Shining emerged from his sprint at the top of the stair case. Blizzard winds blasted from the outside and into the open chamber. The hurricane force made it hard to stand, and the sheer force of the raging element made it nigh impossible to breath. His coat was pelted with countless bullets of snow, and his eyes strained to remain open. His eyes only had a split second to capture what they needed to. Upon its hidden podium, stored away from the populace, was the Crystal Heart.
Absolute pain cascaded through his body as he found himself soaring through the air, meeting the ceiling with a sickening crack, his quick reunion with the floor was less than pleasurable. Whatever air that remained in his lungs quickly escaped, his soul seemingly close behind.
Shining's eyes locked onto the dark stallion in front of him. Battered and bruised, but practically unharmed to his own injuries. Sombra stood with a confident stance, even as his some wounds continued to bleed. Glancing at the Crystal Heart, Shining saw his only chance.
A quick wisp of his horn and he vanished, materializing on the other side of the podium. His magical aura wrapping around the heart as he landed. His grasp on the heart was short lived, as a spire of obsidian erupted towards his chest. Ducking to the side, but dropping the Heart, Shining avoided the impalement.
Sombra roared, as he charged the unicorn. A quick missing swipe passed him, as he quickly spun on his hooves and erected another spike of black. He unleashed volley after volley, intent with absolute determination to obliterate his foe. After eons of perfection and order, he was not about to let some simple colt ruin his reign.
So much had gone wrong. His queen and daughter were gone, his Royal Guard in complete disarray, and not his slaves were gathering a revolt. All because on these simple little ponies. They had ruined everything he had worked for in almost ten thousand years in a single, silent night.
There was no conceivable way he would let them claim victory. Even if he had to break every single pony that lived in this land and beyond, even if he had to confront Celestia and assault Canterlot itself, Sombra was not about to lose everything.
Especially not to this fool of a unicorn.
Another spire has scratch across Shining's neck, loosening his supply of blood even further. His body was exhausted, nothing more than a pile of cuts and slashes held together by simple medical magics. He was nothing more than instinct, acting out on what he was conditioned to do. There was no prime objective anymore. There was no goals or guidelines or morals to follow.
Only the need to survive.
Shining was cut by another pillar, before he spun on his hooves, and bucked at the spire. The obsidian was weak, and quickly launched towards its original creator. Shining used the momentary distraction and charged at Sombra with all his might, slamming the dark unicorn against one of the supports.
With Sombra dazed, Shining tried to catch his breath. The constant battering and barrage from the blizzard was beginning to sink into his open wounds. The pain was numb. He had lost feeling a long time ago.
Shining glared at this tyrant, seeing him in a weakened state, a moment of vulnerability. This was him, King Sombra. The menace every one of his slaves thought to be a god. Yet, here the god stood, on shaking hooves and bleeding mortal blood. Shining couldn't take any more of this punishment, but neither could he.
Shining's rage billowed inside. This stallion was responsible for the deaths of thousands, and the imprisonment of thousands more. He was the reason Luna had nearly died. He was the reason Shining had to kill so many innocent lives, to free them of their imprisonment of this disgusting, vulnerable and mortal being. Shining had almost killed a foal because of this living scum, and he was going to make him pay for every single sadness, every single melancholy he had caused. Sombra was far from a king, let alone a god. Shining had to power to defeat him, to kill him.
But that had to wait for another day.
Shining regained control of himself, as he raced toward the Crystal Heart resting upon the frozen ground. Quickly grabbing it, he made a break for the stairs. Sombra managed to regain his composure, and saw the stallion racing towards his exit. With a exhausted roar, Sombra unleashed a wall of obsidian, blocking his exit. Shining reared back, instinctively using the Heart as a shield.
A single spire impaled the Crystal Heart.
All sound erupted into silence, as cracks formed from the relic. Light exploded from its interior, as the veins of destruction snaked across its surface. The audible cracks ringed through their ears, as a final shatter crushed the Heart into thousands of fragments. The tiny fractions of crystal blowing in the wind with the snow.
Breathless, the two stallions watched the relic disintegrate. Sombra had lost any choice of ruling over his world, and Shining had lost the chance of restoring hope to a desolated people. The two locked eyes, both in shock and hatred.
Before either of them had the chance to curse the other, tremors ravaged the floor beneath their hooves, as the whole castle began to violently quake. The sound of roaring fissures deafened the two of them, as thunderous tremors rampaged throughout the chamber. Attempting to hold his ground, Shining quickly shot a blast of magic at Sombra's erected wall. Evaporating the obsidian, He quickly made a dash for the stairs.
Suddenly, gravity shifted.
Shining's hooves struggled to remained on the ground, as he slipped further and further towards the open edge of the chamber. He struggled to grapple onto something, noted Sombra suffering the same difficulties. The crystalline floor beneath them was as slick as ice. Shining quickly whipped his magic around the podium where the Heart once stood. As he held onto the ethereal grasp, his hooves lost their hold on the floor, as he felt gravity become more and more horizontal.
Sombra followed suit, erected another spire to hold his ground. His heart raced, as he could feel his palace crumbled beneath his very hooves. His eyes darted to the one responsible. The stallion struggled to hold onto his magical rope. Sombra erupted several more pikes, hopping from one to the other in order to reach his target.
The deafening roar of the collapsing tower continued to cry out in pain, as its foundations continued to shatter. As the tower snapped itself in half, and began its descent to destruction, the supports below gave way to the stress, as the tower began its first free fall.
There was short moment of weightlessness. Shining used this moment to blink to the other side of the tower, grabbing upon the edge and trying to push himself up. Sombra was close behind, as Shining raced toward the end of the tower, now falling away from the rest of the castle.
He had no plan. He was nothing more than instinct, acting out on what he was conditioned to do. Their was no prime objective anymore. There was no goals or guidelines or morals to follow. Only his need to live on, and continue to do what only he could do. He would survive this. He would be scolded by Sunset Shimmer, he would see his mother again, he would see Sweetie Belle recover, and maybe he would see that filly one more time. Twilight Sparkle was a good name for her, Shining mused.
But first, he had to survive her father.
A spire erupted itself in the his ankle, piercing his muscle with ease. His scream was muffled by the constant reverberating chaos around him. A quick and instinctive flash sent him away from the impalement, as the tower began its final arc into oblivion. He continued to grow lighter and lighter, wrapping a small magical slip across his newest wound. Sombra glared at him, as his slow and methodical gait paid no mind to the imminent danger they faced.
Their eyes met, and time froze.
They could feel it in their hearts. The Sudden familiarity with how the other fought, the sudden hatred at the mere sight of each other. The secret yearning for the others' death, the lust for their blood. This was it. After what felt like several eternities, a clash so perfect, a war so brilliantly waged between the two of them, waged through countless different lifetimes, through countless different universes. This was the end for the both of them.
The road of thousands upon thousands of destinies ended at this magnificently chaotic and abrupt crossroads. The battle between these two opposing factions of virtues would have no victor. They would never sway one way or the other.
Sombra, the stagnant order of sovereignty.
Shining Armor, the passionate chaos of freedom.
Since the beginning of time, these two forces fought for what they believed, always shifting from one side to the other. There was no such thing as good or evil to these two. Each had their place in time, and each did not. Even if Sombra and Shining's lives ended that day, it would not matter. This fight would continue to wage, with different combatants over different treasures. The rules and the setting may change, but they would never falter from their cores. To eternity, it was the end of nothing.
But to them, it was the end of everything.
Author's Note
BOOM
AND
IT
IS
DONE
Expect blog post soon
