Dreams of the Crystal Heart Turn Into Nightmares as it Breaks Apart
Dreams of the Crystal Heart
Turn Into Nightmares As it Breaks Apart
Earlier in Canterlot
Celestia was enjoying a cup of tea. It was a beautiful morning out, and things were peaceful in Equestria. She had completed her duties for the day, so she was relaxing, simply enjoying life. A royal guard burst into the room, starting her out of her revoir.
“News from Northern Equestria! Uh… Your Highness,” The guard said, suddenly remembering his manners. He bowed at the last part, a rather hasty bow, setting Celestia on the alert, and making her realize that something was amiss.
“Yes?” She asked, keeping a calm demeanor.
“I am simply to tell you that it has returned.”
Celestia gasped. She had been expecting many things, but this was not one of them. Turning to another royal guard, she commanded, “Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Pulling out a quill, ink, and parchment, Celestia began writing a letter. My dearest Twilight, you must come to Canterlot at once.
Ponyville
Twilight Sparkle was panicking. She had just received a letter from Princess Celestia, letting her know that she was to take a test. The letter hadn’t told what kind of test it was, just that it was a test. Thus the panicking.
“Where are my quills? Brbrbr. No, no, no, no, no… Ugh! I need the Magical Compendium volumes 1 through 36! Where is it!?”
Spike, standing on a ladder, pulled out a giant book. Tottering precariously, he got ready to brace himself, and then promptly fell of the ladder, emitting a muffled Oof! Twilight levitated the book that had just effectively squashed Spike, smiled at it, and put it in her saddle bags. As soon as it was in her bag, her smile was gone, and she was back to panicking.
“Flashcards! I should make some flashcards. Spike, I’m gonna need you to quiz me. On everything. Everything I’ve ever learned. Ever.” Levitating a large stack of flashcards over, she frowned. “That isn’t going to be enough cards.”
Spike walked over, frowning. “Twilight, calm down,” he said in a soothing voice. “It’s just a test.”
Twilight’s crazed eyes zoned in on Spike. “Just a test? Just a test!? Princess Celestia wants to give me some kind of exam, and you’re trying to tell me to calm down because it’sjust a test!?”
Spike, unsure how to respond to the crazed mare, hesitated. “Uh… Yes.”
Twilight’s five best friends, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, were all standing in the library, watching the going-ons.
“I’d say she’s handling things pretty well, considerin’,” Applejack said.
“Urrgh!!!” Was Twilight’s response, before she teleported to another part of the library to find more supplies.
Canterlot
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were standing side by side in the throne room, looking at a stained glass window depicting them banishing a dark unicorn to the icy wastelands.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go as well?” Luna asked her sister. Her expression was worried, though controlled.
Celestia looked much more calm. Her reply was as calm as her expression was. “Yes. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are already there. The others will be joining them soon.”
Luna still looked doubtful. “The Empire’s magic is strong. It cannot fall again, sister.”
“She will succeed at her task. And when she does, we’ll know that she is that much closer to being ready.”
Twilight walked in just then. Not wanting to startle the Princesses, she cleared her throat, alerting them of her presence.
Both Princesses glanced in her direction. Celestia said to Luna, “Trust me, little sister.”
Luna nodded, and left the room, brushing past Twilight. Twilight was momentarily thrown off by her seeming coldness, but shook it off.
Turning to Celestia, Twilight nervously said, “You wanted to see me? To give me a test? I brought my own quills and plenty of paper to show my work.” Just then, a scroll rolled out of her bag, rolling out the ten feet between her and the Princess. Panicking, Twilight exclaimed, “Sorry, sorry!”
Princess Celestia rolled up the scroll with her magic, and replaced it in Twilight’s over-stuffed bag. Gravely, she said, “This is a different kind of test. The Crystal Empire has returned.”
A short pause ensued, before which Twilight stammered, “The Crystal Empire? I’m sorry, I-I thought I’d studied. Ooh. I don’t think there’s anything in any of my books th--”
Celestia interrupted her before she could put herself into a craze. “There wouldn’t be. Few remember it ever existed at all. Even my knowledge of the Empire is limited. But what I do know is that it contains a powerful magic.” She pulled up a magical map of the Crystal Empire. “One thousand years ago, King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was as black as night, took over the Crystal Empire.” She made a magical image of Sombra, a frightening unicorn who was all black with a flowing red mane and a red, curved horn, dressed in silver armor, which growled at the two. Accompanying the image of Sombra, there were ponies, different from Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns, chained together, doing slave labor. “He was ultimately overthrown, turned to shadow, and banished to the ice of the arctic north.” The image of King Sombra roared in anger and pain. “But not before he was able to put a curse upon the Empire: a curse that caused it to vanish into thin air.”
Twilight watched in fascination as Celestia conjured up a crystal. “If the Empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria.” She hit the crystal with a beam of light, causing it to glow. Both ponies in the room felt happier and safer. “If hatred and fear take hold…”
Twilight stumbled back as Celestia’s horn began to glow with dark magic. Striking the crystal, Celestia began floating a few inches off the ground. A black line, darker than night, spread from the now black crystal to where Twilight was standing, making another black crystal appear. Twilight stepped around it to watch Princess Celestia, who made both crystals disappear.
“Which is why I need your help finding a way to protect it,” Celestia finished.
“You want me to protect an entire empire?” Twilight asked uncertainly.
“As I said, it is a different kind of test. But one I’m certain you will pass,” Celestia said reassuringly.
Twilight thought for a while. A whole empire? It was a large task. But she knew she could do it with the help of her friends. “How do I begin?”
“By joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armour in the Crystal Empire.”
“My brother is there?”
“He is. And your Ponyville friends will join you there as well. I have every confidence you will succeed. And when you do, I'll know you are ready to move on to the next level of your studies.” Celestia smiled at Twilight, excited to imagine her in her next level of studies.
Twilight hesitated, before asking, “But what if I fail?”
“You won’t,” came Celestia’s firm reply.
“But what if--”
“You won’t.” Celestia said it with such conviction that Twilight stopped doubting. “But, Twilight, in the end it must be you and you alone who assists Princess Cadance and Shining Armour in what must be done to protect the Empire. Do you understand?”
“Mm-hm!”
“Then go. There is no time to lose.”
The Frozen Tundra
Twilight had explained everything to her friends on the ride to the Empire. Now, stepping out of the train, they all shivered as an icy wind bit into their fur. They all looked around for someplace, anyplace, to go, but all they could see was blowing ice and snow.
Applejack saw it first. A dark shape, that of a unicorn, came out of the whiteness before them. All of the ponies stepped back in fright.
“Twilight!” A familiar voice called out.
“Shining Armour?”
Shining Armour stepped into full view, pulling the scarf down from around his mouth. “Twily! You made it!” Suddenly serious, he said, “We’d better get moving. There are things out there we really don’t want to run into after dark.”
Fluttershy whimpered. “Wh-what kind of things!?”
Shining Armour hesitated. “...Let’s just say the Crystal Empire isn’t the only thing that’s returned.”
From behind them, they heard a low growl. Turning around, they found themselves face to face with a unicorns head. The unicorn had a red horn that was curved, and wore a silver helmet on his black fur. But his body was made entirely of shadows.
King Sombra roared.
“Go, go!” Twilight yelled, before going into a fast gallop. All of her friends followed.
Shining Armour, to buy them some time, shot a spell at Sombra. It simply went through the shadows that were Sombra, causing him to laugh. Shining Armour turned and began to run, but Sombra chased after him.
Crystal Empire
Twilight and her friends waited for Shining Armour behind a pink, magical shield. He came through eventually, but his horn had black crystals on it that prevented him from using his magic.
However, everypony was quickly distracted from this. The Crystal Empire was beautiful. All of the buildings were made of crystal, and it looked happy, as though there was not a trace of hatred in the empire. Walking through the city and into the castle, they continued to suck all of the sights up until they reached the throne room, where they found Princess Cadance.
After greeting Cadance, Shining Armour began to fill them in.
“Cadance is able to spread magic and love across the Empire. That seems to be what’s protecting it. But she hasn’t slept, and barely eats. She can’t go on like this forever. And should her magic fade…”
All of the ponies remembered Sombra, and shuddered.
“That’s why we’re here,” Twilight said, trying to reassure her brother.
“Why we’re all here,” Applejack added.
Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity all began trying to gather information from the Crystal Ponies. But none of them could remember anything before Sombra, and that scared them too much to think about. So they all met up again empty-hooved.
After some discussion, they decided to visit the library and see what they could learn. The librarian wasn’t much help; she wasn’t even sure she worked there. So they all set themselves to finding history books.
It was Twilight who eventually found it. “The History of the Crystal Empire” told about the Empire before King Sombra came to power. Every year, the Crystal Ponies held a fair to renew their hope and love.
As this looked very promising, Twilight and friends began to set it up. They made a Crystal Flag, found Flugel Horns, and made food. Eventually, it was all set up.
“What’s this?” Applejack asked, looking at a heart that was carved from crystal.
“The book said that their was some sort of ‘Crystal Heart’ that the ponies set up every year at their fair. I couldn’t find one, so I decided to make one out of the crystals using my magic.”
The two admired it for a moment, and Applejack said, “Nice work, Twi. Think we’re ready to get this fair up and runnin.”
Twilight smiled, and the pair of them went into the castle to find Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
Only an hour later, everypony was ready to present the first Crystal Fair in a long time.
Pinkie Pie walked out onto the balcony first. She was carrying a flugelhorn.
Taking a deep breath in, she played a nice and loud introductory fare.
Twilight walked out. “Hear ye, hear ye!”
Pinkie began to play the flugelhorn again, cutting Twilight off effectively. Twilight glared at her angrily, prompting her to stop.
“Heh heh… My bad!” Pinkie giggled nervously.
“Ahem,” Twilight began with a pointed look at Pinkie Pie. “Hear ye, hear ye! Princess Cadance and Shining Armor do cordially invite you to attend the Crystal Fair!”
Crystal Ponies began to come out of their homes towards the town square, their coats dull but their eyes curious.
Applejack was the pony tasked with greeting them. “Come on in, ya’ll. Got food and drinks thataway, games and crafts are thataway, Crystal Heart to the back near the princess.”
One of the Crystal Ponies paused. “Did she say… Crystal Heart?”
Oblivious to the stir this news was causing, Rainbow Dash was flying around trying to encourage ponies. “We totally nailed it, right?” she asked one pony. “Must be feeling a lot of love and unity right now!”
The pony gave her an annoyed look that bounced off of her easily as she flew to thenext group of ponies. “Gonna have some grub, huh? What are you thinking? Crystal Empire berry pie? Maybe some Crystal corn-on-the-cob!”
These ponies just walked past, appearing bored or perhaps annoyed.
Rainbow Dash watched them go with frustration. “What is with these ponies!?”
A pair of Crystal Ponies happened to walk by just then.
“Seeing all this, I feel like I’m starting to remember. Remember things from before the king,” the pony they had spoken to in the library said.
“Me too,” the second one agreed.
They then came to an abrupt stop, gasping in unison. “The Crystal Heart!”
The pony who had spoken second asked, “Do you think they have it?”
“Of course we have it!” Rainbow Dash boasted. “Can’t have a Crystal Fair without the Crystal Heart, right?”
“Of course you can’t,” the librarian agreed. “The whole purpose of the Crystal Fair is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies, so the light within them can power the Crystal Heart, so that the Empire can be protected!” Her mane and coat abruptly earned back their luster, and she gasped. “I do work at the library!”
Rainbow Dash was thunder-struck. “W-what’s this about ‘powering the heart?’”
The second pony smiled, truly happy, her coat just as illustrious as the librarian’s. “I just can’t believe you found it. King Sombra said he had hidden it away where we’d never see it again! I only hope it will still be as powerful after all these years…!” She then noticed a stall nearby. “Mm, funnel cake!”
Rainbow Dash made a strangled sound in her throat, than rocketed off, grabbing a flag and throwing it over the Crystal Hear – and Twilight, who had happened to be standing directly under her magic-made statue.
Twilight stepped out from under the flag and looked up in confusion. “Why did you—“
Rainbow Dash interrupted her, landing. “I think we may have a problem…”
A few minutes later, Twilight was pacing in the throne room, trying not to panic.
“I didn’t know it was an actual relic! The book didn’t mention anything about the Crystal Ponies powering the heart!” She opened the book and flipped to the page where she found the description of the Crystal Heart her first read-through and gasped. “There was a page missing… How did I not notice!?”
She began to hyperventilate.
“It’s okay, Twilight…” Cadance said kindly, but her exhaustion did little to reassure the panicking mare.
The shield she was holding up flickered, and Shining Armor nervously said, “Twily…”
Outside of the shield, King Sombra laughed, sensing the shield’s weakening resistance.
Shining Armor glanced outside, gently lifted his wife’s head up to give her an encouraging smile, then turned to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
“I have to find the Crystal Heart!”
Twilight shook her head. “No, you stay here with Cadance. She needs you. I’ll retrieve the heart.”
Rainbow grinned, flexing her muscles. “Let’s do this!”
Again, Twilight indicated that Rainbow could not go. “I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m meant to pass Celestia’s test. Retrieving the Crystal Heart must be it. But there is something else you can do.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t look happy to let her friend go alone, but nonetheless, she replied with determination, “Name it.”
Twilight smiled gratefully. “You and the rest of our friends have got to keep the Fair going.”
Rainbow Dash yelped, “What? With that thing moving into the empire?”
The whole purpose of the Crystal Fair is to lift the hearts of the Crystal Ponies, so they can activate the Crystal Heart.”
Rainbow was lost. “Yeah, so?”
“If the Crystal Ponies find out that King Sombra is trying to take over the Empire again, their spirits are gonna be anything but lifted. It won't matter if I find the Crystal Heart. They won't be able to make it work. You have to keep them happy here at the Faire,” Twilight explained.
“Keep the Fair going and the Crystal Ponies happy,” Rainbow saluted. “Done and done!”
Twilight began to leave when Shining Armor stopped her. “Twily, be careful.”
The pair hugged. “I will,” she replied, then trotted out of the room.
Rainbow wasted no time in finding Rarity and Spike.
After a brief explanation, she began manning the flugelhorn booth, doing anything she could to keep ponies from noticing the Crystal Heart.
“Who wants a flugelhorn?” she called, bored.
“I want a flugelhortn!” Pinkie Pie skipped up happily.
Rainbow Dash looked at her for a second before calling, “Who else wants a flugelhorn?”
Pinkie Pie stomped her hoof angrily. “I want a flugelhorn!”
As Rainbow was dealing with an angry Pinkie, Spike had caught up to Twilight.
“Twilight, wait! I’m coming with you!” he panted.
She turned around, annoyed. “You can’t. I have to retrieve the Crystal Heart by myself.”
Spike nodded hurriedly. “I know. I promise, I won’t lift a claw to help you.”
Twilight sighed. “Not a claw, Spike.”
After he was comfortably situated on her back, they set off again.
After a while of silence, Spike asked, “Where are we going exactly?”
Twilight spoke with a grim determination. “I think I might know where King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart.”
Spike looked ahead in the direction they were going. “The castle?”
Twilight nodded in confirmation. “The king would’ve been counting on the fact that nopony would dare come looking for it here. They’d be too afraid to even try.”
Spike looked at the castle looming before him. “I hope you’re right,” he said, worried.
“Me too,” Twilight said softly.
Meanwhile, Applejack was trying her best to keep the Crystal Ponies away from the Crystal Heart replica.
A Crystal Pony walked up to her, smiling.
Applejack, ever the friendly pony, smiled back. “How are ya’ll feelin’? Havin’ a good time?”
The Crystal Pony beamed. “The best I’ve had in over a thousand years!”
Applejack grinned. “Well, that’s good! Gotta renew that spirit of love and unity if you’re gonna power up that Crystal Heart, right?”
The pony nodded. “I sure would like to see it before the ceremony. It’s been such a long time.”
Applejack began to get nervous. “Oh, I hear ya, but… phew! Getting’ a little toasty out here. Bet you’d like to cool off with a little Crystal Empire nectar!”
She began to push the Crystal Pony that way, but she just looked at her expectantly.
Applejack made a small panicked noise. “Uh, you tried the Crystal Empire fritters yet? Made from a traditional Crystal Empire recipe! You’re gonna love ‘em!”
Once again, the pony just stared at her, now growing annoyed.
Applejack, now sweating nervously, pushed her away from the stand-in Heart. “Uh, I hear there’s a joustin’ match about to start! You sure don’t wanna miss that!”
The pony finally began to reluctantly leave.
“Come on, Twilight… These Crystal Ponies are more curious than a cat!” Applejack muttered to herself with worry.
Twilight most certainly was trying to hurry. She had searched the entire castle, and hadn’t found a single clue as to where the Crystal Heart could lie.
Spike shifted on her back, and she glared at him. “Not a claw, Spike.”
Spike laughed nervously.
“Celestia’s orders!” she declared, emphasizing her point.
Then she remembered what Celestia said about the crystals in the Crystal Empire.
How hate would spread…
“Of course!” she shouted suddenly, startling Spike.
“What! Did you find it?” he gasped.
Twilight grinned. “No. Because this isn’t King Sombra’s castle.”
Spike looked around in confusion. “Well, isn’t this where he lived when he was in power?”
“It is,” Twilight replied, her grin widening. “But it didn’t look like this.”
She then planted her hooves, closed her eyes, and concentrated.
A dark, purple magic, nothing like her normally purple, shimmery aura, pulsed out of her horn, striking the crystal throne.
The darkness that hit the throne spread rapidly, darkening the castle and changing it. It seemed to radiate hatred and evil, and a staircase appeared in the middle of the room, leading downward.
“Whoa,” Spike gasped. “When did you learn to do that?”
“That was a little trick Celestia taught me,” Twilight replied smugly.
The pair of them walked up to the edge of the staircase and peered off. Spike gulped nervously.
Twilight gave him a stern command. “You stay here.”
Glancing down the stairway nervously, Spike answered “Huh, if you insist.”
Twilight began trotting down the seemingly endless staircase.
After about ten minutes, Spike called down, his voice echoing, “Can you see what’s down there yet?”
“Not yet,” Twilight called back, still working her way steadily down. “I can’t even tell how far down this thing goes!”
After a few more minutes, Twilight broke the silence. “Spike?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you see outside?”
Looking out the window, Spike could see Sombra off and on as Cadance’s shield flickered, growing increasingly weak.
“It’s not good!” he called. “Cadance’s magic must be fading faster than before!”
Twilight knitted her brow in worry, pondering the implications of this statement. Her lack of focus on her foot-steps caused her to fall down the remainder of the stairs, making small noises of pain every time she hit the ground.
“Twilight! Are you okay?” Spike called down, worry evident even through the distance.
“Yes…” Twilight groaned, sitting up. She was in a large, circular room, the staircase located in the middle. Directly ahead of her was a door.
She smiled and trotted towards the door, grabbing the handle with her magic.
A gasp flew from her lips as it was wrenched out of her gasp, spinning around the room.
“What in the…?” She wondered, before forcibly grabbing it with her magic, feeling her aura whip around the room repeatedly. “Stop… Moving…!”
She abruptly let go of the door as she had an idea. When it ground to a stop, she struck the top of it with dark magic, watching it transform into a more evil-appearing version of the door.
“Spike, I think it’s here!” She called as she trotted into the room. “Huh?”
She was in the Canterlot throne room, and Celestia was gazing at her with a fiery anger she did not like to see on her mentor’s face.
“What are you doing here?” Celestia maliciously snarled.
“I don’t know!” Twilight replied, alarmed. “I opened the door, and—“
“And now you must go,” Celestia replied firmly.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Go? Go where?”
Celestia scowled. “Doesn’t matter to me. You failed the test, Twilight!”
“I don’t understand,” Twilight gasped. “What test?”
Celestia ignored her question. “Not only will you not move on to your next level of studies, you won’t continue your studies at all!”
Tears began to streak down Twilight’s face. “I… You didn’t say anything about no longer being your student if I failed!”
Celestia raise a cool eyebrow. “Didn’t I?”
Twilight barely registered the faint laugh of King Sombra as she collapsed and covered her face with her front hooves, sobbing.
Spike had been calling to Twilight for awhile, and she hadn’t answered. So he decided to go find her. He eventually did – she was lying on the gound in front of an open door, crying.
“Twilight!” She didn’t respond. “Twilight?”
When she still didn’t respond, he repeated her name a third time firmly. “Twilight!”
Her sobbing paused for a moment, and he knew she was listening.
“I know you told me to stay up there, but you were down here for such a long time and you weren't answering and I got worried so I came down here and you were just staring at that wall and... I was calling your name, but I couldn't seem to get your attention, and– What were you looking at? I mean... it's just a wall.”
Spike’s ramblings had reminded Twilight where she was, and she was finally beginning to calm down.
Looking at the door, Spike’s expression changed from curiousity to confusion. “…Ponyville? Well, how did I get…” Forming a look of horror, he began to shout “No! I don’t wanna go! Please, Twilight, don’t make me!”
Twilight slammed the door shut, forcing him out of his nightmare.
“King Sombra’s dark magic,” she said darkly. “A doorway that leads to your worst fear.”
Spike was crying. “We were home. You told me you didn’t need me anymore. You were sending me away…”
Twilight pulled him into a comforting hug. “A fear that will never come to pass. I’m never gonna send you away. And I’m not gonna fail my test!”
She cast a spell of light magic, changing the door back to its original form, then opened it.
“W-what’s in there?” Spike asked fearfully, peering around her hind legs.
“Stairs,” Twilight sighed. “Lots and lots of stairs.” She sighed again. “Maybe you should come with me this time.
Thirty minutes later, the pair of them were still climbing the stairs.
“What if,” Spike panted out, “this is just more of his magic? He makes a door that leads to your worst fear. Why not stairs that go on forever?”
Twilight looked up, beginning to despair, and saw light glinting off something at the top of the staircase.
But it was a long ways away…
Her eyes narrowed in determination. “Hold on to me,” she said.
Though confused, Spike did as he was told, and Twilight cast a spell, grunting from exertion.
Abruptly, the pair of them were attached to the bottom of the staircase, and began to slide up it as though it were made of ice.
“Woah! Yeeeaaaahh wooooahhh!!!” Twilight cheered as they flew along.
Meanwhile, Rarity had worked her way to Applejack’s side by the filler Crystal Heart amongst the whispers of worried Crystal Ponies.
Quietly, she told Applejack, “I am running out of weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth! I just made a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw! I made it work. But still!”
Applejack frowned, worried. “We gotta do everything we can to keep this thing goin'. The Princess isn't lookin' so good. I can't imagine her magic is gonna last much longer. It's gonna be fine. These ponies are gonna power up that Crystal Heart when the time comes, and we won't be needin' her magic anyway.”
Pinkie Pie leapt down, using the flag covering the Crystal Heart as her rope. “I sure hope that time comes soon! Even I can’t keep this party going forever.”
The flag promptly fell on her head, revealing the fake Crystal Heart.
There was a shocked silence before one of the Crystal Ponies said “That isn’t the Crystal Heart.”
Rarity laughed nervously. “Of course not! The real Crystal Heart is…”
“On its way!” Applejack honestly asserted.
“I was going to say ‘being polished’ to buy us some more time?” Rarity said out of the corner of her mouth.
“…Oops.”
King Sombra gave a low, audible chuckle, and the Crystal Ponies began to shriek and panic.
“It’s him!” somebody cried.
Twilight and Spike were finally nearing the end of the staircase.
“Woooooaaaahahahahaha! I actually studied gravity spells thinking it would be on the test! Turns out I was prepared for this!”
Finally reaching the end, she reversed the spell, spilling both herself and Spike onto the floor.
She was about to boast of her success when she caught sight of the Crystal Heart in the middle of the room.
Her eyes twinkled, excited, and he trotted towards it.
Just as her hoof brushed against the Crystal, black crystal spikes erupted from the ground, knocking the heart away and surrounding her.
Twilight looked around, alarmed. “The Heart… Where’s the Crystal--!?”
Spike interrupted. “Here! It rolled to me when you dropped it!”
He picked it up, then moved to give it back to Twilight when more crystal spikes erupted from right in front of his feet.
“Don’t move!” Twilight yelled, alarmed. She could just see him through a small crack in the spikes.
Spike immediately froze in place, doing his best not to move an inch.
Twilight shook her head. “You can move away, just not towards me!” Once Spike had backed a safe distance away, she sat on her haunches, despairing. “How can I have been so foolish? I was just so eager to get it! Then when I saw what was going on outside, I…”
Spike was beginning to panic. “You have to get out of there, Twilight! You have to be the one who brings the Heart to Princess Cadance! If you don’t, you’ll fail Celestia’s test!”
Tears were beginning to prick at the corners of Twilight’s eyes. “King Sombra is already attacking the Empire. He could reach the Crystal Ponies at any moment… reach Princess Cadance, my brother, my friends. There may not be enough time for me to escape.”
Outside, Spike could see Princess Cadance’s shield flickering, threatening to die. King Sombra’s shadowy form was outside, grinning.
Twilight was finishing her speech. “You have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadance.”
“But—“ Spike began to object, knowing how much passing Princess Celestia’s test meant to her.
“Gooooo!” Twilight shouted, prompting him to move towards the nearest exit – the balcony.
Down in the fair, the Crystal Ponies were beginning to get nervous.
“Now, don’t ya’ll worry your pretty, little Crystal heads! The real Crystal Heart will be here any minute!” Applejack was trying her best to calm the crowd down.
“I don’t know if they believe you,” Rarity sang under her breath nervously.
“I don’t know if I believe me,” Applejack admitted softly.
The shield finally gave way, flickering and falling.
“I can’t take it anymore!” a Crystal Pony wailed. She tried to bolt, but found herself face to face with King Sombra himself.
She cowered. “Ahhh… My Crystal Slaves,” Sombra said, grinning down at her.
Overhead, Spike saw King Sombra looking down at a Crystal Pony and decided it was time for a distraction. “Hey! Up here!”
Rarity gasped. “Spike?”
“I’ve got the Crystal Heart!” Spike declared, waving it above his head.
Sombra growled. “That is mine!”
He began to fly towards spike, his ethereal body solidifying into the terrifying visage of King Sombra in his full glory.
Spike began to start down the stairs, but slipped, and began to plummet towards the ground. It was a fall that meant certain death.
His friends all gasped, terrified.
Cadance looked on and found a new determination. She motioned to her husband, who picked her up and threw her, wings spread, towards Spike in an effort to catch him.
Half-way there, a dark crystal spike erupted from the ground, impaling Cadance through the middle.
Crimson blood contrasted stood out against the black crystal as Cadance spasmed for a moment before laying still, her eyes wide in horror.
There was a hush over the crowd, broken only by King Sombra’s laughter.
“SPIKE!” Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all screamed in unison as his small body slammed into the ground.
He was dead in an instant. They watched as blood began to spread steadily from the place where his head had hit the ground and been crushed, his body lying in an unnatural angle.
King Sombra’s laughter grew in volume as the Crystal Ponies lost their shimmer and were chained together.
Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Shining Armor all teleported away, finding themselves in similar cages to Twilight’s.
And the Crystal Empire turned black and began to fade, as King Sombra’s laughter continued to echo across the empty halls.
Author's Note
This was a long chapter - the rest shouldn't be quite so ridiculous in length. Hopefully you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to read it - I will add new chapters as I can find the time.
