Guess what? Spike didn't deliver the crystal heart in time after all. And now, Sombra has Twilight in his clutches...
So many close calls, so many potential hesitations, so many things that Twilight and Spike could have done differently, and they'd have failed. It doesn't matter what they did wrong or didn't do right, only that a split-second is all the difference Sombra needed. Now, Twilight is completely at Sombra's mercy, subject to whatever mind games he has planned for her...
Recent viewing of The Crystal Empire is helpful but hopefully not necessary. Special thanks to Mickeymonster for drawing the image that inspired this story.
Twilight Sparkle knew what had to be done. With absolute determination on her face, she said, “You have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to the fair!”
“Me?” Spike glanced at the wave of black crystals advancing towards him. “But Twilight-“
“Go.”
“-But-“
“GOOOOOOOOO!”
With a look of desperate panic, Spike seized the Crystal Heart, jumping away as crystals sprouted beneath his feet, diving out the keep as it erupted with jagged spikes, leaving Twilight trapped inside.
She continued to try and escape. She tried firing a magical blast at the crystal barrier, but it reflected her attack, and she only narrowly dodged her own blast. She attempted to use dark magic to affect the crystals in some way, but just tapping into that power caused a foul, gnawing feeling inside her, and in the brief time before she couldn’t bear to use it anymore, she was unable to affect the crystals. At last she sat back on her haunches and waited.
And then, the darkness came.
It swirled around her, blinding her and sending a chill across her body. It infiltrated her lungs and made her cough as though it were smoke. It clung to her coat and made her feel filthy in an instant.
And then, before her, the face of the Dark King Sombra appeared, dark, fearsome, and looking more like the face of a predator than a pony. His most striking feature was his eyes, green with red irises, with contrails of purple magic seeping out from them.
Twilight’s eyes went wide and, with a shriek, she tried to back away, but the darkness solidified behind her and pressed into her. It forced her forward towards Sombra’s grinning face.
He spoke with a deep, dark, husky voice. “So… this is the unicorn who’s proven so resourceful…” He licked his teeth as beads of sweat dripped down Twilight’s face. “…The one who almost took my precious Crystal Heart away from me…”
“A-Almost?!” Twilight stammered nervously.
From within the darkness emerged the Crystal Heart, wrapped in the dark aura of Sombra’s magic. Twilight’s own heart sank into her stomach at the sight. Sombra grinned at her. “I’ll be back for you soon… first I must restore my empire, and deal with your friends... I suggest you make yourself comfortable.”
And with that, Sombra and the heart vanished. But it was a while before the shadows dispersed.
Twilight gulped, hoping her friends would be all right… as well as the Crystal Empire and all of Equestria…
...
Twilight had renewed her attempts to break through the black crystal barricade, with no success. The crystals either resisted her attempts to shatter them or simply regrew. Besides, even if she could escape them, such as with teleportation, a force would pull her back inside the barrier.
It had been hours, it seemed, since Sombra had last visited her. At first she hoped that her friends had found a way, that somehow somepony had found a way to vanquish him. But the hours seemed like years, and despair took her once more. At last, she came to a terrible conclusion. There was one thing she hadn't yet tried... or rather, she had tried it, but was too afraid of the consequences...
She was in the middle of retrying a form of magical blast when darkness enveloped her once more, making her shudder with its chilling caress.
“You know,” Sombra said, his voice echoing around the crystal prison. “You remind me of a mare I knew once. She was interesting. I think you’d have liked her – she was dedicated, studious, magically powerful, and strong of will. Until I took an interest in her. Then I broke her. And you know what? It turned out, inside, she wasn’t so interesting after all.”
“You monster,” was all Twilight could manage, turning to face the sound of the voice. Sombra's visage was obscured behind a mass of shadow, but she could still see his glowing eyes and make out a grin.
“Mm, the words she used were slightly different, but that was the gist of what she tried to say to me. Speaking of mares, I thought you might like to know how your friends fared against my power.”
Twilight gulped.
“The orange one was quite strong… but ultimately helpless. Brute force means nothing against me. She'll make a fine slave, a splendid workhorse.”
Twilight tried to avoid the mental image of Applejack, helplessly bucking at a mass of shadow as it enveloped her.
“The pink one was resourceful, I must say… completely confounding to fight. But sheer randomness can only hold out so long. I made sure she won’t have any space to pull tricks out of her sleeve…”
Twilight’s ears folded back, and she lowered her head to the ground and tried to cover her ears with her hooves. She didn’t want to hear any more. “Stop it.”
“The white mare… too insignificant to even mention. She is a lovely one, though…”
“SHUT UP!”
Sombra licked his lips. “Oh, I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet. The yellow one… haha, she didn’t even tried to fight. She simply fled, as she should have, as soon as she saw how futile it was to fight me. But it was just as futile to run from me. Oh, you should have heard how she begged for mercy… almost worked, too.”
Twilight looked back up at Sombra, the faintest of a grin on your face. The gesture was more for show, more to reassure herself, than to indicate her actual feelings. “You’re lying. Fluttershy’s stronger than that. She wouldn’t abandon her friends, or give up if they were in danger.”
Sombra laughed, closing his eyes as he did so. “Believe what you like. Oh, and the rainbow-maned one… she gave me a lot of trouble with her speed. You can believe that, can’t you?” He looked at her, a grin on his face.
“I’ll bet. Rainbow Dash is-“
“-Dead. I had to kill her. A shame, I would have enjoyed breaking her immensely.”
Twilight sat in silence for a few moments, mentally refusing to accept the word spoken to her. “I think you’re making all this up to mess with me.”
“If that’s true, then why are you still here? Why haven’t I been vanquished and the Crystal Empire under the rule of that pathetic pink alicorn?”
“Don’t talk about Cadence that way!” Twilight jumped up, glaring at Sombra, before a tendril of tangible shadow encircled her neck and yanked her to the ground in a bow.
Sombra’s grin didn’t fade. “I’ll talk about my slaves however I like… speaking of slaves,” he glanced to the side, presumably out towards the Crystal Empire. “…Some of them seem to have the idea that death is preferable to life under my rule, the foals. I must go out and deal with this problem.” The tendril withdrew from Twilight’s neck, caressing the underside of her chin as it left.
“But first… something to remember your blue pegasus friend by.” A tuft of rainbow-colored tail appeared from the shadows and fell to the ground. Twilight stared at it in horror and incredulity as Sombra faded into the shadows and the shadows faded away… but his laughter lingered a moment longer.
Twilight spent the next moments staring at the rainbow-colored hairs on the ground. She wondered if there was any truth to what Sombra had said, if her friends and family were now slaves to a cruel and terrible ruler. She tried not to imagine what Sombra would put them through - or what he would put the entire empire through. Celestia had mercifully spared her those details - the visions of somber chain-gangs of crystal ponies was foreboding enough. Twilight knew what she had to do. She had to break free, no matter what, and find or rescue her friends, her brother, and her sister-in-law.
And the only way she could think of to do that was with black magic.
Twilight closed her eyes, focusing on the essence of the black magic. It was not a pleasant process, for she had to draw on the emotion of hatred, an emotion so terrible that ponies shuddered at the thought of such a pointless, malicious emotion. But she had no choice. If she was to escape, she had to draw on the power of hate… and she had the perfect target.
She thought of Sombra, what he’d said of her friends. She imagined him torturing and enslaving her friends, her family, the crystal ponies, and her rage grew. Her horn began to absorb light instead of radiating it, and then a mass of purple energy began to form around her horn as purple trails seeped from her eyes. As before, there was that revulsion at the magic that was overtaking her, but also a strange sense of euphoria... a sense of pleasure as darkness coursed through her.
At last her emotions came to a peak, and she unleashed a blast of black magic at the crystal barrier, the target of her hatred shifting in that moment to the jagged spikes that dared block her progress.
With a terrible cracking and shattering, the blast of magic smashed through the barrier like a vicious battering ram. Quickly, Twilight darted through the opening, using her telekinesis to lift the shards in her path out of the way.
The first thing she saw was the orange sky. When she reached the edge of the tower, she gasped at what had become of the Crystal Empire. What was once a beautiful portrait of green fields and bright crystals was now a hellish landscape filled with jagged black structures, twisted mockeries of the buildings and gems they once were. Crystal ponies in fearsome-looking guard armor patrolled the streets. There were no signs of civilians – or slaves. Perhaps the population was not yet completely subjected, a thought that gave Twilight hope.
Twilight’s thoughts turned to how best to escape. Going over the edge of the tower seemed both unwise and likely to attract attention, while going back the way she came would be longer, but stealthier. And so she proceeded to confront her first obstacle on the way out: stairs.
As formidable as an obstacle as the stairs down were, they were no match for Twilight’s magic. She simply teleported down each circle of stairs to the landing below, repeating the process with ease until she was at the bottom.
Progressing through the doorway, now with no fear of the nightmare-inducing illusion on the other side, she came across… the other huge set of circular stairs. This she would handle similarly to the way she had “climbed” the second set of stairs on her way to the Crystal Heart: She simply reversed gravity for herself and slid down the stairwell.
Or at least, she would have, if the underside of these stairs were smooth. Instead, they were rocky and jagged. Out of panic, Twilight called upon the black magic again, creating a wave of darkness before her that swept across the surface of the stairwell and disintegrated the rough spikes, leaving a smooth path before her. Onward she slid, feeling the rush of adrenalin and dark magic as she plowed a path in front of her, until at last she reached the “top” – and a wall. Thinking quickly, she teleported herself to the top of the stairs, motionless and at last at the top. The pit leading back down disappeared behind her, leaving a solid floor.
Once again, she stood in Sombra’s throne room. But this time, it was completely different. Where once had stood a symmetrical chamber of vibrant crystals, there was now a dark chamber lined with jagged, corrupted onyx. Most urgently, sitting in the throne was Sombra himself, telekinetically holding a crystal goblet – the only thing in the room that didn’t radiate an aura of fear and malevolence – and looking rather pleased with himself.
Too late, Twilight realized she’d been led into a trap. Sombra chuckled and said, “Well done… you’ve progressed quite far, young one.”
“Sombra!” Twilight tried her best to seem brave, a formidable task when it came to an evil sorcerer and somepony who quite possibly had defeated all her friends. “Where are my friends, Shining Armor, Cadence, Spike?!”
Sombra took a long sip from the goblet before answering. “Silly foal.” He glanced at the goblet. “You know what the problem with crystal is? Crystals not enhanced by my magic, of course. The problem is that, while beautiful… they’re also brittle.” With a crunch, he crushed the goblet into shards with his telekinesis. “Weak. Fragile. I can’t stand weakness.” And with that statement, the shards suddenly zoomed towards Twilight.
Startled, Twilight fired a magical blast at the shards, disintegrating them. Immediately, Sombra launched a wave of magical energy from his horn, a crimson ring of force that swept across the room, shattering several crystal spikes around the room and knocking Twilight off her feet, slamming her into the wall opposite Sombra. She jumped to her feet in time to see the shattered crystals rising under Sombra’s power and flying towards her. She closed her eyes and teleported just in time to dodge them, the shards shattering against the wall.
“Impressive,” Sombra said, rising to his hooves and discarding his robe, his metal armor gleaming. Twilight fired a short magical blast at him, only for the missile to reflect off his armor. A pair of similar blasts met the same fate as Sombra laughed, mocking her. Twilight let out a growl of rage and fired again, this time at his grinning face. But Sombra merely dissolved into shadows, the magical blast shattering the throne behind him, before the shadows faded away.
Sombra’s voice called out to Twilight, from directly behind her. “Over here!” Charging her power, Twilight spun towards him, spotting him on the other side of the room. But as she fired a laser of searing magic, he was already dissolving into shadows as the crystal on the wall behind him melted.
“Where are you aiming?” His voice said mockingly. Once again she spun to face him, beam still firing and scorching a path across the wall, only for him to vanish once more as her power faded.
When he reappeared, she could sense him, as shadows congealed right next to her. She expected a magical attack, but instead he swept his foreleg towards her, hitting her legs and tripping her. Swiftly, he followed that up by spinning and bucking at her, but she teleported away just in time.
This time, it was Sombra who turned to face her, but his attack was far more terrible, as he unleashed a massive blast of black magic, half a dozen trails of darkness arcing towards Twilight on the other side of the room. Swiftly, Twilight put up a magical barrier to defend herself. Against five of the blasts, it held, but the sixth broke the shield and knocked her to the ground, stunning her.
A moment later, Twilight felt a push on her side and she was flipped onto her back. When her vision cleared, she saw Sombra standing above her, as a hoof pressed down onto her chest and held her down. His horn glowed, and she felt herself gripped by his magic, unable to teleport away.
He grinned, licking his lips. “Not a bad performance… but you’re holding back.”
Twilight knew he was right. There was only one thing she could do – summon the powers of darkness. It was the only hope she had.
Twilight summoned up every last reserve of power she had, drawing on her fear, her anger, and focusing it into her magic. But this time, something was different. Something weighed heavy on her heart, wormed its way inside her.
Atop her, Sombra grinned, and began to concentrate his own magic. Twilight could sense the power build up within him, and redoubled her efforts. At this, the feeling in her heart intensified, and then changed. It was as though a dark slime had entered her heart, clinging to her veins. Even as she built up her power, her heart began to race, pumping liquid shadow throughout her body like a poison.
Twilight’s eyes stung as their whites changed to green, the iris to red. Even as the darkness began to consume her, she had no choice but to use this power to save herself. She closed her eyes, for just a brief moment, too afraid to open them, too afraid for her life. She wished she wasn’t in this situation, that she was back in Canterlot under Celestia’s protective wing, or in Ponyville, laughing with her friends. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
She opened her eyes, and they stared deep into Sombra’s, his face mere inches from her own, his horn also charging black magic. And as their eyes locked, both her body and mind were paralyzed.
“Well done… Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra’s voice sounded. But this time his lips didn’t move. The voice was completely in her head.
“Please…” She begged, the only word she could manage. Even now, her power continued to surge, independent of her will. The darkness was no longer just in her blood, it was her blood, and her skin, too. It was as though she were immersed in magic… and fear.
“You’ve done everything I’d hoped for, Twilight… especially mastering black magic. Or rather, letting it master you. You’ll make for a fine student…” He took his hoof off her chest. “Now… let it inside you. Let it all inside you. The fear, the hate, the power.”
He bowed his head forward. His curved horn met hers. The masses of magic they were forming merged together and swept over both of them.
It was as though she was swimming in a sea of boiling darkness… burning with a fury and passion that no longer felt disgusting. It felt good, and in that way it felt wrong, for she didn’t want it to feel this way. Hatred wasn't supposed to feel this way, evil wasn't supposed to feel good...
Sombra’s voice washed over her with the darkness. “Enjoy your last thoughts, Twilight… for you will soon be mine.”
It was as though she was drowning in darkness, desperate to breathe in but not caring whether darkness or light entered her body. She could see nothing but Sombra’s eyes, feel nothing but him upon her and the magic around her. At last she let out her last breath of free will, the thought of her friends. Then she breathed in, and the darkness consumed her.
It was some time before Twilight could be allowed outside the darkness.
As Sombra had doubtless hoped, Twilight soon basked in the dark power that had consumed her. But this was a power born of hatred, and she had plenty of it, all directed towards Sombra. Every time he attempted to reach out to her, she lashed out at him in fury. If she was to be tamed, her hatred would have to be redirected elsewhere.
And so, visions appeared to her of her friends, all of their worst times together.
“You’re not an athlete,” Rainbow Dash said, as the two of them stood at a race’s starting line. “You’re an egghead.” Applejack, meanwhile, was barely holding back a laugh.
In the middle of a field, Pinkie Pie’s tail twitched. As if on cue, an improbable assortment of heavy objects fell on Twilight.
Behind her cottage, Fluttershy wrestled a bear, ending the fight with a sickening twist of the bear’s head.
On the side of a frozen lake, Spike said to Twilight, who was wearing skates – “You’re a natural, all right. A natural disaster!”
She remembered all sorts of things. She remembered the first day they met, in which she was stuffed by Applejack, abused by Rainbow Dash, exploited by Rarity, ignored by Fluttershy, and ambushed by Pinkie Pie. She remembered them each trying to win her favor, pretending to be her “friend” so they could get a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. She remembered them turning on her when Discord came. She remembered pleading to them for help on some occasion, something to do with a report – she couldn’t possibly imagine what it had been about – and they’d just sat back at their picnic and laughed.
She also forgot all sorts of things. All their good times together, all the context behind every sour moment, how each stumbling block in their friendships had made them stronger, strong enough to defeat any threat to Equestria… anything positive in their relationships. She also forgot everything about the bonds that couldn’t be shaken, the bonds with Shining Armor and Cadence.
She didn’t hate Sombra. She hated them. Why, she was grateful to Sombra for freeing her from their pretenses of friendship… she would relish the chance to pay them back for all her wasted time, her dashed hopes. She’d never thought of friendship as worthwhile, but when Celestia had sent her on a mission to “make some friends” she’d – perhaps for a moment – had hopes of something more. But it was just like at Celestia’s school, were everypony only wanted to be “friends” with her because of her connections with the Princess and her magical talents. No matter what she did for them, still they secretly detested her.
And as for Celestia… Twilight was tired of being used as her pawn. Why had she been banished to Ponyville to deal with a bunch of crazy, worthless ponies? Why had they been sent to deal with Sombra, a threat they only had a slim chance of dealing with? There was only one conclusion – Celestia had abandoned her. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it sooner.
As soon as she felt like leaving this soothing, comforting darkness, she’d have to give Celestia a piece of her mind.
…
At last the darkness receded. She was once again in the throne room, with Sombra standing before her, his now-repaired throne behind him.
It looked like there was a smaller seat beside it, now.
Twilight bowed before Sombra, pleased to see him again. In response, he said, “Rise, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Yes… master.” She rose to her hooves again, a grin on her face. “I have a request for you.”
“Oh?” Sombra raised an eyebrow. Doubtless he already knew.
“I would like you to be my new mentor. Teach me everything you know about magic… especially dark magic.”
Sombra gave a dark chuckle. “With pleasure, Miss Sparkle.” He stepped forward towards her, placing a hoof under her chin, raising her eyes to meet his. Red pupils looked into pupils, and the purple contrails of their eyes met. “I hereby accept you as my apprentice, my lieutenant, my servant above all others.”
Twilight grinned even more. “I am yours, King Sombra.” It was nice to have someone who wanted her for what she was.
…
The next few hours were spent in the castle courtyard, with Sombra giving Twilight a quick overview on dark magic, as well as several offensive spells. Black crystal spikes conjured by the pair’s magic made for targets, as well as the occasional crystal pony for when live targets were required.
Soon, the two called it a day and went back inside the castle as the sun began to set, preceded by a small trail of slightly battered crystal ponies marching back to their places in the dungeons. Twilight could feel Sombra’s smile on her as they entered the main hall.
“You learn quickly, my apprentice.”
“Well, I’ve got a skilled teacher.” Twilight said, turning to Sombra beads of sweat and a smile on her face. “Still, I’m glad for the break. I think I’m going to go to the dungeon… see how my “friends” like the new me.”
“Ah, about that.” Sombra’s smile faded. “There is one test I must ask of you, Twilight… you may recall that I implied that I’d captured your friends.”
At that moment, there was a sudden crash, and the gates to the castle were thrown open by the impact of a crystal pony in dark Blackguard armor flying into them, before the unfortunate guard skidded across the floor to a stop, unconscious. Behind the gates were five ponies who Twilight knew very well.
Twilight turned to face her five former friends with a look of cold contempt on her face. They’d had looks of triumph on their faces only moments before, but these changed as they saw Twilight standing near Sombra, her eyes the same color as his. Twilight liked seeing the collective look on their faces.
“I leave this in your hooves, Twilight.” Sombra said before dissolving into shadows and speeding further into the castle.
“Twilight, dear,” Rarity began, nervously. “Are you all right?”
“Gr-reat!” Twilight grinned as she spoke, seizing them all with her telekinesis, surrounding them with a dark glow and bringing them before her. “Just great.”
“What the hay-“ Rainbow Dash began to say, wings flapping uselessly to escape Twilight’s magical grip, before Twilight slammed her into the ground.
“Shut up,” she said, bringing Rainbow back up again.
“Sugarcube-“ Applejack tried to say. In response, Twilight flipped them all upside-down and slammed them down to the ground on their heads, before releasing them. They sprawled on the ground, dazed, and Twilight continued her tirade, relishing the chance to finally let out her feelings.
“All of you, just shut up. I’ve had enough of you, enough of your stupid terms of endearment, enough of your pathetic attempts to suck up to me!”
Pinkie Pie was the first to recover. “Huh?”
Twilight responded by magically tossing her to the side, where she slammed into a wall. “I’ve dealt with it for years, dealing with your fake friendship only because Celestia wanted me to! Well, now I have a new mentor, and he doesn’t care about friendship!”
Fluttershy squeaked, “T-Twilight…”
Twilight brought Fluttershy close to her, hanging her head-down while she stared into her terrified eyes. “He values power. And that’s what I have, now that I’m free of all of you!”
At that moment she dropped Fluttershy, the reason being that Rainbow Dash had just slammed into her, breaking her concentration. Snarling, she watched as Rainbow made another pass. “Haven’t changed a bit, have you, Rainbow Crash.” As Rainbow zoomed towards her again, Twilight summoned a crystal pillar in front of her, causing to slam into the crystal, smash right through, lose control, and hit the wall behind Twilight before slumping to the ground
The next challenger was Applejack, who wordlessly charged towards Twilight but was repelled by a smoky barrier, which clung to her body and started burning away at her fur. Twilight’s next spell was a wave of force which shoved Applejack away and sent her flying in an arc.
Twilight grinned. It was actually fun, testing out her new powers on her “friends” like this, far better than on inanimate targets or even strangers. It felt exhilarating, the dark magic flowing through her, sinking into every fiber of her being.
“Twilight…” Rarity spoke this time, but Twilight didn’t toss her for her insolence – she was more focused on the others, making sure no surprise attacks were incoming. “Why? What did Sombra do to you?”
“He gave me the chance to escape from you!”
“But Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said, still upside-down and scrunched against the wall, “Why didn’t you say something? If that’s how you felt?”
“I… don’t know…” Twilight hesitated only for a moment. “I guess because Celestia wanted me to! Not like I could refuse her! The things she’d have done to me if I failed her… that’s the only reason I obeyed her!”
“That’s not true, Twily.” This time, the voice came from behind her… the voice of a stallion she didn’t recognize.
She spun around, and saw at the other end of the hall a tall white unicorn stallion with dark crystals embedded in his horn, flanked on one side by a pink alicorn and on the other side by Spike.
“Who are you?!” Twilight shouted at him.
“Don’t you recognize me?” The stallion frowned. “I’m your brother, Shining Armor!”
“I don’t-” Twilight had been about to sternly proclaim “I don’t have a brother” but somehow something twitched in her memory. She… she couldn’t remember if she had a brother or not. The purple contrails of dark magic flowing from her eyes flickered. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? You don’t remember how you foiled the changeling plot at my wedding with Cadence?”
“I… who’s Cadence?” The name seemed vaguely familiar to her. Doubt was not a feeling she liked, and it was starting to creep into her.
The pink alicorn stepped forward, approaching Twilight, who called out, “Stay back!”
The alicorn stopped… and dropped down into a crouch. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake,” – she started doing a strange dance – “Clap your hooves and-”
“-Do a little shake.” Twilight’s mouth finished alongside her, though her body didn’t follow Cadence’s prompt. Instead, she took a step back as her magic trails flickered again. “Look, I don’t mean you any harm, but I’m not going to let you interfere!”
“Twily,“ Shining Armor said, “Try and remember. Your friendship with them has saved Equestria several times, like banishing Nightmare Moon and Discord. Don’t you remember that?”
“I…” Twilight frowned and closed her eyes, struggling at the gaps in her memory. She suddenly remembered herself and her five “friends” facing off against a black alicorn… and she remembered a feeling that she couldn’t quite recognize, yet it felt… good. A strange warmth in her heart which began to drive back the darkness.
She shook her head. “They aren’t my friends!”
“Yes they are, Twily. You care about each other more than anything else, you’d do anything for each other.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Just turn around.”
Twilight glanced behind her, and was surprised to see all five of her “friends” standing behind her in a half-circle… alert, but not aggressive.
“What…” Twilight was once more at a loss for words as she faced them. “If you had the chance, why didn’t you attack me?”
“And get knocked around again, sugarcube?” Applejack gave a small grin. “Fightin’ isn’t the answer.”
“We don’t want to hurt you, Twilight.” Rarity said. “What we want is our friend back.”
Rainbow Dash held her head. “And trying to knock sense into you wasn’t working.”
Pinkie smiled, something she hadn’t done since she first walked into the hall. “Yeah! Sometimes sense just can’t be knocked! You have to ring the doorbell and wait for it to answer the door instead!”
“What?” Was all Twilight had to say to that.
“What we’re saying,” Fluttershy said, quietly, “Is that we want you back. We trust you, Twilight… enough to leave our fate in your hooves, because we know that, deep inside, we’re still your friends.”
It took Twilight a few moments to process that. When it finally happened, she felt the warmth in her heart explode, driving away the darkness and soothing her, like she’d just sat next to a fire after being so cold she couldn’t even feel it. A tear appeared in her eye, and then she rushed into a group hug with her friends.
“I’m… I’m so sorry!” Another tear appeared, and then another, washing away the green and the red as they flowed. “I… I didn’t realize… Sombra fooled me, wiping away all the good memories so that it seemed like you were just a bunch of fakes pretending to be friends with me.”
“It’s all right, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said. “We forgive you!”
Twilight felt a push from behind as Shining Armor, Cadence, and Spike joined the group hug. She smiled and said, "By the way, where were you three? I never thought to ask Sombra where Spike was, and I'd completely forgotten about my brother and sister-in-law..."
Spike spoke up nervously, "Well... Sombra captured us, but apparently our friends have been forming a bit of a resistance amongst the crystal ponies. They snuck into the dungeons and freed us while you guys were fighting.
Twilight smiled. “Thanks, all of you… I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t gotten through to me.”
Cadence spoke up, “No point in dwelling on that. We still have a kingdom to save.”
“Yes…” Twilight’s face darkened. “Sombra has to be dealt with and the Crystal Heart has to be recovered. I can tell you where the heart is, but I need to face Sombra myself.”
“But Twilight-!” Rainbow started to say.
“No buts. I know we’ve always done things together… and doing things by myself may have cost us the Crystal Empire… but you all don’t stand a chance against Sombra. But I can hold him off long enough for you to get the Crystal Heart working.”
“So, what’s your plan?” Shining Armor asked Twilight.
“Sombra’s no fool. He’ll keep the Crystal Heart close to him… I just need to get him away from it, or distract him long enough for you all to take it and return it to its place.”
Applejack pawed the ground nervously. “How in the hay are you gonna do that?”
Twilight hesitated a moment. They weren't going to like what she had in mind, and she knew that because she didn't like it either. “…I have an idea. Just be glad you won’t have to go through this. And whatever you do, don’t interfere. In the meantime, though…” She frowned. “We’re going to need some help, and I think I know the right pony for the job. Spike, take a letter.”
...
Twilight strode into Sombra’s throne room alone. Her stride was a little less confident than she would have hoped… but this was something she had to do.
Sombra had a grin on his face as he slouched on his throne, clad in armor and robe. “Twilight Sparkle, “redeemed” from the darkness. Why am I not surprised?” He doubtless could see the change in her eyes, the half-defiant, half-afraid expression on her face.
Twilight gulped. “You knew this would happen? That your little tricks would fail?” That really came out less confident than she would have hoped.
“I suspected it. Still… it was worth a shot. Besides, I enjoyed myself.” He grinned even more, showing off his fangs.
Twilight thought she could see the Crystal Heart, embedded in the wall above the throne. Not very well protected, but a moot point if Sombra insisted on taking the Crystal Heart with him at all times. His previous method had worked well, but he’d be a fool to rely on the same tactic too much.
Twilight, meanwhile, had a very strong urge to punch that grin off his face. She was getting tired of seeing it. And, to the rest of the world, it looked like she was going to do just that. She suddenly broke into a gallop, magic in her horn charging. Sombra reacted quickly, forming a black crystal spire between them, but Twilight fired a magical blast at the tower, shattering it as she leaped through the shards and straight into Sombra.
The two locked eyes as Twilight called upon dark magic for what she hoped would be the last time.
Suddenly, the two found themselves enveloped by darkness. They stood apart now, several lengths away, and Sombra was looking around with a mix of confusion and admiration.
“Ha ha… you really do learn quickly, my dear student. Thinking to trap me in my own nightmares, hmm?”
Twilight tried to focus, trying to keep Sombra’s mind contained in the dark world. Sombra’s laughter, meanwhile, began to turn maniacal.
“Have you forgotten!? I am the lord of nightmares!” The darkness melted away, turning into a hellishly-lit version of the stained-glass hallway of legends in Canterlot Castle.
“Welcome to MY WORLD!” Sombra sent out a massive wave of energy that threw Twilight off her feet, sending her flying into the back wall, as the force blew out the stained-glass windows and revealed a vista of Canterlot in flames, the sounds of screaming ponies drifting up through the openings.
Twilight righted herself in time to face a swarm of stained glass shards heading her way. Quickly, she erected a barrier, the shards grinding themselves into dust on impact. Next, Sombra telekinetically wrested a pillar from its position, and hurled it like a javelin at her. Just before its impact against her barrier she teleported, reappearing a moment later behind Sombra.
Sombra turned in time to receive a magical blast to the face. Undeterred, his horn radiated darkness once more, and black crystals began to sprout from the floor around Twilight. She quickly darted to the side to avoid being impaled as spires erupted where she had just been. Another wave of spikes burst forth, surrounding her, but she teleported away before the rising spike in the center could impale her.
Sombra let out a dark chuckle. “You are a scholar, Twilight, not a warrior.” He turned and, spotting her position, fired a blast of dark energy at her, only for her to teleport away. “I have the advantage of countless methods of violence available to me.” The air around her began to heat up to searing levels, and she teleported away again, while Sombra continued, “I’ve been toying with you, but only so long as it amuses me.”
He fired a series of dark magic spheres into the air, which paused for a moment before zooming towards Twilight. As quickly as ever she teleported away, but rather than slamming into the floor or wall they halted, only to resume their course towards Twilight as she reappeared. Eyes wide, she teleported away again, this time reappearing just behind Sombra, with him between her and the spheres. As they zoomed towards him, they suddenly dispersed, and Twilight received a sharp buck to the face.
Once again Twilight lay sprawled on the ground. Once again, as before, Sombra pressed his hoof down on her chest, but this time the pressure was crushing. She could barely breathe as he spoke, “Enough of this. Release us both from this waste of time, or I shall turn your existence into one worthy of the term ‘eternal nightmare.’” To accentuate his point, he used his telekinesis on her, gripping her and slowly crushing her.
She gasped slightly, desperate for air. But she kept the memory of her friends alive, determined to buy them as much time as possible. Only she could undo this nightmare, and she had no intention of doing so, because for every moment she suffered, her friends had more time to activate the Crystal Heart.
After a long moment the pressure released, only for an array of spikes to form beneath Twilight, impaling her on a bed of dark needles. Her gasp of breath became a scream. Sombra growled. “You’ve lost, Twilight. Surrender or face eternal torment.”
The spikes receded, and Twilight managed a choking laugh. “I don’t need to beat you… to win.”
Sombra’s eyes widened, just as a wave of emotion flooded over Twilight - the feelings of love and unity, coming from seemingly no source at all. At that moment, she knew. Her friends had activated the Crystal Heart. They’d won.
Sombra cried out in pain, staggering away from her. Twilight jumped to her feet, triumph on her face. “Your body’s been destroyed, Sombra, I can feel it. You’re so far gone even the power of love can’t help you. I’ll gladly end this nightmare, and leave you trapped in it forever!” The now-ruined hall of Canterlot Castle faded to darkness as Twilight gave Sombra a smirk.
“Not so fast!” Sombra snarled at Twilight.
The smirk faded.
Sombra gave a roar as tendrils of darkness erupted from nowhere around Twilight, grappling her and constricting her, as his will forced its way into her mind. “I shall take your soul with me, Twilight Sparkle!” She felt his mind ravage hers, going over her feelings, her memories, threatening to shatter them all.
And then he came to the letter she’d dictated to Spike such a short time ago.
As if on cue, new presence intruded into the nightmare. A dark blue alicorn appeared behind Twilight, and in the glow of her horn the bonds around Twilight receded.
Sombra growled. “You!”
Luna put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Goodbye, Sombra.”
The nightmare faded, and Sombra with it, his roar of defiance fading into silence.
Twilight awoke, lying on her back, with Princess Luna standing over her and her friends and family surrounding her. The Castle had regained its natural color, as though Sombra had never come to power. The only trace of him remaining was his horn. Twilight smiled. “I assume you were able to help get the Crystal Heart?”
Luna nodded. “We recalled enough dark magic to be able loose it from its perch, and we swiftly ferried it to its rightful place. The defiance your friends had shown to Sombra roused enough crystal ponies to action to activate the Crystal Heart.”
“But then we found you lying here,” Pinkie Pie said, “and Fluttershy asked, ‘What should we do?’ and Rainbow Dash said, ‘We need to snap her out of it!’ and then Luna went and her eyes went all dark and then you came back!”
Luna stepped back while Twilight rose to her hooves again. “Thanks, all of you. I couldn’t have done this without you…” Her friends took this as a prompt for another group hug.
Despite this, Twilight’s smile faded slightly. “I… I just don’t know what I’m going to tell Celestia. I mean… I was almost turned to evil and became Sombra’s lieutenant. I think that counts as failing the test…”
“Fear not, brave Twilight,” Luna said. “thou hast endured things beyond most ponies nightmares, and at long last we triumphed. I am sure she will be lenient.”
Twilight’s smile returned and she broke from the hug to give Luna’s neck a brief nuzzle. “You’re right. I can think about what to say on the way back.”
She turned to her friends and family, all smiling at her. “Let’s go home.”
And with that, the group trotted, skipped, and walked out of the throne room, through the halls of the castle and towards the Crystal Empire’s streets where a throng of cheering Crystal Ponies awaited them beneath the aurora-filled night sky. But Twilight was slightly slower than the rest… for as she left the throne room she heard in her head a dark, husky voice.
