash and Twilight came galloping back into the throne room. I raised an eyebrow at the pair.
“We have a problem!” Twilight proclaimed looking about wildly with her book held in front of her. I couldn’t make out what was on its page.
“What’s wrong?” I asked them but I was given no answer as the three ran out onto the terrace.
“We have a problem!” Twilight interrupted her brother.
“What’s wrong?” Shining asked them.
“I have no idea where the Crystal Heart is!” Twilight nearly screamed. I stood and quickly made my way to the terrace.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know where it is or how to find it!”
The two continued their exchange for few moments when Cadence collapsed suddenly a pained moan releasing from her lips. Shining dipped and caught his wife as her horn’s glow died suddenly.
The ponies stared at Cadence while I shifted my gaze to the shield to watch it collapse. I instinctively reached for my weapons stepping back from the edge of the terrace.
On the horizon darkness began to coalesce and writhe. The shadows swirled about themselves and formed into Sombra’s head once again. I felt my heart begin to race again.
“Twilight.” I said stepping back again. The ponies looked up from Cadence up at me. Seeing I was looking out at the horizon they shifted their gaze once again.
“The Empire is under attack!” Shining said. Cadence lifted her head and stared out at Sombra with a determined look on her face. She stood to her full height again her horn ablaze with ethereal blue light. She thrust her head skyward and the shield began to build itself around the city.
Sombra rushed forward only to smash his head against the bubble once again. I inhaled deeply as I watched the fiend dissolve into the cold white once again.
“I need to find the heart.” Twilight told us. She turned to her brother. “You stay here and help Cadence.” She was about to take off when I stopped her.
“I’m coming with you.” I told her, my tone brooked no argument.
“You can’t, the princess said that I was supposed to do this on my own.” Twilight tried to get around me but I continued to block her path.
“Aye, but Celestia also said I am your guardian and I’m supposed to protect you at all times.” I responded. Twilight snorted her derision.
“Fine, wait here, I have to tell the others and then I’ll be back.”
I nodded and stepped aside to allow her and Rainbow to pass. The two took off to leave the palace. I moved back to the terrace edge as Shining Armor spoke softly to Cadence, trying to reassure her. I looked out across the city.
Down below us ponies of all colors went about between colorful stalls to purchase and consume baked goods and other unique little keepsakes. I saw Fluttershy standing behind a stand happily serving mugs full of juice to the crystal ponies. Beyond the shield Sombra had reappeared and was slamming himself into the pale blue wall trying to get in.
I stood there for several minutes as I watched Sombra smash himself into the shield. I cringed whenever he hit particularly hard and I could hear the princess behind me gasp in pain.
I heard Twilight call to me from below as she returned to the palace. I noticed she had Spike sitting upon her back. I turned to move into the throne room. She appeared a minute later.
“Good, come with me.” She said running past me into the small group of rooms beyond. I followed her into a large meeting room that held a large circular table with a hole in the middle atop a massive red rug. Twilight was searching about the room frantically while Spike stood in a corner with his claws folded. The little dragon spotted a fold in the carpet and bent down to inspect it.
“No Spike.” Twilight said. Spike grinned defensively and stepped back. Twilight ran from the room.
“Now where would Sombra hide the heart?” Spike asked aloud as he and I followed Twilight at a distance trying to keep up with the frantic pony. We raced into the throne room.
“We can’t find the Heart because this isn’t King Sombra’s palace!” Twilight said joyfully as she skidded to a stop in the throne room.
“But isn’t this where King Sombra lived while he was in charge?” Spike asked.
“Yes, but this isn’t what his palace looked like.” Twilight said as she adopted a stance in front of the crystal throne her horn lighting up. Tiny bolts of lightning twisted with her magic aura turned black and purple and green mist bubbled up from her horn. Twilight launched the black power at the top of the throne. The crystal standing atop the throne shook violently and began to emit a beam of blackness at the floor opening up a pit near our feet. I looked down to see a massive spiral staircase the led down for an incredible distance.
“Where did you learn that?” Spike asked looking at Twilight awed by her magical prowess.
“It was a little trick Celestia taught me.” The unicorn proclaimed proudly.
Twilight began to move down the steps. Spike and I moved slowly to follow.
“You stay here Spike.” Twilight ordered over her shoulder.
“If you say so.” Spike sounded relieved as he moved further back from the edge. Twilight and I began to descend the steps the temperature within the dark air cold and thick with dust.
We walked down for several minutes with only the light from Twilight’s horn to show the way. Twilight paused and pulled a small stone from the wall. She moved the edge and dropped the rock and listened. I listened as well, waiting for the clink of stone on stone. It took much longer than I had hoped for. I looked down into the abyss feeling a crushing depression settle on my soul.
Twilight stepped down another stair and stumbled. She began to fall over the edge. I lunged to grab her but slipped as well and fell over the side into the blackness. Twilight tumbled down the steps as I fell in the open air. I felt a force wrap around my body and a purple glow encased me as I neared the ground slowing my deadly fall. I was set on the ground gently and watched as Twilight halted her own fall and set herself upon the ground next to me.
The unicorn helped me to my feet.
“Are you two okay?” Spike called down after us.
“We’re fine.” Twilight called back up. The two of us looked about and Twilight spotted a simple door with a gray arch over the top with a dark colored crystal set just above it.
I drew one of my axes as we approached the door. I reached my free hand out to open it but the door had different ideas as it dashed away from my hand up the wall. Twilight’s horn lit up as she tried to open the door magically. The door continued to run away from our efforts.
“Stop moving!” Twilight said a dark beam of energy leapt from her horn striking the crystal above the door. The door flipped open as power flowed into it, a bright light shining from within.
“Spike, I think we found it.” Twilight called up as she ran into the light with me following just behind.
I had to cover my eyes as the light flashed brighter for a moment. I moved my hand and opened my eyes. I was standing over an open pit with a covered body of a man lying in it. My friends stood about the pit looking down angrily.
“Hopefully we can wash this thing from memory,” Twilight said as Applejack began to fill the hole in. “And may the name Ol be forgotten for eternity for his crimes.” Twilight continued as dirt continued to hit the corpse.
“For all of his talk of honor you would think he would’ve spared a few ponies, the cruel beast.” Rarity snapped.
“Not even Chrysalis deserved what he did to her.” Fluttershy said not even looking at my grave.
“Good riddance.” Applejack proclaimed as she spat the shovel out of her mouth.
“May you never know rest Ol knowing you died with cruelty in your heart,” Twilight continued the eulogy. “So we send you to wherever you can suffer the most for your murderous ways.” Twilight finished and with that the six of them each spat on my grave, even Fluttershy.
“Ol!” I heard Spike’s voice like a distant echo but I couldn’t focus. I was going to die with no honor, as a murderer and vagabond. I fell to my knees looking down at the grave tears streaming from my face at my failure. I was to do the unthinkable and dishonor my name and my family.
“Father,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.” I set my forehead against the dirt as the shame overwhelmed me.
I felt a clawed hand and a hoof upon my shoulders as I wallowed in my shame.
“Ol!” Twilight and Spike yelled together next to my ears. I shot up the vision fading from my mind as reality came back to me. I fell over onto my back looking up at Twilight’s and Spike’s face. I reached up and wiped tears from my cheeks as I sat up.
“What did you see?” Spike asked me. I sighed.
“My worst fear, my absolute worst fear.” I told them. Twilight offered me a hoof and a warm smile. I smiled back and gripped her hoof coming to my feet.
“Don’t worry Ol,” Twilight said as she hugged me. “We’ll always be here for you.” I felt my heart warm at her words and wrapped my arms around her.
We released our embrace and Twilight turned back to the door. A bright purple beam lazily made its way from her horn up to the black crystal. The crystal absorbed the energy greedily and the door burst open again only this time without the blinding light behind it. Twilight stepped through the door looked around and groaned.
“What is it?” Spike asked her.
“Stairs.” Twilight smiled sheepishly looking over her shoulder at us.
I inhaled deeply again as I took another agonizing step. We had climbed what felt like several hundred steps already and Twilight had already far outpaced Spike and me. The little dragon was puffing along a few steps ahead of me.
“Twilight,” Spike called out. “What if this is just another one of Sombra’s tests.” Spike sat down breathing heavily. I wiped sweat from my forehead as I leaned up against the wall.
I looked out across the Crystal Empire seeing darkness just on the other side of the shield. Sombra’s head could still be seen but his assault on the wall had stopped. I felt a force wrap around my chest again as I was pulled out into the air.
“Twilight!” I yelled in surprise as I was lifted from the stone of the steps. Twilight pulled Spike and I up to where she stood and then she jumped into the air a bright purple light surrounding her. I felt the pull of the earth change upon my body and I became disoriented as I began to fall up.
Twilight was ahead of me with Spike on her back cackling as if she’d gone mad. The mare was sliding along the smooth stone as we headed, what felt like, downward at an insane speed. It felt like my first train ride all of that time ago only a lot more dangerous. With one step I would fall up into eternity to meet my doom. I watched the stone fly by feeling my stomach begin to churn.
“Twilight!” I called up to the unicorn.
“Yeah?” she called back.
“Sometimes I hate you!” I yelled over the wind. Twilight just laughed harder as we zoomed all the faster.
We fell into an upside-down chamber with huge arches all across the walls that showed the Empire in every direction. Another bright flash from Twilight and I felt the pull on my body shift again as everything righted itself. I looked down as the floor came up to meet me like an old friend. I slammed into the stone floor as the breath from my body was smashed out. I groaned as I pushed myself up to my knees. I was growing rather tired of falling to the ground.
I stood up and beheld the beauty that was the Crystal Heart. The gem was floating a few feet from the ground and was the color of a pale sky cut into the shape of a heart. It was a wondrous sight to behold. Twilight stepped forward with a pleased smile on her face.
Twilight stepped onto the platform beneath the Heart. The platform flashed black and let out an odd sound. I may not have recognized the sound but I knew an alarm when I heard one. I tried to run forward to throw Twilight out of the way but I was too slow as black crystals sprouted from the floor surrounding the unicorn and blocking her escape. I drew my axe and struck at the crystals savagely over and over again but to no result.
“Twilight!” Spike called out.
“Ol back away! Spike stay there!” Twilight commanded.
The Crystal Heart came flying out over the top of the crystal wall. Spike moved to pick it up but Twilight stopped him.
“Not a claw Spike!” she scolded him. I turned and looked out over the Empire to see shadows moving to overtake the city.
“Uh, Twilight, you’re going to want to hurry.” I called over my shoulder. I heard a slam. I turned around to see Twilight hovering outside of the crystal wall only to disappear back inside of it.
“Spike, Ol, you’re going to have to take the Crystal Heart to Cadence and Shining Armor.” Twilight said over the wall.
“But what about your orders?” Spike asked holding his hands under his armpits.
“JUST GO!” Twilight yelled. I placed my axe into my belt as I stepped towards the heart.
Spike bent down and scooped the Heart up with his sweat claws. I bent down and scooped the dragon up placing him atop my shoulders. I looked at the stairs and saw that they were covered with the quickly growing crystals. I stepped through one of the archways to see if there might be a way down when another wall shot up behind me blocking my retreat back into the room.
I looked down and saw that the whole Empire was covered in quickly growing crystals that were brutal in appearance. The smoke had come in quickly and I could see Sombra’s head, which had shrunken, terrorizing the ponies down below us.
A spire of crystal was growing near me and I took a short jump onto a long path-like appendage. I began to make my way down the crystal taking slow moving steps so I would not lose my footing.
I did not look down as Spike called down to our comrades below. He held up the Crystal Heart for them to see in triumph.
The dragon’s grip slipped and the Heart tumbled in the air falling down to King Sombra. I didn’t hesitate as I launched myself from the spire. It was a new sensation, hurtling downward like a stone. I felt Spike tighten his grip around my neck as we plummeted. My only goal was the Heart and keeping Sombra from his goal.
Below me I could see the King moving upward moved by a large black crystal. His body formed into a solid mass before my eyes.
Time seemed to slow as I fell. I looked between Sombra and the Heart knowing what I had to do to keep the black hearted unicorn from coming back into power. Even if I could not reach the Heart I knew that my path would take me into King Sombra’s body and if I had to give my life to stop him, even for a moment for the Heart to be returned, then I would have spent my life well.
I smiled slowly as I stretched my arms out, not to catch the Crystal Heart, but to wrap them lovingly around the King and embrace him into the end. It only seemed a fitting way to end our battle from before.
Then I felt my chest become wrapped up and my fall was slowed. I heard something fly over my head. The heart was engulfed in a blue aura as it was sucked from view allowing Sombra and I to lock eyes. His face was contorted with rage as he stared into my smiling eyes.
I was whipped through the air just before my fingers brushed his face and pulled high into the sky in a whirlwind. I looked at the darkening orange sky and the ever growing crystal spires. It was ugly to see but I had entered some odd euphoric state in accepting my demise and seeing such terribleness did not affect me in the slightest.
I was set upon my feet underneath the castle and Cadence landed in front of me with Spike on her back and the Crystal Heart held before her.
“Use your love!” she commanded the crystal ponies. “Fill the heart and banish King Sombra back to where he came!” The princess threw the heart to the direct center of the castle. The Heart sailed through the air and halted its progress as it came to its place.
The ponies about me began to light up and change their appearance from dull and furry to bright and crystal like. I turned to see Sombra running towards us his shadows being thrown up in his wake.
I turned back to the Heart which had begun to spin incredibly quickly as light grew within it. The light grew incredibly quickly until it exploded lighting up the ground beneath my feet and spreading at speeds previously unknown.
The light infused its way into all of the ponies around and even into my own flesh causing my armor and skin to shine brightly and take on the look of crystal as well. I did not have time to marvel as the light struck Sombra.
Sombra screamed out painfully as the light bored into his flesh like worms into an apple spreading under his skin causing his body to break apart like ice. The King burst apart in a final shriek of torment his pieces of his body flying into the air and dissipating into shadow.
The sky cleared immediately as Sombra’s influence was removed, the bright blue coming through dark orange. The spires and black crystals shattered or reverted back to their previous state.
I felt the pull again as I was gently lifted from the ground up into the air. Cadence sat me down on the terrace next to my friends who immediately swarmed Spike and I voicing their concerns over the two of us. Cadence took to the air again speeding to the top of the castle. She returned momentarily with Twilight held in her hooves.
Twilight leapt towards Spike and hugged him holding her little dragon assistant tight. The captain held his wife close his relief evident.
I turned to look out over the Crystal Empire to take in the beauty of the place again my heart calming as my mind caught up with reality.
Sombra had been defeated and I still had all of my limbs. For once I didn’t have any broken bones. I laughed at the realization.
“No broken bones.” I said as I flexed my hands that still shone like the north star on a clear night.
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2469602
Uhh... no?
Those guys came here because you insulted one of their friends (Eric). Now you're saying that Simon should apologise because you insulted someone else?
dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw142_small.jpg
2469602
And you didn't have to put your story up. Your point?
Also, this is from our good friend Simon, since you so kindly blocked him:
Another good chapter. Keep up the good work
So when did i get to youtube? I could of sworn I was on a fafiction site all of you need to grow the fuck up and stop your bitching.
Good chapter.
2472922
Well said, sir, well said.
Hm. Pretty good, my friend. Pretty good. Allow me to leave my two bits. Take it or leave it, I just hope you find it to be a tad more constructive than the reviews/pointers of Simon and his cronies. HINT
HINT. Here goes:
Now, while this chapter was actually well played in terms of following the events of the episode it goes with, I felt a distinct emptiness about it... It just kinda zoomed by a bit too quickly, in my humble opinion. I feel like there could have been a solid chunk of juicy details and descriptions, but there weren't any. Honestly, when I saw that the chapter was 4.4k+ words,
I flipped and thought "Omai GabeN, he put a ton of juice in this one!" And then I read it, and felt like I bought a drumstick at KFC and got a wing instead. 
I don't remember if I used the band analogy with you, but I'll use it again because it tends to help a lot of people I know.
Brass = dialogue
Woodwinds = details/descriptions
Percussion = action
The chapter felt like a weak chorale to me. The brass was a bit too heavy, and there was a distinct lack of your woodwind section, and the percussion that WAS there was a tad bit weak. I feel like it was due to the paragraphs being broken up so much, but that's just me. I mean this with the utmost respect, but I feel like you could definitely have done a much more solid job with this than you have.
I look forward to more of this great story.
<3 DarqFox
2473199 I don't want to stir shit back up, but I'll just say that Simon's review WAS constructive. Just not POSITIVE. The two can't always go hand in hand.
2472922 has a constructive comment. And for the record, I don't really like this guy, and he's not affiliated with anyone I know.