The time was just past midnight in the Crystal Empire. Everypony was fast asleep in their homes, a feeling of safety sweeping over the area. However, not everypony was so fooled by this emotion. Princess Cadence was Lucildly awake, pacing the floors of her royal bedroom. This was not a normal Cadence. This was a cadence that could be described in one word: worried.
This evening, as Celestia had lowered the sun for another day and everypony was home to sit out the night, a shadow had appeared just off the borders of the Empire. While it might've been unnoticeable to other ponies, Princess Cadence instantly recognized it. This was the shadow of a great being who had tried to enthral the empire twice before. This was the shadow of King Sombra.
At first, Cadence refused to believe it was the villain of her nightmares, refused to believe that her ponies weren't safe once more, refused to believe that this could mean the end of her empire. However, the sight before her eyes couldn't be denied. She knew in her heart what needed to be done.
"Shining Armor, dear, would you mind taking down a letter?" Cadence called into the bathroom of her home.
"Ii a mimute," Called her husband from behind the door as he was brushing his teeth. After the sound of water being gargled and the same substance being spat against a porcelain sink, Shining Armor walked out of the bathroom to his desk and levitated a quill. "Now, what did you want to write, Sweetie?"
"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I come to you in a desperate time here in the kingdom. I fear your most recent;y-faced enemy has returned. At approximately 12: 37 am here, I was looking out my bedroom window when I saw a shadow in the distance. While you might find it strange for me to say I saw a shadow at night, we both know King Sombra's color, not just from its lack of light, but from the, dare-I-say-it, sadness emitted from that shadow. Knowing what he has done in the past and potentially will do again, I'm afraid I must invite you to the Crystal Empire to aid in its defense.
Sincerely,
Princess Cadence"
"That's all it says," Remarked Twilight to her friends.
"Wow, that guy just doesn't go down," Rainbow Dash added, hoping to clear the gloomy mood in the library with some comedy. As Rainbow and the others discussed this recent news amongst themselves, Twilight dashed downstairs to her lab. Once there, the princess made sure nopony had followed her. Assured that no one was watching, she pulled a lab glass on an angle and that section of the lab twisted around to reveal the same identical section in it's place, minus the alicorn.
Twilight turned around from the lab glass to see a small, dusty room. It was sparsely decorated, but it didn't need to be flashy, as it had only one purpose: storage. After Sunset Shimmer had tried to steal Twilight's element of harmony, Princess Celestia gave Twilight possession of the elements to hide away, using the theory that people can't take something if they can't find it.
While Princess Twilight turned around, her gaze lowered to the small, quaint chest hidden in the wall. Using her magic, she slid the chest out of its hole and opened the lid. This revealed the six jewels that protected Equestria. Only it didn't.
A gasp that may also have qualified for a shout released itself from Twilight's mouth as void that was the insides of the chest were revealed. Not one element was inside of the chest.
With a swift turn and an outstreched hoof, Twilight tilted the lab glass and ran upstairs as quick as equinely possible. "GIRLS, WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM HERE!" Shouted Twilight, understating it as much as she could at the time.
Pinkie Pie turned from her conversation to the sound to the shout. Rainbow Dash, Flutttershy, Rarity, and Applejack followed her example. "Ooh, ooh, are the elements of harmony missing?" Pinkie asked in a deceptively happy tone.
With a slightly nervous glance over to Pinkie, Twilight said, "How'd you know?" Even though she already knew she would say-
"Lucky guess!" Responded the pink earth pony, fulfilling Twilight's expectations.
As unexpected as Twilight's shout, a cloud of darkness began to sweep up from the floor, finally accumulating on the ceiling. Out of that cloud came a dark voice and a darker pair of eyes. " You thought you had seen the last of me, little ponies?" Asked the voice of King Sombra sarcastically. "Well, I knew that the Crystal Empires ruler would call for help from you, the weakling that she is, so I took... precautions" The dark reverberation of sound waves said, obviously referring to the missing elements. Looking towards Twilight, the voice said, "To find your precious elements, you'll have to venture to the place you once called home, but are most afraid to go. If you can find them, you'll then have to defeat me again, but I doubt you'll get to that stage."
Finishing with a long and ominous laugh, the shadow of King Sombra began to swirl into a blur and finally drifted out Twilight's bedroom window.
Left in the empty silence of the message, the ponies looked to Twilight, without even needing to ask where the King was referencing. In a sight that said I never wanted to tell you this, Twilight said, "He hid the elements in the Canterlot Vault."
The sound of the train's whistle echoed not far away as it departed to Canterlot with the Mane 6 on it. "So, what is the Canterlot Vault?" Questioned Applejack.
"The Canterlot Vault is an underground safe beneath Canterlot containing the most vile artifacts and creatures ever encountered by pony-kind." Answered Twilight, as she glanced out the window of the train. "Only Princess Celestia can enter it, and even then she has to be escorted by the highest trained officers in Equestria."
"Why don't we just ask to go in there?" Wondered Rarity out loud.
"That's the problem: I've already asked and they won't let us in." Revealed Twilight Sparkle, looking at the others with a melancoly face.
Fluttershy skitishly closed the curtain on her window and with a sly glance said to the others, "So we'll have to break in." The others looked at the yellow pegasi with strange, but agreeing, glances.
"Unfortunately, you're right." Replied Twilight. "Even more so, the plan begins in a few minutes." She added, while digging through her bag for the trip, Opening a secret pocket, she extracted six black wool suits, Ignoring the confused and startled looks from the others, Twilight handed the suits out. "Okay, here's the plan. The entrance to the vault is under the train tracks at the Canterlot station. These suits will hide us while we sneak under our carriage to the bottom of the train. At the station, we'll have to find the wooden track that acts as the entrance."
By now, the others had circled around Twilight's seat to better hear her.
"You know I'm friend, dear, but I simply can't go on with this. It's illegal!" Protested Rarity. With a gentle hand, Twilight rested a front leg on Rarity's back, saying, "I know this goes against everything we've learned and believe, but this isn't for any of us. If we don't go along with this, the Crystal Empire will be overtaken by King Sombra and darkness will spread over Equestria."
Rarity almost looked angry for a moment, but after a few seconds of staring at Twilight, she stomped off and grabbed her suit. "Alright, but let it be said that Rarity was never a criminal by choice." She said with a quickly upturned snout.
As the Friendship Express pulled into Canterlot, a guard searched the train for any stowaways hoping to snag a free ride back to ponyville. He was a young stallion, but a sharp one, and he knew when something funny was going on. The search was routine, as he would report later, but for a finding of six unaccompanied bags in one carriage.
Meanwhile, Princess Twilight was clinging to the bottom of the train in a black suit, feeling each board for looseness or any special knobs or buttons. Down the line, her friends were in the same situation. As the alicorn went to the next board, she heard the cry of, "Ooh, I, um, think I might've found something." In a quiet voice, instantly recognized as Fluttershy.
When Twilight turned around, Fluttershy had pulled up a board with a stone hole hidden below it. "That's great. Now, everypony, climb down before the train starts again." Twilight ordered. Just at that moment, the shrieking shout of the train's whistle came from the front of the train. "Uh oh." Was the next thing she said. Fluttershy was the first to go down, followed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie just as the train started. However, one was missing: Twilight Sparkle.
Fighting against the backward motion of the train, Twilight struggled to climp along the train fast enough to get to the hole. Just as it seemed impossible to make it, Twilight spread her wings and managed to hover just above the ground and below the train. Using this skill, she carefully slid through the concealed hole, grabbing the board and placing it back right as the train left Canterlot Station. They were in.
The first think that struck the group when they admired their surroundings was the color, or rather lack of color, gray. They stood in a chasmamous room made of stone with an enormous door on one wall. Two levers were on each side of the door, which Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went to pull simultaneously. As that was done, the sound of massive gears turning filled the room; and impressive feat for the size of room. The vault door began to slide apart, with Princess Celestia's cutie mark on one side and Luna's on the other.
A tunnel, easily 40 feet in diameter, was revealed. Lighting came on soon after, showing the parts that the ponies wouldn't have minded being concealed. Lining the walls of the tunned stood row after row of cells, apperently varying in shape, size, and strength depending on what they contained. A walkway stretched across the floor, an iron grid seperating the ponies from the danger.
With an audible gulp, Twilight picked herself up and said, "Well, I guess we should start going then." The other merely nodded their heads shallowly.
The group slowly and cautiously walked forward onto the walkway. As they continued, the inhabitants of the cells seemed to get worse and worse. Rainbow Dash spotted a manticore early on, while Applejack noticed the Alicorn Amulet below them, shaking with furious magic.
Finally, the ponies reached the end. It was a massive cell, seemingly empty, but at the end of the cell, Twilight spotted the elements of harmony. "Look, the elements!" She exclaimed to the group. "They're totally unguarded, too!"
With a slight flap of her wings, Twilight became airborne, flying in the direction of the elements. The princess easily squeezed through the bars of the cell, and reached the elements in no time with her flight. On her return trip with them, however, she noticed the cells only inhabitant: a book.
The pages of the book were worn and the cover had a strange marking on it similar to the cutie marks of the princesses. Twilight tried to fly past it, but her curiosity got the best of her.
Setting the elements of harmony beside her, the alicorn cautiously turned the first page. It appeared to be a spell book. One thing was different about this book, though, it acted out the spells! With a shot from the first spell on the book, A magical glow entralled Twilight's horn and kept her stationary relative to the book.
"Twilight" The others cried out, startled by this unexpected outcome. The alicorn squirmed in pain. The book was directing her worst fears right into her. Defeat. Loss. Sorrow. All the scenarios she had imagined before that ended in those feelings were happening in her mind, destroying her confidence in herself.
"I'll never succeed..." Said Twilight. "Don't give up! You will succeed, you have the elements right next to you! You need to believe in yourself!" Yelled Rarity. Barely hearing her from where she was, Twilight tried to head her advice. The princess reached for her crown and placed it on her head, feeling the power of friendship and magic coursing through her. She opened her eyes and projected the book away from her, breaking it's spell and freeing her. The now-free princess rushed to her friends with the elements and felt their embrace. "We thought we'd lost you there!" Exclaimed Fluttershy. Twilight embraced all her friends and as thy rushed from the Canterlot Vault, she knew that King Sombra could never defeat them.
Author's Note
This story was done in 2 hours for the Everfree NW Iron Author Competition and on a tablet, so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors, for my tablet's word program has no spell check.