The Curse

Celestia was flying at full speed through the skies of Equestria. As her magic was recovering after her duel against Sunset Shimmer, she began to use it to teleport in sections and gain more speed.

From afar, Celestia had felt the magic of the Crystal Heart. Then, she felt the magic of the new Crystal Heart again, which left her confused. Finally, she had sensed a dark aura. All those powerful magical forces had come from the Crystal Empire, so she knew that she had to arrive soon. If she didn't do it, she could lose everything she had fought for those years.

'Celestia Flashback.'

Celestia remembered well all the times the Crystal Empire had opened and closed. After Amore rebuilt it, the Empire opened for just one visit, from her, Luna, and Star Swirl. After many years, the Empire opened again only for Star Swirl, and had instantly closed again after Amore's death. Finally, Sombra and Hope had managed to open it again, and Celestia believed it would stay that way forever. For the same reason, her heart was filled with sorrow when she discovered that it closed again.

“I don't understand… Why did Sombra and Hope close the Empire again?” Luna asked her sister. Once both sisters arrived at the Empire and saw that the northern storm once again hid the disappearance of the great northern city. “Hope is going to be a mother soon. She needs me to be next to her now!” Luna said scared.

“This is just like when Queen Amore died…” Celestia thought with a sad look, without responding to her sister. “We knew Hope's pregnancy could be dangerous. I don't want to think about it, but probably… the Empire closing down again, means that Hope… died…” Celestia thought, with a look full of pain.

"What's wrong? What do you know!?” Luna asked annoyed. Recognizing her sister's look, knowing that she was hiding something from her.

For a moment, Celestia looked at her younger sister, then she simply looked away. What Celestia thought was just a theory and she didn't want to scare Luna unnecessarily. She knew how good friends Luna and Hope were, and for the same reason, she didn't want to scare her or hurt her without evidence. For her part, Luna gave a furious look when she saw that her sister did not respond to her and flew away from there.

Luna and Celestia had had many conflicts in recent years, while dark feelings were germinating and growing in Luna's heart. That was the last sign that Luna needed to confirm that her sister did not trust her and only saw her as someone inferior. From that day on, Luna and Celestia's relationship was irremediably broken, until some time later, darkness took over Luna and Nightmare Moon was born...

Several years after Celestia banished her sister to the moon, Celestia's heart skipped a beat when news reached her of a mysterious city that had appeared in the north. At that moment, Celestia abandoned everything and headed to the northern border of her great kingdom. There, Celestia's hopes became reality as she saw for herself that the Crystal Empire had indeed reappeared.

Upon entering the Empire, Celestia was surprised to see that everything was just as it was the last time she had visited. With the exception that there were now many more crystal ponies, as their population continued to grow, even more than in Equestria, since time continued to move faster there than in the real world.

“I was waiting for you.” A voice next to Celestia suddenly said.

The alicorn didn't need to turn around to recognize that voice. Her face shone with excitement and immediately she turned around and jumped to hug and kiss Sombra, as if she were a filly just in love.

"Sombra! I missed you so much!” Celestia said, moved to tears, after kissing her lover.

“Me too, I missed you like you have no idea.” Sombra smiled. Wiping away a tear from his beloved and giving her another tender kiss on the cheek. “Come with me. There are many things we need to talk about.” Sombra added, offering a hoof for Celestia to follow.

Already in the castle, Sombra learned of Luna's banishment and what his beloved Celestia had to suffer in his absence, so they both hugged each other. That finally comforted Celestia, who finally had someone she trusted by her side to talk about her pain and sorrows. For his part, Sombra also told Celestia what had happened since the last time the Empire had opened.

Just as Celestia feared, Hope had died after the surprise umbrum attack, causing the Empire to close again. It took Sombra years for the joy of the crystal ponies and the new generations to overcome the lack of happiness left by the lack of Hope in the Crystal Heart. Finally, so that the ponies wouldn't know about Hope's death, Sombra used the same trick he had used with Hope to hide Amore's death and told his entire kingdom that Hope was fine; she was just sick and couldn't leave her room.

“Sombra… This is wrong! You’re repeating the cycle! You are repeating the same thing you did with your mother!” Celestia said scared, looking worriedly at her beloved Sombra.

“It was necessary… I didn't want everyone to forget Hope…” Sombra said with a sad look. “When my mom's thing happened, I had to do it to hide it from Hope. But crystal ponies are different, they not only lose their bad emotions, but also their memories. If I don’t remind them of my sister, they… they will just forget her.” Sombra added, with a look full of pain.

Upon hearing that, Celestia remembered how she also hid in many books the fact that her sister had become Nightmare Moon. All to keep her sister's legacy alive, just as Sombra did with her sister.

“Wooow… It's just like the statue of the Guardian of the Empire!” A female voice suddenly said behind Celestia.

Turning around, Celestia was surprised to see a young adult mare, with pink fur and a bright smile. Unlike the crystal ponies of the kingdom, this mare had neither the crystalline coat of the crystallized ponies, nor the bright eyes and mane that her descendants had. The other thing that differentiated her was that this mare was a unicorn, which was not normal to see there. In fact, upon looking at her closely, especially her smile, Celestia would swear that that mare was identical to Radiant Hope, if it weren't for her coat color.

“This is Fiore, Hope's daughter.” Sombra said with a smile, seeing that Celestia was speechless.

“Is it her? She will help mom!?” Hope's cheerful daughter asked excitedly. A question that left Celestia confused.

After saying goodbye to Fiore, Sombra guided Celestia to Hope's room. There, Celestia was speechless when she saw that there was a huge crystal and inside it was the body of Radiant Hope. Seeing her like this, Celestia couldn't help but close her eyes and shed a tear as she saw in that state, whoever was the vibrant and cheerful Hope, now enclosed in what seemed like a crystal coffin, which covered her entire body.

“I want to bring Hope back.” Sombra said, looking seriously at Celestia.

"What? Sombra… That is impossible.” Celestia said scared.

“It's not. You and I know it very well.” Sombra said, approaching the window and pointing outside.

As she approached, Celestia saw Sombra pointing at the city. Specifically, to the happy crystal ponies that circulated through the streets.

“Crystallization…” Celestia murmured with a sad look. Understanding what Sombra wanted to do.

“Like my mother and me, Hope is outside the Crystal Heart resurrection cycle, as we are not crystal ponies.” Sombra said, looking Celestia straight in the eyes with a look of supplication. “However, with your help, we can recreate the crystallization so that the spell will work on Hope. It won't be a whole city, it will just be one pony, so it should be simpler than what my mother did. I... I've tried, but I think the key is to use alicorn magic, after all, ancient magic runs through your veins, just like my mother's. It is a magic that not even I can replicate.”

At Sombra's steady gaze, for the first time, Celestia didn’t blush or get nervous under his gaze. Instead, she simply looked away with an unsure look, remaining silent.

“First Amore, then Hope… Every so often the umbrum emerges from nowhere to claim a life.” Celestia thought uncertainly, remembering what Sombra had told her. “If we invoke crystallization again, we could be accelerating the appearance of the umbrum, or even creating a new one.”

“I… I don't know, Sombra. It doesn't seem right to me to play with life and death." Celestia finally said, turning to walk away from the window. “Even if Hope is reborn, she won't be completely herself. She will only be a shadow of what she was, a memory.”

“You don't understand. I need Hope to reconnect to the Crystal Heart. Her feelings were linked to it more than any other pony and not even her daughter has that connection.” Sombra said, approaching Celestia with a worried look. “Without her joy in carrying the Crystal Heart day after day, it will not be able to bear the burden when the Empire one day opens to the outside world.”

Celestia remained silent and simply walked around Radiant Hope's room. As she did so, she noticed some old scrolls lying on the desk, scrolls that looked too old to be there. When she picked them up, Celestia saw the spell that was written there and felt a chill.

“This is… An immortality spell?” Celestia asked in surprise, carefully reading the spell written there, recognizing the hoofwriting.

"Yes, it's a spell that my mother created when she was studying immortality." Sombra responded, approaching Celestia and slowly taking the scroll from her with a sad look. “I don't know why Hope had this in her room nor do I know why she hid it from me... However, it’s not a spell that should be used, which is why my mother never used it. It says that the spell must pay an equally high price to turn someone mortal into immortal.”

“What price would be high enough to equal immortality?” Celestia asked worriedly.

"I don't know. That is why this spell must remain hidden.” Sombra said, narrowing his eyes in concern. Putting the old scroll in a drawer and locking it. Sombra then focused on Celestia again and stared at her with a sad look. “I know I told you that I want Hope to come back for the Empire, but the truth is that it's also for me. I… I need her.” Sombra added, lowering his gaze and touching his chest, while letting a tear fall. “Tell me, if there was a chance to bring your sister back, wouldn't you try?”

After Sombra's question, Celestia opened her eyes in surprise. Then she closed her eyes and squeezed them tight as she remembered how hard it was to fight with her sister and how much she missed her. Seeing her suffering, Sombra hugged Celestia, regretting having made her remember Luna.

“Alright…” Celestia finally said, as Sombra hugged her. “I'll help you bring Hope back.”

After that visit to the Empire, Celestia constantly returned to it whenever she could. Due to her royal duties with her own kingdom, it was impossible for her to stay there forever. On the one hand, the time distortion meant that she and Sombra were able to make great progress in their studies during the time they were in the Empire. However, that same time distortion made it much more difficult for Sombra to move forward when Celestia was absent.

That temporal barrier was something surprising, but it no longer caused Celestia so much surprise, given the hundreds of times she had experienced it. However, for the first time in its history, a native inhabitant of the Crystal Empire was also able to experience that surprising phenomenon. Fiore, Hope's daughter, being born to a unicorn that was not a crystal pony, was able to leave the Empire, being the first born there to achieve such a feat. Thus, Celestia was able to take Fiore with her to experience the outside world whenever she visited the Empire.

Seeing Fiore's smile revived Sombra's spirit, seeing her sister's beautiful smile reflected in her daughter. That made his hard work with Celestia more bearable since, at first, he felt very frustrated when he saw that his goal of replicating crystallization magic would be much more complex than he expected.

The magic created by Amore for crystallization had been a very powerful magic and she had left no records of how to perform it. In Star Swirl's own words, what Amore had created was the greatest magical miracle in history, so much so that even for Celestia and Sombra, who at that time were the two most powerful magical ponies in the world, it was a challenge that they could not achieve easily.

Despite their constant work and study, Celestia and Sombra really enjoyed their time together. Additionally, on each visit, they both took time to rest and also enjoy their time together in Sombra's private garden. In that secret room, the whishing garden had grown a lot, now with several thousand papers hanging from different trees. All with the wishes that the crystal ponies wrote and that Sombra worried about saving, to one day fulfill them. That was the refuge of both, where Celestia and Sombra had fallen in love for the first time and where they had spent countless time together, just the two of them, making their love grow more and more until it became so strong that not even the years they spent apart without seeing each other diminished that love.

One day when they both decided to rest from their studies to replicate the magic of crystallization, they both walked romantically through that beautiful garden, where the leaves of the trees mixed with the brilliant reflections of the rings and golden papers that also hung from the trees. That day, they were both resting, lying under the shade of a tree, hugging each other.

“I know I always say this. But I would love for this to never end.” Celestia sighed enthralled. Moving her head to nuzzle Sombra's neck.

“Well, even if it ends, we can repeat it for all eternity.” Sombra smiled, also moving his head to caress his beloved's. “You are immortal, and I… I think I am too, or at least it seems that way, since I don't age, hehe. I suppose it will be an effect of being the son of an alicorn.”

At that moment, Celestia remembered something she hadn't remembered in a long time. As a child, she had heard Amore arguing with Star Swirl and cursed herself for being immortal. Amore had lived for thousands of years, and losing thousands of loved ones had caused great pain in her soul. At first, Celestia did not understand Amore's feelings, since for her, being immortal was a blessing. However, now that she had been alive for several hundred years, she understood the pain of loss as well as the great weight that came with being immortal.

“I hope I never fall into the despair that Amore felt because of immortality.” Celestia murmured with a sad look, remembering Luna. “Loneliness can be the worst enemy of immortality…”

Hearing that, Sombra had a thoughtful look. Then, he opened his eyes in surprise as he thought of something.

“Immortality can be a curse, but fortunately, my mother found the cure to that curse.” Sombra smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Celestia asked confused. Standing up a little to look Sombra in the eyes.

Sombra kept smiling for a moment. Then, he used his magic to make a golden paper appear with its respective ring.

“You know, I always write down the wishes of my subjects, but I have never written one myself.” Sombra said, writing something on the paper. “This is my wish, what do you think?” Sombra added, showing Celestia what he wrote.

Looking at the paper, Celestia opened her eyes in surprise as she understood what Sombra had meant seconds ago. On that paper, Sombra had written precisely the cure for immortality, which left Celestia amazed at his brilliant intellect. Then she smiled and gave him a big, tender kiss.

Thus the years passed, until finally, Celestia and Sombra succeeded. They both managed to replicate the spell and magic needed to make a crystallization. Placing Radiant Hope's frozen body in the center, Celestia used her magic while Sombra helped stabilize that difficult spell. They both gave their all, putting a lot of their magic, until finally Hope's body began to crystallize and she regained a vivid color in her new, now crystalline, fur.

“It… It worked…” Celestia said exhausted. Feeling dizzy after that complex spell. Without understanding how Amore had been able to crystallize an entire city.

“Something is wrong… Why doesn't she wake up?” Sombra said worriedly. Approaching Hope's body and noticing that she was breathing, but seemed to be completely unconscious.

“That's what we thought.” Celestia said, approaching Sombra and touching him gently. “Queen Amore also took years to crystallize the city's ponies. We‘re asking part of a soul to revive as a memory. She must recover all her memories and emotions. In addition, we did the spell so that Hope returns with all her emotions intact and that she is not only always happy, like the other crystal ponies. It may take a while for her soul to wake up.”

“I hope so…” Sombra murmured worriedly, gently touching Hope's cheek. “Her bad memories won't come back to her, as is necessary for the spell to work, but at least her emotions will be intact.” Sombra smiled. Happy that his sister wouldn't remember her traumatic death, but worried that he wasn't sure how many of Hope's memories would be affected by her resurrection.

Thus, Celestia and Sombra left that room, waiting for Hope to wake up. Little did they know that years would pass without Hope waking up. So much so that Celestia would not even see her awake, since years later, the Empire would close again for the last time, after the third attack of the umbrum.

'End of flashback.'

After the new Crystal Heart shone and forever banished the eternal storm from the north, everyone's hearts were vibrant with excitement as they felt the joy shared by all the former ponies who had given their second lives to create that powerful magical artifact. However, that feeling was quickly overshadowed when the umbrum of pain took control of Sombra and the dark aura that radiated from him left everyone trembling in their hearts.

The sky began to turn a macabre reddish color, as if the sky was rusting with the dark magic that was present there. For several seconds an eerie and disturbing silence reigned as everyone watched the powerful, dark being in front of them. Nothing remained of the kind and wise look that Sombra always had since they met him. His very features seemed to have changed, so much so that even his horn changed its shape and color due to the powerful dark magic it contained. A horn that curved and turned crimson red, disturbingly matching his blood-tinged cloak, due to the wounds he had inflicted on himself while trying to control the umbrum of pain within him.

Dusk and Luna were the first to try to react, but Sombra was faster. With a quick shake of his head, his dark magic acted, paralyzing everyone. Focusing mainly on the ponies in front of him, Dusk, Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor. Those four were the only ones who could use powerful magic and stand up to him. Meanwhile, behind them, Dusk's friends and the rest of the crystal ponies paralyzed without much effort, since the mere presence of the dark aura of that terrible being was enough to prevent them from moving.

Seeing everyone bowing before him, the dark king smiled evilly as he released waves upon waves of dark magic from his body.

“S-Sombra… You must resist.” Cadance said, struggling to try to move and get up. At that gesture, Sombra used his magic again to maintain pressure on the two alicorns and the two unicorns in front of him.

“The Sombra you knew no longer exists… I am King Sombra! The king of the monsters!” Sombra shouted with his eyes shining with malice.

Nothing remained of the sanity of the kind stallion that everyone had known. Now Sombra's heart, sinking with the pain and trauma of the deaths of hundreds of ponies, finally couldn't take it anymore. The last vestige of light left within him, which gave him the strength to move forward, had died with the death of his sister. Now, another being had taken over his body, a dark part of Sombra that could not be reasoned with, and there was no turning back.

Slowly Sombra turned around and approached the new Crystal Heart, which kept shining and spinning in the air. Then he raised his hoof and touched that powerful magical artifact with fury, causing the heart to shoot rays of light in defense. For a second, it seemed that the magic of the Crystal Heart would be enough to prevent that dark being from taking it; however, finally, Sombra's magic was much greater, and he was able to take it. As he did so, the Crystal Heart immediately stopped shining, while Sombra simply looked at it with disgust and hatred.

“I was finally able to touch it… This is to blame for everything! This caused years of pain to grow in this body.” Sombra growled, raising the Crystal Heart high, ready to throw it to the ground. “You will never give light and hope to anyone again… You will never cause me pain again!!” Sombra shouted furiously, throwing the Crystal Heart against the ground with all his strength.

For a second, it seemed as if time froze. All the crystal ponies watched in horror as the powerful but fragile magical object was going to break. That beautiful object given by their ancestors to save them, that object that kept the wishes and beautiful feelings of their ancestors, their most beautiful gift, was about to disappear.

"I got it!" Spike yelled surprisingly. Sliding at the last second beneath Sombra, just before the Crystal Heart crashed to the ground. Taking it in his claws and running away with it thanks to the same impulse that had been given.

Seeing the little dragon running after thwarting his plans, King Sombra was stunned for a second. He had been so concerned about maintaining magic control over the alicorns and unicorns, that he thought his own aura would be enough to keep the rest of the ponies at bay. However, he completely forgot the presence of the little dragon, which also had the advantage that magic did not work well against dragons, so his aura was not enough to paralyze him.

“AAGHH!” Sombra shouted furiously, charging his horn with magic and pointing it directly at Spike's back, who was still fleeing with the Crystal Heart.

Before Sombra launched the beam, he had to turn around and use his magic to block a magical beam launched by Luna. His second of distraction had served so that Luna, Cadance, Dusk and Shining could free themselves from Sombra's paralysis.

“Spike, run!” Dusk shouted, standing guard with his big brother and the alicorns, ready to face Sombra.

Seeing that Sombra couldn't be reasoned with in the state he was in, the four ponies began casting spells at Sombra to try to weaken him or at least hold him back. However, Sombra's magic was strong enough to repel all the spells cast at him.

Sombra's eyes shone brightly as his body transformed into a huge dark cloud that rose into the sky. Both Luna and Cadance opened their wings and flew up to attack him from the air. Meanwhile, Shining and Dusk continued to cast spells from the ground, but the spells simply passed through Sombra's substanceless body, as if he were just smoke. It was of no use that Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack joined the attack, since their physical and magical attacks had no effect. Meanwhile, Fluttershy stayed with Pinkie Pie, who only began to tremble with fear when she saw that enormous shadow, remembering the immense pain it made her feel in the illusion of the cave.

“We don't do anything to him... We must use more magic!” Dusk thought scared. Closing his eyes to concentrate for a second. Then, he used his magic to make a small chest appear in front of him. Upon opening it, his eyes shone as he saw the six elements of harmony.

Sombra's body seemed to get bigger by the second, and his magical rays destroyed everything they touched, causing the rest of the crystal ponies to flee, seeing their houses falling down.

“It's the nightmare… The monster king is back!” Several crystal ponies shouted, remembering a strange dream with which they sometimes woke up agitated. A dream that they had not been able to understand due to their eternal state of happiness. The only nightmare that not even the Crystal Heart could erase from the hearts of the crystal ponies of the old generation, and so powerful that not even the Crystal Heart itself was able to contain it, inheriting it from generation after generation. The mark of suffering that burned the crystal ponies for centuries, after the Empire closed for the last time, before opening again in the present...

'Sombra Flashback.'

Sombra had happy days with Celestia. Despite having lost his sister, having his beloved Celestia coming often to his kingdom to help him with Hope's resurrection helped Sombra maintain inner peace. Even when Radiant Hope's crystallization was complete and she did not awaken, Celestia was her great pillar of support, helping to calm his frustration, seeing as time passed and Hope still did not awaken.

Those memories, having Celestia comforting him, were some of Sombra's happiest memories. Until suddenly everything became cloudy.

It was not the first time that Sombra's memory became foggy, and he well knew what it meant. Every time that happened, it was a sign of the arrival of the umbrum to the kingdom. That time, Sombra remembered being at a Crystal Faire again. There, Sombra writhed in pain in his room, with his door locked to ensure that no one would enter there. He had even lied to Celestia, telling her that he no longer had those attacks, and had convinced her not to visit him that day.

“I can feel it… The umbrum will attack again… It's the same feeling I had when it attacked Mom and Hope!” Sombra thought on the verge of fainting, while clenching his teeth to endure the pain. “If it has to be today, I will make sure that this time it only takes me. I don't want anyone else to sacrifice themselves for me.”

'Knock-Knock!' Suddenly someone knocked on the door. Which surprised Sombra, who had ordered that no one come near his room that day.

“Sombra, are you there?” Celestia asked, with a very worried voice.

“Celestia!? What are you doing here!?” Sombra asked, terrified to see that his beloved was there.

“I know you're hiding something from me.” Celestia said from behind the door. “The last time we said goodbye… It was like you were saying goodbye forever. I had a bad feeling, so I came today, even though you said not to come.”

“No… Hngh! No!" Sombra growled, feeling the pain in his body increase. “The umbrum… He… He will take a life… You must go!” Sombra shouted in fear, feeling that he was reaching the maximum amount of pain he could bear, his vision partially clouding.

After a few moments of silence, Sombra believed that Celestia had heard him and had left. However, he immediately saw the door being forced open, and a golden aura flashed from the knob. Seeing that she couldn't open the door normally, Celestia forced her magic to break the spell Sombra put on his door until finally the door burst open.

Upon entering the room, Celestia's gaze changed, looking directly at Sombra and becoming scared. At that moment, Sombra felt that something came out of his body and generated a large shadow, which even covered Celestia.

“Celestia… Run away…” Sombra tried to say, even though his lips couldn't move.

For the third time in his life, the umbrum came to the realm passing through his body, ready to claim a life in exchange for creating new life in the realm. And for the third time, someone was about to give their life to save him. Despite Sombra's great willpower, the pain was greater, and the last thing Sombra saw before he fainted was Celestia facing a huge shadow in front of him.

The first time the umbrum attacked his mother, Sombra momentarily fell unconscious, being awakened by his sister. The second time the umbrum attacked and confronted Radiant Hope, Sombra felt like he was sinking into a dark pit, from which it took him a long time to wake up. This time, his fall was much more abrupt. Sombra felt like he was falling into a huge, endless abyss, as deep as the tallest mountain. A horrible sensation in which he only felt darkness around him, losing absolute notion of time, as if he had fallen for years to the very center of the earth. His mind was so lost, it took him a long time to understand that he finally woke up when his eyes opened again.

This time Sombra had woken up lying on the ground, on the edge of the city. It took him many minutes to be able to move and many more to finally get up. His muscles felt totally tired, and his head kept spinning without understanding what was happening. As much as he tried to put his thoughts in order, it took him a long time to remember what was the last thing that had happened before he passed out.

Slowly Sombra walked towards the city until he met the ponies of his kingdom. There, he saw something very strange. The crystal ponies were still smiling, the same as always, but their looks were dull and fearful, as if they were all suffering from the same dizziness and confusion that Sombra was feeling at that moment. Furthermore, everyone tried to avoid Sombra's gaze when they saw him pass by, something Sombra was already used to. However, what he was not used to was everyone trembling at the sight of him. None of the crystal ponies knew why they were so uncomfortable being around Sombra, and now they felt even more uncomfortable without knowing why.

It was no use Sombra trying to ask the ponies if something strange had happened. Their memories were only happy memories, and if they experienced something bad, the Crystal Heart had already taken care of erasing it.

“Nightmares… The monster king…” Sombra could hear some ponies muttering as they laughed and trembled.

“Monster king? Crystal ponies shouldn't remember nightmares... Can a part of them remember the umbrum?” Sombra thought, with a headache as little by little his last memories came back to him. “That can't be possible… How long was I passed out this time?”

Suddenly all the crystal ponies became very excited to see the arrival of another pony in the distance.

“It's the princess! She put an end to last night's nightmares!” Several crystal ponies said. Excited as they ran towards the central square of the city.

“The princess?” Sombra muttered confusedly, until he finally remembered. “Celestia!”

Sombra quickly followed the crystal ponies and arrived with them at the plaza. There, he was stunned by what he saw. The one who was there was not his beloved Celestia, instead, it was his dearest sister, Radiant Hope. The same beautiful smile as always, her same kind eyes, her beautiful and elegant face as always, with the only difference that now her fur and mane were made completely of crystal, just like that of the ponies crystallized by the Crystal Heart.

“Hope… You woke up!” Sombra shouted full of emotion. Running to where his sister was, jumping on her to hug her.

“What's wrong Sombra? It seems like you haven't seen me in years, hehe.” Hope laughed, smiling and also hugging her dear brother. “You arrive just in time. Everyone seemed to be very tired and confused today, it seems like everyone had a lot of nightmares. So we decided to bring forward the celebration of this year's Crystal Faire a little. Everyone loved the idea!”

"Uh?" Sombra muttered confused. Then he looked behind Hope, directing his gaze towards the Crystal Heart. It barely rotated and its brightness almost went out.

“That's why everyone is sad, the Crystal Heart has not been recharged properly. If it hadn't been for Hope's return, perhaps the Empire would have fallen.” Sombra thought worried. “How long was I passed out for!? How come I'm still alive?”

At that moment, Sombra opened his eyes in terror as he understood the truth.

“If I am alive, it means that Celestia… She gave her life for me. Just like my mother... Just like Hope.” Sombra thought, falling to his knees as his tears did not stop falling.

"Sombra? What's wrong!?" Hope asked scared, seeing that out of nowhere her brother started crying.

“No… It's nothing. I promise you." Sombra said quickly, trying to calm down. Standing up, wiping away his tears and trying to smile, but failing. Knowing that Hope had to stay happy for the good of the Empire. “I just remembered something. I… I’m sorry, I have to go for a moment.” Without saying more, Sombra used his magic and disappeared from there.

In an instant, Sombra reappeared at the other end of the large square, away from the crowd that was gathering around Hope to begin celebrating the Crystal Faire. There, Sombra walked alone to try to calm down, once again feeling indescribable pain when he thought that the mare he had loved the most had given her life for him.

“I don't know how long I've been passed out or how long the Crystal Empire has been closed.” Sombra thought, looking up at the sky and seeing the faint aurora that illuminated it. “But I promise that I will not open the Empire again, there is nothing for me out there anymore.”

Sombra suddenly stopped walking when he collided with something heavy on the ground. Looking down, Sombra looked strange, seeing that there were some chains and terrifying helmets on the ground. Then Sombra looked up and his gaze was filled with confusion and fear when he saw that it wasn't just a few helmets and chains lying there, there were hundreds of them, enough to enslave the entire city. And worst of all, they were worn out.

“Someone… Did anyone use these things?” Sombra thought terrified, raising the chains at his hoof. “What happened while I was passed out!?”

Knowing that more important than finding out the reason was maintaining the happiness of the ponies of his kingdom, Sombra levitated those hundreds of helmets and chains and teleported them to a hidden cavern, which he kept secret to hide dangerous objects, such as the few magic mirrors that remained.

The afternoon of that day continued its course and the crystal ponies celebrated the Crystal Faire, managing to recharge the Crystal Heart again. Something that relieved Sombra since, for a moment, he thought that the Crystal Heart was so weakened that perhaps it could not withstand recharging. Thus, while the crystal ponies celebrated, Sombra searched the castle for evidence of what had happened while he was unconscious. However, the only thing he found was his private room, which was his wishing garden, in which he had spent so many good times with Celestia, was completely destroyed.

Finally, night fell and Hope returned to the castle, while Sombra found himself in the ruins of his secret room, which was now exposed.

“It's lucky that this year you didn't get sick like every year.” Hope said, approaching Sombra. “You should have gone to celebrate the Crystal Faire with me and the others.”

Sombra knew that not suffering from his illness was a symbol that the umbrum had attacked and that for now it was calm, since it had claimed a new life, so Sombra could not celebrate that occasion. Besides, there was something more important to him at that moment.

“Sorry, I had to find something.” Sombra said, opening his eyes in surprise when he found what he had been looking for in that destroyed place. Picking it up and hugging it to his chest, as if it were the greatest of his treasures.

“By the way, what happened to this room? I don’t remember it being like this.” Radiant Hope asked, scratching her head in confusion.

“It's… a long story.” Sombra responded with a sad smile, putting what he had found under his cape.

“It's not the only strange thing. A while ago I passed by the castle balcony and there was a statue of an alicorn that I don't know.” Hope said, moving closer to Sombra, with a worried look. “I asked one of the maids and she said she was the Guardian of the Empire.”

Hearing that, Sombra subtly lowered his head with a sad look. It seemed that crystallization had finally achieved what he had not dared to do completely. Hope had completely forgotten her mother.

“It's… another long story.” Sombra responded with a tired look. Knowing that in the coming days he would have to make up many excuses to explain Hope's lack of memory.

Seeing that her brother seemed very exhausted, and remembering that he had suddenly cried in the square, Hope approached him and simply hugged him. Deciding to leave the rest of her questions for another time, the only thing that really mattered was that her brother was okay.

Feeling the warm embrace of his dear sister again, Sombra smiled as he felt her warmth and they both stayed hugging for a long time in silence, until finally they saw that it was already late and they both went to bed in their rooms.

Thus, the Crystal Empire would close and be far from Equestria, in its own time-space plane, until hundreds of years later, the barrier would be so weakened that it would open by itself upon sensing the presence of Amore's blood near it, and it would only open again when a pink alicorn, her husband, her brother-in-law, his friends and a little baby dragon arrived there by accident, or perhaps... by fate.

'End of flashback.'

After the umbrum took over Sombra, Dusk quickly took out the elements of harmony and passed them to his friends. He still didn't know exactly how they worked, but they had always worked when they were in danger, so they had to trust that the elements would help them again this time.

Standing in front of his friends, Dusk charged his magic and was relieved to see his crown react and the element of magic shine. However, instantly, he felt that something was wrong. Like a fleeting lightning bolt, upon activating the element of magic, Dusk felt a surge of honesty, kindness, loyalty, and generosity in his heart. And although they filled him with peace, he knew immediately that something was missing. Turning around, he saw that Pinkie Pie had a nervous look on her face as she touched the necklace with her element: laughter.

“Pinkie, what's wrong?” Dusk asked, approaching his marefriend.

“Dusk … I can't laugh.” Pinkie Pie said trembling, looking scared at Dusk. “I still remember that horrible illusion that made me see the umbrum. All that pain… I… I want to smile, but I can’t.” Pinkie added, covering her face, embarrassed for not being able to help.

Knowing how much Pinkie had suffered in the cave, because he also suffered, Dusk understood perfectly that Pinkie Pie couldn’t express the feeling of her element of harmony at that moment. Dusk lowered his head calmly, then approached Pinkie Pie and gave her a tender kiss on the mouth. Something that greatly surprised the pink pony.

“Look at me. I’ll be your smile when you can't smile.” Dusk said, smiling tenderly in front of Pinkie. Staying very close to her so that his marefriend could only see him.

After the surprising kiss, Pinkie couldn't stop looking at Dusk and getting lost in the eyes of the stallion she loved. With this, her heart was able to skip a beat and overcome the fear she felt.

“Yes… Together.” Pinkie Pie said. Smiling slowly while not stopping to see Dusk for a moment.

Finally, the magic of the six elements of harmony began to shine and the magic began to accumulate in Dusk's horn.

Sensing a large buildup of magic, Sombra finally distracted himself from launching attacks at Cadance and Luna, who were flying around him, and focused his gaze on Dusk and his friends.

“Ancient magic?” Sombra murmured in surprise.

That second of distraction served for Luna and Cadance's magic to hit Sombra full on, causing his face to twist and the entire cloud of shadows he generated to fade away. At that moment the magic of the elements of harmony hit Sombra from below, causing him to scream in pain and once again have a physical body to attack. Shining Armor joined the attack and finally the ponies managed to subdue Sombra, causing him to fall to the ground, moaning in pain.

“This is the moment!” Luna shouted, landing with Cadance next to Dusk and the others. “We must attack the umbrum with everything we have. It is the only way to destroy the curse that possesses him.”

Luna, Shining, Cadance, Dusk and their friends got into position, ready to attack that dark being that had possessed the kind Sombra with all their white magic. Hoping it was enough to stop the curse generated by the immortality spell created by Amore. All while Sombra kept moaning in pain, trying to recover.

"Now!" Luna shouted, giving the signal.

"STOP!" Another female voice shouted from the sky.

At that moment, Celestia landed right between Sombra and the others.

“Princess Celestia!” Dusk and his friends said. Relieved to see the Princess of the Sun there.

“Sister…” Luna said with a worried look.

“Aunt, you came just in time.” Cadance said with a sigh of relief. “There is no time to explain. We must use our magic to destroy the curse that attacks Sombra. “It’s the only way to save him.”

Even though all eyes were on her, Celestia only had eyes for one pony. In front of her was Sombra, writhing and grunting in pain as the umbrum within him possessed him. Seeing him like this, Celestia closed her eyes in pain. She took a couple of steps to get closer to Sombra, but stopped when he looked at her and glared at her. A look that was not of the Sombra that she loved so much, but of the dark umbrum that possessed him.

“We’re not sure if our magic will be enough, since Sombra is very strong and is powered by a curse created by a spell from Queen Amore.” Dusk said with a worried look. "But with your help, I'm sure we can destroy the curse."

Celestia did not respond to what Dusk said. She simply stayed with her head bowed and a look of pain, as if that whole scene she was experiencing was her biggest nightmare. Finally, she gave a sigh and turned to see Dusk and the others, after making a difficult decision.

“You have never seen me angry… None of you.” Celestia said slowly, with her head bowed. Then she raised her head and glared at everyone present. “But if any of you attack Sombra, I will not hesitate to unleash all my power to defend him!” Celestia shouted, fire in her eyes.

Seeing that look, everyone took a step back, scared. Neither Dusk nor Cadance had ever seen Celestia with such a fierce look, and despite being someone very loved by everyone, everyone felt deeply intimidated just by her presence. The only one who didn't back away was Luna, who simply stared at her sister with a serious look.

Everyone present gasped at Celestia's words. The only one who moved was Sombra, who charged up his magic and attacked Celestia while she turned her back. With a great cry of pain, Celestia fell wounded, while Sombra recovered and rose stronger than ever. That helped Cadance and Luna wake up from their daze, and they once again launched magical rays to try to ward off Sombra, while Shining Armor put up a shield to protect everyone from the huge dark beast.

"Princess!" Dusk shouted scared, running to check that his teacher was okay.

With a look of pain, Celestia looked at Dusk and then saw Cadance and Luna, who flew and attacked Sombra to try to stop him.

“They don't understand… It's not his fault.” Celestia said, a tear running down her cheek. Feeling the pain of Sombra's attack, but feeling more pain seeing her beloved Sombra in that state.

“Princess, if we attack Sombra with the elements of harmony, it will only attack the dark magic of the curse. Sombra will be fine.” Dusk said, helping his teacher raise her head.

Upon hearing those words, Celestia closed her eyes in pain because she knew that this was impossible; after all, only she knew the truth.

At that moment Celestia stood up with effort, and while she recovered from the attack she had suffered, she decided to tell Dusk the terrible truth behind everything. That final piece of the puzzle that Dusk needed to finally answer the mysteries that remained to be solved of the mysterious Crystal Empire, its ponies and its magic.

'Celestia Flashback.'

After Hope died, Celestia and Sombra studied and worked hard to finally replicate the crystallization process and revive the memory of Radiant Hope. Even though Hope did not wake up, Celestia continued to constantly visit the Crystal Empire, because the stallion she loved was there, and she was scared to think that one day the Empire could close again and she would lose him. Without even imagining that in a few days that terrible prophecy would come true.

The last time Celestia saw Sombra completely healthy, it was a few days before the Crystal Faire. A date that Sombra had managed to hide from Celestia, as he didn't want her to be there and see him suffer in pain that day.

That last time when they both happily shared their love, Celestia took advantage of the fact that Sombra fell asleep in the wishing garden to leave that room and secretly visit Sombra's bedroom, where he used to study. There, Celestia entered carefully to see the books that her beloved Sombra was reading, to know well what kind of books he would like as a gift.

“Neither Sombra nor I celebrate our birthdays. But it would be nice to celebrate even one together.” Celestia thought excitedly. Reviewing the stack of books that Sombra kept in his room, which were mostly about advanced studies in magic.

As she scanned the bookshelves, Celestia couldn't help but be distracted by the two large blanket-covered objects on the other side of the room. Celestia took a good look at them and remembered perfectly what they were. Those were the last two magical mirrors left in the kingdom, the future mirror, and the warning mirror.

Celestia narrowed her gaze at them and slowly approached them. Then, she removed the blanket of the future mirror, which she had seen many years ago, and looked at what it reflected. To her surprise, the mirror still showed the same image she had seen years ago.

“The mirror must be wrong…” Celestia muttered, with a sad look. "I don't know who the other pony is, but I recognize that the other pony is Luna... Now that she has been banished, I know that it’s impossible for this future to occur." Celestia muttered painfully, looking away.

Looking to the side, Celestia noticed the other blanket-covered mirror. Years ago, Sombra had prevented her from seeing it, as the warning mirror showed danger nearby, and Sombra said that seeing it would only corrode her mind, as it did his own. That it was better not to feel persecuted or in danger at all times.

Celestia hesitated for a few seconds, but finally her curiosity was greater and she took the blanket off the mirror. Approaching to see her reflection, Celestia waited to see what enemy the mirror would reveal to her. Maybe it was some crazy noble, or some creature from some distant land, maybe it showed Discord or even, maybe Luna. However, the image that the mirror showed left Celestia very confused, since it didn’t reflect what she expected at all.

“Celestia?” Sombra's voice suddenly said from the hallway. Getting closer there.

Seeing that Sombra was about to arrive, Celestia hurriedly covered both mirrors and approached the door.

"Sombra! I-I'm sorry, I entered your room without your permission.” Celestia said quickly, with a nervous smile.

"No problem. I was just surprised to wake up alone in the garden.” Sombra responded smiling. Then, he saw that Celestia, although she tried to hide it, had a confused look, as if there was something on her mind.

“Why is she so nervous?” Sombra thought confused, glancing askance into his own room. There, he opened his eyes in surprise when he saw that the blankets that covered the magic mirrors were in disarray. “Did Celestia see the mirrors?” Sombra thought confused.

Sombra himself had seen the warning mirror days ago and knew that the umbrum was close, the mirror reflected it. He had always wanted to prevent Celestia from knowing about the imminent umbrum attacks, so he was saddened to think that his dear Celestia had also seen that horrible dark creature.

“Come, let's walk around the castle. After all, it will not be long before you have to return to your kingdom.” Sombra smiled, gently touching Celestia. Not wanting to make Celestia uncomfortable by telling her that he had found out what she did.

As they walked, Sombra made two decisions. First, to hide the magic mirrors in another place, so that no one would see them again and suffer from those visions. And second, say goodbye to Celestia as if that were their last time together. He wasn't sure if that was the case, but from his vision he knew that the umbrum's attack was closer than ever, and he didn't want Celestia to be there that day, nor to sacrifice herself for him, just like Radiant Hope and his mother did.

The day of the Crystal Faire arrived and Sombra locked himself in his room. Although Sombra tried to trick Celestia into not visiting him that day, she felt a bad feeling and went to the Empire anyway. There, she discovered that Sombra was moaning in pain locked in his room.

Seeing that Sombra put a magical seal to block his room, Celestia charged her magic, until she forced the door and it almost exploded when it burst open. Upon entering, Celestia was horrified at what she saw.

Sombra was in his bed, writhing in pain, and above him, a horrible shadow that seemed to be made of dark tar, which was stuck to Sombra and was trying to free itself from his body, but couldn't. Then, the horrible dark creature growled and used all its strength to try to free itself from Sombra's body. That made Sombra's eyes go blank in pain, arching his back in the air with unimaginable pain in his body, until suddenly his body fell motionless back onto his bed, and with it, the dark being went limp and vanished into the air like ashes in a fire.

“Sombra… Sombra!” Celestia shouted desperately, running to where Sombra was.

Arriving next to the body of her lover, Celestia was paralyzed when she saw Sombra's lifeless face. Terrified, she moved her head closer to his body and tried to hear his heart. There, she could not hear any heartbeat or feel breathing in him. Sombra was dead.

“No, no, NO! What happened!?" Celestia screamed in terror, beginning to despair. Using her magic to surround Sombra's body and try to heal his body. “Don't leave me, Sombra! Please wake up!” Celestia cried, panicking, seeing that her magic didn’t work, because it could not heal a dead pony.

Seeing that nothing was working, Celestia's paws trembled and she took a few steps back. With her mind in chaos without understanding what had happened or how her beloved Sombra had died.

“This is a nightmare… It's just a nightmare…” Celestia murmured terrified, unable to stop crying. Feeling more panicked than she had ever felt in her life. “Not you too… Don't leave me too…”

Suddenly Celestia remembered something and opened her eyes in surprise, remaining paralyzed for a second. Then, she quickly ran out of Sombra's room and went to Hope's room. There, she saw Hope's crystallized body, still in her endless dream, but that was not what she was looking for. Celestia fiercely forced one of the drawers there with her magic and took out an old scroll that Sombra had hidden there some time ago, the spell of immortality.

Without thinking about anything other than bringing her beloved Sombra back to life before his soul completely left his body, Celestia returned to Sombra's room, and with her eyes still teary, recited the immortality spell created by Amore hundreds of years ago. She didn't care at all about the repercussions, she was willing to give her life for Sombra, and she only cared that the pony she loved most in the world didn't die.

The room filled with light as Sombra's body rose into the air, surrounded by forbidden magical runes, signs of using magic that went against the natural law of life. Finally, the golden light of Celestia's magic stopped illuminating the room and Sombra's body slowly fell back onto his bed. There, Celestia stood frozen, waiting for some reaction from Sombra's body, until finally, she could breathe a sigh of relief when she saw that Sombra's body was breathing again.

Before Celestia could react, Sombra suddenly opened his eyes with an unearthly red glow in them, without any pupils. Then, his body twisted unnaturally, until he finally stood up again. Seeing that, Celestia was frozen in terror, seeing that whatever was controlling Sombra's body was staring at her, and what was more terrifying, this dark being smiled evilly at the sight of her.

Despite being paralyzed, Celestia's magic continued to work and her magic could sense the magic emanating from Sombra. There was no doubt, that being was Sombra, he was not being possessed by anything, however, why were his eyes shining like that? Why that terrifying smile? Maybe... Was that the real Sombra?

“It must be like with Hope's crystallization… His soul must recover all his memories before it can become the same as before…” Celestia thought, still feeling intimidated by the terrifying look and smile that Sombra showed, one that made her tremble from head to tail. “It's like it's a newborn soul, but... Why would a soul be this terrifying from birth?”

Suddenly Sombra pounced on Celestia, causing her to fall backwards against the floor. Then the dark Sombra tried to bite Celestia's neck while his bright red eyes radiated deep evil.

Celestia held Sombra's chest with her hooves to prevent him from biting her. However, with every second, Sombra's body became darker, partially turning into a shadow, and he gained more and more power. That form of Sombra made Celestia slowly begin to understand what was happening, causing her eyes to widen in horror.

Celestia had fought many evil creatures, but if she had to describe the magic that emanated from Sombra at that moment, Celestia would say that the one it most resembled of her terrible rivals was her confrontation against Nightmare Moon. However, it didn't completely resemble the evil version of Luna, but rather the dark, demonic magic she had attempted to use against her.

“A curse… But it's not just a spell, his whole body feels like a huge curse!” Celestia thought, slowly tying up the loose ends. “The immortality spell! That must have turned Sombra's body into dark magic! But... Why is there nothing left of Sombra's original body? A curse should not have spread so easily in a normal body.”

As Sombra gained more strength, he pushed Celestia harder, while it became harder for her to restrain him. In that moment her mind made her think of every imaginable possibility, until she finally arrived at the truth. She found out why Hope had that immortality spell stored in her room.

“You… You had already died.” Celestia said with her face pale, shocked to discover the truth.

Celestia's eyes filled with tears as she imagined what had happened.

'Hope was going to be a mother soon. She didn't want to put her foal at risk, but seeing you suffer, she couldn't stand it and she had to witness the same thing I witnessed. Her gift was healing magic, but it was not enough. She watched you die, and in her desperation, she ran to Amore's room for help. Only then did she discover that her mother was not there. Instead, she found the immortality spell and used it on you, reviving you in your current wild state. Seeing that she couldn't defeat you, Hope teleported you to our private room, to the wishing garden, knowing that time moves faster there and that she could detain you there until your soul stabilized. There, you must have dealt her a fatal blow before she fled and blocked that temporary space. She managed to lock you up, but she only managed to give birth before being mortally wounded...'

Suddenly Celestia felt like she couldn't control Sombra anymore and teleported out of the room. She looked at Sombra from the portal and waited for the wild Sombra to see her. Then, Sombra's dark aura rushed towards Celestia like a huge wave, which Celestia was barely able to dodge in time. The alicorn flew quickly down the hallway while Sombra quickly followed her pace.

“I must do the same as Hope. I must lock Sombra in the wishing garden so that the accelerated time of the room will stabilize his revived soul.” Celestia thought terrified, finally arriving in front of Sombra's secret room.

Touching the doorknob, Celestia prepared to open it, however, as soon as she tried, a powerful beam of dark magic flew in her direction, causing Celestia to have to jump to evade it. With a loud bang, the door to that special room flew into a thousand pieces, leaving Celestia with a look of panic. Slowly Sombra approached, with his red eyes bright and evil, his body completely dark, made up of shadows, and a supernatural mouth full of fangs.

“That's why Queen Amore chose to use crystallization instead of the immortality spell. She knew that if she used the spell, she would only create a monster.” Celestia thought terrified. Mentally going back in time, as I understood more of how everything had come to that horrible situation. “Hope's immortality spell created this same monster so easily, because Sombra hadn't gone through it for the first time.” Celestia discovered, while her image now relived what must have happened to Amore.

'Amore was desperate after seeing Sombra fall into illness and suffer. That's why she called Star Swirl that time. He tried to get help, but it was too late. You died that time, just like you did in front of Hope and me. Amore didn't know what else to do, you were his precious son, something she had fought for all her life. She knew that she couldn't crystallize you because she had lost almost all of her magic when creating the Crystal Heart, so her last alternative was to use the immortality spell that she had created and had refused to use. That time, this horrible creature appeared for the first time, a confused creature full of pain... This time you have become strong enough to face an alicorn, the previous time you were less strong but enough to hurt Hope, but the first time that you revived, you must have been much weaker. However, you were strong enough to kill the weak Amore, or perhaps, she didn't even have the heart to face you. After killing Amore, Hope discovered it and won her cutie mark out of desperation to heal your body with her healing magic. That time, Hope refused to reveal to you that it was you who killed Amore and simply said that it was the 'umbrum', not knowing that she would forget it the next day, due to the magic of the Crystal Heart.'

Without waiting any longer, the dark and powerful Sombra launched himself against Celestia, who had to cover herself with a magical shield to withstand the onslaught of the dark beast. Slowly Celestia's shield began to break, surprising even the alicorn herself, seeing how powerful Sombra was in that wild state. Seeing that her shield would be broken, Celestia used her teleportation and disappeared at the last second, flying out of the huge crystal palace.

Celestia's breathing was labored as her strength was exhausted, her heart aching as she watched herself fight against her beloved Sombra, while her mind was a mess finally discovering the truth. Then, a sudden final revelation left her stunned, with a look full of terror.

At that moment, from the balcony of the castle, Sombra rose into the air, forming a huge body made of smoke and shadows, rising into the air to attack Celestia again who was flying there. As she watched the wild Sombra approach, Celestia looked at him in pain as she finally understood his origin.

“A reborn body is condemned to die again, that's why you suffered from pain until your body couldn't take it anymore, and all of that didn't just happen since Amore first used the immortality spell on you. Everything happened... From the moment you were born!” Celestia thought, shedding a tear as she understood the cruel fate that Sombra experienced, remembering the words Star Swirl said when he returned for the last time to the Empire and found it closed.

'Amore, everything has its price; life cannot escape death; that is a curse... Those were the words that Star Swirl whispered full of pain that day. He discovered it. Amore was able to cheat death thanks to crystallization magic, and that created the umbrums that you feared so much, without knowing that the real murderer was always you. However, there was something that not even Amore could defeat... The Curse of the Alicorn. She always wanted to be a mother, but she couldn't, the nature of being immortal prevented it. Therefore, she decided to deceive nature. She sired a daughter but isolated the curse completely, creating another being so that the curse would only affect it and not her daughter, that was you, Sombra. This is how Amore's twins were born, one filly full of light and another colt full of darkness... Perhaps Amore thought of another destiny for you, but in the end she was not able to get rid of you and raised you as another son. That's why you suffered from the white magic of the Crystal Heart, and that same white magic hurt you more and more until it was unsustainable, and finally it killed you for the first time. That's why the immortality spell affects you so quickly and makes you so powerful every time you are reborn. You… You are a living curse!'

Seeing Sombra lunge at her caused her to snap out of her thoughts, covering herself just in time. However, Sombra's savage strength was such that he also sent Celestia flying, causing her to plummet and crash into a house, breaking it into pieces.

The crystal ponies began to scream and run away in confusion. All while Sombra landed, waiting to see if Celestia had died or would emerge from the rubble.

“He's not focusing his anger on the other ponies. His anger is only focused on me.” Celestia thought in pain. Moving some large pieces of crystal that had fallen on top of her after that powerful fall. “Perhaps it is the effect of having been the one who cast the immortality spell…”

Seeing Celestia move, Sombra charged up a powerful magical beam and threw it at Celestia. While the alicorn responded in the same way with another powerful golden beam, causing both energy beams to collide and stay in the air while their powerful conjurers kept using their powerful magic against each other.

As they fought, Celestia saw that her alicorn magic was still more powerful than Sombra's magic at the moment, and she took a few steps forward while keeping her powerful magical beam against Sombra's beam. However, her determination to reverse that beam against Sombra instantly faltered and she was unable to continue advancing. Even though her own life was in danger, the only thing Celestia thought about was Sombra's smile and all the happy moments they had spent together, moments in which only he had been her great support to endure the most difficult moments of her life.

“I… I can't fight him.” Celestia thought crying. Causing her doubt to weaken her magic and Sombra's magic to be the one that gained ground in that battle.

Seeing that the energy beam was coming against her, Celestia gave a loud scream to stop that powerful energy beam and all that accumulated magic exploded, causing a great shock wave that caused both her and Sombra to fly away. Celestia managed to stabilize herself and remain standing, while Sombra flew until he hit another house, shattering it with his impact.

That blow that Sombra suffered was devastating, but Celestia knew that it was not enough to stop Sombra, because the dark aura that emanated from him continued to emanate from the ruins of the house and was growing again, while Sombra recovered from the impact.

Celestia looked anguished, not knowing what to do. In this battle she still had the advantage, but Sombra's dark magic only grew, and if there was a battle of attrition, she would definitely lose. Time was what she needed! If only she had more time, she could wait for Sombra's dark soul to calm down and regain consciousness. If only Sombra's secret room hadn't been destroyed, she could have locked Sombra in there again... At that moment, Celestia opened her eyes in surprise and fear as she realized something.

“There is another place with accelerated time… Right where we are now!” Celestia thought, looking around. Realizing that the Crystal Empire itself was a space outside of time.

At that moment, she looked away and closed her eyes in pain; she had to make a difficult decision. She could continue fighting there, but Sombra would defeat her. If she left the Empire, Sombra's growing magic could cause him to break the Empire's barrier and the entire Empire would fall and be destroyed. If she left the Empire and closed it before Sombra escaped, perhaps his anger at pursuing the one who had revived him would disappear; however, she would be condemning all the crystal ponies to remain under the control of the wild Shadow, at least until his soul calmed down and he regained his consciousness. Furthermore, she had never tried to close the Empire before; she had tried to open it, and that never had results since she could never overcome the magic of Amore. It was all a risky bet, and no matter what, someone was going to get hurt.

“GAAAHHHH!” Sombra shouted furiously, emanating more dark aura than he had released up to that moment. Scaring Celestia to see that he was almost matching her magic level.

The wild Sombra launched like a rocket in the direction of Celestia, with a murderous look. Meanwhile, Celestia looked terrified at that Sombra, unable to believe that this was the soul of the kindest and sweetest pony she had ever met, the one with whom she had fallen deeply in love.

Just before Sombra hit her, Celestia closed her eyes and disappeared, reappearing just at the other end of the city, in front of the access portal to the Empire. There, Celestia put on a pained look and crossed the barrier, without looking back. Once she left the Empire, Celestia turned and looked at the enormous city before her, surrounded by that invisible barrier that separated it from the great storm to the north. Concentrating, Celestia tried to surround the entire barrier with her magic, but it was very difficult. In a second attempt, she managed to surround it, but her magic was not enough to close the Empire.

“I think I can do it, but… It can only be done from within the barrier.” Celestia thought, exhausted after trying to close the barrier a third time.

At that moment, Celestia saw that a large dark cloud began to rise over the city, heading quickly in her direction. It was Sombra, who had finally found her. There, Celestia closed her eyes and concentrated deeply, using all her magic to close the barrier.

“I must stop Sombra from breaking the barrier… I must save my kingdom… I must save Sombra!” Celestia said full of determination, while her head was filling with the happy moments she had spent with Sombra. “I… I won't let you die!” Celestia shouted with her eyes shining and crying helplessly, rising into the air as she used all her magic to finally overcome Amore's magic. Releasing her magic just as Sombra, with his cruel gaze, were about to reach the barrier.

The entire barrier bordering the Empire slowly glowed until it shone as golden as Celestia's magic, and in an instant, the Crystal Empire disappeared. Celestia fell exhausted in the middle of the snow as the storm completely surrounded her.

“I… I did it.” Celestia said exhausted. Bowing her head, beginning to cry, knowing that what she had done was terrible. She had just made an entire city disappear, condemning its citizens to their fate, just… for not being able to kill a pony, the stallion she loved.

“What… What did you do…?” A voice suddenly asked from behind.

Turning around, still exhausted on the ground, Celestia saw that it was Fiore, Hope's daughter. Being the only pony capable of leaving at will through the barrier, she was currently returning to the Empire. There, she watched in horror as Celestia used her magic to make her entire city and its inhabitants disappear.

“Fiore… I… I can explain.” Celestia said weakly, raising a hoof to try and get Fiore closer.

"Don’t touch me!" Fiore screamed in terror. Crying when she saw that her city had disappeared and that the culprit was none other than that alicorn.

Terrified when she saw what had happened, Fiore turned around and ran away in tears, getting lost in the mist of the storm. For her part, Celestia tried to get up, but she was so exhausted after exceeding her magical limits that she only lowered her hoof and fell unconscious from the effort.

After waking up covered in snow, Celestia was lucky to get up before freezing to death in the middle of the storm. After recovering, she tried to locate Fiore, but was never able to do so. Many years later, Celestia would finally meet Fiore's descendants, learning that neither Amore's daughter nor her offspring had been able to escape the alicorn's curse.

Although Amore was able to give birth, she inadvertently condemned her descendants to transmit part of the alicorn curse that ran through her blood. Every time a descendant of Amore was born, a mare was born with the fervent desire to be a mother one day too. That mare would fulfill her wish, but the curse would prevent her from living with her daughter. Generation after generation, every time a descendant of Amore had a daughter, the mother died within minutes of giving birth, as payment for breaking the curse. A cycle that would repeat itself endlessly until the present, in which Celestia would find little Cadance, the last descendant of the Amore lineage, who precisely, by chance of fate, she would be the first to be reborn as an alicorn.

In those hundreds of years, many things happened in Equestria, and many more happened in the Crystal Empire, because, with its accelerated time, the crystal ponies lived there for much longer. A dark time to which Celestia unfortunately condemned them, by not killing Sombra.

Once Celestia closed the Empire's barrier, the savage Sombra lost his murderous purpose, and with it, most of his power. All the powerful dark aura that emanated from that dark being was to eradicate life; however, when Celestia left, only a city full of living memories remained, which could not be considered living beings as such, so his power was absolutely diminished, so much so that he could not even get close to the powerful Crystal Heart to destroy it. However, before him was a city full of happy ponies whose souls were made of light, unlike his dark soul, which made Sombra's dark soul decide to subdue them, to try to erase all traces of happiness in them. For dozens of years, Sombra chained the ponies of his kingdom, binding them with chains and hiding their happy faces under masks and helmets. For years, darkness reigned in that realm, and so it continued until Sombra's soul finally regained consciousness again and became the same old Sombra again, coinciding with Hope's awakening.

'End of flashback.'

“Sombra… Is a living curse?” Dusk asked surprised and terrified, after hearing Celestia's revelation.

“That's why we can't use magic to destroy the curse that lies on him.” Celestia said, finally standing up completely after Sombra's attack. “The curse of the umbrum lies within Sombra, but Sombra is also a curse itself. If we destroy the umbrum, we will also destroy Sombra.”

At that revelation, Dusk lowered his gaze in fear. He finally understood everything. Celestia didn't want to kill Sombra, she loved him as much as he loved her. But what other way out did they have if they couldn't face Sombra?

"Watch out!!" Shining Armor suddenly shouted, seeing that Sombra was heading towards them.

Sombra effortlessly broke through Shining Armor's barrier with a powerful bolt of magic and lunged at Celestia. She managed to stop him with her hooves, and both rose into the air, illuminating their horns as they used their magic on each other to prevent the other from casting spells.

“I finally see you… I finally see you!” Sombra shouted, his green eyes glowing and his red pupils locked on Celestia.

Having Sombra in front of her, Celestia looked at him carefully and saw the purple magic surrounding Sombra's eyes, filling her with terror. At that moment, Sombra was a mixture of different personalities and curses that Celestia could notice, hence the color of his eyes. The red pupil represented the dark soul of Sombra, that being born as Hope's counterpart to isolate the curse of the alicorn, that personality that Celestia had fought against the last time they saw each other, the culprit of the murder of Amore and Hope. The green of his eyes represented the umbrum of pain in him, that being formed by the pain and trauma of the death of hundreds of ponies and that Sombra had kept within himself to save the ponies of his kingdom from the pain of death. And finally, the ghostly purple glow that flew from his eyes, that represented the goodness of Sombra, that stallion with which she had fallen in love, that part of her soul cried, and her tears evaporated in that dark aura, giving Sombra that ghostly purple glow around his eyes.

“Sombra… You said you could see souls, remember? Right now, I can see yours too.” Celestia said crying, while Sombra continued to struggle with her to try to dominate her. “Please go back to being who you really are. Go back to being the Sombra I love.”

“You… You don't understand.” Sombra growled, being aware of himself, but no longer able to contain all the pain and evil that had nestled in his heart. “There is no turning back now!” Sombra shouted, releasing his magic and forcefully throwing Celestia to the ground.

Before falling, Dusk and Luna managed to use their magic to cushion Celestia's blow, which otherwise would have been fatal. Then, everyone gathered, ready to face Sombra, as he slowly approached them, with a look full of pain.

“In the cave I saw it, for the first time I saw it!” Sombra said, smiling evilly, looking Celestia in the eyes. “When the pain escaped from Sombra's body, he, I, we, finally understood. He had always seen the umbrum when seeing the warning mirror, but now, for the first time we saw our reflection without the umbrum. What we saw… It was exactly the same! It was always me!” Sombra shouted, as the purple aura surrounding his eyes increased. His soul cried at the most shocking revelation of his life. “That day you saw the reflection in the mirror, you understood it, right? I never had the warning mirror! What I actually had was the soul mirror. I didn't see the being that had murdered Amore and Hope, I didn't see the nearby danger that threatened everyone, the only thing I saw was my own soul! I murdered them! I am evil incarnate! I am the king of the monsters!!” Sombra shouted madly, whose soul had become so mixed with that of the umbrum that they could almost no longer be differentiated. Releasing a huge wave of dark aura that terrified everyone, as no one had ever felt such power or such murderous intent as they were feeling.

“You’re not a monster!” Celestia screamed, trying to contain her crying.

Without hearing anything, Sombra furiously charged towards Celestia and her group. Seeing who was next to her, Celestia was scared and quickly took a few steps forward. Then she used her most powerful magical barrier to contain the powerful Sombra, something she barely managed to do, due to the power of that dark being.

“You must attack him… Now that I can contain him!” Celestia shouted, giving her all to try to restrain Sombra.

Luna, Cadance, and Shining quickly got into position and launched their magical attacks at Sombra, who grunted in pain. However, not even the magic of two alicorns and a guard captain were enough to defeat Sombra. For his part, Dusk was paralyzed for a few seconds. He had just heard Celestia's story, he knew that if they used their magic to destroy the umbrum, they would also destroy Sombra, the others had not been able to hear it, but Dusk had, and for that reason, he now doubted.

“Dusk… Trust me. I… I have a plan.” Celestia said with effort, looking askance at Dusk, understanding her faithful student's doubt. “And more importantly. Beyond the love I feel for Sombra, there is the love I feel for all of you!”

Trusting his teacher, Dusk called to his friends, making their elements of harmony shine, ready to release their magic. At that moment, Dusk focused his sight on Sombra, who was still struggling to try to attack Celestia while she contained him. There, Dusk saw for a moment a part of Sombra's body shine, his head, specifically the golden jewel that Sombra had in his crown. Something inside Dusk told him that he should attack that place, which for some reason emanated more magic than any other part of his body. Then, Dusk charged the magic of harmony, emanated from all his friends and all together they launched a powerful spell that hit Sombra directly, focusing on the crown he was carrying.

“GAAAHHH!” Sombra shouted in pain, being attacked by the most powerful beam of pure white energy he had ever known. At the same time, Luna, Cadance and Shining also cast their most powerful white magic spells.

Celestia watched in horror as Sombra's crown flew away as his cape fell to the ground, while Sombra's body began to disintegrate as his dark aura disappeared. Without the others noticing, Dusk Shine felt dizzy for an instant and also fell to the ground.

At the moment of attacking the golden jewel that Sombra carried in his crown, for an instant Dusk felt a dark familiar sensation. For an instant, he heard a strange noise, a mixture of a scream of pain and laughter, while at the same time he could have sworn he saw a figure of smoke emerge from the broken jewel and vanish into the air. Something that went unnoticed by everyone else, who only confused it with Sombra's dark aura.

“It's... Like when I destroyed Chrysalis's crown.” Dusk thought agitated, with his heart beating a thousand per second for some reason. “Sombra's crown also had dark magic?” Dusk thought confused, as he tried to stand up again.

“Dusk!” Dusk's friends shouted in fright, running towards him. Seeing that the stallion they loved had fallen to the ground.

“Celestia! What are you doing?" Luna suddenly shouted in fright. Making Dusk and his friends focus again on what was happening in front of them.

Turning around, everyone saw that Celestia had put a barrier of magic between her and the others. Upon closer inspection, Dusk and his friends realized that Celestia had not actually locked herself in that magical bubble-shaped barrier alone. Next to Celestia, there was a ghostly figure with the face of Sombra. That was part of Sombra's soul that had remained after completely destroying the umbrum with the powerful magic of the Elements of Harmony. Therefore, what remained of Sombra must have only been the purest part of his soul, the one that had not been corrupted by the umbrum or his wild side.

“I can still save Sombra.” Celestia said, looking sadly at her sister.

“You can't anymore! There is nothing left of him!” Luna said upset and worried. “Please, don't do anything else crazy!”

Luna knew that Celestia had made the Crystal Empire disappear, she had told her a few nights ago. That caused part of the conflict of Luna not wanting to talk to Celestia in the last few days, knowing that she had disappeared an entire city to try to save Sombra, without knowing the story or the details of how that would supposedly save him. Therefore, that night when Luna found out about the return of the Crystal Empire, she didn’t notify Celestia and asked Sunset Shimmer to delay her as much as possible. Luna was afraid that Celestia would do something else crazy for love.

“I'll just do one more crazy thing. I promise you, it’ll be the last.” Celestia smiled sadly, shedding a tear. “I can't let him die. Not after everything he has suffered and… and everything I love him. Therefore, if necessary, I'll give my life in exchange for his.” Celestia added smiling, charging her magic as her body glowed, as did Sombra's soul.

"What? No! Celestia, no!” Luna screamed in terror, using her magic to try to break Celestia's barrier. However, that was useless, Luna's magic had not yet fully recovered and Celestia's was still much stronger than hers.

Seeing that Celestia intended to sacrifice herself to bring Sombra back to life, it made everyone else look scared as well, while Luna continued to cast spells to try and break Celestia's barrier, before Celestia immolated herself.

“I’ll sacrifice myself so that you can live with your crystallized body.” Celestia said, smiling tenderly as she looked at Sombra's unconscious soul floating before her. "With a crystal body, you’ll be able to live a new life away from the evil that originally caused you to be born... I’m sure that the blood with ancient magic that runs through my veins will be enough payment to give you at least that." Celestia smiled, crying. Sad to know that she couldn't share more happy moments with Sombra, but happy to know that at least she could save the life of the stallion she loved.

“What are you waiting for!? Help me stop Celestia!!” Luna shouted in panic, hitting the barrier with her hooves and looking at Dusk and the others in terror.

Knowing that his teacher's life was at stake, Dusk quickly moved forward to approach Luna, as did Shining; however, they both stopped when they saw that Cadance didn’t move. Instead, the pink alicorn just looked away and closed her eyes in pain, shedding a tear.

“I… I'm sorry, but… I can't do it.” Cadance said, raising her gaze and focusing her gaze on Celestia. Feeling with her gift all the love that Celestia felt for Sombra. “They both love each other, and are willing to give their lives for each other. I… I would also do the same if I were in her place.” Cadance cried, looking at Shining in pain, knowing that she was letting her beloved aunt who had raised her since she was little filly die, but also, knowing that this was the most desired wish within Celestia's heart, and she could not take it away from her.

At Cadance's words, everyone was stunned. At that moment everyone felt a strange sensation in their hearts, a mixture of pain and inner peace, the exact feeling that Cadance was experiencing, as if suddenly everyone could also feel what Celestia was feeling at that moment. Turning around, Dusk saw that what was causing that burst of emotion was Spike, specifically, the Crystal Heart that he carried with him.

The little dragon had fled from Sombra to save the Crystal Heart; however, after hearing that the battle had stopped, he returned to his friends. There, the new Crystal Heart shone and expanded the most intense feeling that was felt at that moment nearby, which was what Celestia felt. That was a new and unexpected effect of the Crystal Heart, which after expanding the joy of the ancestors of the Crystal Empire as their last wish, now served to amplify any feeling of someone close, so that others could feel it.

Sensing that fountain of feelings, Sombra's soul suddenly opened his eyes, seeing Celestia before him. At that moment, he couldn't do anything but smile.

Celestia suddenly opened her eyes in surprise as she saw that her magic was being withheld. She quickly turned to look at Luna and the others, but they all just looked at her with sad and worried looks from behind the barrier. None of them could be using magic to stop her.

“It's not them. I am the one who is rejecting your spell.” Sombra's soul said, smiling tenderly at Celestia.

“No… You can't!” Celestia said scared. So surprised to see Sombra regaining consciousness, that in her surprise she released the barrier surrounding them.

“You can't revive a soul that doesn't want to be revived.” Sombra said, causing Celestia's horn to stop glowing and emanating magic, until it turned off completely. “I would never let you sacrifice yourself for me, because I love you too.” Sombra said smiling, as his soul slowly disappeared and only half of his body remained, floating in the air in front of his beloved.

“Please, let me save you.” Celestia begged, raising her hoof to try and touch Sombra's substanceless soul. “I’ve made many mistakes in my life. I can't take this anymore. I must pay for my sins. I… I want to rest from being immortal.” Celestia said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“You've made mistakes like everyone else, but only because you were trying to do good.” Sombra said smiling, also trying to touch his beloved's face with his ghostly hoof, to comfort her. “Do you remember what I told you when we first met? I told you your soul was the brightest I had ever seen.” Sombra smiled tenderly. Then he looked up and saw that the reddishness of the sky caused by his dark magic slowly disappeared, giving way to the clarity of the blue sky and the beautiful sun of Celestia, a sun that he had never been able to experience before. With that, Sombra smiled again. “It was fulfilled… The vision I saw in the future mirror was finally fulfilled. You and me together, under the sunlight.” Sombra added, remembering that day. Lowering his head and kissing Celestia passionately on her mouth.

Even though Sombra was just a disembodied soul, Celestia could swear she felt her lover's tender lips. Closing her eyes as she continued trying not to burst into tears as she watched the stallion she loved most leave.

“We… We just needed more time.” Celestia cried after the kiss. Seeing with horror that almost only Sombra's head remained, since his entire body had already disappeared.

“My sweet Celestia… We had a lifetime together.” Sombra smiled, looking lovingly at his beloved. Remembering all the good and happy moments they had lived together.

For anyone who had lived through the time when Celestia visited the Crystal Empire, they would say that she and Sombra had spent only a few days a year together, as their visits were very sporadic. However, within the Crystal Empire, days could turn into weeks, and in the wishing garden, that time could turn into months. For hundreds of years they both shared that precious time together, and what for some was a few days, for them became years of living together, just the two of them in their secret garden. Loving each other isolated from everyone, because if they were together, they didn't need anyone else. Thousands of laughs, hugs and caresses, both had become a couple isolated from time and the world, a love as unique as they both were.

Crouching down with what little was left of his soul visible, Sombra motioned for Celestia to look under his cape, which had fallen there when his body disappeared. As she lifted Sombra's cape, Celestia's heart skipped a beat, shocked to see what Sombra had kept for years. There was the ring with gold paper on which he had written his wish. That was Sombra's ultimate treasure, something he had struggled to find after his wishing garden had been destroyed.

“The cure for immortality…” Celestia struggled to smile, with a trembling smile and her eyes filled with tears. Holding up the golden paper that Sombra had kept for years. It read: 'Eternal love', that was the cure to endure the cruel destiny of immortality.

Upon taking the golden paper, it began to fall apart, because the magic had almost charred it after destroying Sombra's body. As if they had been tied by an invisible thread, what was left of Sombra's soul also finally disappeared, saying one last 'I love you' without a voice, saying goodbye forever to his beloved.

After seeing Sombra disappear, Celestia was frozen for a moment, just looking at the sky. She slowly lowered her gaze and saw that the golden paper had also disappeared from her hoof, causing the golden ring that was used to tie those wishes to the branches of the trees to fall to the ground, remaining right in front of her.

'When I grow up, I... I will give you a ring and marry you.' Sombra had said when he was just a young colt, the first time he saw Celestia. That memory burned brightly in the alicorn's mind as she saw the golden ring.

Celestia's throat tightened, so tight that she could barely breathe. Her eyes were burning and her breathing was completely labored as she tried to maintain control.

“You’re a princess… Everyone sees you… You must give them strength…” Celestia thought, her body trembling. Giving everything of herself to control herself in that difficult moment. “They shouldn't see you weaken… You must be a sign of strength so that they can always overcome their problems…” Celestia thought, her body trembling. Slowly turning around to see Luna and the others. As she did so, she was shocked by what she saw.

Luna, Dusk, Shining, Cadance and everyone present were crying. All unable to contain their tears. The Crystal Heart that Spike was holding continued to act because of how close everyone was to it, and in that moment it shared what Celestia's heart was feeling at that moment. While they were crying, everyone was wondering just one thing, how strong was Celestia that she could bear to cry even with that enormous pain in her chest? Because none of them were able to bear that pain.

Seeing Luna, Celestia looked into her eyes with trembling eyes, and Luna also looked at her with great pity.

“Enough sister… Stop being strong.” Luna murmured, unable to stop crying.

Celestia slowly opened her mouth, trembling from tail to head. Her eyes filled with tears as she finally released her heart.

“Ahh… Waahhh…! AAAHHHH!!” Celestia cried, releasing a scream of anger, sadness, fear and pain. Letting out the bitterest cry of pain she had ever screamed in her entire life. Crying like a little filly, no longer able to control herself. Releasing the frustration and pain of having endured for hundreds of years the hope of seeing her loved one again, only to lose him as soon as she saw him.

Celestia's horn slowly lit up as she cried and screamed in pain, and in an instant, she teleported away from there. Very, very far from there.

Hours had passed since the sad end that led to the Crystal Empire forever uniting again with the outside world of Equestria. Although it must have been a moment of happiness, no one could be completely happy that day, they were just grateful that everything was finally over.

At Luna's request, Cadance and Shining would stay a few days in the Empire, organizing the entire great city and helping the few remaining citizens get back to their lives. That was gladly accepted by few crystal ponies who now lived in the enormous city, after all, Cadance was the descendant of Queen Amore, and it seemed like a correct step to follow in this new stage that their Empire would now live, being part of the world.

If there was anyone who could be said to be a little more cheerful after that sad day, it was Spike. Fortunately, the Crystal Heart's magic didn't affect him as much as it did the ponies, and besides, he felt very good about himself for the thanks he received from the crystal ponies. It seemed that they were very grateful to Spike for saving their precious Crystal Heart, which was the last gift from their ancestors, showering the little dragon with praise and words of gratitude.

With the storm far away, Dusk and his friends would now have a much easier time going to the next town to take the train back to Ponyville. So Dusk hurried to say goodbye to Shining and Cadance, giving them a warm hug, promising to see them again soon.

While Dusk said goodbye to Cadance and his brother near the central plaza, Luna watched them not far from there. Seeing Dusk, Luna sadly lowered her gaze as she remembered her fight with Celestia a few days ago. That night, Celestia had asked her not to fall in love with Dusk Shine.

“Tell me a reason!” Luna had said furiously. “Only one reason why I can't fall in love with Dusk!”

“Because I made that mistake too!” Celestia had responded on the verge of tears. “I... I made an entire Empire disappear, just to save the stallion I love!”

That night, Celestia explained to Luna how years ago she had visited the Crystal Empire and made it disappear to try to save Sombra from death, leaving Luna stunned. Celestia didn't give her details and Luna didn't need them either. Just knowing that her sister had been the cause of the disappearance of an entire Empire filled her with nausea and anger. However... now she understood.

“Do you think I will also go crazy with love like you?” Luna shouted that time, after Celestia finished telling her story.

“I don't want you to suffer. If you fall in love with Dusk, you will only suffer.” Celestia said, with a sad look. Wanting to prevent her sister from suffering as much as she did.

“You don't know that!” Luna shouted, still feeling enormous anger upon discovering what her sister had done.

"Yes, I know!” Celestia shouted, with tears in her eyes. Then she had turned around and closed her eyes in pain. “Years before the Empire disappeared, I saw one of the magical mirrors that Sombra kept. The future mirror.” Celestia said with a look of fear as she remembered that moment.“There I saw a vision that I didn’t understand at first, that of two ponies. One of them was you. However, I didn't know who the other was, and I could never recognize it. Hundreds of years passed and I completely forgot that vision, even... although the other pony from that vision finally appeared before me.”

“The future mirror?” Luna repeated, remembering that magic mirror that Star Swirl had mentioned when they lived in the Crystal Empire, the one that showed an image of the future that would undoubtedly come true. Then, Luna opened her eyes in surprise when she understood why Celestia was talking about that topic right at that moment. "The other pony you saw next to me... Was it Dusk Shine?” Luna asked unsurely. Something that was not answered by Celestia immediately, who only remained silent for several seconds, until she finally nodded.

“In the mirror I saw you… Crying… Holding Dusk Shine's lifeless body.” Celestia said, looking fearfully at Luna. “I don't know when it will be. It may happen when Dusk dies of old age. But what is certain is that at some point he will die, since he is mortal, and you must continue with your life, because you are immortal. If you continue to be by his side, sooner or later you will suffer with his death.”

Hearing those words, Luna's blood ran cold, making her take a couple of steps back, scared.

“You… You lie!” Luna finally shouted, after coming out of her fear. “You're just saying that to make me stay away from Dusk! You're just saying that so I don't make the same mistakes as you!” Luna yelled that time, with a mixture of fear and anger. Turning around and quickly leaving Celestia's room...

Since that day, Luna had been angry with her sister, until that same day when she saw Celestia again and understood her past with Sombra. Now, she knew that her sister did want to protect her from falling in love like she did, that was true, but also, Luna understood that Celestia would never lie about what she really saw in the mirror. While remembering that, Luna raised her eyes again and looked at Dusk Shine in the distance. As always, just seeing him made her heart flutter.

“I'm sorry sister... It's too late. I... I'm already in love with him.” Luna thought with a sad smile. “If I have to see him die as an old pony, I will cry and suffer, but I cannot deny what I feel. And if fate plans to take him from me before his time, I will make sure to save him from that fate, even… if I have to give my life for him.” Luna thought with a look full of determination. Looking at Dusk and swearing to herself that she would protect the stallion she had come to love with her life.

A little further behind where Luna was, were Dusk Shine's friends, who had given Dusk and Spike space to say goodbye to Shining and Cadance alone. Between the space that separated them from Luna, there was only one thing in between, the Crystal Heart. For that reason, at that precise moment, the five mares felt their hearts race with emotion, just as they always did when they thought about or were close to Dusk.

“W-What was that?” Applejack said confused. Touching her chest and then her cheeks, which turned red.

“Did you feel it too?” Fluttershy asked, just as confused. Immediately recognizing that that feeling was love.

“Wait a second…” Rarity said, looking at the other side of the Crystal Heart and noticing how close Luna was. “Is this what the princess is feeling right now?”

“Why is she looking at Dusk so much?” Rainbow Dash asked, just as confused.

“Well… That's because she's also in love with Dusk.” Pinkie Pie responded, shrugging her shoulders at what to her was the most obvious answer in the world.

"WHAT!?" The other four mares shouted at the same time.

“Yes… I've known that for some time.” Pinkie responded with a sad smile. “She tries to hide it, but I think what Luna feels for Dusk is as strong as what we feel for him.” Pinkie added, lowering her gaze sadly. Starting to walk to join Dusk and Spike upon seeing that they had finished saying goodbye to Shining and Cadance.

As Pinkie Pie walked away, the other four mares stood frozen with shocked looks. None of them had expected this revelation, much less that Pinkie would take it so lightly. At that moment, only one thing was going through the minds of those four mares: 'What do we do now?'.

After finishing saying goodbye, Luna did them the favor of teleporting Dusk's group as close as possible to the nearest train station. There, they all walked together another short distance until they finally met the train ponies, who were amazed to see that the northern storm had disappeared, and were even more amazed to see an alicorn princess there. The station ponies quickly prepared the train and Dusk and his friends got on it. There, Luna said goodbye to Dusk and his friends, preferring to fly back to Canterlot, to see if she could locate her sister along the way.

Once the train was moving, everyone sat up exhausted and quickly fell asleep, due to the enormous physical and mental fatigue they had experienced in recent days. In less than a week, they had traveled to Yakyakistan, stopped yaks and dragons from going to war, discovered a missing empire, seen dead ponies come back to life, and confronted a powerful dark being. With all that, no one wanted to talk about anything anymore for a long time, and their bodies simply finally fell exhausted.

While watching Spike and his friends sleep, Dusk saw that one of them was missing. As if it were a prophecy, Dusk knew exactly what that meant and narrowed his eyes in pain. For several seconds Dusk simply sat there, thinking that he could avoid that and simply fall asleep, however, he knew that that was not what 'she' wanted and finally got up. After walking to the last car, Dusk finally found who was missing.

“What are you doing here, Pinkie?” Dusk asked with a sad smile, looking at his marefriend, who was leaning on the railing of the train, watching the sunset in the distance.

“Hi Dusk. I knew you would come to see me.” Pinkie smiled with a sad smile. “I was watching the sunset. It seems like today has been longer than normal.” Looking towards the horizon, Dusk verified that what Pinkie said was true.

“With everything that has happened today, Princess Celestia must have more important things on her mind than setting the sun down.” Dusk said, with a sad look.

“Oh… That's true.” Pinkie responded briefly, with an emotionless look. Without stopping looking at the sunset.

For several seconds, both ponies simply remained silent. Both watching the sunset. Feeling that like that sun, they didn’t want to move forward.

“Dusk…” Pinkie Pie finally said. “I want you to-”

"No." Dusk quickly responded, interrupting Pinkie, looking at her with a pleading look. “Please don't ask me to do it now. I... I can't take it anymore. Not after everything we have suffered today.” Dusk said with a sad look.

“I… I know. I know I’m being selfish.” Pinkie Pie said, turning to look at Dusk. Finally showing emotion, with her eyes trembling, almost on the verge of tears. “But… Today has been a horrible day, so much so that I still have a hard time smiling again. Everything that Hope, Sombra and Celestia suffered. Just remembering their looks of pain and sorrow makes my heart ache.” Pinkie said, touching her chest. Then she raised her hoof and showed Dusk that she was shaking. “Also, the vision that the umbrum made us see in the cave is something that I want to erase from my mind… Dusk, so many bad things happened today, that I don't want to think that tomorrow or another day later will be just as bad. That's why... I ask you to keep your promise today. I... I won't bear the pain if it happens another day. I want everything bad to happen today, accumulate all these feelings and forget everything I felt today… Please.”

After Pinkie's words, Dusk simply lowered his head and remained silent. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the train moving quickly along the rails. Dusk didn't want to keep the promise he had made to Pinkie, but he knew he had to do it. He understood that Pinkie wanted to encapsulate everything bad that had happened to her in one horrible day, and that included… their breakup as a couple. Dusk felt his heart tighten and his mouth dry, feeling that his body wanted to refuse to speak. However, finally he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and decided to give Pinkie Pie the last gift as a coltfriend, to keep his promise, no matter how difficult it was for him.

"Pinkie... I... From now on, I... I won't be your coltfriends anymore." Dusk finally said, with his head lowered. Not being able to look Pinkie Pie in the eyes.

Pinkie Pie just stayed silent. The only thing Dusk could hear was the sound of the train, only daring to look at the hooves of his now ex-marefriend. Finally, Dusk dared to raise his head and saw that Pinkie Pie was just standing still, looking at him with a huge, sad smile.

“Thank you… I'm sorry for asking you for something so horrible. I…I wouldn’t have been able to do it.” Pinkie Pie said smiling, wiping away a tear. Then she inhaled sharply and put on a slightly less sad smile. “Don't worry, it's not like we stopped seeing or loving each other. Things will just… be the way they were before. We’ll only be friends, the best friends!” Pinkie added, forcing a big smile.

With all the time Dusk had shared with Pinkie Pie, he knew that she was forcing her smile. That filled his heart with even more pain.

“I'll be fine, I promise.” Pinkie Pie said, approaching Dusk and tenderly touching him with her hoof. Smiling more naturally, so that Dusk also felt less bad at that moment. Then Pinkie turned around and leaned on the railing again, looking at the sunset again. “I think I'll stay here a little longer… I like the fresh air.” Pinkie added with a smile.

Understanding that at that moment Pinkie wanted to be alone, Dusk sadly lowered his gaze and reentered the train, closing the door behind him.

“Yes… Everything will be fine.” Pinkie Pie smiled, looking towards the horizon, just as the sun finally began to set behind the mountains.

As night slowly fell, the wind grew colder and Pinkie lifted her hoof to hug herself for some warmth. At that moment, a few drops fell and Pinkie looked up, thinking that it was going to start raining. Seeing no clouds in the sky, Pinkie Pie touched her cheeks and saw that the drops were her own tears.

"Uh? What's happening? Why am I crying?” Pinkie Pie said, keeping her smile, but at the same time crying. “It's just like I said, it's not like I won't see him again. He’ll continue to be in my life, and will continue to be my best friend.” Pinkie said to herself, smiling and crying.

As much as Pinkie tried to convince herself, she knew the truth. Dusk would still be part of their life, but they would no longer be able to kiss, they would not hug each other like before, they would not touch each other like before. At that precise moment, she needed Dusk's hug so much, but she couldn't go crying to him.

Finally, Pinkie Pie broke down and began to cry bitterly. Knowing that all those beautiful memories of the last month had come to an end. Behind the train door, Dusk Shine had also fallen into a sitting position, crying guiltily as he heard Pinkie Pie crying behind the door.

“Truly… Love is a curse.” Dusk thought while crying. Realizing that love was the most beautiful thing in the world, and therefore, losing it was the most painful thing in the world.

End of chapter 40

Author's Note

Finally, here we have the end of the Crystal Empire arc. I know it's a bit sad, but I hope you like it

Many thanks to 'Silveranon' for his great help

And by the way, just like I did with the wedding arc, here are some references that can help you remember

Crystal Empire Arc<<

-Canon references:

'Reappearance of the Crystal Empire and the Crystal Fair' seen in: 'Episode 1 and 2, Season 3'.

'The Crystallization and the Broken Crystal Heart' seen in: 'Episode 1 and 2, Season 6'.

'Love story between Sombra and Celestia' seen in the official comic 'MLP Friendship is magic #17-20'.

'Sombra and Radiant Hope's past, and the umbrums' seen in the official comic 'MLP FIENDdship is Magic #1' and 'MLP Friendship is magic #34-37'.

'Star Swirl was the teacher of the 2 princesses' seen in the official comic 'MLP Legends of Magic #1'.

'Anugypt, Trot and Cunabula', ancient kingdoms mentioned in the official comics ''MLP Friendship is magic #24', 'MLP FIENDdship is Magic #5' and 'MLP Friendship is magic #102' respectively.

-Story references:

'The yovidóphone that Pinkie Pie throws in the snow' mentioned in 'Chapter 33, Season 2'.

'Cadance's relationship with the Crystal Empire' is hinted at by Celestia mentioning it to Cadance at the end of 'Chapter 8, Season 2'. It is also hinted at when Luna is in a bad mood while having breakfast and doesn't understand Cadance's origin, although she suspects something, in 'Chapter 12, Season 2'

'Luna didn't know what happened to the Crystal Empire and Amore' she knows that these are questions that Celestia hadn't answered, mentioned at the beginning of 'Chapter 13, Season 2'.

'The argument between Celestia and Luna' finally in this chapter we discover what made Luna angry and scared, at the end of 'Chapter 28, Season 2'.

'Celestia mentions to Dusk that she was in love a long time ago' disguised as Golden Feather, she mentions it in 'Chapter 8, Season 2'.

'Prophecy of a possible death of Dusk', mentioned by Dusk to Pinkie when he confesses what he saw in the cockatrice's eyes, in 'Chapter 52, Season 1'.

'Dusk destroying an object with dark magic'. Dusk felt weak after destroying Chrysalis's crown, in 'Chapter 20, Season 2'.

'Celestia knows and has Amore's immortality spell' when Cadance accepts Shining's proposal, she was looking for a spell and Celestia shows her that spell but warns her that immortality only creates a monster, in 'Chapter 20, Season 2'.

'Ancient magic' mentioned a few times in major events of the story, such as in 'Chapter 20, Season 1'.