Celestia took a step back, still staring with widened eyes at the corrupted stallion. She was finally there. She finally met him. After thinking she would never see him again for a long time that felt like eternity for her, she finally met him. His evil grin threw fear in her heart. But she had to stay strong. She couldn't let fear stop her after she had gotten that far.

Sombra glanced at everyone. "You're all stupid. What do you think you're doing here?!" He paced left and right. "I'll give you all one last chance to turn around and go back from where you've come, and leave Celestia here."

Celestia couldn't respond.

Luna stepped forward and glared at Sombra. "Yeah, like that would happen!"

"Luna, please, let's try being soft at first," Trixie said. "Sombra, don't you remember us? We're your friends."

"Oh, yes, I remember you, and I don't care!"

Luna gave Trixie a smug smile.

"Well, then, you chose the hard way, Sombra!" Trixie said.

Sombra chuckled. "You have no idea what are you getting yourselves into."

Fluttershy nudged Celestia. "What happened to Twilight?"

Celestia turned her gaze to Twilight and stared at her in shock. The Princess of Friendship was standing beside the rock she had been slammed at, eyes red and green. She was crying and saying things.

"Oh, no!" Celestia said. "It must be Sombra's nightmare spell."

"I'll help her." Luna galloped towards Twilight.

"I don't think so!" Sombra turned into his mist form and swooped at Luna, hitting her forcefully and throwing her at the mountain's wall, digging a small hole where he slammed her into the stone. Sombra then turned back to his pony form again.

"Hey!" Trixie charged at Sombra with her horn aglow.

Sombra fired a red beam at Trixie, stunning her, then followed up with a punch, slamming her at a rock several meters away from him.

Applejack galloped towards him, but he kicked her, throwing her into the wall.

Rainbow Dash dashed at Sombra, but he headbutted her, knocking her off. Then, he grabbed her by her hind leg and threw her into the approaching Rarity, slamming both of them into another large rock.

Fluttershy gathered her courage and attacked him with Pinkie Pie alongside her. Sombra hit Fluttershy with the back of his foreleg, hurling her into Pinkie, slamming the two mares at the wall. Sombra then turned around, ready to punch whoever had just approached him. It was Celestia.

"Sombra, stop!" Celestia raised her foreleg in defense; Sombra didn't attack her.

"Celestia." Sombra lowered his hoof.

"Yes, Sombra. It's me! Please, remember yourself." Celestia placed her foreleg on Sombra's cheek, just as tears began to flow slowly from her eyes. "Remember me. I don't wanna hurt you, Sombra. I love you. Okay? Please."

Sombra squeezed his eyes shut and growled, causing Celestia to retract her foreleg slowly. He stood on his rear legs, shouting, ready to stamp his forelegs at the ground.

"No!" Luna dashed at Celestia and snatched her, just before Sombra stamped his hooves on the ground, creating black, sharp crystals that were supposed to have hit Celestia. Celestia and Luna then landed beside Twilight.

"I HATE YOU, CELESTIA!" Sombra yelled.

If Celestia hadn't looked down at it, she would have believed she had been stabbed in the chest upon hearing Sombra's words. He...hates me?! she thought. No! He can't hate me! That's not the real Sombra talking now. I will get my Sombra back no matter what it takes!

"You help Twilight regain her consciousness. I'll fight Sombra," Luna said, leaping to the air and gliding down at Sombra.

Luna fired a thick, continuous beam, but Sombra shielded himself with black crystals.

Trixie flew beside Luna and fired another identical continuous beam, joining Luna's and making them into one, powerful beam. The beam pushed Sombra back, digging into the ground around and behind him. In the end, Sombra was enveloped by the beam, and a powerful explosion covered him with dust and snow.

Trixie and Luna hovered above the spot where Sombra had just been before he disappeared.

"Did we...kill him?" Trixie wondered.

Black mist swooped out of the dust, separating Trixie and Luna. The mist hit Trixie, sending her into the ground, getting her devoured by a cloud of snow and dust. Then it turned into Sombra and blasted Luna towards the ground with a bolt of magic.

Trixie dashed at Sombra, who was still in the air, and fired a powerful beam, which Sombra countered with a magic shield. When she reached him, Trixie punched Sombra into the ground, then glided towards him and fired a blast at him.

Sombra turned into black mist once again and swooped upwards, grabbing Trixie by her hind leg and slamming her straight into the ground.

Trixie dashed up at Sombra again, but Sombra turned back to his pony form while still in the air and fired a continuous beam at Trixie, which Trixie warded off with a magic shield, but she was struggling to do so.

Luna then leaped at Sombra, slamming both of them forcefully into the mountain's wall, breaking rocks and covering themselves with a cloud of dust. A few seconds later, Luna was launched out of the cloud of dust and into the ground. She rolled, before Sombra leaped at her, pinning her to the ground. He formed a sharp crystal on his right foreleg and prepared to bring it down at Luna, but he was blasted off her by a magic blast at his side from Trixie, throwing him at a rock.

-oOo-

In Twilight's nightmare, she kept backing off slowly from Solar Flare.

"Now, taste a piece of my punishment!" Solar fired a blast of lava, Twilight rolled to the side, dodging it. Solar began to fire blasts repeatedly, and Twilight kept dodging them, just barely.

"You can run but you can't hide, Twilight!" Solar hovered and fired a beam at Twilight.

Twilight teleported behind a pillar, hiding herself from Solar Flare.

Solar Flare hovered between the pillars for a few seconds before she finally saw a glimpse of Twilight behind one of them. She grinned wickedly and hovered slowly towards the pillar.

Twilight sat there ever silently, shivering in fear.

"Oh, I wonder, where did my faithful student go?" Solar faked a wondering tone. "Perhaps she's behind that pillar?" she blasted one of the pillars, though she knew Twilight wasn't behind it.

"Or maybe this one?" She blasted another pillar, closer to Twilight.

"Or this?" Another pillar was blasted, the one right next to Twilight's hiding place. Twilight began to shake uncontrollably.

Solar Flare finally reached the pillar that hid Twilight behind it. "Maybe this one?" This time, she didn't blast the pillar. Instead, she fired a beam of energy, causing the pillar to turn slowly into molten rock.

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to get burned.

"Twilight!"

Twilight turned to her right to find Celestia, the normal Celestia.

"Twilight, this is just a nightmare created by Sombra! You have to snap out of it. None of this is real!"

Twilight's eyes turned back to normal, and her scared expression turned into a glare. She turned to the pillar and blasted it, then dashed at Solar Flare and fired a magic blast at her.

-oOo-

Twilight regained her consciousness. She took big, quick gasps of air and wiped her tears.

"Oh my goodness! Princess Celestia, that nightmare was so awful! You told me I failed in saving Sombra, and then you got corrupted...and..."

"It's fine, Twilight! It wasn't real." Celestia patted Twilight at her back. "I would never hate you, Twilight. Even if...even if we fail now."

Twilight sniffled. "But we can't fail! I gave you a promise."

"Then come on. We have to fight Sombra to give you and your friends an opportunity to gather and use Rainbow Power."

"What do you mean?"

"I noticed that Sombra is using the 'separation' style in fighting, taking advantage of his speed. He's separating us, and I'm sure he realized that you and your friends mustn't gather. That's why he trapped you in a nightmare; to prevent you from using Rainbow Power."

"Do you mean he'll try to stop us from gathering again?"

"I'm sure he will. But you have to try. Go and try to gather with your friends while I help Trixie and Luna keep Sombra busy."

Twilight hesitated, but then agreed. "Okay." She galloped to her friends, who were all recovering from Sombra's attack.

I have to fight him. I have to. It's the only way to save him, Celestia thought. She noticed her left foreleg shaking, again. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then opened her eyes, spread her wings, and flew.

Sombra was doing a good job separating Luna and Trixie, rarely letting them attack him as one force. He fired a beam at Luna, stunning her and causing her to crash at the ground. Trixie charged at him and fired a beam, but he dodged it, grabbed Trixie in his magic grasp, and launched her into the mountain's wall.

Luna stood up slowly, groaning in pain. She saw Sombra approaching her and tried to charge her horn, but she couldn't. She glanced up at her horn to find it covered with black shreds, preventing her from using her magic.

Sombra approached her with an evil grin on his face, his horn charged with magic.

"Hey!" That's all Sombra could hear from Celestia, before he received a powerful blast at his side, sending him rolling at the ground like a ball.

"Tia, I can't use my magic!" Luna said.

"I know. Stay here." Celestia trotted slowly towards Sombra.

Sombra recovered quickly and leaped into his hooves, smiling evilly at Celestia. "So, you finally decided to fight me, Celestia? You finally brought yourself to hurt me?"

"I won't let you hurt them," she replied.

"Very well then." Sombra glanced at Twilight and saw her gathering with her friends. "Let's see how much you'll be able to protect them."

Sombra fired a blast at Celestia, but she flew, dodging the blast. Celestia then fired a powerful beam, which was met by another one from Sombra and promptly exploded.

Sombra turned into mist and swooped towards Celestia. She fired a beam, but the mist dodged it and hit her like a whip.

Celestia fell back in the air a few meters, then recovered. The mist swooped towards her again. She formed a golden sphere of magic around her, then the sphere pulsed and exploded, creating a shock wave of magic that hit the dark mist, forcing it to turn back to Sombra and fall on the ground. Celestia glided down at Sombra and fired a beam.

Sombra stamped his forelegs on the ground, generating black crystals that rose towards Celestia and shielded him from the destructive magic of her beam.

Celestia dodged the sharp crystal, continued her flight towards Sombra, and slammed a punch into him.

Meanwhile, Twilight trotted towards Rarity and placed her foreleg on her back.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Could be worse." Rarity shook her head.

"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked.

"I...I guess we're fine." Fluttershy touched a small wound on her shoulder, causing herself to wince.

Rainbow Dash was rubbing her head. "Ouch! Sombra sure has a head of rock!"

"That meanie! Let's show him what we're capable of," Pinkie Pie said.

"Alright, girls. Let's do it while Sombra is still busy," Twilight said, as she and her friends stepped closer to each other.

Sombra fired a big blast at Celestia, but she dodged it easily.

"That wasn't even meant to hit you."

Celestia widened her eyes and glanced behind her. The blast exploded between Twilight and her friends, throwing them violently away from each other.

"Listen to me, Celestia," Sombra gained Celestia's attention. "I'll give you an offer. Join me, and I'll leave all your friends alone."

"Like...like that would happen!" Celestia snapped back.

Sombra chuckled. "Why not? Together, we'll be so much stronger. And I promise to leave your friends unharmed. Isn't that what you want? Don't you want everyone around you to stay safe, but be with me at the same time?"

Celestia hesitated. What's wrong with me?! she thought. Am I really thinking about his offer?! No! I can't do such thing! "You said you hated me!"

Sombra laughed. "Well, I hate you now, because you're so stupid! Risking your friends to have me back, when you can easily ensure their safety and be with me at the same time. What do you say? Join me."

Celestia's eyes turned into red with green auras and she took one step towards Sombra.

Sombra grinned wickedly. "Yes! We'll be together forever, my sweet Celestia."

"I don't think so!" Trixie swooped at Sombra, slamming him into the stone. She then assailed him with a rain of punches, making him sink deeper into the rock.

She flew back to Celestia, whose eyes turned back to normal. "Celestia! Sombra was playing with your mind."

Celestia rubbed her head. "I know. And I'm sorry. I can't believe I almost joined him." she glanced to where she left Luna. "Luna's horn is corrupted. Can you help her?"

"I know how to fix that." Trixie flew towards Luna.

"Say goodbye to your little ponies, Celestia!" Sombra was out of the rock and galloping towards Twilight's friends, his horn charged with a blast.

"No!" Twilight stood in Sombra's way and shielded herself with a magic sphere. She was pushed back a few feet upon blocking the blast, before she fired a powerful beam at Sombra, breaking pieces from his armor and causing him to fall onto his back.

Celestia flew towards Sombra, and Twilight turned around to help her friends.

"No, you won't!" Sombra turned into mist once more, then grabbed Twilight by her hind legs and launched her at Celestia, slamming both of them into the stone. He then turned back into his pony form.

Twilight teleported behind Sombra and hit him with a beam. When he turned around to attack her, she was already teleported above him and hit him with another beam.

Sombra fired a beam at Twilight, which she blocked with a magic shield, but caused her to be distracted for a moment, giving Sombra the opportunity to dash upwards in his mist form. He turned back to normal above her and slammed both his forelegs on her, sending her into the ground. He then landed beside her.

Celestia fired a beam at Sombra, hitting him in the face and stunning him. She galloped towards him and punched him, causing a piece of the armor around his neck to dent.

Sombra dodged another beam from Celestia and bucked her in the face, throwing her on her back.

Trixie landed in front of Luna.

"Trixie! Do you know how to fix this?" Luna gestured to her horn.

"Yes. Just stay still." Trixie's horn lit with magic.

Before Trixie could do anything to Luna, dark mist swooped and snatched her, throwing her upwards then slamming her into the ground.

Recovering, Trixie flew and stood beside Luna, created a magic shield around them and using another spell to remove the black shreds from Luna's horn. A magic blast hit the shield, but it was too late. Trixie and Luna flew and glided down at Sombra, who was in his pony form. Sombra charged a big blast and fired it, producing a strong explosion that separated Trixie and Luna.

Again, Sombra fought Trixie and Luna with his separation tactics.

"As long as he can move, you and your friends will not be able to use Rainbow Power," Celestia told Twilight.

"So what are we gonna do?"

"We have to keep fighting until we wear him out."

"But even after all what we did to him, he's still strong and fighting viciously. How will we ever wear him out?!"

"We will not give up. Not after all we've come through."

"I didn't say anything about giving up." Twilight smiled confidently at Celestia.

"Very well then. Let's show him our true strength while your friends recover."

With that, Celestia and Twilight flew to help Trixie and Luna in their fight.

Sombra was using his mist form to swoop quickly between the Princesses and avoid their attacks.

"Princess! Use the Sun Shower spell," Twilight yelled.

"Twilight, you're a genius." Celestia's horn blazed with magic, before a shower of beams rained down on the dark mist, forcing it to the ground and to turn back into Sombra.

Twilight fired a continuous beam, as did Luna and Trixie, striking Sombra together as a single force.

"That's ENOUGH!" Sombra roared.

Sombra generated a circle of large, sharp crystals around him, blocking the beams. He floated using his magic, his horn glowing a blinding red and an aura of dark magic flowing from his eyes. He formed a red sphere of magic around him and blew it, spreading a red, powerful shock wave of magic, hitting the four Princesses and throwing them at the ground. His horn began shooting powerful beams in all directions, hitting each Princess with more than one beam and spreading destruction everywhere.

"Oh, no!" Rarity saw a beam heading towards her and the others. She immediately created a magic shield around them, while they prepared themselves for the impact.

Rarity's shield didn't stand a chance, as the beam broke the shield and exploded violently, throwing them away from each other and injuring them badly.

"I...I can't take this anymore!" Fluttershy cried, rising to her hooves in pain. Her both wings were broken and her right hind leg was sprained.

"We...hafta stay strong, Fluttershy," Applejack said, who had her right foreleg sprained and had wounds on her head and back. "For Princess Celestia. For Sombra."

"I'm never giving up!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She had her left wing broken and her left foreleg injured badly.

Pinkie endured her hind legs' wounds and her injured head and trotted towards Rarity. "Rarity, are you okay?"

Rarity stood slowly on her hooves, revealing a thin line of blood that had trickled from her nose. She had wounds all over her body.

"Rarity!" Spike left his hiding place and ran towards Rarity.

Rarity groaned in pain. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She glanced at the angry Sombra. "Please, Twilight, do something!"

As the Princesses were stunned, Sombra leaped towards Trixie, punched her in the face, then struck her with a magic blast, sending her near Twilight's friends. He then fired a powerful beam at Luna, turned into black mist, grabbed her, slammed her several times at the ground, and then threw her into the same direction as Trixie.

Sombra trotted towards Celestia, who was beside a rock, struggling to stand on her hooves. Twilight was lying on the ground and grabbed his right foreleg, causing him to stop. He levitated her with his magic and slammed her on the ground, then stamped his right foreleg at her, causing the ground underneath her to crack from the sheer force of his impact.

"I hate you Celestia. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Sombra formed a crystal hammer on his right foreleg and punched Celestia into the rock. He then punched her several times, as he repeated his words, adding an emotional pain to Celestia's physical one.

"I. HATE. YOU!"

He then hit her with a powerful blast, blasting her through the rock.

Celestia lied on the ground in pain, her vision dazed, her body sore. She was bleeding from her nose and mouth. She had lost her crown, and her regalia was dented badly. She saw Sombra approaching her, a sharp, dagger-like crystal formed on his right foreleg. She knew it was the end. She couldn't move. She gave up.

I guess this is it, she thought. Maybe it was truly my fate to live alone forever. Maybe I don't deserve love. She began to cry through her closed eyes. Please, Twilight, save Sombra without me.

As Sombra stood in front of her, the dented part of the armor around his neck fell off, and an orange piece of paper fell after it.

Celestia squeezed her teary eyes shut, ready to receive the stab, ready for all of this to end, but nothing happened. She didn't feel anything, nor did she hear Sombra say anything. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced up at Sombra. His right foreleg was raised, ready to stab her, but he was standing still, staring at something in front of her. Celestia turned her gaze to see the thing, and her eyes flooded with more tears. There on the ground was an orange piece of paper with a black 'Always' written on it.

He kept it? she thought. After all that time, he still had this piece of memory?

Celestia found a sudden strength inside her to stand on her hooves. She couldn't believe it herself. She levitated the piece of paper off the ground and brought her own copy from under her regalia. "Sombra, you remember those, don't you?" She levitated the pieces of paper in front of him; he began to shake his head and took a step back. "Don't you remember the days we spent together?!" Tears streamed from Celestia's eyes.

"Enough!"

"No, not 'enough'! Only yesterday morning I was crying, thinking that I would never see you again. But now? Now I'm here to rescue you!"

"I don't need you to rescue me!"

"Yes, you do! Sombra, please, let us help you. Let's be together again. Let's retrieve our sweet times. Please. I love you, Sombra. I love you more than anything in the world. I don't want to lose you again."

"ENOUGH!" Sombra fired magic at the two pieces of orange paper, burning them.

Celestia watched in shock as the symbols of her and Sombra's memories turned into ash and drifted with the wind. Sombra aimed a punch at her, but she blocked it with her foreleg. She suddenly felt a massive power flowing through her body, making her pain no more important.

How..., she thought. How could I give up? I can't believe I was so weak to just lay there on the ground and wait for my doom! Sombra needs me. Sombra needs me! "SOMBRA NEEDS MEEEEEEEEE!" Celestia's horn blazed blindingly, before a powerful magic blast was released at Sombra, blasting him away, past Twilight, breaking clean through a rock then rolling on the ground.

Sombra leaped to his feet and stared in fear, staring in horror at the recovering Princess.

Celestia's body blazed like fire. She looked as if her whole body was burning, even her eyes, which caused her tears to steam. Her wounds were no more visible, her pain was no more there.

"GIVE ME BACK MY SOMBRAAAAAA!"

The snow around Celestia steamed and the rock particles floated, before she launched herself forward like a blast. Twilight managed to teleport out of Celestia's way and beside her friends. Celestia continued her flight, tearing her way violently through the air and causing the ground under her to crack and the snow to steam.

Sombra's eyes widened in fear. He shielded himself with crystals, but Celestia broke through them and gave him a mighty uppercut, sending him flying high in the air. She then shot upwards and fired an extra thick beam of magic, hitting Sombra with a rocking explosion that caused his armor to shatter into small pieces. Celestia then teleported above Sombra and fired another extra thick beam, which sent the King into the ground like a comet, generating an earth-quaking explosion that caused the manes of everyone to flap with the wind.

Sombra lay in the center of a big hole in the ground. Celestia landed beside him after her body turned back to normal. She noticed Sombra shaking weakly in an attempt to stand on his hooves and she immediately stamped her right foreleg at his back, forcing him to lay on the ground again.

"Come on, Twilight! This is your chance! DO IT NOW!" Celestia yelled.

Twilight's friends overcame the pain of their wounds, trotted towards Twilight, and stood side by side in one line. Their Cutie Marks changed and glowed, before a large beam shot from the ground under each one of them. They closed their eyes and let the power wash over them, drawing on their unbreakable bonds to forge a new power.

Magic infused their bodies, transforming them into far greater creatures than they once were, their manes flowing away from their stagnant positions to assume lives of their own.

The Elements of Harmony teleported themselves to the hole were Sombra was, then Celestia teleported beside Trixie, Luna and Spike, who were watching the scene in amazement and utter awe.

Twilight and her friends floated in the air, a blinding rainbow glow emitting from them.

Sombra stared up at them in shock. "No. NO!"

"Oh, yes!" Rainbow Dash said.

A thick beam emitted from each one of the Elements of Harmony, forming one huge rainbow beam that enveloped Sombra in its blinding light.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Whiteness. That's all Sombra could see. He was in a sea of comforting white light. He felt peace he hadn't felt in a very long time. He was finally free from the control of the darkness that had took over him. But even though he felt so at peace and comforted, there was still something missing, or somepony missing.

"Ce...Celestia?"

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by Izanagi. The title of this chapter was taken from the lyrics of 'Still Alive', the theme song from Mirror's Edge video game.