Ghost of the Crystal Empire

The Doctor turned back around to face Sombra, who at first seemed enraged before lightly chuckling.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s a moot point anyway-I may have failed to kill her with the stunt I pulled-but, have you forgotten the curse I placed upon her when she first entered the cavern?”

The Doctor grimaced.

“Sooner or later her body will give out and it will be mine for the taking and once the other three fall, there will be nothing to stand in my way!” he exclaimed.

“I didn’t want to say anything while Cadance was still here but, living in a young woman’s body?” The Doctor asked, not bothering to hide his disgust.

“Of course, it will take some time to adjust being a mare…but, having my subjects back under my control again and the immense power of an Alicorn will all be worth it.”

“Besides,” he shrugged. “Once Celestia, her pet, and the ‘knight in shining armor’ fall, I will no longer require her form and begin reconstructing myself as a god.”

The Doctor examined the pedestal which possessed odd imprint that resembled circuitry on the type of devices he was used to dealing with.

“So, that’s your master plan?” he asked skeptically. “Wait until your prey succumbs to your curse and move in for the kill?”

He looked at the sides to see more or less of the same designs.

“You misunderstand, I have no intention of letting her ‘die’ once her body ceases to function and I claim my prize, I will keep hold of her consciousness as she is forced to witness the ones she loves and failed to protect suffer and die.” Sombra explained.

“Why put the pedestal in here?” The Doctor muttered. “There has to be a reason…”

“First, her beloved husband.”

“Uh-huh,”

“And then that annoying teachers pet; Twilight Sparkle, she will pay severely for what she’s done.”

“Oh,” The Doctor uttered, standing back and seeing the vague outline of a heart.

“Finally, Celestia will have no choice to step in…and won’t she be surprised to see her pawns her pawns beaten and tortured in every possible way I can conceive? Always suffering, never dying...I won’t allow them to die.”

“I am so clever.” He whispered, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver.

“Emotions such as love have no place for those with power; it is nothing more than a weakness to be exploited.”

There was the whirring of the Screwdriver as the console lit up a similar shade of blue to the node at the end of the device.

“What…what are you doing?” Sombra demanded. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, well I realized that this pedestal was almost complete save for one component; a source to power it-your slaves were rebelling against you even before Celestia and Luna showed up-they just lacked a unicorn with the power and knowledge to control it.” He explained.

“And you think that you can?” chuckled Sombra. “You, a lowly Earth Pony?”

“Well…not at first, but then I realized it was just a simple matter of reversing the polarity of the neutron flow and…Allons-y!”

The glow being emitted from a console became brighter and more intense as they were transported to a landscape covered in snow.

Sombra was no longer within a frozen mirror, but hovering in the smoke-like form he was when the Crystal Empire had first reappeared.