Bare My Curse

"WhoooOOOAAAA!!!"

Indigo yelled out as he fell from the sky, hitting something metal and moving as he landed. Grabbing a hold of it before he could fall off, he grunted as he realized it was a moving train. Climbing up over the side he fell off, he kept a tight grip on the edge of the traincar as it kept moving at high speeds through the snowy terrain. Brushing the blizzard from his eyes, he scoffed.

"Nice landing area, Nightmare."

"Hey, your testicles are not attached to your chin, are they? I consider this a successful trip."

"Where are we now?"

Nightmare's head appeared by his, looking forward at the train rails.

"You tell me, Indigo."

He looked around as she kept her gaze forward.

"Judging from the snow, we're still somewhere north of the Kingdom of Equestria, and those mountains. I'd say we're somewhere near Yaret Range, maybe even further into Mt. Everhoof."

"Very observant, but wrong. We're exactly where we need to be."

"What?"

He looked ahead, seeing a cyan dome up ahead.

"Give or take a few hours into the future, and a few dozen miles, we're back where we started."

"But, this train..."

"It's on the right track to the Crystal Empire. We ride it to the station and hoof it a few miles, we'll be inside the main capital of crystals itself."

*WHOOOO-WHOOOO*

Indigo looked down as the train was coming to a stop after seeing the station up ahead. When it reached a speed slow enough for him to jump, he hopped off the side, sliding through the snow and rolling to break his own fall. Pressing his hand at the side of the station, he worked his way around, avoiding contact with the ponies in fear of scaring them. Looking towards the dome of energy, he began his walk towards it.

"Seems like we beat Sombra here."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Huh? Why not?"

Indigo stopped when he suddenly felt a chill. Hearing screams behind him, he spun around, widening his eyes when he saw a tsunami of shadows drown the station.

"Remember where I said that portal would take us?"

The wave of shadows stopped when the whole station was engulfed, two green eyes looking through it straight at him. He knew those eyes anywhere, especially since those eyes were the last he saw before he nearly died.

"I wasn't lying."

"Oh no... What do we do...?"

"Considering our standing..."

The eyes swam up to the top of the wave, glaring down at him.

"We run."

Indigo didn't need to be told twice as he turned and pushed off towards the cyan barrier, pushing his limits and staying just a little bit ahead of the cloud of dark smoke. With Nightmare Moon's power fused with his own natural magic, he ran faster than any pony OR Dragon could muster. Making the last sprint to the finish, he dove through the barrier, evading that last second where he would have been caught.

Indigo was surprised to have hit grass instead of snow. Feeling the climate change as well left him alarmed. It was completely different inside the dome. Like Winter suddenly became Spring overnight. Looking back at the barrier, he saw that, unlike him, Sombra was rejected entry into the Crystal Empire. It was as if the barrier was specifically made to keep him out. Standing back up, he turned to the interior of the barrier, seeing a city made of crystals inside.

"Whoa..."

"Beautiful, is it not? A whole Empire centered around a single city made of minerals. Legend has it that when the Queen once ruled, you could see this Empire glow from any corner of the Kingdom."

"I believe it. It's... majestic in a way. Maybe my family should have come here..."

Indigo's expression fell when he mentioned his family, but shook his head.

"Why did you bring us inside the Crystal Empire? Aren't we supposed to fight Sombra and defeat him ourselves?"

"In the state he's in, my power won't last against his own. Thus, we have to find a different way. A relic that he'd hidden away in his time of rule."

"A relic? Like, an artifact of power?"

He began trudging down the dirt path towards town as Nightmare hummed.

"Ponies around here know it as the Crystal Heart. My host and her sister had yet to see it for themselves, so I haven't the faintest idea what it looks like, so use your imagination."

"Tsk, gee, thanks for the guidance."

"Look, I don't have ALL the answers, but word has it that it should be underneath the castle, right at the center of the city."

"Alright, then I guess we know where we're going."

He sped up to a jog, rushing past ponies that gave him an odd look, and some fearful, as they felt Nightmare Moon's presence off him. He didn't care so much as he wanted to save them, and keep that Unicorn King from hurting anypony else in this country. No one else needs to die. No one but him, and him alone. Indigo would make sure of that, and so will Nightmare Moon. As they ran in and out of the streets of the Crystal Empire, they noticed how... sullen the crowd looked. They were known as Crystal Ponies for a reason, and that was usually because they were the happiest and most welcoming ponies in the land. At least, that's what Nightmare Moon remembered before Sombra took over.

Indigo slowed his pace as he also took notice of the carnival fanfare littering the streets. Confused, he approached one, taking a hat made of straw in his enlarged claw before putting it back.

"Why are they celebrating? Don't they know they're in danger?"

"Judging from the tone of their colors, they don't appear to be anything but scarred, and repressed. You take one look at them and you can see all they've witnessed and experienced. Famine, conflict, war, genocide; impurity to its most vile and disgusting degree."

"So they don't know he's back?"

"I don't think so, no, and it's best to keep it that way. Last thing we need is chaos and panic to slow us down."

"Right. Which way?"

"Down the street. The castle is just up ahead."

Turning to the side, he rushed past and jumped over ponies in the street, getting odd and fearful looks when they were supposed to be happy, considering every smile adds a new layer of brightness to their fur. Making his way to the base of the castle, he saw it standing upon four supportive beams of crystal. Looking underneath the airborne-suspended castle, he saw two mares trying shoo away the citizens.

"That must be it...!"

Nightmare Moon kept silent, a feeling of uncertainty in her essence as Indigo walked through the crowd, gently ushering them out of his way.

"Stop."

"Huh...?"

Nightmare Moon looked at the ponies of the crowd, seeing the two that were guarding it.

"Behind the supporting crystal, now."

He blinked at the urgency in her voice, but did as she said, hiding himself when the mares were distracted.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Those two mares in front of the Crystal Heart. They're two of the six Element Bearers that defeated me when I returned to Equestria."

Indigo looked past the pillar, seeing a white Unicorn with a curly purple mane and tail along with a farmpony with orange fur.

"The Element of Generosity and Honesty. If they know I've returned as well, they will turn on us. We can't be seen, not by them."

"So, what now? How do we get the-"

Indigo was interrupted when a pink Earth Pony, whom was putting on a show, fell off the beachball she was dancing on. Watching it hit the Heart and send it flying from its cover, he blinked when he saw it skid to a halt before the citizens. The Crystal Ponies confirmed his suspicions as they all gasped.

"This isn't the Crystal Heart."

The white Unicorn smiled nervously as she and the other two mares backed towards the center of the underside of the castle.

"Ahahaha!~ Well, of course it isn't. The real one is-"

"On its way!"

"I... was going to say 'being polished'..."

Indigo stared at the fake relic, cursing to himself as he looked out towards the city. The image of bright skies was flickering, and Sombra was getting closer.

"We need to find that heart..."

"Check the castle. It would be the one place where he would hide it. Nopony would dare enter it when he was in charge. They were too scared to."

"Good idea..."

Indigo waited till the Element Bearers had their backs to him, then made his move, finding a door that led inside. Pushing it open, he snuck in, seeing two corridors going either way.

"How do we know where to find this thing?"

"Follow your heart, Indigo. The Crystal Heart is powered by love and affection. Friendship, romance, empathy; all essences that it resonates constantly."

"Hmm..."

Turning his head upwards, he could feel such a presence coming from above. Rushing down the hallway, he made for the stairs and proceeded to where he suspected the Heart would be: the throne room. Only, when he got there, he found it empty, with a secret passageway leading into the floor. Looking into it, it seemed to be a stairway leading deeper into the stomach of the castle.

"Think it might be down there?"

"I'm thinking we're out of time."

"What?"

He turned to the throne as it burst into dark crystals, making him stagger back.

"Oh, crap..."
He looked towards the outside through a window, seeing that the domain was fading. Running to the sill, he glanced down at the city, watching more and more of those spires appear everywhere.

"You're right. There's no time to find the Heart. We have to do this without it."

He stepped back and prepped to jump out.

"Hey! Up here!"

He stopped himself and looked up, seeing another young Dragon, just a little smaller than him before the change, holding the Crystal Heart.

"Holy shit! That's it!"

"Move, Indigo! NOW!!!"

He turned and jumped out, using his wings to fly up a few feet before clasping onto the side of the castle. Watching the young Dragon run down the spire next to the castle, he peered out at Sombra as the barrier finally fell, hearing him roar out as he rushed towards the Crystal Castle with fury and rage.

"THAT IS MINE!!!"

His quick approached shook the ground as more spires and crystals erupted from the ground in his wake. Indigo widened his eyes as the young Dragon fell off, tumbling towards his death while the Heart slipped from his grasp. Pushing in on the castle, he lunged towards the Dragon just before he passed him, catching him and the Heart while his feet bucked forward, knocking a nearly-whole King Sombra back down the bridging crystals he used to ascend. Landing on the bridge himself, he put the young Dragon on his back as he gave him the Crystal Heart.

"Hold onto me."

The Dragon said nothing as he clutched his blue spines, looking down at Sombra as he climbed to his hooves. Snarling at Indigo, he recognized the tendrils that seeped out of him, and more so, the helmet on his head.

"Nightmare..."

He stomped his hoof on the crystal below him, jutting out a few more around his body.

"GIVE it to ME. Give me my Crystal Heart."

Nightmare Moon glared at him through Indigo before taking hold, this time being willful on Indigo's behalf. Transforming into the second form they attained when Nightmare Moon first took hold of Indigo's body, inhabiting it like a parasite, she growled back.

"No. These ponies, this Kingdom, are ALL mine. I will not allow you to harm them. Only I may torment these creatures."

Sombra let out a vicious snarl as his horn bubbled with dark magic. Firing it at Nightmare Moon, she lifted up her claw and smashed the magic away, jumping back when several sharp crystals shot up from under her. With the younger Dragon still holding on, he closed his eyes tightly as Nightmare landed, just barely dodging an airborne crystal that stabbed down into the bridge before her.

"HOLY SHIT!!!"

"Language!"

Nightmare Moon used her tendrils to pick up the crystal, using it as a shield to block another magical bolt. While it was successful, it was just only so. The bolt reflected off the shard, grazing Indigo's shoulder as Nightmare Moon looked back at it. Humming, she tossed the crystal away and snapped those same tendrils to Sombra's head, choking him out as she flung him over her and slammed him down into the other side of the crystal bridge. As he lifted his head to stand up, he was met with a tail quickly lashing towards his muzzle. Cutting up against his cheek as he was knocked onto his back, he growled, looking up at Nightmare Moon as she turned to him.

"Your new host is strong."

Nightmare's tendrils bit into the wound on Indigo's arm, healing it as she hissed at the dark King.

"But he's even more vulnerable.~"

With a flash of his eyes, Indigo let out a scream inside of his body, catching Nightmare's attention. He was using his magic to show Indigo his worst fears. Still in control, she had no way of helping him, not out here. She had to keep fighting, while he toiled with his own demons.

Inside of his mind, Indigo was thrown into the cold side of his mind, where everything was near-freezing. Landing on his hands and knees, he gulped down the knot in his throat as he panted.

"Nightmare...? Nightmare?"

He stood up, looking around.

"Indigo..."

He perked up as his name was called in a hush whisper. He knew that voice.

"M-Mom...?"

He turned around as the whisper came again, seeing what appeared to be a mirror, but was really, it was a window, and on the other side was something that horrified him. It was his brother, strapped to a chair and bound with magic-concealing braces. All around him were ponies that looked like they'd crawled out of their own graves. They all lumbered towards him, their jaws hanging or limply snapping shut. Indigo placed his hands on the mirror before bashing at the glass, trying to break it, but each crack he made was fixed in a single instance. He could do nothing as he watched his brother get torn to shreds by teeth and hooves.

Hearing moaning from another mirror beside him, a light came on, showing his mother getting brutally molested and raped by other Dragons. They all were laughing hysterically, genuinely and morbidly enjoying their time toying with her. It was enough to boil his blood and tense his nerves. Looking behind him as another light came on, he found one more mirror, which had his father walking away with King Sombra, abandoning him and his family to die as he lived on as Sombra's personal Dragon.

The morphed drake gritted his teeth as he watched all three of these play again and again, tears leaking from his eyes as he faced one final mirror, one that was meant for his own nightmare. All that stared back was himself, now made a monster from Nightmare Moon's transformation. He turned away, not able to bear looking at himself any longer, but the reflection did not copy his movements. Instead, it continued to stare at him before punching its way through the glass and pulling him through.

Nightmare Moon flipped and glided along the bridge as Sombra continued to blast at her and the drake on her back. Landing far from Sombra, she dug her tendrils into the crystal, she wrapped them around Sombra's hooves before a single one went around his chest, pulling him to the bridge's floor violently and cracking a tooth when his face collided with it. Lunging at him as he recuperated, she sent him upwards with a vertical hook, watching him fly before reeling back her claws and sending both fists forward at once. With the force of the punches hitting Sombra square in the chest, Nightmare Moon's extra power buff on Indigo's changed body rammed the King straight through the castle, throwing him all the way across the Crystal Empire. She watched him go, then seized the moment.

Taking the drake off her back, she plucked the Heart from his claws, jumping off the bridge and sailing towards the base of the castle. Kicking up some of the ground as well as a ton of dust, Nightmare Moon stepped out of the small crater she made and rushed towards the bottom of the castle. Dropping the small Dragon, she held the Crystal Heart over its pedestal, letting it float from her hands. She watched it as it glowed a bright aura, then sent a small pulse through the Empire. She grunted as the light irked her, but ignored it as she turned to the ponies around her.

"Quickly, my ponies. The Crystal Heart has returned to you! Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not return with the relic!"

The ponies all glanced at each other before gazing at the Crystal Heart, gathering around it and finding... happiness, and... peace within its magic. One by one, they all began to smile, regaining not only a layer of their crystalline coats, but all of it entirely. Nightmare Moon stepped back as the floor below her began to glow the same cyan blue as the Heart, the power of the relic spreading to every inch of the Kingdom.

"NO!!! STOP!!!"

She looked back up at Sombra as he was charging straight for the Heart. Stepping in front of it, she prepared to fight once again, but didn't have to as the Heart released another pulse, one that was filled with the love and empathy of the ponies it protected. Nightmare let out a cry of her own as it did more harm than good to her, frying Indigo's scales as it crystallized every creature around her, even the infant drake behind her. She fought through the pain as she felt herself weaken, glaring ahead at Sombra as he felt the brisk power of love more than she did. His wails and cries soared as vastly as the pulse, and as his body cracked, she slowly stormed towards him.

"You... thought you had found an ally in darkness..."

Sombra looked down at her as he stood on his hind legs, his body continued to crack as he watched her approach him. This monologue, it was... familiar.

"Do you comprehend the powers you were gifted with? The same powers I was BORN into? Where do you think the shadows all go to hide from the precious light? Who do you think stands against them?"

That's right. These were the same words she spoke when she had slain him over a thousand years ago, when the Crystal Empire fell the first time.

"What you possess is a mere fraction of their might... and you, Umbra Sombra, have taken more than you can handle."

"I-Impossible... I am the most powerful... pony in this land...!"

"No... Not you, not me, but a smaller, more honest soul. Our power never stands against unity, and today, I unite the Crystal Ponies against you, and take back my power..."

She shoved her claw into his chest, making it leak a stream of shadows that had a totality of darkness. Sombra gagged as his power, the power he'd been draining from deities like her each and every day for the entirety of his exile, was leeched before his eyes, seeped back into the helmet of his equal, his rival, and his enemy.

"Now, I will show you why we called the dungeon's punishment room... the Slaughterhouse..."

As a bright flash engulfed the two, she snapped at him, her teeth being the last thing he saw before his vision went black, and his body was no more. Outside of their confrontation, the power of the Crystal Heart had channeled itself to the peak of the Crystal Castle, sending it all upwards and flaring it throughout Equestria, evaporating and destroying all of Sombra's shadows and crystals. Those that were under his control were freed, their spirits able to leave their deceased bodies and move onto the Aether.

When the power had diminished, Nightmare Moon's hold on Indigo faded, and she once again, receded into his subconscious as the horrors he was dragged into spat him back into reality. He staggered back as his scales were smoking, seared by the Crystal Heart's power. With his first form reattained, he looked around, seeing smiles and cheers surrounding him. The crystal bodies of the ponies, and the real skies now vacant of the orange hue and black clouds... He knew right then and there that the entity of darkness itself, of nightmares, had pulled through for these ponies. Still though, the power, the pain; it would never sit right with him. He rubbed his claws as he felt a hoof tap on his side. Looking down at his right, he saw a pink Alicorn staring back at him, her coat and mane shining brightly with the crystal texture.

"You... You must be the new ruler of the Empire."

She nodded, a smile stretching across her face.

"That is correct. My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but, uh... Please, just call me Princess Cadence."

He tilted his head as she stepped back, composing herself before bowing.

"I wanted to extend my gratitude to you, young Dragon. You have saved the Crystal Empire from the hold of an ancient and evil Unicorn King that had plagued this land for over a thousand years."

The Crystal Ponies behind her bowed to him as well, all showing the same thanks before cheering for him, something he wasn't accustomed to. Cadence smiled up at him as she stood by his side.

"You must be very proud."

Looking around at all of them, he turned his attention down to his claws, flexing them as Nightmare Moon's voice came in a hush and weak tone.

"Proud...? Oh, very much so...~"

Nightmare Moon grinned as she snickered at her satisfied victory over Sombra.

"You can watch stars burn out and civilizations rise and fall..."

Indigo panted as he brushed his claws past his cheeks, closing his eyes tightly as he tensed up a couple times. His mind no longer registered sound or presences around him. Not even the Element Bearers caught his eye. Right now, there was only one thing he had on his mind, one thing he wanted to do.

"But when that vengeance finally comes around, there is not a single moment of all that time spent in exile that hadn't been worth it...~"

Indigo reached up to the helmet, his flesh sticking to it as he began to pull it off of him.

"Hey, HEY! What do you think you are doing?! We have a pact, remember?!"

Nightmare Moon used her remaining strength to snap the helmet back onto Indigo's head, making him stumble backwards and collapse onto his knees.

"Let me GO!"

He punched the ground in front of him.

"It's OVER! Our deal was to destroy King Sombra! He's dead, now! The Crystal Empire is safe!"

The ponies around him gave him curious and worried looks, wondering whom he was talking to, and what he meant by a deal. The leader of the Elements, Twilight Sparkle, narrowed her eyes as she watched the scene.

"You sure our deal is fulfilled, Indigo...?"

He lessened his glare in confusion as his eyes moved from the ground, staring forward in thought.

"You never stopped to wonder whether or not the Crystal Heart was actually capable of destroying the darkness that invades the Kingdom it protects, did you?"

He perked up at that, looking towards the Crystal Heart as he stood up.

"What are you talking about?"

He rushed over to it, brushing past Cadence and a white Unicorn stallion. Gripping the heart, Indigo looked into it, seeing the events seconds prior play out, only through the Heart's vision. It... It didn't destroy King Sombra. No, it only repelled him, and from where he stood when in range, he was blasted south.

"No..."

"We still have work to do, young drake. King Sombra is still out there."

Indigo gritted his teeth as he rested his forehead against the Heart, his hopes of the end of the deal dashed and putting him in an emotional state of disrepair once more. He thought he was home free, to truly live a life his parents and his brother would be proud of. He WANTED to be free. He WANTED to live.

"I want this nightmare to end... I want my family back..."

In a fit of rage, he punched the relic, cracking it as he roared out.

"F***!!!"

Nightmare Moon scoffed as he calmed himself, sighing heavily as he knew this all was never going to end just like that.

"Reality is harsh, little fool. You will never see your parents or your brother again, but that won't mean you can't live up to their expectations. Have faith in their morals as you have had faith in me, because if you're either dead or rebellious, you're useless to me."

He growled as he spun around, glaring at Nightmare Moon as she appeared as a head behind him, attached to a tendril. The Element Bearers jumped back as Cadence took a few steps away.

"Useless?! To you? I gave you my body, you ungrateful mare! I helped YOU!"

"And I saved you, little drake. I am your goddess-"

"You are nothing more than a wisp, a tiny flame created by sheer negativity that can't do a damn thing in this world without someone like me! You're NOT a goddess, and you're no NIGHTMARE. All you are is a vindictive mare who wants nothing but blood to all that stand before her!"

She hissed in his face as she snapped her jaws at him.

"How DARE you! I gave you a second chance at life and you show me disrespect?!"

"I gave you as much of a chance as I did! We're EVEN, Nightmare Moon! I owe you NOTHING."

He grasped the helmet again, trying to peel it off.

"Now get off of me! Get out of my body! Get out of MY HEAD!!!"

"NO!!!"

It snapped back onto him again, squeezing his skull tightly as he growled at the pain.

"When that lowlife of a King was draining every ounce of power from me, it was a nonstop burning ache I could never rid myself of! No matter where my moon was, I could never escape that pain! You want to know what I want out of this partnership, drake?! I want him to feel the exact same torture! I want VENGEANCE for an ETERNITY of AGONY."

Her face contorted slightly, looking more like a demoness from Tartarus as she hardened her wicked glare, freezing Indigo in place as her tendrils wrapped around his throat and forced him to look her in the eye.

"I want the corrupted ponies like him to fear me. I want them to know that it was ME that stopped them. Denying them their privilege to conquer will deliver the pain I felt when my chance was stripped from me by the False King. I chose you as my weapon, my shield, because there is no other like you to do this bidding for me."

She wrapped around him, entangling him as she began to sink into his body.

"No mere pony would be able to withstand my power and retain their sanity. My last host was broken with sorrow and despair, and gave me life to stand in her place as she locked herself away in her heart. You have the same sadness in your heart, but still push forward. You have an indomitable will, young drake. That is why I appeared before you with a choice to live or die."

He took in a breath as she disappeared into him, staying there for a moment before looking up, seeing the ponies in front of him. Glancing back at the ground, he sighed as he pushed himself up to his feet, rubbing his throat.

"So I'm nothing but a tool for you, eh...? Figures. Any dark pony like you would only look out for herself."

Nightmare Moon's aura both writhed and saddened at his words.

"Think what you will, Indigo the Dragon. It matters not what you believe me to be, or what my motives are. I am here, harboring your body now, and I am not going anywhere anytime soon."

Indigo huffed as he looked back at the heart, seeing the cracks heal quickly. Sighing in relief, he turned his attention to the sky, seeing the true sunny day beaming throughout the Empire.

"So... what now?"

Nightmare hummed in his mind as she calmed herself, relaxing her aura and taking the image of her more pleasant appearance once more.

"We live, Indigo."

He looked down at the ponies before him.

"Until our fated rematch with King Sombra arrives, we live..."

She grinned as she purred, making his heart vibrate as she whispered into his ear.

"With you bearing my curse.~"