Chapter 6: Hope

To her surprise, the force does not come; instead, she feels a pause in the battle. She lets the shield fall to reveal that all of the shadow ponies have disappeared; standing in their place are four aggressive-looking crystal ponies, two Earth stallions, one unicorn stallion, and one unicorn mare. They all appear to be holding golden scepters, each crowned with a red jewel, which Twilight faintly recognizes.

"W-Who are you?" Twilight asks warily, "Where did the shadow ponies go?"

"What does it look like?" the unicorn stallion asks sarcastically, "We got rid of them, of course."

"Okay, now answer my other question," Twilight demands in a condescending tone.

"Oh, forgive me," the stranger says, immediately changing his demeanor from cocky to concerned, "Where are my manners? My name's Crescent Star. This is Shadowluck and Walnut (pointing at the other two stallions) and here's Toffee Dove (pointing at the mare). We're here to help you save the Crystal Empire!"

Starlight stands up, "I though all the crystal ponies were too afraid of King Sombra to stand against him?"

"Well, I guess we didn't get that memo," Shadowluck responds, "I've wanted revenge on him for what he did to my ancestors since I could speak!"

"What he means to say," Walnut interjects, "is that, while most everypony cowered at the sheer mention of his name, we've been looking out for the signs ever since you defeated him the last time."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asks, to which Toffee Dove speaks up.

"Not long after Sombra's defeat," she begins, "a select few of us received a prophecy in our dreams that said King Sombra would rise again, and we would hold the key to stopping him."

"When the prophecy first came out," Crescent Star continues, "many of the others joined the rest of the empire in hope that it was a false lead, but the rest of us - the four of us included - tried to debunk the prophecy by looking for signs that Sombra might return. I perfected a spell I'd found that could be used to find even the tiniest traces of dark magic, which allowed me to find King Sombra's severed horn outside of the empire."

"Oh, so you must have been the pony I saw when we arrived on the Friendship Express!" Starlight exclaims.

"Indeed," Crescent Star agrees, "Unfortunately, Sombra decided to show himself again at that moment, but I teleported away before his magic could affect me."

"We've been protecting the empire as best we can since his formal return," Shadowluck says, "Slaying shadows and such with these babies!" he adds, glancing at the scepter in his hooves.

"Speaking of which," Twilight asks, "What are those things?"

"They're ancient relics from the Crystal Empire museum," Walnut explains, "Originally only meant as a decoration for the empire's royalty, I engineered them with some Crystallite, a rare element only found in this frozen tundra."

"I think I've heard about that," Twilight says, "Isn't it supposed to be the most powerful naturally-occurring element in Equestria?"

"Indeed it is!" Walnut says proudly, "These scepters can slice through any form of magic, including Sombra's shadow ponies, which you two unfortunately stumbled upon."

"Wait, back up for a minute," Starlight says, "You said that more of you received the prophecy, right?"

"Yeah, but they all backed out pretty early," Shadowluck explains, "And it was only a handful of us; the majority of the population still fears Sombra and his powers."

"Twilight!" Starlight exclaims, "I figured it out! I think I know how we can defeat-" she is suddenly interrupted when she notices something strange about the ground. "Um, is it just me, or are these shadows moving again?"

The other look and realize she is right; every shadow within their vicinity fly along the ground, all headed for one location - the Crystal Palace.

"He's moving fast!" Toffee Dove exclaims, "We have to move quickly!" and with that, the group of ponies gallops hard towards the castle, fearing they are not too late to stop Sombra's terror.

* * * *

"There! That should do it!" Sunburst exclaims, finishing the last of his healing spell.

"Urgh, wha' happ'n?" Shining Armor asks groggily, shaking away his stupor. He looks around and sees the rest of Twilight's friends in similar shape as him; waking up as if from a bad dream.

"I never-ever-ever want to feel like that again," Pinkie says solemnly.

"Me neither," Rarity agrees, "What happened to us?"

"It looks like you all fell for King Sombra's dream-enchanting spell," Sunburst explains, "It makes you experience your worst fears as if they were real."

"Well, that certainly makes sense," Fluttershy says, tears still in her eyes from her dream.

"Wait, how did we end up back here?" Rainbow Dash asks, "Weren't we at the library before?"

"Twilight brought you all here by teleportation," Sunburst says, "As I understand it, she and Starlight are on their way here now."

"So Starlight wasn't affected by Sombra's spell?" Rainbow Dash asks again.

"Well, I-I don't know, r-really-" Sunburst stutters.

"I knew it! My suspicions were correct!" Rainbow exclaims.

"What suspicions, exactly?" Applejack asks.

"She's still one of them! How do you explain that Sombra didn't put her under his spell?" Rainbow Dash explains, "He wants to recruit her!"

"Now that's just crazy talk!" Applejack says defensively, "How can you say such a thing?"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Dashie here, AJ," Rarity speaks up, "How can we say that she wouldn't join King Sombra? It is certainly something she would have done a few months ago."

"Exactly!" Rainbow says confidently.

"Now look," Fluttershy pipes in, "I know how you both feel about Starlight, but from what we've seen so far, she does seem desperate to change her ways. I'm sure if you just show her some support, she won;t revert back to her former self."

"Well, when you put it that way," Rarity begins when Shining Armor interrupts.

"Hold on!" he says, "If we're all down here, then who's guarding my wife?" he finishes just as they all see shadows mysteriously creeping up the walls towards Shining Armor and Cadence's bedroom.

"Come on everypony!" Sunburst shouts, "Hurry!" and they race up the stairs to protect the expectant princess.