Fluttershy couldn't move. She just stared in horror at the red Centaur in front of her. Though he wasn't completely a giant, he was about one and a half times taller than Celestia. But still, how could she not be horrified upon seeing one of the most evil creatures she's ever seen?!

Twilight destroyed the last Frost Giant with a magic blast and turned her gaze to Fluttershy. She couldn't believe her eyes.

It was him.

The one who stole the magic of hundreds of ponies.

The one who banished Celestia, Luna and Cadance to Tartarus.

The one who destroyed her library.

The one who took her friends hostage.

With her mind being in a mixed state of panic and anger, Twilight immediately teleported herself between Fluttershy and Tirek.

"Stay away from her!" Twilight yelled, her eyes burning in anger.

Tirek was surprised and confused. "What? But I just..." He stretched his right hand again.

"And stay away from me!" Twilight hit Tirek's hand with her hoof forcefully, forcing him to retract it. She hovered, charged her horn with magic and released a thick magic beam at Tirek, which he resisted with a magic shield. The beam pushed Tirek several feet back, and by the time the beam stopped, the shield was destroyed, which injured Tirek lightly.

"I...I don't understand what's wrong!" Tirek said.

"I'll tell you what's wrong: YOU BELONG IN TARTARUS!" Twilight charged her horn and was about to blast Tirek again.

"No, Twilight! Stop!" Luna stepped between Twilight and Tirek.

"Luna! Stay away from him! He's a merciless monster!" Twlight yelled.

"No, he's not! He's Tirek, Protector of the First Crystal Mountain!"

Twilight's glare faded slowly as she landed. "Wu-what?!"

"I'm so sorry, Twilight. I'm so sorry I haven't told you what the Protector looks like. I didn't know he looked like somepony evil." Luna turned to Tirek. "I'm sorry, Tirek. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Tirek glanced at Twilight, Fluttershy and all the others who were staring at him in shock. "I think I somehow resemble someone you all hate."

"You don't say!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash commented in unison.

"I don't understand," Trixie said.

Applejack nudged Trixie, gaining her attention. "Remember when I told ya about somepony who destroyed Twilight's library?" Trixie nodded. "Well, that's him." Applejack pointed towards Tirek.

Spike stood beside Rarity and nudged her. "Geez! Too much for the handsome stallion protector, huh?!" he teased.

"Don't... ever mention it again!" Rarity replied, still staring in both shock and disappointment at Tirek.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come to help you quickly. A Snow Dragon attacked me. That's why I was late," Tirek said.

"So, that bluish green dragon we saw attacked you?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Yes. Fighting it was pretty annoying, by the way."

"Well, don't ya worry there. We took care of the threat we faced." Applejack gestured to the remains of the Frost Giants.

"Actually, I'm not really worried about the Frost Giants. I'm more worried that your fight might have awoken..."

ROAR!

"...The Amarok."

Twilight's eyes opened widely. "A...Amarok?! Are you serious?!"

A gigantic wolf emerged from a huge snow pile from afar. The wolf had crimson red eyes and his fur was made of sharp ice crystals. When it saw the ponies and Tirek, it let out a titanic roar.

Fluttershy's legs trembled in horror and she nearly tripped. "Do you know what? After thinking, I believe the Snow Dragon was kinda cute!"

"And how the hay are we supposed to fight that?!" Applejack said, staring in shock at the gigantic monster.

"You simply won't," Twilight answered. "Me, Celestia, Luna, Trixie and Tirek will."

Tirek motioned the four Princesses to stay in their places. "I will fight it, alone."

"No, you won't! You'll need our help," Celestia said.

"Please, it's my duty to protect you all. I won't let you fight this thing. It's very dangerous."

"So, you fought it before?" Twilight asked.

"To be honest, no. But as I said, It's my duty to protect you." With that, Tirek galloped towards the Amarok.

"Now what?" Twilight asked Celestia.

"Let's see how the fight goes. If he needs our help, we surely will not listen to what he just told us."

As Tirek charged towards the Amarok, it charged towards him as well. Tirek aimed a punch at the Amarok, which responded in kind. Their fists met midway between them, producing a shock wave. Tirek then fired a beam of magic at the Amarok.

The huge wolf roared in pain, then punched Tirek in the face, throwing him on the ground a few meters away from it. The Amarok was about to slam its paws at Tirek, but he quickly stood up and fired a blast at the Amarok's face, before he punched it, pushing it just few feet back.

The Aamrok grew angrier. It grabbed Tirek in its paws and threw him so forcefully at the mountain's wall, creating a hole in the wall's rocks. The Amarok was about to fire a blue blast from its mouth, but Celestia fired a blast at its face, causing it to step back away from Tirek and roar in pain.

Celestia flew high and glided towards the Amarok. She fired a big magic blast, which was met by a blue one from the Amarok's mouth and exploded midway with a strong shock wave.

The Amarok released a shower of small ice crystals from its right paw; Celestia crossed her forelegs to protect her face. The Amarok then jumped and punched Celestia, throwing her into the ground.

Twilight jumped out of Celestia's way, leaving her to fall on the ground, breaking some rocks and spreading the snow in the air.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Twilight." Celestia shook the snow off her head.

Twilight, Trixie and Luna stepped forward together, putting down their saddlebags.

Tirek jumped from the wall and hit the Amarok on the side, then jumped back, dodging the beast's claw. He fired a beam, hitting the beast in the face, stunning it.

Luna and Trixie flew towards the Amarok, and Tirek charged towards it as well.

The Amarok opened its red eyes, slammed its paws on the ground so forcefully that it generated sharp ice crystals which pinned Luna and Tirek to the wall, and pinned Trixie to a rock in the opposite direction. Soon, the growing crystals enveloped them, trapping them.

"Ah, shucks! I can't move!" Trixie exclaimed.

"What? I can't hear you?" Luna shouted back.

"What?"

"What?!"

"Please, stop shouting! She won't hear you through all this ice!" Tirek silenced Luna.

"Sorry!" Luna smiled sheepishly.

"Hey! Release them!" Twilight hovered around the Amarok, firing beams at it repeatedly.

The Amarok roared and fired a blue ball of magic from its mouth.

Twilight created a magic sphere around her, protecting herself. The magic ball exploded upon impacting with Twilight's shield, producing a big, sharp flower-shaped crystal with Twilight in its center. She broke through the ice flower and flew towards the Amarok, fired a powerful beam. The beam hit the Amarok in the face, and caused it to stumble back and roar in pain. Twilight continued her flight towards the beast, her horn charged with another blast.

The Amarok hit Twilight with the back of its paw, slamming Twilight at the ice that had enveloped Trixie.

Upon Twilight's impact with the ice, a sharp ice crystal broke and was close to stabbing Trixie in the chest.

"HEY! HEY! Easy there! Whoever you are, you almost got me killed!" Trixie shouted.

"Sorry. It's just..." Twilight glanced back to the Amarok and gasped. The monster slammed both its front paws at Twilight. She shielded herself with a magic sphere, but the ice under her cracked again upon receiving the pressure from the Amarok.

The sharp crystal that nearly killed Trixie continued its way towards stabbing her. Trixie screamed and moved her waist to the side, dodging the crystal dagger by merely a millimeter.

"Phew! That was close." Trixie sighed in relief.

The ice around Trixie cracked again and crumbled around her, threatening to crush her as the Amarok applied more pressure towards Twilight.

"Trixie! Teleport out of there!" Twilight yelled.

"I can't! There is an ice crystal covering my horn. I believe it has a magical power preventing me from using my magic," Trixie replied.

Celestia leaped to the air and flew to Twilight's rescue. She fired two blasts at the Amarok's paws and a blast at its chest, forcing it to fall back.

Twilight stood and panted after her shield disappeared. "Don't worry, Trixie. You'll be fine."

"Just destroy that giant dog and I'll be fine for sure!"

"I'll find a way to get you out of there without crushing you. Just stay where you are." Twilight scratched the ice with her forelegs.

"Stay where I am? Now that's gonna be hard!" Trixie replied sarcastically.

"Be ready, Tirek. I don't know if this will hurt you," Luna said, before she blasted her way out of the ice and flew towards Celestia.

The Amarok released a shower of sharp ice from its right paw towards Celestia. Celestia fired a continuous beam in response, resisting the shower of ice.

Luna fired a blast at the Amarok, forcing it to stop its attack and receive the beam from Celestia.

Tirek then broke free from the ice, charged at the Amarok, and hit it on the side, pushing it several feet back. He fired a big blast at it, throwing it at a rock near the cliff.

"Luna, I have an idea. Follow me," Celestia commanded.

Celestia and Luna flew behind Tirek until they were on a safe distance. They crossed their horns and charged a massive magic blast.

"Tirek, use this!" Celestia yelled, as she and Luna released the blast towards Tirek.

Tirek immediately understood the plan. He received the blast between his horns and charged it with his own magic, making it bigger and more powerful, then released it. The massive blast made a thundering voice as it tore its way violently through the air and caused the snow under it to dust away.

The Amarok recovered from his impact with the rock, only to find a huge glowing blast heading towards it. All it could do was say "Uh oh!", before the blast hit it, blasting it to ice pieces that fell down the cliff in the backwash of a powerful explosion.

Twilight's friends cheered.

Twilight fired a laser from her horn and cut a circular opening in the ice that had covered Trixie. She lifted the circular piece of ice magically, freeing Trixie.

"Thank you!" Trixie hugged Twilight, then used her forelegs to remove the ice on her horn.

"You're welcome."

"Is everypony okay?" Tirek asked.

"Yes, we're fine," Twilight answered.

"Thank you for helping us, Tirek," Celestia thanked.

"It's my duty, Princess."

"Tirek, I...I'm so sorry for attacking you, It's just..." Twilight stuttered in her apologize, before she was cut off by Tirek.

"That's okay. I'm fine. I'm just wondering what did the evil me do?"

"Sucked ponies' magic," Rainbow Dash answered.

"Destroyed libraries," Applejack added.

"Made holes in mountains," Rarity added.

"Hated trees!" Pinkie exclaimed, gaining strange looks from everyone. "What? The evil Tirek was destroying trees for no apparent reason like there was no tomorrow. I'm sure he hated them."

"Sucked magic?! Destroyed libraries?! What monster could do that?!" Tirek scratched his head.

"Ahhh, you?" Pinkie said, before Applejack closed her mouth.

"You must be the ponies from the other Equestria I've heard about," Tirek said.

"Yes, we are," Celestia confirmed.

"It's an honor to meet you all. You helped King Sombra save our world. And, Princess Celestia, I'm sorry..."

"Yes, yes, I know! There's no need to apologize about Sombra," Celestia cut Tirek off. If apologies could fix anything, Sombra would've been cured by now! she thought.

"We came here to save King Sombra with the same magic he used to cure Celestia and Luna of this world," Twilight said.

"If that's so, then you may proceed in your way and I wish you the best of luck," Tirek replied. "I wish I could accompany you, but I have my duties as the Protector. You saw the Snow Dragon that attacked me. When a Snow Dragon appears, more others appear soon. I have to protect the nearby villages against those Dragons. And about Sombra, I'm sure he's stronger than you think."

Fluttershy gulped.

"But, he attacked us in the Crystal Empire before and we managed to stop him," Trixie said.

"Then I'm sure he was just playing with you. Maybe he doesn't want to invade your Empire. Besides, the Crystal Heart makes him weaker. Maybe he's waiting for something more important for him to use his full power."

Celestia, I'm waiting for you, Celestia remembered her nightmare.

"But he attacked us in Canterlot, too," Luna said. "But come to think about it, he only attacked us three times, and he indeed didn't seem to be fighting for real, as if he didn't even have a goal of attacking us. We had to just fight him for a short while before he left."

"I'm sure that if he wanted, he could damage Canterlot Castle quite badly. But now that you want to go and attack him in his lair, I'm sure he'll use all his might to stop you," Tirek said.

"Have... have you fought him before?" Celestia asked.

"Yes. And I would have been killed had I not escaped. I was no match for him." Tirek hung his head down. "Please, bring him back to his mind."

Celestia took a deep breath and exhaled. "We will."

"If you keep trotting ahead, you'll find a big cave at your right and a rock beside its opening. You can spend the night there if you wish, and use the rock to close the opening," Tirek said.

"Thank you for the information. Oh, and thanks for saving me," Fluttershy said.

Tirek smiled warmly at her. "You're welcome." He turned around to leave. "Remember, never underestimate Sombra. Even if you're four Princesses and five ponies..."

"And a Dragon!" Spike interjected.

"...And a Dragon, but you still have to be extra careful. Sombra's new powers are so...sinister. Goodbye, everypony...and Dragon." With that, Tirek galloped away.

"Well, what are we waitin' for? Let's get to that cave, ya'll." Applejack trotted forward.

"I've never thought I would say that about Tirek, but he was so kind." Fluttershy followed.

As everyone trotted to their destination, Tirek's words echoed in Celestia's head.

And about Sombra, I'm sure he's stronger than you think.

Fear crept into Celestia's heart. She feared for the others with her. It's true that Twilight had said she and her friends volunteered to do this and nothing is her fault, but those were just words for her. If anything happened to anyone around her, Celestia would never forgive herself. And of course, she also feared that they wouldn't succeed in saving Sombra.

Damn it, Celestia! she cursed mentally. Stop thinking pessimistically! We're going to save Sombra, and nothing will stop us.

One hour later, they found the cave Tirek had told them about. They entered it and used the rock to close the opening while Twilight used her magic to burn some wood and create a campfire.

Pinkie and Applejack checked the food in their saddlebags, and found that almost all of it was smashed due to the fight with the Giants. Cakes, pies and apples were mushed, but they were still eatable.

After they finished eating, Luna moved the rock aside and trotted out of the cave to watch the sunset, before she had to raise the moon. Celestia accompanied her.

"It was a beautiful sunset, wasn't it?" Celestia stared at the moon.

"Indeed. Now, let's go back. We don't want the cave to get any colder." Luna began to trot back to the cave.

"Luna."

The Princess of the Night stopped trotting and turned back to her alternate sister, who was still staring at the moon. "What is it?"

"Do you...Do you think we'll make it? Do you think we'll cure Sombra and get out of this unharmed?"

"No, I don't think...I'm sure we'll make it!" Luna placed her right foreleg on Celestia's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "You have to believe we can make it in order to make it."

A tiny smile crept to Celestia's face. "I just can't forget the fact that all of this is just for me."

"Oh, you don't believe you're that special to us? I'm so hurt now!" Luna pouted and faked a sad tone.

Celestia turned to her, hugged her, and kissed her on the forehead. "You're a great sister in any dimension."

"And you're a pestering big sister in any dimension."

They both giggled.

"Hey!" Trixie called from the cave. "We're freezing here! Please, come back so we can close the opening and get some warmth."

"We're coming!" Celestia and Luna replied in unison, before they both trotted back to the cave and closed the opening with the rock.

In the cave, they ate a small meal before Twilight told Trixie and Luna about the evil Tirek. Then, Rarity asked Trixie to tell them her story about how she met Sir Discord and married him. And Trixie accepted, much to Rainbow Dash's dismay, who covered her ears with her saddlebag and tried to sleep, but the story was far sappier than the saddlebag could block.

And finally, after the story was over, they all drifted to sleep.

Canterlot Castle, the Original Equestria

After she had barely managed to lower the sun then raise the moon all by her own, Luna took off her clown wig and wiped the white makeup off her face. She sat by her bedroom's window and stared at the starry night sky, letting a long sigh escape her mouth.

"Please, Tia, come back soon."

Canterlot Castle, the Alternate Equestria

The alternate Celestia took off her cape and sat down on her bed, staring at the starry night sky through the window.

"Please, Lulu, come back soon."

-oOo-

"I feel you getting closer, Celestia. I'm waiting for you."

"Celestia."

"Celestia."

"Celestiaaaaaaa!"

Celestia awoken with a quiet gasp and breathed heavily.

"Sombra, I don't know what are you trying to do. If you're trying to scare me, than I have to admit that you did. But still, it's not enough to stop me from reaching you," she whispered to herself.

She glanced to the cave's opening to find Luna standing outside the cave. Sure, she knew that Luna was out there because she had lowered the moon to let her sister raise the sun. Celestia kinda missed raising the sun, though it had been only one day, but she wasn't used to waking up to find the sun already raised.

Very soon, everyone was awake. They ate a small breakfast, grabbed their stuff and continued the journey.

On the way, with each step they took, Celestia's heart beat faster. She was going to meet him finally. She was scared and nervous in a way she had never felt. What if one of them got hurt seriously? She couldn't allow this to happen. But Sombra is very strong, as Tirek had said, which meant someone will get hurt in their attempt to cure him. And again, Celestia was afraid that she won't be able to fight Sombra, that she won't be able to bring herself to hurt him.

Twilight noticed Celestia's left foreleg shaking, which also caused her to trot a little abnormally.

"Celestia, are you okay?"

Celestia glanced at Twilight with a face that anyone could tell was expressing outright fear. "Y-Yes, Twilight. I'm fine. Really."

"Your hoof is shaking."

Celestia raised her left foreleg and eyed it, it was indeed shaking. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, which seemed to ease the shaking of her hoof.

Twilight placed her foreleg on top of Celestia's shaking one. "Everything will be fine, Princess. I can feel it."

Celestia chuckled. "I'm sure it's weird for you to see your mentor shaking in nervousness, right? Even I get nervous...a lot, actually. But now, I've never felt like this before. There's something abnormal."

"We'll make it, Celestia. I promise."

Celestia smiled warmly. "I hope so."

"Celestia!"

An eerie echo surrounded them, causing them to stop dead in their tracks.

Celestia's heart beat ever faster. She thought it would surely burst out of her chest. She examined their ambiance, and didn't like what she saw. The place they were in was a wide, circular plain portion of the mountain. There were various kinds and sizes of rocks in the area. The place seemed like a ring, like a battlefield. A perfect place to fight someone.

Fluttershy trembled in fear and took a step back.

Spike immediately hid behind a rock.

Everyone put down their saddlebags, preparing to fight.

"Hahaha! Stupid ponies!"

Out of nowhere, a whip of dark mist hit Twilight forcefully, slamming her into a rock and far from the others.

"TWILIGHT!" everyone yelled in unison.

A cloud of dark mist accumulated few meters away from them and slowly took the form of a stallion in blue armor.

Celestia opened her eyes widely, gaped her mouth and took one step back. It was him. Finally him.

Sombra smiled wickedly at Celestia, with eyes radiating dark magic.

"You're finally here, Celestia. I've been waiting for you."

-oOo-

Twilight awoke to find herself in Canterlot Castle. She was right in front of Celestia's throne, but there was no one there at all. The place was very dark she could barely see her ambiance. Suddenly, a dim, sunlight-like light approached her from behind. She turned around to find none other than Princess Celestia.

Twilight smiled. "Princess Celestia! What's happening? Why is this place so dark and empty?"

Celestia eyed Twilight with a wicked smile. "Don't worry, my faithful student. Everything will be fine...with time."

Twilight's smile faded upon hearing Celestia's creepy tone. "Princess? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes I am, ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU FAILED IN SAVING SOMBRA!" Celestia's eyes turned from purple to glowing red.

Twilight stepped back in fear. "Wu-what?! I failed?!"

"Yes, you did. And now, you're gonna pay for your failure! ALL OF EQUESTRIA WILL PAY FOR YOUR FAILURE!" Celestia stamped her forelegs on the ground so forcefully, breaking pieces from the floor. Tears streamed from her eyes.

Twilight began to cry, as her eyes turned into two red spheres with green auras. "No, no! Please, Princess! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

"It's too late to apologize, my faithful student. YOU MADE A PROMISE! REMEMBER?!"

Twilight backed off further and cried harder. "I know! Please, forgive me! At least, leave Equestria alone!"

"No pony will be forgiven. NO PONY! IF I DON'T DESERVE LOVE, THAN NOPONY DESERVES IT!" Celestia's teary eyes turned into two golden lights, and her tears began to steam, indicating that her eyes radiated heat. Her coat turned to cracked cover of rocks, lava visible between the cracks as if her body was made of lava. Her ethereal mane and tail turned into flames.

Twilight's teary eyes widened in horror. "No! No no no no no NO! This can't be true!"

"Everything can be true, my faithful student." Celestia's voice had an eerie echo that sent shivers down Twilight's spine.

"Princess Celestia, please..."

"I'M NOT PRINCESS CELESTIA ANYMORE! I am Solar Flare! And Equestria shall pay for your failure FOREVER! HAHAHAHA..."

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by Izanagi