Who was I?

Chapters

Am
Be
Care
Dream†
Eye
Five
Green
Heart
Ice†
Jack
King
Life
Me
Near
One†
Pain
Quiz
Rule
Soul
Tea
Un†
V
We
X
Y
Z
After (The original ending)

Am

Who am I?

Cold, that was one world used to describe the frozen north of Equestria, and they had every right in describing it like that. There was nothing but snow and wind as for as the eyes could see. But not this time, in the middle of the snow covered ground lay a black coated unicorn pony stallion, unconscious.

"Who am I?" he moaned.

Promise me...promise me that you'll protect us from all the evil in the world. Promise me that you'll never change.

The pony shot awake from that fleeting memory. A memory of long ago, a memory unfamiliar to him now. He slowly got up on his four legs and looked around; nothing but snow covered horizon in all directions.

"HELLO?!" he yelled.

No answer.

"HELLO??!!" he yelled again.

Still no answer.

His black mane waved in the cold air as the realization of his situation set it. He was lost, alone, and exposed to the elements.

He quickly came up with a plan, he needed to know which direction is south so he could escape this frozen desert. He looked at the sun, to see it slowly set. He knew the sun sets in the west so he turned to his left, face the direction he assumed was south.

"Better then nothing." he mumbled as he began his long walk.

"Take a detour through the frozen north...you'll there quicker my rump!" complained a unicorn mare as she prepared he usual meal of roasted pine cones. "This is the last time Trixie takes directions from a crystal pony!" she angrily exclaimed.

Trixie's life had been going downhill since her humiliation a long time ago in Ponyville. Her shows had been attracting a smaller and smaller audience each time as her reputation greatly preceded her. She was so strapped for cash at one point that she took a job at a rock farm. It was either that or sell her body. She shuddered at the thought of doing the latter.

She quietly ate her meal without saying a word. She preferred a home baked beignets than pine cones, but she had no other choice.

Suddenly, the sounds of desperate knocking ringed across her carriage. "What the?"

Curious, the unicorn cautiously opened the door with her magic, only to her horror, see a random black coated stallion collapse in front of her.

"What the buck?!" exclaimed Trixie in shock.

Crystals~

The stallion slowly stirred awake and look around to find himself in a cabin or carriage of some sort.

"Good morning stranger." said an incredulous voice, the stallion turned to see a blue unicorn mare sitting on a chair next to the bed.

"Uh...good morning...uh..." the stallion greeted, trying to get a name.

"Trixie, the Great and Powerful, and you are?"

"My name is...uh..." the stallion realized that he doesn't remember his name. "...uh...I don't remember."

"Typical...you should be lucky you managed to find me, nopony dares wander the frozen north in the dead of winter." explained the mare.

"Then how did you end up here?" asked the stallion.

"Misleading directions from a crystal pony."

"Crystals~" A strange voice echoed inside the stallion's head.

"Did you hear that?" asked the stallion.

"If you're referring to something that is not the wind howling outside, then no." answered the mare.

The black stallion decided to drop the subject. "Where are you going if I may ask?"

"Whatever is on the other side of this frozen wasteland. Possibly Neighpon. Anywhere that's as faraway from Equestria as possible." explained Trixie as she used her magic to make herself some tea. "So...how about you? Tell me your story."

"Well...I actually don't know how I ended up here...the first thing I remember was waking up out there, with no memories of who I was or who I am." explained the stallion with disappointment.

"A bad case of amnesia huh?" stated Trixie as she eyed the stallion. Not bad looking...he probably does a lot of cardio or climbing to be that toned.

"I think so." agreed the stallion.

"How about Trixie takes you with me to Vanhoover? It's the closest major city in Equestria to the frozen north so Trixie could drop you off there," offered the mare.

"That will be great, thanks." the stallion got up from the bed to stretch his legs.

Trixie's eyes go wide as she got a good view of his rump. My goodness! You could bounce a bit off of that thing! she exclaimed in her mind. The mare quickly regained her focus. "Anyways...get some rest tonight, we'll be off first thing in the morning, make yourself comfortable." stated the unicorn. "Good night." she then trotted off to her bed.

The stallion stretched his limbs out before climbing back on the bed. "Nice mare...a bit too egocentric for my taste." he mumbled to himself before he closed his eyes to sleep.

Promise me...

Suddenly, images of crystals and chains flashed before his eyes. A loud booming laugh rang out in his head and more images of ponies suffering continue flashing by.

"No!"

Your reign of terror ends today!

NEVER!

He is more shadow than stallion now. Especially after dark forces corrupted him.

But you promised me that you would protect us!

"NO!"

Crystals!

Suddenly, the images stopped, as he saw nothing but darkness.

"Ma'am."

"What is it?" stated a confused Cadance who was in the middle of a meeting with her chief advisers.

"It's the Crystal Heart, ma'am, you should see it for yourself." explained the guard.

The guard immediately took Cadance to the Crystal Heart, only to see to her horror, that it is now a dark shadow color, the same color as the infamous shadow crystals. "How long has it been like that?"

"Since this morning ma'am." explained the guard. "What does it mean?"

"He's back!"

Author's Note

Welcome to the first chapter of the last story I'll start in a LONG while.

Hopefully, this story will turn into a huge epic, so fingers crossed.

Hope you like it.

Be

"Okay...place my desk right over there." instructed Twilight to the guards who were moving her stuff into her new room in the Royal Palace at Canterlot.

The guards did as they were told before they moved on to the next item.

Things have went by quickly for Twilight, who is now an alicorn princess. Even though it has only been a month, she was still not used to her new wings, but the training and orientation were the most difficult part. Getting acquainted with all the senior advisers and ever minute detail of politics. Sometimes she would wonder if she even deserved to be an alicorn princess, but she dare not question Princess Celestia.

After the guards finished placing all of her furniture in their proper place, Twilight just lied back on her bed thinking about her day.

"Another day down, an infinity to go." mumbled Twilight to herself.

Someone then knocked on the door. "Princess Twilight, you have a visitor here to see you." announced a guard through the door.

"Who is it?" said the unicorn, not bothering to get up from the bed.

"Your brother. Prince Shining Armor."

Twilight's eyes went wide and she shot up from the bed. "Let him in Flash!" she ordered.

The door opened and Twilight's brother Shining trotted in. "Best Big Brother Friend Forever!" exclaimed Twilight as she got off the bed and quickly enveloped her brother into a tight hug.

"Missed me huh?" smiled Shining to his little sister.

"You have no idea!" she exclaimed with relief. "What are you doing here?"

"Well...we have a problem." stated Shining, not sure how to explain this to her.

"What kind of problem?"

"Hey you! Time to wake up! Breakfast!" ordered Trixie to her new travel-mate as she tried to shake him awake.

The black stallion slowly stirred awake. "Ugh...what?"

"Breakfast! Now get up before it gets cold, chop chop!" stated the mare with slight annoyance.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up." the stallion slowly got up and out of the bed. "What IS for breakfast anyways?"

"Pine cones." answered the mare as she trotted over to the table.

"Pine cones?" the stallion wasn't sure if he heard her correctly.

"Did Trixie stutter? Pine cones...there's nothing else to eat, so unless you want to go hungry, that's what you'll be eating." explained the blue unicorn.

"Okay...can I at least take a shower first?" he asked.

"This carriage doesn't have a shower, instead, Trixie just sponge-bathes a third of my body every night." Trixie explained. "And there's no toilet either, so Trixie suggests you do your business outside behind some bushes."

"How can a mare like you live this way, anyways?" the stallion was confounded at what he's hearing.

"Trixie makes do."

"And what's with all the third person?"

"Trixie developed this habit from my shows, when performing, you must always say your name so that the audience won't forget."

"Oh...so you're a performer...what do you do?" the stallion was skeptical of her claims.

"Trixie is the GREATEST and most POWERFUL magician in ALL of Equestria!" gloated the mare.

"Magician huh?" laughed the stallion. "I thought you did strip teases."

"How DARE you make such disrespectful remarks like that to a mare! Know your place!" snarled Trixie at her guest.

"Okay...I'm sorry...I was just joking." apologized the stallion.

"Just shut up and eat your breakfast!" snarled the mare as she shoved the stallion's plate of pine cones to him.

Breakfast between them went by uneventfully. Afterwards, the stallion went outside to see that even though there's still snow on the ground, they are now in a dense pine forest. He then turned to see Trixie hooking herself up to the carriage so she can pull.

"What are you doing?" asked the stallion.

"Trying to get our rumps to Vanhoover before sunset!" snapped Trixie, she clearly hated doing this.

"Do you want me to help?"

"No! Trixie got this!" snapped the mare, she was too proud of herself to ever admit that she needed help.

"Are you sure?"

"Ugh! YES I AM SURE!"

"Did you use singular just now?"

"Never mind! Just shut your trap and get inside!" Trixie's horn began sparking in anger.

"Okay then." the stallion decided to let the mare have her way before going inside.

"HE'S WHAT?!" exclaimed a shocked Twilight at the news.

"He's back, Sombra is back!" explained Shining to his sister and Princess Celestia as the three of them gathered in Celestia's study for a private meeting.

"But that can't be! We killed him remember?!"

"Then I guess Sombra is a lot harder to kill than we thought." chimed in Celestia.

"Are you sure about this?" Twilight refused to believe this.

"We are sure Twi, now, I don't know how he came back, but I do suspect that he's back for revenge." stated Shining. "He's going to go after you, me, my wife and Spike for destroying him in the first place, so my wife sent me here to protect you."

"But what about Cadance? She has no one to protect her!"

"I know, but she insisted that she face him one-on-one, IF that ever happens."

Twilight just gave a sign. "So...what do we do now?"

"I have sent letters to each of your friends and Spike to come here, we don't want Sombra to use them as leverage to get to you." explained Celestia in a serious tone.

"And I'll be guarding and watching out for you around the clock." answered Shining.

Twilight just agreed to both of them. She still couldn't believe that he's back.

"BUCK ME SIDEWAYS!!" yelled Trixie in anger as she tried to free her carriage that is now stuck in some mud. She continued pulling and pulling, but no luck.

"Need any help?" asked the stallion as he stuck his head out the window, with a smirk on his face.

"Ugh...FINE! YOU CAN HELP!!!" exclaimed a defeated Trixie.

"About time you asked." smirked the stallion as he walked out and began hooking himself to the carriage.

Trixie could see the stallion's toned body flex and move as he hooked himself up. Damn..he's perfect for this job!

The stallion finished up and began pulling. His body strained to get the carriage free, his face clenched. Trixie could see some of his muscles bulge, she couldn't stop staring.

Suddenly, the carriage began moving as the stallion continued pulling. He's doing it! thought Trixie in surprise. Soon, it was completely free from the mud. "All free." stated the black stallion with a smirk.

"Impressive." said a pleased and grateful Trixie. "You're a lot stronger than Trixie gives you credit for." she states in an almost flirty tone as she rubbed a hoof long his side.

"Uh...thanks." he said, a little surprised an uncomfortable by the action.

"Would you mind, making yourself useful, and pull this carriage all the way to Vanhoover for me?" asked Trixie.

"Only if you apologize and admit that you needed my help the entire time." he smirked.

"Fine."

"And WITHOUT referring yourself in the third person."

"BUCK YOU!" snapped Trixie.

"Then I guess my services are done."

"Since when did you become so mischievous?"

"Since I figured out that I'm with an egocentric boaster."

Trixie just gave him a dirty look. "FINE! You win! I apologize for snapping at you and I really did need your help and that I should've asked for it when I needed it." that statement left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Good...now get inside and let's go." the stallion playfully smiled.

Trixie said nothing as she went inside as told, and the mysterious stallion began pulling the carriage she's in towards Vanhoover.

Who IS this stallion? And why must he be mysterious AND attractive at the same time, he's going to drive me crazy at this rate!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Care

Twilight was bored.

That was a statement that she couldn't believe was possible. She just sat down, trying to look attentive as the senior financial adviser gave a presentation on why the Equestrian tax code should be simplified. The presentation just made her think back to the time where she had to memorize the tax code as part of being a princess.

"Thank you for that informative presentation, I'll keep in mind the key points." said Celestia to the adviser. The adviser bowed before he sat down. "Okay...well, looks like we covered everything we need to cover for this week, see you all next Wednesday."

All the advisers bowed to Celestia and to Twilight before shuffling out the door.

Even though Sombra is back, Celestia insisted that royal business continue as normal to prevent inciting a panic among her subjects. She then turned to see Twilight, looking bored and deep in thought.

"You okay Twilight? I know how boring it can be, but this is necessary for the smooth running of the kingdom." she explained to her apprentice.

"I know it's necessary, but there has to be someway to make this less tedious." answered Twilight.

"Believe me Twilight, I've been trying for centuries and this is the best way I've come up with." Celestia then decided to switch the subject to one that she has been noticing recently. "Is something wrong Twilight? You've been looking troubled these past few months."

"I'm fine Celestia, honest." answered the purple alicorn. She was indeed troubled, mostly because of her doubts on whether she WAS ready to be a princess. But she didn't want to say anything for fear of offended her beloved mentor and teacher. "Just trying to get used to things." she said.

"You know, if you have any problem or complaints...you can be open and honest with me, okay?" clarified Celestia.

"I know." answered Twilight before slightly bowing to Celestia and leaving the meeting room.

"Maybe I should've waited until she was a little more mature before making her a princess." Celestia said to herself. "But then again, she did master almost all forms of magic."

Celestia began to think that maybe there WAS somepony a little more qualified for the job despite Twilight's worthiness.

In the pine forests outside Vanhoover, Trixie and the mysterious black stallion were sitting outside in front of the fire, looking at the stars.

"And since the day I dropped out of the school for gifted unicorns, I have been travelling across Equestria honing my magic skills and performance." said Trixie as she finished the story of her life.

"Wow...you wasted all of your potential on performing street magic." was all the stallion said in response to the story.

"Well Mr. I-can't-remember-who-I-am, what do you expect me to do?" spat Trixie.

"Maybe if you applied yourself more, you could've became Celestia's top student and apprentice." answered the stallion. But for some strange reason, the word "Celestia" left a bad taste in the stallion's mouth.

"And become the 'Element of Magic'? Trixie doesn't think so." rebutted the mare.

"You know," began the stallion. "If you weren't so egocentric and such a boaster, stallions everywhere would flock to you so you can be their special somepony." pointed out the stallion.

"What makes you say that?!" stated an incredulous Trixie.

"You have the looks, all you need to work on is your personality and speaking skills."

"Trixie doesn't feel the need of improving my personality, Trixie can get any stallion she wants!"

"That's exactly my point, most stallions hate it when a mare referrers to themselves in the third-pony constantly." he stated. "And looks and fame can only get you so far."

"How would you know about such things?! You don't even know WHO you are?!" spat Trixie.

"I may not know who I am, but I do know how ponies and the world work and I kind of care about your well being."

"Yeah? Well look at you!" pointed Trixie. "You're the most physically fit pony Trixie has ever seen! Not skin and bones, not disgusting bulging muscles, just enough to show that you're strong and possibly agile. You probably trip over all the mares piled up to your hooves on a daily basis!"

"You really think so?" smirked the stallion.

"Of course Trixie thinks so! If it isn't for Trixie's amazing self-control, Trixie would have you right here, right now and in any hole!" exclaimed Trixie.

"Okay..." the stallion was a little shocked and confused by that statement.

An awkward silence fell between the two unicorns until Trixie spoke up. "I'm going to go inside before I do something I'll regret." the mare got up and walked back inside the carriage.

"Well...that was awkward." mumbled the stallion to himself.

"Crystals" hissed a voice that sounded like it came from the forest. The stallion looked around for the source of the sound but couldn't pinpoint it.

"Crystalsss" this time it sounded like it came from his head.

The stallion just covered his ears, hoping the sound will go away. Crystals!!

Over and over again, a dark voice would hiss that word in his head. The stallion just tried his best to ignore it.

"Leave! Me! ALONE!"

But then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The stallion looked around confused.

"Who was I?" he asked to himself.

At the royal palace, Twilight plopped down on her bed, exhausted. "Oh Celestia, if I could go back in time, it will be so I can decline your offer in becoming a princess." she said to the ceiling. "I thought I was ready...but I guess I was not."

Twilight decided to just go to sleep right then and there, at least she can look forward to her friends arrival in the morning. She turned off the lights and went to sleep, although she struggled for several minutes to find a comfortable sleeping position because of her new wings.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Dream†

Sombra couldn't believe his luck, but yet he laughed at his situation as he painfully limped along the corridors of the Crystal Palace.

Some blood dripped on the floor from the large gash along his side. He didn't mind the pain, in fact, he seemed to enjoy it.

"Must...get...to..the mirror!" he mumbled to himself.

"STOP RIGHT THERE SOMBRA!"

Sombra stopped and turned around, to see Celestia, angry and her horn glowing.

"If you are going to kill me Celestia, then kill me!" spat Sombra. "The Crystal Empire will be better off without me!"

"I will not kill you! I made a promise to never kill." spat Celestia back.

"HA!" laughed the dark stallion. "I knew you don't have the GUTS! But this inability to kill will come back to haunt you, and I will have my last laugh when I that happens!"

Celestia just charged at the stallion, punched him hard in the face and pinned him to the ground.

"Your reign of terror ends today!"

Sombra just laughed manically, "Tell me Celestia, why did you wait until now to overthrow me? It couldn't be because of the way I treated my subjects, if that were the case, you would've done this a LOT sooner." Sombra smirked.

"SHUT UP!" Celestia spat.

"Or maybe you were upset because you WANT my crystals for economic reasons, what else?"

Celestia punched Sombra again. "SHUT UP YOU BLACK HEARTED MONSTER!"

The dark stallion just laughed uncontrollably. "I'll meet you in Tartarus."

The alicorn's horn glowed before firing a magic beam at him.

Darkness followed...

"TRIXIE!" yelled the stallion to his friend inside the carriage he was pulling. "TRIXIE!"

"WHAT?!" spat Trixie as she stuck her head out the window.

"We're here!" he pointed.

Trixie looked at the direction he was pointing to see that they have finally reached their destination; Vanhoover.

"FINALLY!" exclaimed a relieved Trixie. They finally made it, and just in time too as the sun began to set.

They both entered the city, with the stallion parking the carriage at a small park just outside the city. The stallion then unhooked himself from the carriage, wiping the sweat off of his brow.

"So...this is it huh?" said Trixie with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"What?"

"This is the part where we part ways." the mare clarified.

"I guess it is." agreed the stallion. He was a little sad because he was just starting to get used to her presence.

Trixie gave the stallion a small bag filled with bits. "Here, this should be enough to get you a one-way train ticket to Canterlot, where you can start anew."

"Uh...thanks," said the stallion. "but is there a way I can repay you for your help?"

"Fuck her!" yelled a dark voice in the stallion's head.

"There's no need for you to do that, just bringing me here is repayment enough." explained Trixie, even though she did want more from the stallion, specifically, his body.

Trixie couldn't take it anymore and suddenly gave the stallion a big, rough and sloppy kiss.

The stallion tried to push her off, but he felt a foreign force compel him to let her continue. "What's going on with me? My mind is telling me that this is wrong, but something is forcing me to enjoy it."

He couldn't fight it anymore as he let Trixie's tongue into his mouth, his hooves absent-mindlessly running down and along the mares body.

Trixie suddenly broke the kiss. "You! Me! My bed! Now!", she then grabbed the stallion by the hoof and dragged him inside.

The mare pushed the stallion onto her bed and climbed on top of him to resume making-out with him.

The stallion gave up trying to fight it as Trixie began to nip his neck. "Oh~" he moaned. He felt himself get hard.

Trixie looked down and saw the stallion's impressive erection. She noted that it was of average length, but of impressive girth. "Perfect." she hissed under her breath.

She hated stallions with big cocks, they hurt her too much, but she loved stallions with big girths instead because they can stimulate all parts of her better and make her feel full. This is going to get good.

The mare got up from on top of the stallion, turned around, lifted up her tail and showed off her marehood, which was dripping in anticipation. "Pick a hole and mount me! Now!" she was too desperate and eager for foreplay.

The stallion just looked at awe at the sight, her teardrop shaped opening looked inviting and his cock twitched in anticipation. It was right then and there that he decided to stop fighting it and accept it. He then came up with a sinister idea.

"Well?" snapped Trixie. "What are you waiting for? Winter Wrap-u~~OH CELESTIA!!!" a huge wave of pleasure struck the mare as she felt the stallions tongue lick her slit. "YOU TEASE!" she moaned, as the stallion's tongue went up and down her opening, paying special attention to her swollen clit. "OH FUCK YOU'RE GOOD!!!"

The stallion just smirked as his eyes turned green and continued expertly licking her. Once he felt she was properly lubricated with her juices and putty in his hooves, he stopped.

"WHY DID YOU STOP? Trixie was getting clo~AHH!!" Trixie suddenly felt the stallion's thick dick thrust into her desperate slit. "Yes! Perfect!"

The stallion smiled an evil grin as he mounted her and began thrusting. "Do you like that?"

"Oh yes! I love feeling full!" she moaned with pleasure as the thrusts got faster. Trixie was feeling too good to care that she wasn't referring to herself in the third person. "Fuck me! Come on!"

The stallion started picking up his pace, her moans and pleas of pleasure were turning him on.

"OH YES!" Trixie loudly moaned as she felt the waves of an orgasm coming. Her inner walls tightening around his perfect cock.

He felt her inside tighten, just the way he liked it as he continued pounding her.

"OH FUCK!!! I'M CUMMING AHHH~!!!" Trixie yelled as she felt her orgasm hit, her inner walls constricting around her partners dick.

The mare's orgasm caused the stallion to also cum hard as he grunted in pleasure, spraying a lot of his seed inside of her. He felt some of it leak out of her as he pulled out, he was in a complete daze as he collapsed on the bed.

"That was amazing!" Trixie exclaimed as she got up to the stallion and cuddled up to him. She gave the stallion a tender kiss. The stallion kissed back.

Trixie was disappointed that she would probably never see him again, so she held him tightly, trying to savor their last moments together. She lied her head on his chest. "Mmm...my pillow." she mumbled before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

The stallion just looked up to the ceiling, wide-eyed and slightly ashamed at what he did. He just had sex with a mare he barely knew and he felt like he wasn't in control of his body. Some force took control, but he couldn't explain what.

He soon fell into a restless night sleep. The sounds of a deep, evil and distant laugh echoing in his mind.

What's happening it me?

Author's Note

My first attempt at clop!

Anyways...I hoped you also like the flashback at the beginning of the chapter. The flashbacks will be done in reverse chronological order.

Thanks for the faves.

Eye

It was a bright sunny day in Vanhoover, as the morning light entered a carriage parked in a small park. Inside, Trixie stirred awake. "Mmm...five more minutes hun." as she turned over on her bed, only to quickly realize something. The mare quickly shot awake and felt around her bed.

He's gone.

Trixie gave a disappointed sigh. "I knew it was too good to be true, oh well."

At the Royal Palace in Canterlot, Twilight, Shining, Celestia and Luna where having breakfast (or in the case of Luna, supper) together in the dinning room.

"Did you sleep well last night Twilight?" asked Princess Celestia.

"Oh yes I did." answered Twilight, it was more of a half-truth, she did sleep well, but it took her almost an hour to calm her restless mind to do so.

Luna gave Twilight a smirk, she knew she wasn't telling the whole truth and that she's very troubled, but decided not to say anything to her sister Celestia. She preferred that Twilight told her instead.

"Anyways, Luna, sister, we're you able to track Sombra's whereabouts?" the sun princess asked her sister.

"Unfortunately, I found no trace of him while scouring the dreams of our subjects." answered Luna with disappointment from her failed mission.

"That means, he has found a way to shield his location." concluded Celestia.

"I suggest we put Canterlot and the Crystal Empire on high alert until Sombra is defeated." proposed Shining.

"No!" sternly rebutted Celestia, "We must do this without setting off the suspicions and panic of our subjects."

A guard trotted into the room and came up to Celestia, he whispered in her ear. "Ah...good." she said. The guard then left.

"Well, good news Twilight, your friends have arrived!" she announced to everyone at the table.

Twilight smiled as she quickly ran out the room to the main foyer of the castle. And sure enough, all five of her friends were there. "GIRLS!!!"

"TWILIGHT!"

They both ran into each other and formed a huge group hug. "Aww...it's been so long! I've missed you all!" exclaimed the purple unicorn to her friends.

"We missed you too Twi." responded Dash.

"What's been going?" asked Twilight to each of her friends.

"We came as soon as we heard that no good villain is back." stated Applejack, ready for a fight.

"Yeah! That meanie is going down!" giggled Pinkie.

"By the way, did you ever find out where he is at the moment?" asked Rarity.

"Nothing yet, but I highly doubt he's close by." answered Twilight with confidence.

The black stallion got off the train and looked up to see a sign reading:

Welcome to Canterlot!
Co-Rulers: HRH Princess Celestia & HRH Princess Luna

"I guess I'm here." mumbled the stallion to himself. "Now to find a place to stay."

The stallion walked along the main street of city, most of the ponies not paying attention to him. Although there were some mares who giggled and winked at him as he passed by.

"I guess Trixie wasn't kidding about my looks." he mumbled under his breath.

He finally reach a building that looked like a great place to temporarily stay; a nice looking boarding house.

"Anyways...every room has a full kitchen and bedroom, there's a single bathroom on each floor and all meals and utilities are free. You just need to pay for rent." explained the boarder, and old stallion, while showing him the room.

"How much is the rent?" asked the black stallion.

"30 bits a month." the old stallion answered. "What's your name by the way?"

"Oh...uh..." the stallion quickly looked around the room, but saw nothing but his shadow. "..uh...Kage...my name is Kage." he answered.

"Kage huh? Well..welcome to the 'Coronation House' family." stated the old stallion. "Dinner is at 6 on the dot, see you there!" he instructed before leaving the black stallion alone.

"I guess my name is Kage now." the stallion mumbled to himself as he looked around his new room.

Celestia and Luna are at Celestia's study, drinking tea together before Luna went to bed.

"This whole situation is killing me sister." stated Celestia.

"Why is that?" asked Luna.

"Out of all the evil I fought, Sombra was the one who brought out the worst in me, I heavily considered killing him right then and there." she admitted to her sister.

"But you made a vow once you took the throne too never kill." Luna stated.

"I know I did! But a pony with as black a heart as him doesn't deserve to live!" exclaimed Celestia.

"But then you'll be as bad as him if you do!"

"You think I don't know that!" Celestia spat. "I should've overthrown him the moment I heard he was enslaving his subjects. But no...I instead decided it was best for the stability of the world to not intervene and hope it went away on its own." she explained. "Why do you think I spent three years secretly channeling funds to send arms to the Crystal Empire to support a slave revolt?"

"I know, but that caused a massive scandal that nearly destroyed your credibility and caused you to briefly consider abdication." stated Luna. That was a dark event of their reign.

"Luckily we managed to save face by going to the Crystal Empire with a massive army and overthrowing Sombra ourselves." mused Celestia.

"Yes we did." agreed Luna as she finished her tea. "Well...it is getting late, must be off to bed, good morning sister." she said, giving Celestia a quick hug before she went to her chambers.

Celestia was alone. She sat down in front of the fireplace and gave a stressed sigh. "I should've killed him the first time, but I just couldn't go back on my vows. But next time we meet Sombra, I will not let my vows get in the way this time."

Author's Note

The next chapter will come out on a Monday.

Hope you enjoyed the first five chapters.

Thank you!

Five

"SURRENDER NOW SOMBRA!" snarled Celestia as she shot another beam of magic to Sombra.

"NEVER!" snarled the shadow unicorn back. He just gave a sinister laugh.

They continued shooting beams of magic at each other, with the occasional hoof to hoof combat for good measure. Celestia then levitated a blade that was hanging on the wall as decoration. She also gave Sombra a blade. "Now fight me like a REAL pony!"

The shadow smiled at the challenge and quickly reverted to his normal form, complete with his armor, cape and crown. "With pleasure!" he hissed as he took of those three things.

Using their magic, they both began to fight each other with the blades. Each making and blocking the blows.

The fight soon dragged on for what felt like an hour. "Look at us Celestia, two immortals fighting an endless battle, why don't you save the effort and retreat!" spat Sombra.

"NEVER!" screamed Celestia as she used the blade at Sombra, the stallion was pushed back as he felt a sharp pain long his side. Sombra looked to see a large gash on his side, slowly dripping blood.

"It looks like you're not as immortal as you think!" smirked the princess.

Sombra just gave an angry yell as he shot a beam of magic at the ceiling. A piece immediately fell in front of the princess as the stallion used the distraction to make his escape.

Once the dust cleared, Celestia saw that Sombra was gone...but left behind a trail of blood. "You're not getting away with this!" she snarled.

It was night at the Royal Palace, as Twilight was at her balcony outside of her chambers. She looked up at the sky and gave an exhausted sigh. She wasn't sure how long she can take being a princess, or whether or not she's actually ready for the job. She secretly hoped that things went back to the way they were.

"Twilight?" said a soft, soothing voice.

Twilight turned around to see Fluttershy standing behind her. Twilight immediately put on a straight face. "Oh, Fluttershy, what brings you here?"

"Just checking up on you. I-I was really worried because you seemed...well...if you don't mind me saying...distant all day." nervously stated the shy pegasus.

The unicorn just couldn't hide it anymore and wrapped her pegasus friend into a tight hug. "Five weeks! I've been princess for five weeks already and I STILL detest this job!" admitted Twilight. "I thought it was going to get better and easier...but it still hasn't! I don't have time for a social life, the duties are mind numbing and I HATE these stupid wings!" everything that she bottled up since the coronation was being released.

Fluttershy did what any good friend would do by staying quiet and listening. "Let it all out Twi."

"I just want to go back in time and take it all back! I want to be Twilight Sparkle, scholar, librarian and faithful friend again! I'm don't WANT to be Princess! I thought it was something I wanted...but I guess I was wrong."

"Why don't you tell Celestia that you don't want to be a princess anymore?" offered the pegasus. "I'm sure she'll understand."

"NO SHE WON'T!" snapped Twilight. "She said it was my destiny to be a princess! I'm 'Her Royal Highness, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship' remember?! Nothing can change that!"

"So...you would rather do what is expected of you and be miserable than find happiness?"

Twilight didn't know what to say. "I shouldn't have said anything." Twilight immediately back away from the pegasus, ran towards the balcony railing and jumped off.

Fluttershy gasped, only to see Twilight fly back up. "Don't tell anyone or bother looking for me...I'll be back before dawn." and with that, the purple alicorn flew into the night sky. Fluttershy was stunned.

At a small pub in Canterlot, the mysterious stallion, now calling himself Kage, was sitting at the bar drinking some hard cider.

"Give me another cider please." said the slightly tipsy Kage.

The barkeep came up to him. "So...drinking to forget I'm guessing?" he smirked.

"No...drinking to remember." stated the black stallion.

"Oh really?"

Kage gave the barkeep an annoyed look. "Just give me another cider."

The barkeep quietly did as told.

"So...what's your name?" asked a heavily accented female voice. Kage turned to see a blue coated mare with short white mane, designer sunglasses and a fashionable dress sitting next to him.

"Kage...and you are?"

"My name is Photo Finish...fashion photographer extraordinaire! It's my job to capture ze magiks!" she explained. "And you my friend has ze magiks I'm looking for!"

"Uh...thanks..."

"Look at you! You would make the perfect cover colt for Playmare magazine! Or be a page-three colt across countless magazines across Equestria! Now tell me...how do you get into such great shape? I'm guessing mostly cardio with you."

"Uh...maybe...I guess I do." Kage had no idea actually.

"And so humble too! You're perfect!" Photo Finish swooned. She then gave Kage a card. "Meet me at my photography studio tomorrow at noon on ze dot! Don't be late!"

As quickly as she appeared...she left.

Kage was stunned. "Okay...well...I could REALLY use the money." He just chugged another cider as he thought about the offer.

At the Crystal Empire, a crystal pony mare was happily washing the dishes in her home. As she was washing the last dirty plate, she immediately looked at her hooves to see a horrific sight.

"WHAT THE-?!" she exclaimed as she dropped the plate in shock, causing it to shatter on the floor. The crystal mare looked at her hooves to see that her coat no longer sparkling as it should, in fact, her coat looks like that of a regular pony. She was too stunned to move as her eyes stayed on them.

"What's happening?"

As soon as she said that, her coat began sparkling again as it should as if nothing happened.

She just stood there in complete shock.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Green

Kage was slightly tipsy as he decided to walk to a nearby park to breath in the cool night air. Although he couldn't help but the disturbed by the fact that he has no memory of who he really is. It was nothing but one giant sparkly blur. He looked at his cutie mark for any clues about who he really is, only to see the picture of three silver colored crystals.

"Was I a geologist or something? Was I a miner?" he said to himself, trying to figure out why his cutie mark represented. "That might explain my physique if that was true."

His thoughts were interrupted by the faint sounds of someone crying. He quietly trotted over to the source of the sound.

Twilight was sitting by a small pond, crying. She never felt so conflicted in her life before. One on hoof, she didn't want to be Princess, on the other, she didn't want to let Celestia or her friends down, it is her destiny to be one. "Oh...I don't know who I am anymore. Who am I?"

"I've been asking myself that same question for a while now." chimed a new voice.

Stunned, Twilight quickly turned around to see a black coated unicorn stallion with raven black hair. The mane reminded her a lot of shadows. "W-who are you?" she nervously stammered to the stallion.

"Frankly...I have no idea either." the stallion mused as he plopped down next to the purple alicorn.

"Really?"

"Yeah, all I remember is waking up in the frozen north without any idea of how I got there and who I am. So I've been trying my hardest to remember." the stallion explained. "And you? What is your story?"

"Well...don't you know who I am?" asked the mare.

Kage just silently shook his head. "Well...you are kind of familiar, but I'm not sure." he said. The mare did indeed looked familiar, like they have met before.

"Well, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and faithful student to Princess Celestia." answered Twilight. "And my story is that during the five weeks since the coronation, I have been having doubts over my destiny."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, Celestia keeps telling me that it is my destiny to master magic, become the wielder of the Element of Magic and be princess. Yet, I'm not enjoying being a princess so much. I can't see my friends, the work load is tedious and I feel trapped within the palace walls. So...is that really my destiny? Be a princess and be miserable?" the mare sighed.

"Why don't you tell Celestia how you feel about this?" Kage asked. Once again, a bad taste was left in his mouth when he said her name.

"Oh goodness no! She told me it was my destiny remember? I respect and love her too much for me to tell her that." Twilight explained.

"Well...since when did she have a say in what your destiny is anyways?"

"What?"

"The way I see it, it is YOU that decides what your destiny is. The only thing the other ponies in your life and your cutie mark can do is serve as a road-map to guide you in what direction to take, but it is you that decides the route. Not Princess Celestia, not your friends, YOU and no one else." Kage explained. He had no idea where that came from, but it sounded right.

"Huh...I never thought of it that way." said Twilight, taking in what the stallion told her, but what he said did make a whole lot of sense. "I guess you're right...it is I that decides what my destiny is, NOT Princess Celestia. Once the crisis is over I'll go up to her and tell her that I no longer want to be Princess."

"Crisis?"

"Oh...well..." the alicorn nervously stammered. "...I shouldn't be telling you this, but a very bad pony that me and my friends helped defeat a long time ago has returned, possibly for revenge, and we need to find him and defeat him before he does anything bad." she explained.

"Oh."

Suddenly, Twilight came up to the stallion and gave him a hug. "Thank you for making me feel better."

"Uh...you're welcome?" Kage blushed and stammered from the unexpected display of affection.

"You know...it was great talking to you. Maybe we should meet again sometime soon?" offered the princess.

"Uh...sure...same time and same place tomorrow I assume?"

"I can do that." Twilight smiled. "And maybe I can help you figure out who you are while we're at it."

"We'll see." Kage smiled back.

"Anyways, I have to get going now, see you here tomorrow!" and with that, Twilight spread her wings and flew off. Kage waving her off.

"She's a nice mare...MUCH better personality that Trixie." he mused to himself.

"Yep, once we find and defeat Sombra...I'm going to go up to Celestia and tell her that I will be the one that decides my destiny, not her. And my destiny is to NOT become princess." Twilight said to herself as she reached the palace.

It was morning in the Crystal Empire, and Princess Cadance woke up with a sick feeling in her stomach. "Ugh..." she groaned as she immediately ran to her bathroom and vomited into her toilet. Once she finished, she cleaned herself up and brushed her teeth. "Oh no...why must I get morning sickness NOW!"

A loud knock rang out from her chamber door. "Princess Cadance...we have a problem." said a guard from outside.

"What?" she exclaimed, not ready and in the mood to deal with royal duties. She opened the door with her magic to let the guard in.

"Look outside." instructed the guard.

Cadance, curious, put on her robe and walked out of her balcony. Only to be met by the sight of hundreds of Crystal ponies, many of them without their trademark sparkle, protesting in front of the palace gates. "What's going on?" asked Cadance, confused.

"They know something is wrong with the Crystal Heart your highness, and they demand answers." the guard explained.

Cadance suddenly felt the urge to throw up again and immediately ran back inside. "Ma'am?" asked the guard.

"Send a letter to Princess Celestia! NOW!" the alicorn demanded as she vomited into her toilet again.

The guard just saluted and and ran off to do so.

"Great! Everything just HAD to fall apart the moment I get pregnant. Perfect timing." she groaned.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Heart

Sombra was furious.

He looked down from his balcony to see his guards get over run by the Princess' own guards. His men tried to fight them off as best they could in the name of protecting their dear King Sombra, but the Princess' own royal guards had more powerful magic and better weapons.

"I guess it's time to make my escape." he growled to himself as he trotted off.

At the same time, the royal sisters made their way inside the Crystal palace. "I'll check his chambers and the dungeon, you check everywhere else Luna." Celestia instructed to her sister.

Luna silently agreed before she went off on her search.

Celestia made her way up the stairs to Sombra's chambers. She blew open the door with her magic only to find nopony there, Sombra is gone.

"The dungeons then." she mumbled before she used her magic to teleport her there.

The princess found herself in the dungeons, only to see that she's now in front of a large wooden door. The sign on top of it read:

Here lies thy worst fears
Thou art been warned.

"Another one of Sombra's tricks I assume." she mumbled to herself before opening the door.

Inside, in front of her, was her biggest fear. "Huh...just as I thought...he knows what my worst fear is." she said without much emotion, as if she was expecting to see what she was seeing all along.

Suddenly, the princess is engulfed by a shadow and suddenly found herself in Sombra's throne room. "What the?"

Celestia turned around to see Sombra himself, in his shadow form.

"Your reign of terror ends today Sombra!" she angrily spat.

"NEVER!" Sombra roared.

"Then you leave me no choice!" spat Celestia as she shot a beam of magic at Sombra.

Cadance immediately called an emergency meeting with her advisers. She knew she should be in bed due to her morning sickness, but the Crystal Empire always takes top priority.

"The citizens are demanding answers Your Highness." stated her Minister of Internal Affairs. "Many of them demanding to know why they periodically loose their crystal like shimmer."

"And tell them that it's because the Crystal Heart is now shadow crystal colored?" snapped Cadance, a little moody. "They'll correctly assume that it's because Sombra is back! And last time I checked, many Crystal ponies still tremble at the mere mention of his name. I do NOT want to start a panic!"

"But what do you want us to say? Your subjects adore you and all, which means they'll get even more angrier when they find out they have been lied to by you." explained the Finance Minister.

Cadance suddenly found herself stuck. On the one hoof, she can tell her subjects that Sombra is back, which means large scale panic and lose of credibility since SHE was the one who announced that Sombra was dead and never coming back in the first place. But on the other, she could keep up appearances and lie to her subjects. Which will only make things worse.

She suddenly began to feel queasy again as she bolted out the room so she could reach the nearest bathroom.

Her advisers look on with concern.

At Canterlot, Kage was standing in front of Photo Finish's photography studio. He reluctantly walked inside see that not only was Photo Finish herself there, but a high class and fancy looking mare was with her.

"Here's the stallion I was telling you about Miss Shores...he's perfect for the photo shoot!" Photo Finish exclaimed as she dragged Kage to meet her current client.

"Miss Shores this is..."

"Kage." completed the stallion.

"Kage, this is the one and only Sapphire Shores!" introduced the photographer.

"My, my, my...you are perfect." smiled Sapphire Shores.

Kage looked into her eyes, and could tell that she's thinking about things, dirty things, dirty things involving him. The fancy mare then walked around the stallion checking him out. "Oh yes...he'll be PERFECT for today." she grinned.

"Great...now let us create some magic!" instructed Photo Finish.

Next thing Kage knew, he was in a suit and tie while Sapphire Shores was in a fancy blue dress. For the photo shoot, Kage was supposed to be a suave spy while Sapphire Shores was his love interest. This shoot was going to be part of a series of promotional photos to promote Sapphire Shores' latest tour.

"You look PERFECT together! So much chemistry! I love it!" swooned Photo Finish as she took the photos.

Kage couldn't help but feel like the singer is genuinely flirting with him, not just acting for the shoot. From winking, to brushing up against him, to brushing her tail under his chin. For some reason, some force within his mind is telling him to accept the flirting and do it back.

And so the stallion did just that, flirt back. From nuzzling her cheek, to nipping at her neck.

"Great! Now you two passionately kiss to wrap it up!" passionately instructed the photographer.

Sapphire smiled and did as told, as she grabbed the stallion and brought him to a passionate kiss.

"And I am spent! Good work you two!" celebrated Photo Finish.

"Thank you. That was a great shoot." the singer said with confidence. She then took Kage off to the side and whispered into his ear. "I am free to have in my dressing room. But you better think quick, because this offer only lasts for the next 10 minutes...starting back when I said 'Thank you'." she whispered. She then seductively walked off, sashaying her hips.

Kage didn't know what to think. "Fuck her like the slut she is!" screamed a dark strange voice in his head. Suddenly, dirty thoughts started running through his head and smiled.

"So what do you think? Do you think the Princess is fit to continue her duties for the time being? Especially with this crisis going on?" said a voice.

"I'm not sure...we shouldn't even be talking about this! It feels like we're planning a coup or something."

"A LEGAL coup! A temporary coup until either Cadance is fit to rule again or the crisis is over, whichever comes last. And we need at least two-thirds majority of all the advisers present to do this."

"Still...I think it is too soon to talk about such thing. We should wait until public opinion seriously turns against her before vote on this issue."

"Fine...we'll give her five days...but if she doesn't get any better, public opinion about her falls or we still haven't found Sombra, we, the Royal Advisers of the Crystal Empire, will vote to temporarily declare Princess Cadance unfit to rule."

"Here! Here!" all the advisers chanted.

"Meeting adjourned."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Ice†

"OH FUCK YES! RIGHT THERE!" screamed Sapphire Shores with pleasure while Kage was licking her slit.

The singer couldn't believe it, but this stallion was giving her the best oral in years. "Keep going!" she moaned.

Kage gave an evil smirk and continued going, expertly using his tongue to pleasure his next conquest. Up, down, in and out he went along her opening, paying much attention to her clit. He was enjoying this a lot as he lapped her up as much as he could.

"OH! ALMOST THERE!" the singer screamed. Suddenly, a wave of pleasure hit her body hard as she climaxed to the point that she almost saw stars in front of her eyes. "AHHH~~!"

She lied back on the couch in a daze, panting, her coat mated in sweat. "Now it's time for your reward." she pushed the stallion on to his back so she could get full access to his impressive dick. She smiled when she saw that it was hard and in full display. Sapphire licked her lips in anticipation. "Now...you're lucky...I only do this to stallions who let me cum first." just as she finished saying that, she went down and wrapped her mouth around his thick tool.

Kage moaned and was impressed by her skills. She was not only using her tongue, but surprisingly her teeth. He loved the sensation of a mare's teeth gently brushing against his shaft. "Mmmm..." he hissed.

Sapphire Shores kept going, bobbing her head up and down, and looking up at the stallion to see his face. Kage looked down to meet her face, but seeing her looking up at him turned him on even more as she continued her sucking. The stallion began grunting as he felt himself reach his limit. "Oh...fuck..." he said as his cock began twitching.

The mare, sensing that he's close pulled her mouth away and went to hoofing and licking his thick shaft. Kage gave a loud grunt as this change drove him over the edge and cummed. His seed shooting out and landing on Sapphire Shore's face and mane. The mare continued licking and hoofing until no more came out. To her surprise, his dick started going limp and the stallion was in a complete daze.

"So I'm guessing you're one of those 'One and Done' types?" she mused, giggling.

Kage just panted and nodded in agreement before lying back on the couch.

Sombra finished giving his speech from the balcony of the Crystal palace, today was his jubilee and he wasted no expense in the week long celebrations. From giving his enslaved subjects their only week off of the year so they can focus on praising him, to ordering the construction of a new massive statue in his image just for the occasion. He enjoyed the praise from his subject, whether they meant it or not. Sombra gave an evil smirk to the crowd of chained up crystal ponies.

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard. Sombra looked to see a large army of royal guards storming the city. He could tell that they are Celestia and Luna's guards. "Stupid meddling sisters, I knew they couldn't stay back and do nothing for long." he hissed. He ordered his guards to attack the invading army while his enslaved subjects took the opportunity to run away and hide.

Sombra stayed on the balcony to oversee the battle as his forces and the princess' forces meet and begin fighting. There is no way this is going to ruin his most important day.

"Oh Rarity...I'm really worried about Twilight. She looked miserable last night." confessed Fluttershy to her friend while they where drinking tea together in Fluttershy's guest chamber.

"I always had a feeling that she was in way over head when she became an alicorn. I thought it was too soon." admitted Rarity as she finished her tea.

"Last night, Twi was so fed up that she flew away last night. She didn't come back until shortly before dawn." explained the pegasus. "Although when I met her this morning, she looked a LOT happier."

"Maybe she needed some alone time to breath in the cool night air."

"Maybe." Fluttershy agreed.

"Don't worry yourself TOO much Shy, I'm sure Twilight will find a way to handle her new responsibilities and soon, she'll accept her new position as alicorn princess." the unicorn assured.

"Oh...I hope your right." Fluttershy was still worried about her friend.

Shining Armor was in his sister's chambers, talking to her and catching up on old times.

"Remember the time I gave you coffee?" randomly asked Shining to her sister as he was lying on Twilight's bed. "Oh goodness...Cadance was super upset when she found out."

Twilight was at her desk, trying to preen her wings. "I was literally bouncing off the walls." she smiled.

A knock then came on the door. "I have a message for your brother Your Highness." announced Flash, Twilight's most faithful guard, from outside the door.

"You may enter Flash." she said.

Flash then entered the chamber and gave Shining Armor a note. "From your wife Your Highness." Shining took the note and read it. Only for his eyes to go wide in shock.

"Cadance is...PREGNANT!" Shining immediately passed out on Twilight's bed.

"Shining?"

Kage walked into Photo Finish's office to get his pay. Sapphire Shores just left the studio with a huge smile on her face, and how the stallion is focused on getting his pay check and going home to rest.

"So...how did the extra quality time with Miss Shores went?" asked the photographer mare with a smirk. "These walls are thin you know."

Kage blushed. "'Best oral in years' she said."

Photo Finish then took out a big bag full of bits and threw it on her desk. "Here's your pay. Plus a generous bonus for actually making her scream. She's usually picky when it comes to a stallion's skills on the couch."

"Uh...thanks." Kage just blushed even more as he accepted his pay and took the bag. "So..."

"I'll message you when your services are required." the photographer explained.

Kage just quietly nodded before leaving her office and going home to the boarding house he is staying at. "What an interesting day." he mused to himself.

Author's Note

Second clop scene.

Thanks for the faves!

Jack

It was another beautiful day in the Crystal Empire, the sun was rising, many of the crystal ponies where chained up as they were escorted to the crystal mines.

King Sombra watched all of this from his balcony, with a sinister grin on his face. He then turned back to see one of his many concubines sleeping peacefully on his bed, as usual.

"Hehe...it's great to be king." he gloated to himself. He had everything, immense wealth, power, influence and subjects who feared him. Plus, he gets the one thing he loved more than anything in the world; crystals.

After a few minutes of watching his enslaved subjects head towards their work, Sombra headed off to his gym for his usual morning cardio routine. All those years of squats, mountain climbers, treadmills and stair climbers have really improved his physique, and he sometimes couldn't help but check himself in the mirror.

Just after he finished his cardio workout, he went to his private shower room and began showering himself.

"Uh...your Majesty." said one of his loyal guards as he entered the shower room to his the king washing himself. All royal business can be conducted anywhere and everywhere. So it is no surprise to the guard that they're doing this in the shower. At one point they did royal business while Sombra was doing anal to one of his concubines. The guard was impressed by Sombra's multitasking skills when it comes to that.

"What is it?" Sombra asked as he scrubbed himself in the shower.

"You have a message from the royal sisters of Canterlot." he reported. "What should we do in response?"

Sombra took the note with his message and began reading it.

Dear HM Sombra, King of the Crystal Empire,

We thought it would be kind of us to warn you that there will be consequences brought upon you if you don't agree to steps that will emancipate your subjects from their bonds of servitude. You must realize that public opinion across ALL kingdoms and nations in the world is highly critical of your harsh and iron hoofed rule. So we warn you, if you do NOT emancipate your subjects by your jubilee, we CAN and WILL use force against you.

Signed, HRH Celestia & HRH Luna, Co-Princess of Equestria.

"So...what should we do sir?" asked the guard again.

"Jack!" laughed Sombra as he crumbled up the note and threw it at the guard, hitting him square in the face. All the guard could do was bow and leave his king to his shower.

"Those meddling sisters don't have the teats to defeat me." he boasted as he finished up his shower.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come to take care of you?" asked Shining to a crystal portal that has Cadance on the other side. Powered by Cadance's magic, this was an instant form of communication between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire since Cadance because Princess.

"I'm sure Shining...I can get through this. But I have more urgent matters to worry about at the moment." assured Cadance to her husband.

"Like what exactly?"

"The fact that my subjects are demanding answers and the fact they're beginning to suspect that Sombra is indeed back. Speaking of which, did you find any trace of him yet?"

"Nothing...we haven't been able to track him down. Luna could sense that he is indeed alive, but he's nowhere to be found." Shining explained the situation.

Cadance started feeling nauseous again. "Oh damn...they call this morning sickness yet it happens ALL the time. I have to go now. Be safe my love!" Cadance gave a kiss.

"The same." Shining did the same.

The portal turned off and the room was quiet.

It is night, and outside, hiding in the bushes beneath Twilight's balcony, both Fluttershy and Rarity are waiting.

"Are you sure what we're doing is okay?" asked a nervous Fluttershy.

"Of course darling, we're just doing out duty as friends to make sure she's safe. You said that she just flew off and left and came back a little better, we're here to make sure that she's okay." explained Rarity.

Just as Rarity said that, they saw Twilight fly out of her chambers, with saddlebags on her, into the sky. Rarity immediately got on Fluttershy's back and held on. "Fly Fluttershy, fly!" she ordered. Fluttershy reluctantly did as told and flew off after Twilight.

Kage was patiently waiting by the pond to meet up with Twilight again. He couldn't help but feel at east when talking to her, and she promised to help him get his memory back.

"I'm here...sorry for being a little tardy." apologized Twilight as she landed next to him.

"Oh...that's okay." looked at the saddlebags. "What you got in there?" he asked, curious.

"Some flower sandwiches." Twilight took out some sandwiches with her magic and gave one to Kage.

"Thanks." he said as he began eating.

"So, how was your day?" asked the princess.

"It went good, I got a job as a model now."

"Oh really?" Twilight smiled. "Who would've guess?" being a little sarcastic.

Kage couldn't help but give a small chuckle. "How about you? How was your day?"

"Tedious and routine filled as always. Life of a Princess never ends." she explained in a slightly playful tone.

"Tell me Twilight....why would a princess like you, go all the way here to talk to a random stallion like me? Don't you have friends and an entourage?" asked Kage.

"Well...in actuality, I find you interesting." she admitted.

"Really? How so?" Kage blushed slightly.

"Well...I kind of see you as a puzzle needing to be cracked. What, with your lack of memory and the fact that you don't know who you are...I find it kind of hard to resist." she stated.

"So...you're not attracted to my body at all?" he playfully joked.

Twilight just blushed. "Hey! I'm not THAT kind of mare that just lifts up her tail and shows off her goods at the sight of a nice piece of stallion!" she exclaimed, embarrassed. "Besides, they need to at LEAST be an intellectual match for me to even CONSIDER giving my time of day to him."

"Oh...so you have standards?" he playfully joked. "Fine...question; 27, 57, 67 and 77, which one of these is a prime number?"

"67! What is the smallest number that is evenly divisible by 1 through 10?"

"2520!" Kage had no idea how he knew that. "What is the shortest word in the Equestrian language to contain all of the vowels?"

"Depends on how obscure you want it, you have Sequoia, eulogia, and for the really obscure, louea." Twilight answered matter-of-factly. "H2O autumn?"

"Waterfall."

"13579U?"

"The odds are against you!"

"I have an eye but cannot see. I'm faster than any stallion alive and have no limbs. What am I?"

Kage just gave a confidant grin. "Tornado."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I have no idea."

A hushed silence falls between them as they just stared at each other.

"You earned my time of day." stated Twilight. "Congratulations." she smiled, still staring at him.

The space between their snouts began to narrow as they got closer together. They closed their eyes as their faces grew closer for kiss.

"STOP RIGHT THERE PERVERT!" yelled a voice.

Both Kage and Twilight turned to see Rarity jump out of the bushes. Fluttershy, slowly walking out, embarrassed. An awkward silence fell between them.

"Uh...I can explain." stated a nervous and blushing Twilight. "What was I thinking, trying to kiss him when I barely know him! Bad Twilight, bad!"

"What was I thinking?!" thought Kage.

The four of them just awkwardly stared at each other.

TO BE CONTINUED...

King

Kage has never felt so ashamed in his life before, or maybe he did feel even more ashamed at some point in his past but couldn't remember much of it. He just sat outside Celestia's study while Twilight and Celestia where inside. He looked around him only to see some of the royal guards and Shining Armor give him dirty looks. Kage just smiled and blushed nervously.

"I am greatly disappointed in you Twilight! Not only did you sneak off while Sombra is out there somewhere waiting to attack, but you sneaked of to see some random stallion! I would never expect such behavior like that from you!" scolded Celestia to her faithful student Twilight, disappointed in her.

"I'm sorry." mumbled Twilight, tearing up and ashamed of herself.

"Why would you do such a thing? You know how much worry I went through when I found this out from your friends!?" continued the princess.

Twilight didn't say a word. She was afraid to tell her the truth. The truth where she sneaked off to be free and not worry about her responsibilities for once.

"Answer me Twilight!" demanded a stern Celestia.

Her student still didn't say a word. She just lowered her head in shame.

Celestia just gave a frustrated sigh. "Okay..." she went and sat behind her desk. "...you are forbidden from ever seeing that stallion."

"WHAT?!" But-"

"I don't want to hear it!" interrupted Celestia. "You are also forbidden from leaving the palace grounds until Sombra is found and defeated, plus two weeks afterwards."

"NO WAY!"

"You want to make it four?"

The entire room fell silent, Twilight decided to keep her mouth shut.

"I remember when I fell in love and dated a stallion, I promised myself I'll never make that same mistake again." explained Celestia. She then got up. "Now go and say goodbye to him, then go straight to your chambers."

Twilight reluctantly did as told, and sulked out of the room. She has never felt so sad and frustrated in her life, especially with Celestia, she never thought she would ever feel this way towards Princess Celestia.

She got outside to see Kage waiting outside with her brother. "Hey Shining, do you mind giving me five minutes to talk to him before you escort him out?" she asked Shining Armor.

The white unicorn stallion just looked at Kage suspiciously before looking at her younger sister. "Okay...FIVE minutes Twily." he signaled the rest of the guards to follow him out to leave the two alone.

"So...?" began Kage.

"I'm not aloud to see you ever again." explained the mare disappointingly.

"Oh..." was all a dejected Kage was able to say. "...I'm sorry."

"That's all right, but at least I have an idea."

"An idea?" he the confused stallion.

"Yes...I really want to help you get your memories back so you can figure out who you are so here." Twilight then took out a pink crystal in the shape of a heart.

"What's that?" asked the stallion. Never having seen one before.

"Something Princess Cadance gave to me for my coronation. All you have to do is let magic flow through your horn, close your eyes, picture a pony in your mind and then say its name three times. The crystal will teleport you to that pony." she explained.

"Who do you use it to return back?"

"Just say 'back' three times and it should take you to your previous location." Twilight then gave him the crystal.

"Crystals~~" hissed a voice inside Kage's hand as he touched the crystal. For some reason, he felt more alive and powerful touching it. "Uh...thanks..." he muttered, strangely trying to hold back a grin.

Suddenly, they heard Shining and the guards come in. "Oh...well, time for you to go. Remember, only use it at night when I'm more likely to be alone. Good luck, see you tomorrow." the purple alicorn gave Kage a quick hug before letting the guards escort him out of the palace.

A big grin formed across the stallion's face and his eyes changed to green as he was escorted out, with none of the guards or Shining noticing.

Twilight felt frustrated and slightly betrayed by her friends, especially with Rarity and Fluttershy, for telling her on Celestia. Sure, she understood that they were worried about her, but she's a grown mare and an alicorn, she could handle any danger that came at her.

She reached the small game room in the palace to see AJ beating Dash at cards and Pinkie beating Fluttershy and Rarity in Snakes & Ladders.

"WOO HOO! LADDERS AGAIN!" exclaimed Pinkie at another lucky roll.

"That's the FIFTH time in a row! How is this possible?!" exclaimed a dumbfounded Rarity.

"Uh...guys..." announced Twilight to her friends.

"Oh Twilight! So...what happened?" asked Dash.

"Yes...tell us darling." urged Rarity.

"I'm not allowed to see to see him again, and I'm stuck inside the palace grounds until Sombra is found, plus another two weeks afterwards." Twilight explained.

"Well, at least that stallion won't be able to see you again, if I was there to see you lock lips with him, I would've given him a good jab and then a hook!" punched a smug Dash at the air.

"An' what if that stallion was actually Sombra this entire time? He could've grabbed ya an' foalnapped ya an' taken ya hostage!" stated AJ with concern for her friend.

"If he WAS Sombra, he would've done that a long time ago." clarified Twilight. "He's just some stallion how has no idea of who he is and has no memory."

"Then why didn't you tell us or Celestia about this sooner? We could've helped you help him." explained Rarity.

"And tell her that I've been sneaking off because I can't stand the pressures of this job? The job that Celestia gave me because it's my destiny?" asked Twilight incredulously.

"Gosh...if ya really don't like bein' a princess an' all...why don't ya tell Celestia about how ya feel?" offered AJ, really concerned about Twilight.

"I can't tell her now!" the alicorn exclaimed. "Not with HIM out there waiting for the perfect time to strike! I need to put on a brave face and see this through to the end!"

"Okay Twi...it's up t' ya when ya want t' tell her. We can't force ya to." the orange mare explained.

All of Twilight's five friends looked at her with a mix of concern and guilt for her.

Twilight sighed. "It's getting late, I better go to my chambers and get as much sleep as I can, another long day of royal business to attend to." she waved to her friends goodbye before leaving the room.

The five mares just stared at their friend with concern.

"I don't know...I still don't think it's right." nervously stammered a stallion.

"DAMN IT RAY!" snapped another, more older stallion. "We need a two-thirds majority of all advisers to vote on this and we have FOUR days to do this!"

"But why me?" asked the stallion, slightly intimidated by Internal Affairs Adviser.

"Because you happen to be the swing-vote." he explained. "She couldn't fully defeat Sombra last time, I doubt she could do it again in her current condition. Plus the citizens are growing more restless and distrustful of her the longer we refuse to give an explanation that will satisfy them."

The Internal Affairs Adviser knew that Ray, the Education Adviser, doesn't have the balls to come up with a decision on his own, and will ALWAYS go with the majority. He just had to make sure that he was the first one to get to him.

"Okay fine...I'll vote with you to temporarily declare the princess temporarily unfit to rule." Ray said, defeated. "But only IF that day comes and that it'll be a secret ballet so she wouldn't know who voted against her, okay?"

"You have a deal." the adviser said, to Ray as he straightened up the Education Adviser's tie. "Now make sure you keep this a secret from her okay?"

Ray nervously nodded before trotting away him.

"Why Cadance chose him to be an adviser...I have no idea."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Life

Kage was in a dark room, he had no idea where he is or how he got there. He looked around but found nothing but darkness.

"Hello?"

"Crystals" hissed a new voice.

"Hello?" Kage quickly turned around, only to be met by a shocking sight. Standing in front of him was another stallion who looked exactly like him, only his eyes where glowing green with appeared to be dark shadows coming from it, and his horn is red and curved.

"It's about time we finally meet, face to face." stated the smug stallion to Kage.

"W-who are you?" stammered an intimidated Kage to this dark stallion.

"I am you, or at least I WILL be you, thank you for finally waking me up."

"What?"

"Oh my, you really don't have any idea who I am do you?" this stallion said as he walked around Kage, checking him out. "My name is Sombra, former and rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire, and that is who you used to be and will become."

"Why would I become you?" asked Kage incredulously, "We are nothing alike, you're nothing but a manifestation of the voices in my head!"

"That's partially true, but I, or should I say, WE, used to be more than that, I was flesh and bone with everything a pony could ask for, wealth, power, respect, concubines, EVERYTHING!" Sombra let out a chuckle.

"So what do you want then!?" snarled Kage.

"To become the most powerful pony in the world, everypony will fear me and respect me, no one would dare challenge me And to throw in some revenge against those who defeated me the last time". Sombra began running a hoof along the side of Kage's body. "They thought they actually killed me, but they only killed my physical form, all they did was delay the inevitable." Sombra grinned.

Kage just stepped away from him. "You are not me and you will NEVER be!" he angrily snarled at him. "Now go back to wherever you came from and leave my head!"

"Can't...it's my head too." grinned Sombra. "And for every passing day from now on...I will gain more and more control until you are nothing but a prisoner in your own mind! And when that day comes, all the ponies in Equestria will bow down to me...and maybe get a nice queen in the process." Sombra then eyed Kage's body. "Wouldn't be that hard. My, I miss having that body. All in due time I suppose."

Sombra gave a sinister and evil laugh. A laugh that sent chills down Kage's spine.

"Time to wake up, we have much work to do. And with your connection to Celestia's student, we can manipulate our way to sunbutt's throne."

"You wouldn't!" the stallion exclaimed in shock at the monster.

"I can...and I will" Sombra laughed.

"NOOO!!!"

Kage shot up from his bed awake, breathing heavily. He quickly got up from his bed and into his bathroom to wash his face in cold water.

"Calm down there Kage...that was just a bad dream, a horrible, horrible, dream." he mumbled to himself. He looked up to check himself out in the bathroom mirror, only to scream in shock at the reflection.

"No!" Kage exclaimed at his reflection; a green-eyed, red horned more intimidating version of himself, Sombra.

He closed his eyes, praying that it would go away. Once he calmed down several minutes later, he looked back at his reflection, only to find it normal again.

"I must stop him!" he muttered. "Before it's too late!'

At the palace, Celestia was busy reading over the latest government documents. As she reached halfway through the stack, she gave an exhausted sigh and stood up to take a break.

She trotted over the window to see Twilight's friends playing outside in the gardens, while Twilight was by herself, under a tree, reading with a sort of distant expression.

"Oh Twilight, if only you knew what I went through when I was younger, maybe then you wouldn't make those same mistakes. I got my heart broken once before and that nearly cost me the kingdom. Love can be a dangerous thing when you're in a position of power if your not careful." she mumbled to herself while feeling sorry for her faithful student.

Outside, Twilight was reading her assigned book about the historiography of Equestria.

"Hey Twi!" yelled Dash. "Wanna play some hoofball me, AJ and Pinkie are playing, want to join to make it an even four?" the cyan pegasus flew up to the alicorn holding the ball.

Twilight looked up. "I'm sorry Dash, but I have to finish this book by tomorrow." she gently declined.

"Okay." Dash shrugged. "Suit yourself." she flew off back towards AJ and Pinkie. "Okay guys! It's two against one!"

The lavender alicorn looked down back at her book. "I have to figure out a way to get his memory back. The sooner I can help him, the sooner I can stop thinking about him" she thought. "Because, sure, he's mysterious, handsome, muscular , surprisingly intelligent, mostly likely an amazing kisser and probably has an impressive packag-WOAH THERE! WHAT AM I THINKING?!" she exclaimed in her head. "You barely know this stallion, yet, why won't I stop with the dirty thoughts? Is this how Rarity thinks when she meets a stallion? I hope not."

At the Crystal Empire, Cadance was lying, in discomfort, on her bed. "Ugh...why can't this happen ONLY in the mornings like its name implies. Must be nature's way of getting back at me for having too much sex with Shining, regardless of whether he was up to it or not." she sighed.

Suddenly, several of her guards busted in to the room. "What's going on?" asked Cadance, confused at the intrusion.

One of the guards threw a dark, shadow colored crystal on her bed. "We found this at the palace gardens your highness, we're also getting reports of them appearing in some location within the city."

"What?!" the alicorn princess couldn't believe this.

"Also, the crowd outside the gates is getting restless."

Cadance quickly got out her bed and ran over to the nearest window facing the front gates. She peeked out to see that crowd was indeed more restless and louder than yesterday.

"WE WANT ANSWERS! WE WANT ANSWERS!" the crowd chanted.

The princess felt guilty for keeping her subjects out of the loop. "Tell them truth, tell them that Sombra is back and that I was wrong in announcing his death."

"But ma'am...wouldn't that make things worse?" exclaimed one of her guards.

"JUST DO IT!" just spat an irritable Cadance. The whole Sombra thing, coupled with her pregnancy was really taking a toll on her mind and body.

The guards saluted and bowed before they trotted off to carry out their orders.

"I swear, Sombra is doing more damage by NOT being here." she muttered to herself as she continued looking at the crowd below.

Me

Evening at the Crystal Empire, as a carriage entered the city and parked in the town center.

"Good evening crystal ponies of the Crystal Empire, come one and come all to witness the fantastic and amazing magical illusions and tricks one of the one and only GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!" yelled the mare as the carriage converted to a stage and pyrotechnics flew out. None of the passing ponies seemed to care or notice.

"THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!" yelled the blue unicorn mare again. But once again, nopony notices. Trixie was annoyed. "OH COME ON! What is Trixie? Chopped hay?!"

She just watched as the crystal ponies went about their day. The mare gave a frustrated sigh before going back stage in her carriage. She sat down at her desk and put away her hat and cape. "I should've known that the Crystal Empire was going to be a dud."

Her mind wondered back to that stallion she was with. She couldn't believe it, but her life felt annoyingly empty without him. But ignored that thought. "Forget it Trixie, he's probably with a new mare by now." she sighed.

"Trixie!" hissed a mysterious voice from behind her.

"Huh?!" Trixie immediately turned around, to see no one there. "Hello?". After several minutes, Trixie decided to go back to what she was doing.

"I can see you Trixie!"

Trixie immediately began to turn around. "Don't turn around!" snarled the voice. The blue mare did as told, hoping to play along first to maybe see if she can figure out who this voice belonged to. "Don't look at me." hissed the voice again.

"Trixie demands that you tell me who you are!" snarled the mare, back turned towards the voice.

"I go by so many names Trixie; Yinying, Shadow, Parachai, Zill, Chaya, Ten, Kage...SOMBRA"

"What?!"

"I'm right behind you Trixie, I'm reaching out, I am so close, oh, I can almost touch that sweet sweet rump, so close that I can almost taste it and fu-"

Trixie immediately turned around, but the voice suddenly stopped. It was silent again. "What the buck?!" she exclaimed to herself, confused. She turned around and decided to just move on and start filing her hooves. She looked down only to see a disturbing sight. The word "Shadow" tattooed all over her forelegs repeatedly in different languages. "WHAT THE...?!" she then saw that the tattoos are all over her body. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

The mare quickly ran to the sink to try to wash off the writings on her fur and looked at a mirror, Only to find that it was not her reflection at all, but of a dark unicorn stallion with a red curved horn and green eyes with dark smoke coming from them. "NO! It can't be! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!"

The reflection just laughed.

Trixie screamed.

At Canterlot, Twilight was getting ready to go to bed. She brushed her teeth, brushed her mane and preened her wings. She climbed up to her bed, turned off the light and closed her eyes to sleep.

Suddenly, she felt something big and heavy land on her bed. Twilight quickly woke up and turned on the lights to see Kage on her bed. "Kage?"

Kage quickly regained his focus. "Huh?" looked around to find himself in Twilight's chambers. "I guess it does work."

"What are you doing here?" asked the confused alicorn.

"I need to warn you before it is too late!" he exclaimed.

"I don't understand." Twilight was confused.

"Sombra is back!" Kage explained with desperation. "And he was in my head!"

The mare had trouble accepting that explanation. "A-are you sure?" she stammered.

Just when the stallion was about to confirm what he said, they heard a knock on the door. "Princess Twilight! Luna and Celestia request your presence immediately! It's urgent!" exclaimed Flash Sentry pounding outside the door.

"Be right out!" Twilight yelled back. She turned to the stallion on her bed. "Look, we'll talk about this later, until then, just find a place to hide" she instructed.

"Oh...okay." Kage immediately dove under the bed as Twilight quickly trotted out the door. "Please hurry back." he pleaded to himself, mumbling.

"What's going?!" asked Twilight as ran into Celestia's study. She saw both royal sisters waiting for her.

"It's Sombra." began Luna. "I finally detected his presence."

"Oh really? Where?" said the lavender princess. "Please don't say he's here, I don't want to see an innocent pony like Kage get corrupted by such an evil pony"

"That's the thing." began Celestia, "First, Luna detected him somewhere in downtown Canterlot, then, several minutes later, he's at the Crystal Empire, then, nothing."

"He's probably on to us and intentionally confusing us." suspected Luna.

"And until he makes the first move, I'm ordering that Equestria be on high alert, especially the Crystal Empire." stated Celestia. "I want to be the first pony to know EXACTLY where he is so we can defeat him once and for all!" she turned to Twilight. "And just in case...Twilight, have you learned that spell I tasked for you to learn?"

"The 'Corrupted Magic Detection Spell'?"

"Yes."

"I learned all the basic defense techniques against dark magic just as you asked." Celestia's apprentice answered.

"Good." stated the relieved sun princess. "Just in case Sombra decides to inhabit another innocent pony."

Kage was scared as he hid under Twilight's bed. He was afraid that Twilight would turn on him and that a bunch of guards would come in and take him. Suddenly, the chamber doors opened, but was relieved to see that only one pony came in, it was Twilight.

The stallion climbed out from under the bed. "Tell me...what-"

"Stop right there and don't move!" ordered the alicorn as he interrupted the stallion.

Kage did was told as Twilight's horn glowed. After about a minute, it stopped. "Good...you're clean."

"What?!"

"I used a detection spell and I found some residual corrupted magic in you. But it's source is gone." she explained.

"So?"

"So it means that Sombra USED to be in your head but now has moved on somewhere." Twilight clarified.

"Really?" Kage was relieved.

"Really." she confirmed. "But this is important, I want you to tell me what Sombra is planning on doing, that way we can figure out how to stop him."

"Okay," agreed the stallion. "well, he's planning on getting his revenge on all those who helped destroy him the last time and in the process, ultimately become the rule of not only the Crystal Empire, but of ALL of Equestria."

"Yep, that sounds like him alright." stated the alicorn mare. She is suddenly wrapped in a hug from the stallion.

"Oh thank you for helping me, the though of me being that monster is just too much to bare." he explained with a slight hint of despair in his voice. "So...mind if I sleep here for the night just to be safe?"

Twilight quickly realized that this night just got a little better. "Why...of course, as long as you leave before I wake up, wouldn't want you getting caught."

Kage still held Twilight in a hug. "Of course, I understand."

Unbeknownst to Twilight, but Kage's eyes changed to green and an evil green formed on his face. The old Kage is now a prisoner in this stallion's mind, now replaced by Sombra, and he wants to make Twilight his Queen, who better than Celestia's faithful student and Element of Magic. Also, he now has full control of Trixie, who is now doing his bidding from the Crystal Empire.

Everything is falling into place.

Near

Paranoia was running rampant across the Crystal Empire as many of its citizens were preparing for the worst once they heard news of Sombra's return.

Sitting at the cafe was the Internal Affairs Adviser getting his usual morning coffee as if it was an ordinary day.

"You seem unusually calm." stated a female voice. The adviser looked up to see a blue unicorn mare sitting across from him.

"Well...I'm not that easy to panic. Besides, I have a duty as one of Cadance's advisers to NOT show fear in the face of crisis." he explained, he looked out the window to see several shadow crystal growing from the pavement and some crystal ponies evacuating the city.

"How brave of you...?" said the blue unicorn, asking for a name.

"Rex, Adipose Rex." he greeted. "And you are?"

"Lulamoon, Trixie Lulamoon." the mare greeted back. "And did you say that you work for Princess Cadance?"

"Why yes, I'm her Adviser of Internal Affairs, I'm responsible for giving the princess advice regarding homeland security and the bureaucracy." he explained.

"Wow...I bet Cadance has a lot on her hooves now, what with the return of Sombra and all." Trixie went on.

"Yes, she does, but at least she tries and braves through it." the adviser explained.

"But can I tell you something?" she asked. "It involves Cadance."

"Sure, go ahead and ask away."

"Well, how should I put this, but," the mare began. "don't you think she looks tired?"

Rex nearly choked on his coffee when he heard those six words, confirming his worst fears; Cadance has lost the confidence of her subjects. "Well..." he began, trying to figure out what to say. "...now that you mention it, she kind of does, but knowing her, she'll handle the crisis regardless." Rex knew he lied about that last part. He actually doubt if Cadance could handle it. "Anyways, I have to go to work now, got a bureaucracy to help run, it was a pleasure talking to you Miss Lulamoon."

"Oh, the pleasure is mine." Trixie winked at the stallion.

Rex just blushed slightly before getting up and leaving the cafe.

Trixie's eyes shimmered green and a big evil smile formed on her face as he left. "Six words," she grinned to herself. "that's all it takes."

Rex reached his office an hour later and the first thing he did was quickly write a memo.

Secret Emergency Adviser meeting at noon to hold a secret vote to decide whether Cadance is fit to rule. We have lost public confidence. Cadance must NEVER know of this.

Adipose Rex, Adviser of Internal Affairs

"Oh Cadance, forgive us, but this is for the sake of the Crystal Empire." he mumbled to himself, knowing he just risked his job for this.

At the Royal Palace in Canterlot, Twilight slowly stirred awake to the sound of a heartbeat beating in her ear. She quickly got up to realize that she was sleeping on a stallions chest. "Oh my." she blushed.

Sleeping soundly next to her was Kage, looking cute with his mouth wide open and a small trail of drool running from his mouth. Twilight just giggled. "So cute!"

Kage slowly stirred awake. "Ugh..." his eyes fluttered open to see Twilight leaning over him.

"Good morning sleepy head." the lavender alicorn smiled.

"Oh...good morning." Kage smiled back. "Did you sleep well?"

"Best night in weeks, it felt relaxing cuddling up to you, and comfortable too, like a pillow."

The stallion chuckled. "Well, thanks for being so nice with me."

"No problem."

They both just stared into each other's eyes in complete silence. Twilight couldn't help but fall for the stallion. "Why does he have to be so...so...PERFECT!" she exclaimed in her head. "He's just as smart as me, he's kind, he's understanding and he's so...well...FIT!"

Little did Twilight knew, but both her's and Kage's faces where inching closer and closer. Just as their lips were about to meet, a loud knock came from the chamber door.

"Princess Twilight?! You're late for breakfast-super!" yelled Flash Sentry from the other side.

"Oh...sorry about that, give a few minutes to get ready!" yelled Twilight back. She turned to Kage. "I really have to go now, but I'll see you again okay? Tonight at the gardens?"

"Oh, of course I'll be there." nodded the stallion.

"Great!" exclaimed the alicorn as she gave a quick peck on the cheek. Kage blushed. "Got to run." she quickly left the bed and went to her bathroom, while Kage used the pink crystal to transport him back to his home at the boarding house.

One in the afternoon, and Cadance was in her chambers eating her lunch. At least she wasn't feeling as nauseous as yesterday, although she wondered how long it would last.

A knock came on her door. "Come in." the princess yelled.

She saw her Internal Affairs adviser walk in nervously with two guards by his side. "What is it?" she asked.

Rex said nothing as he gave Cadance a note for her to read. The alicorn used her magic to get the note and began reading, she mumbled to herself while doing so but then her eyes went wide. "YOU'RE WHAT!?"

"We have declared you unfit to rule until the crisis is adverted." Rex answered.

"THIS IS NOT FAIR, YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT!!!" Cadance exclaimed, feeling like she was betrayed.

"According to the Royal Incapacitation Act that YOU yourself sighed, we, your advisers, do have the right." he spat. "And we have ordered the guards to put you under house arrest so you can focus on recovering and so you can't interfere."

Cadance said nothing as she accepted her fate, she was in no mood or condition to fight this. But the moment the crisis is over, she will demand that ALL of her advisers to submit their resignation papers.

"Okay guards, make sure she stays within the living quarters of the palace and ground, and also make sure she gets the best medical care okay?" ordered Rex to the guards.

Both guards silently agreed as Rex walked out.

Cadance was in too much in shock to react or say anything.

At another part of the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Heart, now being kept hidden so that no one would see how dark as shadow it has become has stopped working.

Suddenly, a large crack appeared on the surface of the heart. Followed by a loud, sinister and dark laugh echoing across the room.

TO BE CONTINUED...

One†

"YOU WHAT?!" yelled Shining Armor in anger at the projection of Rex on the crystal.

"You heard us your highness, we declared your wife temporarily unfit to rule, she currently under house arrest so she could focus on her health." Rex explained.

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT!!!" the unicorn stallion angrily snarled. "But that means I'M the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire now so you have to answer to me!"

"Not quite, the only duty you have is to provide the other half of the chromosomes needed to make a viable heir, and nothing else." Rex answered bluntly. "You're nothing but a prince consort. It's just that Cadance makes you believe like you do because she loves you and wants you to do things."

"I swear, when I get back, I will fire ALL of you! Every single last adviser!" Shining spat.

"You can't, we declared martial law in the Crystal Empire, nopony goes in or out until further notice, and I'm sorry things turned out this way, but it's for the good of the empire and your wife. Good day." said Rex as the feed cut off.

Shining just have a loud angry scream before going and punching a wall hard. "DAMN IT, DAMN IT ALL!!!"

Little did Shining knew, but Twilight heard the whole thing from outside the door.

"I need you to go over to the Crystal Empire and make sure things don't go sour on us." ordered Celestia to her sister Luna.

"I understand Celestia, but what if Sombra comes here instead?" she asked with concern.

"I fought him before and I can fight him again." Celestia stated.

"I know," Luna agreed. "I would rather be sent to the moon again than willingly surrender to him."

"That's my sister." Celestia smiled. They both hugged each other before Luna left to get ready for her trip to visit the Crystal Empire.

In a dark void, Sombra was happily overlooking a chessboard. All the pieces representing various ponies. "Everything is going exactly as I thought it would." he chuckled. "With Cadance temporarily out of the way and Twilight madly in love with me, this is going to be a piece of cake."

Night soon fell over Equestria as Twilight was walking around the royal gardens. She came across the large hedge maze outside the palace and waited at the entrance. "He should be here any minute." she mumbled to herself.

Suddenly, a pink flash came and Kage immediately appeared in front of her. "I'm here!" he announced.

"Kage!" Twilight immediately ran up and wrapped him in a hug. The dark stallion blushed. "Ready for our adventure through the maze?" she asked.

"Oh...so is that what we're doing tonight?" Kage chuckled. "Sounds like fun."

"I thought you'd like the idea, let's go!" she stated as she lead the way inside.

As they began making their way through the maze, both ponies began getting to know each other more.

"So, basically, everything is a mess over at the Crystal Empire, and Luna has been sent there to help maintain order." the lavender alicorn explained about her day.

"And how are you handling your punishment?"

"Not so bad considering that I have my brother and friends to keep me company." she stated. "Although it made me question my faithfulness to Celestia."

"Oh really?" Kage was stunned on the outside, but happy on the inside.

"Yes, I used to think that she was all powerful and flawless, but now I realize that she's just an ordinary pony with the same faults as us and constrained by a complex bureaucracy and her inner demons." Twilight sighed. "Plus, since when was she the one that decided my destiny? I always pictured myself being the greatest wielder of magic, matching, if not surpassing the level of Starswirl. Not be some Princess."

"At least you know what your destiny is, I don't know mine at all." admitted Kage.

"You're lucky."

"What?" the stallion was confused by the response.

"You are free to do whatever you put your mind too."

"Well...my modelling career is really taking off every since Sapphire Shores put in a good word for me." Kage stated.

"That's a start." Twilight giggled.

They both continued their walk in the maze, slowly heading towards the center, they both ran out of things to talk about and it has been a full minute of silence between them, until Twilight spoke up.

"Thanks." she blurted.

"For what?"

"For being the first stallion to treat me as an ordinary mare and not just as a princess, and for begin my major source of sanity during these last few hectic days." she said in a thankful tone. She didn't stop staring into his eyes and meant every word.

"You're welcome." answered Kage, also staring back. "And thank you for being my first real friend since I moved here."

Soon enough, they both finally reached the center of the maze.

"We're here!" Twilight announced as she sat down in the middle of the grass. Kage does the same as he took his place next to her.

The mare leaned up against Kage, laying her head on his shoulder. "So peaceful."

The stallion said nothing but went along with it, they both stayed like that for several minutes taking in the sounds of the night. Twilight suddenly, much to Kage's shock, gave a quick kiss on his cheek. The mare saw the shocked look. "Oh...I'm sorry...too soon?" concerned.

Kage just smiled and kissed Twilight square on the lips. "No...just right." he answered back as he broke the kiss.

Twilight was stunned, her face blushing red. She enjoyed that kiss greatly and quickly dove in for more as she kissed him on the lips, only more deeply. Kage happily returned the kiss as the mare pushed him down to the ground.

Inside his head, Kage couldn't help but smile at the turn of events, but he can sense that Twilight was reluctant to go beyond making-out, but he was sure that with some convincing, he could change that. "I love you Twi. You're so kind to me and you're so beautiful." the stallion stated. "I'm lucky to have you." Kage wasn't sure if he meant it or not, he didn't care either way.

"I feel the same way." continues making-out, tongues intertwining. "I just wish Celestia and my friends could understand us."

"They don't have to." breaks the kiss. "Maybe they'll never understand us, so we must prove them wrong, especially Celestia."

Twilight agreed. "You're right! I think Celestia is being TOO overprotective me, besides, I think she just wants me to remain her pure innocent little Twilight Sparkle forever! Well, she has no control of my destiny or my life, I can do whatever and whomever I want!"

Kage just smiled. "That's the spirit Twi, be the independent mare you always wanted to be!" he egged her on.

"I will!" goes back to making-out with the stallion, now doing this as her own little way to get back at Celestia for punishing her for seeing him. While she enjoyed the passionate kissing, she mischievously reached her hoof all the way down to the stallions crotch and began rubber her hoof on his sheath.

"Naughty girl." the stallion smirked.

"I am." smirked Twilight as she continued with the hoofing. Soon enough, he was fully erect, showing off his thick tool in all of its glory. "Impressive. Perfect length, not to long, not to short, but nice thickness to stimulate all parts."

"How do you know that?" asked Kage, not expecting Twilight to know about such things.

"Not as innocent as I look huh?" she giggled, before licking the head and shaft of his erection. The stallion gave a soft moan, but she suddenly stopped. "Let's skip the warm-up and go straight to the main even shall we? The longer I'm gone, the more suspicious my friends will be."

"As you wish." Kage agreed as he flipped Twilight over on to her back, and got on top. "Ready?"

"Yes."

Kage just passionately kissed her on the lips as he slowly thrust his stallionhood inside her. The mare gave a small moan as she felt the stallion go deeper.

The stallion was caught a little off guard at how tight she felt, but kept going, gradually increasing his pace. He felt her inner walls tighten around his shaft.

"Oh Kage...so good..." she moaned. She held the stallion tight against her body as she resumed kissing him. Surprisingly, it wasn't the sex itself that she was enjoying, but the emotion and romance attach it that really got her going. This whole act and emotions that went along with it felt, well, "magical" to her. She couldn't find another word to describe such a wonderful feeling.

The stallion kept thrusting in and out, going slightly faster each time, grunting and panting between kisses. "I love you Twilight, so perfect." he moaned before resuming his making-out session with the mare, tongues wrestling with each other. He didn't know how much longer he could last as he felt Twilight's insides tighten around his shaft even more. "I'm getting close Twi..." grunting.

"Do it inside me." she moaned.

"But-"

"Just do it please! I want to know how it feels."

"But what if you get pregnant?" he grunted.

"Birth control spell, just do it!" she exclaimed with pleading in her voice.

Kage silently agreed and thrusted one last time before he reached his climax and his flared head sprayed his seed inside her. "Oh wow." Twilight moaned as she more inside her and some leak out. She grabbed Kage and kissed him passionately once more. "Thank you for making this day better." she panted.

"It was my pleasure." Kage panted back.

The mare hugged the stallion. "I have to go now, I'm not supposed to be outside this late at night." she said, disappointed that their time must be cut short.

"Okay." he hugged back before pulling out of her. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Of course." they broke their embrace and quietly said their goodbyes. "I love you Twi."

"I love you too Kage." and with that, the stallion went off back home, leaving the mare alone. "I want you to be my one and only." she mumbled to herself before heading back to the palace.

After she cleaned herself up real quick at a pond, she went inside to see all of her friends gossiping with each other in Celestia's study.

"Hey girls." greeted the lavender alicorn as she trotted inside.

"Oh hey, want to join us?" offered Pinkie.

"Of course I will." nodded Twilight and she sat down with them.

Rarity couldn't help but notice something different about Twilight, like she looks more comfortable and more relaxed than usual. The white unicorn decided not to say anything, for now.

Pain

"Everything is falling into place, just as I planned. These ponies are all predictable." chucked Sombra while he looked over his chess board. "Now to take care of Luna, because once I have her, I have Celestia. But how am I going to accomplish this?" he asked himself.

"Why don't you just stop what you're doing and surrender!" spat Kage as he tried to break free from his chains.

Sombra just laughed. "You naive fool!" a chuckled. "I still can't believe I used to be you in a past life, like I would ever surrender!" he spat. "You're speaking to the future ruler of ALL of Equestria, the future controller of the sun, moon and stars, and eventually, the entire planet!"

"I refuse to believe that we were the same pony once!" Kage spat back. "You're nothing but a cold and heartless bastard!"

The shadow stallion chuckled again. "You're right, I am a bastard, literally and figuratively, and to an extent, you as well" Sombra walked over to Kage. "'Mommy? Where are you? Please! I'm scared and alone!'" he mocked. "That's what you would say to yourself every night before going to bed as a colt, how pathetic" Sombra immediately kicked Kage in the stomach.

"You're a monster!" Kage exclaimed in pain.

"An EXCEPTIONAL monster!" the shadow stallion exclaimed back. "Would a monster successfuly charm his way into Twilight's nice and tight virgin cunt?" he asked rhetorically. "Of course he would!"

"Leave Twilight out of this!"

"Too late, she's a part of the chessboard now, and she'll be my queen once all of this is done, and we will spend our days ruling Equestria together, and our nights fucking our brains out until dawn!" Sombra smirked.

Kage was getting angry. "Twilight will never agree to be your queen!"

"True, I can always take control of her like I did with Trixie, but it wouldn't be as fun and entertaining, I prefer for her to be my queen willingly. Makes it all the more sweeter."

Kage's blood was boiling with rage. "You were nothing but a mistake!"

"Mistake? You were the one that wanted a warrior, someone to end the great war against the Diamond Dogs. I just came in, wiped out the entire Diamond Dog Army by myself and then took the crown they awarded me with."

"You got out of control and greedy, and forced your way on to the throne!"

"I did, didn't I? But it doesn't matter anyways, that was a LONG long time ago." Sombra chuckled.

"I wish I could take back my decision." Kage stated with guilt.

"And watch all the Crystal Ponies be slaves under the brutal regime of the Diamond Dogs? Oh please, I treated them with dignity and respect compared to how they treated their slaves."

"That doesn't excuse what you did!" he spat at the shadow unicorn.

Sombra just kicked Kage again. "You know, I can't have you rattling around in my head forever. So how about we duel each other to see who will take ultimate control?" Suddenly, Kage's chains disappeared and a sword showed up in front of him. "Pick it up and fight me like a real stallion." Sombra ordered.

Kage did as told a picked the sword up with him magic, but then noticed the landscape change to an icy lake in a pine forest. "Reach land, you lose, fall through the ice, you lose, first pony to bleed loses. Do you accept these terms?"

Kage just nodded in agreement. "Good, let's begin." Sombra immediately charged up to Kage, wielding his sword. Kage, unprepared, immediately dodges out of the way. The ice creaked under him. "Don't move around TOO much, you'll fall in."

Sombra charged again and swung, but Kage managed to block, the clanging of metal can be heard. "Oh, the things I'm planning to do to Twilight once she becomes my queen. Do you think she'll love anal?"

"SHUT UP!" Kage angrily swung at him, but Sombra turned into shadow form, the sword going through him and hitting the ice.

"Yes, get angry it will make it so much easier to defeat you." Sombra appeared behind him and swung, but Kage rolled out the way.

Sombra just walked towards Kage, the scared stallion backing away from the monster. "Look at you, you're nothing but a weakling, you don't deserve to live, You were the one that unleashed this monster a long time ago, and now it is time for this monster to set out what it was created for; unite Equestria under my iron hoof with Twilight by my side and with everyone else bowing down to me!" Sombra laughed before plunging the sword down on the ice. The ice began to crack below them as Sombra reverted to his shadow form.

"WAIT! NO FAIR!" Kage exclaimed once he realized what as happening, he suddenly felt the ice fall out from under him as he fell to the freezing water below.

Sombra looked down from above, enjoying the sight of Kage pounding on the ice, trying to find a way out. Kage and Sombra's eyes met one last time as Kage accepted his fate and let death take him in the form of drowning. He disappeared in the depths below.

"You brought this upon yourself long ago, I am sorry" Sombra mumbled without emotion. He sat himself down in front of the chess table. "Now...what should be my next move?"

Luna immediately shot awake, screaming. "NOOO!!!!"

She looked around to see that she was in the Crystal Palace, sleeping in the guest chambers, panting. The princess finally realized something. "THE CRYSTAL HEART!" she immediately got off her bed and teleported herself to where it was being kept.

What Luna saw next shook her to the core. "No...no...it can't be!"

The Crystal Heart was pitch black and cracked everywhere. The situation grew even bleaker. She quickly turned around only to see a blue unicorn mare standing in front of her, Trixie.

"Hello Luna, long time no see?" chuckled Trixie in a sinister tone, her eyes green with black smoke coming out.

"Sombra." answered Luna. "Hiding behind a mare this time huh? How cowardly of you."

The mare chuckled. "Actually, she's just a vessel that I fooled around with once, totally expendable."

"And let me guess, you're here to kill me?" snarled the princess.

"I would LOVE too...but not right now, I want you to stay alive long enough it see my coronation as the new ruler of Equestria, then give a quick, yet agonizing death." the mare answered.

"And what of my sister?"

"Same thing, but ending with a slow yet painless death."

"I can kill you right here! Right now!" Luna snarled.

"Oh? Princess Luna killing a pony for the first time in over a millennia? This I have to see." smirked the mare who was channeling Sombra.

"Not me Sombra, someone else." Luna's eyes glowed as dark shadows engulfed her.

"Why this is new." Sombra looked on with interest.

The dark shadows receded and out came a very different Luna, wearing armor and more darker. "Nice trick Luna." praised Sombra, only to be pinned to the wall by her magic. "The name is Nightmare Moon!" snarled the new mare.

Sombra just smirked in response. "Just as I planned it to go"

Quiz

Cadance was sleeping soundly in her chambers.

Suddenly, she was awoken by large tremors, followed by the sounds of a huge and loud explosion. "What the?!"

The shaking soon quickly stopped, silence fell.

"THE CRYSTAL HEART!" yelled Cadance with dawning realization. She quickly ran, along with two guards to where the heart was being kept.

What they saw, shook them to the core, the Crystal Heart was nothing but a pile of crystals on the floor, and surrounding it where the crystal covered forms of Trixie and Nightmare Moon, forever frozen in place.

"What in the hay happened here?!" exclaimed Rex as he entered the room.

"The Crystal Heart destroyed itself from what I'm guessing, a side-effect being that everything within proximity to it is frozen in crystal forever." explained Cadance as she went up to a frozen Nightmare Moon.

"And the Crystal Heart?"

"Gone, all we can do is take the pile of crystals that used to be the heart, subject it to extreme high temperatures and pressures, and wait about 100 years."

"WHAT?!" explained a shocked Rex. "But without the heart we're defenseless!"

"You think I don't know that!" snapped the princess. "And now look at those two ponies," pointing to Trixie and Nightmare Moon. "They'll be stuck like that for at least century until the Crystal Heart is remade again."

Cadance walked up to the frozen Nightmare Moon. "At least your sacrifice won't be forgotten aunt Luna." she praised at her frozen aunt. She turned to her guards. "Take these two ponies and place in the dungeons until the crisis is over, and do NOT disturb them until they are free."

The guards silently agreed before they walked off, dragging the frozen bodies away. "What am I going to tell Celestia?" she mumbled to herself with concern.

Both Nightmare Moon and a Sombra possessed Trixie were shooting magic beams at each other, dodging and blocking each blow. Sombra couldn't believe it, but they were evenly matched, much to his annoyance.

"Curse this body, it's limiting my pull potential" cursed Sombra in his mind at how limited he felt in Trixie's body. But he suddenly had an idea. "Pop quiz Luna!" he exclaimed to Nightmare Moon. "What is your sister's biggest fear?"

"I have no time to play games Sombra!" she spat as she shot another beam of magic at her opponent.

Little did both of them knew, but the Crystal Heart began trembling and pulsating, the many cracks on it growing larger.

"Do you at least know the answer to that question?" he smirked.

"Like you would know!" Nightmare Moon spat back, doubting that Sombra actually knew. Granted, she doesn't know the answer despite being Celestia's sister.

"Oh I do know!" Sombra snarled with overconfidence, "Look into the Crystal Heart and see." he directed.

Nightmare Moon did as told, while keeping an eye on her opponent.

What she saw shocked her. "No..." she exclaimed in shock. "...that is not like her."

"Hard to believe, especially after your sister told you time and again that she'll support any decision her subjects make." Sombra chuckled. "But I guess a request for a new form of government that she's not heading is just too much for her to take, specifically, a republic."

"B-b-but she would always tell me repeatedly that overstaying your hold on power was wrong and that you must respect any and all decisions your subjects make." she said with shock. "S-she was being hypocritical the entire time." a tear rolled down her cheek.

Suddenly, the Crystal Heart started shaking uncontrollably, the entire room trembled before it was bathed in blinding white light.

"I'm sorry about your loss Celestia." stated Cadance with sadness while communicating with her aunt. "But she sacrificed herself to save the Crystal Empire."

Celestia, Shining, Twilight and her five friends looked on with sadness from the news.

"How long will she remain frozen?" asked Celestia.

"At least 100 years, until the Crystal Heart is reformed again. Which is why I'm planning to send one of the guards to go to a nearby volcano once I'm certain that Sombra is gone."

"Okay then, take care Cadance." stated the sun princess, trying her best to keep a neutral expression. The feed turned off and Celestia gave a sigh. "I'm ordering a week long mourning period once we are sure Sombra is gone for good."

No one in the room said anything as the princess left the room to be alone.

Celestia entered her study and sat down at her desk. She looked down at the government documents on her desk, all of them dated: Cel MDX & Lun DX

"Great, now I need to change that. AGAIN." she mumbled to herself. It was at that moment that it finally hit her. "DAMN IT LUNA!" she angrily exclaimed as she shoved all the contents of her desk to the floor, tears flowed from her eyes. "Why did you have to be so stupid!? You know you can't fight Sombra by yourself!" she exclaimed. "Now I have to control the moon in your place...AGAIN!"

It's the 1,000 year exile all over again, the toughest 1,000 years of her life. "I don't think I can go another century without her, by my side."

Fluttershy was calmly walking the hallways of the palace, when she is suddenly grabbed by magic and dragged into a room, next thing she knew, she was inside, with Rarity pinning her against the door. "We need to talk!" exclaimed Rarity.

"Uh...a-about what?" Fluttershy nervously stammered.

"Something explicit that you might not be...what am I talking about, we talk about explicit things during our spa dates, I'm sure you can handle what I'm about to say next."

"Is this about Big Mac again...because if it is-"

"It's NOT about Big Mac...this time." Rarity interrupted. "It's about Twilight."

"What about her?" the yellow pegasus nervously stammered.

"I have a feeling that Twilight has been seeing this stallion behind our rumps and that she had...SEX with her!" Rarity whispered the last part.

"What?!" the pegasus couldn't believe it. "How would you-"

"Rarity sense."

"Rarity what?!"

"I can tell when a pony just had sex for the very first time, I read a lot of romance novels to know the signs." the unicorn explained.

"Are you sure?" asked Fluttershy, not believing her.

"I am absolutely certain, we're going to keep a close eye on Twilight from now on, okay?"

"Sure." Fluttershy went along with Rarity's plan, reluctantly.

"Great, oh and don't forget about what I told you."

"To never tell Applejack about your torrid affair with Mac?"

"Good girl." Rarity smiled, patting her head. "Now leave before anyone gets suspicious."

Fluttershy nodded and quickly ran out the door, slightly freaked out by what just happened.

Sombra was standing over his chess board, throwing away the Luna and Trixie shaped pieces. "With Luna gone, the Crystal Heart destroyed and Cadance off the throne, I am free to get back my rightful place on the throne, and no one can stop me!"

Rule

It has been two days since Celestia received news of what happened to her sister. She decided to postpone all memorials and tributes to her sister until it is certain that Sombra was gone.

In public, Celestia continued her best to go about her daily business and routine, but in private, she was troubled and depressed. She was once again separated from her sister and she didn't know if she can last a year, let alone a century without her. She felt responsible for what happened.

"How are you holding up Celestia?" asked Twilight to her mentor as they walked together in the gardens.

"I'm doing okay." the sun princess would always say, but she was not okay. Twilight could see the pain in Celestia's eyes, but decided not to probe further for fear of upsetting her.

That night at the Crystal Empire, the royal guards were keeping order in the streets and enforcing a strict curfew. Inside in the Crystal Empire archives, Cadance was busy looking at old documents researching Sombra's origins. Although it is easier said than done seeing as Sombra destroyed many documents in order to legitimize his rule, but Cadance was able to gather enough to make a general outline.

"The Great Diamond-Crystal War" read Cadance.

"Long ago, thirty years after the defeat of Discord, the Diamond Dogs with their massive army made a surprise attack on the Crystal Empire, hoping to occupy and have all the crystals to themselves. War was declared and both the Crystal Ponies and Diamond Dogs fought each other in a total war that dragged on for a decade.

All hope seemed lost as the Diamond Dogs easily defeated the Crystal Army time and time again, capturing them and enslaving them. The stallions forced to mine for crystals until they died, and the mare used as sex slaves. It looked as if the Crystal Empire will fall under their control.

But one day, a mysterious pony by who called himself Sombra, the ultimate warrior pony, a Shadhavar. In just one battle, he managed to wipe out nearly the entire army, and they swiftly surrendered several months later. Sombra was praised as a hero, but his heart blackened with greed and he eventually forced his way to the Crystal throne starting his long brutal rule.

Cadance quickly realized something. "Shadhavar?" she said to herself. "There's only one way a unicorn can turn into one, and there's only one group that can do that." she put away all of the documents and took out an old map. "Maybe they can find a way to defeat him without the Crystal Heart."

In the morning, Twilight was looking into her mirror, brushing her mane to get ready for another day as Princess. She quickly saw a bright pink flash and the sound of something landing on her bed. Twilight turned around to see Kage, dazed on the bed.

"So nice of you to come see me Kage." Twilight smiled at her new colfriend before she quickly jumped on the bed to join him.

Kage laughed. "It's a pleasure." he was then caught off guard as Twilight got on top of him and kissed him deeply. The stallion just happily went along with it. He then mischievously put and hoof on Twilight's rump. The mare just used her magic to get the hoof away.

"Sorry hun, but I just don't have the time right now to fool around. I'm expected to eat breakfast with my friends and Celestia in a few minutes." the lavender alicorn explained. "But don't worry...once all my duties are done for today you can do whatever you want to me, promise."

"That's okay Twi, just being with you is enough." the black stallion smiled.

"You're so sweet." Twilight kissed the stallion one last time before getting off the bed. "Now, I'll see you later, but I really have to go. Bye!" quickly ran out the door, closing and locking it behind her, leaving the stallion alone.

Kage just gave an evil grin. "Next step, find the Elements of Harmony and make them useless." his eyes soon turned green with purple smoke coming out of them before he turned himself to shadow and sneaked out of the room.

He managed to slip by several guards without much notice.

"So, what does it take to be a Royal Guard?" asked Dash to Flash Sentry as they walked by.

"Tons of hard work and dedication." gladly answered the pegasus guard.

Kage continued sneaking around, visiting room after room, looking for the elements. Until he came across a large vault. "This is it." he mumbled as he returned back to his physical form. He could sense that the vault door is protected by a magical force field. "Celestia trying to stay a step ahead of me, oh well, if I can't open it, then maybe I can convince Twilight to do so."

He suddenly heard a pony come walking in, he immediately transforms into his shadow form and sneaked away.

At the Crystal Palace, the Royal Physician enters Cadance's chambers to do a routine check on her. "Oh your highness...how are you feeling this morning?" she said as she entered the room. She didn't get an answer.

"Princess Cadance?" she asked with concern as she pulled back the covers of the bed to reveal that the princess was not there. "GUARDS!!!"

On the hill over looking the empire, a cloaked Cadance looked down with concern. "I must find a way to defeat him, even if does take 100 years." she looks at her saddlebag, containing the pieces that once made up the Crystal Heart. "For Luna and the Crystal Ponies." the princess turned around and began her long trek despite the occasional bouts of nausea from her morning sickness.

"I'm also doing this for my husband and my unborn child." she mumbled to herself as she made her way to Diamond Dog territory.

Sombra must not win. Under any circumstances.

Soul

"So...will you help us in defeating him?"

"No."

"Why not!?"

"You forget, as much as we would love to defeat him, take his head and parade it around in the capital on a pike, he is the reason we Diamond Dogs no longer have an army...therefore...we can't and won't help you."

Cadance was angry that the Diamond Dogs refused to have anything to do with Sombra. Probably still having bad memories of his slaughtering of their army.

The princess was trekking through a barren and rocky landscape, almost to her destination. She looked at her map to find that she was arrived, she was on the southern border of Equestria, in the badlands, a piece of land disputed between the Dragons and the Ponies despite the fact that none of them want it.

She came across a small stone hut in the middle of the rocky valley, dragon smoke coming from a mountain overlooking it.

Cadance cautiously walked up to the hut and knocked on the wooden door. There was no answer. She knocked again. Still nothing.

Just as she was about to knock for a third time, a magical force dragged her up to the nearby dragon den. She tried to break free but found the magic more powerful than hers.

She just let the magical force take her and she found herself standing on the ledge in front of the den entrance, the smoke stopped emanating from it.

Cadance cautiously walked inside to come across an entire den filled with jewels, bits, and various treasures; typical dragon's den, but no dragon.

"Expecting a dragon?" asked a voice.

The princess turned around to see another cloaked alicorn, the only thing Cadance can see from behind the cloak was a red mane.

"Are you a member of 'The Sisterhood'?" asked Cadance.

"Last remaining member."

"Do you know about Sombra?"

"Yes, we helped create him to stop the war that was starting to tear the world apart." the cloaked alicorn walked over to a shelf filled with scrolls.

"Why?!"

"Because no one, especially the Royal Sisters, were doing NOTHING about it as the Diamond Dogs did unspeakable things to the Crystal Ponies!" spat the alicorn. "Something needed to be done to end the war!"

"By creating a monster?!" spat Cadance back.

"At that point in the war, who could tell the difference." the alicorn stated. "Besides, he demanded that we turn him into a warrior. We just went along with it out of convenience."

"If you helped create him than maybe you know a way to destroy him without the Crystal Heart."

"I DO know a way to defeat him without the Crystal Heart, and the key to it lies within you Princess Cadance." stated the mysterious alicorn.

"What do you mean?!" the princess was confused.

"What I'll say next will not matter to you Princess Cadance, I can sense that your time is short and I'll just waste my breath explaining it to you." the cloaked alicorn explained cryptically.

"I came all the way out here for answers! Not cryptic riddles!" snapped the princess. "You created Sombra and you'll tell me how to undo what you done!"

"I can't undo something that was done willingly, he chose to be a warrior, and he will live, gain power, and die like one." snapped the alicorn back.

"So, you're just going to stay in your little cave while he conquers and enslaves Equestria?!" yelled Cadance.

"For now, Cadance, but until then, you have pressing concerns at home, I suggest you go and attend them." stated the alicorn. "By the way, the next time we meet, will be our last." her horn glowed as she suddenly vanished with a green flash.

Cadance was stunned as she was left alone in the den. No closer to getting answers.

"Three days Rex! Three days and you STILL haven't found my wife!" spat Shining at Cadance's adviser. He was extremely angry by the inability to find his wife. Shining angrily paced Rex's office in the Crystal Empire.

"For all I know, she probably went to start the 100 year process of recreating the Crystal Heart. Knowing her, she'll return with a plan to defeat Sombra."

"AND WHAT IF SHE WON'T?!" snapped the stallion. His horn sparking in anger. "Ever since you declared my pregnant wife unfit to rule, things have been going from bad to worse! I want this to be done and over with so we can have our lives back!"

"I understand what you're going-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" charged up to Rex and pinned him to the wall. "You don't know what it's like to wake up with a loving wife next to you, you don't know what it's like to not have the one you love in your hooves, and what it's like to worry about her more and more with each passing day!" he growled. "I want you to find where my wife went and I want you to bring her back!"

"You love your wife so much, yet you still can't be truly honest with her." pointed out a smug Rex.

"Shut up! I LOVE HER!" the prince dropped the stallion to the floor before walking towards the door.

"You said the same thing with Chrysalis." Rex pointed out as he straightened out his tie.

"I was hypnotized." Shining said with shame.

"No you weren't." rebutted Rex.

"Just keep looking for my wife!" spat Shining before leaving the office and slamming the door shut.

Celestia was peacefully sleeping in her chambers when she suddenly heard a loud crash against the chamber door, followed by the sounds of a large crowd. "OPEN THE DOOR!" chanted the crowd.

The princess immediately woke up. "My word what is going on?"

Suddenly, two guards enter the room through a secret emergency door. "We must evacuate your highness!"

"What's going on?" asked a confused Celestia as the guards dragged her out of bed.

"You're subjects, ma'am, they're revolting. They want you to pay for their crimes and accept the new constitution they adopted."

"Wait...what?" Celestia was even more confused as the guards took her through a secret passageway. "Crimes? Constitution?"

"No time to explain ma'am, we must move you to a secure location." the guards soon open a door that lead to stables, where her carriage is. "Get on quick!"

They pushed the princess inside and they immediately drove, Celestia had no idea what was going on.

They leaved the stables with haste but the carriage is suddenly swamped and surrounded by an angry mob of ponies. Some of them break the carriage windows and reach their legs inside. "We can talk about this! Calm down please!" exclaimed Celestia, afraid of her life. She wanted to defend herself, but she didn't want to make the situation worse by hurting somepony.

"PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!" one pony yelled.

"YOUR REIGN OF TERROR ENDS TONIGHT!"

"YOU SENT YOUR SISTER ON A SUICIDE MISSION!"

"But I didn't!" responded Celestia to the last one.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT LUNA DIED!"

"NO!" yelled the princess as the voices got louder and numerous, her surroundings faded into darkness as sinister laugh grew louder.

"No, you pay for your past sins Celestia, pay for them!" growled a voice that sounded like Sombra.

"PLEASE! LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF!" yelled Celestia, tearing up.

"Some sister you were!" yelled a new voice, that sounded like Luna.

"Luna?!"

"Banished me for a thousand years on the Moon, never treated me as an equal, always looking down on me and then sending me to certain death to get defeated by Sombra!"

"You're my sister!" cried Celestia. "I wish I could take it all back! Forgive me!"

"Too late. You're dead to me! TO THE MOON!" yelled Luna.

Celestia suddenly felt herself get pulled to the sky, Luna watching with smug satisfaction. "Please Luna don't! I LOVE YOU!"

"NO!!!" screamed Celestia as she found herself back in her chambers. She was sweating and breathing hard. Her room was quiet, it was just a nightmare.

The alicorn lied back on her bed and began sobbing. "I'm sorry Luna...I'm sorry...I could've been a better sister to you...I shouldn't have sent you to face Sombra alone."

She cried for the rest of the night.

Tea

"Hello there stranger, are you okay?" said a voice.

A pony slowly opened his eyes to see a blue cloak wearing alicorn standing over him. "Ugh...who are you?"

"My name is Awa, don't worry, we managed to revive you and patch you up as best we could, but even with our best efforts, you are not going to live much longer."

"What do you mean?" asked the confused stallion, only to suddenly feel intense pain shoot across his body. "Agh, it hurts!" the stallion looked down to see a large gash running down from his chest to his lower stomach. "What the?!"

"Is he awake Goody Awa?" said a green cloak wearing alicorn.

"He just woke up Goody Kin."

"Good," the green cloaked alicorn said. "I'll get Mistress Superior." trots off.

"What's going on?" grunted the stallion in pain. "Where's Hikari?"

"Hikari? Are you referring to the companion you were with?" asked Awa.

"That 'companion' happens to be my long time marefriend! Where is she? Is she okay?" snarled the stallion, breathing hard from the increasingly unbearable pain.

"Sadly, we were unable to save her, she was too far gone," Awa, using her magic, materialized a cup of tea. "Here, have this, it should numb the pain." gives it to the stallion.

"BUCK YOU!" slapped the tea away from him. "Where's my marefriend and what do you mean by 'too far gone'?" the pain wearing his patience thin.

"She was far too near death from what those Diamond Dogs did to her for our magic to have any use on her." interjected a new voice. The new alicorn, now wearing a red cloak, turned to Awa. "You are dismissed Goody Awa."

"Yes Mistress Superior." bowed Awa before she trotted away.

"Wait...what?!" the stallion still couldn't comprehend what is happening.

"Hikari is dead, and you will be too if you won't let us help you."

"Hikari...is...dead?" in shock.

"Yes, but there isn't enough time for you to mourn her death, you have less than five minutes before the pain literally paralyzes your heart." explained Mistress Superior as she calmly trotted to a table and began making a potion.

"This war as robbed me of everything I loved." began the stallion. "I tried to keep away, but I ended up loosing those who I hold dear, especially the first and only mare who loved me for who I was." began crying, mourning her death.

"I sense a feeling of vengeance flowing through you." stated the alicorn as she finished up the potion. "Am I correct?"

"I just want the war to end and make those dogs accountable for all the pain and suffering they're causing."

"Well...we here at the sisterhood also want this terrible war to end as well, and I know just the way to make that goal a reality."

"What...do...you mean?" breathing harder, the stallions coat matted in sweat and blood.

"If I told you that you could become a warrior?"

"A warrior?"

"Not just any warrior...but a VERY powerful warrior, a warrior whose power can rival that of the Royal Sisters? A Shadhavar."

The stallion just laughed through the pain. "Shadhavars...are just...a myth."

"Not anymore." the alicorn presented the stallion with a chalice filled with a black liquid spewing purple and green smoke. "Drink this, and you will gain the ability to make those Diamond Dogs pay for all the crimes they committed during this horrible war."

"And...if I say...no?"

"You die...knowing that you and your marefriend died for nothing." the alicorn explained without emotion.

The stallion said nothing for a moment, just staring at the alicorn, her red cloak obscuring her face, except for her red mane, horn and light peach wings. "Who are you exactly?"

"I go by many names, my followers call me Mistress Superior, I call myself 'The Instigator'; the one who sets events into motion." she answered matter-of-factually.

"Why?"

The alicorn said nothing for a moment. "What's your decision? Drink or die?"

The stallion didn't know what to do, he could either die and escape this miserable world with his marefriend, or become a warrior so that her death can be avenged, the Diamond Dogs can be defeated and the Crystal ponies free and happy again.

He immediately reached for the chalice. "I'm dead...no matter what I chose." took the chalice and drank it all in one gulp. "O, untimely death!" closed his eyes and his body fell limp.

Sombra smiled as he looked out the window from Twilight's room. "Twilight will be mine, all mine, and she will rule by my side as my queen, and Celestia will be utterly crushed." he hissed to himself. "To see sun-butt hurt over seeing ANOTHER student of hers turn to the dark-side will be fantastic." he laughed to himself.

He heard the chamber door open, he turned around to see Twilight walk in. "How did your morning go my love?" he asked.

"Busy as usual, but I managed to get at least an hour to ourselves." the lavender alicorn climbed up to her bed, and lied down on her side like a pin-up model. "So, where did we leave off before I had to cut the fun short?"

Sombra just smiled. He climbed up to the bed and got on top of the alicorn, passionately kissing her. "I was thinking Twily."

"What?"

"How about we instead cuddle and drink so tea?" gently nipping her neck.

"Are you sure?" moaned Twilight.

"I just want to spend time with you, we can save 'fun times' for the night okay?" he smiled.

"Whatever you want Kage, and here I though you would be like all stallions and think of nothing but rutting." Twilight giggled.

"Oh, I'm defiantly NOT like other stallions Twily, trust me." explained Sombra in a smug tone.

"I'm glad." Twilight smiled as she passionately kissed Sombra one last time before gently pushing him off of her so she could get up and get some tea. "I'll be right back with the tea." walked out of the room.

Sombra stayed on bed, grinning an evil grin. "Twilight is mine, all mine!" he laughed to himself.

Un†

The southern frontier of the badlands. An inhospitable place where no nation, kingdom or species want. Known for it's barren rocky landscapes, hot springs and occasional lava pits.

Cadance was walking along the black rocky ground, cloth covering her mouth and snout to protect herself and her unborn child from the harsh fumes and smoke. She was determined to finish her mission.

She finally came across her destination, a large hole on the ground containing a lava pit down below. Using her magic, she took out of her saddlebags and pouch containing the remains of the Crystal Heart.

"After this," said Cadance to herself. "it is one hundred years of hoping and waiting that the Crystal Empire will still be around and that we can still defend the city against Sombra without it."

She threw the pouch with the remains into the lava pit below. A bright rainbow colored light shot out the moment it hit the lava followed by the ground shaking hard. Cadance used that as her cue to sprint away, but the ground continued shaking.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting this!"

She couldn't fly due to the harsh fumes and low visibility so she stuck to running. Suddenly, the ground jolted, causing her to loose her balance and hit her head against a rock.

"AHHH!!" she exclaimed before loosing consciousness.

A cloaked figure stood over her.

In Twilight's chambers, both Kage and Twilight were cuddled up against each other after drinking tea.

"You know what I always wanted to see Twi?" began Kage.

"What?" giggled Twilight, enjoying the feeling of closeness while being wrapped around his forelegs.

"I want to see the Elements of Harmony up close." the stallion answered.

"I think that can be arranged." Twilight broke free from his grasp and got off the bed. "Follow me...my 'prince'." having fun.

"With pleasure my 'princess'." smiled Kage, playing along. They both left the chambers, with Twilight making sure Kage doesn't get spotted. "Maybe it'll be better if we just teleported there." stated the lavender alicorn upon seeing the hallway guarded by guards. Kage silently agreed.

Twilight's horn glowed and they are both quickly teleported away to the vault entrance. "Now, normally, the only way to open the vault would be for Celestia to insert her horn into the lock, but luckily, she changed it so that MY horn can also open it." she went up to the lock and inserted her horn into the opening. The vault quickly unlocked and opened for them.

The two ponies walked inside to see the six Elements of Harmony where they should be. "Here they are, impressive don't you think?"

"It is, I'm also impressed by how naive you are my love." said Kage, his voice started to change.

"Kage?" Twilight was confused.

The stallion turned around to reveal his eyes glowing green, with smoke emanating from them. His horn curved and red. "No...the name is Sombra."

Twilight tried run away, but Sombra used his magic to close the vault door shut. "No...it can't be!"

"You fell in love with a monster Twilight, congratulations." Sombra smirked as he levitated the Elements of Harmony and put them all on.

"NO!" she couldn't believe it. "What did you do to Kage! Bring him back!" she snarled.

"Dead." was all Sombra said as he slowly walked towards Twilight. The mare slowly backed away from him in response.

"S-So...you fell in love with me just so you can get the Elements of Harmony?!" the mare was upset, her first one true love was a lie.

"Oh no...my love for you was real Twilight." smirked the dark stallion as he backed Twilight against a wall. "Always has been since I first laid eyes on you. Such a beautiful mind housed in an equally beautiful body...you were perfect." he hissed as he put his face close to Twilight's.

"You're a black hearted monster! You don't deserve to call yourself a pony!" nervously stated the mare.

"So true Twilight...my queen." Sombra quickly nibbled on her neck, with the mare trying to resist and fighting him off.

"Queen?" the lavender mare moaned from the nibbling, her mind was screaming "no" while her heart and body yelled the opposite.

"Everything, even the time we made love, was me expressing my long held feelings for you." the stallion said as he went to the other side of the neck.

"R-really?" Twilight moaned, she could feel herself give in to him.

"Really." confirmed the stallion as he pushed the mare up against the wall so her entire back was on it, continuing his nibbling.

"N-no...please...stop!" she protested, but her body once again betrayed her by letting out another moan.

The stallion could feel his erection growing, he quickly stopped his nibbling and whispered in her ear; "Don't you love me my queen?"

"I-I-I don't know..." she was extremely conflicted.

"I thought you did...because everything I've done...I've done it for you." Sombra explained sincerely.

"Is that true?"

"Yes. I want you to be by my side, ruling with me and genuinely in love with me." he continued.

Twilight looked into his eyes to see that he is being sincere and honest, every he told her was true. "W-what do you want me to do?"

"Swear your love and support for me." Sombra then back away from Twilight before bowing down before her. "And to be my queen."

The stallion patiently waited for her response, still bowed down in front of her. A minute passed before he finally got a response.

"Arise my king." said Twilight. The stallions ears perked up upon hearing what she said as he stood up as told. He was staring into her eyes again. Twilight magically took her element of harmony off of Sombra and placed it on her head. She then turned around, leaned up against the wall with her fore-hooves and lifted up her tail to reveal her beautiful marehood. "Make love to me." she demanded.

Sombra gave an evil grin, not believing his lock, Twilight is now putty in her hooves and he didn't have to hypnotize her to do so. "With pleasure my queen." he quickly mounted the mare as his erection thrusted inside her.

"Oh yes..." Twilight moaned, as she suddenly felt Sombra nibble her neck again, but this time from behind. "...so full." her eyes rolled to the back of her head with her horn glowing from the surge of pleasure.

Sombra kept his face, as he felt the mare's tight insides tighten around him more. He loved how tight it felt. "Anything to please my queen." he whispered into her ear.

"Anything...to please...my king..." she moaned between breaths. Sombra gradually quickened his pace, some juices dripping down to the floor beneath them. But what Twilight loved the most, was the true passion and love she felt between them, the one part of rutting she loved the most.

The stallion felt himself get close. "I'm getting close..." he grunted.

"Don't pull out! Please!" Twilight pleaded. "I want it all inside me, I want every single drop!" she loudly moaned.

"I love you Twilight!" he exclaimed as he went faster.

"I love you too!" Twilight's horn began sparking fireworks as they both felt their orgasms hit them hard. Sombra's flared head shooting out his seed inside her. Twilight moaned as she felt herself get filled. "Don't pull out, keep it in there!" she moaned as felt herself loose her balance. The stallion quickly helped her down to the floor and lied her down.

They both ended up on the floor together, still attached and spooning. They both kissed each other passionately one last time before they fell asleep together.

"SOMETHING IS WRONG!" exclaimed Celestia as she awoke from her evening nap.

Author's Note

Another clop chapter.

There is one more clop chapter left before the story ends.

Sorry for the decreasing about of updates. I was busy this month.

Enjoy the story anyways.

V

Twilight's ears perked up once she heard the sound of something opening. She groggily open her eyes only to an unexpected sight; Sombra cuddled up to her from behind, sleeping peacefully. It wasn't a dream, it actually did happen, she had sex with Sombra yet she was strangely okay with that fact.

The lavender alicorn suddenly heard the loud sounds of locks unlocking and a large vault door opening. "Oh no!" exclaimed Twilight to herself as she finally realized that someone is about to enter and see her with Sombra.

She immediately tried to get her and the dark stallion teleported out, but quickly realized that the vault has a magical barrier preventing any escape other then leaving through the only entrance. Panicking, she got up from the floor and got herself ready to face the consequences.

The vault door finally opened to reveal a stern Celestia. "Twilight?" Celestia was in shock, not expecting her here. "What are you doing here?" the princess then saw that she was standing in front of Sombra and they were wearing the Elements of Harmony. "What in the name of me is going on here?"

"Uh..."

"Good morning Celestia!" exclaimed a smug voice. Twilight turned to see Sombra waking up and getting up off of the floor. "My goodness, that was amazing, don't you think Twi?"

"SOMBRA?!" The alicorn princess was even more confused.

"Yes Celestia, it is me, good old King Sombra, back from the dead!" he smugly stated, he nuzzled Twilight. "And in love with your student."

"What?! No!" Celestia couldn't believe it. "Is this true Twilight?"

"Well...uh...you see...uh.." Twilight didn't know what to say, this was all happening too fast for her to think properly.

"Don't be so modest Twi, just tell her that you helped me get the elements and then let me mount you and fuck you the way you wanted." smirked Sombra.

"WHAT?!" Celestia was feeling a mixture of disbelief, betrayal and anger coursing through her body.

"Tell her Twi, tell her how much you enjoyed getting fucked by me, tell her how much you wanted it." said Sombra.

Celestia felt her anger slowly build up, her mane slowly changing color to reflect that.

"Uh...Celestia?" Twilight was concerned for her mentor.

Suddenly, Celestia's mane turned fiery red and yellow, and her eyes glowed brightly. "IT'S TIME TO DIE SOMBRA!" her voice boomed has her horn glowed and fired it at the pair.

"What's going on Celestia!?" the lavender alicorn was shocked by the transformation as the beam headed towards her.

"I PROMISED MYSELF THAT I WOULD KILL YOU WITHOUT HESITATION NEXT TIME WE EVER MET!" boomed an angry Celestia as the beam she fired ended up hitting Sombra directly.

A large explosion rocked the room as the space became filled with dark smoke. "SOMBRA NO!" yelled Twilight. Celestia immediately returned back to her normal form. "I promised myself that I wouldn't show that side of me ever again." stated the sun princess. "Come along Twilight, you have a lot to explain about your recent behavior."

"No." was all Twilight said, refusing to budge.

"What?"

"You heard me! I said 'no'!" snarled the alicorn to her mentor. "I no longer take orders from you any more!"

"What's wrong Twilight?" trying to understand what is up with her student.

"You don't decide my destiny Celestia...I am the one that does that! I just wanted to be the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria and I thought I could achieve that by studying under you! But all you ever did was hold me back and turn me into something I never asked!" she yelled at her FORMER teacher.

"But it was your destiny to-"

"That was never my destiny! That was the destiny you shoved down my throat!" Twilight snarled.

"Twilight-"

"Further more, I feel like I'm wasting my full potential being with you because all you do is hold me back!"

"I would never hold you back!"

"Yes she would." said a deep voice. Both Twilight and Celestia turned to see Sombra standing before them, not a scratch on him. "She's just afraid that you'll end up more powerful than her Twi."

"How are you still alive?!" angrily snorted Celestia.

"Pay close attention to what is around my neck Celestia." snarled Sombra, pointing at the five elements of harmony around his neck. "Apparently, your magic can't harm me as long as I'm wearing these."

"What?" Twilight was in shock.

"The Elements of Harmony can't be destroyed by those who created them. As long as he has the elements, my magic is useless against him."

"Looks like that feature has come to bite you in the rump in the end huh? I just can't believe my luck!" laughed Sombra. "Everything you ponies did to try to stop me has actually ended up making my ultimate goal more easier to attain. Although I would like to give an honorable mention to Twilight's brother for his perfect timing in impregnating his wife."

"YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD!" snarled Celestia.

"That I am." accepted Sombra as he fired a beam at the princess. Celestia tried to block it but the beam broke through and ended up hitting square in the chest.

"AHHH!!!" Celestia screamed as she a blown out of the vault and into the hallway, her back hitting a marble column hard. She fell to the floor unconscious.

Twilight was in shock. "She was no good for you," stated Sombra as he stood next to her, he then held out his hoof. "now come with me, be my Queen, and you'll show you your REAL potential."

The mare thought about it for a minute. "My REAL full potential?" she asked. Sombra quietly gave a sincere nod. The mare then grabbed his hoof and they teleported away.

Celestia woke up, on the ground and weak. "Twilight...no...not again..." she mumbled as she saw her now former student teleport away with the monster. Tears flowed down her face from Twilight's betrayal.

She gave a loud frustrated scream from not just her physical pain, but her emotional pain as well. "Twilight..."

We

"PRINCE SHINING!!! COME HERE QUICK!!!' yelled a guard as he busted through the main door of the castle.

"What's going on?" exclaimed Shining as he ran down the stairs to see a group of guards wheeling in an unconscious pony, and not just any pony, but his wife Cadance. "Cadance?!"

"Take her to the Royal Infirmary!" yelled another guard.

"What's going on?" he asked the group of guards as he followed them. "What happened to my wife?"

"I can explain Mister Armor." said a new voice. Shining stopped in his tracks and turned around to see a cloaked alicorn standing behind him. He could here the guards wheel Cadance away. "Don't worry...she just bumped her head, she'll be fine."

"Who are you?"

"The one who helped create a monster." she cryptically answered. "And the one who can help destroy it."

Shining just gave her a look of confusion.

"Princes Celestia?" asked a concerned quiet voice. The princess slowly opened her eyes to reveal a group of five ponies standing over her.

"How long was I out?" groggily asked the alicorn.

"A whole day." answered Applejack. "What happened?"

"Sombra...that's what happened." she answered. She threw off her covers to reveal her entire torso bandaged up. "What the?"

"You broke several ribs, the physicians did their best bandaging you up." explained Rarity.

"Where's Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.

"Sombra got her...she's now under his control." explained a remorseful Celestia.

"WHAT?!" all of Twilight's friends gasped in shock.

"That's right...Sombra made Twilight believe that she's in love with him...a victim of his mind control." Celestia couldn't accept the fact that her student went with such a monster willingly.

"That no good dirty snake! We need t' save her an' destroy that no good Sombra once and for all!" angrily growled Applejack.

Her four friends fully agreed.

Celestia didn't know what to say next, but quickly came up with a best course of action. The princess always hated to deceive her subjects, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Look my ponies, I know a way to defeat him."

The five mares turned to listen. "What is it?" asked Rarity.

"In the Everfree Forest...there's a cave...and in that cave is a tree," began Celestia. "That tree holds a box that contains a new form of magic more powerful than the Elements of Harmony. It should be able to defeat him and get Twilight back to the side of good easily."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" exclaimed an impatient Rainbow Dash.

"Not so fast," the Princess instructed. "you need these six keys to open that box." from under her bed, Celestia pulled out a box containing the six keys, even though they weren't the REAL keys, just pale copies. "only the bearers of harmony can open that box with these keys."

Each of the five mares each took a key, with Applejack taking two. "Come on y'all, we have an empire t' save!" said a determined Applejack.

"YEAH!" responded the other four before they galloped away. They immediately left in Twilight's hot air balloon.

"So...you're saying you can defeat him by giving him another potion to return him back to normal?" said Shining in disbelief to the alicorn in front of him, her cloak off to reveal a long red mane and peach coat.

"All I need is a hair sample from him, yes." nodded the alicorn with all seriousness.

"So we're just going to wait until Sombra comes here?" exclaimed Rex with disbelief. "HORSE MANURE! You're putting the safety of this empire at risk!" he did not believe a single word.

"Believe it or not he was destined for that throne the moment he decimated the entire Diamond Dog army and ended that horrible war that threatened to tear Equestria apart all while the Royal Sisters did NOTHING but ignore it." she snarled.

"Rex! Shut up!" snapped Shining at the adviser. "We need all the help we could get in defeating him!"

Suddenly, a guard bursts through the door. "Your highness! There's something you should see!" exclaimed the guard.

"What is it?"

"Sombra! He's coming!"

Rex, Shining and the mysterious alicorn all gathered at the palace balcony to see Sombra's signature black smoke on the horizon, it slowly but surely headed towards them.

"We need to put up the shields!" exclaimed Rex.

"With what?! We don't have magic that powerful enough to make one!" snarled Shining. The prince turned to get an opinion from the alicorn, but when turned around, she was gone. "Where did she go?"

"Never mind your highness. He's coming here and fast!" the smoke in the horizon got closer and closer.

"I want all the guards to form a perimeter around the city and palace and to be ready to fight at a moments notice." instructed Shining to the adviser Rex. "I also want my uniform ready."

Rex was confused about that last statement.

Sombra has never been so pleased with how everything worked out for him. He marched towards the Crystal Empire with the Elements of Harmony on him, and by his side was his willing Queen...Twilight Sparkle.

He was currently in his smoke form as a way to intimidate others and he could use this form to easily defeat Shining and his guards...but he decided to this all in his normal form, the victory will be so much sweeter if he did it in his true form. Sombra gave a smirk over that thought.

"Sombra...I will be willing to be your queen and student, just don't kill my brother or Cadance." pleaded Twilight as she flew by his side, not sure if she made the right choice or not.

"Don't worry my Queen...it is not my intention to kill him, they'll be spared and unharmed as you demanded." assured the dark King.

Twilight didn't feel any better.

They soon both reached the entrance to the Crystal Empire. Sombra quickly reverted to his normal form and Twilight softly landed by his side.

Twilight could see her brother, Shining Armor, dressed in his formal uniform and an adviser pony. They were both in front of the entrance facing Sombra and Twilight.

"Twiley?" Shining was in shock, "what are you doing with...HIM." he did not expect this.

"I'm sorry brother...I am so sorry..." the lavender alicorn felt bad for the betrayal of her brother's trust.

"Why are you doing this?" Shining's heart broke.

"Because he promised he will spare the lives of you, Cadance and all the citizens of the Crystal Empire if I join him to be his queen and student, while you agree to his terms." explained Twilight, she felt awful as she said that.

"He's a monster Twiley who is manipulating you and playing you for a fool! I would never trust that heartless monster who enslaved and abused his subjects." exclaimed Shining, as he tried to put sense into her sister.

"Please! Accept his terms and he won't have to kill!" pleaded Twilight to her brother.

"NO!" interrupted Rex. "We will NOT accept his terms, we do not make deals with tyrants, monsters and slave drivers, and you sir are all three combined!" he snarled at Sombra.

"Shut up Rex!" growled Shining.

"Now I demand that you stop right now and surrender! That way your trial and subsequent execution will be swift and painless." smirked a smug Rex. "What do you say about that!"

Sombra just rolled his eyes, but his face remained stoic. "I'm sorry Twilight," began the dark stallion as he spoke to his queen. "but this just HAS to be done."

"What?!" Twilight was confused.

The dark stallion's horn glowed and Rex suddenly became enveloped in Sombra's magic aura and he began float. "What the?"

"Now...be a good adviser and do us a favor," Sombra smirked. "SHUT UP AND DIE!" suddenly, Rex shot up towards the sky.

"HELP ME!" yelled Rex as he flew higher and higher into the sky. But it was too late for him as Sombra used his magic to instantly combust Rex's body, there was nothing left of him but a large plume of smoke in the sky, he was dead.

"Sombra?!" Twilight was in shock.

"Meh...he won't be missed." said Sombra, deadpan.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Sorry for the long hiatus. Here's the new chapter! Enjoy!

X

Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle were in shock, they just saw Sombra kill a pony before their eyes.

"So Mr. Armor, I suggest you take me and my queen to the palace in order to work out a stallion's agreement. Don't you think?" said Sombra.

Shining was stunned and turned to his sister.

"Just do as he says Shining!" exclaimed Twilight, concerned for her brother. "Please! I don't want you to get hurt."

The white unicorn stallion felt bad for his sister, "Fine!" he reluctantly exclaimed. "Follow me." he turned around and lead Sombra and Twilight to the Crystal Palace.

"You are smart after all, this whole time I thought it was Cadance that had the brains while you were nothing but a pussy whipped stallion." smirked Sombra as he followed Shining.

Shining found it hard to not say something, but kept his mouth shut...for now.

"Ugh...my head." groaned Cadance as she woke up, only to see that she was back in her room. "Huh?"

"Oh good, you're awake. It was about time you did." said a voice. The pink alicorn saw the cloaked pony from earlier at her bedside.

"YOU!" she gasped with surprise. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"I just healed you...now I must take you and your baby to a safer location." explained the cloaked pony as she got everything ready.

"Safer location? Why? What's going on? I refuse to leave my kingdom." Cadance really had no idea what was going on.

"It's Sombra...he's here."

"....WHAT?!" Cadance was in shock.

Sombra and Twilight were escorted through the city by Shining Armor and his guards. All the crystal ponies gathered around at the sight. They stood in fear, many of them have ran back indoors and locked their doors and windows from his presence alone. Sombra just smirked at their reaction. "Still got it..hehe."

"What's the plan now Sombra?" asked Twilight, she was afraid of what might happen next. She loved and slightly supported Sombra's mission, but she did not want to see her brother and his wife harmed in any way. She just wanted the whole thing to be done and over with.

"We reach the palace and me, your brother and Cadance will work out a truce with favorable terms for me." explained Sombra. He may have been a ruthless tyrant, but he was a shrewd negotiator and diplomat as well, he can read ponies and he was ALWAYS in control of the situation.

Sombra soon spotted a black crystal sticking out of the street. "Hmmm..." he stopped on his tracks to inspect it. "Not bad of a job if I do say so myself." he said.

"We need to continue on to the palace Sombra." ordered Shining.

"Oh...of course...sorry...just admiring my work." apologized Sombra. He stroked the crystal with his hoof before he continued on to the palace as told.

As the group continued on, the black crystal Sombra touched turned bright red in color.

Celestia stood in front of her bedroom mirror as she got into her old battle armor with her magic. "Never thought I would ever wear this again." she said to herself.

"Uh...ma'am." chimed Flash Sentry.

"Yes?" she turned around.

"You are in no condition to do this."

"I know that Flash...but it is my duty to safeguard my kingdom and to save my student from Sombra's influence...I lost too many students to the dark forces...I promised myself it will never happen again, and to do whatever it takes to not let it happen." she explained with some emotional pain in her voice.

"But-"

"If I don't make it...I want you to declare your undying loyalty to whomever replaces me on the throne and serve that pony...no matter who it is." she sternly ordered.

"But ma'am." Flash was in total shock.

"I order it as your commanding officer!" snapped Celestia.

"Uh...yes ma'am." he nervously saluted.

"Good...I'll have half of my guards accompany me on this mission...you and the rest will stay here and get everything ready for my potential replacement if anything happens to me, understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Dismissed."

Flash Sentry marched out of the room. Celestia returned back to stare at the mirror, she noticed dark circles around her eyes. "I'm getting old..." she mumbled knowing that even she cannot live forever.

Sombra, Twilight, Shining and his guards finally arrived at the Crystal palace. Sombra kept a knowing smirk plastered on his face since the brief stop to see a dark crystal. Twilight saw that.

"Sombra? I have a feeling you have something sinister planned." she whispered.

"Oh...just a back up plan in case anything goes wrong." explained Sombra. "Which it will...because even I know Shining and Cadance will NEVER give me a deal that is favorable to me...so I might as well let their subjects force them too."

The now red crystal started to glow brightly as it suddenly emitted a large red light that spread across the city. All the Crystal ponies, even those indoors, suddenly stopped in their tracks and dropped what they were doing as they got caught in the red wall of light.

The entire city was at a literal standstill, every Crystal pony frozen with black looks on their faces.

After a minute of stillness...the ponies started to move again, but this time, slowly march out of their homes and towards the Crystal palace like zombies.

Celestia was on her pagasus drawn paladin as she lead her guard, who where in chariots themselves, towards the Crystal Empire to defeat Sombra once and for all. The alicorn had a determined face on her, fully ready to do whatever it takes to defeat the monster.

Twilight and Sombra are escorted inside the palace. "Sombra, you will follow me and be escorted to the Adviser Meeting Room where we'll settle an agreement." Shining turned to Twilight. "I want you to get Cadance and explain everything that is happening to her, understood?"

"Understood...lead the way." said Sombra.

"Understood." nodded Twilight, not exactly looking forward to seeing Cadance again in these circumstances.

Twilight made her way upstairs Cadance's bedchambers. only to find the door slightly opened. "Huh?" Twilight slowly entered the room, only to find it a mess, items broken on the floor, bed covers littered all over the place, it looked like a struggle happened. "Cadance? Cadance?"

She spotted a discarded cloak on the floor...it defiantly did not belong to anyone she knew. "What's going on here?" the lavender alicorn said to herself. "What happened to Cadance?!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Y

Outside the palace, several guards stood in front of the palace gates. They were ready to be called into action at anytime.

One of the guards soon saw a curious sight; a large group of crystal ponies headed towards the palace. "Hey Dewy, look at this." he said to his friend.

"What is it?" asked another guard, Dewy.

The guard pointed Dewy to the large crowd that was headed towards them. Dewy's eyes went wide as he quickly took out a megaphone. "For your safety, we recommend that you turn back and head home!" he barked to the crowd.

That just caused the crowd to pick up their pace towards them. "PLEASE DISPERSE!" he barked again, but the crowd of crystal ponies continued charging at them, they had angry looks on their faces.

"CLOSE THE GATES!" he ordered to the rest of the guards. "NOW!"

All the guards that were outside the palace gates quickly ran inside and locked the gate as soon as the angry mob of crystal ponies reached it. The entire gate bulged inwards slightly from the mass rush of angry ponies as the guards stood back away from it.

"What's going on here?!" Dewy addressed the crowd.

"WE WANT TO KILL THE PRETENDERS! WE WANT OUR FAKE RULERS' BODIES HUNG UP!" yelled a group of crystal ponies.

"Pretenders?!"

"KILL THE ALICORN! KILL THE CAPTAIN!" they started to chant. "WE WANT OUR RIGHTFUL RULER BACK!"

All the guards were wide eyed stunned.

"So what are you demanding from us Sombra?" asked Shining, his blood boiled that he was negotiating with a monster.

"For you and your wife to abdicate the throne for me and go into exile at a place far away as possible from here." answered Sombra.

"Is that all you want? The throne?" Shining expected more from him. "All of this just to get the throne back?"

"That, and to find a new Queen...yes, I want you two gone so that me and my new queen can take our rightful place as rulers of the crystal ponies." the shadow pony smirked.

"Me and Cadance will be willing to abdicate the throne but only if you agree to a Bill Of Rights written, drafted and enacted by the citizens of this kingdom."

"Only if you let me have my own harem of concubines...for those occasions that my queen is not physically around to satisfy me." he grinned.

Shining tried his best to keep his rage in check, but the thought of this monster having sex with his own baby sister made him sick to his stomach. He took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for what he'll say next. "All right..you have a dea-"

"SHINING!" suddenly, Twilight bursts into the room. "CADANCE IS MISSING!" she exclaimed.

"What?!"

"Someone kidnapped her!" the lavender alicorn explained.

Shining turned to Sombra. "Did you have something to do with this?!"

"Surprisingly no." Sombra answered plainly.

Shining knew that Sombra would gladly brag and rub it in his face if he actually did. He turned to Twilight. "Who else would do this?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed the mare, she was worried for Cadance. "All I found was this cloak!" she showed her older brother the cloak she found.

The white stallion quickly figured out who it belonged to. "HER!"

The cream coated, red maned alicorn carried an unconscious Cadance on her back. "Don't worry, this exile is only until your child is old enough to face Sombra." she told her.

The red maned alicorn felt that her creation has outlived its usefulness...and only a foal conceived under the influence of the Crystal Heart can defeat him now. "Now where did she put that mirror?"

"HOLD STEADY MEN!" ordered Dewy as he and his guards tried to hold back the gate from busting open, from the sheer force of ponies pushing in, and from the shower of garbage and blunt objects being thrown over the gates and at the guards.

Strangely, the crowd suddenly stopped pushing in, instead, it retreated back slightly.

"Is it over?" asked on of the guards to Dewy.

The guards soon got their answer as they saw the crowd tie ropes to the buckled gate. "What are they up to now?"

The mob of crystal ponies parted away enough to reveal that the ropes were tied to a large group of stallions.

"Oh no..." Dewy was stunned. He quickly turned to his fellow guards. "All guards fall back inside! A siege is going to happen!" he loudly ordered. The guards did as told as they ran inside before the gates were pulled down. Dewy never though he would see the ponies actually overthrow their beloved monarchs.

"Shining," began Twilight who followed her brother. "what's happening? Who kidnapped Cadance!?"

"My creator...she's come here to defeat me." added Sombra who also tagged along.

"But what does that have to do with kidnapping Cadance?"

"For once my queen...I have no clue whatsoever." the thought of not being in control of a situation and fully knowing what is going on frightened him.

A guard ran up to the three. "Captain Shining! We have a problem!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" asked Shining. More problems. Sombra smirked, he fully knew what was happening.

"The crystal ponies! They're revolting!" the guard explained. Suddenly, a nearby window shattered as a rock was thrown through it. They peaked out through the window to see a mass of angry crystal ponies, rioting in the palace grounds.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SUBJECTS SOMBRA!" snarled Shining as he used his magic to fully pin him to a nearby wall.

The shadow unicorn just laughed. "YOUR subjects? Oh please, they were never yours to begin with."

"SOMBRA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" asked a shocked Twilight.

"Just proving who is in control...now...who here is going to get a ruler. I want to know who the bigger stallion is." he grinned at Shining.

Twilight's brother couldn't take it anymore and started to throw a punch, but was suddenly interrupted by a large explosion, blowing everyone back.

Once the dust settles...a bright figure stood before them; Princess Celestia.

"Celestia?" said a confused Twilight. This Celestia was different, her coat was pure white, wore armor, and her mane was bright and on fire...a side that Twilight last saw at the vault in Canterlot when she got angry.

"WHERE'S SOMBRA?!" boomed the new Celestia.

Everyone got up and looked only to find Sombra gone. "He must've escaped!" reported Shining.

"We must find him!" said the determined alicorn of the sun.

"But we need to save Cadance first Celestia! She has been kidnapped!" added Twilight.

"Someone kidnapped Cadance?! WHO!" boomed the alicorn again.

"Another alicorn...claimed to be the one that created Sombra." explained the unicorn stallion.

The white alicorn placed the pieces together in her mind and suddenly came to a realization. Mistress Superior. "TWILIGHT!"

"Uh...yes...Celestia." Twilight was intimidated by this new Celestia.

"I want you to find and save Cadance as soon as you can!"

The lavender alicorn nodded in agreement...anything to save family.

"Shining, I want you to help my guards control the crowd."

"But what about Sombra?" asked a confused Shining.

"Leave...him...TO ME!" and with that, the princess teleported out in front of the sibling's eyes. Celestia will not fail this time.

Z

Sometimes you win...sometimes you loose...I have lived long enough to know that fact. But why do I keep foolishly denying it?

"CADANCE!" yelled Twilight as she desperately looked ran around the halls of the palace. There was only one room left she has not checked; the mirror.

Twilight quickly sprinted to the room. "Oh...I hope I am not too late!"

But the thing is...the longer you live...the more pain you have to deal with.

"HOLD THEM BACK! WE MUST NOT LET THEM THROUGH!" yelled Shining to his guards who were barricading the front door.

Celestia's guards were outside, they did their best to control the angry mob of possessed crystal ponies, but many of them were quickly overwhelmed and beaten from the sheer numbers. "IF THEY BREACH THROUGH! SOMBRA WINS! WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" he yelled over the noise. He also knew that if they DID breach the door, he would be killed.

And I have dealt with so much pain in my life...I am kind of surprised I kept myself together for this...putting up an emotional wall between me and subjects...they got harder and harder to maintain and hold as the decades pass.

Twilight kicked down the door, to see what she had hoped to find. "LET CADANCE GO!" snarled the lavender alicorn to the cream one.

The cream alicorn had just gotten ready to step through the mirror with her captive. "I am afraid I cannot do that Miss Sparkle...she's far to valuable to the future for me to risk that." she dryly responded.

Twilight quickly got into fighting stance, her horn glowed. "Let her go!" she angrily snorted.

"Not to Sombra's queen I will not...are you seriously challenging me to a duel?" the alicorn asked with disbelief.

"If you don't give Cadance to me I will!"

"That would be very foolish of you Miss Sparkle...you're nothing but a filly compared to what I can do...you still have yet to master your full potential as an alicorn!"

"But at least I reached my potential as a unicorn...and I don't care how strong you are! You kidnapped someone dear to me and I will not let you do that!"

"Hmmm...very well then...but as forewarning, I won't hesitate to kill you if you loose." the cream alicorn growled.

"BRING IT!"

The mysterious alicorn fired first.

Sombra aimlessly ran around the halls, he looked for a place to lay low until the whole mess blew over. "All I have to do is hide out, let my possessed subjects kill everyone except Twilight and Mistress Superior off, capture Mistress and then have my queen happily execute her in cold blood. I love it when everything goes my way."

Suddenly, he was thrown to a wall by a beam of magic. "AUGH!" he exclaimed as he fell back to the floor. He slowly got up from the ground to see Celestia angrily towering over him. "If it isn't the mythical Daymare Sun...perfect..."

Celestia used her magic to levitate the shadow unicorn by the neck. "I am going to take great twisted pleasure is seeing you die! You deserve a slow and painful death!" she snarled as her magical grip around his neck tightened.

"You're...nothing but...a dumb bitch!" he gasped, defiant until the end. Celestia flung Sombra across the room in response, he hit the floor hard.

"Mess with me...and you WILL get burned! You will pay dearly for corrupting and manipulating my student!"

"I didn't manipulate her...I just made her realize that you have been feeding her nothing but horse manure since she first met you!"

Celestia levitated Sombra off the ground, she slowly began to squeeze his torso with her magic. "Why aren't you putting up a fight? Are you just going to be a smug little foalish bastard that you truly are? I know you can do better than this!"

Sombra just laughed through the pain of his ribs slowly getting crushed. "Because I even if I do die...I still manage to succeed in my primary goal!"

The white alicorn squeezed him harder. "Which is...?"

"My primary intention wasn't to kill you or take back the throne...my main objective was to HURT you...to see you this angry...to see you so consumed by hate." he gave a sinister smile. "I have finally got my revenge on you Celestia...check mate!"

Celestia gave a loud primal yell of anguish and angry as she flunged the stallion clear across the room, his body formed a large hole on the wall. "JUST SHUT UP DIE ALREADY!" fired another beam at him.

"They're breaking through! We can't hold them back!" yelled one of the guards.

Shining just took out his ceremonial sword and held it high in front of him. "Men...it was a pleasure serving with you guys." the rest of the guards knew what he was about to do; he was going to stand there and fight the oncoming mob.

Soon, the door slowly started to fall apart from the mass push of the ponies outside. The guards, with Shining, got into battle position in a single line. "Charge on my signal!" ordered the blue maned unicorn.

The door finally broke through and a large possessed crowd ran towards them. "CHARGE!"

"Come on...surely Sombra's queen can do better than THAT!" Mistress Superior electrocuted Twilight again.

"AHHH!" Twilight screamed in terrific pain from the painful surge of electricity coursing through her body.

"I warned you it was foolish to challenge me!" she lifted Twilight off the ground. "Now to make you regret ever challenging me." she suddenly snapped Twilight's left wing.

"AHHH! NO!" the pain was unbearable, she nearly passed out from the shock.

"Learned your lesson yet my QUEEN...or shall I proceed to snap the remaining five appendages you have?" she mocked.

"I can't let you win!" Twilight defiantly exclaimed.

"Suit yourself." she proceeded to break Twilight's left back leg.

"HELP ME PLEASE!" Twilight screamed.

Celestia happily stood over an extremely weakened Sombra. Despite the pain, he still had a smile on his face. Little did the alicorn knew, but Sombra actually let her kill him. He would still get what he wanted and Twilight will hate her even more if he did die the hooves of Celestia. He didn't actually mind dying for once.

"Check-mate Sombra." she stated before she charged her horn for one final killing blow of magic.

HELP ME!!! Twilight's desperate voice suddenly echoed in Celestia's mind. "Huh?" she quickly snapped out of her rage. "Twilight! No!" she quickly ran out of the room, sparing Sombra...for now. "I will NOT let her kill Twilight!"

"Twilight...no..." the shadow pony groaned. His creator was ruining the plan, he must stop her from interfering.

I always placed my student's safety and health as top priority. Maybe things would've turned out different if I just killed Sombra right then and there instead of saving Twilight.

At that point, the alicorn used her magic to repeatedly drop and pick up Twilight. "Please..." she exclaimed in pain, "...you win..." she was dropped on last time.

The alicorn walked up to Twilight and stepped on her now broken right front leg, she moaned in pain. "Now I can finally kill you for interrupting my plans and jeopardizing the future!"

"STOP RIGHT THERE SUPERIOR!" yelled a new voice. Superior turned to see Celestia in front of her. "You leave my most faithful student alone!"

"My...it has been too long Celestia." she smirked.

"Not long enough!" the princess growled.

"Why should I spare the life of your precious student? She betrayed and left you for a monster...just like your last student...and the one before that...and the one before that-"

"STOP IT!" she did not like to be reminded of the many times she failed her students.

"Oh come on Celestia, you know that I'm just doing this to protect Cadance's unborn child...although you wouldn't what it's like since you sacrificed your chances of ever starting a family when you took on your responsibilities."

"Celestia...what's going on..?" groaned Twilight. "Who is she...?"

"Tell her." smirked Superior. "Tell her what I am to you!" little did Celestia knew, but the alicorn secretly used her magic to break off a piece of sharp crystal.

"You mean nothing to me now...this ends now!" Celestia spat.

"About time." the other alicorn smirked.

They both charged each other. Twilight looked on in stunned silence.

Celestia was determined to defeat the pony who would hurt her student, the closest thing she ever had for a daughter in her entire life. "All for your happiness Twi...all for your happiness." she thought to herself. Just as she was about to strike her first blow, she suddenly felt a spike of pain on her side and something enter her. Celestia's eyes went wide. She stopped where she stood in front of her smiling opponent.

"NO!" screamed a shocked and weakened Twilight.

Celestia looked to her side, a piece of crystal stabbed through her side. Blue colored liquid dripped down to the floor...it was her own blood. How long has it been since she last bled? Possibly decades, maybe centuries, she didn't remember to had been to long. The alicorn turned to Superior. "You were always like a mother to me Superior...but I guess this is how it ends."

"Shame it did have to end this way Tia...but it was better than sitting back and do nothing while a king enslaved his subjects."

The princess fell to the ground, she grew weaker as her mane went from hot white to simple pink. A pool of blue blood formed around her. Is this how death feels like?

Twilight couldn't believe her eyes, "You...killed...Princess Celestia!" she was stunned to near silence as a tear formed in her eye.

"Well Tia...time to put you out of your misery." her horn glowed.

"NO!" growled a deep voice as a red beam shot out of nowhere and literally went straight through the cream alicorn. Twilight saw a hole on Superior's side, with a matching opening on the other side. She could see right through her.

Superior immediately fell over, dead. "Who...?" where her last words.

"No one lays a hoof on my queen!" growled Sombra as he hobbled in and towards Twilight.

"Sombra...you saved me?" Twilight couldn't believe what just happened.

"You're my queen Twilight...it is my duty to protect you." he smiled.

"I-I don't know what to say..."

"Then say nothing."

The dark pony immediately collapses on the ground in pain. Twilight could hear Sombra still breathing...he's not dead.

"Twilight..." groaned a weak voice.

In the main hall, Shining and his guards tried their best to fight off the angry mob, many of the guards beaten to the inch of their lives. Shining quickly found himself surrounded by a group of crystal ponies with ropes. They quickly overpower Shining and placed a noose around his neck.

"STRING UP THE PRETENDER!" they yelled. The crystal ponies strung up the rope and the noose immediately started choking the stallion as he got lifted off the ground.

Shining felt helpless as he tried his best to breath, but his vision quickly started to fade. "I love you Cadance and Twiley...sorry I failed you both" he said in his mind, mentally preparing himself for death.

But strangely...he was immediately dropped to the floor and the noose was loose around his neck again. The stallion was confused. He looked up to the mob only to see them confused, having no idea what happened and how they got here.

"Your highness...are you okay?" said a concerned crystal pony.

Shining had no idea what to say. He was confused.

In the dungeons of the crystal palace, the crystal that encased Trixie and Luna started to crack and fall apart. A large chunk fell off, exposing Trixie's right front hoof, it started to move on its own.

Twilight dragged herself over to a dying Princess Celestia. "Celestia?" she looked at her wound, blood pooled around her body, her pink mane and white coat where stained blue.

Celestia still smiled even through the pain. "My Twilight, my Twilight."

"Oh Celestia...please forgive me, it was all my fault if I hadn't-" the lavender alicorn begged for forgiveness.

"Never blame yourself my student...I guess I have seen too many of my loved ones and students follow the dark path that I just forgot that you had your own destiny and I was giving you the destiny I wanted." Celestia interrupted.

Twilight started to cry.

"Oh student, my student," she smiled, but growing weaker. "I just wanted you to be happy and live your life the way you want to live it. Please Twilight, I just want you to do what makes YOU happy...do that for me."

"Please! Don't die!" her student sobbed. One of the most important pony in her life, Princess Celestia, is dying. She didn't want to accept that.

"Don't cry for me my student...we all have to face death at some point...even me...and I am ready."

"But what about Equestria?"

"Equestria will still be around...and besides...you now have a new pony who would be willing to protect you." Celestia turned to see an unconscious Sombra, apparently he wasn't THAT much of a monster that she thought he was. Deep down, really deep down, there was something good. Celestia new things would work out just fine without herself. She can die knowing that her kingdom will be fine.

"Now go out there and be the pony you always wanted to be." Celestia smiled. "Follow your own destiny and no regrets...you made me so proud."

"I tried Celestia, I always try to make you proud." cried Twilight. "I promise I'll do all those things and become the best pony I can be."

Celestia just smiled and used the last of her strength to do one last thing. Twilight saw bright lights envelop her wings as they started to disappear. "Celestia?" she was stunned to see her wings vanish, she was a unicorn again.

"Now you can follow your destiny." the princess smiled. "My most faithful and dearest student." her face and body suddenly went limp.

"Celestia?" she cried, she knew that her mentor breathed her last. Twilight proceeded to sob on her mentors body, she still felt guilty about the whole thing.

"Twilight...?" groaned a new voice. The lavender unicorn turned around to see Sombra stirring awake, only this Sombra was different, the red horn was gone, his eyes were no longer green with purple and he was a lot less intimidating...

"Kage?!" Twilight quickly limped the him, is Sombra really gone?

"It's me Twi...the monster is dead." said the stallion as he brought Twilight into a tight hug.

"So glad to have the real you back Kage." Twilight cried on his shoulder. This day was the definition of bittersweet.

"What now?" Kage whispered.

"I have no idea." answered Twilight, as she could hear Cadance start to come around in the background.

Kage was just glad to be normal again, the monster was gone, its creator was gone, everything can return to normal. But he had no idea what the future holds for him...for the first time in a long time...he had no idea what was going to happen next...

...and it frightened him.

Author's Note

THE END.

All done, thank you for liking this story. My first attempt at an epic.
Thank you so much.

NOTE: All comments that reveal too much in terms of spoilers WILL be deleted, just as a warning.

After (The original ending)

My dearest Kage,

My have things changed during the last six months. How is the weather like wherever you are? I can tell you it is the middle of winter here. I really do miss you.

Every night, I think about you, think about us, think about how lucky we can still be together despite all the things we went through. I miss you presence and I miss the cuddling as well. Everyday, I am extreamly thankful for Cadance for pardoning you, that monster that made you do those things, he was not you at all.

I just wanted to write to see how your journey is going, to ask how much of your past did you find out, trying to figure out who you really were before you became that monster.

Equestria is still going strong, although many ponies have not gotten over the grief, and it is no longer has happy as it once was. But I know Luna is doing her best to keep the kingdom together through this difficult time, I'm sure in time, things will brighten up.

And if you are wondering, no, my friends still refuse to talk to me, and many of the ponies in town still shun me, the mare who shunned Celestia and sided with, and is in love, with a monster, they don't understand that you are a normal pony now. They probably never will for a long time, but I know you have been working hard to slowly earn their respect, although how much your efforts affected the others, remains to be seen.

But sometimes, I just want to give up and move far away from here, to a place were we can be together and accepted for who we are, and not by what we did. But I am not giving up on my friends and Ponyville that easily.

I really hope this letter finds you, it's a bit tricky using teleportation to send messages, what with the high margin of error, lack of accuracy and the change the message will long vaporize before it got there...but I am getting better.

Be safe my love, I really miss you, and I wish your journey well as always.

Love, your dearest,
Twilight Sparkle

A knock on the door was heard just as Twilight finished the letter. She was all alone in the library, all of her possessions packed in boxes in case she and Kage decide to move or are driven out of town. Having visitors was a rare occurrence these days. She walked to the door and opened it to reveal a sad looking Trixie. "What do you want?" she was suspicious.

"Just wanted to stop by and see how you are doing." the blue unicorn explained as she walked inside as Twilight closed the door. She removed her coat with her magic and sat down at a couch.

"Oh...I am doing okay...tea?" Twilight offered.

"Sure, thanks." Trixie smiled.

Trixie has changed a lot since she was freed from her crystal prison and the possession. She was more depressed and much more humble, it seemed that her entire personality was subdued. Twilight walked in with the tea and served it to her former enemy.

Trixie sipped it. "I-I was wonder if I-I could stay here for a bit?" she began, a bit ashamed in asking.

The other mare was surprised. "Why?"

"Every since ponies found out I-I-I slept with Kage, before he met you of course, and got possessed by Sombra, I've been treated as damaged goods, every stallion would leave me once I-I either tell them about it, or they recognize me. I am cold, broke and alone." Trixie refused to make eye contact, ever since she was freed, eye contact became intimidating for her.

Twilight thought about the offer, it had been lonely for her as well in the library, Spike quit to work for Cadance and Shining instead, the occurrence of visitors decreased and Kage had been gone for three months now. There has been no pony to confide since he left on his journey, apart from Luna, her parents and Shining, sometimes Cadance depending on how the pregnancy was going.

"You can stay for as long as you want Trixie...but be prepared to move at any time." stated the lavender unicorn.

"Uh...how's Kage doing by the way?" Trixie was curious.

"Doing fine, has been gone for three months trying to figure out his past. Why do you ask?"

Trixie just blushed. "Oh...just...curious about him-"

"If you are thinking about starting a herd with me and him, the answer is a 'no'." said a bemused Twilight.

"I-I understand..." she looked away in shame.

"However," Trixie's ears immediatly perked up. "I'll keep that offer in mind...but not another word of this until Kage comes back and we talk to him about it."

"Really?" the blue unicorn couldn't believe it.

"Anything to help a fellow pony in need Trixie." Twilight smiled, but she looked at the clock. "Anyways, you stay here and keep warm, I have to go and buy some quills at the store before it closes."

Trixie said nothing but wrap Twilight in a hug. The lavender unicorn reluctantly went along with it.

Twilight had just finished buying her quills as the winter sun began to set. Apart from the strange looks, no one payed much attention to her.

"Uh...Twilight..." said a quiet voice.

She turned around to see Fluttershy, nervous. "Shy?"

Tears formed in Fluttershy's eyes as she quickly flew towards Twilight and tackled her into a hug. "Please forgive me Twilight, I'm sorry all of that happened to you, I want us to be friends again, it hasn't been the same without you!" she sobbed.

"Huh?" Twilight was confused.

"What we did was wrong, we should've forgiven you for what you done...but we just couldn't trust Kage...all we see is Sombra whenever we lay eyes on him." Shy cried on Twilight's shoulder.

"I-I don't know what to say Shy."

"We'll learn to accept him if it means we can be friends again. I just want things back the way they were, those happy innocent times."

"I highly doubt we'll ever get those days back Shy...but we can at least try to make the most of it, and I missed you all as well." she hugged the yellow pegasus back. "Want to walk home with me?" she smiled.

"Why...of course I will Twilight...anything for a friend." smiled Shy back as they began their walk together to the library.

In a cave, a group of cloaked mares were meditating around the fire. Another mare walked in. "Have we made contact to our idol in Tatarus?"

"Still no answer from him Mistress Awa." responded a mare.

"Keep trying...we need him now more than ever." she harshly ordered. "Now as you were Goody Terra."

"Yes, Mistress Awa." she nodded and returned back to meditating.

"Only him can bring balance to this world again..." Awa mumbled to herself.

"HELLO?" yelled a new voice, male. All the mares stopped what they were doing.

"Who's there?" yelled Awa back.

A cloaked stallion slowly walked in. "I am here to get some answers."

"We do not perform public services...take your questions elsewhere...we don't want any dirty, impure stallions from throwing the sanctity of our place of worship." snarled Awa.

"I just wanted to know about who I was...my memory can only help me so much-"

"Boo! Hoo! Sorry for your amnesia...I said leave!" she ordered.

"...I'll ask again." he stallion slowly walked towards the cloaked mare. "Don't make me ask this question a third time..." the stallion removed the hood of his cloak to reveal his face, Kage.

Awa was stunned. "YOU! It can't be!"

Kage cornered Awa against the wall, his eyes turned green. He brought his face against the mare's.

"Who...was...I!?"