Displaced: Fallen Kingdom

Noah was actually disappointed when he and Shining Armor finished pushing the double doors open. There was no sudden burst of compressed black miasma washing over him, there was no blast of murderous intent, there was just… nothing. Just this dark sensation crawling along the floor. Still when they entered the chamber Noah tightened psychic tethers around his blade as he and Shining Armor stepped forward. This chamber was much like the others; crystalline in design, but beyond that it wasn’t like the others to say the least.

The castles dark tile was outlined with overgrown crystal-like parasitic vines that raced around as they climbed up to cover the roof. Each one a mix of either black and purple or green as they shined from an unseen light source. Nestled on the walls the two found dozens - literally hundreds of crystal spires, each having an equine figure locked behind them.

“What in Equestria?” Shining began as he and Noah stepped into this strange holding chamber. “These ponies, are they…” Noah’s eyes flashed, and he saw through the crystals, saw through the bound figures and frowned.

“They’re alive, barely.” The stallion muttered as he walked up to a crystal spire and stared at the pony it held. “It’s like they’re in a state of suspended animation; their vitals have been slowed to be almost nonexistent… but their hearts are still beating… also this crystal… it’s supplying oxygen to their lungs….”

“You can tell?”

“Sort of.” The stallion admitted as his eyes flashed again and he tapped the bound pony. “I can tell they’re alive, but how long is the real question. I also can’t tell what this crystal is doing to them.”

“Can we get them out?”

“No way; with how low their vitals are, the shock of leaving these crystals and jump-starting their vitals would probably kill them.”

“Very astute.” A voice hissed as the two paused and looked around. “And you’re correct, those crystals and my power are the only things keeping them alive right now.”

“Sombra.” Shining Armor muttered the name as his horn flared to life. “Show yourself.”

“Hm~ two unicorns… but no princess. Where is she?”

“None of your business.” Noah remarked as he turned his gaze in a random direction. “Now; come out of hiding before I drag you out.” The stallion was rewarded with a dark chuckle as the shadows started to move, converging in a single location before two eyes started to glow. Soon after the shadows started to peel away and show dark flesh and Noah watched the transition for shadow to flesh. Shining seemed to stiffen as he gazed upon the dark unicorn, while Noah just tilted his head. Dark coat, curved crimson horn, scarlet slitted eyes, red cloak…

Somepony was trying way too hard to be the bad guy.

“So this is the Unicorn king…” Shining muttered as Sombra stepped forward and started to raise small shards of blackened crystal beneath him.

‘Is there anything about this guy that isn’t cliche?’ Swear, he’d seen less generic looking bad guys in his tabletop campaigns. Noah coughed into his hoof as he caught the black stallion’s attention. “I thank you for showing yourself so easily, Blackened King of Unicorns. My battle-brother and I come far to stand before you this night.” Shining heard the words leave the stallion’s mouth like silk as he turned to him.

‘What?’

‘Dude, play along.’ That was what Noah’s eyes told the stallion.

“Ah, it appears the tongue of the old age have not changed in my absence.” Sombra stated as he stood before the two. “And here I expected time to affect it.”

“Make no mistake, Blackened King, much has changed since your time, however thou shall not be blessed in seeing our era.”

‘You’re really doing this.’

‘I’m really doing this.’

“And what pray tell makes thou so certain?”

“Before the rising sun rests upon your empire, you shall have fallen to my blade.” Sombra just chuckled, though it quickly evolved into a full blown laugh as he threw his head back for a moment before staring at the stallion.

“Interesting~. and who pray tell is it that aims to slay me?”

‘Don’t…’

“I go by many names; the Twilightsworn, Aberration Knight, the Scarlet Sorcerer, High Shaman of Rosengard, the Hunter, I am Sir Noah Astray; youngest son of the House of Bellerosé.”

“I am the High Paladin of the Keepers of the Sun, Champion of Lowrise, Captain of the Dawnguard, The Lightbound, I am Sir Shining Armor, eldest son of the House of Twilight Shield.”

Sombra just grinned viciously as he looked at the pair. “As the Umbrum King, I welcome you to my Crystal Empire, knights of Equestria.” How Shining Armor kept the smile from forming - how he kept himself from laughing - was beyond him. They were really doing this; they were screwing with the Crystal Tyrant. Keepers of the Sun, the city of Lowrise… Lightbound, all that belonged to his Ogres & Oubliettes characters. Dawnguard though; that was the official name of Celestia’s Royal Guard faction, counteracting Princess Luna’s Duskguard. ‘We are gonna be in so much trouble if he finds out we’re screwing with him…’

‘Worth it.’

‘Totally worth it.’

Both shared a look as Noah held his sword at the ready as Sombra created a hole of shadows upon the ground and levitated something out of it. A scythe of blackened metal rose from the ground as Noah frowned. Honestly he was expecting a shadow scythe or crystal but a plain black metal scythe with a wrapped handle worked too.

“Come.”

‘Que the boss music.’

Noah stepped and the ground cracked beneath him, he shot forward like a bullet as he swung his blade, locking it with Sombra’s scythe before breaking away.

‘Fast!’ Shining charged after as he fired a ray of magic at the dark stallion only for him to dodge. Noah swung his blade again as Sombra dodged, countering he brought his scythe forward and made for the stallion’s throat only for Noah to duck, dodging before he slammed his hoof into the stallion’s regula and pushed him back. He fired his blade forward as it pierced through the dark king only for black vapors to spill from the wound as he became shadows and slipped across the room. Shadow moved like a snake; circling around the stallion before lunging forward. Noah moved as Sombra became flesh again and Shining Armor fired a blast of arcane that the dark king deflected with his scythe. Noah used that moment to charge forward and tap the king’s chest with his hoof as a pulse of telekinesis threw him back.

Sombra wasn’t all that bothered, he just became shadows again moved about the room, his eyes glowing as his scythe flew forward and made to slip behind the outlander as Noah made to dodge only to stumble slightly do to loosing his balance.

‘Fucking new center of gravity!’

Before the scythe could cut into him a shield with a familiar emblem popped up before him and blocked the weapon. Armor just made his shield knock the weapon back as Noah took that moment to step back. The scythe turned on it’s own and swung downward to slowly start cutting the shield in two as Shining’s eyes widened.

“What?”

‘Wrought Iron…’

***

Cadence wasn’t to sure what woke her up, maybe it was an impulse, maybe it was the dream she had, or maybe it was because when she reached for her beloved she found herself grasping at air. Either case she found herself opening her eyes as she groaned. “Shining…” She whispered in a daze as she rubbed her eyes and looked around. Needing only a few seconds to wake herself up the mare blinked a few time before she froze. She was still in Clear’s house; but it felt empty. Misty had chosen to stay the night and was muttering something in her sleep, but her husband, and Noah were both missing. “Where…?” Cadence began.

***

“I just wish I knew what I could do to help… This is the least I can do…”

***

“He didn’t.” Cadence’s eyes widened as she made for the front door and pushed it open.

“Princess?” Misty called out in a daze but Cadence didn’t hear her. Mare just moved, heading towards the street as she took a moment to look at the corrupted crystal castle. It was still standing, it looked the same, and yet…

They’d left her behind so they could fight the Unicorn Tyrant on their own. They were putting the weight of everything on their backs and going off to fight.

Much as she hated to admit it, that was possibly the wisest course of action. The proper thing to do was to have her stay behind; let the princess wait for her knight - and whatever Noah classified as - to vanquish the Empires’ evil. She needed to stay safe, she needed to be patient and hope and pray.

…

Buck that.

She moved, breaking into a gallop as she headed towards the ominous castle.

Noah was in there.

Shining Armor was in there.

Her husband was in there.

There was no way in this world or the next that she was going to let him fight a creature like Sombra alone. She almost lost him once to Chrysalis, she was not going to risk losing him a second time.

“Hang on, I’m coming.”

***

Shining Armor moved as the scythe almost struck him. He dodged a ray of dark magic and regained his footing as he turned. He fired at Sombra and watched the shadow twist and mold itself around his attack before charging. His scythe followed from the opposite direction - locking the stallion in a pincer maneuver as he raised a barrier and let the shadow wash over him. As for the scythe, Noah took care of that; coming between the weapon and him as he blocked it with his sword and deflected it towards the ceiling. He turned to Sombra’s darkness and used his black claw to swing his blade at the shadow only for it to phase right through the dark entity.

Shining Armor started to lose ground as his barrier was pushed, though he refused to yield to the dark magic. When the last of the shadow passed over him he dropped his barrier and took a moment to breath - only for that dark scythe to descend upon him. He raised a shield to block it, though his efforts were rewarded by the sight of that magic slowly falling to the dark weapon. His shield broke and the scythe descended on him only for Noah’s blade to block the weapon again and force it back to it’s master.

“What’s going on…” Shining muttered under his breath as he and Noah stood back-to-back for a moment. “My shields… how is it that they’re failing?”

“It’s because his scythe is made of Wrought Iron.” Noah muttered as he brought his sword back.

“Wrought Iron?”

“Yeah… though it’s also called Cold Iron, heard of it?” Shining didn’t respond, not verbally, but he flinched for a moment and his eyes widened.

“So that’s it…” He knew it by that name; studied about it in school history and through lessons later reinforced at Guard training camp. Cold Iron, Wrought Iron; it was an old form of weapons - even older than Equestria itself. Cold Iron could dispel magic and it was - to an extent anyway - poisonous to all spellweavers like unicorns. “How is he carrying it though? Dark Magic or not it should be burning away the mana he’s using to hold it.”

“Wrapping.” Noah whispered as he deflected the scythe again. “That wrappings acting as a buffer. His magic can touch that and not the actual weapon. Makes sense actually… but iron’s not as sturdy as other metals like steel - we should be able to break it…”

“I don’t think so.” Shining blocked another blast of dark magic. “Weapon’s likely made from a fusion of iron and his dark magic. For all we know it could be as strong as diamond.” Noah just made a noise as he agreed. Deflecting the scythe again he watched it fly around the room for a moment.

“That aside we need to stop his movements, any ideas?”

“Sombra isn’t invulnerable in his ‘shadow form’, he’s dodging our magic attacks; he's molding his body around them.”

“It’s because he’s using magic to take on that form instead of just hiding his actual body in it.” Noah added. “And magic can hit magic.“

“Glad to see we’re on the same page.” Sombra’s scythe came flying again as they broke apart, letting it dig into the ground as Noah stood on his hind legs and connected his black claw to his limb, creating a second dark one to better grab the weapon before he brought it back. Shining Armor created another barrier around himself, expanded it at an alarming rate and molded it to press against the walls and forcing Sombra’s darkness in a single position. Noah wrapped his blade it an aura of black and red before swinging it, a large, ghastly wave of mana shooting across the chamber as he saw Sombra’s eyes widen.

The blast didn’t rip through the castle, but it did punch a hole through the next couple rooms as they heard Sombra scream in pain while his shadow shifted into flesh. He groaned as he stood back up, a thin trail of dark crystals chipping away on his side as he turned to look ahead and growled. His eyes narrowed as he found Noah suddenly appearing before him with a hoof pulled back. Without warning he smashed his limb into the dark kings face as he sent him staggering, another strike and the stallion jerked forward , and the third was rewarded with a step to the side.

Spires of black crystal shot from the ground as a shield appeared before Noah’s face and took the blunt of the strike as he was forced back. He rolled and flipped to his feet as Sombra’s eyes flared with dark magic as he fired a ray from his horn, Noah just stood on is hind legs and reached forward, an aura of white gathering around his hooves as he grabbed onto the beam of dark magic and went sliding a few feet back.

The scythe came spinning behind him, but a familiar blade intercepted it’s flight and sent it elsewhere. Shining jumped out from out Noah’s shadow as he caught the weapon, sinking his teeth into the blade's handle as he took to wielding it. When he landed he swung from Sombra’s blindspot as the ray of dark magic disappeared and the tyrant king dodged. He weaved away from the second strike and sidestepped the third. Shining raised a shield when a blast of dark magic rained down on him and stepped around his defense to press his assault. The scythe ripped itself from the shadows as Shining used the blade to block the weapon. The scythe spun around it’s owner before striking from a second angle only for Shining to block, deflecting the weapon to the side as he turned and threw a kick. He turned again firing a ray of magic as Sombra dodged and brought his scythe in an upward swing as it knocked the bastard sword away.

Noah was already leaping above Shining when he used his black claws to grab the weapon and stab it downward into the ground. Sombra dodged, becoming shadow as he slipped around the pair and behind them. He flared his horn as the ground dropped, taking the two other unicorns to a lower level as they stumbled for footing.

“Armor!”

“I’m alright!” Both looked up to see a rain of dark crystals descending upon them and Shining quickly raised a barrier. Floor was littered in seconds but that didn’t stop the crystal rain from falling. Shining just grit his teeth as he kept his barrier strong stopping only when a familiar scythe and it’s owner punched through his defense. Both males moved as the dark stallion slammed into the floor and watched him disappear into a black puddle. Soon after did the crystals that littered the floor start to glow with dark magic. The tyrant king’s eye shined in each one before they fired individual rays of dark magic that bounced off each crystal construct and continued down the cluttered hall like gatling fire.

Noah was already gone, appearing across an empty portion of the hall as the reflected shots continued down toward him. He tossed Shining away from him and turned back to the live-fire. He clapped, and a transparent pulse of white washed over his side of the room as Sombra’s fire started to dissolve and vanish.

Sombra appeared beneath the outlander’s shadow as he swung his scythe, Shining grabbed him with magic and pulled hard to get him to safety. Throwing the stallion to his side the two stood ready as Sombra turned to them.

***

Cadence panted for breath as she looked around the Crystal castle. No pony was in sight; not Sombra, not Shining Armor, not Noah. “Which way?” The sound of something crashing down one of the halls caught her attention as she turned. “That way.” She took off running, following the sounds of battle that seemed to be around every corner she took. Where were they? They sounded so close. She heard the sound again, this time coming from behind her as she turned and felt the ground tremble. “Below.”

***

Noah flipped off a wall as Sombra’s scythe tried to carve into him and landed across from the tyrant king. Shining fired a ray of magic that the dark unicorn deflected before making a swing at him. Shining ducked and Noah threw a punch and smashed it into a wall. Shining formed a barrier around Sombra to keep him still. In turn Sombra just became shadow and started to expand himself till the barrier broke as Noah threw an enchanted punch that made Sombra revert to his corporeal form as he staggered back. Sombra countered with a near point-blank spell that sent Noah through a wall and Shining retaliated by charging the tyrants. He dodged scythe swings and magic spells as he closed in and decked the dark stallion in the face. Unlike Noah, when Sombra retaliated Shining raised a shield and only took a couple steps back to steady himself as the tyrant charged him.

Only thing was the dark stallion tripped, a pair of black claws grabbed his hind legs and pulled him into the room Noah had been launched into. Noah stood, connected the claws to his hooves as he turned and smashed Sombra into the walls before dragging him along the ground. Pinning the stallion with one claw Noah brought the other back as he enlarged it. Bringing it down with a roar the impact smashed him and the Black Tyrant through the floor, and several more hits did the same to the following lower levels.

Shining ran into the room as he looked down at the abyss and made to jump. “Shining!” Cadence’s voice stopped him as he turned and looked to his wife, seeing the mare panting as she stood in the broken hall.

“Cadence.” Shining paused as he noticed something slip in Cadence’s shadow as she approached. “Cadence get down!” Maybe it was reflex from hearing the former guard captain issue an command, but she did as ordered and a dark scythe passed overhead, nipping a few of her hairs and made its way towards the hole in the floor. Noah’s blade was next, firing off and seeming to give pursuit of the darker weapon as it dived. Shining just made for his wife as panic filled his eyes. “Cadence are you -?”

“I’m fine.” She stood and developed a look in her eyes as she stared at her husband. Shining knew that look; knew it from their dating days - showed that he was in trouble. “Where’s Noah and Sombra?” Shining Armor just looked at the hole in the ground as Cadence bit her lips. “Let’s go.”

***

Noah hit a wall as Sombra blasted him with a wave of dark magic before pulling himself from the ground. Sombra just growled as he looked at his opponent and summoned a horde of blackened crystals to fire at the stallion. The outlander’s eyes flashed as the weapons impaled him; smashing into a nearby wall as the hundreds of following crystals ripped through him and the wall.

“Behind you.” Sombra turned, eyes widening as an unscarred Noah came up behind him and smashed his hooves against the stallion’s ears. Disoriented, the dark king failed to notice the two limbs grabbing onto his head and the headbutt against his muzzle that followed. Right after Noah spun, planting a roughly made roundhouse on the side of his face and sent him to the wall. Sombra spit a bit of blood as he looked at the outlander, seeing him try planting both his hind legs on his face. Sombra became shadows; phasing through the attack before wrapping around the younger pony and slammed his front two hooves on his exposed barrel.

Noah’s turn to to spit a bit of blood, Sombra smashed him into the ground before throwing a series of armorclad hooves onto the stallion’s form. Only saving grace was that that armor wasn’t iron, would have stung like a bitch if it had. Noah caught the last punch as he knocked it away, a claw of black grabbing Sombra’s cape as it pulled it over the stallion’s face to blind him. That done he got to his feet and put a bit of room between him and the dark unicorn before raising a hoof to let his claw grab onto the floor above him. With a pull he brought it down on Sombra’s head, dropping chunks of debris on the unicorn kings in an attempt to bury him alive. The tyrant was heard growling as his shadow slipped through the cracks in the debris before washing over the room.

Grunting Noah felt shards of crystal stab into his body as he was carried across the hall and through another wall. Thrown into another room Noah just picked himself up as Sombra glared from beyond his shadow. Noah stood, his tattered jacket sliding off his form as it revealed the few scars his body had beneath it. The young outlander just grunted as he looked at his apparel for a second. “Sorry Lucretia, looks like I need another repair job.”

“You will need more than that when I’m through with you.”

“Mh.” Noah clapped, a pulse of white leaving him as Sombra suddenly reverted to flesh.

“What?!” Noah didn’t answer, just charged as the tyrant king was caught off guard and slammed his hoof into his face. This time Noah didn’t let up, laying into the dark stallion as he pushed him across the room. The last strike he made was reinforced by a wave of telekinesis and threw the dark king away. Sombra retaliated with a wave of of dark magic as Noah went sliding back towards the wall.

‘Ok think Noah… we can’t do that trick much longer… damn it I hate not having my mind and body fully synchronized…’ The youth thought to himself as he ducked under a familiar scythe trying to cut his head off as he looked at it for a moment. “Got it.” Sombra got back to his feet as he charged the stallion and Noah turned to him and tapped the wall. “Come and get me.” Sombra punched the wall as it caved, a vain attempt to hit the outlander only for him to have vanished. Behind him he saw a shadow move, as Noah make a break for it. Sombra tisked as he gave chase, changing into his shadow form as he retrieved his scythe.

Noah sped across the floors as he looked around. “Come on he’s gotta have one here somewhere…”

“Noah!” He saw Shining Armor and Cadence come down a corner as they approached.

“Follow!” The stallion barked as he sped off before them as they looked back, seeing that there was a giant shadow giving chase. They followed the scarred stallion without a second thought and Sombra gave chase.

“We need a plan.”

“Cadence where’s the armory?” Cadence looked at the stallion.

“What makes you think I know where it is?”

“You’re the one getting memories of this empire, you might know where it is.” Cadence just stared at the stallion as she saw his sword return to him and follow its master.

“Um… its…” A light of clarity went off behind the mare’s eyes as she turned her head. “I know where it is.” The mare stated as she started to fly, leading her husband and the offlander down corridors as they dodged waves of dark magic. Noah glanced back at Sombra as the stallion roared and threw his scythe, only for the weapon to be deflected from the outlanders own blade. Shining raised a shield and Sombra blasted it with magic. They alternated between steel and arcane as the dark king continued to chase them, though they were forced to stop and turn down another hall as a wall of tainted crystal rose to block their path. “We’re not going to make it with him chasing us.”

“Then I’ll buy you some time.” Shining Armor stated as he turned to Noah.

“Shining!” The white stallion pulled to a sudden stop and rose a barrier behind him to separate the hall. Cadence and Noah just stopped for a moment as she ran up to the barrier and started to bash on it. “No! I’m not leaving you to fight him on your own!”

“You need to get Noah to the armory, now!” The stallion raised a another barrier - this time one before him as Sombra rammed into it. “I’ll be fine; I was trained for situations like this.”

“Shining…” Shining looked back to his wife as he gave her a smile.

“I’ll see you when this is all over.” The smile dropped as he turned to Noah and looked at the stallion’s eyes. “Keep her safe.” Noah nodded his head and stabbed his bastard sword into the floor as Shining looked at it for a few seconds.

“I want that back when this is over.” He turned his head to Cadence and put a hoof on her back. “We gotta go.” Cadence just looked between Noah and her husband as Shining's barrier started to buckle. “Cadence!”

“Be safe.” Cadence muttered as she turned and led Noah off. Shining grabbed the blade by telekinesis and formed a third barrier behind it. His first one broke as Sombra roared, and Shining pulled the steel bastard sword through his second barrier and held it at the ready.

Sombra just glared down at the stallion as he made a noise. “Standing your ground to protect your comrades, admirable, but foolish white knight.”

“A stallion does foolish things for love.” Shining stated as he glared upward.

“Poor ignorant stallion, love will be your downfall.”

“We’ll see about that.” Shining stated. “I am Shining Armor of the Dawnguard, and I am your opponent now.” He charged and the blade followed. He wrapped it in magic - making it glow a faint rose hue - and right after he formed a shield to protect himself and swung the blade. Sombra swung his scythe, locking it against the weapon as he molded around the shield. Shining took that moment to fire a ray of magic as the tyrant made quick work to mold around it. The dark stallion fired his own ray as Shining formed another shield before him as he deflected the blast elsewhere. He moved and enveloped his opponent’s face in a barrier to keep them still as he brought it down on his borrowed blade. Sombra just countered with his scythe and deflected the weapon before having it spin and split the shield to free himself.

The tyrant smiled as he backed away, raising spikes of dark crystal along the floor only for Shining to create a shield beneath him to act as a platform. When the crystals rose he was thrown airborne, and kicked off a second shield that was above him and flipped over the dark unicorn. Both clashed with rays of arcane as Shining landed behind the shadow. With a quick dodge he cut the connection to his magic and dodged, focusing on the blade and swung as Somba’s visible face. The dark stallion grunted as he was struck before he looked back. A wave of shadows washed over the unicorn as Shining started sliding back. He raised a barrier around him to minimize the damage but when it was over his coat was still bloodied by razors of black energy. In the meantime Sombra charged as he had his scythe rip through the barrier and Shining started to back step, using the blade to parry and block the blows that were coming in his direction.

Shining just grit his teeth as he and Sombra exchanged strikes, sparks of iron and steel colliding with one another as the unicorn knight dodged rays of dark magic. ‘That shadow form is really getting on my nerves.’ Shining thought as he made another swing at the black shadow only for him to mold around it. ‘Long as he can take it I can’t really hurt him.’ He leapt to the side to avoid another strike from Sombra’s scythe before enveloping the corridor in his magic, locking Sombra in place when the magic washed over him. Following it, Shining compressed his magic, forming a barrier around the dark unicorn as he narrowed his eyes. He stomped his hoof and the barrier collapsed - seeming to implode before detonating outward, showering the room in black blood. Only reason Shining wasn’t covered in the liquid was do to a shield he raised at the last minute. When he dropped the shield he looked at the mess he had created and stepped back to lower the blade.

Wouldn't lie, part of him wanted to vomit. Royal guard or not, Shining Armor, ponies in general weren’t accustomed to killing - especially in such a gorey fashion. ‘I compressed him to the size of an ant, there’s no way he could have survived-’ The liquid moved and Shining groaned as it started to crawl towards a single point. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me…” Even before the liquid fully came together, parts of it lunged, shadow tendrils firing from their mass as they closed in on the knight.

***

“Alright we’re here.” Cadence muttered as she saw Noah kick in the door to the armory and looked around. Naturally there were quite a few varieties of weapons, axes, blades, flails, halberds. Most of crystal, but some were of regular metals like copper and bronze.

“Thanks.” He created a wall of magic and let it pass over the weapons as he seemed to watch for something.

“What did you need to come here for?”

“That.” Noah muttered as he stared at something, rushed forward and smiled. Cadence just looked at the weapon in confusion. It was just a quiver filled with arrows. Not arrows of crystal or enchanted, just plain arrows.

“Arrows?” Looking around Noah found some old banners and used his magic to tear them apart. Being careful he set one of the arrows on the cloth before taking a breath. “What in Equestria are you going to do with arrows?”

“Level the playing field.” Noah stated as he wrapped the arrowhead up and used his magic to pull it from the body. That done he turned to a broadsword, grabbed the bronze handle with magic and turned to Cadence. “Grab one of the weapons, make sure it has either a bronze or copper handle.” Cadence looked in confusion before nodding her head and grabbed a weapon. Her choice? A flail of all things. ‘I’m not sure why, but for a cartoonish pony she just got super hot for some reason.’ He shook his head before rushing out the armory with Cadence close behind him.

They made it to an antechamber when they heard a body drop, saw Shining’s unconscious form and Noah's steel blade.

“No…”

“Don’t worry, he’s alive.” Noah stated as his eyes flashed for a second and looked to the shadow around Shining armor as it formed into Sombra. That said the dark king glared at the stallion before his eyes rested on the pink alicorn. Confusion crossed his eyes as he stared at her though it quickly evolved into a natural glare.

“A new alicorn? How?” Cadence didn’t answer as Noah just looked at the tyrant and stepped forward.

“I’ll pull him away from Shining, you check on him.” Again the ground cracked as Noah blurred forward, and tackled Sombra as he pushed him back. Cadence didn’t hesitate to look after her love as she crouched down next to him. “Shining? Shining?”

“Urgh~” Shining opened his eyes as he struggled to move. He shivered as he did, a noticeable gash across his side that he clutched. “It burns… I - it burns…”

“The wound burns?” Cadence looked down to see shards of dark metal stabbed into her husband’s flesh. Without a word she called on her magic, trying to grab hold of the material only to find her magic not working on it. She used her teeth next, stopping only when she felt a burning sensation shoot through her. “Ow!” What material was this? It… it burned, just like Shining Armor had said. Narrowing her eyes though in determination she dived back into the wound and started to pull the shards from her husband's form. Felt like her lips were blistering as she touched each of the shards, didn’t stop her though. Pulling the last one out with slightly bloody lips the mare spit the shard amongst the tiny pile she had made. “There that should do it.” Shining Armor looked to his wife as he gave her a weak smile.

“Thanks…”

“You don’t have to thank me.” She said with a smile as Shining forced himself to his feet. “Your horn…” There was some strange crystals forming around the base of her stallion’s horn, and when he tried charging a spell he found it blocked.

“It’s some kind of anti-magical crystals.” The stallion muttered as he winched and held his wound. “Damn… this pain is definitely going to linger.”

“Take it easy, I’ll take over.”

“No I can still fight.”

“I know but so can I.” The mare stated as she looked to Noah and saw him clashing with Sombra again. “And it’s my turn.”

Sombra grunted as he slid across the floor and looked to the outlander as he used a hoof to wipe some blood from his cheek. Pain lingered, but he could bare it. Still… “That weapon…”

Noah pointed the blade forward as he took a breath. “You just left these just sitting in the armory, figured I’d take one.” He stated and charged, cracking the ground as their weapons locked and he pushed the taller stallion back. “Come on, go shadow, give me a bigger target!” Sombra just hissed at him and fired a blast of dark magic. Noah just dodged, leaning to the side as he pressed his attack. He made a wide swing and Sombra slipped behind him to swing his scythe. He stopped though when he heard a battle cry and found a flail almost smashing into his face. He stepped back and Cadence turned, pressing the attack as she caused the dark unicorn to start back-pedal. The black king dodged another flail strike as he retaliated with his scythe. Cadence raised a shield and charged. Shield wasn't meant to stop the magic dispelling weapon, it was to slow it down as her horn flared, releasing a blinding flash of blue light that caused Sombra to roar in pain. Blinded he never saw the flail smash into him. Cadence followed it with a back-kick and knocked the stallion away before creating a beam of light. Sombra just shook his head and retreated to the darkness, avoiding the blast as he circled around the mare. He fired blindly, throwing rays of dark magic flaring across the antechambers as it kicked up a torrent of dark crystals.

***

Outside Crystal Ponies were roused from their homes as they heard the blasts, watching streaks of dark magic start to spill out from different parts of the castle. "What the... what's going on?" Misty looked at the castle as she stood among the crowd, watching waves of dark crystal start to grow from the castle, granting it a haphazard appearance.

"Its the Crystal Princess... she and her knights are fighting the king."

"The Crystal Princess?"

"But she's... she's gone."

"She left a successor..." Misty muttered as she stared at the sight and saw part of the castle start to break. "Princess Cadence... be careful." The mare muttered as she saw a young pony drop to her hind legs and started to pray.

"Please be safe."

"Please don't die."

***

Cadence grunted as she pulled herself from a destroyed ledge and started to fly, throwing herself back inside the Crystal castle and the fight as she tackled Sombra. Her flail was right behind her, trying to smash into the stallion's barrel as he faded away and she hit the ground with a roll. The dark king reformed and fired a wave of magic as he growled at the mare and charged.

"Head's up." Cadence ducked as a steel blade came flying behind her. Sombra moved, dodging only to find the broadsword flying in it's shadow. That one hit home, stabbing into the stallion as he erupted into a scream as he was burned from the blade of Wrought Iron. The outlander made himself known a second later as he closed in and punched Sombra in the stomach as he grabbed his weapon. His striking hoof turned as pushed it forward and sent the dark king back as he pulled his weapon back and backed away.

"My... blood..." Sombra choked as he staggered for a moment and grit his teeth. "Wretched UPSTARTS!!!" A sphere of dark magic washed over the two as princess and outlander braced themselves."

"Think you made him mad!"

"Good!" Before the sphere could reach the pair it dissipated as Sombra coughed, dropping to the floor as Cadence looked at him.

"What the?"

"It... it burns... it burns!" The tyrant choked out as he clutched his side, though it wasn't the one that was cut open and breathing vapors of dark magic. It was his unharmed side that 'burned'. "What did you do to me?"

"That would be the pain of an iron arrowhead nestled next to your stomach." Noah stated as he called back his steel blade. "Wound have gone for your head but my aim was off."

"Iron?" Sombra grunted.

But there's no wound." Noah just made a noise.

"When I punched you I shoved the arrowhead into him and closed the wound right after. Wanted to make sure it stayed no matter which form you took."

"That's impossible no pony can close a wound that fast..." Sombra's eyes narrowed as Noah shrugged.

"Not normally, no." Noah stated as he charged and Sombra stopped him with his scythe. "Getting grazed by iron burns so badly it feels like being burned at the stake, having it inside you must feel like your bathing in hellfire!"

"Don't... get... ahead of yourself!" The black king grunted as he got to his feet and made to blast the stallion away. Spell was far weaker than he expected, but he still succeeded. He bit into his scythe and swung it as Noah blocked. Cadence came from his blindside as Sombra moved, dodging her flail and she fired a ray of magic. He dodged the ray and went after Cadence, forcing her to defend with the handle of her flail. She dodged another swing and Noah struck only to be blocked by a wave of crystals. He coughed up blood as he was impaled, and dropped.

"Noah!" Cadence grit her teeth as she stepped around the dark stallion and ripped out a piece of dark crystal before stabbing it at the tyrant king's hind leg. Sombra grunted as he lifted the leg and threw a kick at her and pushed her back. The scythe followed as he swung it, coming around and almost scarring her face had she not blocked with an arcane shield before ducking low. She swung her flail and the dark king blocked it with his scythe, letting the iron weapon wrap around his scythe before he wretched it from her side. He turned spinning his weapon only for it to disappear as an explosion sounded in their ears. Weapon was broken, busted into shards as Sombra looked back at it. A whistle caught his attention as a hoof brushed against part of the broken scythe.

Cadence's eyes widened, as did Sombra's - though the latter changed when Noah stabbed the dark iron shard into Sombra's side made it disappear into his flesh. The bleeding outlander flowed it with a punch and a headbutt that broke the king's muzzle. Cadence shook her head and rejoined the fight, charging the dark unicorn as she fired rays of magic. Sombra grunted as he turned to her, forced his magic to gather before releasing blast of dark crystals in her direction. She blocked with a shield of magic as she grunted. Creating a flash of blinding light she stole the king's eyes while Noah slammed his hooves on his ears to disorient his hearing. Right after they both forced themselves to grab hold of scythe shards and started to stab them into the dark king, forcing the dark iron into his body to further spread it's poison. Sombra surrounded himself in a wall of dark magic as he pushed outward, a wave pushing his two attackers back as Noah rolled switching to his handgun and took aim. He fired, another explosion of sound piercing through the castle as the tyrant staggered back.
The dark king roared, another wave of dark crystals rising around him as they shot outward and Cadence took flight. Noah cracked the ground and appeared a good couple feet away from the destruction.

"He can still cast with that much iron in his system?"

"He's cornered and desperate!" Noah remarked as he called the two blades to his side. "He's calling out everything he can just to keep going." Looking at the dark king the two stared at the storm of dark magic that was radiating from his horn and eyes. The stallion really was bringing out everything he had, it was corrupting the dark tile even beyond it's current appearance.

"So what do we do?"

"Hit him with everything!" Noah muttered as he stomped his hooves and pointed forward with a front limb. "I'll give you an opening, just don't miss." An aura of white gathered around the stallion's hoof as he aimed it. Cadence just nodded as she dived into herself as she focused, her horn sparking to life as she thought to her past. Her magic ran on her feelings; her love. The love for her husband, the love for her aunt, the love for nation... she focused on all of it as her cutie mark glowed.

Sombra twitched as he looked at the mare before roaring and threw his head forward, a blast of dark arcane firing from his horn as Noah countered with his own. There was no explosion upon contact, there was no sphere of power that threatened to grow, there was no quake or sparks. All there was, was a shower of light upon contact, the dark magic and the wave Noah created were quietly wrestling against one another as Noah grit his teeth. There was a lot of magic spilling from the tyrant, he couldn't keep this up for long and he was already at his limit since he hadn't fully adjust to his body yet.

[i']But that doesn't mean I can't do this much' Noah grunted as he released more of his power and pushed Sombra's back. 'Come on... come on... you can do this Noah! She just needs one opening, you can give her that much!' He grunted as he felt Sombra's dark magic start to over take him.

That was when he saw the flail make a reappearance and smack into the dark king. Both he and Sombra turned to see Shining Armor standing, still clutching his side as he looked at Sombra in defiance.

"You!"

"Cadence; fire!" Cadence did just that, launching a wave of light leaving her horn as it chased after Noah's. The stallion's did it's work first; neutralizing the dark magic and Cadence's followed right after washing over the dark king as it punched through the remaining wall and he started to break apart.

"No... no! NOOO!" In an instant the dark king was gone, his body shattering like glass as the ray of good magic punched through the sky and disappeared. For a moment everything ran silent as Noah, Shining and Cadence looked at the destruction and took a moment to gather their collective breaths. Noah and Cadence dropped as Shining approached them. A weak smile upon his face as he sat next to them as well.

"Hey."

"Hey." Noah smirked as he raised a hoof and Shining bumped it with his own.

"We won..." Cadence whispered.

"Fuck yeah." Noah leaned back. "I haven't been this winded after a fight in the longest, I wanna nap."

"I think we all earned one." Cadence admitted as she heard Shining chuckle.

"So... what now?" A growl caught the pairs attention as they turned to the hole in the wall and saw the outside world.

"Oh... right; dragon." No not dragon. It had some odd features as it glared at them and Noah couldn't help but groan as he looked back at the titan thing. "... we come in peace?"

"We are so screwed aren't we?"

"Yes; yes we are." Cadence admitted as the trio forced themselves to their feet. Noah floated the bastard sword to his side as he held it at the ready. Cadence flared what magic she had left, and Shining bit into the broadsword's bronze handle. The dragonoid entity just growled a moment longer as it stared at the trio before going silent, seeming to turn it's gaze elsewhere before backing up. Two great leathery wings took flight as it roared at them, and in turn it kicked up a gale like force that nearly knocked the tree back on their butts. It didn't attack though, it didn't roast them alive, it backed off, took flight outside the castle and started to disappear over the horizon. "What?"

"Its leaving?"

"Oh thank the Mother Goddess." Noah dropped the bastard sword and breathed a sigh of relief. "I did not wanna deal with that."

"Why'd it leave?" Shining asked as Cadence watched the beast fly off.

"Maybe it was under a spell? Like some form of hypnosis and it was freed when Sombra fell?"

"Maybe..."

"I don't really care." Noah muttered. "I pretty much have nothing left in me right now. I expended a lot of Ki today."

"Ki?"

"Story, to tired to talk about it." Noah admitted as he yawned. "I just wanna take five and wake up next week."

"Me too."

"Not so fast you two. We still have a job to do." Cadence was met with a pair of groans as the two looked at her. "We have to get to the Crystal Heart and use its power to purify the Crystal Empire."

"Fu~uck, do have to do that right now?"

"Yes."

"We don't even know where it is." Shining Armor just got a smile from his wife. "really..."

"I know where it is." The two just looked at her before turning to each other.

"How?"

"I~ felt it, when I focused my powers against Sombra." Cadence looked to a tower as Shining and Noah noticed her Cutie Mark glowing.

"Damn magic butt stamp bullshit." Noah muttered as he got to his feet and Shining followed. "Fine... one last ride before the dawn?"

"One last ride before the dawn." Shining stated as Cadence started walking down the destroyed room and made their way through the castle.

"Also." Cadence paused as she looked back at the two. "You two are in so much trouble when were done with this."

"Worth it."

"Not worth it Armor... Noah muttered as he groaned. "Not worth it."