The Darkest Hour

"How was your ride here, Twily?" Shining asked his little sister.

She sighed and leaned against the soft couch as she spoke, "It was excruciatingly slow and tiresome. I fell asleep and had this strange dream that I can't recall.."

"Many ponies don't remember their dreams. I mean, I don't even remember what I have for breakfast sometimes." Cadance let out a small giggle as Shining rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, she's not wrong about both of those things," said Shining as he chuckled a bit.

Twilight had always admired the way at how they could change the setting of the situation so fast. She always tried to do the same, but always ended up sounding crazy or it just didn't work. Her eyes slowly closed as she relaxed the muscles she didn't even know were tensed. The sounds of cheerful laughter were comforting, extremely comforting, especially since the sources are right next to her. Just then, a cold wind flew down her spine and sent chills riveting through her body. It strangely resembled the one she felt while on the train.

Shining had seemed to noticed this gesture and looked down at Twilight. "Hey Twily, I think some sleep is in order for you. Princess Celestia has been informing me about your all-nighters in the castle library and the overnight lectures. Besides, I bet you're exhausted as well."

"I am a bit sleepy. If it's of no problems, I'll gladly take a spare room." Twilight loved and hated how her older brother was always able to tell what she needed and what she was thinking.

I guess it's a perk that comes with being the older sibling... She thought to herself.

Shining stood up from the couch and helped Twilight stand as well. She was suddenly overcome with tiredness to the point where her legs wobbled as they supported her weight. Shining simply wrapped an arm around her shoulder and helped the purple alicorn to his and Cadance's bedroom. Twilight immediately noticed where they were headed to and looked up at Shining.

"Are you sure I can sleep here? I mean, it is your bedroom after all..." The sight of the large bed was enough to make Twilight completely forget she had even questioned their destination. All she wanted was to lay on the bed and fall asleep, and so she did. Shining laid her on the silk covered mattress and exited himself from the room. Twilight immediately wrapped her arms around a pillow and soon fell prey to the tiredness that was relentlessly growing.

Twilight found herself sitting on what felt like grass, but was the color of night. She was once against shrouded in darkness and had the silver leaved tree sturdily standing in front of her. The light was noticeably darker than before and the distant laughter was even quieter to the point where it was barely noticeable. She now knew that Discord had nothing to do with this, but thought that her mental state might need to be checked. Having the same dream twice within a small time frame rarely occurred to Twilight, yet here she was, in front of the same tree while covered by the same darkness. Twilight stood and lifted up her right arm as she placed her hand against the surprisingly smooth bark. Her hand glided inches above and below where she originally touched the tree to reveal that the entire structure was smooth to the touch. Twilight lifted her right arm above her head and gently plucked off one of the many silver leaves.

The leaf shriveled between her fingers immediately and disappeared into the void around her. The leaf she plucked was promptly replaced with another one of equal shape and size. Twilight pulled another leaf and the same happened as before. Disappearance and reappearance. It reminded her of a certain cycle that Zecora had told her.

One thing must pass before another rises in its place, huh..? She stared at the leaves for a moment before turning around and resting against the tree. Her body slowly slid down until she was sitting on the soft grass beneath her.

She then heard a faint whisper. It was very quiet and yet very noticeable. Her eyes scanned the surroundings around her, but only saw the darkness.  The whispering was only getting louder at this point and Twilight began to have panic rise inside of her from the lack of knowing where the source is originating at and from what she thought she heard.  Her head quickly sprung left and right, but the whispering was only getting louder and seemed to approach at an omni-direction. She could hear it get loud in her right ear, then her left, then both. It was frustrating, truly, truly frustrating. She clamped her ears down with her hands and contracted her knees up to her chest. Covering her ears had no effect. The whispers seemed to come internally rather than externally. Twilight unclasped her ears and stared up at the tree. At what seemed like the peak of volume for these noises, they suddenly stopped. There was only silence as Twilight rested against the dark, smooth tree.

She felt two arms wrap around her neck. Her immediate thought was that she was about to be suffocated by someone. Just as she was about to react to this alleged act of hostility, she noticed that the arms weren't tightening around her neck. They were instead wrapped loosely around her as if she were being hugged from behind. There was a subtle warmth that radiated off of the body behind her that felt heavenly compared to the coldness that was consuming her. From the way the body felt and the structure of it, she hypothesized that the figure behind her was a mare. Twilight tried to turn her head to see who the figure was, but something was restricting her movements. She couldn't even move her body. Her arms twitched and her legs shook, but they never made any real and noticeable movements. She determined that her nerves were still intact, but some type of magical force was restraining her from changing her position.

The arms wrapped around Twilight began to shiver ever so slightly, but enough for her to notice. There were quiet whimpers that she could hear behind her, most likely from the mare holding onto Twilight. The pony behind her was obviously afraid. Of what, Twilight didn't know. Just then, the figure behind her muttered four words that Twilight had thought that she would never hear again. It was more of that she never wanted to hear those cursed words once more.

"King Sombra is back..."

Twilight suddenly jolted upright in the massive bed. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat and she was panting extremely hard. She placed a hand over her heart and noticed that it was beating rapidly as if she had finished an encounter with a creature that would have ravaged her being.  Twilight moved from the center of the bed to the side closest to the window. She hopped off of the mattress and stood up on shaking legs. Her thought process was clouded and a hand was placed on the right side of her face.

"Another dream that I can't remember.... What's going on with me?" she asked herself quietly. Twilight knew that mental breakdowns were no rarities for her, but for her body to be physically exhausted was the rare portion. Just then, the room around her, no, the entire castle began to quake viciously. Ornaments were knocked to the ground and shattered into pieces as the windows were destroyed from the shear violence. Twilight had to grab hold of the bed for support just so she wouldn't fall over on the shards of glass that were scattered all across the floor. As soon it started, it stopped. Then the screams were heard. Twilight immediately ran to the window and stared out at the city. Gigantic darkened crystals had sprouted out of the ground. They were massive in size, easily towering over the stores and houses. There was a glowing substance in each of these crystals. Twilight jumped out of the window and unfurled her 12-foot wingspan. She hadn't flown in a vast amount of time, but she needed to investigate these crystals immediately.

Upon landing in front of the massive crystal, a wave of nausea hit her hard. She felt weak in her knees to the point where she had almost doubled-over. However, Twilight held her ground and approached the gem, curiosity filling her eyes. There was just something about this darkened material that made her attracted to it. It were as if something were calling her name and pleading for her attention. She lifted her left arm and attempted to touch the crystal, but received an electric shock upon contact. She quickly withdrew her hand and backed a few inches from the gem. Twilight also noticed that these materials had risen all over town, not just in that spot. Her first thought was to inform her brother and sister, but was interrupted when she overheard their voices nearby.

"I want all of the citizens evacuated to their designated areas. There is no need to panic as we will figure out these abnormalities as soon as possible and inform you shortly after." The stallion known as Shining Armor had a strong and leader-like tone in his voice that had calmed the residence of the Crystal Empire. They all followed the Crystal Guards to the castle and flooded inside the main hall.

Twilight continued her investigation of these strange objects. She circled, crouched, and flew above them, observing them from all possible angles and taking mental notes. There were no cracks or ridges on any of these crystals as they were perfectly smooth sided. Twilight began to grow furious as the sky darkened, restricting the much needed sunlight. She knew it wasn't late enough into the day for the sun to set so she cursed at the clouds and their impeccable timing. Upon looking up, her eyes widened.

There were no clouds as the sun stood static in the sky, dead center at the highest point possible. The blue sky turned into an agonizingly black color as the yellow sun had changed its shading to a darkened crimson red. There was a loud crunching and crackling noise from below and caught Twilight's attention. She flung her head to look down at the ground and the once smooth crystals had developed massive cracks. After moments of only crackling noises being heard, each crystal began to shatter into dust, one by one. What emerged was something entirely different, however. Something that twisted the insides of Twilight's stomach and made her feel sick to the core at the shear sight.

Bodies sprung free from their imprisonment. In this case, their imprisonment consisted of the gigantic crystals. A black substance oozed off of the visible entities that erupted from the gems and burned through the ground as if it were an acidic chemical. Groans and moans of pain were able to be heard throughout the city in an unordered pattern of voices. The sound was wretched and fowl. The smells that followed were even worse as Twilight recognized this to be the source of the nausea she had felt before. The figures all wielded some sort of pole or stick in their left hand and a flat circular object attack to the right forearm.

Their bodies were slim, extremely slim. It seemed as if there were only bones under the oozing black tar. The arms and legs were extended well beyond what was considered normal and their heads took the shape of vertical ovals with sharp points at both tips. There were no eyes or mouths on what she considered their faces. Twilight stared in horror as these creatures began to appear all across the city in each district. There was a very noticeable sound of metal violently clashing against each other and loud shrieks following each clash. She flew over to the sound and realized that the direction she was headed in was the direction where she heard her brother's voice from. Her heart sank at the thought of him being injured, or worse...killed.