Chapters Part 1: Nightmares and Shadow
“Welcome, Princesses of Equestria, to my humble hall. Your journey was pleasant, I trust?”
In the magical torchlight, the Crystal King upon his throne was but another shadow among shadows. His rumbling voice echoed through the abysmal hall in thousands of ghostly whispers. The once-gleaming city beyond the windows mirrored the sharp, dark nature the palace had adopted. Through the red haze, the shackled figures of the enslaved crystal ponies could be seen at work, digging deeper into the scabbed earth to free their king’s umbrum army.
Two alicorns stood before the king. The first was tall and whiter than the arctic snow, with a sunburst on her flank and trailing, soft pink mane and tail. Her golden crown and armor sparkled against the black throne room, but her ancient eyes and regal bearing were even more telling of her royal station. Beside the Sun Princess, her smaller sister stood silent and resolute. Her periwinkle coat, cobalt hair, and crescent moon cutie mark were less out of place in the darkness than her sister’s palette, but the hues of twilight were still a touch too bright for the Crystal King’s liking. The Moon Princess looked too young and fresh to be a monarch, especially in the onyx and silver regalia that surely belonged on an older, more experienced ruler.
“This madness ends now, Sombra,” declared Princess Celestia.
“In my hall, Princess,” Sombra hissed, “you shall address me as ‘King Sombra.’”
Celestia ignored him. “Free the crystal ponies. Step down. You can still do what is right.”
“What is right…” mused Sombra. He chuckled, leaning forward into the torchlight. His cruel eyes and scythe-like horn melted out of the shadows first, blood-red and wicked. He was tall and stormy grey, and his mane spilled down his neck in obsidian waves. A steely crown sat upon his brow, and a crimson robe graced his muscular frame. His fangs flashed as he smiled. “Another princess once said as much to me, but, then, Amore was always deluded and… broken.” King Sombra chuckled again. “She, too, thought pretty words could change what destiny had already ordained.”
Starlight began to glitter around Princess Luna’s horn, and she flared her wings in threat. “Enough of this!” she exclaimed, scowling at the king lounging upon his throne. “You are a tyrant unworthy of redemption. Your life has been forfeit since you first drew breath!” A cascade of cosmic fire erupted from her horn, searing through the air to consume Sombra.
An oily shield of dark magic blazed to life between Sombra and the princesses. Luna’s attack flickered fitfully and dispersed. As his shield shimmered out of sight, invisible but no less real, King Sombra laughed. “Petty threats from a foal in queen’s raiment!”
Luna’s scowl deepened, ears pinned. She looked about ready to lunge at Sombra, but her sister raised a restraining fore hoof before Luna’s breast.
“Even now, it is not too late for you, Sombra,” Celestia cautioned. “You can choose a path of destruction and despair, or you can choose a path of hope. This is your last chance.”
Memories of a slender unicorn with flowing curls and kind, amber eyes flitted through Sombra’s mind. He heard again her silken voice, coaxing him away from the shadows he had embraced. Sombra swiftly banished the phantoms of the past, lips curling in a sneer. Rising to his full height, the Crystal King abandoned his throne and slowly descended the three-tiered dais. Inky magic began to ooze around his horn, and wisps of shadow streamed from his eyes.
“You speak of things of which you know nothing, Daughter of the Sun,” he growled, a withering glare leveled on the Two Sisters. “I was conceived in shadow, and it is in shadow I rule. My umbrum brothers and sisters shall soon be freed, and all Equestria shall learn what it is to truly fear. ”
A jagged bolt of cobalt lightning suddenly clawed through the nearest window toward Sombra. He did not even flinch, allowing the magical electricity to dance off his shield and scorch the floor by his hooves. Magic still blazing around her horn, Luna spread her wings and took to the air. She launched a third attack—a flood of blinding balefire. Sombra countered it with a beam of writhing shadow and flame. The collision of the two forces sent a shudder through the palace. Darkness and starlight violently raged against one another, each devouring the other in equal measure.
With a roar, King Sombra drew upon more of the black art. An inferno of power surged through him, igniting the umbrum inside. Flakes of his corporeal shell split and fell away as coils of dark energy burst through the cracks. Luna’s starlight was overwhelmed. In an explosion of black fire, she was blasted into the vaulted ceiling. Dust sprayed and shards of crystal splintered upon impact. Stunned, Luna plummeted toward the floor, but her sister caught her in a golden aura of magic.
Celestia carefully set Luna on the ground, sweeping a concerned wing around her. “Sister—”
“I am no foal to be doted upon, Celestia!” snapped Luna, struggling to her hooves and pushing away her sister’s wing. Though still somewhat unsteady, she fixed smoldering eyes on Sombra. Her magic was already gathering for another onslaught.
Sombra laughed. “Paradise is not so sweet when the day and night are divided!”
A beam of pure sunlight hurtled into Sombra’s magical shield. His dark spell dissolved where the light struck, creating a molten hole in his defenses. Sombra sneered, pinning his ears and glaring at Celestia with untempered loathing.
Celestia met that glower unwaveringly. “You have languished in the dark too long, Sombra. It is time to step into the light.” Golden light sparkled around her horn, growing brighter and whiter with each passing breath.
King Sombra bared his fangs in a snarl, calling forth new waves of dark magic. “You have no power here! I rule the darkness and the ghosts, the very nightmares that plague your simpering ponies’ sleep! I am the King! ” he bellowed, unleashing a tidal surge of black fire and frigid shadow.
The Two Sisters darted to either side, evading the terrible tsunami and taking wing. They swerved, joining again to face Sombra united. Piercing rays of silver starlight and golden sunlight washed the obsidian hall in celestial radiance. The Two Sisters’ eyes burned white with power. As one, they touched the tips of their horns together and bathed Sombra in a river of searing magic. Screaming, Sombra’s mortal shell fractured, his soul and body charring from the inside out. His curses and shrieks echoed throughout the palace as all that he had become was ripped apart.
And then he was nothing but shadow, indistinct and scattering. Sombra roared as glacial walls enclosed him. The last things he saw before the snow and ice sealed him away beneath the arctic were the Two Sisters silhouetted against the rising moon.
But they did not know of his curse. They may have banished King Sombra, but he had banished his Crystal Empire.
* * *
Eternity was an interminable madness, even for a creature of shadow. The next shred of light Sombra saw was a sliver of moonlight as the ice above him cracked. Wintry air filtered through the chipping prison, invigorating after the millennium of entrapment.
One thousand years… His curse had waned, but, in its wake, Sombra would rise again.
Shooting upward, Sombra fragmented into wisps of shadow and curled into the open for the first time since the Two Sisters condemned him to the ice. The biting wind sought to disperse him, but Sombra had spent his imprisonment well. He knew how to control this incorporeal form as well as any umbrum who had not been born in a pony shell. He raised a thunderous howl of laughter, racing through the night, delighting in his freedom.
Then he turned his smoky gaze upon the arctic, and in the distance he could see the dimly illuminated skyline of the Crystal Empire. If he could reclaim his throne and the Crystal Heart, Sombra would be able to regain his preferred form and begin his work anew. With his goal revitalized and dark magic humming through his phantasmal figure, King Sombra melted into the darkness and rushed across the arctic to his kingdom. The umbrum had waited long enough. The time of shadows had come.
When Sombra arrived, however, he found his slaves protected by a seafoam dome of magic. The aura radiating from the spell was strikingly familiar and, ultimately, unmistakable. A descendant of Amore had survived his reign, and that descendant had returned to defend Amore’s home. Sombra scowled, stalking the perimeter in search of a gap in the defenses. Unfortunately, the shield was complete. He was cut off from his throne, from the Heart—the means of his rule over the crystal ponies. Although he had hidden it well, if some meddlesome equine did manage to find the Heart, Sombra as well as his umbrum army would be repelled from Equestria yet again, if they survived a second cleansing at all.
In his frustration, Sombra conjured a raging blizzard that blanketed the arctic in sheets of snow and froze it with frigid gales. But he knew wallowing in his fury would solve nothing. He would have to trust in the precautions he had taken when he had learned of the Two Sisters’ approach all those centuries ago.
And so he waited.
When the opportunity arose to snuff out the new Equestrian prince’s magic, Sombra struck. The foolish stallion left the safety of the Empire to retrieve a group of ponies and a young dragon. It was almost too easy, shadowing them as they trekked through the snow, springing the trap when their guard was down. Their terror was palpable, and Sombra reveled in it. Even when the young prince tried to fight back—such a pitiful display!—Sombra gloried in the act of rendering the unicorn’s magic useless. But the prince fled through the magical dome after the others, and King Sombra was left to wait once more.
This time, he did not have to wait long. The Amore descendant was not omnipotent; her magic could only last for so long. And when it began to fade, Sombra was ready. But he was too hasty, and for his stupidity he earned a severed horn. From behind the impenetrable curtain, ignoring the throbbing in what was left of his horn, Sombra watched the crimson fragment plop onto the earth. With a growl, he willed his dark magic to life, sending the thinnest tendrils of shadow through the ground toward the dismembered tip. Black and purple pools bubbled beneath the shard of horn, and it seeped below the surface to infect the Empire from within. Tiny clusters of dark crystals sprouted in the tip’s stead. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Excitement quelled Sombra’s worries as he waited, pacing around the protective dome and surrounding it with his adumbral storm. The Amore descendant’s magic was nearly spent. He was so close now, so close to reclaiming his power that he could taste it. As the glittering dome flickered, Sombra poured more and more dark magic into the black crystals infiltrating his stolen kingdom. The great archway that had always welcomed outlanders and journeycolts to the Empire grew dull and unfriendly, casting dark shadows along the road leading into the city. His horn reconstructed itself as his magic grew. Slowly, his old might was being restored.
Suddenly, black light flashed at the pinnacle of the palace. Somepony had found the Heart.
Sombra frowned, scowling. Dark magic seeped from his horn, piercing the dome just enough to activate the old defenses he had set around the Crystal Heart. Confident his bane and treasure was safe, Sombra returned his attention to the vast city itself. The protective magic was almost entirely gone, and he could spread his own magic throughout the crystal structures. The gleaming spires and shining abodes were soon wrought of the same dark crystal and shadow as the arch. He could see the crystal ponies frantically congregating in the courtyard beneath the palace, as they had so often during that blasted Crystal Faire under Amore’s reign. The sight grated low cackles from Sombra’s throat. Did his slaves really think to be rid of him so easily?
The dome fell. The magic of Amore was finished.
Sweeping forth in roiling tides of shadow, Sombra surged into the city. The terrified screams of his slaves rang like a symphony in his ears as he neared the palace. All the city was enveloped in his dark magic, and the thundering sky was glazed red. Clusters of black, purple, and red crystals sprouted jaggedly from every surface, slowly overwhelming the city and returning the Empire to the wicked glory from the days of King Sombra’s rule.
Then a voice interrupted Sombra’s triumph. Lifting his gaze to the top of the palace, Sombra discovered a puny dragon clutching the Heart in its claws. Sombra snarled venomously, power flooding freely from his vaporous form. After all he had done to them, these worthless slaves still had the audacity to defy him? His lips peeled away from his fangs as he rushed forward, roaring and raging. Then he plunged into the earth, spreading his shadows through the soil and erecting a spear of dark crystal to pierce the heavens. The earth shuddered with the sheer force of Sombra’s magic, and the serpent thief plummeted from the palace pinnacle, the Crystal Heart slipping from his grasp.
Riding the crystal ledge skyward, Sombra felt substance replace shadow. The black dregs were whisked away, melting into his familiar physical shell. Smiling, Sombra embraced his full power and fixed his gaze on the nearing Heart. So close now, so close! He could already feel this, the bane of his eternal existence, crumbling beneath his might. He was strong enough to destroy it forever. The Heart would be no more, and Sombra would raise the umbrum to cover all the world in wondrous shadow!
A pink blur raced past; the Heart was gone.
Sombra screamed as he spotted her, soaring earthward with the Crystal Heart levitating before her. The Amore descendant—she even looked like that deceitful witch! What was more, one of his traitorous crystal slaves declared her the Crystal Princess! There was only one monarch of the Crystal Empire, and it was no righteous alicorn! Shadows streaming from his eyes and black fire blazing around his horn, King Sombra howled his fury and reached for his umbrum still trapped beneath the earth.
But he was too slow. The Amore descendant had returned the Heart to its old dwelling in the courtyard beneath the palace. The crystal ponies were kneeling before her and the Heart. Light shone pure and blinding in the roads beneath their hooves, banishing Sombra’s shadows and igniting the symbol of the umbrum’s undoing millennia ago—the crystal snowflake of Princess Amore.
His dark crystals were shattering. He was shattering! Everything inside Sombra was screaming in agony. His magic was ripped from him, seared away by the power exploding from the Crystal Heart. Gleaming fissures spread all across his body, stealing from him his corporeal shell yet again. He was nothing but shadow. He was losing himself. Empty night, he was dying! Sombra’s world was afire—it was nothing but fire. A silent light consumed all he was, all he knew.
And then there was only cold. A hollow void. Darkness.
Nothing.
Life.
Amid the cold and the black, he could feel life returning. It was gradual at first, leaking the hazy sense of awareness, of being something besides the icy dark. Then sounds echoed through the silence, whispers in the beginning but swiftly reaching a crescendo, and, the more he heard, the more his awareness expanded. He could hear the dripping of water against stone, the hollow howl of a ferocious wind muffled by earth and rock, even the skittering of insects and other tiny creatures who made their homes in the darkness. Smells returned next: the scent of wet soil, the reek of dank places far from the light of day, of tepid pools and the rotting remains of unlucky creatures. They were all so heady he could practically taste both the foul and the pleasant—ah, taste! He had forgotten what it was to taste, but how he relished it now!
And then he opened his eyes. The world was all in shadow for a few moments, but his vision soon adjusted. The wall of black grew detailed, outlining the silhouettes of stones, of stalactites and stalagmites—from which dripped the water he had heard—and of a great emptiness in space. He was in a chamber of rock and earth, molded over time by the currents of underground rivers. A cave, he realized. He was in a cavern, alone in the dark.
Alive.
Slowly, memories seeped back into his mind. He remembered pain, excruciating, tearing him apart from the inside out every single year. He remembered the dear unicorn who had saved him, so compassionate, so pure. He remembered losing her, but instead discovering himself—an umbrum to stand above all others, to lead his army of shadows and teach those who had feared him what true fear was. He remembered a slender unicorn, tall and fair, trying to persuade him to be other than he was. He remembered a glorious empire of crystal. He remembered two royal alicorns rising against him, making of him nothing but shadow. He remembered freedom from the ice, laying siege to the empire unveiled by his dissipating curse. And he remembered another alicorn, a descendant of Amore herself, shattering him.
Sombra. That was his name, a name of shadow and fear—a name of power. Yes, he had once held so much power, but he could no longer feel that surge. Flickers of his dark magic remained, but the phenomenal forces he had once controlled were not there now. However, if he was alive again, he knew his magic would eventually follow. It always had before.
What was more, this time he had returned with a body. An umbrum he may have been born, but he had grown within such a shell as this, and Sombra preferred to feel the ground under his hooves. Carefully, he pushed himself up, straightening cramped legs and stretching disused muscles. He was alive, but he was weak. Sombra paused, steadying himself and his pounding heart. It had taken far too much effort to simply stand. He would need to pace himself until his old strength returned.
With even more difficulty, Sombra willed his magic to life, illuminating the gloom. Crimson light glared off rough stone and the sharp facets of ice. In one frigid mirror, he could see his reflection for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Even without his royal regalia, he was an intimidating figure, and Sombra smiled in light of that.
But he needed to know more. How long had he slumbered between death and spirit? What had become of his precious kingdom after that Amore descendant stole it from him? He needed answers, and so Sombra began to walk. He had little sense of direction in the darkness, but the rising incline of the ground under his hooves was direction enough for now. He had to pause to catch his breath a few times, but eventually a silvery light appeared ahead.
As Sombra at last breached the surface, he found himself in the throes of a wild blizzard. After the chill of near-death, the icy gales and frigid snow and sleet were of little consequence. Besides, there were more important things deserving of his concern. The cold was a mere irritation, easily ignored. Through the swirling curtain of snow, Sombra could just make out the glow of a great city in the distance—the Crystal Empire.
Sombra’s eyes narrowed, and a scowl furrowed his brow. His empire had survived after all, but he was not its lord and liege. The King of All Monsters was but another shadow in the Frozen North. Perhaps the world had forgotten him in his absence.
Well, he would remind them. He would remind them all why he was their king, why they feared him above all others. He would regain his power and raise his umbrum army, and he would have his revenge on the immortals who had meddled in his affairs and destroyed his reign. They would learn the error of their ways. They would see.
Sombra chuckled, an old strain he had once heard his slaves chant creeping through his mind.
The moon and sun together will die,
And love in a storm of fire will fall.
The spark will dim as the dark draws in
To welcome the King into his hall.
* * *
The Frozen North was a lonely, desolate place. Fields of ice and frosted mountains were resolute and constant, no matter how far or for how long one traveled. The mountains were always in the distance, and the glaciers and snow were always underhoof. At least the blizzard had lessened, however slight the change. It was easier to see now, and Sombra no longer panted with the exertion of trudging through gales and sheeting ice.
But a storm raged on inside him. He wanted so much to return to the Crystal Empire, to retake what was rightfully his, but he was too weak yet. Sombra had no choice except to be patient, and so, until his power was restored, he needed to wait. Patience was one of his highest cards, however, and he knew how to play it well. He may chafe at the prospect, but he knew the prize would be worth it. And this time, there would be no mistakes.
In the unexplored reaches of the arctic, Sombra knew he would be safe. As long as he kept to himself somewhere amid the icy mountains, those meddlesome Equestrian princesses would be none the wiser until it was too late. There were caves in the mountains, secure and uninhabited—even if they were inhabited, though, Sombra was confident he could rectify the matter. He was weak; he was not helpless.
Despite the Frozen North’s optical illusions, he eventually arrived at the snowcapped summits. The ascent was treacherous, with what semblances of paths iced over and the ever-present threat of an avalanche. The last thing Sombra needed was to meet his end buried beneath mounds of snow. No, if he was to die—however unacceptable such an outcome may be—he would die facing those who had shamed and dethroned him, and he would drag them into the clutches of death alongside him.
A phantom shriek echoed among the peaks. Sombra warily searched the winter night, but saw only snow and rock. Then a second cry ghosted upon the wind, shrill and alien. The hairs on the back of Sombra’s neck stood on end. The wind suddenly whipped into a frenzy, bearing upon its renewed gales a cold to rival that of death. Sombra’s lips curled from his fangs in a sneer as he fought off the biting chill freezing the very marrow of his bones. Dark magic oozed from his horn, and he swept his gaze across the surroundings once more.
Then he spotted them, translucent and swift as the racing wind itself. Smoky phantoms galloped all around him, with hooves and eyes of ice and bodies and manes of whirling snow. They had an almost ethereal beauty, an unearthly grace. Their very presence was terrifying, though Sombra refused to let a fearful twinge best him. He knew these creatures well. Windigos had often shadowed him, all throughout his life, but especially after he first crowned himself King of the Crystal Empire. After all, windigos thrived on hate, and Sombra certainly bore hatred in his blackened heart—hatred for Amore, for her descendant, for the Equestrian princesses, for the impudent little unicorn and dragon who had trifled in his affairs and recovered the Crystal Heart. Indeed, Sombra hated more deeply and more purely than any creature.
Ice began to claw up his legs. The windigos’ whinnies heightened to piercing screams of excitement and dark delight. Black fire burst from Sombra’s horn, melting the ice and making the windigos shrink back with startled cries. However, he did not disperse them, as he had many times before. These wintry spirits could be of great use to him, if only they could be persuaded.
“Long have you haunted my steps,” he said, locking eyes with each windigo as it swept past, “but there is more hatred in this world than you know, hatred that could be sweeter by far.”
The windigos hissed in denial, their gazes gleaming whiter than the snow they commanded as they circled Sombra, feeding on his hate.
“In the old days, there was hate aplenty,” Sombra continued. “The pony races were once rife with loathing and distrust—they are still. Their hatred lies buried in their hearts, forgotten, but I can teach them again how to hate one another.”
A rally of whinnies and howls punctuated Sombra’s words, almost as if the windigos were arguing among themselves.
“You could feast again, shrouding all the world in eternal winter. But you are weak.” Indignant screams assaulted Sombra from every side at that, but he did not give them a chance to retaliate, raising his voice to a booming shout that carried above the windigos’ clamor. “Those pathetic ponies have bested you with their love and their friendships—you are but another legend mares tell to misbehaving foals. You are nothing alone. I, however, know their fears, their weaknesses. I can and will raise an army of shadows to plague their dreams and every waking hour. I will end these days of harmony and bring about an era of everlasting darkness and terror. But you, hiding in these mountains like cowards, have not even the courage to face those who cast you out!”
Shrieking, the windigos sped faster and faster all around Sombra, until they were a solid, spinning wall of winter magic. Several bared their teeth at him, scowling and screaming. A few, however, watched him quietly, almost speculatively.
Sombra smiled. “Follow me, and I will ensure you have all the hatred you could ever desire. I will curse the ponies’ greatest champions and most beloved idols, and you will be free to cover Equestria in an age of ice. Hail me as your king, and the windigos will arise more powerful than ever before! In the dark of the night, we will shatter the Equestrians and all the rest of the world, and all will know once more what it is to feel hate burning in their hearts and to quake in fear of their winter lords!”
For a while, only silence answered him. Sombra began to wonder whether the stupid creatures would defy him and simply scatter. Then one windigo broke from the circling storm, larger and more imposing than most. Its eyes smoldered with a frigid fire, fierce and unwavering. When it at last spoke, its voice was the whisper of an icy death, hollow and ancient, but no less strong.
“Long live the King… ”
Celestia bolted upright, gasping for breath. The darkness permeating her bedroom swam with afterimages of the terrible nightmare. Moonlight streaming through a nearby window glinted off swirling dust motes in a silvery mirror of a windigo. Soulless eyes as red as blood glared in her mind’s eye still, quickening Celestia’s already racing heart and chilling her to the core with utter terror.
After all these years, why was she dreaming of Sombra? Why had she seen him standing amid windigos, of all creatures? Were these visions conjured by her Foresight? They were all so grim and hazy now, Celestia could not tell. Perhaps it had merely been a bad dream…
Releasing a sigh to soothe her rattled nerves, Celestia fell back onto her pillows. She lay there for a time, staring at the ceiling through the gloom, waiting for her thoughts to settle. They were yet so troubled that Celestia could not easily find sleep again, never mind how weary she was. Those awful, red eyes still seemed so real…
With a start, Celestia realized that she was not imagining the bloody glower—it stared down upon her, in her room! Fangs gleamed in the black as the creature hovering above her snarled and lunged for her throat.
Before Celestia could react, a beam of cobalt magic hurtled into the monster. It recoiled, lurching in the air and searching for the source of the attack. Luna stood in the doorway, wings flared and horn ablaze. She unleashed another starlit beam, but the monster managed to evade this one. While the monster was focused on Luna, Celestia summoned her own magic and ensnared the shadowy creature in a sphere of golden light. The monster howled, beating against its prison to no avail.
Now that she could see it properly, Celestia found that she recognized the beast. Her pounding heart skipped a few horrified beats, and then drummed all the harder. Then it was not a dream… She shook her head to clear it of the dark thought, but that did not make the fact any less true.
“The umbrum was preying upon your dreams, sister,” said Luna, stepping up beside the floating cage of sunlight. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine, Luna,” Celestia replied. Forcing herself to calm, she tossed her blankets aside and stood. This was no time to lie in bed, frightened like a foal. She was a Princess of Equestria, and Celestia gathered to her the quiet authority and dignity expected of a monarch. She watched, unmoved, as the trapped umbrum raged against its bonds, growing more frenzied by the second. “I had hoped the nightmare was but a dream, but, if there are umbrum freely roaming Equestria again, such a hope is wishful thinking.” She did not need to explain the visions. If the Princess of the Night had sensed the umbrum from the dream world, then Luna had also witnessed what Celestia’s Foresight had revealed.
Luna nodded grimly. “Indeed. However, I do not believe the whole of the umbrum race has been unleashed. Of all the dreams I have been watching tonight, yours were the only ones to be plagued by this harbinger of nightmares.”
“Harbinger…” murmured Celestia, meeting the frantic umbrum’s wild eyes. She scowled, her aura sparkling to life around her horn as she cast a spell upon the umbrum and its prison to deafen it to the Two Sisters’ words. Then Celestia turned to her sister, raising her wings to block the umbrum’s sight of their mouths so it could not read their lips while they spoke. “Sister, if Sombra has returned and has allied with the windigos, we must find him before his full strength returns as well. We may be able to thwart a few umbrum and windigos, but an entire army…”
“Then let us not waste time,” Luna agreed. “Free this creature, and let it lead us to Sombra, that we may finish this once and for all. Now that I know ’tis here, I can track it. Sombra shall not revel in his return for long.”
“Agreed.” Celestia summoned a pair of Royal Guards. Both glanced quizzically toward the intruder that had so easily slipped past them, but their attention swiftly returned to their sovereign. “Assemble a company of our finest Guards and prepare to move out,” Celestia instructed one soldier, who saluted and hastened off. She turned to the remaining guard and commanded, “Send word to Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight. Tell them, an old enemy has returned to reclaim the Crystal Throne. Princess Luna and I march to quell the uprising before it begins.”
* * *
The tundra of the borderlands where Equestria met the Frozen North stretched endlessly in all directions. In the hazy distance ahead, the Crystal Mountains rose to kiss the twilight sky. Behind, the silhouette of Canterlot upon its mountain stood as a quiet reminder of the Two Sisters’ far-reaching reign. A chilling wind swept across the plains, bending the sea of brown, dying grass in rippling waves. There was no sign of the umbrum.
Celestia raised a wing, bringing the Royal Guards to a halt. She turned to her sister and asked, “Are you certain this is where it is?”
Luna stiffened a little at that. After all these years, did Celestia really still need to question Luna’s abilities? But she discarded the brief spark of irritation. Luna had no need of such detrimental emotions now. Celestia was asking for the benefit of their soldiers, to assure them their princesses yet controlled the situation, nothing more. “Indeed. I assure you, sister, the creature has not left the tundra.”
“We must be close, then.” Celestia shifted her gaze to the commanding officer of the company. “Spread out, and stay alert. There may be worse things than a rogue umbrum lying in ambush in these lands.”
The soldier bowed and saluted, stating, “Yes, Your Highness.” Then he relayed the orders to his soldiers, and the armored stallions split into smaller squads. Each group had three or more ponies, at least one from each race, with the pegasi airborne and the unicorns holding their magic at the ready. A full platoon remained in formation around the Two Sisters, including the commanding officer.
The wind strengthened, growing colder. Luna narrowed her eyes against the rushing currents, feeling the familiar tingle of magic filter into the atmosphere. Starlight glowed dimly around her horn as Luna’s suspicion deepened. Beside her, Celestia’s horn had also been set alight, and the sisters traded a brief glance. Something was coming.
“Commander, over there!” cried a pegasus guard abruptly, pointing.
Luna followed his gesture, and her heart sank a little at what she saw. The smoky mountain range in the distance was not the mountains at all—it was a wall of winter, and it was racing across the tundra straight for them. Within moments, it was close enough that Luna could discern individual windigos swarming within the oncoming horde.
“Company, close ranks!” barked the commander. “Protect the Princesses!”
The Royal Guards hardly needed the order, hastening to rejoin their comrades. Not all of them made it before the windigos were upon them. Luna watched as a pegasus was overcome, sucked into the whirling winter storm. Another guard tried to raise a magical shield, but ice froze upon his horn, dousing his magic. One of the earth ponies fared better, outrunning the windigos just long enough to swerve and kick one of the snowy beasts square in the jaw. The windigo shrieked, expelling a winter gale so cold it began to freeze the soldier from the ground up.
Sunlight erupted from above as Celestia dived out of the sky. The windigo recoiled, its magic melting beneath the Sun Princess’s fire. The earth pony guard’s bonds became nothing but water. He sprang right back into action, undaunted.
Luna spread her wings as the blizzard of ice and snow surrounded them, calming the air around her with a spell. Windigos wheeled all around her, engulfing the world in winter. Calling upon the strength of the moon and night, Luna let fly a torrent of cosmic fury. A cascade of silver and blue seared through the windigos in its path, drowning out their startled cries with its roaring tide. When a pair of windigos attempted to circle around Luna, she flipped midair to face them and burned them from existence with another beam of magic.
The clash of armor and hooves mingled with the shouts of the guards and the shrieks of the windigos. Luna would glimpse a squad of soldiers locked in combat with the winter beasts, but then snow and sleet would blind her again. She briefly spotted at least two guards, maybe more, completely encased in ice. Flashes of unicorn and alicorn magic alike lit up the blizzard like lightning in a thunderstorm. While dispatching another group of windigos, Luna thought she heard the defiant war cry of her sister through the howling chaos.
Without warning, a windigo barreled into Luna from behind, driving her to ground. It bared razor teeth in a frightening grin. Luna shoved it from her with a powerful kick of her hind legs and bolted to her hooves. The windigo screamed, collecting itself and five other windigos, and they rushed forward. Luna met their battle cries with a bellow of her own, standing her ground and unleashing a river of searing balefire. The windigos scattered, but two were not quick enough to escape the inferno.
A low, rumbling laugh rolled through the storm. Fear pricked at Luna’s heart as she whirled around, wings flared and magic at the ready. Out of the sheeting ice and turmoil of bodies stepped an all too familiar figure. He was almost just as Luna remembered—he lacked the crown and robe, but he bore his ebon armor with enough dignity and arrogance that he hardly needed the crown.
Sombra chuckled, eyes streaming shadow and horn alight with dark magic. “No more a foal, I see, young Luna. I would almost deign to call you beautiful, were you not so distorted by your sister’s light.”
Luna’s face contorted. Not bothering to indulge the monster in wordplay as she had in centuries past, she conjured several large orbs of moonlight and hurled them at Sombra. A windigo rushed blindly into the path of one. Orb and beast exploded in a blaze of fire and stardust. Sombra… dissipated, fragmenting into wisps of shadow and easily evading every one of the explosive orbs. The windigos swirling behind him caught the attacks instead. Before a wall of bursting light and shuddering shockwaves, Sombra seamlessly melded together again.
For a moment, Luna could only stare. How long had he been hiding in the shadows of Equestria, that he had regained so much of his power? But then Luna recovered her wits and gathered her magic for another blow. However long this villain had waited this time, he would not be able to piece himself back together once she was finished with him.
“You shall find my shade a welcome change from the sun’s harsh rays, I think,” said Sombra, unfazed. His bloody eyes glowed as his black aura extended toward the princess. “Sleep well, young Luna.”
Starlight sheared through the darkness attempting to surround her, but Luna found these shadows not so easily banished. Oily tendrils wrapped around her legs and wings, binding her in place. She fired beams of magic at them, struggling to free herself, but the shadows were untouched. She drew upon more and more magic, her eyes glowing white with the ocean of power surging through her, but nothing she did seemed to hinder Sombra’s dark magic.
Then a windigo swept into the air between Luna and Sombra. Only, it was unlike any windigo Luna had ever seen. This creature was too large by far, with scarlet eyes and a streaming mane of black fire. Shadows swirled amid the snow and ice comprising its body—the shadows of an umbrum. Luna’s magic died as she realized this unnatural creature was a partner of the windigo and umbrum races, artificial but more powerful than either.
The hybrid parted its jaws in a fearsome howl and galloped headlong for Luna.
* * *
More windigos always replaced those Celestia felled. No matter how many she bested, she could not seem to make a dent in the endless ranks. She had long ago lost track of the Royal Guards. Hopefully she would be able to bring them all home to their families after this. But hopes were futile and useless if she and her sister did not find a way to rid Equestria of the tyrant who had summoned and allied with these winter demons.
An alien scream shivered the haze of battle. Celestia whirled midair, expecting to see another windigo charging her. Instead, through the blizzard and havoc she watched as a great shadow overcame and smothered her sister on the ground.
“Luna! ” cried Celestia, drawing her wings close and diving. Golden magic blazed around her horn as she descended upon the ravenous shade, piercing the gloom as only true sunlight could. Before she could reach where she last saw Luna, however, something collided violently with Celestia and sent them both reeling. They plowed into the earth together, raking a deep gash in the tundra. When they at last ground to a stop, Celestia was too slow to react, and her attacker pinned her on her back with armored fore hooves.
Sombra stood above her, fangs bared in an evil smile. He leaned closer to her, eyes smoldering. “Shh… Your sister is sleeping, Celestia,” murmured Sombra in the princess’s ear, almost liltingly, as if he were reciting a lullaby. “We would not want to disturb the weary girl, would we? The young should not bear witness to the destruction of their idols.”
The molten fires of the sun exploded from Celestia’s horn, a battle cry ripping from her throat in the strain of sustaining such a vast quantity of power. Sombra recoiled, melting into dregs of shadow with a growl. Celestia maintained the beam of cosmic fire as she regained her hooves, searing swathes of windigos from existence in her hunt to burn away Sombra. But she could not feed the spell forever, and she refused to be bested because she had foolishly wasted her strength at the beginning of the real battle. Reluctantly, she released the spell, searching the blizzard for her foe.
“What have you done with my sister?” bellowed Celestia. “Face me, you coward! Step out of your precious shadows and fight! ”
“Oh, how I have missed you, Celestia!” exclaimed Sombra, laughter booming above the windigos’ shrieks.
Celestia wheeled around and hurled a spear of sunlight straight for the tyrant’s heart. Sombra fragmented again and reformed once the attack had passed. He hardly appeared the weakened shell Celestia had seen in her vision. He was far stronger than her Foresight had led her to believe.
Sombra’s laughter faded to soft chuckles. “Such a fiery spirit as yours,” he crooned, “shall indeed be a pleasure to snuff out. Your sister was strong, but the moon cannot resist the dark. You, however…” His eyes glinted wickedly. “You are fire and passion, with the heart and power of the very sun at your command. I think I shall enjoy your fall from grace the most.”
Golden fire reared up all around Celestia, coalescing into a small army of phoenixes. Some darted to intercept the windigos racing all around, but most soared straight for Sombra. Just as Celestia had expected, Sombra dissolved into shadow to dodge the attack, but he would not find her phoenixes simple puppets. The golden firebirds converged and then split part, each chasing a different shred of shadow. No matter how Sombra’s shards darted, nor how fast, Celestia’s phoenixes stayed trained on their targets.
The same unearthly scream from before resounded directly behind Celestia. She glanced back, simultaneously raising a golden shield of magic. The cloven hooves of a titanic windigo scraped against the shield of light as it swerved to avoid collision, snow and shadows trailing in its wake. It rounded vicious, scarlet eyes on the Sun Princess, snarling like a rabid dog.
“What monstrosity is this?” gasped Celestia, retreating a few cautious steps. She met the windigo-umbrum’s unfeeling glare, and sorrow and pity swept through her. Sombra had unmade these two creatures and constructed a race that was never meant to exist—and he had done it to serve his own purposes. Whatever else Sombra had done in the past, this was beyond all his cruelties. “I am sorry,” Celestia whispered. “I cannot undo the evil he has wrought upon you.”
The hybrid howled in response, its cry ringing above the storm of windigos.
A spray of sparks billowed from beside Celestia, and she whirled to find one of her conjured phoenixes imploding. Then another careened into view, out of control and melting amid streams of shadow. One by one, her phoenixes fell, some in tatters and some wreathed in gloom. Sombra was fighting back, and he was winning.
The windigo-umbrum raised another howl and charged.
Celestia flared her wings wide, standing her ground. Pure sunlight shined from her horn. She had lost her sister to this monster, she was sure, but death was not something Celestia meted out lightly. Forgive me, sister, she prayed, for the pity I feel for this poor demon, for not being strong enough to save you… again. She strengthened her shield, eyes burning blinding-white. With the power of a thousand suns flooding her veins, Celestia rose to meet what she feared to be her end.
The wild winds of the Frozen North threatened to blow Twilight Sparkle off course, but the violet alicorn was so close to her destination—she could not simply give up now. With the Two Sisters missing and winter encroaching on Equestria’s summer, Twilight refused to let a little turbulence best her. Her wings were weary and leaden, but urgency fueled her aching body onward.
The rest of the Council of Friendship had convened in Canterlot to oversee the assemblage of the Royal Guard and coordinate their efforts to beat the windigos back. Still, Twilight wished she had asked them to accompany her. Celestia’s letter had been grave indeed, but coupled with the missive sent by Cadence all the way from the Crystal Empire… Twilight shuddered. Dark times awaited Equestria, of that much she was certain. But Equestria would not be alone. Word had been sent to Griffonstone, to Yakyakistan, to any and every nation. Together, they could face this winter war.
But will we survive? Twilight swiftly pushed such dark thoughts aside. She needed to focus. Cadence and Shining Armor were waiting for her. The windigos had attempted to invade the Crystal Empire, but Shining Armor’s magic was holding them at bay. For now. Twilight believed in her brother and his abilities; nevertheless, she was worried. This all felt too much like the reappearance of the Empire after Sombra’s curse faded. Except, this time, Celestia and Luna were wholly unable to intervene. Had Twilight and the Council been unable to defend the Empire then, she knew the Two Sisters would have come to their aid. But now they were gone, and no-pony knew what had become of them or the soldiers that had accompanied them.
The Crystal Empire finally came into view, shielded by a glittering dome of magenta magic. As Twilight Sparkle soared through the barrier unhindered, the full glory of the Empire was unveiled. Gleaming structures of crystal lined the paved streets, amid a sea of grass that was eternally fresh and green in light of the power of the Crystal Heart. The palace was itself a spectacle to behold, a shining spire in the center of the beautiful city.
But the crystal ponies who normally filled the streets were all gathered in the courtyard beneath the palace. A few soft murmurs arose from the crowd as Twilight alighted in their midst. Many, however, remained kneeling, channeling their love into the Crystal Heart to help banish the winter demons and shadows threatening their homeland.
“Your Highness,” said a Crystal Knight, stepping before Twilight and bowing briefly, “the Princess awaits you inside.”
“Thank you, Sir Knight,” replied Twilight, folding her wings. She began to leave, but then paused and rested a fore hoof on the knight’s shoulder. “I would ask a favor of you,” she said. “Send word to Canterlot of my arrival. After the Sisters’ disappearance, I’m sure news of a safe journey will set them more at ease.” It was a small comfort, but Twilight hoped her friends would appreciate it.
The knight bowed. “Of course, Your Highness,” he stated, and then withdrew to fulfill the order.
Then Twilight made her way inside the palace. She had expected to need to meet her brother and Cadence in the throne room, but instead she found them and a number of Crystal Knights not far from the entrance. The knights were in full armor, some bearing spears and lances, a couple bearing the banner of the Crystal Kingdom, and all of them bearing steely, grim expressions. Shining Armor, too, wore his Guard Captain armor over his white coat, with his blue mane threaded through the helm. Cadence wore a few pieces of simple barding over her soft pink coat, and her trailing curls had been braided for battle.
“I won’t allow this, Cadence,” Shining Armor argued. “It’s suicide! If Celestia and Luna couldn’t stand against him—”
“Enough,” countered Cadence coolly. “We know nothing about what has become of Celestia and Luna, and we shall not start making assumptions now. Besides,” she continued, lowering her voice so the knights could not hear, “we can’t afford to show our subjects that we’re as worried as we are. If they lose faith in us, then Sombra has already won.”
“What’s going on?” asked Twilight, joining them.
“Cadence wants to venture into the arctic,” answered Shining Armor, glaring at his wife, “to follow the windigos to wherever they run to hide when we repel them.”
“Why do you sound like that’s a bad idea?”
Shining Armor stamped a fore hoof. “Because she wants me to stay here, when she knows perfectly well that it’s too dangerous for her to go alone.”
Cadence rolled her eyes. “I keep telling him that I won’t be alone. I’ll have two companies of the knights and you, Twilight, by my side—that’s why I asked you to come here. We’ll need your magical ability, as well as mine, to quell Sombra’s dark magic. The knights will be there to keep the windigos from advancing on us.” She turned back to her husband and tenderly touched her horn to his. “I know this is hard for you, Shining Armor, but you’re needed here. Without your protection spell, the Empire will be overcome. The crystal ponies need their prince.”
“They need their princess more. Please,” begged Shining Armor, “let me go in your stead, if not with you. You can defend the Empire as easily as I.”
“Your magic isn’t strong enough to defeat Sombra. I’m sorry, but this is the way it must be.”
After a moment, Shining Armor sighed. “Fine,” he relented, removing his helm and letting his forelock fall into his eyes. He embraced both Cadence and Twilight tightly. “Stay safe.”
“We’ll be back before you know it,” Twilight assured him, though Shining Armor did not seem convinced.
As she and Cadence began discussing strategy, Twilight glimpsed her brother take one of the knights aside—the commanding officer, by the looks of his armor—and heard Shining Armor whisper, “Make sure they come back. Protect them with your lives.”
The knight nodded. “Of course, Sire.”
* * *
“Down there,” announced Twilight Sparkle. She, Cadence, and the Crystal Knights had had a time scaling the frozen mountainside, but that had been their only real hindrance since the expedition began. While the eternal winter of the Frozen North was constantly assaulting them with frigid gales and scattered storms of snow and sleet, it was no more inhospitable than usual. The windigos had fled at the sight of the force exiting the Crystal Empire to meet them in battle, but Cadence found that more suspicious than anything.
They’re leading us, she had realized not long into the march. The windigo horde had remained just one step ahead of them, with a few stragglers almost always within their sight. The windigos had wanted Cadence and Twilight to follow them, no matter how many knights accompanied the princesses. It had been troubling, to say the least, but Cadence had known that to abandon the mission so early was to give the windigos yet another opportunity to attack her kingdom.
Now they stood upon an icy ridge in the arctic mountains, staring into the mouth of a cave. The windigos had taken refuge inside, and it was time to route them out at the source. Whatever else lurked down there, Cadence knew Sombra would be waiting. Patience had always been his game. Well, it was time for Cadence to finish what her ancestor Amore could not.
“Be on your guard,” she warned, stepping into the gloom. Her voice echoed against the glacial walls. Cadence summoned a sliver of magic to light the way. Beside her, Twilight did the same, adding magenta light to Cadence’s seafoam. The illumined passage wound deeper into the mountain in a steady, downward slope. Behind them, the synchronized hoofsteps of the Crystal Knights unleashed a cacophony of echoes. One of the commanders muttered an order, and a unicorn among their ranks cast a spell to silence their steps.
“Cadence,” murmured Twilight, too soft for her voice to carry beyond the sister-in-law beside her, “what if this is a trap? We’ll be walking right into it.”
“It is a trap,” Cadence replied, lowering her voice as well, “but, sometimes, a trap must be sprung. We can’t afford to wait. Every second we delay, Sombra grows more powerful.”
Twilight nodded soberly. “He’s been back longer than we thought, though. Celestia and Luna…” She trailed off, averting her gaze.
Cadence settled a comforting wing over Twilight. “Don’t think about that. We’re here for each other, no matter what.”
“No matter what,” agreed Twilight, returning the brief embrace.
It was soon clear that the cavern had not been formed naturally over time. The floor was smooth, the walls chiseled. The only stalactites and stalagmites that had not been chipped away were those that stood where a natural underground passage connected with the carved tunnel. A few crossroads revealed other magically excavated passages, but not many. Then the crystals appeared, sprouting from every angle in small clusters of red and purple. They glowed dimly, swimming with dark magic. When a knight accidentally brushed against one, the unholy gems instantly grew and latched onto him. Fortunately, the fellow managed to scramble out of his armor before the crystals spread to his flesh, for the armor was completely consumed seconds later. Everypony made sure to give the dark crystals a wide berth after that.
Then the passage opened into a great chamber, hollowed out of the heart of the mountain and illumined by more clusters of the deadly crystals. The walls stretched ever-upward into darkness, converging at a single point so far above it was but a speck of sky in the black. Ridges had been gouged along the graven walls, forming paths that spiraled to dark doorways at all levels, presumably leading to other passages. One crystal cluster sprouting from the floor was larger than the others, and it cast an unnatural shadow on the opposite wall.
Formed into the jagged shape of the cluster’s eerie shadow was a throne of obsidian crystal, standing upon a raised dais. It was almost as if the throne were made of the shadow, not the crystal. Four braziers carved of ice bore magical flames of black fire, two each to frame the stairs leading up the dais and the throne itself. Somehow, they cast the chamber in deeper shade while simultaneously illuminating the figure seated upon the throne. His midnight armor reflected the dim glow of the surrounding crystals, a robe of royal crimson rested upon his shoulders, and a steely crown graced his brow.
“Welcome, young Princesses,” intoned King Sombra, “to my humble hall.”
Cadence and Twilight stopped several yards away, the Crystal Knights halting in unison behind them. The ranks still filing out of the passage immediately took up flanking positions, their numbers easily filling the chamber.
“Now, what poor diplomacy is this?” Sombra asked, an evil grin quirking his lips. “Bringing an invading force into another sovereign’s territory without even a declaration of war? I thought Celestia would have taught you better.”
“Princess Celestia did,” Cadence snapped. “You, however, are no sovereign. These lands belong to Equestria, and it is you who have raised invading forces against us.”
Sombra chuckled. “Why so spiteful, Cadenza? Should you not present a more dignified model for your beloved sister-in-law?”
He has been waiting a while, thought Cadence, scowling, spying upon us all until he was ready. “Let Twilight be. She has no part in our blood-feud.”
“Oh, but she does. I have been watching her most carefully, her and her little group of… friends. ” He spat the final word, as if it left a foul taste in his mouth. “Besides, I am not the one who brought her to the field of battle.”
“Enough of this, Sombra,” declared Twilight, flaring her wings in warning. “What have you done with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?”
Sombra sneered, and he laid his ears flat against the back of his head. “I am the once and future Crystal King. You shall address me as such, young Twilight.” His scarlet eyes glared a shade brighter. “Your precious monarchs are well enough, I assure you. But you must not speak so boisterously,” he added with a devilish grin. “You would not want to wake them from such… pleasant dreams.”
Dark magic seeped from Sombra’s horn. The knights braced for an attack, but Cadence and Twilight remained cool and collected. Seemingly amused by the dissimilar reactions, Sombra glanced to either side of his throne, extending his oily aura in each direction. The air rippled where the black art touched it, shimmering as an illusion was unwoven. On Sombra’s left, Princess Luna appeared, straining against bonds that no longer held her, recoiling from some terrible attack that left her eyes wide in horror. To the right of Sombra appeared Princess Celestia rearing upon her hind legs, wings flared and a single tear clinging to her cheek. She was just as frozen as her sister, as though they were nothing more than crystal statues.
“You see?” said Sombra, returning his bloody gaze to Cadence and Twilight. “They are quite well. Let it never be said that the King of All Monsters is inhospitable.”
For a moment, Cadence could not fully grasp what she saw. How could Celestia and Luna survive such a curse? Were they really alive at all? As far as the fate of Equestria was concerned, they were no more than the faceted statues they appeared to be. Even if his claims were true that Celestia and Luna were only sleeping, Sombra had killed them just as surely as if he had run a blade through their hearts. Celestia had been like a mother to Cadence since her ascension from common pegasus to alicorn princess. Cadence simply could not reconcile the fact that the kind and beautiful Celestia who had taken Cadence under her wing was… gone.
Without thinking, Cadence loosed a raging torrent of seafoam magic to unmake the monster lounging upon his throne. She poured all her grief and pain into the shining tide. The devil would not last the night. He deserved no mercy for this atrocity!
The gleaming sea washed against an invisible shield. When Cadence cut off the flood of magic, Sombra smirked. “You are not so much like Amore as I once thought, Cadenza. You have the same fire in your heart as your dear Celestia.”
“Silence! ” screamed Cadence, launching into flight and unleashing a second cascade.
Below her, the Crystal Knights advanced. The pegasi took to the air alongside their princess, and the unicorns fired bolts of magic every color of the rainbow at Sombra. Twilight joined them, magenta fire blazing forth to consume Sombra where he sat. The attacks all splashed harmlessly against Sombra’s magical defenses.
Twilight raised a fore hoof, forestalling further waste of magic. “Watch the exits for windigos,” she commanded. “Princess Cadence and I will deal with Sombra.”
Though reluctant, the knights did as they were ordered, breaking rank to take up posts at the surrounding doorways.
Sombra laughed. “Indeed, Knights of the Crystal Empire, heed your sovereign’s warnings, lest you fall prey to the dead of winter!”
As if on cue, snow and ice blasted out of the passages on howling gales. The phantom figures of windigos were not long in following, streaming from the bowels of the mountain to flood the chamber with winter. They whirled all around, shrieking and conjuring a violent blizzard that slammed several pegasi into the walls. Cadence held her position, casting a spell to calm the air around her. Twilight and the forces on the ground were hard-pressed to maintain their balance as well, battered this way and that by the storm made even more ferocious in the confines of the hollow mountain.
Many knights were overcome in the initial onslaught, but those who were not charged the windigos with all the more fury. Cadence soon lost track of them. Twilight joined her in the air and hovered flank-to-flank with her so they could watch all directions. Cadence kept Sombra well within sight through the swirling snow and sleet. Whenever windigos attempted to approach, she and Twilight took turns searing them to slush.
“Is this not what you wanted?” boomed Sombra from below, his voice reverberating over the roaring blizzard and through Cadence’s bones. “Did you not come here to wage war?” He cackled, black fire gathering around his horn. “Fight well this battle, Amore, for it shall be your last!”
For some reason, the use of her ancestor’s name in place of her own fueled Cadence’s ire. Clenching her jaw and drawing her wings close, she dived. Dimly, she heard Twilight cry for her to stop, but it barely penetrated the red haze fogging Cadence’s mind. An icy inferno burned in her heart, and she gave form to it, releasing the fire within her in crackling bolts of lightning that arced from her horn to obliterate Sombra.
A few holes smoked in his shield, and another sneer distorted his features. Rearing, Sombra unleashed a crimson beam wrapped in vines of shadow. The dark magic rocketed for Cadence, but she conjured a pillar of white flame and pure crystal to meet Sombra’s attack. The two forces collided with a thunderclap, flooding the whole chamber with blinding light and sending a shockwave quaking through the mountain. Unprepared for the fallout, Cadence was cast down, and she tumbled to the ground in a heap.
Sombra stepped out of the smoke and snow before her, untouched. “For one whose magic is founded in love,” he said, “you bear much hate. It shall prove your undoing, Cadenza, just as love broke Amore.”
A shadow rose behind Sombra—a monster of both windigo and umbrum blood. It towered over Sombra and Cadence, but Cadence was the only one recoiling from the beast. She scrambled away, regaining her hooves and readying her magic. Sombra simply stood there, cruel eyes leveled on her.
“The Heart cannot save you here,” snarled Sombra. “Once you are gone, I shall reclaim my empire and make of the Crystal Heart what I made of Amore—shards. ”
Cadence lunged to smite Sombra where he stood, horn and heart afire. The hybrid rushed her with a roar, eyes glittering like the tainted red crystals sprouting from the walls. Shadows swarmed from Sombra, reaching for Cadence. She burned them to smoky wisps with barely a flicker of magic, spreading her wings and taking flight. She evaded the windigo-umbrum easily, and they both swerved midair. The hybrid shrieked, darting for Cadence once more. Cadence dived for Sombra, magical fire erupting from her horn. In an explosion of shadow and flame, the three were consumed.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle coughed as she picked herself up, dust coating her throat. The chamber was unnervingly silent, filled with clouds of smoke and the stench of burnt hair. Where were the windigos, or the knights? Why was no-pony fighting? Had Cadence…? Twilight cut the thought off, conjuring a gentle breeze to clear the smoke and dust. She had to keep faith. Cadence was a powerful alicorn, almost as strong as Luna. A skirmish such as this was nothing for one like Cadence, surely.
Through the haze, many figures stood still as stone. Slowly, Twilight realized that the Crystal Knights—all of them—were either encased in ice or turned to crystal like the Two Sisters. A number of windigos had been caught in the crossfire, for their frigid forms were frozen in crystal as well. Most of the windigos remained, however, hovering silently in place and watching the last small space by the throne that was still wreathed in smoke. Twilight stared, too, hoping against hope that Cadence had vanquished Sombra. If their new leader were no more, perhaps the windigos would disperse, and Twilight and Cadence could begin healing what knights they could for the journey home.
Two silhouettes regained their details as the last of the smoke cleared. The first was Sombra, breathlessly straightening, his crown askew and his royal regalia marred by scorch marks. The second was Cadence, wings flared and face contorted by hatred—a crystal statue.
Twilight’s horrified gasp echoed in the heavy silence. Sombra’s glower instantly fixed on her, and his fangs flashed in a smile. The windigos around them stirred once more, shifting their attention to the last Equestrian princess.
In a burst of magenta magic, Twilight Sparkle teleported out of the chamber. Where exactly it was that she winked back into existence, she had no clue, but the passage was mercifully devoid of windigos. She cast a spell to silence her movements and darted down the crystal-illumined tunnel. She tried to still her deepening dread, but nothing could quell her seizing heart.
She was the last. Twilight Sparkle was the last surviving leader of all Equestria. Celestia, Luna, and now Cadence—they were all as good as dead. Twilight was the last flicker of light in this war of shade and winter, but how could she hope to succeed where the oldest and most powerful alicorns in Equestria had all failed?
Visions of her friends flickered through her mind’s eye. That’s it! Twilight realized, turning down a side passage. The ground here was on a slight incline, leading upward and, hopefully, to an exit. But this place was a labyrinth of rock and ice—it would take a great deal more than luck for her to work her way through the maze. If my friends and I can defeat a monster like Tirek, we can certainly stand against Sombra!
But first she had to find a way out.
* * *
When the youngest Equestrian princess vanished, the windigos shrieked and whirled in frustration. King Sombra let them, calmly brushing the dust from him with a few crimson tendrils of magic. Waiting for the windigos to wind down was far easier than attempting to bellow over them, and restraining their movements with magic was a waste of strength. They were chaotic spirits of winter, not the disciplined ranks of a military. In truth, Sombra had found them more like children than beasts, acting on trivial desires and throwing a tantrum when things did not go their way. Once the initial outrage was out of their system, the windigos would calm of their own accord.
Readjusting his crown with another magical wisp, Sombra turned to the crystalline figure of the once Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. He had expected her to be so much more like Amore—patient, empathetic to a fault, and quietly deceitful, spying on the fates of others and then telling them they still had a choice. Not that Sombra had been disappointed. No, he admired such fiery spirits, how they attacked life with vigor and passion, how they refused to yield when their flames were threatened to be snuffed out. Such wild spirits were the most pleasurable to dominate.
“Rest now, young Cadenza,” Sombra murmured, smiling. “You fought well; Amore would be proud, I think. Soon, your beloved sister shall join you, and I shall have my revenge.” Chuckling, he embraced his true magic—the magic of shadow and fear—and summoned a pair of umbrum from the milling horde beneath the mountain. He teetered on the verge of his full might, but Sombra knew the power would be put to better use later. It would not do to squander the element of surprise. “Place her beside Luna.”
The two ever-changing figures of roiling shadow bobbed their heads obediently, ruby eyes glittering with the delight of finally being freed from the earth. Sombra knew that feeling well. It would not be long now before all their umbrum brothers and sisters also reveled in the open air.
As the umbrum began to shift the crystallized Crystal Princess, Sombra returned his attention to the windigos. Their tantrum had finally reached its end, for the most part. Now the bulk of them swirled lazily around the chamber, silent and awaiting their king’s command. A spare few, however, still raged and whined.
A dark, icy aura shivered the air beside Sombra. Pravus had recovered from the battle with Cadenza.
“You have done well, Pravus,” said Sombra, glancing toward his masterful creation. The windigo that had sealed its race’s allegiance to Sombra had proven more intelligent than its brethren. For its initiative, Sombra had given it a chance to become more than any windigo, and it had not hesitated to accept. When Sombra contacted his umbrum brothers and sisters and asked for the strongest among them to step forward for a similar opportunity, his own mother instantly volunteered. Now, neither windigo nor Sombra’s umbrum parent remained. Instead, a new creature had been born, and it was power and loyalty given shape. Pravus’s heart was as black and cold as death, and it wielded the combined magics of winter and shade with ease.
“You humble me, my King,” Pravus hissed, its voice warped and raspy—a death rattle compared to the dread knell of its war cry. Its wine-red eyes flickered toward Cadenza, and it growled hungrily.
“Patience, Pravus. Once we have soothed young Twilight to her eternal rest, all Equestria will be your feast.”
Pravus dipped its head. “My King.”
The last whisking windigos grew still, thousands of glacial eyes fixed upon Sombra. He raised his voice so they could all hear. “The age of shadow and winter is nigh, my friends. Equestria is vulnerable, and only their one princess remains. She is still within the mountain. Seal off the exits—find her!”
As the windigos rushed to their task, Pravus asked, “And what of them, Sire?” It gestured vaguely toward the frozen and crystallized Knights of the Crystal Empire with a cloven hoof.
Sombra did not give the casualties a second glance, returning to his throne. “Shatter them.”
A gleeful hiss slithered past Pravus’s lips. “As you command, my King.” It darted forth with an unearthly howl, falling upon the immobilized knights in a flurry of snow and shade. The ensuing cacophony was not unlike the smashing of hundreds of glass panes.
Settling comfortably upon his ashen throne, King Sombra waited. He had waited so many years already, but he would not allow haste to ruin him this time. Only a little longer, and then he could safely march on the Crystal Empire. Once his kingdom was again his, he could conquer the rest of Equestria with ease. Without their precious princesses to order their days and guard their dreams, without their champions of love and harmony, Equestria would fall.
Conjuring a new cluster of black crystals, Sombra gazed into the flat facets with a small smile. His reflection was no longer that of a weak and outcast demon. Now, the face in the mirror was his own, kingly, resplendent. His power was his again. He was once more, now more truly than ever, the King of All Monsters.
Sombra chuckled to himself. If only Radiant Hope could see me now…
Something flickered at the edge of his vision. Sombra locked onto it in the crystal mirror—a violet figure cringing upon one of the upper levels behind him, creeping silently from one black doorway toward another.
In one smooth motion, Sombra whirled around and unleashed a bolt of crimson fire. It screamed through the air to the mountain wall, exploding against the rock supporting the elevated path. Twilight Sparkle plummeted, her wings battered closed by the avalanche of stone and ice. She tumbled violently to the chamber floor, winded and disoriented. Before she had a chance to recover, Sombra swarmed her with oily shadows.
When Twilight finally regained her hooves and fought her way free of the clinging gloom, her horn was covered by sprouts of black crystal. Her magenta aura struggled fitfully around the base of her cursed horn, but the crystals dispersed the magic faster than she could conjure it. Her eyes grew wide, pupils shrinking to pinpoints. Then, spreading her wings, Twilight launched into flight, soaring over Sombra and ascending toward the opening in the mountain peak far above.
“Fly, young Twilight!” roared Sombra, black fire gathering around his horn. “Fly, for your death is upon you!”
Winter incarnate erupted from every entrance into the chamber as the windigos rallied to Sombra’s call. At their head galloped Pravus, raising a battle cry to still the heart. Twilight was swift in the air, but Sombra’s windigos were the wind itself. They soon closed the distance, spiraling higher and higher in pursuit of the last Equestrian princess. The ice and snow of their chilling magic clawed across the space between them and Twilight, frosting her plumage. Unstable, Twilight crashed into the wall above one of the climbing paths. She scrambled into a desperate gallop as the windigos closed in, only barely regaining her lead.
Watching the glorious spectacle from below, Sombra laughed. No matter how fast she ran, no matter how long she fought, she was finished. But, oh, to see her strain against her fate! To see the fangs of inevitability latch onto her!
Then a chasm suddenly yawned before Twilight as she came to a break in the path. She barely paused long enough to gather her hooves under her and leap the gap. She only just caught the opposite ledge with her fore hooves, nearly descending into oblivion. With the windigos gaining on her, she scrabbled up onto the path and resumed her mad dash. Sheets of ice flowed in her wake as the windigos extended their wintry reach. Even at such a distance, Sombra could see the realization of futility flame in her tearful eyes.
There was no more path. A ridge jutted out into open space, away from the wall, as close to the circle of sky above as Twilight could get on hoof. She galloped straight to the end of the outcropping and pushed off into flight. Her iced wings pounded the air shakily, shivering with the biting cold overwhelming the hollow mountain.
Embracing the umbrum within, Sombra delved into the earth beneath his hooves with a flash of dark magic and burrowing drills of pure shadow. Cracks and faults sprang all across the surface, and from them streamed hordes of black smoke. The umbrum were formless but for their scarlet glares, but they were strong—and, at long last, they were free. At Sombra’s bidding, the army of shadows ascended in a blur of elated cries and endless shadow. Higher they flew, faster than any windigo, writhing among the forces of winter and bearing the icy demons upon their obsidian cascades. Pravus sailed ahead of them all, jaws parted in a wild, alien howl.
All at once, Twilight was overcome, wreathed in shade and winter. Her scream was drowned by the victorious roars of Sombra’s armies as they engulfed her. Black fire exploded outward in all directions, the umbrum and windigos rejoicing.
Sombra could not restrain the wide smile that split his face. His armies withdrew, letting fall the crystallized Princess Twilight Sparkle, frozen forevermore in her valiant but vain attempt to escape. Surrounding her in cushioning clouds of burgundy magic, Sombra gently lowered his prize to the empty place beside Celestia. The Four Princesses of Equestria now flanked his throne, and they would soon adorn his true seat of power in the Crystal Empire.
With the howls of both umbrum and windigo filling the hollow mountain in triumphant symphony, King Sombra stepped up to the youngest sovereign and whispered, too soft for any but him to hear, “Sweet nightmares, young Twilight.”
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