Arch of Shadows

In the howling wintry wonderland that was Northern Equestria, a large train of ponies, some royal guards and others mere civilians, marched behind a single mare, her darker coloration providing a sort of framework against the bright white backdrop.

Visibility was narrowed to merely a few yards at best; while most of the ponies, even the guards, tended to have the pony in front of them as a guide, Luna, as the leader of the group, only had herself as a guide.

“Move it, move it!” shouted some guards as the blistering cold struck out at them all. Twilight by now had accustomed herself to traveling around as Luna.

Surprised that Celestia actually attack Luna in the past, Twilight was even further aghast that Nightmare Moon was not the first time that Luna had fought her sister.

Luna had purposely jaded and goaded her sister, so that she could use the wrath of their parents at Celestia's aggression to her advantage.

However she had underestimated the insight of her father into her trick, though in hindsight Luna should have known better than to try to deceive her father and mentor.

No one was severely punished or harmed in the aftermath, but Luna seeing her father' glare, that killer, slitted gaze, was punishment enough.

She had nearly wet herself, having seen it directed towards manticores enough to know that it was the last thing many had seen.

He had not been pleased with her usage of his teachings, and even less pleased that she had not been bold enough to try to beat Celestia entirely with her own magical might.

Twilight reasoned the lesson Luna learned here would backfire when she attempted to directly engage Celestia in the future as Nightmare Moon, and was still defeated partially because she had been bold enough to try to fight Celestia with her own power alone, while Celestia used the Elements of Harmony.

Back to the "present", Discord had once again interrupted the peaceful flow of Luna' life, and she had been instructed by her parents to lead the ponies northward.

Luna had gotten back only due to the courtesy of a merchant, who had gotten lost on her way to the Crystal Empire. That journey is likely what convinced Shade that it was a good idea to have her lead their civilization towards safety, farther north no less.

Without landmarks, or the presence of the Crystal Empire for that matter, to say that it was hard to find one's way in the blizzard that doggedly pursued them was an understatement.

Soldiers and civilians alike were following Luna quite loyally, though the alicorn had little idea as to where he was going.

Unfortunately, Nightshade and Solaria were too busy to provide further direction, tirelessly attempting to help the stretched thin guards defend the citizens, not just from outside threats, but even from themselves.

Despite their dire situation, the three races of pony still found time to blame each other for the crisis, and were bound to break out into fights if their disgruntlement were left unchecked.

This only fueled the windigoes, and made their journey harder; thankfully for Luna, most of the ponies near her end of the train had the sense to realize that laying blame would only make things worse.

Celestia was among the last to leave, for whatever reason, and would likely bring up the rear of the train.

Either way, Luna was leading the way blindly, her teeth chattering and clattering and her wings held close to her sides to try to preserve body heat. She was practically freezing, the metal armor and cloth hardly helping in her efforts to stay unfrozen.

The deep snow made it hard to move, but even still, she thought that it would be a little warmer, like it had been the last time she had come this far north. Luna sought out what she knew was not there; the Crystal Empire's capital.

The remainder of the Empire had been annexed shortly after Discord was overthrown and the City vanished, the remaining inhabitants far too disoriented to mount any sort of counter-offensive to the Poni occupation.

Not to mention many of them welcomed the change in leadership, though as the winter slammed their homes with the force of a dragon army, they were likely not as pleased about the turn of events.

Hopefully, the city would return soon. After all, the crystal heart was allegedly a repellent to the windigoes, and it was probably the reason Shade and Solaria had ordered them northwards anyways.

Twilight could feel that Luna was hoping, almost praying, that somepony would say something to ease her nerves.

Careful what you wish for; you just might get it.

A guard behind her, making no attempt at hiding the skepticism towards Luna's leadership, gruffly asked, “Are you sure we are headed the right way? All I can see is snow, and more snow, and I think this armor is about to join the frostbite in sticking to my body!”

“I am quite sure of it!” Luna shouted, it being necessary to be heard in the howling winds, “You have your orders, and I have mine, so let us just worry about our duties!”

Luna was less than pleased about questions to her directions at a time like this; no, she did not know where she was going, but if word got out of that, panic like that unseen since the upturning of the Ponī Republic would follow.

The guard did not comment again, perhaps becuase a roar from the left sounded out. Turning quickly, the two spotted an Ursa Major charging towards them. It was far from complete random; something had purposely stirred it in this direction.

It looked half starved and desperate; seeing some ponies, perfect targets, likely heightened its determination to snatch just one from the crowd and live another few hours.

Luna had to make a call; let that happen so that the Ursa would just leave, or attempt to face down this beast with dwindling time before they all froze to death.

Both options had an odd amount of appeal, as the guard that had previously questioned her leadership was a prime candidate to be thrown to the beast at this time.

Twilight hoped that she would not have to witness a pony being thrown to the Ursa as a sacrifice. She did not have to, as Luna shouted, “Beast! You will have to go through me before you snack on any pony in this line!”

“End to misery!” the Ursa shouted back, surprising Twilight with the vocalization of the Ursa's predicament. Nonetheless, Luna quickly fired her horn off into the snow, striking it with a beam of cyan.

The snow immediately shifted into the form of arctic bears, growling and charging at the Ursa. The Usra easily knocked the fake beasts away as if they were mere nuisances, and continued its relentless charge.

Unicorn guards fired off their own beams, but despite hitting the Ursa's body, it continued its charge. It seemed clear that it was going to tear right through the long trail of still walking ponies without a second thought.

The ponies' confidence in their troops was almost terrifying, and though they seemed to at least pick up the pace, they hardly adjusted their travel path to move out of the way.

Luna swiftly flew towards the Ursa as it reared up in preparation to take out a chunk of the column. Relying largely on momentum, she rammed her horn into the creature's chest, hoping to divert attention away from the pony train.

Although she struck true as far as aim was concerned she found herself stuck in the creature's chest; the startled creature staggered a bit backwards, but had not lost its stance.

If it came crashing down, it threatened to crush Luna, or at least bury her a few feet into the snow.

“By the powers of the moon! Be still!”

Luna fired a magical blast directly into the beast, pooling her strength into this single attack. It went right through the Ursa and began wrapping around the creature.

Luna, with some help from pegasi guards, removed herself and her horn just as the creature toppled backwards.

The finishing blow would come in the form of the new magical restraints clamping downwards, splitting the Ursa into several pieces.

Its limbs separated from the main body, the head falling into the snow, the Ursa gurgled some unintelligible tongue before finally succumbing to its fate.

Luna stood gasping as her magical restraints returned to her horn. At least not all of her strength had been drained, but that had taken far too much energy, considering she had no idea where they were.

Some of the pony train had completely stopped, their leader having stopped leading in order to fight the Ursa. Luna came to a few tears upon seeing their pitiful expressions, quickly wiping them away should they help freeze her face.

She saw the hopelessness written on their faces, and a wave of emotion gripping at their hearts. Despair was the dominant emotion, and it was contagious enough for Luna to begin to feel it as well.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed in the sky, and the windstorm temporarily subsided.

Shielding their eyes with their hooves, many a pony looked upwards at the majestic light that was bringing radiating heat. It appeared as if Solaria and Nightshade had arrived at last, though only their silhouettes could be seen due to the blinding display.

Swirling around them were gem-shaped objects, though their coloration and composition were very hard to make out from the ground.

In a flash, an earthquake shook the ground, and then another bright flash to Luna's right, and then the two figures disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.

When all of this flashing was done, the snow storm subtly returned, though not as fiercely as it had been before. Visibility improved dramatically to seeing nearly a mile out. Luna could spot in the distance what looked to be crystals.

Large crystals, that stuck out from the horizon like a beacon of hope elated the alicorn's sunken spirits. Responding to this emotion seemed to be a beating heart at the top of the city.

“The Crystal Heart,” Luna stated in awe, almost taken aback by the sudden change in their circumstance.

Where to go became painfully clear now to everypony, and like a stampede, the ponies all began running, flying, mass teleporting, or whatever mode of transport they possessed, to get to the city. They expected a very warm reception.

Expectations usually do not line up with the reality. Though the residents had been gone for what felt like to them a few minutes, it became clear very quickly that the world around them had changed.

The Crystal Empire was back; or at least, this single sprawling metropolis, and its inhabitants, crystalline coated ponies of course, were only briefly oblivious to the stampede of ponies coming towards them.

The glints of armor, swords, and horns quickly alerted the guards of trouble. Sombra, still an alicorn and likely the only one with any idea of what just happened to them, quickly organized a force to investigate the supposed invaders.

When the two forces met at the border, not surprisingly, the sight of a black haired alicorn clad in steel armor quickly caused most Ponin ponies to back off; Luna, on the other hand, approached almost happily, having regained her lead.

She had nearly been left behind, having to take a mere second to make sure she was not seeing things.

“Sombra!” she shouted, overjoyed to see her old friend again, “You are alive, and still an alicorn!”

If Sombra was temporarily in charge, then Luna reasoned it would be a snap convincing the crystal ponies to allow them entry into the city.

After all, how could Sombra even think to leave her and her ponies to die out in the cold? All this was Luna's conjecture, which some part of her felt was asking for a bit much considering they had not seen each other in nearly two years.

“What the hell is going on here?” Sombra demanded to know, “Why are you invading us?”

Luna ceased dashing towards Sombra and his guards, realizing what her and her entourage must have looked like, stampeding towards the gates as they were, like a rabid horde of wild beasts.

“It is a long story, but this storm is not going to hold off for much longer,” Luna briefly explained, merely assuming that the windigoes were going to make a prompt return, “The Ponī Empire is no more! We seek sanctuary in the Crystal City.”

Some of the crystal guards, clad in the same type of armor as Sombra, quickly peeked at the gathering flood of ponies. It did not take long to confirm that Luna spoke the truth.

“They will eat us out of house and home!” one of the soldiers cried out, “Hell, they might even try to take us over!”

A chorus of agreement surmised the general feel for the new arrivals. Luna's ears suddenly drooped, as she saw Sombra nodding in agreement. All that work she had put into establishing a friendly relationship with Sombra and he was so easily going to just turn them away in a time of need?

“We can't take all of you; shocking as it may be, we haven't had contact with any other part of the empire in what feels like days.” Sombra gave a sympathetic look, though he had his own interests in mind.

“That in itself is a bad sign, but I can't shake the feeling that you all brought this on yourselves by disposing of Discord and practically banishing us in some pocket dimension."

Luna's face dropped upon hearing this, her eyes downcast. Yes, maybe her parents had caused the crystal ponies some grief, but there would be far more grief if she had to lead her ponies in a fight against the Crystal Empire.

At best, they would take the city and find enough food to last them a few months; at worse, the Heart would teleport them all to that strange dimension, and the rest of the pony train that had not caught up yet would be left to their doom.

There was only one ambition that Sombra possessed that might override the logistical problem that they faced. Sombra wanted to become king, it was his rightful position as far as he was concerned.

However, the crystal ponies were not going to just hand him the crown after Discord had so easily taken it away from him, especially not now that Luna was back in the picture.

No, Sombra would have to take the city by a level of direct force if he wanted to be king; even if he did have sympathetic supporters, he would need more power in order to both prevent an armed occupation of the city and facilitate a smooth transition of power to his hooves.

If Luna could present herself as a potential ally to that cause, willing to do anything to save her and her ponies, then Sombra would let them in without hesitation.

It was ingenious, but Luna first needed to make sure she did not make it too obvious; one wrong move and the crystal ponies would send all of them to the unknown oblivion.

"Our situation is very bleak; without refuge, all of us may perish, including my parents and sister. We are willing to take our place of refuge by force if we have to."

She made sure to look as defiant and courageous as possible, ears perked, wings flared, lips curled in a bit of a snarl, without sacrificing a level of despair. Sparkling, watery eyes that seemed to betray a level of doubt would complete the picture of a bluffing mare.

Sombra looked away from Luna mere moments after her announcement, his own guilty expression suggesting that she tugged at the right initial strings. Now all she needed was somepony to make Sombra to come to grips with how much she could offer as a friend instead of foe.

“Oh yeah? You and what army?” commented one of the crystal troops in the back of their formation.

Sombra shot a look of contempt in that pony's direction as Luna's royal guard, with perfect timing began gathering in formation behind her, apparently having caught onto her battle cry cue.

Unicorn, Earth, Unicorn, Earth, Pegasi, with four rows of five all lined up in preparation for battle, their faces bleak, but their assembly conjoined and rather intimidating to the much smaller crystal forces that Sombra led.

Even the civilians joined in. Many of these ponies had bee ready to fight each other a while ago, but if these crystal ponies stood in the way of their survival, unity once again would have to be the answer.

Against a common, tangible threat that they could do something against, petty arguments could turn into jokes and patriotism.

Sombra seemed to weigh his options, looking towards the increasing mass of ponies against him, and the trickling gathering of ponies behind him.

They were outnumbered, even more so by the minute, and if the remainder of the alicorns joined the fight, the Crystal ponies would be utterly outmatched.

Sombra smiled, the beating heart of the Crystal Heart seemed to radiate as he spoke, “You may come at us with unity and desperation, but we will fend you off with love and determination! Not even Discord could take away the love that we have for each other and our independence!”

It was corny; the first sign to Luna that Sombra was making one last ditch effort of resisting the obvious answer to his problems.

Some of the crystal ponies narrowed their eyes at Sombra for the reminder of Discord, no doubt recalling how the draconequus got into power in the first place.

“If you want a bloodbath, you will be sorely disappointed; our unicorns can place a strong barrier over this entire city that will not just repel you, but also keep you out as the cold comes to finish you off."

Sombra looked down on Luna, smile fading and horn aglow with a menacing red light.

"Frankly, unless you bring your parents, Luna, you are not at the negotiation table with a hoof up.”

He had to be bluffing, Twilight reasoned.

There were already few unicorns in the Crystal Empire to begin with, much less the capital itself, and it was clear that the Emperor and Empress had the means to deal with whatever defenses the crystal ponies could come up with outside of the Crystal Heart.

But, fighting the crystal ponies might cause them to resort to desperate measures; if they laid waste to their own city in a scorched earth style strategy, then they would all perish, or be sent to the pocket dimension.

That detail seemed to shatter the morale of the civilians, though the guards remained tight in formation. Some of the gaps were quickly filled, but the previously intimidating army now looked like a few companies, at best, even as more ponies filed in to find out what was going on.

The snow began to kick back up to a flurry that whipped at everypony's flanks, and made it clear that if they kept this up for much longer, the windigoes would get a second wind and come back at them within the hour.

“What are your demands?” Luna dropped her fierce stance, her eyes and ears dropping as low as they could go.

Her face dropped into a depressing frown, but she puffed out her chest just slightly as she sat on her haunches. This gesture caught her guard completely off guard, and even Sombra seemed surprised at this.

With Sombra studying every inch of her for deception, Luna made sure to poke out her lips just a bit and flap her wings. From behind, it would seem that this gesture would seem from meaningless to a vain attempt at maintaining dignity.

From the front, to the forces behind Sombra, it would appear the final gesture of surrender.

But to Sombra, it would be a micro-expression that would put a nail in this issue's coffin.

The wings were practically hands presenting to Sombra Luna as a sort of prize; she was presenting herself just right, she deemed, to likely quite appealing from Sombra's point of view.

After all, Luna and her forces had practically surrendered; that meant that he could demand almost anything from them and in their desperate situation, they would be more than happy to surrender just about anything.

Anything at all, for their survival.

Luna was somewhat banking that the lack of mare alicorns in the Crystal Empire, and the circumstances in which they met, would play in her favor for proper interpretation of her gesture.

Deception could start a battle; but it could also prevent one too if employed properly. One of her father's lessons he no doubt would have no intended for her to use in this manner.

Sombra blushed deeply, his eyes quickly averting from Luna to a random patch of snow as his thoughts were likely clouded by mortal intentions.

When he did brave another look, Luna had risen from her haunches and stood impatiently awaiting his answer, dusting some snow off of her backside with her wings.

Finally giving in to the manipulation, Sombra straightened his stance and offered, "If you support my place as king of this empire, then you and whosoever has come with you may enter as my new subjects."

Luna nodded sharply, and with a single raise of her hoof, called to attention her forces.

"We accept your terms, King Sombra!"

Perfect. Score one for Luna.

None on Luna's side reacted negatively since, as far as they were concerned, Sombra had been either the new king or a regent, and that their rulers could, and would, easily displace him sometime in the future.

However, there was stark resistance on the other side of the gate; the Crystal ponies were clearly not as accepting of this proposal.

“What?” several Crystal ponies shouted in outrage, “You, King? After Discord so easily manipulated you into giving away the kingdom before? What makes you think that we will just allow you to once again jump in line for that position?"

"I am not asking your permission to take my rightful place on my family throne."

Sombra turned towards his forces, motioning with his left wing for Luna to join him, his horn glowing red with magic and his lips curled into a proper snarl.

"You might disrespect me for being manipulated by one of the oldest, and possibly most cunning, creatures in all the land, but you will not deny me my birthright!"

Sombra and Luna soon took to the air, and when it became clear what their target would be, the Crystal legions turned tail and dashed towards the square.

Luna was mildly pleased that all of those crystal ponies were flightless, lest there would actually be a serious threat of them reaching the square before she and Sombra reached the Crystal Heart.

"Quickly, there is no time to lose!" Sombra took off towards the Crystal Heart, with Luna quickly following behind. "Think love and harmony and all that! Grab the Heart; I will join you on the balcony!"

Luna nodded in compliance as Sombra winged downwards, causing red, black, and clear crystals to appear from the ground, disrupting the general motion of the ponies below.

Luna took note of how Sombra still had that crystalline crystal pony appearance; despite everything up to this point, he still was not resembling a regular alicorn, though considering his base was a crystal pony, Luna found it understandable that his coat had not lost its crystalline shine as of yet.

Luna reached the heart in record time and, hovering just above the relic, Luna could feel the strong, rhythmic beat of the city's most powerful defense.

Focusing her thoughts on harmonic things, such as Ponī during peacetime and food fights, Luna hovered ever closer to the Heart.

She swallowed hard, and then reached her hooves out to grasp the Heart.

The heat radiating from it was intense, but it did not burn her as she wrapped her hooves around it. Instantly her chest felt like it was on fire, and this overwhelming desire to share the Heart with somepony nearly caused her to hurl it to the streets in ecstasy.

The touch reminded Luna of her parents and sister, of their warm embraces and occasionally sloppy kisses. Their laughs and smiles on her very first birthday when she ran head first into a giant cake, coming out on the other side one year older.

Such silly traditions, as the cake got progressively larger each year she grew older, she had nearly forgotten admist all of the danger.

It was as if the Heart were amplifying everything that she held dear, expressing it like a raging fire in her chest. Had it been a potion, Luna would have equated it to a broth of scorching qualities that burned on its way in, and likely on its way out too.

With the retrieval of the Crystal Heart complete, any remaining resistance to Sombra being king was quickly quelled, as there was no way that the standard guard could take on the alicorns without the Crystal Heart.

Luna, still entranced by the Heart, hardly noticed when Sombra flew up to her excitedly, a wide grin on his face. She hardly even registered that he was talking to her.

When Sombra finally noticed this, he put an arm around Luna and guided her towards the palace balcony, the palace, of course, being made entirely of crystals.

The balcony had a clear view of the square, even as it became flooded as more ponies rushed into the city.

When Sombra and Luna descended onto the palace balcony together, the Crystal Heart seemed to physically bring them closer together, with Sombra placing his hooves around the Heart, inadvertently touching Luna's in the process.

It was a subtle action were one to notice, but the effects immediately caused the two's erratic heartbeats to start beating in turn, Luna's beating ever faster to match Sombra's.

Sombra's tension melted away as he chanced another look at Luna, Luna mirroring this reaction. As his mind reeled at what his body was doing, he likely came to the conclusion that the magic of the Heart was the cause.

Rational thinking departed as Luna blinked, only now truly noticing Sombra's presence for the first time.

"This relic really knows how to bring ponies together," Luna weakly joked, adding in a short laugh afterwards, "I don't see how Discord could have caused it to go all defensive."

"Maybe he has never had a good friend before," Sombra replied, "Time kind of flies when you are with somepony special."

Time indeed was flying, though Luna's perception of it was just as clouded as Sombra's.

Sombra had hardly finished speaking when he leaned in towards Luna, hardly muzzle length separating the two. Staring into each others eyes, one cyan and the other a contrasting red.

The two stayed like this, despite various shouts trying to snap them out of their trance. The shouts were like little whispers in the small fantasy world that the two had been lulled into.

“Damn heart has a mind of its own,” Luna practically breathed right into Sombra's face, him being so close, though he did not seem to mind.

Bringing their foreheads together, playfully flicking at each other with their ears, the two seemed lost in each other, until finally one of them slipped out of the trance.

Quite literally slipping out of the trance, Sombra had been trying to lean into Luna's head some more, when lost his balance and somehow landed onto the ground.

The Crystal Heart had been snatched from their grasp.

Blinking as she returned to her senses, Luna asked absent-mindedly, “What... was that?”

Solaria, with a concerned look on her face, stood with a single hoof on the Crystal Heart, as if letting it go would present a danger to all those present.

“It has been a few hours since we were permitted refuge here more or less without a fight. I had some news for you upon my arrival, but I think the two of you got a little lost in each other with this gem as the cloud.”

Solaria pushed the heart just a little farther away from the two as a precautionary measure as Sombra got back to his hooves.

“Luna, I need to tell you these news in relative private. Prince Sombra, do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Sombra said, blinking away sleepiness, apparently ignoring the improper title that he had been addressed by.

He gave one last look to Luna, and then trotted away.

“I'll have the servants start up a meal for the occasion.”

Luna sighed as she watched him go, apparently confused as to what just happened.

Twilight too was rather confused, and couldn't help but ask a question, interrupting the flow of the story just momentarily to ask, “What just happened there?”

“The Crystal Heart amplifies and projects polarized emotions, such as love for example,” Luna explained, “I have no doubt lust had a little to do with what just happened there. I cannot fully explain it myself, even after all of this time.”

“Could those emotions have been coming from Nightshade and Solaria? I mean, I am assuming that they had a part in the Empire returning.”

“That is probably not the case. Anyways, try to hold onto your questions till we next awake, as these interruptions are rather jarring. I know that that will be very hard for you, but I need for you to try.”

Twilight complied semi-willingly, and after a moment's silence, the dream played out once again, right where it left off.

Luna smiled dreamily, the effects of the Heart still lingering, before Solaria cleared her throat. Coming back to reality, Luna looked towards her mother with a hint of annoyance.

“What are the news Mother? Surely everypony is safe now?”

“Father is dead,” another voice bluntly stated, wingbeats and grunts accompanying it, “Father died while you were here negotiating with my former...”

“Celestia!” Solaria chided with a burning gaze, “Now is not the time for that.”

When Luna turned to see her sister, she could see Celestia very downcast; her ears and wings were drooped, her eyes watery.

Luna, even from this display, did not immediately believe what she had been told, since she would have expected a much greater reaction from Celestia regarding such terrible news.

Luna was skeptical that this true.
.
“We should probably check, just to be sure...”

The body of their father gracelessly dropped between Luna and Celestia, causing both to jump. The guards who had hoisted it up to the balcony apparently were exhausted from their load.

Luna hadn't even noticed them before, save for their grunts, and even then, she had paid them no heed. Denial remained strong as Luna rushed to the stallion's lifeless form.

“Father, General, Shade, anything, are you alright?!” she cried out, grasping at the unresponsive head with her hooves, “Tell it to me straight, are we in a code Black?”

From an elated sense of joy and enchantment, to a hell-driven sense of despair and misery Luna's mind reeled, her head already confirming the truth.

Yet, her heart continued to deny, as if that shred of belief alone would cause Shade to spring back to life, joking about how he once again tricked Luna by playing dead.

But it did not. The closed eyes did not open, the chest did not rise, and Luna's tears did not bother the still pristine and snow ridden coat.

The stallion did not lift a wing to wrap around a heartbroken daughter, no words of reassurance came from his mouth. Not even a empathetic look from the now lifeless eyes.

A faint smell told Luna that Shade had been dead for at minimum a few hours now; the cold had likely prevented any serious degradation to him, and that kind of time might have been the reason Celestia seemed so well put together.

“My Harmony, why? How?”

Crying into the form of her fallen father, guilt, shame, and even anger were welling up inside of her.

She should have been there, fighting alongside her family; instead she had been leading their stupid subjects and gazing into the eyes of some stallion she hadn't seen in years.

The Crystal Heart, still underneath the hooves of Solaria, began radiating again in response to Luna's reactions, causing Solaria to eye the jewel with a small frown.

Coming to terms with the danger of leaving the Heart so close to her grieving daughter, Solaria had the good sense to carry it off to where Sombra went, taking all but one of the guards with her, while Celestia put a wing around Luna.

“He died fighting off a pack of Ursra Majors. It was a very large...”

“Liar.” Luna did not bother looking up from the corpse before her.

“There is not a fresh scratch on him other than some travel wear and tear. He did not die of any physical injuries.”

Celestia seemed taken aback by this now obvious point, and seemed to scold herself for not thinking that explanation more thoroughly.

“I think the truth is better at this point, your majesty,” the remaining guard suggested, “After all, I think he would have wanted her to know.”

Watery eyes started to blur the vision, and despite this being almost third person, Twilight found it hard to read the watery expression on Celestia's face.

Luna's tears hadn't blurred her sight before. It seemed strange that only now would sight be restricted, though Twilight dared not ask about it.

“He died of a broken heart,” Celestia finally confessed, a few of her tears dropping onto Luna's right wing.

“Seeing the Empire lost, seeing so many citizens spreading out from the group and trying and failing to make it on their own, still blaming each other for the crisis, and knowing that our perfect world came crashing down was too much for him."

"He went to the Tree of Harmony with Mother; only she came back alive.”

“Tree of Harmony?” Luna spoke, now quite confused, “I don't understand, what doe that have to do with...”

“Mother and Father found Discord, entangled amongst the branches, apparently held at bay from running amuck. I don't know much about it either, but the way Mom described it, Discord was forcefully converted back to the jester he started out as.

Dad's spirit was taken by the tree in his grief, to ease his suffering.”

“A tree killed him?!”

Luna looked towards Celestia with both shock and anger, likely at the notion of her great father being taken down by what she believed at the time to be a measly plant with a special name.

“No, he died and the tree took his spirit. It is hard to explain.”

That was an understatement.

Even Twilight, who had actually seen the tree and knew of its significance to Equestria, had to admit that that fact was very hard to grasp. The tree took his very spirit, but did not directly kill him?

As in, the tree was a sort of afterlife storage? Twilight found herself getting a headache trying to understand it. But that didn't matter, as the two sisters shared a moment to grieve for their Father, as the setting sun cast its final rays on the three alicorns.

Later that night, four alicorns sat at a rectangular table, with Sombra and Solaria at the two ends, and Luna and Celestia in the middle.

Very little food covered the table, in stark contrast to the banquet that had been prepared on Luna's first day here. Merely some apples, carrots, strips of grass, and even some hay on oddly shaped plates were placed on the table in a very scatterbrained nature.

After their grieving, Celestia and Luna had taken the privilege of burying Nightshade; they, nor Solaria, desired an elaborate funeral.

Sombra complied, but insisted that they needed to at least eat before setting off for the night, lest hunger and grief drive them to do something rash.

He said it in a jesting fashion, but they knew that he had a grim point.

A few guards stood at the entrances, but for the most part, the four alicorns were left to talk amongst themselves.

Perhaps as a reflection of the previous significant meal that Luna and Celestia had shared, the lone stallion at the table would be the one to start the conversation; Celestia, Luna, and Solaria were all hardly eating and mostly in a state of silent mourning.

It made plenty of sense that Sombra would be the one cheerful enough to try to break the silence, and brighten the mood.

“Well Luna, look on the bright side, at least you have your sister and mother still.”

Sombra bit into an apple, purposely making a loud shearing noise in his bite while he eyed the mares at the table. When he received no response, he chewed on his food rather downcast, before his ears perked up again with an idea.

“Well, today is the anniversary of my parents' deaths, and the day Discord tricked me, and now, it shall also be the day that I became king as I righfully should, and...”

“Let me stop you right there Sombra."

Solaria looked up from the banquet table with a glare, staring straight across at Sombra.

“I have only met you face to face this very day, and I can already tell we are going to have some problems with each other. You are not a king.”

Despite her emphasis, Sombra did not seem even remotely phased. In fact, he chuckled, and then took a sip of water from a golden goblet.

“This is my domain, I have proclaimed myself king, and I am supported by my subjects...”

Solaria laughed, though it sounded more like a scornful snarl than anything else.

“Tch, compliance and support are two different creatures, Sombra. How much would you be willing to wager that they would poison your drink in an instant if they thought it could kill you.”

“Can't it?” Celestia inquired, now sniffing her own drink, “I had not even thought about that.”

“Please, Tia, they would not have the nerve,” Luna pointed out before she bravely drank a goblet of water, “They surely know their place.”

“Based off of Sombra here, I would disagree with that notion." Solaria pointed a hoof haphazardly at Sombra, knocking over her own goblet in the process.

“I am an Empress, not some princess that is going to be courted into being subjected by a foal prancing around as a real male monarch.”

Sombra clearly took offense to this, likely not catching the reason why her ire was so directed at him in particular.

“Now hold on a minute, two empires are practically reduced to the capacity of a city and a few estranged villages. Both are very much your fault!"

Sombra slammed a single hoof on the table, pointing his horn in Solaria's direction for a more effective leer.

"I on the other wing have opened the way for pony kind to survive under my leadership, and you insult me in my own dining hall? What nerve.”

“Sombra, you would not last a minute as king if I so willed differently,” Solaria threatened, her menacing demeanor beginning to reflect across the table.

“You are not only weaker than me, but far less experienced in ruling. You do not deserve to be considered even close to my equal.”

Since the only one that was her literal equal had been Nightshade, Luna figured that Sombra would chalk it up to grief and let it go.

Sombra's ego had different ideas.

“You mean driving the world into a miniature ice age?” Sombra shot back, exchanging barbs between bites, “I can do bad all by myself, thank you very much. I am sure your husband would have respected these boundaries, considering the circumstances.”

Solaria's horn began to glow dangerously for a few seconds, even Celestia glaring angrily at Sombra. Solaria quickly calmed down, however, and instead tossed her mane around until it was entirely on her back.

“Since you seem to think yourself an equal of mine rather than a subject, then it seems I need to correct your thinking.”

Sombra lifted his head and huffed, returning all hooves to the floor.

“The only one with incorrect thinking here is you. This is my domain, I will not be defeated on my own turf.”

“A wager then?"

Solaria leaned ever forward, narrowed her eyes, and showed a wicked smile.

"Should I win, then you will recognize your status as a prince and mine as an empress, and get the notion that you are king out of your head."

Sombra, intrigued, levelled his head, casting a sideways glance at the Empress.

“And if you lose, if I win? What do I get?”

“What do you want?”

“Your blessing, were I to wed one of your daughters. And a public declaration of your subjectivity to me.”

Celestia stopped glaring at Sombra by this point, but still showed a level of contempt in her face. She knew that this could only end badly, regardless of who won.

“Sombra, perhaps you should reconsider challenging my mother...”

“Why?” Luna countered, pointing a hoof towards Sombra, “He needs to show that he is not going to just roll over when an insurmountable task challenges him. I say he be given the chance to prove himself to Mother.”

Celestia, with narrowed eyes, tried to plead with Luna to abstain from egging Sombra on.

The damage was already done, however.

“Insurmountable challenge?” Sombra growled, now turning his head towards Luna, “Are you implying that I stand no chance against your mother?”

Luna pulled back her hoof and looked gravely towards Sombra.

“She has you beat in experience, raw power, and position. While not impossible, your odds of beating her in a fair fight are minimal.”

Sombra's eyes became filled with a green light, purple sparks emitting as he slammed a hoof onto the table.

“I will not back down from any challenge to my right to rule! If it is a fight that she wants, then it is a fight that she will get!”

Solaria's smile grew both more sinister and larger in size after this exchange.

“Excellent. A public demonstration of who is the better of us, and more fit to rule; I like it. Just one stipulation that I must add.”

Looking back to Solaria, Sombra raised his left eyebrow in curiosity.

“And what is that?”

Solaria lowered her own head, as if to bring the gravity of her next statement to the attention of all present.

“When, not if, you lose, I get to personally re-arrange the nature of the union between the Ponī Empire and the Crystal Empire however I please, without any need for approval from you.”

Sombra weighed his options, likely considering his options. He looked towards her again, knowing full well that he would be better off offering an added stipulation of his own.

"Well, then my added stipulation, when I win, is that you leave the confines of the Empire, and take the daughter I choose not to wed with you when you leave."

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but a single look from Solaria caused her to shut it. Solaria's face showed no change in expression.

"Very well then, I, and by default you, accept our respective terms."

Luna smiled, as she really wanted to see Sombra do his best for personal reasons. Just the fact that he had the nerve to stand up to one of the most powerful fighters of the Empire elated a very sensual response from Luna.

Celestia shot a glare at her that almost made Luna cringe. What was Celestia getting so worked up over? Sombra never specified which daughter he would take were he to win, not like it matter.

Even Luna had high doubts that he would actually win, and besides, considering recent events, it would be better to send the water under the bridge sooner rather than later.

Sombra and Solaria stood in the square, their respective subjects gathered around. Celestia and Luna were producing a barrier that should reduce the impact of the fight, and allow for safety to the spectators.

Sombra was in full battle armor, while Solaria chose to merely go out with her regalia. Clearly Solaria had few concerns that Sombra would be able to seriously injure her.

The barrier limited the total space that they had to fight, but Solaria insisted that her slight disadvantage, as she was at least twice his size in height and thus would be more hindered by the barrier restrictions, would further the point that she was not to be so recklessly challenged.

Sombra widened his stance, his horn pointed towards Solaria in preparation for attack.

“When you are ready.”

“I am always ready,” Solaria responded, mimicking Sombra's pose, “Especially when it means taking shiny ponies down a notch.”

Despite her response, Sombra did not immediately attack, as if he were studying her body.

Indeed, her wings could function as extra limbs, meaning that an aerial attack would be pointless in such constrained space. If she managed to, at any point, corner him, he was done for.

Luna even concluded that, overall, Sombra's only chance was to try to create an opening in her defenses, as he could not overpower her through any conventional means.

Sombra, his strategy apparently set, winked towards Luna before channeling magic to his horn.

The red glow caused crystals to sprout from the ground near Solaria, all of them aimed to try to impale her.

Solaria reared backwards, her front hooves at the ready. When Solaria brought them back down again, they slammed and shook the ground with such great force that shattered the crystals as if they were naught but mirrors with rocks thrown at them.

Caught off balance by the shaking, Sombra staggered backwards, his face showing some surprise at Solaria's physical strength.

“Is that the best that you have got?” Solaria jeered, “You are joking, right?”

Sombra crouched low, as if about to pounce, wings extended. However, Sombra folded his wings and returned to a standing position as he realized that charging would not work.

With that display of strength, Luna knew that Sombra would avoid getting within hoof's reach if he could help it, with the consequence of failure being the sound of snapping bones, at best.

Sombra smiled wide, and scrunched up his face, his horn alight. The crystalline ground beneath the two alicorns suddenly opened up; as the ground gave way. Solaria took to the air, not wishing to fall into the nearly created space.

Within seconds, the arena was considerably deepened; at least thirty feet worth of sub-terrain was exposed, with Sombra flying near the base.

Solaria charged magic to her horn, the orange glow giving off a sunset sort of ambience around her, and fired a single raw beam of magic towards Sombra. Sombra swiftly dodged, but even as he cleared the beam, it bounced off of the floor and back upwards.

Sombra dodged this too, but with the next ricochet off of the barrier, Luna realized that the attack was not meant to strike Sombra at first; the blast would get faster and faster the more it bounced off of the surroundings, eventually making it impossible to dodge.

With time against him, Sombra would eventually be forced to engage Solaria in at close range.

Solaria dove downwards, ever watchful of her own attack, to try to meet Sombra in mid-air.

Knowing full well that it would be suicide attempting to charge right into her, Sombra veered off to the left. Solaria pursued, spinning majestically as she fired yet another beam of magic at Sombra.

Sombra less gracefully dodged this one, parts of the armor on his left side becoming seared in the process. A long burn streak on his left flank might would have bled had it not been for the intense heat of the attack.

It was probably painful, but Sombra carried on with a grimace as he flew around the battlefield, constantly pursued by Solaria.

The single bouncing shot continued to speed up its pace, though Solaria likely did not have to be concerned about getting hit by her own attack. Whatever Sombra's strategy was, it would certainly fail if he was hit by that blast of magic.

Swiftly, Sombra charged magic to his horn, diving towards the ground as a coating of crystals began to cover the ground.

Solaria, likely deciding not to continue playing around, gathered magic in her horn. Light from all around, from almost any source that could be gathered, suddenly began focusing in on the tip of her horn.

Luna had never seen this attack before, but Celestia apparently had; her eyes were wide, and she seemed shocked to see it. Solaria, with a tip of her head forward, fired off this thick beam of light downwards towards Sombra and his gathering crystals.

Sombra landed on the crystals, which suddenly turned red, just moments before the blast impacted the ground he stood on.

There was no explosion, no shockwave, only a burst of light that completely and utterly blinded everyone in attendance.

Luna howled, her eyes feeling as if they were on fire from the intense light, dropping her end of the barrier and covering her face with her body. Her wings came over her head, her head swimming from the intense visual sense overload.

Luna swore that she would never see again. However, slowly, but surely, she could re-open her eyes and make out blurry shapes. The ground below her was shaking, or so she perceived it, and the dazzling lights still were present on the edges of his vision.

Luna was staggering forward before a strong force tackled her to the ground behind her. Too disoriented to fight back effectively, Luna realized that a white coated mare had taken her down.

A look at the flank revealed a yellow sun with blazing orange rays: it was Celestia.

“Tia, what...” Luna started before Celestia hushed her.

“You almost fell right into the active battle zone. Just don't move till you get your senses back.”

Luna reluctantly obeyed, mostly because she had little choice. Celestia released the pressure as Luna rose, blinking slowly.

The wailing of ponies could be heard as they lamented, many of them also afflicted by the attack. As her vision began to key back into place, Luna gasped at the sight she beheld.

Many ponies were rolling around in agony, others were unconscious, and yet still others were curled up in the fetal position, as if it would do them any good.

Considering that the ponies' coats reflected light, the massive flash probably was amplified, by design. That attack was designed to stun, not to kill it seemed.

It had certainly done its job up top, but what of Sombra? Had he not been near the epicenter of the blast?

Luna wandered over to the edge of the battle arena, Celestia standing close as she neared it. One question came to mind as she realized that Celestia did not seem at all affected by the attack.

“Tia, how is it you don't seem to be affected?” Luna inquired, “I saw your eyes all wide right before the attack started.”

“Luna, you are not the only one who was being mentored by our parents." Celetia definitely had to refrain from coming off as snide in her response.

“Father tended to operate in the nighttime, where such things did not need to be as bright to work. In the daytime, competing with the sun requires a greater blast of light.

I saw Mother use it many times during the coup. It was her secret weapon of sorts, and I will not divulge how I dealt with it."

“Some secret weapon,” Luna replied in utter surprise, “I think Sombra is still up there!”

Down below, at the base, the crystal floor had reflected much of the light rather spectacularly. Solaria, somewhat stunned from her own attack, seemed to be recovering just as an unconscious Sombra seemed to come to.

“Give up yet?” Solaria inquired, shaking her head clear, “Clearly you are beaten.”

“Not yet,” Sombra gurgled as he attempted to rise to his hooves, “Your fiery blast hurt, but I still have one trick up my sleeve.”

“What, may I ask, makes you believe that?” Solaria seemed genuinely surprised that Sombra thought he still had a chance at victory.

Sombra wobbly rose to his hooves, his eyes fluttering open. His armor was gone, and his lusterful coat was now charred and blackened, the crystal sheen completely gone.

Yet, he did not seem injured beyond repair, which was more than what Luna had been expecting.

“Had your blast hit me directly, that would have been nasty,” Sombra explained, his stance becoming steadier, “Dodging was out of the question, so I just had to use this giant mirror to reflect it.”

“You started to form that prior to my attack. There is no way you could have foreseen it.”

“No, but my trump relies on the qualities of these crystals, you see.” Sombra's eyes suddenly acquired purple trails of fire as he stared at Solaria, his horn aglow in a crimson magic.

Solaria met his gaze as she stepped forward, cautiously, each step cracking the crystals below her. Once the two were a mere hoof distance from each other, Sombra took a single step back, a large crystal suddenly sprouting from the ground.

The speed of it surprised Luna, but Solaria merely ducked and stepped backwards in the same motion.

The earlier magical beam that Solaria had fired apparently was still in play, and despite the removal of the barrier that would seem to be the most logical point of ricochet, came flying in at blinding speeds, shattering the crystal and sending bits of it as high up as Luna and Celestia's vantage point.

“Nice try Sombra,” Solaria cackled as she stood back to full height, “E for effort.”

Without warning, Sombra fired a purple-green blast of magic towards the shattered crytsal formation.

The crystal reformed, except this time, the shape was distinctly in the shape of a vanity mirror. Solaria's eyes suddenly took on a green tint, and she seemed taken aback for a moment.

“I can't say I am familiar with that one,” Celestia commented as she lowered her head for a better look, “What is it?”

“Nightmare Crystal,” Luna replied, “Sombra mentioned that he could cause victims to see their worst nightmares with this magic. I did not think it would work on Mother...”

"What?" Celestia cried out in concern, leaping into the arena, "She could be in serious danger!"

While she had some reservations about intervening in the fight, losing one parent was enough, and if Sombra really had turned the tables on her, now would be the best time for intervention.

On the other hoof, if Celestia intervened, then it might would make Sombra look stronger than he really was.

Luna leaped in after Celestia, intent on stopping her from intervening in the fight.

Sombra sighed in relief, oblivious to the cavalry right above his head; as his eyes returning to normal, and he took a single step around the crystal mirror, stopping once at the side of Solaria's left flank.

By now, many of the ponies above were beginning to recover, and some of them stared incredulous at the scene. It seemed as if Sombra had won.

“See Luna? Nothing is insurmountable...”

Whatever he intended on stating next was cut off as Solaria's eyes returned to normal; in a rapid and fluid motion, she backhooved Sombra and shattered the mirror in a single move.

Sombra was caught completely off guard, and was sent sprawling to the other side of the arena, crashing into the opposing wall.

With it being clear that her mother was in no immediate danger, Luna felt it necessary to check on Sombra first; Celestia would check on Mother in the meantime.

Luna landed with a gentle clop just a few feet from the indention Sombra had created upon impact. Sombra, embedded a few feet into the wall, made a sickening peeling noise as he fell from the wall.

Luna managed to catch him from falling to the ground with her magic, though it became clear that he was out cold. Bringing him closer, she inspected the stallion with scrutiny.

His body had sustained quite the damage, with bruises and burn marks present all over. The internal damage was likely much greater than the outer, reinforced by Sombra's incredibly low hanging jaw.

His face was contorted into a shocked and pained expression; he had apparently been caught between the transition before blacking out due to the sheer force of the blow.

Bringing an ear to his mouth, Luna was reassured as she caught sign of weak and irregular breathing. Lowering her ear to his chest, she could hear a rapid heartbeat slow down.

Sombra then coughed, a few spatters of blood landing on Luna's face. He was alive, but only just barely.

“We need to get him some attention,” Luna concluded as she turned to face her approaching sister and mother.

Solaria, her eyes wide, seemed very displeased by Luna's response.

“Celestia, take care of Sombra,” Solaria ordered, “Make sure he gets better. Luna, stay away from him.”

This confused Luna thoroughly, as it made little sense that Celestia, who knew nothing about Sombra, would be able to care for him better than she, who at least knew where his chambers were and his favorite place to be scratched.

“Wouldn't it make sense for me to care for him instead?”

“No!” Solaria shouted, just a hint of fear in her voice, “You are to stay as far away from that stallion as possible! His black heart is bound by the chains of his ambition; some time with Celestia might help.”

“But...”

“No buts sister.”

Celestia already had immersed Sombra in her magic, and was levitating him away even as she spoke.

“Sombra has lost this fight. It would be better if someone he did not know very well tended to his wounds, so his grief does not cause him to do anything rash.”

That made no sense to Luna, but Celestia's agreement and the lack of a fourth voice meant that Luna was overridden on the matter. She could only watch as Celestia took Sombra away, while Solaria hissed in his direction.

“How dare he show me such a vision... I will not let that happen, no matter the cost.”

She then turned her gaze upwards towards the less than enthusiastic crystal ponies, their crystal coat sheen beginning to return.

“You ponies now answer to me, and me only; you have the day off to get adjusted to this shift. Dismissed!”

Luna had never seen ponies move so fast and in such an organized fashion. There was no argument, no protest. Looking towards her mother, Luna moved her mouth to make words, but a whip-like motion of Solaria's mane convinced her otherwise.

“To the guest chambers,” Solaria concluded, flapping her wings angrily, “You are not to see Sombra until I so deem it. The consequences of either of you defying that order will be dire.”

Luna slowly nodded, not entirely sure what the threat was. Sombra had just been stripped of his kingdom again, so soon after getting it back, and had been humiliated in front of all of his subjects, who so readily accepted new leadership.

Frankly, Luna couldn't see what else Solaria would, or could for that matter, take from him other than his life.

Believing that that was all that he had left to take, Luna complied, following behind her mother as the night breeze blew into the arena space.

There was no need for Sombra to lose his life; while she could not admit to herself that she felt anything concrete about Sombra, she certainly did not want to see him die needlessly.

She cast a single look at the shattered remains of the Nightmare Crystal; a large fragment remained, glowing near the bottom of the arena, its eerie red-purple-green color fluctuations giving no answer as to what Solaria had seen in her vision.

Whatever it was, Luna deemed, she had to make a mission to find out what it was from Sombra.