He had failed.

The one thing he could have prevented, and he had neglected it. They were all doomed now. Shaking in fear he shrunk back even more into Celestia's shield. He had let Stygian turn into the Pony of Shadows, and every other monster he had tryed to seal away had returned in one way or another, endangering even more lives then back then. And the one monster he could have prevented coming back had returned. The last order he had gotten as an apprentice was to keep it sealed. And he failed. What sort of archmage was he that couldn't keep monsters at bay. Who was he kidding, he had failed in almost every aspect of his career, even if they were slow failures. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear the thoughts he looked back up to the monster, not even noticing he had been looking at the ground in the first place.

They needed the Elements of Harmony...

_________

Rage was all he felt at the moment, with a bit of murderous glee mixed in at his chance for revenge against them. Glancing over them all, he studied their magical signature before staring at the old pony on the ground, a star covered cape around him. He was the one who tried to trap him. Him and the purple one. His rage boiled to the brinking point as he clenched his fists. They would all die. Everything on this damn planet would feel the pain he felt over the course of a millenia. No one would be spared.

But now it was time to make his captors pay...

_________

Celestia stood firm, eyeing the monster in front of her up and down. In truth she had no idea what this thing was, but reasoned that it had to be a monster if Starswirl had tried to keep it sealed up. In truth it's whole visage was creepily scary, like the fact that there was no visible skin on the creature, with a mysterious mask covering it's face. It's gaze creeped over all of them, lingering on Celestia for the fraction of a second before continuing. It was when it's gaze landed on Starswirl and Twilight that it reacted. It's fists immediately clenched, a feeling of pure rage basically radiating off of it. In truth the amount of anger it had scared her, yet she couldn't be now. She had to protect her ponies.

"What are you creature?" She said in an attempt to sound intimidating.

The creatures glare flicked to her, long buried instincts screaming at her to flee from it. Gulping, she summoned a sword in her hand, not having to do so for hundreds of years. The creature suddenly shot towards her, drawing it's machete. Reacting quickly she brought up her sword, eyes widening as it smashed through her shield, swinging it's machete. The blades clashed, Celestia grunting from the sheer force behind it. Teleporting behind it she slashed down, only to meet thin air. Turning around she once again brought her sword against the monsters blade.

"Get to the Elements!" She yelled behind her, spurring the shocked crowd into action as they sprinted out.

Unfortunately this changing of focus left her guard down for a split second and a red glow was her only warning before being sent flying into the wall behind. Gasping for air, she shakily stood back up to face her opponent, grimacing from the searing pain in her stomach. The monster charged again, not giving her a moment of rest, as it's free hand started glowing red. She had to attack first. Shooting a stunning spell, she shot forward, aiming to take advantage of her foes confusion. She didn't get to though, as instead of temporarily blinding her foe, it was unfazed as it continued it's charge. As they both charged the monster suddenly went low, headbutting Celestia's stomach and wrapping it's arms around her waist before promptly using her as a battering ram to breach the wall.

Breath rushing out of her lungs Celestia was helpless as it continued to bust through the walls. Finally it stopped before throwing her down a completely different hallway. Struggling to breathe, she sat up with the support of her arms, a terrible pain signalling several broken bones. She was losing. It didn't matter though, she just had to hold it off long enough for the Elements to banish it. It was at this point that she noticed the dozen or so shocked guards surrounding them, looking form the creature to her, then back to the creature again.

It also seemed that the creature noticed them, head turning ever so slightly to look at each one of them.

"Protect the Princess!" One of them yelled before charging at the monster, spear raised. She didn't have time to shout at him to stop, as a bolt of lightning shot from the creatures hand, penetrating the guards armor with ease and exiting out the other side. Shocked, the guard looked at the now gaping hole in his chest before falling backwards, his spear dropping to the ground.

"Die you bastard!" Another screamed in anger, charging forward before meeting the same fate as his fallen comrade.

She could only watch in horror as the other guards followed suit. She just couldn't stop it though, her body being broken and worn. She couldn't even order them to stop. Soon tears flowed down her face at the prospect of not being able stop this thing from killing her little ponies. She had failed them as a protector. She had realized this some time ago, with the Elements of Harmony having to step in and save them from certain doom.

Eyes blurry from the tears, she noticed that the screams of the dying guards had dissipated, leaving only the sounds of her sobbing. The monster than slowly walked toward her, the colour of red visible on it's once grey clothing. It stopped in front of her, looking through the lenses on it's mask right at her. Wiping away the tears, she then saw something she hadn't seen before.

Eyes.

This creature had a pair of eyes beyond the mask, and they were staring right at her. Another thing she noticed was the pure rage and malice visible in it's eyes. It was so intense that she shivered slightly.

"Now you know my pain." It said, shocking Celestia.

She knew it's pain? What did that mean.

"But that is not enough. I need to find the one who imprisoned me." It continued before a hand shot around her neck, squeezing tightly. She would have struggled but she knew the futility of it.

Lifting her up until her feet were dangling just above the floor, it continued to stare at her.

"Where is Sombra..."

_________

Twilight gasped as she rounded the corner to find a bloodbath. Strewn across the halls was the bodies of dozens of guards, each with a multitude of wounds, their blood coating the corridor. The faint sound of vomiting came from behind her yet she paid it no mind, her main focus being on the pair in the centre of it. There, held in the air by the monster, was Princess Celestia, blood dripping down her form, whether it was hers or not was unknown though.

Her gasp caused both heads to whip around to her, Celestia looking to be in physical pain from doing so. They had to act now, or else more would die.

"In the name of Friendship and Harmony we will strike you down!" She yelled shakily, activating her Element, sensing the others doing so as well.

The monster then threw Celestia against the wall, eliciting a scream of pain from the solar diarch. Slowly her eyes filled with white, blinding her vision. Yet it wasn't uncomfortable, in fact it was quite the opposite. It felt...reassuring, like she was doing the right thing. But something was wrong. A faint red blot was pulsing in the centre of the white, and she could feel something pushing against her. It was fighting back. Despite the fact that they were winning against the monster it was still quite worrying that it had the power to resist Harmony. Thankfully however, it slowly decreased before an earsplitting scream sounded shocking her and the others.

As the white cleared from her vision, she spotted nothing except for the creatures strange mask on the floor where it stood. Then there was the other matter to attend to. Turning around she spotted her target, walking towards the disheveled looking wizard.

"Starswirl, we need to talk."

Author's Note

honestly a bit skeptical of the quality of the chapter so please point out any continuity errors or mistakes I may have made