The Castle of Dreams

Chapter 6

In the counsel room, the Knights of Adventure (minus their captain) were debating with Prince Pollo and Ivory.

“If Midnight isn’t in his body, then where is he?” Starfyre asked the question in everypony’s mind.

“Ah reckon this here crystal shard has sumpin’ ta’ do with it,” Big McIntosh speculated, gesturing to the shard on the center of the table.

“That cursed object released some kind of thick mist when Sir Midnight touched it,” Ivory explained, “then he just fell unconscious.”

“This shard was undoubtedly crafted by Sombra himself,” Bravissimo eyed the shard with heavy scrutiny, his horn shining. “But I’m no expert like Midnight, so I haven’t the foggiest how it works.”

“Perhaps… there’s a way to use it to wake Midnight up,” Forester offered, his amber-gold eyes wary.

“Yeah, maybe if we bust it up,” Thunderlane got excited, “then whatever spell Midnight’s under will break!”

“I doubt it would be that easy,” panted Prince Pollo, dividing his focus on the debate at hoof and maintaining the conjured sunlight.

“Midnight can’t be awoken unless he is restored to his body. Destroying this crystal shard is out of the question, it could very well be-”

Prince Pollo was interrupted as the shard suddenly flared with life! Everypony in the room gasped and backed up a little, seeing the shard slowly start spreading over the table, like frost freezing over a window, all the while a rushing wind blew through the room.

“What’s happening?!” shouted Starfyre over the roar of the indoor gale.

“It’s the shard!” Ivory answered, “It’s growing!”

Indeed, the shard was now a pony-sized crystal, radiating with a white light. Finally, it stopped, and they heard a sound as webs of cracks suddenly spread across this giant crystal.

“Everypony, git down!”  Big McIntosh shouted.

Everypony ducked for cover, as the crystal suddenly burst open like a balloon, shards flying out, nailing themselves to the walls. A fit of coughing followed, and Thunderlane shouted, “Shining Armor!”

They all looked, and there he was! Shining Armor, flat on his stomach, coughing and shaking fragments of crystal out of his mane.

“Prince Shining Armor!” Ivory brayed as he went over and helped Shining Armor to his hooves. “Sir! What happened to you? Where have you been?”

“Koff-koff! Midnight…” Shining Armor rasped, thumping his chest.

“He’s unconscious,” Starfyre explained, “we put him in the guestroom on the-”

Suddenly, Shining Armor lunged past them all and tore out of the counsel room.

“Hey! Wait up there, pardner!” Big Mac shouted, as they all followed.

He can’t be gone! Shining Armor dashed, running faster than he had ever run before, desperate to see his friend.

He has to be alright!

Guided by the magic of friendship, he found the room. Tearing open the doors, he gasped to see he was too late, as were the others as they caught up and crowded behind him. They looked on in horror as a ruby red aura surrounded the pony levitating above the bed, yet it did not brighten the room, which was actually shadowed by an ominous air.

“Midnight!” Big McIntosh shouted and started forward, only for Shining Armor to bar his way.

“That’s not Midnight…” he told them with a heavy heart.

Then they watched as the pony doubled over, his sapphire blue coat darkening until it was almost black, his mane and tail flared out as if they were alive, and the streaks of dark blue in them brightened into an infernal red. His eyes were scrunched shut as though he were in pain, but a horrific smile slowly spread across his face, revealing his teeth as a pair of fangs jutted out.

Midnight’s cutie-mark, the circular crescent moon facing upwards, with the five-point star surrounded by five twinkles, faded completely away, and then the pony’s eyes flared opened, revealing them to not be the friendly turquoise blue of their friend, but the burning red eyes of a monster.

Suddenly, this dark pony’s body grew, his muscles pumping, his bones cracking, until he was bigger than Country Daze, Shining Armor, or even Prince Pollo. His horn thickened and lengthened until it looked like menacing spearhead of obsidian, the tip reddening as though it were drenched with blood.

A shadowy aura covered his back, quickly dissipating to reveal a cape fit for a king, and the crystal in the room suddenly flared as they cracked and flew towards the pony, cladding him like armor, along with shards and pieces forming a thorny crystal crown around his head and horn.

They all looked on in horror, as this wraith who had been their friend, spoke in that terrible voice, “Bow to me, my crystal slaves…Bow to King Sombra reborn!!!!”

They ran, as the tyrant’s dark magic erupted around him, spreading like pestilence, corrupting the crystal castle. The light that had kept the darkness at bay snuffed out. Panic spread like a wildfire as the Crystal Ponies started to scream and run, trying to protect their loved ones, others attempting to escape. Their efforts were futile, as large dark crystals erupted from the ground, bringing in every pony Sombra had already captured, or the ponies who’d been subject to waking nightmares woke up, as the mindless slaves of the Unicorn whose Heart is as Black as Night.

“We gotta get out of here!” shouted Forester, verging dangerously close to a panic.

“Wait!” Shining Armor skidded to a halt. “Cadance!”

“Shining, wait!” Ivory yelled as he chased after the Captain. But he looked back at the knights and Prince Pollo, shouting, “Go! We’ll catch up!”

“We’ll wait fer y’all at th’ train station!” Big mac shouted back, then urged the others, “Let’s go!”

“You heard him – On the double, men! On the double!” urged Bravissimo as they followed the big red earth pony.

“I can’t, I have to protect the Crystal Ponies!” Prince Pollo argued. “All of you go, I’ll try and get as many to meet you at the station as I can! Go!”

Without waiting for their reply, Prince Pollo flew out a window, leaving the Knights of Adventure.

“We have to get outta here!” Starfyre urged, “Come on, everypony!”

As they ran out the castle, they took in the chaos. The Crystal Ponies were running to and fro, dark crystals erupting all over the place, shadows spreading like a wild fire, infecting some of the Crystal Ponies unfortunate enough to get caught.

Big Mac ran out and shouted, “Everypony to th’ train station!”

The Knights noticed a shining light above and knew it was Prince Pollo. The light was warm, beckoning, and calming. The Knights noticed immediately that the Crystal Ponies still in command of themselves were running after it.

“Pollo’s leading everypony to the train station!” Thunderlane yelled, “Let’s follow them!”

The Knights spread out, to help the Crystal Ponies keep moving, to stay calm. But the dark crystals and shadows were gaining on them all, and unfortunately, some still got infected, left writhing on the ground as they fell into waking nightmares.

“Mommy!”

Forester looked back, and saw a crystal pony colt, shaking his mother, begging her to get up. The Crystal mare was lying on the ground, shaking, shivering, her eyes widened in glazed horror, as she was trapped inside herself, with her demons.

Seeing that little colt crying, Forester remembered something from a long time ago, something that caused him, in that moment, to cast aside his fear, and run over to the colt and pick him up.

“No! What about mommy!?”

“You can’t help her, little one!” Forester whispered gently, trying to keep the colt still, “But you’ll get her back, I promise!”

Carrying the crying colt, Forester hoofed it to catch up with everypony else, as the survivors managed to get out of the empire, and into the tundra. Forester looked ahead and saw everypony piling into the train as the Knights tried to keep them calm. Forester ran to join them when he and the colt looked back, and saw in horror as the black shadowy fire of Sombra’s dark magic burned away the beautiful Crystal Empire, leaving behind a crude and forbidden fortress surrounded by wasteland riddled with dark crystal sprouting from the ground like patches of briar.

“Wait!” a voice shouted.

Running towards them all were Ivory and behind him was Shining Armor, carrying his wife, Princess Cadance on his back. The Princess of Love was still unconscious, but it was his own love that drove Shining Armor to keep moving.

Looking ahead, Forester yelled, “Shining Armor and Ivory have the princess! They’re coming!”

In his distraction however, Forester did not see a dark crystal erupt, causing him to trip. Though he rolled around to make sure the colt was unharmed.

The other knights managed to get in the last few survivors and join him, along with Prince Pollo, who alighted himself next to them. Relieved, they hurried out to meet them when, not far behind Ivory, Shining Armor, and Cadance, did a tidal wave of darkness erupt!

And riding it, like a sinister surfer, was Sombra, his red eyes glowing a sickening green, wreathed in a purplish miasma, licking his fangs, as he slowly but surely began to descend upon his prey.

With a sprained hoof and the colt bruised and too frightened to move, Forester didn’t know what to do.

“I’m scared!” sobbed the colt.

Forester held him close, and whispered, “Just close your eyes…”

At the station, the rest of the knights all began to panic.

“They’re not gonna make it!” Thunderlane shouted.

“And we’ll never reach them in time!” Bravissimo added.

“Whadda we do?!” Big McIntosh worried.

Without warning, Prince Pollo took flight, zooming forward. He cast a spell, causing a surprised Forester and the colt to levitate and quickly float to safety on the station platform. Ivory and Shining Armor noticed the Prince coming but at that moment, Shining Armor’s only concern was getting his unconscious wife to the train. But at that moment, as the prince passed the Captain by, everything seemed to slow down, as Shining Armor heard Pollo say, in a voice so clear he may as well have been talking right next to him, “Find the Light.”

Realization dawned in his mind, as Shining Armor looked back, screaming, “No, don’t!”

But Pollo was already a long way as he flew right up to the rage of darkness conjured by Sombra, and used the last of his strength to cast a spell. Pollo’s whole body radiated, as if he were a living sun in the form of a pony. That light, shined with the desire to protect, a desire that stemmed from compassion, a concept the dark unicorn could not understand.

Sombra screamed with agony tempered by infuriating rage instilled by the very idea of being thwarted, his shadowy crystals spearing out to bar the light from touching him.  Shining Armor looked on in helpless horror, as Pollo’s light died, and he flopped to the ground, unconscious, having used the last of his power to give everypony the chance to escape. The darkness blew away like smoke, as Sombra approached the unconscious prince, sneering in irritation as he stomped his hoof. A bleak crystal enveloped Pollo, and he was beyond any help.

His eyes tightened shut as a storm of emotion swirled in his heart, Shining Armor made his way onto the train, Bravissimo, asking, “Shining Armor! Where is-”

“Get this train moving.” The look on Shining Armor’s eyes told Bravissimo he should obey first and save all questions for later.

In less than a minute, the train was chugging at full speed to put as much distance between itself and the bleak wasteland now ruled by a tyrant.

Ivory looked on, seeing his home perverted and lost as if slowly but surely disappeared beyond the horizon. He sensed the rest of the Knights of Adventure behind him, and turned to them.

“The Crystal Empire… has fallen.”

How long had it been since he’d sat in his throne, he wondered. How long had it been since he’d felt so powerful!

The dark king stood up from his throne and walked out onto the balcony, licking his fangs, delighting as his mind-slaves, clad in crystal armor, started reestablishing his old rule. The despair had already begun to spread, nopony dared attempt even the slightest defiance as they were put in chains.

The Crystal Empire is mine again! Sombra’s black heart pounded in triumphant excitement, until he looked at his reflection in the crystal walls surrounding him.

“This face…” He scrutinized his face. No… His face.

His work was not done – He’d reclaimed the Crystal Heart, seized this vessel, taken back his throne.

But those infernal escapees will return… Sombra mused as he went over to a wall, and tapped it with his horn. The wall shined with the radiance of a dying star as it shattered into fragments of magic, revealing a long-forgotten hallway. It led him to a familiar place, the one place where Sombra could contemplate, the safest site for his old schemes.

He took it all in, his secret refuge. An old armchair set near a dark and cold fireplace that had not been used for a long time. A table covered with old manuscripts and scrolls, a bookcase making up an entire wall, filled with ancient tomes and spellbooks, some pertaining to the forbidden arts. In here he had hidden his prize, the Crystal Heart set upon a pedestal, its cherished magic contained within a glass container cursed to allow no good out.

Sitting down, he cast a burning spell to ignite the fireplace, as he pondered, The Knights of Adventure are nothing without their leader, and those miserable mares who wield the Elements of Harmony cannot stand against me as I draw power not just from darkness but from the despair of my slaves. Still… I have sacrificed a great power to get this vessel, and it appears it comes with further expense. If I am to secure my power and crown, I must make it absolute.

He looked to a particular book and his red aura enveloped it, levitating it to him and opening to a particular page.

To regain the power that place afforded me, I must acquire two things. My true body must be restored… and then… I must find this!

His hungry eyes fell upon the artifact illustrated on the page.

And once I secure it, nopony will be safe from me…

His depraved laughter echoed throughout the halls of his fortress, as he plotted his next move.