Rising Hope: Birth Of The Transcendents

A cool breeze swayed in the air, adding to the sounds of labored breathing as the staircase appeared to have kept going and going. The pure, white stone steps curved upward for miles with no apparent end in sight. Letting out a sigh, it dawned on the human that another of Sombra's tricks are in play. Then again, all of what occurred for the duration of the journey could all be led back to him.

''Why does this feel like we're going in circles?'' Spike's mind began to doze off from the quiet. ''I'm starting to think maybe the crystal heart doesn't even...ahh...exist.'' he let a yawn loose.

Ever since they arrived, Twilight put forth her best hoof in accomplishing Celestia's test, however based on current evidence, she may just be agreeing with the drake. No, I can't give up! The crystal heart has to be real! Celestia's test. Focus, focus. That however was a tad difficult to maintain. The staircase kept spiraling up, so far in fact, Twilight felt the urge to chuck a rock to see how far it could go down. It would seem to take quite a while. I wonder how the others are handling the fair. It would sure seem to be much favorable than going around an endless loop.

Even the changeling queen to a degree felt she was being duped. All this seemed so familiar, but how could she place it? A longing thought plagued her mind, it thrummed in the back of her head, drawing a hiss of pain as she halted her advance.

''Chrysalis, are you okay?'' Spike noticed her miniature struggle. When it came to her and Spike, their relationship was about as curious as the drake's was with Owlicious: sub-par, if anything.

''Y-Yes, I am fine, but this all feels like a memory.'' she gazed upon the entire room.

''What, you mean you've been here before? Then do you know if this is a trick or not?'' Jamir's curiosity peaked. Giving a semi decent nod, a repressed memory flowed back into her mind.

A calm, quiet presence lingered as the winds outside grew to a point where the sky constructed its own symphony of sound as the ocean waves beneath clashed and tore at the base of the mountains cliff. The clanking of hooves encased in metal against the pristine marble floor echoed throughout the halls of the small chapel. The initial feel of the room bore no immediate change of the current events.

''Now.'' a soothing voice sounded. ''the key is control. You need to be able to multitask between channeling the flow your magic as well have the proper technique to maintain your hold. Pay attention of how I am able to alter my speed and tilt without losing my stability because I initially set the predestination coordinates before doing the spell and thus my body follows the allotted pathway. Once again, this certain spell is normally reserved for the Master to Grandmaster rank. Come now, who is brave enough to spar with me?''

''I am!'' a girlish voice stepped up. ''come on, sis! Let's do this! Echo Chamberrrr!''

''Right!'' another voice of more or less the same frequency compiled. ''and i'll use my true power!''

''I know of a spell that can aid in this situation, you yourself bore witness to it in the Dragon Outlands.'' the changeling brought up a rather useful point.

''Oh, yeah.'' Jamir recalled the memory all too well. ''wasn't that gravitational magic?''

''Yes, it was.''Chrysalis sounded surprised. ''but that spell will be a challenge to do without my magic.'' she gestured to her horn.

''Alright.'' the human slinked a hand around the back of the thick, layered ring and pressed a small black button, releasing the clamps as it fell into the human's hands, a surge of the queen's magic pushing Jamir back some. Ugh, that was one of the quirks about magical dampening rings that got to him; no matter the amount, the subconscious of the recipient would always involuntary produce a low resounding feedback: aka the 'wave.'

Bringing a verdant light to her horn, a small portion branched off and phased into the floor, a slight tingling following as the stairs beneath now turned out to be the ceiling now.

''Whoa, I think i'm gonna...ugh. Barf.'' Spike groaned, a small belch producing a scroll.

''I never knew you had such an extensive index of spells, Chrysalis; good thing I thought to study this.'' Twilight stated.

''Can we discuss magical prowess later? I'm sensing Cadence's aura and it's getting fainter by the second.'' he brushed a chill off his mind. ''I figure we have a few minutes at the very least...before Sombra comes back.'' he produced a worried frown.

''Very well.'' a slew of green illuminating arrows shifted forward on the floor. ''let us be off.'' the changeling zoomed ahead, Twilight and the human doing the same seconds after.

''Who here wants a flugelhorn?'' Rainbow asked for the 3rd time. Now when Twilight said to keep the spirits of the ponies happy which was pretty much barely managing to keep their attention away from the fake heart made Rainbow believe her friend was blowing smoke out of her flank. But then again, how far can friendships go without a lot of trust?

''I wanna a flugelhorn!'' Pinkie Pie whined, her eyes beginning to fill with tears of neglect. ''come on Dash, I didn't play that bad.'' she reasoned.

''Maybe just-

''Pinkie.'' Rainbow put a hoof to her lips, the calmest smile possible on her face.

''Yes?'' she muffled through.

''Please, for the sake of everything sane: I am going to zap you with lighting if you don't give the horn a rest. We have a job to do but I'm not really confident we can do it for much longer.'' Rainbow slumped her head on the concessions counter.

''No problem, we can stall...for maybe about 10 minutes,'' Frank said from his cross-legged position, his light blue eyes solely focused on staring down a rabbit. ''then again, I said that 15 minutes ago, sooo we're kinda between borderline screwed and just resting at running off fumes, but at this point what can we do besides keep the fact of-

A loud smack! was heard nearby as well a high-pitched scream.

''The crystal heart!'' a mare yelled. ''it's...it's...it's fake!''

''Ahhh!'' the distressed voices of the citizens rang throughout as various stands began to fall down and the crystal ponies began to lose their minds.

''Oh, now what do we do? They're starting to- Whoa! - riot!'' Rainbow avoided a close encounter with the fake heart.

''Well, I now know what I want to do.'' Franks gathered his thoughts, but chose not to voice it as it involved a really big tarp and a few hundred firecrackers but he could play pranks later, its time to get serious.

''Umm, two options,'' Pinkie offered. ''tactical retreat to the palace or-'' she pulled a random covering from nowhere, a shape underneath it. ''we could use this.'' her party cannon was revealed to be the culprit. ''to convince the ponies otherwise.''

''Or choice 3; you two head to the palace while I get the rest of our friends.'' Rainbow sped off, leaving the pair to fend for themselves.

''Thoughts, Frank?'' Pinkie wanted to establish a mood.

''Besides the mild jump scare, i'm feeling a lot of salt.'' his arms folded.

''Okie dokie! Wait, so does that mean?-

''Nope, as much as I would love to do just do that, we should get moving.''

''So, how long is this- Oof!- going on.'' the human grumbled after face planting. Standing up, he rubbed his nose as a gasp was heard, Chrysalis coming up after.

''The crystal heart!'' Twilight held her breath. ''it's real.'' her hooves shook with anticipation. Looking towards the center platform from the stairs, on a small pedestal sat the heart, faintly glowing a brilliant blue.

''That's the heart,'' Spike marvelled as he dismounted from Jamir's back. ''one step closer to passing the test, right?''

''Y-Yea.'' her slight amazement was easy to read from the slight quiver in her lips.

''Well then, please go on young Twilight: the situation outside appears to be getting worse.'' Chrysalis caught a slight glimpse of the perpetual chaos outside taking effect.

''You might want to hurry up with that sweetie, it's not looking so hot out there.'' the human rested a hand on Twilight's mane. ''go on, you have to do this, remember?''

''Right,'' she trotted forward. ''I can't believe that- huh?'' she looked to the floor pulsing around her.

''Nooooo!'' a voice roared in the distance.

''Ahh!'' Twilight shrieked, a wall of dark crystals separating the heart from her.

''Twilight!'' Spike yelled, running towards her.

''I'm okay, just stay back.'' she tried to teleport, only for Sombra's dark magic to force her back in.

''Hold on, i'll get you out.'' Jamir stuck his hand out, a flow of red magic swirling through his fingers as he concentrated his blast on the weakest looking part of the structure.

Shink! the shot ricocheted outside.

''Okay, not doing that again.''

''Come on, Twilight you gotta get out of there: you're supposed to be the one who brings the heart to Princess Cadence.'' Spike bite his claws in worry.

''How could I have been so foolish? The heart was right there and I acted reckless. Now what?''

''Perhaps we can try teleporting you out again.'' Chrysalis suggested.

''No, that would take up too much time and magic, there's gotta be another way.'' Twilight sounded desperate.

''Like what? Sombra's already breached the empire and the heart's right here, but you have to be the one who brings to Cadence. So what are our options?'' the human asked.

''Go.''

''What? No, i'm not leaving you Twilight, we can figure something-

''Goooo! We don't have anymore time left!'' Twilight sniffled. ''you guys bring the heart to the fair, just...go!''

''I'm not leaving you here! Spike, get the heart. Chrysalis, you take Spike and get to safety.''

''And just what are you going to do?'' Chrysalis asked.

''Something, anything to help! I'm...not leaving.''

''B-but,'' Chrysalis started to advance on the human, sensing his discomfort. ''We should-

''Of all the times to do this, you don't want to disobey what I told you.'' the human growled. ''Both of you. Now go!''

''Y-Yes sir.'' the duo said, Spike picking the heart up and getting on top the changeling.

''But-

''Just,'' tears filled his eyes. ''leave.''

Without another word, Chrysalis hopped outside, taking flight away from this place of despair.

''Why?'' the question came over the sounds of shouting outside.

''B-Because, I'm not losing you. There's a way out of here and I intend to get you out.'' Jamir reasoned, laying a hand on the cold rock.

''I told you to go! There's nothing we can do, so just go: you'll be more help to everyone else and-

''Then what? You want me to leave you here? Not happening because I would be a coward to just up and leave you: my friend, my family, my mate. You, along with everypony is a big part of my life and I do not plan on losing any of you. We have a child together, how do you think i'll be able to explain that her mother's just up and gone? No way. How could I face Tia and Lulu knowing that I just left you here without trying? Twilight Sparkle, I told you that I would do anything for you, but that does not apply to now.''

''Just go.'' she pried. ''There's not a lot to- Zap!- do. King Sombra- Zap!- is already in the empire- Zap!- so- Zap!- will you Zap!- STOP?!'' the ceasefire of magic brought a silence to the room.

''But I have to...do something!''

''And you can.'' her tears stopped for a moment. ''just go.''

After so long, the human stood in that one spot with so many conflicting emotions that the crystals threatening to impale a hole in his neck were snapped in half.

''Oh my goodness! Your hands!'' Twilight cried. Paying no mind to the red liquid dripping to the floor, the human shed so many tears that the floor was soaked. Moving closer past the sudden jutting of crystals that was broken faster then could be constructed, Jamir reached a hand through a small crevice, Twilight's hoof met his hand in a embrace.

''I love you.'' he whispered with so much pain in his voice.

''I love you too, Jamir. I love you too. Trust me, everything will be okay.'' she closed her eyes. Before he could say anything, a voice echoed outside.

''Heeeelp!''

''Mine!'' a deep voice called after.

''...Sombra.'' Jamir uttered so faintly.

''Jamir?''

''Sombra!'' he shouted, a flash of pure purple magic flowing through his entire body, every vein pulsing against to the verge of breaking before the image of his element flashed wildly.

''Jamir, calm down!'' Twilight tried to call over the rushing winds, pieces of debris flying about.

''I'm gonna mutilate that jackass!'' he thought.

Turning around, his eyes focused on two different illuminations outside. One being of pure light while the other being the opposite. Letting all hate take the helm, the vortex of magic wrapping around him, a slew of lights took up vision as his features changed dramatically. The color of his hair shifted, white taking over the base while purple took over the inside. Instead of his usual blood red pupils, one turned purple and the other green. The once majestic green-white wings suddenly bubbled and morphed into bone wings, pieces of feathers and a few loose flaps of skin skewed about. A fusion of Celestia's and Luna's tail spawned from his lower region, each one gaining serrations around the sides. Gritting his teeth, massive dog chains littered with dried blood wrapped around his arms, legs and chest as a gold plated choker formed around his throat.

Holding his palm out, a weapon that looked to be out of the bellows of hell rested in his hands.

One flap of his wings and he was already within range: seeing Chrysalis support Cadence with Spike on her back looked to be a tad vexing with delivering the crystal heart while avoiding the unicorn king's assault. During this, everything got tense.

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''Bastard.'' he hissed. Pushing past the air, a shout of vengeance trailed behind the downward slash that moved at such speeds that a produced a small explosion, forcing the unicorn's feet to cave in under his platform.

''Who are you?'' Sombra pushed against his opposer. Moving at a speed unknown to him, the dampening ring was clamped onto Sombra's forehead as a chained up fist followed suit, slamming the unicorn into a nearby house with a deafening crack.

''The object of your death as well what happens if you mess with likes of me.'' a huge crater formed after the human landed. ''especially my family.'' a plume of smoke left his mouth, blanketing the massive row of serrated teeth that contorted into a sickly grin. Pressing a switch, his blade broke into a 5 foot long chained weapon of torture, a link running in between the various slots of sharp metal glistened in the reflection of Sombra's widened eyes.

''Prepare to- Gnnh! - shit.'' Jamir cursed, clutching his forehead in pain. Casting that to the side, he focused his aim on Sombra. He needed to get this right, there needed to be reparation for his actions.

''T-Twilight. I hope you know exactly what you're doing.'' Swinging his whip around with belayed speed, the resulting force caused a ongoing reaction as the tip lodged itself deep within one of the unicorn's forehooves, piercing the armour with ease.

''Why, you insolent- Mmmph!'' Sombra was cut off by the human using his magic to close the former's mouth.

''Silence, you gnat...and get over here!'' he yanked the handle, pulling forth the downed unicorn to him with a thud.

''I should kill you here and now, but if I did that then you would never know the pain you put me through...Twilight and the crystal ponies especially,'' Jamir's face began to lose his steel composure, his lips beginning to quiver following the wetness running down his cheeks. ''y-you should be left to rot with your nightmare for your actions,'' a spark of fire spiraled in the air, the heat being so intense that waves of smoke billowed around the pair, covering the sight of what was to happen next.

''Mmmph, mmmph...'' Sombra looked to faint any second.

''Oh, no: I want you awake for this.'' the human thrusted his knee to the unicorn's chest, catching his attention. With the fire flowing so intensely that Jamir's sweat and tears quickly evaporated, he stared down Sombra with incomprehensible hate as he showed one thing.

Curling said hand into a fist, the last thing that was registered between the two was one thing, no matter how faint: fear.

''May some divine force show not a shred of mercy to you as I will do the same,'' a switch flipping inside of his mind. ''prepare to pay.''

Sknt!

''MMph!'' a pained groan came from Sombra. Holding a sword once again, he flapped his wings and blasted off  to the sky, his feet landing back on the palace balcony. Using his hand to create a ring of flames to keep the unicorn at bay. Though by a slim margin, the human could sense, even from this great a distance was complete fear. However, the one thing he failed to take note of was the Crystal Heart powering up slowly seeping into the cracks of the entire of the city, restoring love and light to certain parts as every became a bright blue glow around his peripheral. Holding a unreadable staring contest with the king, he took of the restraint, allowing for Sombra to speak.

''Any last words?'' Jamir shouted. ''you miserable bug?''

''You will never defeat me, you sulfuric dollymote, I am King Sombra!''

''Fitting words...for a fool,'' the human chuckled into a symphony of maniacal laughter. ''but now, you die!'' Jamir leaned into a swan dive, with fist cocked back for a straight punch. Sombra tried to scoot away only to be laid in one spot from the flames growing closer to the point where his basic body structure fit like a glove. During this, the growing light enveloped the pair as a influx of magical energy condensed into a violent explosion.

''Rahhh!''

Donnnnnnn!

''Hah..hah...hah...take that bastard,'' the human fell to one knee, observing the spot where the unicorn once lay, a massive crater easily the width of a few houses as the depth looked to be a few feet deep. Finally getting the chance to hear what was around him, a slew of joyous shouts rang out as the many bits of shadow were decimated and the empire restored. But, then he realized something. All of this was because of Twilight and her quick thinking that led to her being trapped.

''Wait...Twilight, Twilight!'' Jamir remembered. Unfurling his wings, he soared upwards at supersonic speeds, paying the twinge of pain in his heart and spontaneous g-force no mind. Landing with a passion, the human expected to be here for a while in trying to free his lover, but found that what she said was true because there she was: standing free, her entire body looking to be made of crystal, completely unharmed with a small smile.

''T-Twil-light,'' Jamir gasped. ''is it really you?''

''Yea,'' she nodded. ''I told you everything would be okay, didn't I?''

Reverting back to his pre-rage mode, the human looked stricken with happiness. Walking over, the pair broke into a run.

''Are you okay?'' he still was baffled, running a hand through her mane.

''I told you everything would be just fine,'' Twilight hummed in joy. ''except for the test.'' she said, her ears drooping.

Picking the mare up in his arms, the human's thoughts drifted back to that thought in particular and how every word of it was true. Would Celestia send her back to Canterlot? Revoke her studies, take Spike away or worse? And...what of his test? Surely he failed it.

''Twilight, listen to me,'' Jamir soothed. ''whatever happens with both our tests, I want you to know that we'll be fine. I put my trust in you and now you can put your trust in me.''

Casting a newfound smile as they glided down to the balcony, Twilight saw the logic in his reasoning; it's not like death would befall the unicorn for failing this test, but then what if?

''Guys, you're okay!'' Shining Armour called with joy.

''Yea, we're just- Ommph! H-Hey, Flutters c-can you s-stop choking me?'' Jamir barely registered the yellow blur rushing him into a hug.

''Nice to see you made it out, is it me or is everyone digging our new look?'' Frank admired the traces of flowing crystals swaying in his hair.

Time Skip, Canterlot, Celestia's bedchambers:

''And that's pretty much the jist of what happened, princess.''  Twilight explained with a sad face. For the past 20 minutes, Celestia and Luna listened with a keen ear, a certain intervals gasping and others gaining less than chipper smiles. Even though he told Twilight that everything would be okay, she still cried for a good portion of the explanation, almost going into hysterics when she realized her mistake of rushing in without thinking. Letting the princesses absorb the information, a chuckle alerted the pair.

''P-Princess?'' Twilight asked, wiping her nose of snot.

''Oh, Twilight; you always have a knack for exaggeration,'' Celestia waved a hoof dismissively. ''I knew you would do the right thing in the face of danger.''

''You did?'' Twilight and Jamir asked, both raising their eyebrows.

''Yes. From what you told me, even though you tried to find a way from the tower and Jamir using his magic to try and force a way, you sent Spike and Chrysalis to give the heart to Princess Cadence. While you knew of no immediate way to leave, you put the well-being of the empire and it's citizens above your own and that alone shows me that I have a student who comprehends self-sacrifice rather than to look out for their own desires.''

''S-So does that mean?

A nod told her all that was required.

''I passed? I-I passed!'' she cheered, hopping up and down like Pinkie Pie on any other day.

''See?'' Jamir asked, a smirk present. ''I told you there was nothing to worry about.''

''Let us not forget this is as much her victory as it is yours, love.'' Luna interjected, looking to the human's direction.

''How me? What did I do to pass my test?'' Taking that as an invite, Luna continued.

''We have observed at periods of time be it showing on your face or in your heart; you lack faith. We witnessed this to a degree with the fight with young Yasu. We know how troublesome it is to have to harm a friend, a lack of faith in yourself was if you truly believed yourself to do the deed. With your incarceration, you held false bravado that you would escape, but you managed. Also with the skirmish with Chrysalis; you exuded fear at times, even with the deepest reaches of your mind being violated, all of this link into one common ideal. As with the fight with Sombra, something changed within you. That was your emotions overlooking what your body and mind has been led to think. When Twilight assured you with her own words, what did you feel?''

''I felt complete guarantee with her words, I never doubted what she said, but it was a reflex to feel that way. I've always been encouraging Twilight to believe in herself because I was afraid that I never fully believed I had the capacity to do that.''

''And that is the moral; faith. Your test was to see how well you could put your faith into others as they do onto you so that you can learn in time to grow even more,'' Princess Luna rubbed a hoof on the human's leg. ''you passed as well.''

Scratching his chin in thought, the human more or less took that as the greatest news. Cradling Twilight in his arms, Celestia resting her head on his left thigh while Luna took his right, the only thing he wanted to do was just relax.