Gotcha
Pinkamena wished that she could plan the things in her life much more. She knew that nopony could have absolute control over their own life, that spontaneous and random events were a given. Yet, it didn't stop her from hoping that her days could go how she wanted.
That went out the window the moment the sirens went off that fateful morning.
Pinkamena mindlessly thundered out of the camp, her hooves leading her towards the bustling soldiers that rushed to gain a sense of order. Breakfast hadn't even been an hour ago and she could still see some of her less than professional comrades had porridge on their muzzles. She might have rolled her eyes had she not done the same thing herself.
She was soon locked into a tight row, where there was nowhere to look but forward. Pinkamena felt a nudge come from her right: Maud.
At least she had her sister beside her, she conceded. Even Princess Celestia didn't have that luxury. Pinkamena didn't know where she'd be without her. Probably six feet deep, probably not. She really didn't know.
"They're coming," Maud told her.
Pinkamena didn't tell her that she already knew that. She knew since before the sirens blared out and had them get into position. She could feel the tremble in her hooves when she stepped outside when the sun rose. She had said her prayers to whoever created the very sun and moon that Celestia wielded. She had said her silent goodbyes to everyone she loved. Maud, however, didn't need to know that.
She never knew if she'd be coming back. It'd be conceited for her to think she would, to think she was invincible, to think that she could fare well enough to survive this daily bloodbath.
Another nudge from Maud. "You're worried."
Pinkamena grimaced. She hated that she broadcast how she felt with everything she did. She wished she could be like Maud, not just in strength, not just in name, but in spirit. Maud was like a boulder; it'd take more than a few simple hits to get her to crack open.
"Pinkie," Maud said, her tone soft. Only she could call her that.
Pinkamena glanced at her from the corner of her eye.
"Don't die."
Pinkamena did smile that time. "I won't."
What no one knew was that they had just said, ‘I love you,’ in their own, twisted, Pie sister way. There was no love to be had on the battlefield. There was only survival.
The feeling in Pinkie's hooves was no longer relevant as feeling turned to noise, the rhythmic beat of the damned clamoring in her ears. A wave of black came into view, and suddenly, Pinkamena remembered what darkness looked like. Calculated. Calm. Crushing.
The sound paused. So did the wave. As did Pinkamena.
'The calm before the storm,' Pinkamena thought.
The silence broke with the break of dawn as Equestria's hope, Princess Celestia, strode past her subjects. Her wings were held steadfast to her side, her head was high, and her steps were light,̶ ;impossibly quiet. This silence managed to destroy the tense atmosphere from before, her glowing figure breaking through the air of gray that smothered her ponies.
Pinkamena wondered if she wanted Luna there beside her.
Celestia's wings snapped outwards, the blazing, orange sun reflecting off her pristine wings and awakening a fire within her. Like a phoenix, flames took flight off of her and spread across her body. Doubts were no longer present as the Princess of the Sun was reborn by the flames of the very celestial body she controlled.
The phoenix raised her hoof. The calm was no more; the storm had begun.
Maud and Pinkamena did not separate. They both knew that they were stronger with each other than on their own. As they came to the cloud of chaos and wove through their comrades in arms, not once did they have to look to know that the other was by their side. No foe too big for the Pie Sisters to handle as long as they were together.
A stallion came barreling towards Maud, his soulless, green eyes glowing with the fire of meaningless hatred. Maud's hoof came swinging into his helmet and he was on the ground within a second. Pinkamena did not strike him, knowing that no amount of injury would be able to stop Sombra's soldiers. All he needed were bodies to fill the armor; they didn't need to be alive for him to control them.
Pinkamena felt something coming towards her rear and her hind legs instinctively kicked out in retaliation. The loud thud assured her that it had been effective. Yet, the previous soldier from before rose again, and launched onto her, his forelegs wrapping around her.
"At least ask me to dinner first!" Pinkamena snapped as she reared up and fell onto her back. She didn't apply force, fearing that the spikes on the armor would pierce her skin. He fell off of her and she leaped away so he couldn't grab her.
"Pinkie!"
Pinkamena's heart raced as her eyes found Maud being piled on by three different soldiers. She readied her stance, then sprang forward, her teeth bared. She tightened onto the biggest of the three and threw him back with her body, rolling in the dirt and kicking up dust. Her sight was hindered, but she could still see the glowing green eyes and struck her hoof between them.
She heard a crack.
Pinkamena, shocked as she was, didn't stay to inspect the body when she felt somepony grab onto her and place her in a hoof lock. Pinkamena kicked out, but the soldier had her up to where she couldn't hit them.
"Let me go or so help me I'll kill you!"
The soldier did not respond.
Pinkamena growled. "Maud, get over here and help me!"
"Busy!" Maud shouted back, surprisingly expressive as she knocked back two of the Crystal Soldiers. She started a dash towards her sister, but a fallen soldier latched onto her leg, yanking her back as the other Crystal Soldiers arose from the ground.
Pinkamena groaned. "Well, cheer camp, don't fail me now!"
Leaning back first, she swung her body's weight forward until her hooves touched the ground and she had the mare lifted into the air. She propelled onto her front legs in a handstand with all her might, launching the mare out in front of her. Pinkamena watched as she knocked down several of her comrades like a bowling ball would to pins.
"Strike!" she exclaimed, grinning.
She heard Maud grunt behind her and she looked back at her through her forelegs upside down. Maud was panting and her eyes were narrowed disapprovingly.
"Save it for the bar," Maud ground out, her teeth grit as she scanned her surroundings.
Pinkamena was about to make a snappy comeback when she saw a previously defeated stallion thundering towards Maud, who was still catching her breath. She flipped backwards and vaulted into the air, then pointed her hooves as she came downwards. She crashed into the stallion and forced him into the ground as a crater formed around them.
"Watch your six!" Pinkamena snarled, climbing out of the crater.
Maud opened her mouth to respond, but, instead, she grabbed onto Pinkamena and pulled her downwards. Pinkamena felt something graze over their heads and she looked past Maud to see an arrow pierce the ground.
"Watch yours," Maud told her, helping her back up.
"Since when did they start using arrows?" Pinkamena heard Pokey Pierce, a Unicorn guard, blurt out, ducking as another arrow came his way.
Pinkamena felt an arrow whiz past her ear as she and Maud scrambled out of the crater. Her ears flattened partially out of fear and partially out of annoyance. "Maybe the same time you decided to get your shit together, Pokey!"
Pokey glared at her as he dodged another arrow. "Says the one who treats everything like a joke!"
Pinkamena rolled her eyes, but she still managed to weave past another arrow. "Only the ones I find funny!"
Suddenly, the arrows became more concentrated in numbers and came more rapidly. Pinkamena grabbed onto Pokey's collar and pulled him out of the barrage of arrows, with Maud darting after her. They leaped into the trenches, away from the lethal projectiles.
"Feel like laughing now?" Pokey snapped, shooting her a sharp look.
Pinkamena grinned. "Not yet."
Maud looked over at her. "Are you going to do something stupid?"
"Depends on what you constitute as 'stupid'."
"Yes, then?"
Pinkamena grabbed Maud’s hooves with her own, the corners of her lips turned upwards. "Not without you, I'm not."
Maud, to Pinkamena only, smiled in return. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
"You two are crazy," Pokey breathed out.
"Figured you'd know at least one of us was," Pinkamena replied, shooting him a wink.
If Maud were capable, she would have rolled her eyes. "Ready?"
"Like I'm Freddy."
They launched out of the trench, twisting and turning through the onslaught of arrows. Maud was straightforward as always, dodging the arrows as they came close to her. Pinkamena, however, still holding on to what fun she could have, made a game of it. She flipped and cartwheeled through, trying not to laugh gleefully as each arrow tried and failed to hit her.
She never felt so alive.
"Pinkie," Maud said. "Here they come."
Pinkamena paused in her acrobatics to see the truth in Maud's words. She grinned, her eyes catching Maud's, who nodded back to her. Pinkamena ran to her, and she felt light as air as Maud lifted her.
"Incoming!" Pinkamena exclaimed as she was shot out towards the archers. She knew they wouldn't heed her warning.
When she flew through the air, her weight seemed to disappear. The wind brushed past her body in waves and she wondered if this was what being a Pegasus felt like. She shook the thought away and twisted her body into a spin, her hooves pointed out together like a drill. She crashed in between two of the archers and the rest fell down like dominoes.
"Bulls-eye!" she proclaimed.
Maud nodded. "Nice shot."
Pinkamena crinkled her brows in annoyance. “You threw me."
Maud's eyes widened suddenly. "Look out!"
Pinkamena turned her attention to behind her. She let out a shriek as a black pillar rose out of the ground. She darted to Maud's side, her heart beating out of her chest.
"What the—" Pinkamena tried to blurt out, but she was pulled away by Maud when another pillar shot out from where she was standing.
"He's here," Maud stated, her eyes never leaving the pillars.
Pinkamena's eyes widened at the echo of the splitting earth and the quaking beneath her hooves. That didn't sound good.
Several more pillars materialized out of the ground, trapping the two of them within their barriers. The Royal Guard, led by Captain Shining Armor, attempted to blast away the crystalline towers upon their charge, but their shots were reflected back onto them and took out some of their own. The Wonderbolts pursued their own plans by flying through the expanding forest, dropping like flies when a new branch struck out and hit them. Some of them were unfortunate enough to remain on the branches and had to wait for death to take them while their comrades died on impact. Pinkamena felt her heart drop when the final Pegasus fell, despite her efforts to avoid the others’ fates.
"It's too dangerous!" Maud exclaimed. "We have to get out of here!"
"Where are all these pillars coming from?" Pinkamena screeched, huddling close to her sister.
Before Maud could answer, they felt the ground beneath them quake as yet another crystal pillar emerged. Knocking them up and away from each other, Pinkamena landed in a hard crash on the ground. She came to her hooves as quick as she could, her heart racing by not knowing what became of her sister. Lifting her gaze, she looked just in time to see Maud knocked back by another pillar. Pinkamena's heart clenched, her blood running cold.
"Maud!" she cried out. She tried to reach her, but she was pushed back.
Maud staggered, then steadied herself. "Get out! We can't stay here!"
Another pillar nearly crashed into Pinkamena, obscuring Maud from her vision. "Where will I find you?"
Maud just barely dodged another crystal. "Anywhere but here!"
Pinkamena bit her quivering lip. Then, with her heart weighing a ton, darted away from her sister. "Don't die!"
Maud didn't reply.
Pinkamena ran as fast as she could, but, this time, there was no concealed glee or joy. There was only fear and contempt as Pinkamena flew through every hurdle and curb that came her way, tears burning her eyes. She furiously swiped at her cheeks and chided herself for letting herself get so caught up in her emotions. Maud never did that.
Suddenly, she was out of the wild, ever-growing forest of crystals, and the air she breathed no longer seemed to suffocate her with dirt and debris. She bolted from the crystals, lethal and deadly as they reached out towards any who came near them. Pinkamena didn't stop running until she was away from any impending danger and she found herself at the top of a desolate hill.
Everything was in complete disarray.
Some of the Unicorn Guard attempted to fight the Crystal Soldiers in the battle field now turned asunder by the crystals, some of them trying to climb them, but failing as they were knocked back by new growth. The Air Team tried to fly to the top, but they were shot down by arrows and fell before they could even reach it.
"Wait a minute..." Pinkamena murmured, eyeing the crystals. As she realized what was the cause of the crystals, she mentally slapped herself for not picking up on it sooner.
King Sombra, the Unicorn said have a heart as black as night, stood atop the highest pillar, spectating the scene before him with a bemused smile. He wore dark, silver armor, scantily clad in comparison to his heavily armored troops. He didn't seem perturbed, however, as he stood proudly, barely doing a thing to protect himself.
'Cocky bastard,' Pinkamena thought, her teeth gritting. She wished that she had seen him sooner.
Pinkamena had caught sight of him plenty of times before, but she never had the luck of getting to see him from up close. She only had the grace of seeing him from afar, watching, waiting for an opportune time to strike. He only engaged in battle when necessary, and even then, he barely did a thing. Yet, even so, she saw the damage he could inflict. She remembered all the soldiers that came back, babbling and screeching about horrible nothings. She worried if she'd end up the same way.
King Sombra grinned viciously as a Pegasus came flying towards him and his horn glowed brighter as a laugh rose out of his throat.
Pinkamena smiled as she caught sight of the rainbow atop the Pegasus' head. "Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash, one of the Wonderbolts' best flyers, zipped through the air and dodged each and every one of Sombra's shots. Even if her spectral mane was covered, Pinkamena would have recognized her by her magenta eyes that seemed to glow red whenever she was on the battlefield.
"Well, I'm not gonna let her have all the fun," Pinkamena said, a half smile coming onto her face. Besides, Maud would never forgive her if she had let Rainbow get herself killed.
She slid down the hill, then jumped off as she came to the ground. She rushed past the Crystal Soldiers, back towards the crystals, but not close enough to get hit. A couple of Crystal Soldiers tried to grab her, but she wove past them and knocked away any who got in her way. She wasn't about to let anything stop her now.
Pinkamena glared upwards as Rainbow came flying down to avoid another blast from Sombra.
"What's she doing?" She snapped to no one in particular.
Rainbow shot downwards and landed on the ground, dust kicking up around her. She looked up, her eyes losing their blood lust as they fell upon Pinkamena.
"And she sticks the landing," Pinkamena commended, unable to hide her smirk.
Rainbow spat on the ground, crimson lacing her saliva. "Where's your sister?"
Pinkamena frowned. "Nice to see you, too, Dash." She looked at the crystals, which seemed to stop growing so much. "We got separated not too long ago."
Rainbow arched a brow. "That doesn't sound good." She cringed when another blast came up from above. "How you holding up?"
Pinkamena was about to respond, but her tail began twitching horribly. She snatched Rainbow by the collar and pulled her behind her. "Get down!"
A loud crash resonated in the air, dust and rocks hitting Pinkamena in the face as the ground trembled. She glanced out and grit her teeth at the still Pegasus that laid not too far from where they stood.
"We can save the chit-chat for later." Pinkamena looked at the top of the pillars, but she didn't see Sombra. "Can you fly with me?"
Rainbow snorted. "Why?"
Pinkamena pointed upwards. "Because I'm gonna knock that bastard off that pillar."
Rainbow raised her brows. "How are we gonna come in on him? He keeps knocking down whoever comes near him! Besides, he'll be gone before you can do a thing. You've seen how he is; he never stays in one place too long." She spared a look up at the pillars. "I'm surprised he's stayed there for as long as he has."
Pinkamena snarled. "Because he's thinks he's untouchable. He only moves when he's threatened." She pulled Rainbow close. "And I'm about to threaten him like he's never been threatened before."
"Was that supposed to be intimidating?"
Pinkamena grit her teeth. "Take me up there. If I die, have them make a statue of me in my honor." She frowned a bit. "But don't make it look stupid."
"And if you live?" Rainbow questioned.
"I'll buy you a drink at the bar."
Rainbow smirked. "Well, can't argue with that."
She flapped her wings to gain lift off and grabbed Pinkie by the middle, then zoomed up into the air. Pinkamena tried not to smile as she came close to the top. It would have been jinxing it to think she already won the battle before it truly began.
"Any plans I should know about?" Rainbow asked, grunting a bit as they came closer.
"Don't get killed," Pinkamena answered.
Rainbow sighed. "Surprised that's gotten you this far."
Pinkamena shrugged a bit. "Just been lucky, I guess."
That was a lie, she knew. She had spent a dozen weeks in training alongside other mares and stallions hoping to aid in the fight against Sombra. She was nothing more than a rural farmgirl in the eyes of her fellow trainees and mentor, and it was there she learned that being the weakest link was not an option. She had scars before she even entered the battlefield, and, upon her arrival, she had made it her mission to leave a couple for ponies to remember her by. It took a lot more than luck for her to have gotten this far.
As they came to the top, Sombra saw them almost immediately. Pinkamena felt Rainbow tighten her grip when he shot down another Pegasus before he turned towards them. If he was surprised, it didn't show on his stony face.
Pinkamena dropped onto the pillar. "Hello, there."
As soon as she spoke, Sombra disappeared with an alluding smirk on his face.
"Shit," Rainbow muttered, just loud enough for Pinkamena to hear.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Pinkamena snapped, sparing her a sharp look while she scanned her surroundings. The tops of the crystal pillars were split apart from each other, where she could see the still, but lethal crystals beneath her. She hoped that she wouldn't fall.
Rainbow's eyes darted left and right as she floated over towards Pinkamena. "I told you he wouldn't just stand here while you—"
Rainbow didn't finish her thought as a blast sounded through the air, sending a shock up Pinkamena's spine. She turned her head, her hoof to her face in horror as her mouth hung wide open.
Rainbow Dash's left wing was gone.
"Rainbow!" Pinkamena screeched, reaching out to her as she fell into the forest of crystals beneath them. She watched in terror as her friend's eyes closed and she looked away as tears stung her own, refusing to see the horrible things that would come unto her.
She screwed her eyes shut. 'I should never have asked her to take me up here...'
"How cute," a deep, rumbly voice said.
Pinkamena opened her eyes, her hooves still clinging tightly to the edge that Rainbow fell over. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed.
Standing before her was none other than Sombra, smiling, like he had just found a bit on the ground.
"You," she growled, standing up to face him.
He looked past her, where Rainbow once was. "You thought you could just have your friend drop you off, didn't you?"
Pinkamena bit the insides of her cheeks and released them to speak. "You blasted off her wing."
"How perceptive," he commented. "Perhaps you are smarter than you look."
She snarled at him.
Sombra arched a brow. "Is that supposed to intimidate me?"
Pinkamena struck out her hoof and crashed into his muzzle, causing his head to jerk hard to the side. He whipped around to face her, his eyes wide with bewilderment before narrowing in anger. A guttural sound left Pinkamena’s lips as she swung again, her eyes seeing red as she tried to strike him again. Sombra moved with terrifying speed, however, and her strike caused her to tumble forward as she lost her balance. Her head jerked left and right to find him, but her search came to an abrupt end when something grabbed a hold of her collar. Sombra flipped her around to face her, his hooves gripping her shoulders tightly. His red eyes seemed to burn within his glowing, green corneas, and Pinkamena saw her own reflection within his black irises.
“That was a mistake,” he ground out, his horn lighting up.
Pinkamena’s nostrils flared. “So was killing my friend!”
She pushed against his chest with her hind legs like she was kicking a boulder and he lost his grip on her. She scrambled to her hooves, but she was knocked back by a sharp jab on the side of her head. Pinkamena tottered on the edge of the pillar as she stood on her hind legs, trying to regain her balance as Sombra appeared in front of her. He simply smirked as he pushed a hoof to her chest, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to fall back.
Pinkamena fell.
She reached out blindly for something to grab on while she screamed, praying that she would at least die quickly on impact. She felt her hoof hook around a jagged crystal and she felt her body swing hard as she clung on tightly. As she regained her breath, she looked down. Her vision blurred at the distance beneath her and she swallowed the bile in her throat as she looked away.
Pinkamena pulled herself up and perched on the crystal carefully, looking for another hold for her to grab onto. She felt around quickly and sighed in relief as she held onto it. She nearly lost her grip when she heard a laugh come from above her.
"Well, I guess we'll have to chat later!" Sombra exclaimed, looking down upon her with a sick grin. "Tell your friend hi for me!"
He shot out a beam and it hit the crystal, causing her to fall again.
Luck was on her side once more, however, as she landed on a large branch of crystal some ways down. Maybe she really was lucky after all.
Pinkamena glared at the sky through the jagged branches, thought Sombra was nowhere to be seen now.
'I'm not gonna let him get away with this,' she vowed silently, climbing up onto the branch again. She began scaling the towering crystals, her heart pounding and her vision tunneled.
When she finally arrived at the top of the pillars again, she peered above them. Seeing no sign of Sombra, she climbed out and stood on guard.
"Where the hell did he—" she tried to say, but she was silenced as a blast blew past her ear.
"The next one won't miss," she heard him say.
She whipped around, her teeth bared as she got ready to spring onto him. He merely frowned at her.
"You're rather persistent, aren't you?" he observed. "Most wouldn't survive that drop, but you didn't let that stop you."
She leaped forward and tried to grab him, but he moved too quickly. He grabbed her collar with his magic and stared her down as she struggled to get her hooves back on the ground.
"Impulsive," he commented. "Not too bright, are we?"
She swung her body forward and wrapped her hind legs around Sombra's neck, who jerked back his body to try to get free. His magic lost hold of her and she wrapped her body around his face.
"Get off!" Sombra snarled, trying to shake her off.
Pinkamena felt heat from his face and she realized he was powering up his horn. Her hind legs let go of him, but her forelegs hung tightly to his mane and she flipped herself onto his back. By the time his horn was powered up, she tugged on it and made him shoot out randomly.
"Damn you!" he growled.
"Aw, you missed," she said, wrapping her forelegs around his neck. "That's what happens when you try to rush things with a mare."
Sombra slammed his hoof into hers, breaking her grip off of him. He reared back, knocking her body off him with such a force she slid across to the edge.
Sombra spat out to the side. "You insolent, little foal!"
Pinkamena dodged him as he reared up once more and slammed his hooves down, shaking the ground beneath them. When she fell back, she screamed and made a leap for him, but he was too quick for her. He jumped onto another pillar as it appeared beneath him. Sombra spared her a glance as he moved away.
"Catch me if you can," he taunted, his smirk deepening as a chuckle rose out of his throat.
Pinkamena glared at him and she backed herself up. She stormed across the pillar and flew across the distance between them. Sombra, however, merely smiled and teleported away.
"Dammit!" she screeched, skidding to stop.
"Aw, you missed," Sombra said with fake sympathy. "That's what you get for trying to rush things with a stallion."
Pinkamena grit her teeth as she struggled to catch her breath. "Shut up!" She stomped her hooves, causing the crystal to crack beneath her. "Stop screwing around and fight me you coward!"
Sombra arched a brow. "I'm the coward? You're the one using cheap shots." He smirked again. "Afraid it won't be much of a fight if you can't play dirty?"
"Just playing by your rules," she snapped back.
His smile flickered, then turned even more sinister. "I suppose you're not much of a fight without your sister to help you."
Pinkamena froze.
Sombra tapped his chin in thought. "What was her name again? Mud? Mad?"
She curled her upper lip. "Maud. Her name is Maud."
Sombra's slight close-lipped smile returned. "Right. You always fought better when she was around, didn't you? I've seen enough of you two to know that."
Pinkamena's eyes widened. "You've been watching us?"
"I watch everything," he responded, entirely too nonchalant. "And you and your sister have caused quite a stir. Reminds me an awful lot of two other mares I fought once..."
Pinkamena got over her shock and resumed her glare. "You're stalling."
"You remind me of her, you know," Sombra told her, not paying her words any mind. "Young, pretty, impulsive..." His eyes cut towards her. "Envious."
She blinked. "What?"
"Luna," he answered. "You're a lot like her, you know." When she didn't respond, he chuckled. "Oh, that's right. She's gone, isn't she? I keep forgetting that... I suppose nothing really compares to the memory of how Celestia failed to defeat me on her own."
She couldn't stop herself from attacking him. She launched onto his pillar, but he moved away from her. "Fight me!"
"Not until you admit it," he said simply.
"Admit what?!" she screamed, jumping and missing him yet again.
He grinned. "That you're scared."
She came to screeching halt. "What?"
He chuckled again. "Face it, Pinks. You can't beat me." He looked her up and down. "Not alone, anyway. Celestia couldn't fight me on her own, nor could Luna." He laughed a bit. "They were better together than alone…” He eyebrows waggled a bit. “...in more ways than one."
Pinkamena blanched. "You're disgusting."
Sombra merely shrugged. "Say what you will, but I am a King. I have standards."
"Standards?" Pinkamena gestured out to the battlefield. "Look around us! This was all because of you! Your standards have cost Equestria lives. Your standards have taken the livelihood of the Crystal Empire. Your standards cost me the life of my friend and my sister!"
Sombra arched a brow. "And?"
She felt her eyes start to burn. "You're a monster!" She screwed eyes shut angrily. "You act like this big, mighty god who can just screw everything up for the hell of it!" She resumed her glare. "My life may not have been great before, but it sure as hell was better before you came along! You should have done the world a favor and died while you had the chance!"
He laughed. "As if I could."
"Why wouldn't you?" she snapped back. "You're just as mortal as the rest of us!"
Sombra, much to her shock, flinched. Then, as if nothing had happened, he bared his teeth in a playful snarl. "I am no mortal."
Pinkamena blinked a bit. Was that a genuine reaction? Did he really get upset over that?
Then, it hit her. She grinned a bit. "No? Celestia and Luna beat you once before." She should not have loved seeing him get mad. "They reduced you to shadow. What makes you think that won't happen again?"
He scoffed, but his narrowed eyes told her that she was getting somewhere. "You don't know what you're talking about."
'Keep it up, girl,' Pinkamena encouraged herself. 'Do what you do best; tear this stallion a new one.'
She giggled, which made him twitch a bit. "In fact, you were so sore over being beaten, you hid away an entire empire for a millennia." Her giggle turned into a laugh. "You couldn't even face the fact that they beat you."
"Shut up," he growled. "Shut up."
'If I die, I hope that I still get that statue,' she prayed. She had been right to think she wouldn't leave alive.
Finally, she hit him with the big one. "If anyone here is scared, it's you."
Sombra's face contorted into pure rage and he sprang towards her like a tiger towards its prey. "Silence!"
She jumped out of the way. Sombra let out a loud yell as he stood opposite to her, then began circling around. His muscles were bunched up, ready for another spring. Pinkamena mirrored him, low to the ground in a feral stance of her own.
It was here that Pinkamena realized how tired she was. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her muscles were beginning to ache, and the adrenaline that had gotten her into this mess had all but disappeared. She wasn't going to last this long on her own.
"You're outmatched," Sombra told her, smirking as if he could read her thoughts. Hell, she wouldn't put it past him if he could. "In a different world, maybe you could have defeated me."
Pinkamena considered lunging at him, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good. This was one of the few times that she was actually on the same ground as him, so to make a leap for him would compromise that.
She was trapped.
Pinkamena recalled how during training, they said that Sombra was just as good at sensing fear as he was at inflicting it. She always thought it was something that they would tell new recruits to weed out the cowards, and weed them out they did. Barely half of her class made it through training. Now, as her stormy eyes locked with Sombra's fiery orbs, she suddenly realized her own foolishness. She was either gonna die by his hoof or from the fall if she ju—
Suddenly, the pillar shook violently.
Sombra steadied himself. "What the—"
The pillar shook again and Pinkamena slid closer to the edge. She looked over it to see what was causing the tremors and her eyes widened in shock and a joy unlike any filled her.
It was Maud. She was beaten and scraped up something fierce, but it was her. She was alive.
As her sister pounded her hooves into the pillar, striking with the force of her anger, she glared upwards. Her expression softened at the sight of Pinkamena and she swear she saw her older sister smile a bit.
‘I didn't die,’ she saw her lips say.
Pinkamena didn't know whether to cry or scream with happiness.
Her joy was ruined by a sudden jerk on her shoulder as she was pulled away from the edge. "You don't get to get away so easily!"
Pinkamena felt the air leave her body as Sombra slammed her body down onto the already quaking pillar. She gasped for air as Sombra held his hoof onto her throat, poised to crush it.
"You've been nothing but a pain in my hide," he snarled. "You thought you were special? Thought you could defeat the likes of me with the help of your friends?" He laughed humorlessly. "How cute."
Pinkamena, despite struggling to breathe, couldn't help but chuckle. "Then you're gonna find this adorable." She nodded her head as best she could towards the edge. "Say hi to Maud for me."
Sombra's eyes glanced over the edge, but before he could react, Pinkamena twisted his hoof off of her neck. She pushed him back with all her might and grabbed him, struggling to gain dominance as she stood on her hind legs. She crushed her head into his, this time making sure to hit his horn. She grinned when she heard a crack.
Sombra let out an anguished scream, his hoof reaching for his head while the other went in for a strike. His swing missed her head when she fell backwards as the pillar began topple over. He tried to steady himself, but Pinkamena grabbed onto his collar as she came tumbling forward.
"If I'm gonna die, you're gonna go down with me!" she screamed. She wrapped her body around his as the ground beneath them caved in and they fell to the earth, just as Rainbow had. She smiled and ignored Sombra's screams, glad to know that she'll have her friend waiting for her at the end of it all.
"PINKIE!"
Her eyes opened wide. Maud, the stony mare that needed a decipher to find her emotions, cried out in what Pinkamena could only assume to be complete anguish. She looked down and her eyes found her sister's, who was frozen in horror.
She looked away from her sister and her eyes found Sombra's. She saw his orbs widen, and she knew that she couldn't have hallucinated it at their closeness.
Suddenly, they were on the ground.
Pinkamena didn't feel pain. At least, not at first. She lifted her head up and saw black spots, her eyes rolling about randomly as she tried to regain her vision. The world around her flickered as her eyes came back into focus and she soon saw that it wasn't her eyes that were blacking out, but what was around her.
A force field, black in color, surrounded her, obscuring her vision of the outside world between flickers. It finally dissipated and she saw that she was in a perfectly round crater.
Pinkamena, upon remembering that she hadn't fallen alone, looked downwards, her heart stopping. Lying beneath her was Sombra, the Shadow King, the Scourge of the Icy North, the Stallion of Nightmares, groaning as his cracked horn's aura finally faded away. His armor was dented, his cape was torn, and his mane was hanging wildly around him, his crown nowhere to be found. He opened his eyes and they no longer glowed green or flamed outwards in a poisonous purple smoke. All that remained was his ruby red irises, which shone like glass in the haze.
Their eyes met again.
Pinkamena couldn't help it. She smiled, even as the pain began to set in, a chuckle escaping her. "Gotcha."
"Pinkie!" she heard Maud exclaim. She glanced up to see her sister skid to a stop at the edge of the crater. Pinkamena almost laughed at her shocked expression.
But, Sombra, much to her surprise, smiled back at her. "Not quite."
She felt his hind legs shift beneath her and suddenly, she was sprung into the air. She screamed out in pain, but she was thankfully caught by two of her fellow soldiers. She turned and saw Pokey Pierce, bruised and cut up from battle, holding onto one side of her as she righted herself. She would have to get him a drink when this was all over.
Sombra climbed out of the crater, where he was soon surrounded by Maud and her crew. He growled out and stomped a hoof, crystals erupting from his very touch.
"Maud!" Pinkamena cried out, watching her sister collapse to the ground from the hit. She looked back at Sombra, who was heaving as he pulled himself out of the ground. "Your horn..."
Sombra, through grit teeth, snarled. "We Crystal Ponies have more than sparkly coats on our side."
Before she could decipher what he meant by that, he barked out to his soldiers and soon, he was surrounded by his glowing-eyed minions.
"Get me out of here," he ordered, his eyes glaring at Pinkamena. "This has been... unpleasant."
'Unpleasant?' She was almost offended.
Sombra's soldiers barricaded themselves and he was lifted up by them collectively. He groaned, but he kept his face as neutral as he could. He looked back at Pinkie through his clenched eyes, and, to her surprise, smiled at her. It was that same cocky grin that had made her so mad, so stupidly mad, to get her into this mess in the first place.
"Gotcha."
Soon, he was being carried away, the wave of black armor moving through the battlefield and growing as more soldiers joined in to follow after their injured king. None went after them as they disappeared into their own territory.
Pinkamena, however, began to take off after him, but she barely got a step in before she felt her leg ache beneath her. Pokey kept her from falling and slung her other foreleg over his neck to keep the weight off her injured leg.
"You've done enough," he told her.
"I have to go..." she grunted, her leg throbbing.
"You're injured." He lifted her up and pulled her up onto her back. "You aren't going after anyone today, Pinkie."
Pinkamena grit her teeth as he took off and held onto his neck. "He killed Rainbow."
Pokey nearly paused in his gallop. "Is that so?"
"Yes." Pinkamena's eyes burned. "And I'm gonna make that monster pay for it." She blinked at his grin. "What is so funny?"
"Maud got Rainbow," he told her, his smile growing at her astonished look. It weakened. "She's pretty banged up and she doesn't have her wing anymore, but she's alive."
Pinkamena tried to find the words. She tried to find the thoughts. Instead, all she could do was find tears as they fell down her face. Pokey didn't say anything to her while she cried and he didn't say anything as she managed to get herself under control.
"Where is she?" she finally asked.
"Infirmary," he told her. "Maud got her out and had Soarin and Spitfire get her there. They told her that she's in critical condition, but, knowing her, she'll pull through."
Pinkamena wiped her cheeks as she sobbed in relief, but she felt it fade as she recalled the empty feeling inside her. "Maud. Maud, where is she?"
"Here."
Pinkamena whipped her head around and saw Maud walking beside Pokey silently. She sighed. "I hate it when you do that."
Maud merely blinked. "You almost died."
Pinkamena raised her brows. "So did you."
Maud wasn't fazed. "Rainbow almost died."
She frowned and looked away from her. "I know."
There was silence for a moment, but it was broken once more by Maud. "Sombra almost died."
Pinkamena looked back at her, her eyes narrowing. "I know."
Maud gave her an unreadable look, something that wasn't common for Pinkamena. "You had him."
"And he still got away," Pinkamena growled, averting her eyes from her sister's. "And I have absolutely nothing to show for it. No trophy, nothing. Just a bunch of injuries."
She heard Maud shift around. "Except for this."
Pinkamena lifted her head up. "What the hell are you—" She went silent, her mouth falling wide open. "No way."
Pokey came to a halt as his eyes widened. "Is that...?"
The crown that had been gone from Sombra's head after the fall was hanging from Maud's extended foreleg, swinging a bit as it fell into her bent knee. Maud smiled a bit, but she didn't seem too keen on holding the crown any longer.
"Where did you get that?" Pinkamena breathed.
"I found it on the ground," Maud said simply. "It's like how I found Boulder." Her smile disappeared. “I don’t want this, though. I’m not the one who deserves it.”
Pinkamena scoffed in disbelief. "I don't even know what to say..." She took the metal band into her hooves and laughed a bit. "I don't believe this. I don't believe this at all."
Pokey chuckled. "That makes two of us. I can't believe you went up against Sombra." He spared the crown another glance. "Do you think he knows it's gone?"
Pinkamena felt her smile disappear at that thought. She looked down at the crown, where she saw a distorted image of her reflection. She turned back to the battlefield, where everypony was retreating off in the distance. Sombra's soldiers were gone from sight, but their damage remained, on her body and in her thoughts. She thought about Maud. She thought about Rainbow. But, most of all, she thought about Sombra.
He had saved her. When they were falling and facing death, she had looked into his eyes and he had saved her with his magic, despite the injuries she did to him. Then, even when he was laying in the ground with her, he had managed to escape her.
"Gotcha," he had said.
Pinkamena held the crown a little tighter and her smile returned, but there something more sinister behind it. "Not quite."