Twilight closed her eyes as the train left the station. She wondered why it was that the train that ran through Ponyville always kicked up so much dust and smoke. Shaking the dust from her mane and blinking the dirt away from her eyes, she made her way back to her library. She felt a sting of loneliness as the thought that the last of her friends had left Ponyville. Granted, it wasn’t for too long, but there would be a good three days before any of them came back. Pinkie off to Kandyland, Rarity off for a show, Fluttershy visiting a family of sick dementors, Applejack off to visit some family, and Rainbow Dash off to Daringcon (Equestria’s largest Daring Doo convention, she went in costume). She too would soon be off, come tomorrow. She had received a royal summons from her beloved sister-in-law, Princess Cadence. Suddenly, the thought sent chills down her spine. Cadance’s letter had been rather short and to the point (if you didn’t count all of the normal formal greetings and other pleasantries). She had asked her if she could something of the greatest importance.
She had asked her to investigate the age of King Sombra’s reign.
Given the way the Crystal Ponies reacted when even his name was mentioned, she was terrified to dig any deeper. However, Candence’s duties prevented her from doing her own research, and Shiny’s job kept him busy all the time. Twilight was really the only one who had the time to investigate the story. And given that she had quickly browsed their library while she was there, and found nothing, she knew there was only one other option. She would have to pick apart one of the Crystal Pony’s brains. She had once tried to be a shrink before (she actually rather liked that bun she had put her hair in), but given that the day that she tried had ended with her almost being sent back to magic kindergarten, she was not keen on trying it again. However, Cadence needed her help, and the draw of knowledge and history was too much for her to say no. The letter had said that a train would arrive for her tomorrow, and to report directly to her when she got to the empire. Apparently, Shiny would be there with a royal escort to take her directly to the palace. Twilight loved the idea of seeing her older brother again, as well as her sister-in-law, and she hoped that perhaps she would get some time to be with them.
Her thoughts were troubled as she went to bed. And her dreams were little better. She dreamed of her friends coming back only to find that she had somehow set the entire empire ablaze, or that somehow she would become Sombra, or that somehow she would become Gummy with a body of Spike’s breath and the ability to shoot parasprites from her ears and create ribbons with her eyelashes. This last dream caused her to wake up in a cold sweat. She had no idea that ribbon-making lashes could be so terrifying (her shout had awoken poor Spike, but the dragon had jumped so high in his own fright that he had flown out of his bed, knocked his own noggin on the floor, and promptly fell unconscious, making Twilight totally unaware that she had awoken the poor fellow). Mumbling to herself, she rolled over and fell back asleep. Hopefully, things will all turn out ok.
********
“You see Twilight,” Cadence continued as she took a bite of her lunch, “I care so much about them. I really do, but it makes me so sad to see them like this.” She hung her head. “And I can’t find the time to get close enough to them to get them to open up to me. That’s why I wanted you to come. I trust you Twilight, and I think if anypony can help them get through this, you can.”
“But Cadance,” Twilight objected, “I’m not very good at helping ponies feel better, much less deal with deep-seated trauma.” She shook her head. “You want somepony else.”
“Who Twilight? Who can help me? Shining Armor can’t; he’s too busy training our guard, and none of the crystal pony doctors will talk about it either.”
“What about a doctor from Canterlot? Or the Doctor in Ponyville, he could help.” Twilight offered.
“I thought of those options Twilight, but you are the only one can even begin to understand what it was like. You were there; you saw Sombra’s awful power. You saw their panic and fear. And you even told me about that horrible door you had to pass through. Only you can really understand what they have been through, and I get the feeling that you are one of the few who they could trust enough to talk about this with. So, please Twilight. I love them so much, please help my little ponies.” Cadence ‘s voice was breaking, and Twilight could see the edge of tears in her eyes.
“What about the library? Clearly there would be something there, right?” Twilight offered delicately.
Cadence shook her head. “That's when I first started to realize how bad it was Twilight. Right after you and your friends all left, the ponies gathered up every book that had to do with Sombra and threw them away. It's like they wanted to erase any memory of him! Please Twilight, there must be a reason why they try so hard to forget. There must be a reason why it scares them so much. Please, Twilight, help me.” Her voice was pleading, and her eyes begging.
Twilight bit her lip, then let out a sigh, “Alright Cadence, I’ll try.”
Cadence gave a warm smile, warm tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, and she reached over the table and gave Twilight a large hug. “Thank you.” she said softly.
Twilight hugged her back, trying to avoid her wings. She never could figure out how pegasai deal with those things, and she found herself somewhat glad that she didn’t have a set. Truth be told, she was actually kinda surprised by Cadence’s reaction. She didn’t realize that she had cared that much. Seeing this however, strengthened her resolve, and she took a deep breath.
“Don’t worry Candence, I’ll do what I can.” Twilight responded, also beginning to cry softly.
******
Her first attempts to befriend the ponies were rough to put it mildly. Not that they were unfriendly, in fact, they were overjoyed to see their savior; which made it hard for Twilight to talk to any of them. Spike however, was rather happy to be the center of so much attention. The constant shower if praise and oohhs and aahhhs were nice too. Frustrated, Twilight finally grabbed the small dragon and ran him directly to Shining Armor. And while he protested the idea of baby-sitting a national hero, he was hard-pressed to say no to his little sister. So, with a heavy sigh from her brother, and a strong protest from the little one, Twilight headed out to try again.
This time her efforts were … hardly better. Being ever the tactful pony she was (or rather, the very opposite), her conversations went something like this:
“Hi there! I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She would start.
“Oh yes! I remember you! Thank you so much for everything!” The pony would respond (sometimes they used different words, but it was basically the same idea).
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was happy to help. What was it like being a slave to King Sombra?” She would then ask. At that point their eyes would get rather large and then they would begin to shake. After that stage, then they would do one of three things. They would either freeze to the spot, simply refuse to talk about it then wish her a nice day, or they would suddenly break into a full gallop the other direction with fear in their eyes.
Needless to say, Twilight was meeting with little success, and she began to wonder if these ponies were just hard to get information from. It reminded her of the first time she and her friends came here. It felt much like she was trying to squeeze water from stone. Suddenly, she remembered the librarian. She had been helpful, perhaps she would be willing to help again!
With this thought in mind, she made her way over there. Oh how she wished that she could browse those books and read them. All of those tomes were at least 1000 years old! The history, the culture, the information, all perfec-her thoughts were interrupted as she walked into a wall. She saw stars, and perhaps a few flying books. For a moment, she sat there, watching them spin and dance about her head. She gave her head a quick shake. There, that got rid of them. She looked up. Oh, she was here. Making her way over to the front door, she gave it a good knock, and struck a confident pose. There was a pause. Nothing. She knocked again. Still no answer. She knocked harder. Finally, she could hear a low grumbling approach the door. Striking her pose again she waited.
There came a shout from behind it. “It’s a library, it’s open!” Twilight suddenly felt a little sheepish. With blushing cheeks, she pushed open the door. Inside stood a mildly irritated elderly pony, and behind her, a glittering stallion of the most gorgeous crystal. Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Um, hello?” Came an old and withered voice.
Twilight blinked, then turned to look at the old librarian. “Huh? Oh, sorry, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit what it was like to live under King Sombra.”
The librarian gave a double take. “What? Well, an’t you one to get straight to the point? Well, no, I can’t. Glittering Star here might be able to help you though. He’s one of the few of us who haven’t tried to bury that horrible memory.” She said pointing at the rather tall figure behind her.
Twilight was once more speechless. She looked at him. Were his eyes sparkling? Try as she might, she simply couldn't get any words out. He seemed somewhat confused. “Can I help you Miss?” Then, as if something dawned on him, “Oh! I recognize you! You’re Twilight Sparkle! You’re that unicorn who helped Spike the Dragon save us! Thank you so much! What brings you here?”
“S…S…Som…King…corn…uni…” Twilight had suddenly found that her ability to communicate had become little more than a dribbling pile of nonsense.
“Some? King? Are you looking for book about kings? If you are, they’re plenty of history books over there.” He pointed with his hoof to one section of the library. The word “History” snapped Twilight from her daze.
“Huh? Oh, right! I wanted to ask you what it was like living under King Sombra!” Twilight said.
The large stallion glared at her, and suddenly Twilight felt very nervous. She gave a small smile, and could feel sweat suddenly running down her face. “Why?” he asked in a low voice.
“Well,” she began, “Princess Cadence is worried about you crystal ponies. She wishes that she could talk to you ponies about this herself, but she can’t, so she asked me to talk to you on her behalf.”
Glittering Star seemed to think for a moment. “You want to talk to my sister, Amethyst. She’s really the only one who’ll talk about it.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But didn't she just say-”
“You'll want to talk to my sister.” He cut her off, staring at her with a rather serious look.
“Okaaay then. Will you take me to her?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
He turned his head to think for a moment. Then her looked back at her. “Follow me.” And with that he walked past her and out of the Library. Twilight turned to follow him. Glancing back over her shoulder, she looked at the librarian, “Thank you again. Hopefully we can all put this behind us!” And with that, she left the library.
The Librarian gave a heavy sigh. She hoped that the young Unicorn could do it. Then something nagged her. A distant something, almost like a memory suppressed spoke to her. It sent chills down her spine. And yet, there was something reassuring about it. Whatever that was, it passed as quickly as it had come. Whatever it was, she realized it meant something big. And hearing Glittering mention his sister it what triggered it...
*******
Amethyst was very true to her namesake. A violet coat, and an even darker mane, yet as somewhat see-through as the rest of her kin. If Twilight had to guess, it would seem that beauty was a strong family trait, as she too was a sight to behold. If Twilight had been more self-conscious of her looks, she might have felt a little overshadowed by her. She sat in a dark room, with the shades drawn, laying on a bed of pillows. Unlike her brother however, she was not large, rather, she seemed to be of a more normal size. Her long mane and elegant tail seemed almost as if they where attached to the wrong pony. Though Twilight could see that they had seen better days. Even before she asked, she could tell something was wrong with the poor mare. Her hair, though lovely, was a mess. Her complexion seemed pale, even for a crystal pony, and her breathing was somewhat hard and labored. Her eyes were closed when they entered and she stirred slightly, but did not awaken.
“Glittering Star,” Twilight began, “What …. what's wrong with her?” Her eyes were fixed on her.
He shook his head. “Nopony really knows. We think it's because she keeps talking about … that time. We think it carries a curse, and near as any of us can tell, it seems to be true. I mean, just look at what it's doing to my sister...” he trailed off.
“Alright, I'll see what I can do.” Twilight replied.
Casting a glance at Twilight, then a long glance at is sister, Glittering left the room.
“Where are you going?” Twilight asked as he walked past her.
“I've got to be back at the library. Those books won't sort themselves.” he said heavily.
“Why don't you stay? You might be able to help!”
“No, Ms. Sparkle. We've done all we can. And yeah I want to stay here and watch, but … but I just can't bring myself to look at her this way. So if you'll excuse me...” he made his way out the small room, and closed the door behind him.
The home and the room were both simple things. The home was one story with four or five rooms. It seemed that the two of them lived here alone, and that this room was once a common room. There were windows along one wall, and there was one door opposite of them, and another door on the wall next to it. With the curtains closed, it was too dark to make out many details. She was unsure if she should open them or not. Had they closed them out of superstition? Or had they closed them because she needed to be in the dark? She didn't know, but decided that perhaps it would be best to leave things alone, and keep them closed. She carefully walked over to her, knelt down her knees, and then gently reached out and touched her.
“Amethyst?” she asked gently. “Amethyst? Are you alright? My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here to ask you a question.” She pulled her hoof back, and waited.
After a few moments that felt like hours, the mare opened her eyes. They looked almost like the hollow eyes of a doll. Slowly, almost as if moving was either very difficult or very painful, she turned her eyes to look at her visitor. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“Easy,” said Twilight, “don't push yourself. Take your time.”
Her head moved slightly in what Twilight guessed was a nod, then began to speak very slowly, and quietly. In fact, Twilight had to use a bit of magic to make her own hearing a bit better so she could hear. “Hello, Ms. Sparkle. You saw the door, didn't you?” Amethyst struggled to say.
Twilight was taken aback. She had not expected to hear that as the first thing out of her mouth. Then suddenly something dawned on her. “You looked into it, didn't you?” she asked. A very slow, and small nod was her answer.
“Amethyst, do you remember the time of King Sombra's reign?” She asked, hoping that the answer wouldn't weaken her further.
“No … but I almost can ...” she let out a sigh. She was asleep again. There was no way Twilight could talk to her like this. She was too weak. If only there was a way that she could perhaps speak to her mind.
Then an idea came to her.
Twilight knew what she had to do. She had to call for reinforcements.
*******
“We do not know that this is a proper use of our power Twilight Sparkle.” Luna objected, who happened to be sitting on an owl-shaped banana. “We understand your intent, but We think it both dangerous and unwise to try and dive into the mind of a sleeping subject.”
“I understand your highness,” Twilight said as she bowed before her, which was surprisingly difficult to do given that her font hooves were sinking into a banana-shaped owl, “But I need to learn more about the reign of King Sombra. Both Princess Cadence and I have a feeling that if we can help the crystal ponies overcome the memory of that time, then perhaps we can help them move on with their lives. You see Princess, the crystal ponies are trying their best to forget what happened, but Cadence tells me that they still jump at shadows, and even mentioning Sombra's name causes then to panic. She just wants to help them, and so do I. And I theorize that if we combine your ability to enter into the dreams of other ponies, and my memory spell, perhaps we can get to the bottom of this and finally free them from his evil memory once and for all!”
For several moments Princess Luna sat there, thinking it over. If the situation was not so dire, Twilight would have found it amusing that Luna's owl-banana was slowly morphing into Pinkie Pie (who Twilight dearly wished was here to help her, or at least cheer her up). “If it truly is for Princess Cadence, and We believe it is, then We shall trust you Twilight Sparkle. However, since the crystal ponies are not the same as the ponies that my sister and I rule over, We cannot dive into their dreams as We can with Our regular subjects. Rather, We can place you into their dream, but We cannot accompany you. You shall be alone once We send you in. Do you still wish to do this?”
“Yes Princess, yes I do.” Twilight said resolutely.
“Very well, but understand the trust We place in you and the weight of what you seek to do. You shall be in their innermost thoughts, where they are most fragile and unprotected. If you do not tread carefully, then terrible things will happen. To both this Amethyst, and to you. Do you understand this?” Luna stared at Twilight with penetrating eyes.
“Yes your Highness. I will not let you down.”
“Then let us begin. And one more thing Twilight Sparkle, you will have only one night to do this, lest she awaken with you still in her mind. Once that happens, then not even We can rescue you. And should you fail but still escape, then her mind will reject you should you try again. Be careful Twilight.” Luna closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them once more, this time glowing white with power. “INTO THE MIND OF ANOTHER WE SEND YOU,” she shouted, the dream beginning to spin and fall to pieces around her, “'TILL DAWN DO YOU HAVE, DO NOT FAIL US TWILIGHT SPARKLE.” And with a flash of white light, Twilight was no longer in her own head...
*******
The door flew open as Glittering ran into Amethyst’s room. He had heard her scream, but when he burst in, she was resting peacefully. He bit his lip. That unicorn, the one who help Spike the Dragon save them all (he couldn't quite recall her name), had mentioned something about being able to help her. But when he said that the doctors had already looked at Amethysts, she said body wasn't sick, but her mind was. When he had asked what she had meant, she had only said that she had a theory, and then ran off. He hoped that somehow she wasn't making things worse. He turned to leave, but then stopped. It had been a long time since she had made any noise. Thinking about this, he felt that perhaps, at least for tonight, she would need her brother at her side.
Turning back and making his way over to her, he laid down next to her, and gave her a hug. She moved a little bit at his touch, and seemed to relax slightly. He was glad. He may not be able to do much to help her, but at least, perhaps, he can offer her some comfort.
And so he resolved to stay there, through the rest of the night, and even through the next day if need be, until that purple unicorn returned.
********
Twilight had never really been inside the dream of another before. She found it hard to keep her bearings as any and all possible landmarks kept morphing and shifting. The whole world around her seemed to keep changing in the most bizarre ways. She had no idea how the Princess could deal with it. Still, she had a job to do, and by Starswirl's beard she was going to do it!
She looked about her to see if she could figure out where Amethyst could be. She saw something that looked like an odd combination of a Griffin and a pony fly overhead, and not far from is what seemed to be a house (that changed into a dragon, then back into a house) that was walking after it. Inside the house-thing, she spotted what looked to be several ponies made from chains. As she pondered this, she suddenly found herself inside the house, nearly face to face with one of these things. It had cuffs for hooves, and its ears were tipped by broken links. The chains moved and rubbed against each other, making a noise almost as nightmarish as the soulless pits it had for eyes. From the corners of its eyes came an all-too-familiar purple haze of dark power and deep within their sockets glowed an evil green. Sparks flew from its body as it moved, and the chains themselves screeched in protest as it turned its body to face her. It moved slowly, as if in great pain. She turned to run, but was cut off by its sudden burst of speed. It stood in front of her, blocking her path, slowly stepping towards her. It opened its mouth, and in it glowed an evil red. The glow slowly began to swirl around, becoming a mist. Then it began to spin faster and faster until it finally formed into a blood red horn.
It was the horn of Sombra.
With an unnerving shout, several horns with chains attached shot out from its mouth and wrapped around Twilight, trapping her. She opened her mouth to scream, but before she could make a sound, another scream came out. Twilight stopped. That wasn't her voice. Wait. She couldn't feel the chains. The voice began to cry out even more.
“No! Please, no! PLEASE...” came a desperate cry.
The creature let out a low hiss, “Crysssstalsssss...” came a familiar voice. It sent chills down Twilight's spine.
It was the voice of Sombra.
“Y … Your Majasty!” the voice was full of terror, and shaking, “Please! Forgive me! I don't even what I did to make you angry!”
“Poniiiiesss...” growled the voice, this time with great hunger.
The chains began to drag Twilight to the gaping mouth, which unhinged and grew to the floor. She saw that the chains that held her had began to thrash about, and it finally dawned on her what was going on. She was looking through the eyes of the dreamer. Almost as soon this thought hit her, she suddenly remembered that she was a visitor here. Closing her eyes, she tried to find a way to leave the body of who she assumed was Amethyst. Perhaps she could will her way out? She opened her eyes. No, she was still being dragged to that horrible mouth. Unconsciously, she took a step back, and then found herself looking at the backside of Amethyst herself.
She blinked. It was that easy? Screams of terror broke her from her surprise. She leaped to the side to look at the horrible creature. It had Amethyst wrapped in hundreds of chains, and was slowly dragging her to the terrible pit that was its mouth. Rearing back on her legs, she sent a serge of power to her horn, and slamming her front hooves to the ground, she sent a blast of power at the chains. The blast hit, and severed the chains sending both pony and monster flying back. Reacting quickly, she ran over to her, grabbed her, and took her out of the nightmarish room they were in, and right onto the backside of a dragon. She lost her footing and began to slide down the scales. She began to cry out as she slid down, until she found herself lying flat on bare ground, with the house-dragon-thing stomping on as if nothing happened. She quickly got up and glanced around. It would seem that at some point the dragon's backside had turned into the ground, but yet had not. Twilight concluded that dreams were indeed a strange thing.
Looking to her side, she breathed a sigh of relief. Amethyst was there; shaking, but there. “Hey,” Twilight started, “Are you ok?”
She looked up, “Who … who're you? What are you doing here?” She was still shaking. It was clear that the whole ordeal had caused her to forget their meeting earlier.
“It's alright. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here to help. Well, I'm really here to ask you about King Sombra and what it was like to be alive during his reign, but I want to help if I can.”
She looked at her with large eyes, and shot her head back and forth as if she was afraid that something were to suddenly appear. Seeing nothing, she got to her feet. “My name is … “ she began.
“Amethyst,” Twilight interrupted, “I met your brother and he introduced me to you. Well, as much as he could, you were asleep at the time.”
“You met Glit? I mean, Glittering Star? Is he ok? Is he alright?” she asked. She suddenly began shaking again.
Then all at once, the entire world around them suddenly felt warm, nurturing, caring. Amethyst smiled and she began to cry softly. “It's him! I know it! I'd know my brother's presence anywhere!”
Both of them sat there for a few moments. The warmth felt so nice. It felt so loving, and kind. The last time Twilight could recall feeling this way was when her mother would hold her as she read to her bed-time stories, or college level textbooks (whichever Twilight felt like listening to that night). Even Twilight's eyes began to water as she suddenly realized once again how much she missed her own big brother. Though watery eyes, she looked around. The world around them had begun to calm down, and even the barren ground had begun to look more inviting.
“Amethyst ...” Twilight began.
“Please, call me Ammy, that's what Glit calls me.” Ammy interjected.
“Alright, Ammy, can I talk to you for a bit?” Twilight asked, sitting down on the ground. She noticed it was now covered with a pleasant, yet hazy grass. It was soft to the touch, and rather inviting. A thought passed through her mind to take a bite to see what it would taste like, but she decided against it.
Ammy, now a bit more relaxed, also sat down. “Alright,” she was breathing heavily, “What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked.
“Well, you know Princess Cadence, yes?”
Ammy thought for a moment. “Not well. She's been so busy trying to get everything back to normal after what happened that day...say, now that I think about-” she begun, but suddenly her eyes grew large and she let out a screech. Grabbing her head, she fell to her side, and the world around them suddenly shook, broke, and the two of them found themselves standing on the muzzle of King Sombra himself. Surrounding them, was nothing but darkness, with only the glow of his massive eyes and his horn to illuminate them. His evil eyes smiled as his hissing voice filled the their ears.
“Miiiineee.....You are MIIIIIIINE!!” He shouted as he lifted his head tossing them into the darkness. As they flew, Twilight reached out to Ammy. Ammy tried to reach back, but suddenly both of them hit solid ground. Stunned, both of them lay there for a moment, but a moment only, as Twilight sprang up while trying to clear her head.
“Ammy, Ammy!” She shouted, reaching for her again. This time, as she reached, a door suddenly sprang from the ground blocking her from Ammy.
Twilight knew this door as well.
It was Sombra's door.
She let out a frustrated grunt. How many more of Sombra's things was she going to have to deal with here!? She was growing rather tired of dealing with Sombra's this and Sombra's that! With an annoyed look, she stared at the door. As memories of what happened last time filled her, she couldn't help but wish that Spike was here to help her. Nonetheless, she had dealt with this before, and she was not going to be stopped now. Sending power to her horn once more, she let forth a stream of magic into the dark crystal at the top of the door. Once again her magic overpowered his, and once more the door opened. Looking at Ammy, she suddenly realized her eyes were green and red. She was looking into the door. She living her worst nightmare. Why? Why was King Sombra doing this to her? Was he like this with all of his subjects? Was he really that cruel and evil? Stepping up to Ammy, she gave her a gentle shake. Her eyes cleared up and she looked up at Twilight.
“We need to get out of here.” Twlight said.
“Where would we go?” Ammy asked. “He's everywhere, and every time I try to remember something, he lashes out at me! That's why I've been so sick...” she said
“Wait, you mean that you tried to remember something and you fell unconscious?” Twilight was horrified.
“Well, no, not at first anyway. You see, I actually lied to you Twilight. I knew Princess Cadence quite well. You see, none of the others would talk about Sombra, but I would. I couldn't remember much, but what little fragments I could recall I told her. But each time I did, that night I would have nightmares. And each time they got worse and worse. Finally, I went to sleep one day, and I never woke up. I've been trapped in these nightmares ever since then.” She let out a heavy sigh.
Twilight put a hoof to her chin to think. Every time she tried to remember something, Sombra would show up to torture her. And since it seemed that he was in her head, she was powerless to stop him. But what if She tried to remember for her? She had never used a memory spell in a dream before, and she had theorized that if she had, then she might actually be able to delve into the memories herself. She took a deep breath. Time to put theory to practice.
“Ammy,” she said carefully, “I'm going to try an experiment. I have a memory spell that helps ponies to remember who they are and who they once were. I think that if I use it on you while in your dream, I might be able to delve into your memories myself. And since it would be me digging through them, and not you, then perhaps Sombra might not be able to stop me. But I don't want to do it if you don't want me to...” she trailed off.
Ammy lifted her head, looked at Twilight and then at the doorway beyond her. How many times had she been subject to this horrible door? How many times had she been forced to live these nightmares over and over again? She sighed. What did she have to lose? If Twilight failed, then the nightmares would continue, and then she would slowly continue to perish. But if she succeeded, would the nightmares finally stop? In all honesty, she didn't think that would be the case, but she had nothing else to hope for. Not even the love of her brother was enough to stop Sombra's evil. “Alright Twilight, if you think it will help, go ahead and do it.”
“I don't know, but I sure hope it does.” She was suddenly unsure of herself, but she remembered that she had a mission to do, and now, she had a friend to save. No longer was it about simply writing down words in a history book. Now it was about saving a friend from the merciless hooves of evil. She steeled herself. She had no idea what was coming, but she hoped she would be ready for it.
Taking a step forward, she sent power to her horn. It glowed with a gentle light, casting soft shadows all around them, yet pushing back the darkness that seemed to press upon them. Leaning her head down, she touched her horn to Ammy's head.
And that's when it all went to Tartarus.
Before her eyes, Ammy broke into a thousand pieces, as well as the world around her. It all began to spin around her and she began to feel herself becoming separated … from herself. Willing herself to stay together, she tried to focus on what was going on around her. In her vision, she saw glimpses, images that began to fly by. They were too fast for her to make out any detail however, and as soon as they seemed to form, they would break apart. Doubling her focus, she tried to see if she could hold one of the images together. Grabbing several shards with her horn, she pulled them together, forming an image. Just as she did however, a blast of foul magic hit it dead in the center, shattering it and her focus. Almost as quickly as it had happened, she almost felt herself pulled apart. Not in physical sense, but more like her mind torn asunder into two halves. She managed to pull herself together, and look at where the blast came from.
There stood the King himself.
He was as ghostly as he had been in life. Parts of his body simply trailed off into dark wisps. He was also grinning. It was a smile of arrogance, and smile of power; a smile of victory.
“You and your dragon may have bested my body, but you are alone, and cannot best my curse.” came the low voice. “Though I may be defeated in life, yet here I will remain until the last hope of my slaves is dead and gone.”
“Last hope? What are you talking about Sombra?!” Twilight demanded.
“That is King Sombra to you, now KNEEL!” he shouted as he unleashed a blast of magic towards her.
It was powerful, and she felt herself being pulled apart once more. He was so strong, even a fragment of him. In this place, he clearly had more power then she. But gathering her inner strength, she managed to pull herself together. As her head cleared however, she found herself collapsed onto her front knees.
A bit surprised, he looked at her with a bit of admiration. That however did not last long, for it turned into an evil grin once more. His eyes narrowed and and he licked his lips as he bore his teeth. He took a step forward. “I seeeee. You are easier to break then my slaves, yet you hold more resolve. What is it that you hold onto? Is it love? Is it hope? I can and have crushed these. The look in a pony's eyes when their spirit finally breaks is the sweetest delight. I have done it hundreds, thousands of times.” He began walking in a circle around Twilight. “And when this one finally breaks into a thousssand pieces, I will have have my delight once more, only even greater then in life...”
As he spoke, Twilight began to feel her strength come back. She would soon have enough to fight him ba-
“But talk is cheap!” he shouted as he let forth another blast, this time, this one was bigger than Twilight had ever seen. The last thing she saw as it hit her was the sick look of victory on Sombra's face and he licked his teeth once more …
*******
Ammy's head was in a spin. Memories were coming back to her, but were forgotten just as soon as they came. Try as she might, she just couldn't focus on them. Then it hit her. Sombra wasn't blocking her thoughts! Whatever Twilight was doing seemed to be working!
It was just as when this thought hit her that Twilight suddenly let out a terrible scream. Her eyes suddenly darkened and her body began to shake violently, and the magic of her horn began to sputter and turn black. Ammy screamed as well, and almost drew back, and ran away. But then a thought came to her. Twilight was risking everything for her! She had to be brave, and had to do everything she could to help! Tears now flowing in her eyes again, and the world about her suddenly growing even darker, she reached out and hugged Twilight with all her might. “Twilight!” She shouted, “Please, hold on! Please, PLEASE, DON'T STOP NOW, I BEG OF YOU!” She shouted at the top of her voice, it cracking and breaking with the effort. Then, one more time, she screamed for her to hold on.
********
Glittering Star was almost awake, as dawn had begun to approach. He was in the habit of rising with it, as he loved to watch the sunrise. However, it was not the rays of the sun that awoken him. No, not this time. This time he was awoken by the sudden scream of his sister. It was shrill and ear-piercing. One that made his heart stop for a second. He jolted awake and stood, and stumbled into a wall. He looked at Ammy. She was almost transparent, and he could see a darkness growing inside of her. Even her eyes began to glow a terrible purple and green. He let out his own shout of horror as he ran to her side and picked her up. He began to panic. What was going to do? Where could he go? The Princess! She must be able to do something! Placing his sister over his back, he kicked the door open and ran full speed for the palace. The sun had not risen, but was due to do so in only an hour or so.
As he approached the palace, the guards out front stepped forward to to stop him, but seeing what he had on his back, they instead turned to the gate.
“OPEN THE GATE, NOW! THIS IS AN EMERGANCY!” they bellowed.
Without a moment's hesitation, the gate swung open and the two guards ran ahead of Glittering to ensure that the route would be clear. They threw open doors, and pushed anypony in the way aside (being as polite as possible about it of course) as the three of them made their way to the royal chambers. Needless to say, by the time they reached The Princess's doors, the whole palace and part of the empire itself was awake. As they approached the guards outside the chambers, the two guards escorting Glittering shouted to them, “Open the doors! It's Amethyst! She needs the Princess, now!”
Pausing only for a second to comprehend the situation, they quickly swung open the doors.
As the three of them ran in, the very first rays of morning began to shine through the windows. One of the guards opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly found himself pinned under Shining Armor with the other guard having been pinned to the wall by magic. Glittering knew Shining Armor was good, but he could have never guessed he was this good. He didn't even see him leap from the bed to take them down, and from the look in his eyes, he was just about to take him out as well. However, he had recognized who it was and let the guards go. The guards stood and saluted. “It's Amethyst sir! Look at her! We have no idea how this happened but...”
“Please! I need help!” Glittering shouted. Cadence was awake by this point, and getting out of their bed.
“Calm down, what's-” she began as she walked over to them, then she gasped. “What's happening to her?!?” she ran over to his side and lifted her gently from his back and placed her on their bed.
“I-I don't know! Last night she shouted in her sleep, and so I hugged her and fell asleep holding her, and she screamed again and she was like this! Please Princess, help me!” Glittering was frantic, completely beside himself.
“Shining, make sure that Twilight and Luna are safe, I have a feeling that they might be in danger as well.”
Shining nodded and headed off to the guest chambers.
Cadence looked down at her. She knew this power. She also knew what Twilight and Luna had planned to do. And she knew that something had clearly gone horribly wrong.
“Twilight? That purple unicorn? She's here? And Princess Luna as well?” Glittering was surprised.
“Yes Glit,” Cadence answered, “in fact, they are helping your sister as we speak. At least, I think they are. But something's gone wrong. You see, Princess Luna, being the Princess of the night holds the duty of entering the dreams of her subjects to watch over them. However, outside of her and her sister's kingdom, her ability is limited. So she sent Twilight into you sister's dreams.” Cadence explained, placing a blanket over Ammy.
“But, why? I don't understand.” Glittering asked.
“Because you sister was the only one who was willing to talk about Sombra, but could never remember anything. So Twilight hoped that if she cast a memory spell in her dreams, then perhaps she could figure out what the block was, and hopefully break through it.” She answered.
“But why in her dream? Why not just on her?” He shook his head. It all hardly made sense.
“Twilight felt that if she used it on your sister in her current state that it would be too much for her. She was worried about what would happen, since her body is so weak.” Cadence gave a frown at that. She looked at Ammy, and let out a heavy sigh.
“Cadence!” Came Armor's shout from the hallway, “it's bad! Both Luna and Twilight are out cold and Sombra's power is seeping out of their eyes! Twilight is even worse! Her coat is jet black, and her horn is starting to pulse red! What do we do?” he asked as he rounded the corner. Despite his desire to panic, his training took control and his demeanor was calm and collected.
Cadence was shocked. It was even worse then she had feared. Her mind raced. What could she do? Then an idea struck her.
“Armor, send a scroll to Celestia. Tell her what's happened and ask her to stop the sun, then tell her to get over here immediately.” she said with an air of cool authority.
Armor saluted and ran off to get Spike. Luckily, he was in the same room as Twilight.
“Princess, what do you plan to do?” Ask Glittering.
“I plan to use the one power that can stop this evil magic. The one kind of magic that is even more powerful then Sombra.” She said.
“What kind of magic is that?” he asked.
“Glittering, I need you to take your sister in your arms. When Princess Celestia gets here, I will have her hold Princess Luna, and I will have Prince Armor hold Twilight. I will need you to hold her with all the love you have in your heart for her. Can you do that?” She looked directly into his eyes as she asked.
He paused. It was a request that he had not expected. But, “Yes my Princess, yes I can!” He said standing tall. “I will not let you down!”
Cadence smiled. His resolution filled her with hope. She looked up to see Armor entering into the room with two guards flanking him. “Armor,” he saluted in response, “I need you to bring both Princess Luna and Twilight here. We will need all three of them in this room for this to work.”
“I would like to help with that if I could.” came a gentle voice from behind her. Everypony's eyes opened wide with surprise and then bowed to the voice behind Cadence. Turning about, Cadence saw that Celestia had entered the room.
“Of course, I'll be here making preparations. But we all need to move quickly. There is little time.” Cadence answered.
“I understand. If I could, I would buy us some more time by fulfilling your request, but I cannot. Too many ponies depend on the sunrise. But at least we still have some time before the sun gets too high.” Celestia said.
“Forgive me, your Highness, but why is it you would need to hold the sun?” Glittering asked.
“Because my little pony, if the sun gets too high, then my sister will awaken. And if she awakens before she can get Twilight out, we fear that she may never be able to get her out again.” Celestia explained as she walked out of the room.
“Glittering, please take you sister and sit with her over there. Princess Celestia, I will need you and Princess Luna over here, and I will need you,” she said pointing at Shining, “and your sister over here.”
All three nodded and the two departed, returning shortly with their beloved kin in tow. After a few moments of shuffling, everypony was in place, forming a rough circle on the floor. Cadence stood in the center and spoke. “On the count of three, I need everypony to hug their sister will all the love they have in their heart. Ready?” All nodded, and her horn began to glow. “Then, three ... two …”
“One!”
*******
“PLEASE HOLD ON! PLEASE!” She screamed, and suddenly, the whole world around her blew away as if a mighty wind had exploded from her and Twilight. Reflexively she closed her eyes, but when she opened them, the air around her glowed with warmth and power. She felt her terror, her panic, even the pain in her heart all melt away. She felt the most powerful, and wonderful, sensation she had ever felt in her life. She felt...
********
...Herself get torn completely apart. She had no hope of standing even a chance against such raw power. Her mind was ripped in two and her body was shattered from the blast. She no longer had any power in this world. She was completely at his mercy.
He breathed out a heavy breath. Then came the low laugh of evil glee. “I am no fool. You think I would let you have a chance to rest? I am no fool! And now, you are as shattered as the very slaves that are now mine once more!” with that he walked over to the pile of fragments that was once Twilight's body. “Hummm. I wonder...” He said as he made his way over. Then, standing directly on top of them, he began to pick them up and place them on his body. As the shards touched him, his body absorbed them, and he began to change. He shrank slightly, and his mane went from jet black to a very deep purple, and his face began to change from a stallion’s to a mare's. Not only that, but she saw his body begin to solidify. He was being reborn, in Twilight's own body.
His eyes opened wide with glee and excitement, then narrowed once more as he once again grinned, bearing his teeth and licking his lips. “Tell meeee, what is it like to watch the last fragments of hope you had turned against you? What does it feel like to know that I have feasted upon you wishes and hopes, crushed your dreams and desires, and will burn to ash everything that you have ever loved and cherished? Tell meee, does it hurt; does it bring you despair? Tell meee...” (S)he hissed. The voice a sickly combination of his own and Twilight's.
It was over. Twilight couldn't even think straight anymore. Half of who she was floating to the left of Sombra, and the other half was lying broken at his (her) hooves. It was over. (S)he had completely blindsided her and destroyed her. (S)he had won...
Then the swirling vortex of shards and chaos that was this realm began to glow. Faint voices could be heard, and the glow began to bring with it warmth. Sombra looked around, surprisingly calm. “What is thisss?” (S)he hissed, and without hesitation, began to summon a cloud of darkness to combat the light. Twilight however, or at least the two halves that were Twilight, recognized it. Both of them drifted away from the darkness of Sombra, and into the warm glow of the light. Had she not been busy pushing back the light, she would not have let Twilight slip by. That said, Twilight, or her two halves, were now free from Sombra's dark grasp. And, as if guided by some power, the the two halves recognized each other, and drifted to each other. Sombra let out a roar, “What is this!? Why is it so hard to destroy!?” She pushed harder and harder against the light, pushing it back further and further.
The two halves touched, and became one.
And Sombra unleashed an awesome roar of fury.
*******
Cadence felt a rush of magic push back against hers, and her body began to loose strength. She could feel her power waning...
*******
Ammy suddenly felt a powerful blast of evil magic come off of Twilight's body, blowing her back. She tumbled head over hooves but caught herself. The blast however became a shearing wind that tore at her, with it being strongest near Twilight. She yelled out in pain, but she knew she had to stay in touch with her horn! Standing up, she began walking into the wind, trying her best to ignore the pain, but it was so awful. Tears began streaming down her face as she tried her best to reach Twilight, and the wind pushed back at her harder and harder the harder and harder she pressed on. So close, she was getting so close. Digging deep into herself, she gathered the last of her strength and gave it a final push, but she fell just short, for the pain was too great...
******
Twilight's body began to change in Armor's arms. Her mane became a darker color, her horn began to change shape, and her coat was shifting from the pitch black it had become to a more sinister dark purple. Looking up, with panic in his eyes, he saw that the rays of the sun had began to come through the window, hitting Luna, causing her to stir. He looked at her, and saw that her mane too was changing color to a horrid purple and red. Casting another glance at Ammy, he saw that she was all but transparent, save for the great black cloud that filled her body.
“Candace, please! Help, do something!” He begged.
Barely able to stand, she looked at him. And said in a weak voice, “Tell her you love her...” she then looked at the other two, “Tell them...and let's hope they hear us...”
“TWILIGHT!” Shouted Spike as he finally charged into the room. “TWILIGHT, PLEASE!”
“TWILIGHT”
“AMMY”
“LUNA”
“WE LOVE YOU!”
********
The words rang in Ammy's hears like a bell. And filled her with vigor that she didn't know she had. No, it wasn't her vigor, it was the love and power of everyone! She didn't know who all of the voices belonged too, but she knew they truly meant it. Standing once more and letting out a mighty shout of courage, she charged forward will all the power and strength of the Royal Sisters themselves! The wind beat upon her, pushed her back with all of its might, BUT SHE WOULD NOT BE STOPPED. Charging right into the heart of the maelstrom, she reached forward, took Twilight in her arms, hugged her, and touched her horn to her head once more.
********
The light was all but gone now. The shards and chaos raged on with all the might of hurricane. The only source of light was surrounding her. And it was on the brink of collapse. The only thing keeping from finally vanishing was Twilight's will power. But even that was finally failing. She had a job to do, and she couldn't do it... Then, suddenly, a sound filled her spectral ears.
“Twilight...” the voice said, Twilight...please...”
It was Spike's voice.
Suddenly, as if snapped from a terrible nightmare she heard it.
“WE LOVE YOU!”
And with that she was suddenly filled with immense power, power beyond anything she had ever known. No, she was wrong. She had known this power before. She threw open her arms and lifted her head, letting the power of all those who spoke flow through her. Yes, her magic alone was not enough, but with the magic of now flowing through her. She opened her eyes and let out a shout, letting all that immense power, yes, that magic flow from her with full force. It slammed into the darkness and blasted through it like smoke, annihilating it.
Sombra turned, and without even a moment's hesitation, let loose a truly mighty blast of her own. The foul ray of magic hit the huge wall of power heading to her, and the wall tore her beam to shreds. It surged forward and Sombra began to panic. She turned to run, but it was too late. The mighty wall slammed into her full force. She let out a howl of pain, and shouted, “What is this? What magic is this?!”
“This!” Shouted Twilight,
“This”
“is”
“The Magic”
“of”
“FRIENDSHIP!”
Sombra let out a mighty roar, and with mighty force, exploded into a thousand shards.
Twilight hovered there for a moment, feeling the power of Friendship flow through her once again. Granted, it was different, so she knew it wasn't her usual friends, but the power was much the same. She drifted over to the shards of Sombra's broken body, and used her magic to place the shards against her spectral body. As they made contact, she began to become whole once more. She could see what was left of Sombra after that. A small wisp of darkness. Powerless, and helpless. The swirling chaos was now over, and all of the shards that had filled the chaos around her now lay in heaps upon the ground. With her body now rebuilt, she turned back to the shards of broken memories. Looking about, she noticed that the wisp had made its way over to a particular pile, and was trying to block her from it. Making her way over, she batted the wisp aside and began to put the shards together. Sombra protested, but was powerless to stop her. She almost smiled at him as she put it together, casting a glance his way. Shaking her head slightly she turned her attention back to the memory she had rebuilt, and gasped.
******
“He's gone forever?” Ammy asked, wanting to be sure she understood the implications correctly.
“Yes,” said Twilight, “He's gone forever, or at least, he will be.”
“Wait, did you not say that he was defeated?” Protested Luna.
“Yes, he was, thanks to you guys.” She smiled affectionately and looked at each of them, “But I learned something that bothers me greatly.”
“What is it Twilight?” Asked Celestia.
“Your majesty, after the battle with Sombra, I saw what little was left of him, before he fully dissipated, attempt to guard one last memory. I immediately investigated what it was he was trying so hard to protect. As it turns out, there was a reason he had chosen to curse Amethyst like that.”
“There was? What was it? What did he want with my sister?” Glittering pipped up.
“As it turns out, he was trying to hide a very powerful secret about you crystal ponies. You see, he found out this secret, and wanted to crush your spirits to make you all want to forget it. Glittering Star, Amethyst, do you know just how important the Crystal Heart is to you?” Twilight asked.
Both of them shrugged, “We know we're all connected to it, and it keeps us all safe.” Ammy said.
“Yes, but there's more. Glittering, Amethyst, you are children of the Crystal Heart.” Twilight said.
Both of them stared at her with blank looks. “What?” they said in unison. The princesses also looked at her in puzzlement, as well as Shining and Spike.
“You see, the Crystal Heart connects all of you like you said, but a long time ago, or actually, several years before Sombra came to power, the Crystal Heart made two ponies with whom it had a special connection with. It made you two.” she said. She was greeted with looks of disbelief. “Through you two, it planned on creating an even stronger bond with the crystal ponies by planting a small part of it into each and every one. However, by itself it wasn't strong enough to do it outright. So, it planted a portion of it's power into you two, and that portion would grow as you would grow. Finally, when the two of you would pass on, those portions would be strong enough to pass onto every other pony, and then onto their descendants. With a potion of its power in each of you, its own power would be greater and allow it to not only strengthen its bond with the crystal ponies, but their bond with each other. And with this shared power, the crystal heart could better protect them. In a sense, it was trying to unify the entire empire with its power. However, Sombra learned of this and realized something. He realized that if the heart's plan came to pass, then they crystal ponies would have enough power to break free from him. So, he cursed you Ammy.”
“But, why not curse me?” Glittering asked.
“I think that's because he either didn't have enough power to curse both of you, or he didn't know about you.” Twilight shrugged. “Either case, his plan was to make all of the crystal ponies forget about it. He figured that if he made the time of his reign as horrific as possible, then the memory of the Heart's plan would be crushed, and with it, the Heart's plan. I don't know if it would have actually worked that way, but I think that was his thinking.”
“So,” Ammy began, “He tried to get us to forget, and then cursed me so that I wouldn't remember? That doesn't make much sense Twilight. Whether or not I forgot about the bond doesn't change the fact that we have it.” she shook her head.
Twilight thought for a moment. “You're right. Something seems missing.” Then something clicked. “Wait, I think I got it! I think his purpose was to try and sever the the link! If he did that, then the Heart's plan would have been ruined! But, thinking on it, I think something changed. The plan was to crush all hope while he was alive, but after he died, I think that portion of him that was left realized that he could actually corrupt that part of the Heart. And if he did that, and you died when it was fully corrupted, then that power would spread to all of the ponies! Then all of the crystal ponies would have never been able to break free of him. And, I think that during his battle with me, he discovered that he could also use that power to be reborn. So, if we had failed, Sombra would have become immortal, and your master for all time...” Twilight trailed off.
Cadence recoiled. “A tyrant not only in the flesh, but in the mind as well, and also immortal.” She shuttered at the thought. “So what happens now? Did you get the history?” she asked.
Twilight shook her head. “The only reason I was even able to get that one was because the Crystal Heart wanted me to. All of the other memories are shattered beyond repair.”
“So, will the other ponies be able to remember the days of Sombra?” Cadence asked.
Twilight shook her again. “He intentionally made the memory of his reign as horrific as possible so that nopony would want to remember anything. And sadly, it worked.”
“What about memories of their lives before him?” Celestia asked.
“I think the trauma runs too deep. Anything before them becoming free from him is completely suppressed.” She said.
“So, can we undo it? Can we help them somehow?” Ammy asked.
“I think at this point the only thing that can is the power of the Crystal Heart. But that won't happen until you've passed on, the both of you.” Twilight answered.
“So, you say that when my brother and I pass away, it will heal all of the other ponies?” Ammy asked carefully.
Without thinking, Twilight answered, “I believe so. I'm pretty sure that's how it works.” Then suddenly it dawned on her why Ammy asked that question. The air was heavy for a several moments as brother and sister looked at each other, seeming almost to communicate without speaking. Then they turned to Twilight, and Ammy spoke up.
“Twilight. The ponies need our help. And if we were born for this purpose, we wish to die for this purpose. Your Majesty,” both Ammy and Glittering stood and then bowed before Cadence, “We wish to fulfill our purpose and offer ourselves that we might heal your people.”
“No.” Said Cadence without hesitation. “I will not allow it. We will let time take its natural course. We can get the history at anytime. There is no need to shorten you lives for something so unimportant.”
“Cadence,” Twilight began, forgetting to address her by her title, “I have bad news.”
Cadence's face darkened, and Twilight knew she was going to say something she will not like. “They don't have a normal life span. They will live until the Crystal Heart feels that they are ready, but because of Sombra, that connection was screwed up. He was slowly trying to kill her, and as a result, severed the link between her and the Heart. Now that the connection is broken, she may never pass on.” Twilight braced for the worse.
The face of all thee Princess darkened as the weight of Twilight's words sank upon them.
“What would you have us do Twilight?” Cadence asked with a heavy voice.
“I … I don't know your Highness.” She said, hanging her head. And there they all sat for several silent moments.
“Your Majesty,” Ammy spoke up, and Cadence closed her eyes, bracing for impact, “you have been the kindest Princess anypony could ever ask for. You befriended me, as best you could, and you love us all as if we were your children. You taught us all how to feel love again, and to know happiness once more. We owe you more then any of us could repay...”
Cadence's eyes were beginning to fill with tears, and they began to run freely down her cheeks. Armor too was beginning to weep.
“...and we know how much you truly care for us. Your beloved husband keeps us safe, and your wonderful magic helps us feel love again. We owe everything to you. So, please, let us give back what we can. Your people need us, and there is only one way we can help. So please, you Majesty, let us give the one thing we have you to your ... our people. By your leave your Majesty, let us fulfill our purpose.” Ammy finished as she lifted her head from the deep bow that she had given her Princess.
Cadence opened her eyes. She turned and looked at Celestia and Luna. “What should I do?” she pleaded with them.
Looking at each other, then slowly nodding in agreement to an unspoken idea, they looked back at her. “These are you subjects Cadence,” Celestia began, “We trust your judgment. And know that whatever you decide, we will support you and be here for you.”
Cadence took a hard swallow. Then taking a deep breath to gather herself, she looked back Ammy and Glittering. “Very well. I shall allow you your wish. How do you wish to have it come to pass?” she asked in as an even, and official, tone as she could mange.
“Your majesty, I ask that Twilight Sparkle be the one to assist me in passing.”
The shock that filled the room was almost enough the shatter the windows.
“But-but-but why me?!?” Twilight stammered.
“Because you are the only pony who knows what truly must be done. You saw the Heart, and I know you spoke with it. Or, at least I assume so.” Twilight gave a dumbfounded nod. “Therefore, to be sure that it happens as it should, I ask that you do it.”
Twilight, too shocked to respond, simply sat there.
“My body is already weak from what happened. I do not think I have long. I ask that at least my passing be in peace.”
Finally getting over her shock, Twilight opened her mouth to object, but stopped when she saw Ammy's face. It was the expression of a pony at peace. She could see that she had hope and expectation in her eyes. Finally, after a long pause, “I...I accept. I'd do it...”
“Then it is settled. Twilight, you are responsible for ensuring that her last days are as peaceful as possible, and Shining Armor,” she turned to address her captain of the guard, “You are to arrange a state funeral. She is to be honored as a national hero, do you understand?” He saluted her and nodded. “Very well, everyone, you are dismissed. Thank you all for what you have done. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to rest.”
********
She passed away the next day. As result, Cadence was unable to perform her duties that day, or even the next. Her open sobbing was heard by all in the palace, and was rivaled only by her husband's.
That night the Heart spoke to Twilight in her dreams. It taught her what she needed to do.
*******
The funeral was one week after she had passed. It had been a massive affair. Celestia and Cadence both spoke (as Luna had to run the kingdom in Celestia's absence), as well as Twilight and several other prominent ponies. She had been carried on a float covered in flowers and precious gems to the Crystal Heart itself. There, Twilight had to do the final step.
She had to shatter her body, and sprinkle it over the Heart.
So, with a heavy heart, and tears in her eyes, she proceeded with her grim work. She worked slowly, respectfully. Ensuring that she was treated with as much honor as she could be, as this too had been made part of the funeral. Once she had concluded, she gathered the dust into a pile, picked it up with her magic, then sprinkled it over the Crystal Heart.
As she finished, suddenly a bright yellow pulse shot out from the Heart. It passed through everypony there, and then continued on. A second pulse rang out, followed by a third. And when the third one passed, every crystal mare began to glow. Their eyes all shot open, and Twilight could the same reaction that her friends had when she cast the memory spell on them. After several moments, the glow faded, and their eyes became normal once more.
“I...I remember everything!” Exclaimed one mare.
“I even remember what it was like before Sombra!” shouted another. There quickly became a general buzz of noise and excitement as the mares began talking to each other about their newly remembered memories. The colts however were confused.
“How come I don't feel any different?” Shouted one.
“Yeah! What's going on?” Shouted another.
Then Glittering Star approached the Heart. Twilight only noticed him at the last moment. He looked at her and said, “Did you know that my name isn't actually Glittering Star? It's Glittering Dust.” And with a smile, he reached out and touched it. He was gone instantly, nothing more than a pile of dust to join his sister. And once more the pluses came, and this time, it was the colts who began to glow...
******
As Twilight closed the book, she gave a sad smile. It had been many, many years since that day. Volumes of history had come out of the Crystal Empire, and volumes more about the heroic exploits of her and Spike (or as the books put it, Spike and Her) in that land. A statue had been raised to the two ponies who had sacrificed themselves for their kin. Ever since that day, the Crystal Empire has flourished, and it even became a major hub of not only history and education, but also of culture and trade. Her memories of that place were always bittersweet. She let out a sigh as she looked out of the window. It was a lovely night. Perhaps she would go out for a quick stroll. Yeah, that would be nice.
Leaving her home, she began her walk. The weather was pleasant and the way she would go looked lovely at night. As she made her way along, a gentle breeze began to blow. She swore she could almost hear music on the wind. Looking up at the moon, she thought once more upon that night. She certainly had her fair share of danger in life. Looking ahead again, she suddenly heard something. She paused. The wind blew again, and she could have sworn she heard voices. The wind blew a third time and this time she was sure she heard 'thank you'. Finally, with a forth breeze, she finally heard what they were trying to say.
“We love you...”
The End