Author's Note

Well here it is quite sooner then most updates Though I will always think my fight scenes are trash and one sided against all but the most powerful beings for obvious reasons I hope you enjoy

Chapter 23: The Crystal Empire Part Two

Chapter 23: The Crystal Empire Part Two

Nightmare

I watched through Tristan’s eyes as he touched the wooden door then blacked out. Moments later I was thrown on my back into a blank void. When I found myself unable to feel Tristan’s mind my eyes went wide. I realized quickly Sombra had managed to either separate me from Tristan cutting the connection the Elements of Harmony made or more likely and just as worrying. He managed to trap me in a section of Tristan’s mind and keep me from reaching him.

Either way I quickly got my answer when I saw Sombra standing ten feet away. The stallion was wearing a shirt and some pants both made from a royal purple silk, a golden crown sat on his head and on his back was a red cape lined with white fur. The stallion would have been quite handsome if it were not for the unsettling smile etched on his face.

“I’m glad I found you Nightmare, you could have made taking control of the Demon so much harder. Now with you out of the way I just have to weaken his mind enough to let my spell take hold and I have the perfect puppet to help me take on Celestia and Luna.”

Sombra walked closer to me, smirking, “As for you dear, every king needs a queen by their side. We can even watch my spell break the Demon together.” Sombra summoned a viewing portal that showed Tristan walking in a field of ashes as Sombra’s hands traced my sides and stopped near my flanks.

I pushed him away with a snarl, “How about you stuff your offer up your own ass. Even if the Elements did not tether me here I have no interest playing your lap dog ”

“I have always loved when they fight me.” Sombra said with a cruel smile. “Makes it more satisfying when I break them.”

I readied my magic before glancing at the image showing Tristan now at the edge of a red lake. “Hold on my friend.” I muttered before summoning my sword and charging Sombra.

The bastard just smirked and blocked my strike with his magic, I lashed out once more scoffing as he used more magic to block the strike.

I rolled my eyes as Sombra decided it was a good time for a little chat. “I am powered by the fears of the Crystal ponies you- agh!”

I smiled as the magic blast shut Sombra up. Sombra summoned a sword to his side letting the fight truly begin. Sombra was the first to attack this time with a downward diagonal slash, something I easily batted to the side and retaliated with an uppercut that Sombra barely managed to dodge.

I smiled as I realized how bad Sombra was with a sword, not letting up I kept him on the defensive mixing in the occasional magical blast. The smile Sombra once wore faded into a desperate grimace, he released a few bolts of dark magic that I blocked with a magical barrier, the opening was long enough for me to bash him with the flat of my blade then impale him while he was stunned.

As Sombra faded away I knelt down beside him with a grin. “You really should have stuck with your magic dear Sombra,” I got up and swung my sword one more time. “One last bit of advice, Sombra. Stay away from my friend!” I finished the swing and Sombra’s head was taken off his shoulders. It did nothing special but it did make me feel better.

Tristan

I got up with a groan as the world around me came back into focus. The first thing that caught my attention was the concerned look Twilight was giving me, “I’ll be fine, just need a second to get my bearings.” I answered the unspoken question.

It took another minute but I was able to shake off the lethargic feeling. I made a mental note to ask Nightmare about what just happened to me though I got an unpleasant feeling that Nightmare was prevented from helping me. I shook my head, and waved Twilight over. “Let’s get going no telling how long we have till Princess Cadence’s barrier fails.”

Twilight just nodded giving me another concerned look, no doubt not completely sure that I was fine. Ready and eager to get the day over with, I hesitantly pushed on the door and this time it opened, to reveal another set of stairs. “Of fucking course.” I muttered. I was sure I also heard Nightmare’s laughter echo somewhere in my head.

We spent at least five minutes climbing stairs only to look up and see we still did not make any real progress. I looked over at my charge to see she was panting and a sheen of sweat covered the fur on her face while her shirt clung to her torso.

It was then she groaned and muttered something that sounded like “Buck this.” Next thing I knew Twilight activated her magic, everything flipped upside down and we were sliding down a slope that used to be the staircase and somehow we were going up the tower.

It took us only a minute to reach the top where the Crystal Heart floated in front of us above an image of a crystal star. Twilight started to run towards the artifact before I stopped her. “Slow down there, something isn’t right.”

“But the Crystal Heart is right there all we have to do is get it.” Twilight moaned

I was honestly surprised she did not suspect a trap but I decided to let it go for now. “Exactly.” I sighed, “Anyway how about I go in and get the Crystal Heart just in case that way if something happens I can take care of it and you can get it to Cadence and your friends. Got it?”

Twilight reluctantly nodded. With the plan set I walked towards the heart as soon as I stepped on the crystal star the area around me suddenly turned gray and I saw a beam of purple and green magic shoot towards me and I found myself surrounded by black crystals with the Crystal Heart now outside of the barrier I found myself in. “Twilight, get the Heart to Cadence I’ll be fine!” I shouted

“O-okay!” Twilight shouted back her nervousness clear.

Sure the Crystal Heart would be fine. I worked on breaking out. The first kick didn’t seem to do much, the second created large cracks in a portion of the crystal wall, upon my third kick the wall of my impromptu prison shattered and I was greeted by the sight of King Sombra rushing to reach Twilight who was rushing down a spire of black crystal.

Before he could reach her I pulled out my magnum and fired a few shots his way. The bullets landed right in front of him cracking and then shattering a tiny part of the platform he was using to get to Twilight.
With Sombra now looking in my direction I pushed my advantage and ran towards him. I used the crystal spires as platforms to launch myself even closer to the mad king as I used my magnum to keep his attention and by the time he refocused on Twilight I was in front of Sombra.

Sombra snarled at me, “Insolent pest! You have been a thorn at my side today, first saving that white unicorn, then the bitch inside your mind keeping me from finishing the spell to control you. Now this!”

Sombra drew out the longsword on his hip. “Now would you kindly die?!” Sombra released a wave of magic when he shouted creating a convenient circular platform to fight on while at the same time the force of the magical wave caused me to stagger back.

With no time to reload my Magnum I holstered it and with another motion pulled out my energy sword. Sombra threw a magic bolt my way that I dodged. Following it up with a swipe of his sword which I blocked.

Not looking forward to an extended fight I stepped forward swinging the energy sword as I moved. This was rewarded with Sombra dodging and rapid firing magic bolts forcing me to get back he was able to keep it up for a good three seconds before he stopped and I took another chance and rushed at Sombra my weapon clashing with his sword as he was forced to block or get impaled.

I kept up the pressure swinging the energy sword every which direction forcing my opponent on the defensive. My advantage did not last as I took a magical bolt to the chest forcing me back a couple of steps. A quick check showed my shield to be at three quarters charge.

Emboldened Sombra sent more magic blasts which I was able to bring the energy sword up to block. As the bolts dissipated as they hit the energy sword I started moving forward. I had to cut off his horn quickly or risk a lucky barrage breaking my shields and in the unlikely case he figured out that enough plasma like heat could compromise my armor then I could be done for.

As I moved forward I decided to take a quick gamble and summoned dark magic to my hand then quickly shot it at Sombra.

It seemed to do the trick as his magic barrage stopped so he could summon a crystal spike to block and I was able to move forward much quicker, smashing through the crystal spike and barrel into Sombra knocking him onto his back.

I stood over the former king as his smirk turned into a panic and he flung spell after spell that was absorbed by my shields. Without another word I thrust the energy sword into his chest, the weapon ignoring his armor and piercing his heart. Not even giving the stallion a chance to scream.

I took a glance at the corpse before me, Sombra’s mouth shaped into a permanent silent scream. Finished, I walked down the ramp Sombra made deactivating the Energy Sword and reloading my Magnum before putting it away as well. I was at the base of the ramp when I saw a burst of light and all the black crystal’s shattered.

It was a short walk to the front of the castle but as I walked I noticed the ponies all staring at me, their bodies looking as if they were made out of crystal presumably from the magic burst earlier.

The closer I got to the castle the more tired I felt as the adrenaline faded. I didn't even notice I was at my destination till Twilight spoke up, “You okay Chief?”

I looked over to see Twilight next to me, her hand on my armored shoulder. I noted she and the other girls all took a crystalline appearance. “I will be fine, though if I may ask what took you so long? Last I checked you were halfway down the spire by the time I confronted Sombra.”

Cadence, appearing to have recovered a lot of her energy, answered me. “Twilight got the Crystal Heart to us quickly thanks to your distraction but the Crystal ponies noticed both you and Sombra's fighting when the fight reached the edge of crystal platform and made it harder for the crystal ponies to think about love and happiness while they worried about the outcome of the fight between the tyrant and the legend told to scare foals, not exactly sure who they wanted to win.”

I nodded. “Fair enough. Well it has been interesting meeting you ma’am.”

Cadence giggled. “You can call me Cadence you know, saying ma’am makes me feel old.”

I just nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind.” I looked at Twilight and her friends noting that besides Twilight the other five seemed to be weary of me. Rainbow and Applejack were on guard, Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail looked a bit straighter and less vibrant while Rarity tried to hide her own fear and Fluttershy was trembling slightly . It made me wonder why Twilight was not acting similar to her friends.

Before I could think about it much longer. Shining Armor approached me. “I don’t think I can ever forgive you for the guards you killed when you were working alongside Nightmare Moon but I will thank you for helping me outside the city gates and defeating Sombra, next time we will be ready for him.”

I was about to speak up, surprised that no one had seen me kill Sombra but I thought better of it when I looked at Twilight’s friends. Though it did explain why Twilight was not worried or scared of me. She did not realize I killed the tyrant and trusted Celestia’s judgment enough to alleviate any fear of me.

“Well I’m guessing we should get on the next train to Canterlot and let Princess Celestia know what happened.”

Cadence nodded, “The train should be waiting for you still. Shining and I will be staying here seeing as Celestia appointed us as the princess and prince of the Crystal Empire.”

Cadence then whispered something in Twilight’s ear causing Twilight to smile, hug Cadence and jump up and down pumping her hands in the air as she did. “Congratulations we will be there. But Goodbye for now.”

With those parting words we left the Crystal Empire the locals giving myself and Twilight various thanks and even a few gifts in the form of flowers, treats and even some mares rushing up to me and requesting to have my children while doing the same to a very red Twilight I was able to push through ignoring the occasional mare trying to seduce me.

Thankfully it was not long till we were out of the city and onboard the train, heading back to Canterlot once more. With nothing more requiring my attention I laid down on a seat and closed my eyes.