Mystogan stood outside of the throne room leaning against the wall to the left of the entrance with his arms crossed and his eyes closed deep in thought. He was reflecting on the encounter before he and the others ran into the safety of the barrier that was keeping Sombra and the heavy snowfall from reaching the empire itself. He lets out a sigh and lowers his hands down to his sides and places his left hand on his sword’s hilt instinctively. He listens to them talking about setting up the ‘Crystal Fair’ to renew the light and love that powered the crystal heart which was a powerful relic of the empire. The mountain stallion, however, was on edge. A feeling ran through his heart that also causes a shiver to venture along his spine. What was this feeling he was getting? It was like something awful was going to happen. Something far worse than what was happening at this moment.

“We are wasting our time with this…”

He said to himself as he stood up straight from leaning against the wall. His thoughts turned to the moment he could have ended Sombra out in the blizzard before he was dragged away by Twilight and her brother into the safe dome that covered the empire. He started pacing about trying to figure out why this feeling wouldn’t go away. This feeling of something dark was approaching. And it wasn’t Sombra making his way into the kingdom. It was something far worse…

“Mystogan, are you alright?”

Asked Twilight as she and her friends walked out of the throne room. She had a look of genuine concern on her face as she gazed up at him. He was about to tell her what he was feeling at the time, but she already had enough to deal with since she was on a time crunch in setting up the fair for the crystal ponies.

“I am fine, Twilight. Just can’t sit still knowing my peoples’ enemy is on the doorstep of this empire. If he does make it in here, I will be the first to get to him and kill him in the most brutal way possible.”

Twilight shudders at the hatred that dripped from his words and at how serious he was. She takes his free hand and shakes her head multiple times.

“If all goes according to plan, you will not have to do that. Not if I can help it. We will use the power of the crystal ponies to make sure that he never returns again.”

Mystogan closes his eyes and smiles lightly to Twilight and nods.

“I hope that will be the case. Or else I fear that things will go far worse than what will transpire within the next few hours.”

Twilight and her friends run off to go and get things ready. Mystogan makes his way into the large throne room. He approaches both Shining and Cadence who both look up at him with slight concern. His sky blue eyes fall towards Cadence who looks up at him with her tired gaze. Then looks to Shining who kept a close eye on the mountain stallion. He reaches into his void satchel and pulls out a small vial of golden orange liquid. He holds it out to Shining with an open palm.

“This will help her last a little longer. Is a stamina recovery potion. I can see she is struggling with fatigue and exhaustion. Do not worry, just one sip and it will help her out.”

They both look at each other, then back to Mystogan.

“If Twily trusts you, then I see no reason we shouldn’t as well.”

Said Shining before he opened the vial up and offered it to his wife. She weakly takes the vial and quickly downs the liquid. Within a moment or two, she becomes a bit livelier and less tired looking. She smiles up at Mystogan.

“Thank you so very much, Mystogan. With this, we will be able to give Twilight more time. It is quite amazing that an alchemist such as yourself came down from the northern mountains. To find out that your kind existed all those years ago…”

Mystogan walks over to one of the windows of the throne room. He watches the ponies below go about their business. His gaze seemed to be very..thoughtful. As if he was regathering knowledge from his studies as a child. Both of the smaller ponies noticed this expression and called to him.

“Mystogan..?”

He turns to them and began to speak to them after letting out a soft sigh.

“Would you two believe that the mountain and crystal ponies once had good relations long ago far before Sombra came to power? We had trade, festivals we’d share...many, many things like that. But if no other crystal pony remembers this, then it is safe to say that Sombra destroyed the recordings of that history when he ruled here. Most likely, he wanted us to become an enemy in the minds of his slaves. The sad thing is...the crystal ponies knew of my kind’s strength and abilities. But that did not stop them from befriending us, just as we befriended them. Now..it seems like none of them remember because of Sombra. So much for re-establishing ties with them and my kind…”

He closes his eyes and turns to walk away from the window he stood in front of. He makes his way towards the balcony of the throne room and looks back at Shining and Cadence.

“I am going to go and find someplace to watch out for any signs of Sombra trying to make his way into the empire. At the first sign of trouble, I shall alert you both.”

With that, he opens his black wings and takes flight to the highest point of the castle. He lands on top of the very top tower and lands on the roof, unknowingly that the item of great importance is just under his hooves. He simply just stands there and gazes down at the land below, then towards the direction of the northern mountains where he grew up at. He lowers his head and closes his eyes as thoughts of home run through his head.

”I miss mom and dad quite a bit. Along with the other friends I made growing up. Maybe...I should return home after this is all over. It’s not like Twilight and the others would miss me anyway. They’d probably forget me after a week or so. Possibly even a shorter time than that. But...I will not let Sombra have his way again. I will kill him with my bare hands if I have to…”

As time passes by, Mystogan’s ears perk up as he hears what sounds to be thunder. But it wasn’t. The barrier that Cadence had been holding up with ehr magic was starting to fade quickly. He wasted no time in rising up from his crouched position and began his descent. On his way down, however, he spotted something spinning and shimmering in the open room he had been standing above. He blinks before reaching into his void satchel and pulls out what appears to be some kind of grappling hook. He launches it from the gun-like mechanism it rested on and grabbed the floating relic and yanked it back.

“It’s quite obviously meant for someone to step into the area and become trapped should this item be taken. I am no magic user, but I have read those “Daring Do’ books enough to know. I will just hold onto it for safekeeping for now…”

He said to himself as he slid it into his void satchel. He resumed making his way down to the ground level where Sombra had already begun terrorizing the citizen of the empire. With a loud thud and a small crater from the impact, Mystogan stared down his enemy with a look of hatred. The shadow king looked back at Mystogan with a wicked smile and chuckled lowly.

“Well well, we meet again, giant one. You came just in time. I am in need of a mindless drone with strength such as yours. You will serve me well in the retaking of my kingdom. And I shall even make you the general of my army that I will raise to be so strong, that not even the princesses of Equestria will be able to stop me this time!”

“You are right, Sombra. They will not be stopping you. Because I will be the one to sever your head this day and mount it on my wall as a trophy. History will not repeat itself this time!”

He suddenly lunged forward with his sword drawn, ready to make this end this fight swiftly. Sombra smiled wickedly and charged forward as well. Just as Mystogan was about to swing his blade, everything around him changed. He was standing in the middle of..ponyville? How was this even possible. He was right there about to take on Sombra! He looks around to find the whole town...on fire! His eyes widen in shock as he looks at all the corpses laid about in front of him. Even the corpses of his family and Twilight with her friends. He staggers back in horror and steps in a puddle of something. He looks down and sees that it is a large puddle of the blood of those before him. Not only that, but his hands are covered in it. He then starts to breathe heavily and quickly. Realizing his was the one who had done this, he grabs at the sides of his head and lets out a cry of despair. His biggest fear realized, being the one to kill those he loved and cared for. There was a sinister chuckle behind him. A grey-furred hand placed itself on his shoulder. Mystogan looked back slowly with tears flowing down his cheek as he saw himself. But his eyes were that usual mix of crimson and amethyst whenever he went berserk., but the whites of his eyes were black.

“Let me loose, Mystogan...it is the only way to save your mind from Sombra’s dark hold on it. Give me control…”

“I can’t...you will not stop at just killing him, you will keep going and I will not be able to pull you back. Then this will all happen in reality...all because of me.”

“But isn’t that a better chance to take than letting him have his way? As we speak, he is getting closer to making you his drone. And he intends to have you kill all those you care about. Accept me, Mystogan. Do it to save your friends. You care about them that much do you not?”

Mystogan’s gaze turns back to the burning town and the corpses that laid before him. He closes his eyes before looking up at the dark, smoke-filled sky before clenching his fists together, the leather could be heard stretching when he did this indicating this was a hard choice for him to make.

Mystogan kneeled there in front of Sombra as his mind was being taken over by the dark fear magic that Sombra was well known for. With Twilight and her friends on the ground as they watch Mystogan slowly become consumed by his fear, Sombra laughed loudly as he thought that his victory was assured.

“You see? Even the mighty mountain pony is no match for my power! Now, none of you will ever dare to defy me once I obtain the crystal heart! I shall return the north, then all of Equestria! And none of y-.”

Sombra was cut off by a large grey hand gripping of his face. And just like lifting a pillow, Mystogan rose to his hooves and tossed Sombra aside like he was an old worn pillow. He sent him flying into one of the large dark crystals that had sprouted from the ground from his entrance earlier. He lets out a groan of pain as he slides down the crystal with a bit of blood dripping from his maw from the hard impact. All the ponies who laid eyes on Mystogan felt a shiver of fear run down their spines. Even Twilight and the others knew something was wrong at this point. Mystogan’s eyes had changed to that mixture of crimson and amethyst. But the whites of his eyes slowly turned black as if someone had dropped an ink bottle onto a fresh white paper. Not only that, but the veins in his face turned black as well and his teeth became sharper than they already were.

"SoooommmBRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Mystogan shouted. It was loud enough for anyone in the area to cover their ears and even make the ground tremble slightly. Without any hesitation, the mountain pony leaps into the air toward the dark unicorn with his right hand reached out. Sombra quickly moves out of the way before Mystogan’s fingers sink into the crystal. The look on Sombra’s face was absolute surprise and worry as he saw Mystogan’s face.

“So then, you gave the beast complete control all to avoid my mind control? That is quite the risky gamble you took. No matter. I shall make you my slave once4 I have defeated the beast and with no resistance, it will be easy to take over your mind.”

Mystogan just growled and resumed attempting to grab or punch the shadow king. A few times he came close to doing just that, but he was too quick. This was angering Mystogan even more and he slammed his right hand into the ground. Doing this, a red and blue light formed as crystal spires shot out of the ground and towards Sombra who had not expected this from a pony that wasn’t a unicorn. Then he remembered what exactly some mountain ponies excelled in. Not just alchemy in potions and medicines, but also creating their own ‘structural matrices’ that they can carve into their hands and arms. Mystogan lunges forward with that same hate-filled look in his eyes as he roars a mighty warrior’s roar. He is able to grab ahold of Sombra’s arm. A grip much like the grip of death before those same lights appear again and his arm comes right off, as if it had simply been taken. Not ripped or torn. It took Sombra a moment to realize that his arm had been taken from him before the pain had kicked in. He lets out a cry of pain as he grabbed where the limb used to reside.

“You will pay for that!”

He shouted before shooting a concentrated beam of magic directly into Mystogan’s face. The mountain pony howls in pain and staggers back with a hand covering the now bleeding wound that was his left eye. However, this did not stop him from his rage. He only became angrier with the king. He grabbed his sword that was in the ground beside him and charged forward. He gave a mighty swing downward at Sombra who was able to block it successfully. However, a wicked smile formed on Mystogan’s bloody muzzle as the tip of the blade curved around and stabbed Sombra within his own left eye. The blade pulled out and reformed itself to its natural state leaving the shadow king in a state of pain that was even more unbearable when his arm was taken. Mystogan takes this chance to grab Sombra’s face again and lifts him up in the air.

“For my kind, die like the maggot you are!”

He shouted before he squeezed Sombra’s head to the point where there were muffled screams of pain until there was a ‘splatter’ sound. Mystogan had squeezed his head to the point of bursting as blood and brain matter feet to the ground before him and his twitching body soon followed after. Mystogan turned his head to the onlooking ponies with that hate-filled gaze. With his sword still in hand, he begins to advance forward, the tip of his sword dragging along the ground letting out a sinister metal screeching sound.

“Kill...every...last...pony. Slaughter the weak ones...only mountain ponies are superior…”

He now stands before Twilight who gazed upon him with absolute fear on her face and in her gaze. Her friends were quick to get to her first and pull her away from him before the large blade was swung down and buried itself into the hard ground. Mystogan pulls the blade from it and starts to advance forward again. But this time, he looks closer at Twilight who was starting to tear up as she gazed at him. He places his bloody hand to the side of his head and lets out a groan of pain and annoyance, it seemed that his real self was starting to fight back the beast within for the right to control.

“N-no...you will not harm anyone else! Leave my friends alone and go back to sleep!”

Mystogan fell to his knees as he began to fight back for control of his body and mind. Twilight noticed this right away and broke away from her friends to help the mountain stallion come back. She jumped onto him and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. The unicorn desperate for him to be himself once more.

“Mystogan, please come back! It’s over now, the fight is over!”

She cried out. Even with all his thrashing about, Twilight held on for dear life trying to call him back, tears streaming down her face as both she and him tried to get him back in control. After what felt like an eternity, Mystogan finally calmed down and gently wrapped his arms around the small pony and held her close to his form.

“I..I can’t be here anymore, Twilight...Because of this...I can’t be with you, or any of the others anymore. I do not want to be responsible for taking the lives of you or the others...after we are done here, I am going back home.”

Those words made the unicorn’s heart drop and her friends gasp. Was he really going to leave because of this? To him, it seemed like he did something that wasn’t beyond his control, but Twilight knew better as she knew he’d be beating himself up about this for many times to come...

Author's Note

Sorry I haven't been around to write much. Closing every night is a bit of a bitch. But I got you all another chapter right here. :D

May the darkness grant you peace.