The Empire was dark, the sky a sickly burnt orange as it's king festered in his own madness within the castle. As he heard the rythmic marching of hooves in the distance, Sombra decided desperate times called for desperate measures. He couldn't reverse whatever curse he'd been put under in time, but he sure as Tartarus wasn't going to give up his leadership over it.
He flinched and snapped his head toward the sound of a door opening behind him. To his relief, it was only a pony, in chains. Certainly no soldier. "King Sombra, the-... The Canterlot Soldiers have breached the shield." They said, staring toward the floor in shame. As if they didn't want to tell him at all.
"With the Princesses?"
"Yes."
Sombra shook his head with a displeased snort, barreling past the pony without hesitation. Luna, he could handle it. Maybe he could even convince her to side with him. But Celestia? She was fine with him initially until Queen Amore showed up at her doorstep. He wouldn't risk facing both sisters at once.
If he was going to cast the Last Resort, he was going to cast it now.
He galloped down a spiral staircase, cursing the pony who made them at his command. He couldn't get to the Crystal Library from here, but he had his own personal collection that held the spell he wished to cast. Unfortunately, once he reached the door to his personal collection, he found it locked.
"You." He jabbed a hoof at a guard. "Get the key to my study, behind my throne. Do it now!" He stamped said hoof on the ground for emphasis as the guard made haste. To his chagrin, Sombra could hear the sound of ponies fighting outside the castle, very faintly echoing through the crystalline walls.
"He better hurry."
Luna and Celestia had breached the shield around the empire, having been significantly weakened by the fear and hatred within its poor subjects.
Snow whipped around them, chilling their feathers. Celestia's expression hadn't changed since they started approaching the territory. Her eyes held white-hot wrath, and her jaw was clenched tightly. "Look at them, Luna. Fighting through no will of their own, for ponies who can't stop working even when a war is happening right around them. This is how far the king has fallen."
She looked to Luna for her response, but only saw a look of despair. She was in no condition to reply. Celestia sighed, putting a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry. If I knew what sort of pony he was, I wouldn't have introduced you."
"He can't be..."
"Dear sister..."
Luna's wings flapped faster, raising her slightly higher as she spiraled. "It can't be that simple, can it? I don't want to believe it... I won't! Something must be horribly wrong. Surely this isn't the pony we knew! There must be something else happening."
"There isn't." Celestia snapped firmly. "I saw that you two shared a bond, Luna, but the fact is, King Sombra is doing this. Whatever the reason may be doesn't matter, does it?"
"He's enslaving his subjects. He's controlling their minds and tormenting them with their greatest fears as we speak. Regardless of what may be happening on his side, we need to end this. Do you understand that, sister?"
Luna's ears flattened, and Celestia's heart felt heavy in her chest. No matter, though. This war was going to end tonight, and they would face the horrid aftermath together.
She opened her mouth to reassure her sister of this, but before she could get a word in, the princess of the night propelled forward, flying ahead of her at high speed.
"Luna!"
Luna felt the breeze whip at her face, her wingtips being covered in thin layers of frost as she flew, the warped empire blurring past her sides as she locked her eyes on the main goal. His castle.
She approached an opening rapidly but was intercepted by a controlled pegasus soldier barrelling into her. She spun in the air, struggling to take back control as the soldier adjusted themselves repeatedly to get a good grip on her.
"I'm sorry." She said in a pained whisper, allowing them to grip her back legs before kicking them down in a straight line toward the ground.
With that thought, she reached her target, landing with a skid on the castle floor of his throne room. "Sombra!" She called, breath heaving. "Sombra, it's Luna! You must come out, please!"
Her voice echoed, but the castle was silent. As if nopony had been there at all. She waited, and her breathing slowed as her ears swiveled. She tried listening for any sign of residence.
The click of hooves became audible, increasing in volume quickly before Sombra himself galloped in. "Luna!" he exclaimed. "Finally, a face I can trust. This attack on my kingdom must stop!"
She met eyes with him, and her hoof raised to her mouth. They were green, leaking a purple trail of liquid that pattered against the ground at an alarming speed. "What happened to you...?" She rasped, through her hoof.
"That doesn't matter right now. We need to end this. Right now."
She sighed, almost falling to her flanks. "Oh thank goodness... Despite whatever is happening to you, you see reason! I thought you had done all this to the subjects of your own accord, and I was terrified I'd have to confront you."
"What?" He responded, seeming baffled. "No no Luna, I did do this of my own accord. My subjects were losing their respect for me after what happened with Amore. I had to get them back on track!"
With that, her heart sank. "If you could just explain your side of what happened with her, you wouldn't have needed to do this..."
"Nonsense." He flicked his tail dismissively, pulling a book from under his cloak and searching it. "Nopony would believe what I had to say anyway. What's the point?"
"Sombra, please. You can stop. You can explain yourself. We can go back to how things were. You can undo all of this!"
He took pause at that, looking up at her with sorrow. "No, I can't Luna. We both know I can't. Things can never be the way they were. Just look at me; Just look around you! This is the way things are, now."
"But they don't have to be! You can turn it around. Things may not ever be fully the same, but if you can stop all this right now and free your kingdom, then I would be more than willing to help you. The fact that you show sorrow for this shows you don't want this!" She outstretched her hoof toward him. "You're not too far gone."
Sombra lowered the book for a moment, staring at her hoof with a look she hoped was longing. He then looked up at her eyes, and his look of pain warped into one of bitterness and anger. "I won't be manipulated again, Luna." He turned around, book nestled closely to his face.
"Sombra-"
"Silence. You're not going to change my mind. If you are not in support of me, then you are against me."
She sighed. "Then-..." She choked on her own tears, but swallowed them, lifting her head and wings with dignity. "I am against you. I will not let you continue this cruel dictatorship any longer."
"... Let me?" There was a smile in his voice as he turned toward Luna, unleashing a blast of magic at her without warning. "I don't need your permission or approval!"
She was thrown against a wall by the blast. With a cough, she struggled back to her hooves before delivering a blast of her own which hardly missed. "I cannot allow you to do this! If I have to force your hoof, then so be it." Luna jumped up, then went flying at him.
Sombra caught her in the air, however. "You could have everything! More than everything. Are you so willing to give up what we had, for your sister, who would never show her appreciation for you?! I've been here for you unconditionally, surpassing my own fear!"
She couldn't help but spill a few tears. "I've greatly appreciated your friendship. I had hoped it would become more than that... But this isn't about my sister. This isn't about you, me, or us. You have forsaken your friends, your family, and your entire kingdom, condemning them to awful lives... If I have to give you up to save them, then I will do my duty, no matter how painful."
The look he gave her held nothing but contempt and hatred. "I feel the same way. Goodbye, Luna." He then used his magic to propel her out the window, damaging one of her wings in the process.
She fell toward the ground, eyes filled with tears and wings unable to balance her on their own. She closed her eyes.
Just as she was about to land, she found herself falling hard against fur and feathers. She reopened her eyes and saw her sister, who had caught her in the nick of time. "Celestia..." She choked. She couldn't say a word, but Celestia embraced her, and for once, Luna felt that she understood.
"Luna." Celestia said in a hushed voice, before positioning herself in front of her so they met eyes. "I have the Elements. It's time to end this."
She sniffled, and wiped her tears away, forcing her own composure for the time being. "I-I know..."
Celestia brought out the Elements and hovered them around the sisters, before placing her horn against Luna's. "Are you in any condition to fly?"
"Yes... It wasn't a serious injury."
With a determined look in one another's eyes, they took to the air with a powerful flap of their wings, surrounded by the elements that spun and glowed around them, amplifying their power.
"King Sombra!" Celestia's voice boomed from outside, shaking the foundation of the castle. Sombra growled in response but didn't budge. "Alright..." He sighed. "The spell is prepared." He lit up his horn and lowered himself to the cold castle floor.
"Through the cold of ice and the wrath of fire,
if I am condemned, then take the empire.
For one thousand years, assure there's no change
so when I return, my kingdom remains."
There was a dark pulse across the floor, spreading across the kingdom, and Sombra was suddenly overcome with exhaustion. There was only one thing left to do.
He trudged out toward the window, and looked up at the sky, seeing the silhouettes of the two sisters as the concentrated magic of the Elements of Harmony came careening toward him. Despite how expected it was, he couldn't help but reel and panic as the solidity of his body dissipated, and the remaining shadow seeped through the floor.
For now, he was no more.
Author's Note
I enjoyed making this! I'm planning on this being connected to a bigger story, but I thought I'd test the waters, first!
