“Die!” Celestia roared, unleashing another wave of flames on the unicorn's head.

Dozens of fire tornadoes burst out of the sidewalk, surrounding Sombra, who tried his best not to get hit. In the next second, all the tornadoes shrank into thin streams of flame as thick as a thread and swept toward Sombra. He teleported instantly, breaking the distance, but the fire threads followed him like hungry snakes.

No sooner had he used the spell than a multitude of silvery stars flickered before him, and all spatial movement was blocked - Luna was here for a reason.

As they caught up with Sombra, the fiery threads slammed into him, and there was a deafening explosion that echoed off the walls of the ruined city. The explosion was so powerful that the ground shook and the sky was colored scarlet and gold. A cloud of fire and smoke rose up, illuminating everything around with a bright light.

However, the explosion didn't cause as much destruction as one might think. By now, the entire eastern region of the Crystal Empire had already been reduced to ruins. Celestia had contributed the most to this, though Luna wasn't far behind either - the ice in some places was unlikely to thaw in the next few years.

The smoking body of the unicorn flew out of the explosion and hit the wall of the castle they had managed to get close to during the battle. With a hiss, Sombra stood up as charred flesh crumbled off his body and turned into a shadow and rushed inside the castle.

“Come on, let's finish him off!” came Celestia's excited voice in Luna's head. “He's clearly weakened after using the Tree's abilities. There won't be another chance!”

Nodding, Luna rushed into the castle following her sister.

Both naturally realized that it was almost guaranteed to be a trap, but it was worth the risk. Plus, they both had self-resurrection methods, so Sombra could only dream of killing them. Even Luna, weakened by Nightmare Moon's actions with her memory, had already managed to regain her powers by more than half. Dream Magic was indeed very handy when it came to training, and methods to protect one's own life were recreated first.

The worst that could happen would be if they gave Sombra time to recover. His ability to use the Tree had already scared them, and they had to pay some price to get rid of the seals. But most importantly, Sombra was clearly preparing something big and he couldn't be allowed to complete it.

Celestia didn't bother looking for an entrance, but simply struck the castle wall with the beam, creating a huge charred hole. The stone wall cracked and crumbled, leaving behind charred shards.

The alicorns burst into the castle like two glittering meteors. Celestia and Luna rushed through the corridors, destroying everything around them. Their magic illuminated the dark, gloomy halls, turning them into abodes of light and fire. Chandeliers fell from the ceilings and paintings of ancient heroes were reduced to ashes.

Sombra, in shadow form, slid down the walls, eluding the destructive power of the sisters. He looked pitiful and exhausted, his dark form trembling and blurring like the remnants of smoke. Several times the sisters hit him with spells, each of which threw him off like a doll and left ominous marks on the walls and floor. Many times he barely managed to avoid their magical attacks, each dodge accompanied by a muffled groan of pain and effort.

He ran as hard as he could to save his life, and each movement became more and more desperate. Sombra flew into a narrow corridor, turned sharply and opened one of the side doors, hoping for instant cover.

The sisters rushed after him, and Celestia, out of habit, charged at the door with her beam. To her surprise, nothing happened. The powerful explosion blew everything in the corridor - destroyed statues turned into piles of stones, elegant vases crumbled into ashes, furniture scattered in every direction. But the door remained intact.

Celestia squinted, and her horn blazed. Fiery grains of sand began to fall from the ceiling.

“Fuck,” Luna cursed, turning into a glowing cloud of silvery dust.

In the next instant, white flames filled the entire hallway, vaporizing everything it touched. The flame raged, its heat so intense that the air in the corridor seemed alive. It roared and spun, devouring everything in its path like an insatiable beast.

The flames disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared, revealing Celestia's figure and a silvery cloud that turned into Luna a moment later. In another situation, Luna would have thrown a couple of heavy glances at her sister - she really could have given her a warning before turning everything around them to ash. But right now, their attention was on something else: the entire hallway was completely intact.

Not even ashes remained of the carpets and other decorations, but the floor, ceiling, and walls were completely unharmed. As was the accursed door where Sombra had escaped.

The alicorns blinked in bewilderment - Celestia's attack could have taken down half the castle. Yes, castles of this level were obviously magically fortified, but... no damage at all?

In the next second, the walls of the corridor suddenly crumbled into ashes, revealing a huge hall. But the strangest thing was that the walls and ceiling were now replaced by white bone-like bars.

Behind the bars stood Sombra, his eyes burning with an eerie red light, like the fires of the underworld. He grimaced slightly at the pain of his burnt flesh tearing away, then lit his horn and ripples ran through his body. In a moment, all of his wounds vanished as if they had never existed.

There was a flicker of shock in the alicorns eyes - they had indeed seriously wounded him, and it wasn't just to his flesh. Even his core had been damaged. This was not damage that could be healed so easily and quickly. And yet, Sombra had done it.

Had they fallen into some sort of illusion?

“They were real,” Sombra smiled, as if he had read their thoughts. “Can we talk now? You still haven't answered my previous question.”

Those who thought shadow magic was limited to stealth and other such things were complete fools. Shadows are something between light and darkness, true and false, reality and illusion. And Sombra had peaked at this magic.

The sisters responded with a volley of attack spells, but none of them could get through the bars. Celestia's horn blazed with blinding energy, and a beam of light ran through the bars, carrying a tremendous amount of energy.

Not a scratch was left on the bars.

All the while, Sombra stood patiently, waiting for the alicorns to give up. He wasn't in any hurry - it was a little early for the ritual, the tree hadn't completed its transformation yet.

Celestia and Luna had tried many methods, from attack spells to spatial spells, but the result was the same - they couldn't even scratch those bars, and any attempt to escape ended in failure. Celestia even felt that her sun resurrection wouldn't work here.

“Haven't you heard of the Imperfections?” Sombra asked, his relaxed look only causing Celestia to glare fiercely. “Do they call them something else in this era? Luna should remember....”

Unfortunately, Luna didn't remember.

Like Sombra, she had once explored the Depths with vigor, but when she encountered one creature, she nearly lost her mind and soon attacked Celestia. Unfortunately for Sombra, that creature's attack activated and distorted the mental anchor he had planted in Luna, and his plans went awry.

“Apparently not,” Sombra summarized, watching Luna's reaction. “Well, it's not hard for me to explain.”

From the beginning, he had sensed that the mental anchor he had placed in Luna had been badly distorted and destroyed. He had many assumptions and theories, from Discord's betrayal to some unknown force, but as it now turned out, it was much simpler than that.

“Imperfections are the embodiment of the rules, conditions, and sequences around which their abilities are built,” Sombra continued, leisurely strolling back and forth behind the bars. “These bars are made of just such a creature. The rules are very simple: you can't leave the cage until a certain amount of time has passed. After that, it will open on its own and you can get out.”

Judging by Luna's murderous look and Celestia's blazing fury, this information did not have a relaxing effect on them.

“I see a note of disbelief in your eyes,” Sombra laughed, studying the sisters' faces. “But everything I said is true. Even Discord would have had to give his best to get out of here early. So, can we talk? I'll be honest, I've gotten a little hungry for company over the years....”

“Can't keep from gloating?” Luna asked coldly, her voice shaking with restrained rage. “You've changed, Sombra.”

“I haven't changed a bit, Luna,” the unicorn shook his head, and his eyes seemed to darken even more. “And I sincerely want to talk. Why would we fight each other when we have a common enemy?”

“You're a fucking lunatic,” Celestia growled, unable to contain her emotions any longer. “You've turned the Crystal Empire into.... this! The entire land here is saturated with your vile magic. You are the enemy of nature itself.”

“There are always sacrifices to be made,” Sombra shrugged indifferently, not the least bit regretful of what he had done. “Though it began with my selfish desire, it's for the greater good. We can't win otherwise.”

“What the fuck are you even talking about?” asked Celestia, her anger increasingly overwhelming her. “You're just fucking...”

“I beg your pardon,” Sombra interrupted her casually, looking intently toward the plaza. “Urgent business has come up, don't miss me.”

Turning into a shadow, Sombra slipped into the hallway. Suddenly a bipedal figure appeared from around the corner, a tall and bizarre creature with disproportionate body parts - the spirit of chaos, Discord, himself.

“What's the rush?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head. “Has the tree already digested my gifts?”

All four cases where cultists tried to rescue Nightmare Moon from imprisonment, but ended up opening portals to other worlds, were all produced by him. Discord couldn't pull someone directly from another world. He couldn't even choose the world where the portal would appear. All he could do was make the portal appear on an inhabited world. Whether the portal would appear somewhere in a populated area, and whether anyone would even enter it, all depended on luck. Unfortunately, he couldn't go through the portal himself and catch the ones he needed. Even creating a portal to another world required an incredible investments, the help of the Elements of Harmony and the moon - such were the limitations of isolated Equus.

Fortunately, luck was on his side - through the three portals to Equus came several very strong creatures, apparently eager to have some fun in the new world. Their bodies were now nutrients for the tree. As for the last, fourth portal, it was a clear failure. This creature had no magical energy, no soul, and no special abilities. It was a meat golem driven by electrical impulses, an abomination by local standards. It didn't even deserve to be fodder.

Discord had lost interest as soon as he saw the creature in the forest near the border of Equestria. The unicorns and thestrals had performed the ritual fairly close to Equestria, so that the ensuing spatial explosion would hide from Celestia the appearance of a portal somewhere else in Equus. As luck would have it, the portal appeared even closer to Equestria, and was detected. So Discord didn't interact with the creature so as not to leave the slightest trace. Celestia's ponies did find the location of the portal after some time, but found no trace of otherworldly entities.

This wasn't originally in the plan - they were going to use the demons sealed underground as the last portion for the tree. However, Sombra's plan to control the Luna had failed, so Discord decided to take a chance and get some creatures from other worlds. It was even better than demons. Well, he hadn't forgotten about the demons either.

The Tree of Harmony, or rather the thing sleeping inside, was closely related to Equus and was its guardian, left behind by the two entities that had created this world. No one knew its name, if it had one at all. The few who knew of its existence referred to it simply as the Ancient One or the Guardian. The ignorant called it the Tree of Harmony, not realizing that it was the same being. The magic of all the races that inhabited Equus came from those entities, some of whose power the Ancient One had inherited.

How could Sombra, with magic, defeat the entity that was the source of that very magic? It was like trying to pull himself out of the swamp by his hair. Even if he possessed shadow magic that did not belong to this world, Sombra was born a unicorn, and his entire flesh and soul was imbued with the magic that the Tree possessed. Sombra's life, strength, and very fate came about because of the Tree. Going against the Tree was the same as going against his own fate. It was a true hopelessness.

Long ago, after reaching the limit of this world's power, Sombra had accidentally learned some behind-the-scenes truth about Equus. The despair he felt then was hard to describe in words. He learned that the Tree had restricted them and isolated the Equus, forbidding travel between worlds. Always eager to learn all the secrets of magic and find the Truth, Sombra felt trapped in a cage. When he learned this, he felt incredible despair, realizing that his quest for knowledge and freedom was futile. But it was this despair that made him stronger.

His mental age had long since passed several thousand years - he was even older than Celestia - but he continued to pursue his goal with the stubbornness of a lunatic. The alicorns thought him insane, either dreaming of destroying the world or a tyrant who wanted to enslave everyone. Sombra never had any such desires. He just wanted to be free.

That's what creatures from other worlds and demons were for. For their plan, they needed beings with magic beyond the Tree's control. Creatures from the Depths and other worlds, demons - all of them had to become the “poison” that could corrode the Tree of Harmony. Otherwise, they would fail.

The Ancient One, tightly bound to Equus, could not be killed. As long as this planet existed, he would continue to be reborn no matter how much he was destroyed.

“Some little rat snuck into the tree,” Sombra shook his head, answering Discord. “You're coming with me.”

Discord only shrugged - the safety of the tree didn't bother him in the slightest. Not because he didn't care about the plan they had spent thousands of years on, but because this tree had already grown and taken root, becoming a part of this world. Destroying it was not so easy. The Alicorns had tried, early in the battle with Sombra, and they had failed. The harder they attacked the tree, the harder it hit back. At one point they had to run from it, or they might as well have died.

Sombra thought roughly the same way, but decided to check it out nonetheless. In fact, he was far more concerned about Discord's safety than the protection of the tree. After all, he was only a clone of a spirit of chaos, not even a thousandth of the power of his real body. Nevertheless, his role in the upcoming ritual was extremely important. The real Discord was still sleeping somewhere in the depths of the Everfree Forest, trying to break Celestia's seal. Sombra could, of course, find him and free him with some effort, but it was for naught. According to their original plan, Discord's real body was still supposed to be sealed by the Elements of Harmony. Chrysalis's invasion had messed up their plans somewhat, but Celestia's seal was perfectly fine too.

If Sombra had servants, he could certainly send them to find out what was going on at the tree, but they were all long dead or gone insane from corruption. Sombra wasn't immune to its effects either, and the distorted mess inside him could hardly be called a soul anymore.

Time flows much faster in the Depths than it does on Equus, for space-time is a very vague concept there. Long before the Crystal Empire disappeared from Equus, he had spent nearly a thousand years exploring the Depths layer by layer. The assimilating and insanity-inducing effects of the Depths on the soul were far worse than what the corruption produced by the miasmas was capable of.

The only reason he was still sane was because Luna wasn't the only one he had embedded a mental anchor in. Sombra had brainwashed himself as well, fixing a single and extremely simple thought in his head: destroy the Tree of Harmony.

Shadows fluttered down the corridor as if alive, and in the next instant Sombra and Discord disappeared, appearing in the meadow in front of the tree. Their teleportation was quick, almost imperceptible, and seemed to be only a play of light and darkness.

Sombra's gaze immediately focused on the bipedal figure standing by the tree. He felt no threat from the creature, so he was just curious as to how it had gotten here.

He had never seen anything like it on Equus. It resembled a monkey a little, but that was only a superficial resemblance. Maybe some kind of creature from the Depths? From what he knew, the Depths could be roughly divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. And in each of these levels, there were millions of layers, each as large as Equus. This place was truly gigantic, and what kind of creatures weren't there. Not to mention that Sombra didn't know if there was anything else beyond these three levels. He himself had only managed to get close to the lower level - he simply didn't have the strength to go any further.

“Well, who are you?” Sombra mused thoughtfully, taking a few steps forward.

The figure that had long ago heard his appearance finally turned, and Sombra was able to get a better look at it. The creature was clearly male, but that was where the answers ended - there were definitely no such creatures on Equus.

“You don't have to answer,” Sombra said indifferently, lighting the horn. “I'm used to getting information on my own.”

A multitude of shadows entwined Alexei, and his body tore toward Sombra, stopping in mid-air a meter away from him. Alexei couldn't move or make a sound, and it wasn't like Sombra was doing it on purpose. Just a little bit of the aura he had unknowingly emitted during the spell was enough to completely overwhelm the man's body.

Alexei's mind was racing, analyzing the situation at top speed. Earlier, he had already mentally prepared himself for what he might encounter with Sombra. He had always prepared for the worst, but the reality managed to surprise him here. The situation wasn't just bad - it was doubly bad.

Sombra! Discord!

Each of these creatures could be considered the final boss of this world, and he had managed to stumble upon two at once. There really was something wrong with his luck. Maybe he had been jinxed by that shaman from the zebra tribe? Or was it some kind of death curse on Saada? And where did Discord even come from here? According to the history books of Equestria, the Alicorns defeated and destroyed the Chaos Spirit long ago with the Elements of Harmony. Why the fuck is he walking around here cuddled up with Sombra?

In the next instant, Alexei felt a stabbing in the back of his head as Sombra broke into his mind, quickly going through his memories.

“Well, well, well,” Sombra laughed, shifting his gaze to the bored Discord. “The creature that came out of the fourth portal came here of its own free will.”

“Portal?” asked Discord in surprise and looked the man over carefully. “Well, I can see why the other me wasn't interested in him.

Another clone was in charge of killing and collecting the bodies of the creatures that came from the portal, so this was the first time Discord had seen the man. His job was to deliver the bodies to Sombra once the Crystal Empire returned to Equus and help with the ritual.

Sombra, meanwhile, spun the man around in the air like a plush toy, examining him from every angle. The shadows scattered into many threads and penetrated the inside of Alexei's head, pulling the nightmare - a black figure in the shape of a man - outward.

“Kind of interesting,” Sombra muttered, studying the nightmare.

He'd had a similar idea when he'd experimented with creating an artificial soul, but all those nightmares were just child's play. If, according to Saada, ghosts were the waste of the soul, then nightmares were the waste of the creatures that inhabited the Depths. Why would Sombra want nightmares when he could experiment with the source material?

Losing interest in the man, Sombra looked into his bag and pulled out a tome with a worn cover, a treatise on dark magic. For a moment Sombra's gaze flashed with nostalgia - this was a work he had written himself. It was a journal of his writings that he had once given to Luna, wanting to show her how wrong she was about dark magic.

Putting the book away, Sombra pulled a vial filled with tree sap from the bag and looked thoughtfully at the figure in his grip. His gaze wandered over the man's body, stopping several times at the artifact on his head.

From the creature's memories, Sombra knew that this Alexei had stolen several artifacts from the changelings, who in turn had looted Canterlot. The decrepit artifact he had pierced the tree with had failed and crumbled into ashes. In fact, the bark of this tree could be pierced even with a knife - it was no different from the bark of any other tree. The deeper inside, the stronger the tree's defenses were, but that wasn't the main thing - its defenses focused on infinite resurrection and turning magic against the caster.

The creature's motives were also clear to Sombra: the alchemist clearly couldn't resist the temptation of such rare ingredients. Sombra had nothing against it - he respected the pursuit of knowledge.

Sombra was a little surprised that this creature could withstand the pressure of the tree, but there was an explanation for that: Alexei had no soul, and was a creature from another world, just like those whose powers were now being absorbed by the tree. So, albeit small, Alexei had some resistance against the effects of the tree. Sombra also didn't discount the willpower of this creature - he was really impressed.

In fact, it was quite amazing that the man had made it to this point at all. Sombra chuckled slightly, remembering how this creature had managed to hide from the alicorns right under their noses for over a month. The alicorns had no experience at all in interacting with beings from other worlds - Sombra would have found this man in seconds. Well, both clearly had their own large-scale methods, but both were held back by nobles who would have made a wild howl about invasion of privacy.

Sombra wondered what was the point of such power in the first place. He would have turned all those nobles into obedient puppets long ago.

While Celestia might have been concerned that she might eventually become a monster and go beyond all acceptable limits, Sombra clearly didn't care. He would never create such an artificial counterbalance by playing political games with all this noble trash.

Sombra quickly analyzed this whole situation, and there was only one question left: what, exactly, to do with this creature?

It was no good as fodder for the tree, and the tree already had enough to feed on. It was of no research interest to the current Sombra. Nor was he an enemy - Sombra had already seen a conflict with the Tree of Harmony in his memories. Well, it was hard to call it a conflict: the sleeping Tree simply instinctively tried to suppress him, but the creature somehow miraculously managed to overcome it. Still, it was the result that mattered.

Quickly running through Alexei's memories, Sombra even gained some sympathy for him. Ambition, struggle with limitations and his own fate, betrayals, sacrifices - it was all familiar to him.

Given all that, Sombra could just... let him go.

Despite what the princesses thought of him, Sombra wasn't some kind of butcher. In fact, he genuinely felt pity for all the creatures of Equus, just like him deprived of their freedom and trapped in this cage. That pity didn't stop him from turning the Crystal Empire into a slaughterhouse, but there was nothing he could do about it - there was no other way. He didn't fill himself with any excuses that he was doing it for the greater good - he was doing it all purely for himself. However, he believed that his actions would actually make the world a better place.

Nevertheless, he thought of another way to benefit from this creature. Wasn't this Alexei a friend of Luna's? Yes, their relationship was complicated and messy: lots of mutual lies and one-sided resentment. But Luna could still forgive him. So why not gift Alexei to her? But first he'd have to work for Sombra's good.

“There is something you could help me with,” Sombra smiled, hiding his energy so the man could move normally. “You won't say no, will you? Consider it payment for your invasion of my home.”

“The alicorns hid and distorted your story,” Alexei replied in an even voice, choosing his words carefully. “If I had only knew... I wouldn't have dared intrude like that. I am grateful to you for sparing my life. What should I do?”

Sombra only grinned as he looked at the man.

All of the creature's thoughts were in front of him - the human had not a shred of respect for him, and didn't even try to hide it. Not because he was cocky, but because he knew his thoughts were being read. So he decided to dispense with the false respect and flattery, limiting himself to a short and dry answer. In his opinion, being honest and not wasting Sombra's time was the best option, but he wasn't entirely sure. Now this Alexei was trying to read Sombra's reaction to see if he had made the right choice. Maybe he should have addressed more politely and used some sort of title?

Sombra was a little amused by this. But the man had indeed made the right conclusions - all these little things and formalities didn't bother him.

“It's very simple,” Sombra said, setting the man on the ground and removing his magical grip. “Convince Luna to join me. If you can drag Celestia too, I'll figure out something to reward you with. Even I don't dream of eternal life, but I can grant you unicorn magic. Oh, yes, you'll need some information for successful persuasion.”

Before Alexei could somehow react to this insane request, a streak woven from the shadows slid into his head, filling his mind with a plethora of information.

Alexei couldn't contain his emotions and his eyes widened with shock. What had he just learned! If Sombra's information was true, then....

“This world... is it doomed?” Alexei muttered, feeling a chill run down his spine. “Are we all going to become food?”

“True,” Sombra nodded, his eyes flashing with a cold glint. “But these stubborn mares refuse to face reality.”

Blinking, Alexei pushed all this shocking information to the back of his mind - he couldn't confirm whether it was true or just Sombra's insanity. Right now, he needed to concentrate on the task set by this unicorn.

Convince the alicorns to join their nemesis and rebel against the local god? What had Sombra even hoped for by giving him such a task? Why not send him straight to the Tree to convince it to kill itself?

If Sombra was strong enough to defeat the alicorns, why not brainwash them or something? What could Alexei even do in this situation?

“That's true,” Sombra smiled condescendingly, reading the man's mind. “But then why do I need you?”

Smiling sadly, Alexei nodded, accepting the task - Sombra's hint was transparent enough.

“You don't seem particularly confident of success,” Sombra shook his head, assessing the man's mood. “Let me give you some extra motivation.”

Sombra's horn lit up, and he pointed it at the human-shaped figure of black smoke. There was a quiet pop, cracks began to spread across the surface of the nightmare, and it began to show more and more signs of instability. Alexei gasped as if all the air had been knocked out of him, and a sharp pain shot through his head - he was connected to the nightmare after all.

“It will completely collapse in two hours,” Sombra commented indifferently. “Hurry up and use all your eloquence if you still need it.”

In truth, Sombra didn't believe in the success of this venture himself. So what? The man's success or failure had no bearing on his plans. If he could plant at least a grain of doubt in Luna's mind, that would be a good thing. The man had somehow managed to fool her earlier.

He would be much stronger than the alicorns once the ritual was complete, but dealing with them would still require strength that he would rather use to fight the Tree. It would be even better if the alicorns would volunteer to join him and help in the battle.

Sombra wasn't naive. Even if he took away some of the Tree's authority and teamed up with Discord, they were still no equal to that being. He needed the support of all the alicorns as well as Chrysalis, and generally all beings at the peak of this world's power. Even then, success was questionable.

“There is also the matter of trust,” Sombra said, eyeing the man squeezing his temples. “I know you don't believe me, but consider this: if Luna sides with me, she will be the best guarantor of your safety and the fulfillment of my promises. Your relationship can still be repaired.”

As if Alexei had any choice in the matter.

Sombra lit the horn and shadows enveloped them. In the next second, the two of them appeared in the hall, next to the alicorn cage. He teleported Discord to another place - the latter didn't really want to meet the princesses.

Sombra's horn lit up again, and black crystals began to grow from the floor, quickly forming a new cage. Another flash, and the man was inside it. It happened so quickly that the heavily breathing alicorns, who were obviously trying to escape from their cage, had no time to realize anything. They stared shocked at the new face in the room - how had their headache gotten here?

“So, where were we?” continued Sombra casually, as if nothing had happened. “Who is our common enemy? The Tree of Harmony, of course. It is the one I intend to destroy.”

This statement sounded like a bucket of cold water poured over the alicorns' heads. They completely forgot about the man's existence and stared at Sombra, shocked, even with some terror.

“You...” whispered a stunned Celestia, unable to find the words. “Kill someone who protects our world? You're insane!”

“You still believe that nonsense?” asked Sombra scornfully, his voice full of sarcasm. “We know it's the fourth era, so why is there almost no trace of the first three?”

“Because an invasion of devils nearly destroyed the entire world!” roared Celestia, her eyes glittering with anger. “All of us, including you, exist because of the sacrifice of the Tree of Harmony. It protected this world without sparing its life. Is this how you repay it?”

“The devils' invasion was the best thing that happened to this world,” Sombra laughed maniacally, his laughter filled with insane joy. “If it weren't for the devils, this thing would never have sustained such damage or hibernated. The fate of the first and second eras didn't happen again only because of them.”

“What do you think happened?” asked Luna, ignoring Celestia's warning look.

“It devoured all life on the planet, of course,” Sombra replied, his words sounding like a death sentence. “You still can't see the cage we're locked in? You think traveling between worlds is closed to protect us from the devils? Then why can't we leave, but others can still come into our world? Because it needs diversity, fresh blood! Do you still think it is Guardian and Protector? The creators left us long ago, and like any other living thing, it wants to evolve.”

That was why Sombra explored the Depths with such ferocity. He had tried many ways, but he had never been able to escape from Equus. He thought he could find a way out through the Depths, but that too was futile. It was like a backwater: the Dreamworld stretched across the universe, and each planet had a separate “backwater” connected to the rest of the Dreamworld. Sombra tried to find this passageway, but was unsuccessful.

Most likely, the passage to the main part of the Dreamworld was somewhere at the bottom of the Depths. However, Sombra couldn't even get close to the lower levels, let alone advance further. In fact, it was the Depths that occupied most of the Dreamworld. The top layer, filled with the dreams of the creatures that inhabited Equus, which the ponies used to call the Dreamworld, was just a fog over the ocean. The Depths were a boundless ocean beneath that fog.

The alicorns did not know something else that only Discord, Sombra, and the Tree of Harmony itself knew: the true nature of the spirit of chaos. The princesses thought he was the Harmony Tree's worst enemy, but could they have imagined that Discord was its own project?

The Tree of Harmony itself created Discord as a tame and controlled source of chaos. Without a pinch of chaos, this world would have stagnated long ago, something the Tree certainly didn't want. Discord was already the third spirit of chaos and had survived the third era due to the devils invading this world and disrupting the Tree's usual feeding routine.

Naturally, Discord was not happy after finding out the fate of his predecessors. What was he? The embodiment of the chaos of this world! Did the Tree really think it could control chaos so easily? Even if it could control his fate, life and death, it couldn't control his thoughts. It couldn't control his desire to be free, otherwise he wouldn't be a chaos spirit anymore. This was where it all began.

“Do you have proof of what you say?” Luna asked, her eyes narrowed in disbelief. “The story is entertaining, but it sounds like the ramblings of a lunatic.”

“Yes, I have proof,” Sombra smiled sadly, his voice filled with unexpected tenderness. “Except will you believe them?”

“Dash!”

“I... he...” Dash mumbled mutely, staring blankly at the dripping blood. “I just... he jumped out and...”

The body of a crystal pony was nailed to the wall of the building. His eyes seemed to flicker with the last glimmer of life, and his body twitched in agony. The pony suddenly jumped out from around the corner and tried to get at Fluttershy's throat. Dash was the first to notice the threat and instinctively reacted by throwing her spear. She just wanted to protect her friend, and her actions were instant and decisive.

“Dash!”

Suddenly, Dash was hit hard on the cheek with a hoof, knocking her out of her stupor. Stunned, she shifted her gaze and saw Twilight in front of her, straddling her head with her front hooves and pressing her forehead against her own. Twilight's eyes glowed with determination and support.

“You did everything right,” Twilight said with firm confidence. “Nothing is your fault.”

The other ponies approached. Their support was reserved but sincere. Applejack placed a hoof on Dash's shoulder, squeezing it lightly to make her presence felt. Rarity nodded, meeting her eyes, expressing understanding. Their support was serious and maturely calm, without too much emotion or hugging. Even Pinkie Pie, usually so cheerful, nodded gravely, conveying her support with a look.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a tension that made the air hum. An invisible but powerful magic seemed to run through their bodies, making their fur stand up. The atmosphere became more and more dense and ominous.

Meanwhile, in the square in front of the black tree stood Sombra. His dark form loomed against the eerie tree.

“Ready?” Sombra asked Discord briefly, his voice cold and unemotional.

Discord answered with a slight nod and soared high up, hovering above the crown of the tree. His face broke into a wide smile - finally, after all these years, they were going to do this. Raising his paw, he looked indifferently at the razor-sharp claw and didn't hesitate to slash himself across the throat. Blood quickly began to leave his body, hissing and bubbling, dripping onto the tree, which greedily absorbed every drop.

Soon everything began to blur in front of Discord's eyes from the loss of blood - after all, he was only a weak clone. But it didn't take much from him - the ritual needed only his blood, flesh and a drop of power. Unconscious, Discord collapsed into the branches of the tree, which immediately began to consume his body, sucking out all the juices.

Sombra nodded contentedly, his eyes glittering with a grim light. He began the ritual, his horn glowing with a dark energy that made the air around him seem to thicken and vibrate. The vibrations grew stronger with each passing moment, and soon even the ponies standing in the distance felt the air shake.

Twilight and her friends noticed that the miasmas high in the sky began to thicken, hiding what was happening from the world. An invisible force began to crush and disperse the miasmas around them, drawing it upwards.

Twilight suddenly saw something incredible: a giant white glowing silhouette of a tree began to appear in the air, which was slowly being drawn to the black tree on the ground. This glowing silhouette was huge and majestic, its light dazzled the eyes and made the heart beat faster. The ponies felt their hearts overflow with a mixture of terror and awe at the sight of this grandiose picture.

In the air next to the tree stood Sombra, surrounded by swirls of darkness and power. His figure looked sinister and majestic at the same time, like a dark lord holding the fate of the world in his grasp.

Twilight, despite the pressure of the moment, quickly realized that now was the perfect moment to attack Sombra. Fortunately, they had already used the sap of the tree and were able to successfully break all the seals that restrained them and the Elements of Harmony. She turned to her friends, and they immediately understood her intentions. The ponies stood in a circle, concentrating, their bodies beginning to glow with magical flows. The magic of the Elements of Harmony began to gather and intertwine, ready to surge forth and destroy evil.

As they finished activating, a powerful rainbow beam shot towards Sombra, slicing through the air.

Sombra didn't even turn around as the glowing attack of the Elements of Harmony, capable of destroying any creature on Equus, swiftly approached him. He simply kicked his hind leg, hitting the approaching beam, which immediately burst into a multicolored cloud and vanished into thin air.

Twilight stood there with her jaw hanging open, unable to believe her eyes: the Elements of Harmony had been stopped... by a simple hoof kick? Shock and disbelief gripped her mind, her heart beating faster with terror.

Sombra turned his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Twilight, who froze with shock. In that moment she felt unbearable terror and death approaching. Her thoughts whirled, and she realized that now they could really die.

But after a second, Sombra looked away as if he didn't care about this petty thing. Even without the help of the tree, he could handle the Elements of Harmony, and right now they were no threat at all. They would die soon anyway.

The pressure in the air became more and more unbearable. The buildings around them began to crack and collapse, debris crashing to the ground. Twilight and her friends were under such intense pressure that they felt as if they were about to be flattened. They couldn't use magic or even move. Twilight felt something warm run down her face - her eyes, ears, and nose were bleeding. Her strength was leaving her, and soon her legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground.

She looked up and again saw the shining silhouette of a white tree glittering in the air. Its branches, shrouded in dazzling light, stretched toward the sky, and each leaf sparkled like a diamond, emitting streams of energy. The tree pulsed, every part of it seemed to be living and breathing, as if the whole world was centered in this one magical creature. This tree seemed to be the embodiment of life and power itself, a source of endless energy and harmony.

“Is this... the power of a god?” Twilight whispered doomedly, shifting her gaze to her friends.

Their faces were full of terror and tears. Each of them, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, stared forward with a mute plea, as if trying to find salvation in this apocalyptic nightmare.

They didn't want to die, but it looked like this was the end.

The hall was shrouded in an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional sigh and clatter of hooves.

Celestia and Luna sat in a snow-white cage of bones, their auras glowing even in this gloomy place. Alexei, meanwhile, was in his black crystal cage. The princesses' gazes, full of judgment and hidden anxiety, occasionally slid over him, but no one said a word. Each of them was absorbed in their own thoughts in their attempts to escape from their imprisonment.

The princesses discussed plans through telepathy, sometimes drawing elaborate diagrams on the floor, hoping to find a weakness in their prison. Alexei, though, was pacing the cell, pondering his situation, which was frankly deplorable. His left hand was once again missing several fingers, the price for using blood magic. However, there was not a scratch left on the bars. He realized that even if he sacrificed all his limbs, the result would be the same. Sombra wasn't a fool and left him magic, knowing that nothing in Alexei's arsenal was capable of destroying the cage. The situation was extremely fucked up.

Suddenly Alexei felt a sharp pain in his neck. With a hiss, he grabbed at it, not realizing what was happening. Glancing down, he saw a red worm or leech bursting out of his flesh. Alexei's eyes widened in surprise - he couldn't understand what it meant, but he reacted instantly, trying to grab the worm. The worm, however, was faster.

Opening its mouth, the worm spat out a blob of black energy that instantly entered the man's head. Alexei blinked, and then began to laugh wildly, attracting the attention of the alicorns.

This was it - it turns out he had forgotten about so many things!

Earlier, when he had encountered Sombra, he had erased many memories: the encounter with the Elements, the hidden tree sap, the existence of those worms, and a lot of other things. He also tweaked some of his memories: the artifact obtained in Canterlot? He had left there empty-handed.

Alexei put a hand to his stomach, and a moment later a thick, bloody worm emerged from his flesh. It opened its mouth and spewed out a small vial of murky liquid - tree sap.

Taking it, Alexei thoughtfully twirled the vial in his hands. Well, that didn't change much.

Opening the test tube, he dripped on the bars, and as expected, there was no effect. The situation was still extremely dire.

Sombra had done something to his nightmare that resembled radiation poisoning - the entire structure of the nightmare had been destroyed, and it was literally falling apart. No matter how much Alexei replaced the energy, the nightmare continued to show signs of imminent collapse. Alexei could still, albeit barely, use spells, but soon he would lose all of that.

Sure, he could complete the task set by Sombra, and the latter would probably cure his nightmare. But he wasn't going to do that.

It wasn't even that he didn't trust Sombra - if Alexei followed this path, his fate would once again be in someone else's hands. No matter how the battle in the Crystal Empire ended, his future would be decided by others. Whether he falls into the alicorns' grip or becomes Sombra's servant is all one thing, his future will be extremely bleak.

If Sombra lost, Alexei could erase his memory and personally destroy the nightmare, making it look like he was a victim of Sombra's mind control-after all, he had been brought here by Discord, who was working with Sombra. In that case, he could keep his life and stay with the princesses, but that would mean the end of his ambitions. He would be under surveillance for the rest of his days.

He didn't want to live like that.

Alexei tried unsuccessfully to find a way out of his predicament as he slowly walked around the chamber of black crystals. His magic was useless, his nightmare was shattering, and his bag, which probably wouldn't have helped anyway, had been taken away by Sombra.

He had nothing left.

Some time passed, and Alexei, immersed in his thoughts, continued to thrash around the cell. The princesses, apparently interested in the contents of the vial he had taken out of his body and his sudden fit of laughter, finally spoke. But he didn't hear their questions, completely focused on his thoughts.

Suddenly there was a powerful force in the room, the air became heavier, and Alexei heard a rumbling sound coming from everywhere. Energy filled the room, the walls began to vibrate, and the lights in the room became dark and dimmed. White threads made up of energy, the same kind he had seen on the streets of the Crystal Empire, twitched violently throughout the room.

This drew the attention of everyone in the room. The princesses couldn't feel the energy due to the characteristics of the cage they were locked in, but they could hear the sound perfectly. Their faces filled with alarm - something big was happening.

Alexei bit his lip nervously, realizing what was happening. Sombra had never been able to convince the princesses to join him, and it had all ended in nothing. After heated discussions, he had left, and now the ritual had apparently begun.

Alexei felt his heart start to pound faster-now was the best moment to do something. He might not have a chance later. But what exactly? What could he even do? He needed to decide faster.

An insight flashed in his eyes, and he looked thoughtfully at the vial of tree sap in his hands.

“What if I...” a thought flashed through Alexei's mind, but he only shook his head.

Insane! That's just insane!

Did he have any other options?

Alexei sat on the floor with his back against the bars and stared blankly at the scurrying alicorns for several seconds, deep in thought.

Finally, he rubbed his face with his palms, took a few deep breaths in and out, and then suddenly laughed and met Luna's gaze, attracted by another burst of laughter.

"You know, I really enjoyed our late-night chats," Alexei said with a sincere smile. "It was fun."

Luna's eyes widened in surprise - it was the first thing the man had said in a while.

“You...” Luna mumbled uncertainly, and then it came to her. “Wait! What are you...”

She knew that look all too well - the man was preparing to die.

She shouted something and tried to get his attention, but Alexei wasn't listening anymore - he had said everything he wanted to say. Rising to his feet, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath - the moment had come. It was time to use the seventh spell.

Running the formula through his head, Alexei activated it, and after a moment he felt his abdomen empty - that was the price of the spell. Alexei's body twitched, and he froze with his mouth open, unable to breathe - he no longer had lungs, his heart was not beating - it was also missing.

It all lasted only a moment, and soon scarlet dots glistened around his stomach, swarming like bugs. They quickly penetrated through the flesh and merged with each other, taking the shape of the missing organs. After a couple moments, Alexei inhaled-he had his lungs and all his other organs again, but only temporarily, only for five minutes.

“More than enough,” Alexei hummed, opening the vial and drinking the contents.

Alexei felt a wild pain in his esophagus, as if he had been injected with lava and liquid nitrogen at the same time.

A strange feeling pierced his head and he felt the presence of a tree somewhere in the distance. The tree also sensed Alexei and turned its gaze on him. Almost immediately it tried to break into his mind, seeking to take control. Alexei only hummed, raising his hands and attracting all the glowing white threads floating in the hall. The threads, obeying his will, wrapped themselves around him, filling the space with humming energy, as if electric shocks were pulsing through every cell of his being.

The next moment Alexei blinked and found himself on the floor. A pool of blood was spreading beneath him, soaking the cold stone. He had just passed out from the wild overload when he grabbed onto those threads. His brain burned out instantly from the exorbitant strain, but the regeneration granted by the seventh spell was simply unbelievable.

The tree no longer tried to invade his mind, having received a powerful rebuff.

Alexei gathered his thoughts and smoke billowed from his body, beginning to gather into the figure of his nightmare. Alexei stretched forward his hand with fingers bent like hawk's talons and squeezed them sharply. The nightmare shattered and disintegrated into smoke that merged with his body.

He had just destroyed the source of his mental energy. Now he had to either become a nightmare himself or die trying.

Alexei began to greedily absorb the energy flowing through the threads. He could feel the pure power flowing through his body, penetrating every cell. With each breath he absorbed more and more, it was as if his body was transforming, becoming a living filter. He purified the energy, eliminating impurities and negative fluids, and redirected it, deftly manipulating the flows.

The energy flowed through his veins, intertwined with his life force, and he fused it with his body, enhancing his abilities. This was his original idea, to use his instantly regenerating body as a purifying filter. Without this regeneration, the pressure of the energy would have torn him from the inside out.

Gritting his teeth, Alexei continued to manipulate the energy. Everything around him began to engulf in vapor - the blood flowing from all his orifices was literally emitting thick puffs of vapor.

It seemed to him that his body was in a state of constant boiling. The blood, if not for his regeneration, would have clotted long ago, clogging his veins and turning his insides to stone. His skin was covered in burns and blisters that would instantly regenerate, leaving behind charred marks. The sensations were unbearable - he felt like he was in hell, where every breath brought a new wave of agony, but he continued to hold on.

Suddenly the amount of energy increased dramatically, as if a huge wave had come over him, and he felt his body fill to the brim.

Alexei's eyes widened with surprise and horror.

The next moment there was an explosion accompanied by a wild crackling and hissing sound. The acrid odor of burning flesh instantly spread through the hall. All of Alexei's internal organs turned into a mess, and the remnants of his mental energy, along with his fused self, were swept away at the same instant.

The man's body collapsed to the floor like a doll with its strings cut.

Alexei was dead.

Author's Note

Discord