"Guess they're not comin' back..."

Applejack muttered to herself as she stood beside the large crystalline table that depicted a projected map of the world.

Ever since her fateful meeting with the time-travelling trio, she had followed the orders that had been given to her by the self-proclaimed bodyguard. Every now and again, when she has the time, the factory worker would make her way back to the odd crystal structures where the visitors came from.

She made sure that she was never followed, not even by her brother, who simply thought that his sister just wanted to get some fresh air.

It had been a month since then, and there hadn't been any new developments around the area. The war raged on, and now both the forces of Equestria and the Crystal Empire are locked in a stalemate. Princess Celestia had worked tirelessly both in and behind the front line, hoping to help reclaim just a sliver of lost territories.

Applejack sighed, "Oh well... back to cannin' those-"

The air suddenly buzzed with magical energy. The table thrummed in rhythm with a crackling ball of light above it. Applejack's eyes widened and her breath hitched. Could it be?

A rift in time and space about the diameter of the table itself manifested, and through it, three figures flung themselves on to the map with consecutive thunk!-s.

Spark pushed himself up and looked around before locking eyes with a familiar orange-coated earth pony.

He grabbed Twilight and Spike in his magic and helped them stand as well.

"We're back, baby! I hope you didn't wait too long for us to return!" the metalsmith greeted happily.

Twilight rubbed her still aching head, that fall wasn't a good one.

"Whu...huh? It worked?"

The kirin nodded enthusiastically, "Yup-yup! Looks like we're here to help out after all!" he chuckled darkly, "And I've already got a plan for dear old Sombra~"

Spark turned to Applejack, who had been left speechless at their return.

"Now, I believe, is the time to let the princess know that cavalry's finally here."

The factory worker snapped out of her reverie, "Uh, right! Come on, y'all can stay in the house for a bit. They're pickin' up another batch o' cans later today, so I can talk to one of the guards."

The metalsmith nodded, "Wonderful! Lead the way, Applejack!"

As they waited for Applejack to do her thing, Spark, Twilight, and Spike sat down on the now sparsely decorated Apple Family home. The sight of it nearly broke the alicorn and dragon duo's hearts.

Thankfully, they had a chatty kirin beside them for company.

"You know, this is the first time I'll be directly meeting Celestia and possibly maybe Princess Luna too." Spark commented.

He scratched his chin in thought, "I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. I thought you'd have told at least Celestia about me the moment I left the portal room."

Twilight turned to him, "I already have. It's just that she's been fairly busy these last few weeks. I'm sure once she gets the time, she'll come to visit. You did say you wanted to get a citizenship for Equestria, right? I also told her about it in my letter."

The metalsmith nodded halfheartedly. He was fully aware of how dear old Sunbutt likes to deal with her former student's shenanigans, and he wasn't exactly a fan of it. It was likely that Celly sees him as another opportunity for Twilight to learn about friendship, or some other bullsh-

Spark glared to nowhere in particular.

-Shark. Some other bullshark.

"Hm, okay then."

Spike rested his chin on a claw, "Say, Twilight, I've noticed you've been visiting the Hum- uh, Mirror-Earth a lot lately."

The princess shrugged, "Ever since Spark reminded me how little I see them, I decided to visit my friends more often now."

"She's also going out with Sunset." Spark teased, keeping his fangirling purely internal.

The number one assistant's eyes widened in realization, "Oh... ooooh, I see." he replied with a cheeky grin.

Twilight jumped out of her seat, blushing furiously, "W-what?! No! We're just- just... y'know, hanging out together! And visiting places! By ourselves... a-and talking about... stuff..." she stammered.

The boys nodded, but are otherwise totally unconvinced.

"If you say so. / Totally."

She sat back down with a thump!, frivolously trying to cover her still red face with her hooves and wings.

"You two are the worst..." she muttered. Her voice now muffled.

Thankfully for the purple princess, Applejack entered the room, taking away the attention from her supposed romantic developments.

"Alright, I've got some good news everypony! I've talked to one o' the guards and they'll take y'all back to Canterlot. But ya might need to go through a test first."

"A test? What's it for?" Spike asked.

Spark stood up from his position, "Probably to see if we're the real deal, or if to see if we're changelings. It makes sense. In times like these, there's always the possibility that some unknown third party would try to take advantage of the situation."

Twilight followed suit, "It's also likely because our story sounds kind of ridiculous if you haven't seen it for yourself."

The kirin nodded and turned back to the factory worker, "Let's go."

The test itself had been about what Spark had suspected. They were directed to meet up with the lead officer of the cart's escort team, to which he would then do an 'interview' that was actually more of a veiled interrogation, with a few other guards discreetly casting certain spells that would disable various forms of illusions, charms, and the like.

Both Twilight and Spike passed without much issue, though they appeared to be slightly shaken by the harsh way they were questioned. Spark paid it no mind, the lead officer was doing it according to what he assumed was standard protocol. Making the potential deceivers comfortable would be counterintuitive to the whole test.

And now, it was the former human's own turn.

The officer stood in front of him with a neutral, yet stern expression and looked at him straight in the eye.

He suddenly, with absolutely no warning whatsoever, grunted and stumbled backwards. His fellow guards tensed, suspecting an incoming attack.

A moment passed, and nothing happened.

Spark raised an eyebrow, "Officer?"

The older, armor-clad stallion straightened himself and turned back to the so-called 'bodyguard'.

"N-nothing, it's nothing. I suppose I haven't gotten enough rest as I should have..."

Spark gave a small nod as his reply. What was that about?

The lead officer turned to his subordinates, "All clear! Let's get 'em to the princess, stat!"

They all gave him a quick salute before directing the newcomers into formation.

The officer sighed before focussing his gaze on the odd, red-coated unicorn.

He stifled a shudder as he recalled the visions that flashed through his mind when he looked into that... pony's yellow eyes. It was supposed to be a small dip into the interviewee's psyche to potentially view their true intentions, just as he was taught! Not... not whatever that was...

It was all so vivid... too vivid. A massive industrial complex hundreds of times larger than Canterlot spewing forth sickening amounts of smog into a tainted sky, unfathomably gigantic steam-powered machines loudly molding red hot metal en masse, red bug-like creatures slaving away in foundries and smithies...

He could hear it, smell it. The officer could still feel the heat released by those building-sized furnaces even now.

And after that... two white glowing eyes surrounded by a sea of blue-red flames, an alicorn with a red and yellow mane, a beating heart stabbed with glowing nails, a hammer, an anvil, and six bells...

He shook his head.

It probably meant nothing.

Right?

The way to Canterlot thankfully didn't take too long. Sure, it was a lot slower since they had to hoof it all the way there, but nopony, kirin, nor dragon felt all that fatigued. In Spike's case, however, it was because he was sitting on Twilight's back.

As they made their way through the capital city, Twilight and Spike felt even more disheartened at the sight of their hometown. Gone was the beauty and grandeur of the mountainside city, now heavily 'decorated' with various defensive measures to ensure the safety of its inhabitants.

Noticing their sad looks, Spark decided to cheer them up, "Hey, look at it this way: once we stop Sombrero for good, it'll all be back to normal and we can go back to dealing with Starlight. I assure you, this plan I have is gonna turn the tides of war so hard it's practically a tsunami."

The two couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement from his words. Crucible Spark is many things, but a pessimist he is not, it seems.

"'Sombrero?' Really?" Twilight asked with a giggled.

"A pretty common nickname for him in the fandom. But it's usually used for the unreformed version of him."

He then pulled out his phone—which drew the attention of a few of their escorts—and showed them a picture of Sombra, wearing an oversized sombrero, playing the maracas, with a thick moustache on his face.

That did it for them. The moment the alicorn and dragon registered the photo in their minds, the two began snicker, which then eventually developed into full on laughs. Spark simply smiled.

One of the escorting guards glanced back at them, but wrote it off as nothing too important.

It was quite the fortunate timing that Princess Celestia just so happened to be checking up on Canterlot that day, which meant that she would be easily informed about the arrival of the three time-travelling guests.

The solar princess blinked, "Apologies, I don't think I heard you correctly. Could you run that by me again?"

Raven Inkwell, clad in grey-colored military fatigues, adjusted her glasses.

"As I said, princess. There are three individuals who are demanding an audience with you. They claim to be time-travellers, and wish to share, ahem, 'knowledge that could turn the very tides of war'. As one of them stated." she explained again, slowly.

"And you said that one of them is an alicorn? Are you absolutely certain?"

The secretary held up a clipboard towards the princess, which she then grabbed in her golden magic.

"At least ninety-nine point nine percent certain. The guards have done numerous magical scans and checked her for any items that could interfere with disillusion spells. They couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. As far as we're aware, those wings and horn are indeed a part of her."

Celestia nodded in understanding. After a moment of thought, she turned to her aide.

"Alright, take me to them."

After their meeting and subsequent check up from castle security, the time-travelling trio had been told to wait for Princess Celestia in the throne room. Spark, like any sensible brony to have ever been transported to Equestria, fervently documented anything that he had deemed interesting enough to remember.

The kirin might have also taken a few... 'souvenirs' and shrunk them down as they made their way the throne room. Nopony had told him to stop, so there was no real reason for him to do so.

As they waited for the princess to arrive, Twilight anxiously turned to Spark, "You said you have a plan, but you haven't really told us anything about it."

The metalsmith stopped the recording of the throne room and stored away his camera.

"Have you ever read 'Gusty the Great', by any chance?"

The young alicorn seemed to perk at the mention of the book, "Recently, actually! It was because Sunset mentioned once that it was her favorite foalhood story, so I started..." she turned away, "Um... a-anyway. Yes, I have."

Spark pretended not to notice her blush, as to save her the awkwardness.

"Well, what if I told you that it was actually real? That it all happened so long ago, it likely predates even the Royal Sisters themselves?"

Twilight looked back towards him and tilted her head, "Well, I would assume that the story itself had been based on an actual event, and was passed down for generations up until modern Equestria with many alterations done to it. But considering the way you're talking about it, it makes me think there's something more."

The former human nodded, "Exactly. But I'm saving that explanation for Celestia."

Twilight tried not to make a retort at his blatant disregard for proper decorum, but by the way his face looked, it seemed like Spark isn't very fond of the solar princess. For whatever reason it may be, she didn't know, unfortunately.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for her to arrive.

Princess Celestia strode into the throne room with a group of four guards around her. Two in front, and two behind. The trio noticed that their armor seemed more ornate and bulkier compared to the ones worn by other guards they've seen. Each of them also appeared taller, almost reaching Celestia's muzzle.

The guards then spilt apart into a four-directional stance around the trio. Twilight and Spike flinched at the sight.

The solar... monarch? Approached them with a small smile.

"Greetings. I am Princess Celestia. Though I believe you might already know that."

Spark nudged Twilight with an elbow, signalling her to talk to her fellow royal.

The younger alicorn took a deep breath before taking a tentative step forward and bowing.

"Uh, hello, princess. I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. It's nice to meet you."

Celestia waved a hoof, "Please, you don't need to do that. We are both of equal standing, are we not?"

Twilight shot up from her position, "Oh! R-right..." she followed with an awkward laugh.

The older princess took a small step forward, "And it is nice to meet you too, Princess Twilight. I must say, I've heard quite a lot about your group recently. My sources informed me that you claim to be time-travellers, yes?"

Straight to the point, Spark noted. Twilight simply continued.

"I understand it's probably hard to believe, but that's really what our predicament is. You see..."

And off the conversation went. Twilight continued on to explain to the alternate Celestia of their situation. Starlight, the time travel spell, the Sonic Rainboom, everything.

Spark and Spike stood there, watching the whole exchange. The former waiting for the right time to chime in to execute the first part if his sche- plan, while the latter anxiously glanced at the surrounding guards.

At the end of Twilight's explanation, the older princess nodded sagely.

"I see... so you're all back here now, and you intend to aid us in stopping Sombra?" she reiterated.

The younger alicorn gave her own nod, "Yes! Since this timeline has diverged far enough to be its own reality, meaning that it will no longer be affected by the Sonic Rainboom, we couldn't in good consience leave this Equestria to its own devices. Not when we can do something about it."

Celestia looked at her apologetically, "I mean no disrespect, Princess Twilight. I highly appreciate that you all are so willing to help, but do you truly have the means to end this long-running conflict?"

Spark found this to be the perfect opportunity, and finally made himself heard.

"We do, actually."

Celestia turned towards the... unicorn? Who was supposedly Princess Twilight's personal guard, and raised an eyebrow.

"Please, do share if you could, Mister..." she trailed off.

The metalsmith smiled and briefly bowed, "Crucible Spark, your highness. But you can just call me 'Spark'. It'll make things easier for everypony."

The elder alicorn gave him a nod, "Very well, Spark, what exactly is the plan for stopping Sombra?"

The former human looked around conspiratorially before leaning towards her.

"If you could, princess, please cast a sound-dampening spell around this room and have the guards do a quick scan of the area. I don't want this information to fall into the wrong hooves, you see." he whispered.

A look of confusion passed through Celestia's face. She focused on the odd-looking pony—not that she'd say it out loud—for a moment before turning to her elite guards.

As if reading her mind, two of them separated from formation. One of them went outside while the other did a thorough sweep with her magic.

Not long after, they returned to their initial positions and gave sharp nods to the monarch. Celestia then followed by lighting a horn and covered the entire throne room with a soundproofing enchantment, not allowing anypony outside to listen in.

Spark bowed his head, "Thank you kindly, your highness.

"Now, before I continue, I need to ask. Do you know of the legend of Grogar, princess?"

Celestia still didn't know where he was going with this conversation, but she decided to humor him anyway.

"I am aware. Long ago, before even the arrival of myself an- ahem, there was a powerful ram sorcerer who claimed dominion over what will one day become Equestria. The stories say he ruled with an iron hoof, creating and using nightmarish monsters to enforce his will upon the denizens of the land." she recalled.

The kirin noticed how she seemed to have purposefully omitted the mention of Luna, but chose to ignore it. The main enemy at the time was Sombra, and it was also none of his business.

"And do you know of the artifact that he used to gain such power? The tool that allowed him to reach such heights during that era?" he asked again.

The solar princess paused in thought before continuing, "He... had a bell, if I'm not mistaken. A magical bell. One that he created himself. I cannot remember the exact details, but supposedly, it had the ability to siphon magic from other creatures and channel it back to another."

Both Twilight and Spike listened in. How could he be so calm talking to Celestia whilst being surrounded by those intimidating guards?

Spark smiled. Perhaps a little too excitedly, "Would you believe me that it does, in fact, exist?"

If Celestia hadn't been well-practiced at reigning in her emotions, she would have sputtered at his question. That information was supposed to be sealed away, yet he knew? Did she somehow reveal it in their timeline?

One of his companions weren't as well-trained as she was, though. Twilight was visibly twitching, holding back the urge interject with a wave of questions. Spike had to rub her back to help her calm down.

"Perhaps if you had proof." the elder princess responded.

The kirin, while not exactly one of the most attentive people out there, knew he had succeeded in fully catching her attention. There was something about the cartoonish nature of Equestrian ponies that made them painfully easy to read. Maybe it's those eyes?

He put a hoof to his fluff, "I know of its location."

"And where exactly is it?"

Spark smirked, "In a cavern, located near the peak of Mt. Everhoof, protected by an incredibly strong shield that not even a sufficiently powerful Tirek could fully break through, lies the Bewitching Bell. The very same bell used by Grogar all those years ago."

A moment of silence passed. Celestia looked at him blankly. A mask of calmness covering her true nature.

Another moment, and she finally spoke.

"You intend to use it on Sombra, correct?"

The former human nodded, "Yes! With the bell, we can formulate a strategy that could be used to stop him and save the crystal ponies in one fell swoop!" he proudly declared.

Celestia gave him a look, "I do appreciate your optimism and enthusiasm, Spark, but I don't believe everything is that simple."

Spark waved a hoof, "Of course not, your highness. This plan relies on a theory, one that assumes the bell is able to be fine-tuned to only absorb dark umbrum magic. This is why I'd like to bring us to the first part of the plan. The... ah, 'manual' for the bell. If I'm not mistaken, is currently located within the restricted section of the Canterlot Archives, no?"

Twilight's eyes widened. The restricted section? How did Spark know- oh, right. Probably because of the cartoon or something along those lines. Maybe she should take up on that offer to binge watch the entire show. And maybe she could watch it in Mirror-Earth, so she can watch it with Sunset, and then they can-

She shook her head. What's up with her today?

Coming back to the main conversation, Celestia craned her neck back slightly, making her appear taller.

"And what if the bell cannot be tampered with?"

The kirin shrugged, "Then we'll just use it on Sombra, and keep him imprisoned somewhere secure while we figure out how to break the mind control spell. That is, if by taking away his magic won't already remove everything else connected to him. To which we then celebrate our victory.

"Is there a more peaceful way to defeat him? One without directly harming him? Probably, but we don't know where Radiant Hope is, and it'll probably take too long to find her. The three of us found this to be the most viable option."

Both Twilight and Spike couldn't really comment on that. When did Spark have the time to plan this all out?

"You keep saying that we can use the bell on Sombra, as if we can simply walk up to him without issue." Celestia followed.

Spark grinned. Perhaps a little too widely.

A column of blue-red flames suddenly emerged around him, surprising everypony and dragon in the room. The guards took stance and prepared for an attack, Celestia calmly stood her ground, while Twilight and Spike jumped back at his transformation.

As the flames faded away, Spark, in his nirik form, smiled at the elder alicorn.

"Worry not, everypony. This is simply a demonstration."

Celestia gave him a sharp glare, "And what exactly are you trying to show by doing... this?"

It hadn't been a recent discovery when Spark found out that the headcanons he had for kirin in Crucible's AU were made true after his transformation. The fact that he was still able to eat meaty foods with no trouble meant that the headcanon of Crucible being an omnivore had been applied to him as well.

And that also meant that his other headcanons were also at play here. Like his cloven hooves allowing him to climb better than ponies, or him being as tall as present day Twilight, or even the... shimmering... nails...

Oh, right.

A dull ache made itself known in his chest.

He decided to think about it later.

With his headcanons becoming true, it even meant that he was also able to...

"My flames have the ability to consume magic to fuel itself. All magic. It cares not from whence the magic comes, only that it fuels.

"I know that I can burn through his crystals. While they do absorb magic, they are inherently magical themselves. Put me in the front lines, and I'll be able to carve a path to Sombra."

The princess' galre softened, changed to a more calculating look.

"Wouldn't your... flames, affect the bell?"

Spark extended a burning hoof, and took a dramatically time to finally point towards a certain purple pony princess.

"Princess Twilight will bear the Bewitching Bell, while Sir Spike and I will be the escort."

Twilight jumped to her hooves, "What?! Y-you want me to go to war?!"

"And me as well?!" Spike added.

The former human turned back into a kirin, and looked between her and Celestia.

"I mean no offense, I simply trust her more in handling the bell than, say, a random guard. She has an affinity to magic, you see, and I believe that Princess Twilight would know how use it properly after a thorough read of the book."

Celestia took a brief glance at the three. Spark, for the most part, seemed to be relatively unbothered by the plan. He looked excited, even.

Princess Twilight and her assistant, on the other hoof, were less than pleased by the idea. The two were already sweating bullets at the thought of entering the battlefield.

To her surprise, however, the young alicorn did what appeared to be a breathing exercise and stepped up with a renewed look of confidence.

"Alright... I'll do it. For Equestria."

The baby dragon beside her also appeared to have gained a boost in confidence.

"Yeah. For Equestria! I- uh, we already beat Sombra twice, right? That means we can beat him again!"

Twilight pat her assistant's head, "I'd say less 'beat' and more 'reform', but you're close."

Spark clapped his forehooves giddily, "Wonderful! But, ah, Princess Celestia, before we begin executing our plan, I would like to make a deal."

The elder princess tilted her head slightly, "And what would that entail, if I may ask?"

"In exchange for this information and risking our own safety in the front lines, we would be allowed to keep the Bewitching Bell and bring it back with us, along with its accompanying book. "

He paused in thought.

"As well as a chip off of Sombra's horn." Spark quickly added.

She looked at him incredulously, "Excuse me?"

"Since the shield around the cavern is nigh-impenetrable, I will have use my nirik-fire to burn it, effectively destroying it in the process. The three of us will also play a significant role of infiltrating through enemy lines and directly confronting Sombra himself. I think it makes sense for us to get a compensation, yes? Unless..."

Celestia couldn't believe this. Letting these unknown individuals take possession of a potentially dangerous artifact? Looks like his companions shared a similar sentiment with her. Either this part of the script was unplanned, or those two had been kept in the dark.

Whoever held whatever rank within this group, Celestia didn't know for sure. But it seemed like the princess wasn't the one in total control.

Crucible Spark, the so-called 'personal guard' had been taking the reigns of their conversation since Princess Twilight finished her own explanation. He had a rather devious and, dare she say, treacherous look in his eyes every time she had responded to his words, as if already predicting and anticipating her next move. This stallion, whoever he may actually be, was likely the one who came up with the plan in the first place. Only having Princess Twilight begin first as a means to ease his way towards this deal.

To put it simply, the pony—if even he was one—was untrustworthy. At least to her, since his companions seem to believe him for the most part.

And yet... did she even have any alternatives? For the last few months, Equestria and the Crystal Empire's forces have been locked in a prolonged stalemate that has been taking a toll on the morale of the troops and civilians. Ponies have started to lose hope, thinking the war will continue on until either side ended up as nothing more than desolate wastelands.

The presence of these three were akin to that of a beacon of light in the middle of a raging storm. These three time-travellers held the knowledge and abilities to help end the war once and for all.

It was tempting. Way too tempting.

She just had to be careful, then. One wrong move and this whole operation could blow up in her face.

Celestia extended a reluctant hoof toward the former human, "Very well. You have my word."

Spark eagerly shook it, "You've made a wise choice today, princess."

"What was that?! Your first time meeting Princess Celestia, and you gave her an ultimatum covered up as a deal?!" Twilight ranted as they made their way towards their assigned rooms within the castle.

"The bell will be an essential tool for us, Twilight. If we get pulled into a different, more dangerous timeline, Grogar's bell will be our key to helping each alternate timeline out of their apocalyptic situation. Besides, we're also taking away one less source of trouble for this Equestria." Spark replied.

"And bringing it to our Equestria, giving us two things to worry about! And what's with the piece of Sombra's horn, anyway? You know he can remanifest from it, right?" the young princess asked again.

Spark let out a small laugh, "I just want a keepsake from this timeline. I'm hoping to be the first Transformed HiE to ever make a phone charm out of his horn. Or maybe, if I get a bigger piece, I can make a nice knife out of it."

A moment of stunned silence passed between his companions. The kirin-human had always been rather eccentric, but this was just pure lunacy!

"I think he's lost his marbles, Twi." Spike muttered.

(Two Days Later)

Celestia had retrieved the book from the archives. It took some time to find, but the fact that it was chained up made it easy to identify. Now all they had needed was the bell itself.

Spark, Twilight, Spike, and Celestia stood at the base of Mt. Everhoof, peering up at the impressively tall mountain. Both alicorns and dragon had come prepared with the proper attire for traversing harsh conditions and low temperatures.

Spark, however, had come with... nothing at all. Not even his saddlebags, which he had left back in the castle.

"Remind me again why you're not wearing protective clothing?" the younger princess asked.

In a flash of flames, the metalsmith transformed into a nirik and flashed her a toothy smile.

"Oh, right..."

Spark turned his gaze towards the peak of the mountain. While it was blocked by thick billowinh clouds, he could still make out the faint glow of the enchanted rocks that surrounded the cavern.

"Alright everypony, let's get to it!"

It didn't take the group too long before they encountered their firsg checkpoint. Rusty Bucket's outpost and home could be seen even from a distance. The large snow-covered roof being one of its most recognizable features.

The bucket-wearing guardian stepped out of the front door when he heard the sounds of hooves clopping outside. Spark got a good look of him, and noted that he looked pretty much the same as he did in the show sans his cloak, which was a pale green color instead.

"Halt! Who goes- wha... Princess Celestia? My goodness, it's been quite a while since I've last seen you, your highness!"

The solar monarch smiled kindly, "Hello, Mr. Bucket. I see you're still vigilantly keeping watch over this area."

Rusty stood proudly and gave her a salute, "Been following your orders for decades now, princess! Now, I don't mean to sound nosy, your highness, but what are you all doing in a dangerous place like Mt. Everhoof?"

"We have... business, to attend to here. I simply thought that we should inform you of this. I didn't want you to worry over us."

The elderly stallion adjusted his walking stick, "Oh. Well gee, princess. I still don't think-"

"Enough chit-chat! Come on!" Spark called out as he walked past Rusty, baffling everypony else.

"That... was easier than I thought..."

Twilight commented as she, along withthe rest of the group finally made it to the entrance of the cavern that contained the Bewitching Bell.

Really, the only problems they came across were the ravine and the incredibly steep incline they had to climb, and even then, those were easily solvable when you have two magically knowledgable alicorns as a part of your team.

Like when Celestia was able to create a magical construct that they used as a bridge. However, out of fear of somehow burning it with his nirik-fire, Spark had to quickly turn back into a kirin to pass it. Who would've thought that he'd keep his South East Asian biology?

Now all they needed to do is to somehow get through the barrier. Spark knew just the solution for it.

"Everypony stand back. I think I've got an idea on how to get through."

After giving the nirik a few looks of uncertainty, both alicorns and dragon trotted a few paces away, just enough for them to not risk falling off the edge.

With no other living organisms around him, Spark raised a flaming hoof towards the barrier and began to channel his flames on to it.

A small ball of nirik-fire began to form on the tip of it. Within seconds, it grew exponentially in size.

It was then that Twilight gasped in realization. Spark was trying to burn away the shield! But... isn't there too much to be burnt away? Aren't those enchanted rocks continuously generating magic?

Something clicked in the the young princess' mind when she finally found out why he had told them to move back. She then connected it with the nirik's utter disregard for his own safety, as well as what could theoretucally happen if his flames made contact with the magically potent rocks...

Like a lit fuse on a firecracker...

"Um, Spark, I don't thi-"

Her warning was left unheard as Spark finally stopped charging up. The ball of fire, now about as big as Spike, was then jabbed straight into the barrier.

ssssSSSSSSSSSSS-BOOM!

Once it made contact, the nirik-fire immediately engulfed the invisible barrier, quickly eating away its magic until it reached the glowing runes carved into the surrounding rocks, at which point it decided that there was even more inside of said rocks, and proceeded to somehow enter them.

The building internal pressure caused the combustion process was simply too much for the structural integrity of the rocks, so all of that pressure was released with a loud and bright explosion of molten shrapnel and nirik-fire.

Celestia quickly stood in front of her companions and raised a shield. As she took the brunt of the magical explosion, she felt that her barrier didn't feel as strong as it should, with its golden low occasionally flickering.

"I got it! I gotta say, it looks better in person!"

Both princesses and dragon held a bewildered look in their faces as they saw the flaming figure of Crucible Spark, madly grinning with glee, slowly stepping out of the roiling smoke and cracked terrain with the Bewitching Bell held in his flame-like magic.

It didn't seem to affect the bell

For the first time in a long while, Celestia felt pity for her enemy.

(Meanwhile)

Rusty Bucket pulled himself out of the avalanche that had been caused by a certain nirik's explosion.

The old stallion took a deep breath of fresh air, "What in Equestria are they doing up there?!"

(Two-and-a-Half Days Later)

With the bell within their grasp, all the Equestrian forces had to do now was to wait for Twilight and Celestia to figure out how to use it with the help of its 'manual'.

During that time, Spark had opted to use that opportunity by forging armor for his companions in a nearby smithy. Thanks to his status as an associate of the princess, he was able to convince the owner to let him borrow it with relative ease.

It didn't take him long to realize just how mich help Kevin was whenever he was working. The praetorian usually helped around his open smithy by using his ferromancy, where he was able to detect the quality of the metals they'll be working with, along with keeping the forge hot by working the bellows, so that Spark can focus on the metal itself.

"Nanti bawakan oleh-oleh..." he muttered to himself.

After he was done with the details of their armor, the kirin-human wondered back to the castle to check up on the two alicorns and their little dragon assistant. He hoped they would be done soon, as he found the surrounding area fairly boring. Spark always did prefer Ponyville over Canterlot.

As Spark trotted to the castle's entrance, he spotted Twilight, with what seemed to be a modified bell, with a magenta crystal stuck to its central rune, talking to Celestia excitedly. It looks like they were in a good mood.

The younger alicorn turned to the newcomer, "Spark, your theory was right! We were able to set the bell to only siphon dark magic. This is great!"

Celestia nodded, "Indeed. And with the modifications made, I believe that we only need to use it on Sombra to break his spell. All there is to do now is coming up with a strategy to get close to him. We need to strike when he is out in the open."

The metalsmith could only smile.

"But..." Twilight quickly added "while we know that the bell itself would't be affected by nirik-fire, I'm not sure if the things we added would. So..."

"You still have to be the one using it." Spark continued, "It's fine Twilight, it's not like you'll be doing the fighting. Leave all of that to me, while you do your magic. Spike's gonna be your emotional support, by the way."

The Princess of Friendship nervously pawed a hoof on the floor, "A-alright then..."

(One Week Later)

Spark, Twilight, and Spike, clad in custom-made nirik-enchanted armor, stood on a small cliff that overlooked an ongoing battle.

It had taken them a week to sort everything out. From finding the whereabouts of Sombra himself, to thinking up a strategy that would allow the trio to get close to the umbrum tyrant without much issue.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the scouting force, they were able to discover that Sombra had been slowly advancing towards Fillydelphia. Celestia, along with a group of high-ranking officers stationed in Canterlot, planned to interrupt his trajectory by focusing a significant amount of their forces there. This would serve as a distraction so that the time-travellers pass by undetected.

It would be the one battle that would decide the fate of Equestria, as well as the battle where one former human can finally live up to the legacy of his fellow transformed humans by directly having a hoof in saving Equestria.

Twilight adjusted her impressively ornate deep purple plating, "I'm glad you thought about making armor for us, Spark. But don't you think this is a little..." she gestured to her rather oversized pauldrons, "excessive?"

Spark, wearing a similarly proportioned set, but with yellow-black hazard stripes scattered about, shrugged, "I just followed whatever my mind thought of at the time. I didn't know it'd end up looking like space marine armor. But honestly? I'm pretty happy with how they turned out."

Spike stretched his arms. His green plating still allowing him to move freely, "I'll say. This is actually pretty nice! And it's comfortable too!"

"There's a reason why Crucible's got entire governments bowing down to him. And it's not just because he manufactures everybody's toasters." the kirin replied.

Twilight fully turned to him, "You really need to tell me more about the world Crucible comes from. Maybe then, we'll be able to find out the full extent of your abilities."

Spark waved a hoof, "After Starlight."

Suddenly, a familiar rainbow-maned pegasus landed abruptly in front of them. Sargeant Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a salute before informing her.

"We've got a clear track a couple of ways to the west that'll lead you straight towards Sombra. I think Princess Celestia's fighting him right now to wear the guy down."

The young alicorn nodded as she tried not to compare the pony in front of her with her friend from her own timeline.

"Alright, thank you, Rainbow."

The scarred soldier gave another salute before launching off towards the battlefied once more.

Twilight let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "It's... sad... to see them like this." she murmured.

Spike put a claw on her foreleg. Unfortunately, both were covered in armored plating.

Spark tried to change the topic, "Well, this is our chance to make things right. Let's go, shall we?"

With nods of confirmation, they set off save an alternate Equestria.

A royal guard grunted as he recieved another blow from his adversary. Despite being very zombie-like when not in battle, the ponies under Sombra's influence can be surprisingly sturdy when they need to. He had been fighthing this one for Celestia knew how long.

And it seemed like he was nearing his limit as well.

The guard shook his head, "C'mon! Is that all you've got?!"

He didn't expect an answer, as ponies under mind control typically can't answer for themselves. Though if one were to take a peek at their inner consciousness, they'd probably hear various forms of fervent apologies.

The mind-controlled pony pulled back their foreleg, preparing a devastating punch.

The guard raised his own forelegs in front of his face, anticipating the hit.

...

But nothing came.

Noticing the lack of an impact, he carefully lowered his legs, expecting a psych-out.

It was then that he noticed his adversary had somehow, out of nowhere, been bound to the ground by blue-red ethereal chains. The pony thrashed about, trying to free themself, yet everything they did were only making the chains get tighter.

"What the..."

"IN THE NAME OF HARMONY, I CAST YOU DOWN!"

"Spark! Wait! We're supposed to stay close together, remember?!"

"Wait up, guys! This armor's kinda heavy!"

In the blink of eye, a burning, armored thing blitzed past the two opposing soldiers with a blast of red flames from its limbs.

Right after it was a purple alicorn he'd never seen before. She was also wearing armor. It also appeared that she was chasing down the 'thing' that had zipped by.

As the alicorn and burning creature galloped—and rocketed—away towards a larger skirmish, a small dragon, also wearing a similarly-proportioned set of armor, jogged by. He seemed a little out of breath.

The dragon turned to the guard for a moment and gave him a small wave before continuing on towards his presumed allies.

The guard rubbed the side of his helmet.

"I think... I should see a medic..."

Spark landed with the grace of an extinction-causing meteor as he powered down the crimson flames on his hooves.

The former human let out a disturbingly maniacal laugh, "I've never felt this alive before! If we're not trying to save these ponies I would've totally gone all 'Blood for the Blood God!' out here."

Twilight finally caught up to him. She slid on her hooves for a moment due to he weight of her armor.

"Why is it that I always end up running after you every time I try to warn you about something?! This isn't a game, Spark! You could've costed us the whole plan!"

Spark tried to give her a look of guilt, but couldn't keep his smile down.

"Alright, alright, I hear you. It's just that I never thought a fantasy war could be so fun! Granted, I suppose it's because nopony's actually dying and I have magical powers, but still!"

The princess wanted to facehoof, but she didn't want to smack herself with a plate of metal.

With a small slip of his his armored feet, Spike leaned on Twilight's foreleg to take a breather.

"Whew, you might need to make this thing lighter, Spark. I think my whole body's sore now..."

"Noted. I'll put a featherweight enchantment on it when we're done here.

"But for now," he pointed a hoof towards the dueling monarchs up ahead, "we have an Empire to liberate."

Twilight nodded, "Right! Okay, so the plan's simple enough."

She pointed towards Sombra, "Spark, you'll help Celestia in distracting and if you can, restraining him. While Spike and I will sneak up and use the bell to siphon his magic. Any questions?"

Her two companions shook their heads.

"Nah. / Nope!"

"Alright, now let's go!"

That was all Spark needed before he launched himself straight towards Sombra with a jet of flames.

With another flash of golden energy, Celestia deflected a blast of dark magic away from herself. She had decided to engage Sombra first, in hopes of whittling him down so that the time-travellers could swoop in with relative ease.

Though it seemed like the tyrant had quite a bit more energy than she had predicted. Despite the near constant barrage of attacks, he hadn't shown any signs of slowing down.

To add to her struggle, he had also been constantly trying to breach her mind to with his fear spells. Celestia was more than capable at fending them off, but with how frequent the king casted that blasted spell, it was starting to get rather annoying.

The solar princess and umbrum tyrant were preparing their own salvoes of magical bolts when they heard the sound of whistling.

Both of them briefly halted their attacks as they turned towards the source of the odd sound.

It was then that they saw the flaming form of Crucible Spark, clad in his armor, casuallly advancing towards them with gleeful look on his face.

"My, my. Is that the King Sombra himself?" he squinted, "Oh it is!

"You know, ever since I heard that you've been freed from imprisonment, I've been absolutely dying to meet you!"

He pulled out a shrunken halberd and poleaxe from a compartment in his armor. The nirik gave him a pitying look and sighed, releasing small tongues of fire from his nostrils.

"Oh what would Radiant Hope think of you now, I wonder?"

Sombra held back a reaction and deepened his scowl. Who is this... creature, and how did he know that name?

Spark returned his polearms to their true size with a burst of flames. Their sharpened parts glowed with an eerie pale blue light.

"Just so you know, in a world not all too far from this one, you're a pretty great ruler. Ponies adore you, and your subordinates loyal to a fault. Some even find you, hm... attractive."

He turned to Celestia, "Isn't that right, princess?"

The elder alicorn glared at him but otherwise held a neutral expression. Just how deep does his knowledge go?

Spark couldn't help but chuckle.
"Ah, well. Just some small talk before I take your horn, Sombrero."

The former human followed the instincts that Crucible's body had and took an offensive stance, with his polearms pointing their heads towards the umbrum tyrant.

Spark then proceeded to blast the ground beneath, launching himelf towards Sombra in the process.

The sudden burst of speed took the king by surprise. He turned into his shadow form just before Spark got the first strike in, only swiping off the tail end of his smog-like body.

As he reformed himself a few paces away, Celestia found an opening and shot a beam at his direction. This time Sombra reacted quickly, summoning a large crystal to block the bolt of magic.

While the tyrant had his back turned, Spark spat out a fireball at him, along with his enchanted halberd following suit.

The ball missed its target, but the blast that it created knocked Sombra aside. The king whirled around to see the incoming polearm and turned into smog once more. This time the halberd flew right through a bigger part of his body.

It didn't take Sombra long to realize that some part of him was, in fact, burning.

Impossible! He thought. His shadow form was supposed to be impervious by all but love magic!

The tyrant tried to reform farther away, but was forced to stay in his form when another beam of golden energy struck the area.

As the fight continued, Twilight, with Spike on her back, oberved the battle intently. She had seen a very small glimpse of how Spark could act during conflicts when he deflected Starlight's shot, but they never expected to see him fight like this.

One of the most notable details of the metalsmith's fighting style was that he never stopped moving. The only time Spark would stop his trajectory was when he needed to do change directions, and even then, it was only for a fraction of a moment before he launched himself again.

His methods of attack were rather peculiar as well. Despite the way his polearms were dancing around himself, it looked like he was barely controlling them at all. Twilight remembered the animation spell that he apparently had access to thanks to Crucible's memories, which meant that the halberd and poleaxe were essentially moving by themselves, whilst also working with their own strategy and style that would support both Spark and Celestia at wrangling their opponent.

"Ray Jr. I choose you!"

And then he summoned a dragon.

Well, to be more specific, an ethereal magical construct in the shape of serpentine dragon, that mere seconds ago was just a projection of a small lizard.

Ray Jr., the sentient magical construct that Spark had often referred to as his 'patronus', whatever thay may be, had come out to play. Twilight didn't know what exactly Jr's role was in its world of origin, but she knew that Spark rarely ever summons it.

Ray Jr. slithered around Sombra's attacks and swirled around the smoke-like umbrum. It's flame-covered form causing his gaseous form to retreat back into itself, seemingly beyond the king's control.

Twilight felt a tug on her mane. She turned her head around and saw Spike on her back, who was giving her a concerned look.

"You zoned out there, Twi. Spark and Princess Celestia just got him cornered, let's go!"

The young alicorn shook her head to clear her mind.

"Right!"

She extended her wings, which also had parts of it armored, and flew towards the raging battle withthe bell floating beside her.

Spark noticed her fast approach, and summoned a set of flaming chains around himself.

He turned to Celestia, "Purple Smart's coming in hot!"

The monarch gave him a quick nod before firing one final bolt that forced Sombra to position himself closer to the nirik.

Spark quickly directed Ray Jr. to ensnare the king with its body. The magical chains around him quickly followed the ethereal construct, encircling Sombra's limbs and forcing him down to the ground.

The tyrant struggled to break free, with each movement of his body causing Jr. and the chains to tighten their binds.

Going for the last resort, Sombra decided to let loose a mind control spell at the nirik. If he could get this powerful pony on his side, he could turn the tables and finally bring down Celestia!

A small mote of dark magic slipped from his horn and made contact with Spark's forehead.

The umbrum closed his eyes to focus and peer into his opponent's mind.

And he saw...

Crack!

Sombra reeled back in pain.

"GAH!" the king yelled.

He cracked open his eyes and saw the white glowing eyes of Crucible Spark, who had a terrible, horrible smile plastered on his face.

For the first time in a long while, Sombra felt fear once more.

Spark pulled him up by the chains around his body.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're a sneaky little thing, aren't you?" he sniffed in amusement, "Thanks for the gift, by the way."

Sombra's eyes widened when the nirik floated over something in front of him. Something very important.

"My-"

"Your horn. Correct." Spark smiled, "I know what you're thinking, 'if you end me now, I'll just revive myself later from this!'

"Well, fat chance."

He levitated the chunk in front of himself, and proceeded to blow a small plume of fire upon it.

The piece was almost instantly engulfed by the blue-red flames, burning for some time before it extinguished itself.

"Now it's just a fancy piece of keratin."

Spark then threw the tyrant aside in front of Twilight and Spike, who shared a look of bewilderment on their faces.

"He's all yours."

Twilight glanced between Sombra, Spark, and Celestia.

The king had never looked so pitiful before, with his stump of a horn, scuffed armor and ripped cloak.

The former human held a proud grin on his face as he examined his newest souvenir.

And the older princess had a look of pity and... longing?

Ah right, the other Sombra, Twilight recalled. She should really get back to her project.

She looked back at the bound tyrant in front of her for another moment, before finally activating the bell.

(Three Days Later)

The time-travelling heroes, clad in their custom-made armor, stood side by side in front of the Cutie Map as they said their final goodbyes to their ally.

Celestia smiled warmly at the group, "I cannot thank you enough for helping us end the war. Please stay safe, and ensure that this Starlight Glimmer pony sees the error of her ways."

Twilight returned it with her own, "Of course, princess! We'll definitely make sure of it!"

She turned around and fired off a beam upon the map, activating the spell.

"Oh! And one more thing, Princess Twilight." the solar princess called out.

the younger princess looked back, "Yes?"

"Please, send my regards to Luna in your timeline."

Twilight noted the melancholic look on Celestia's face when she said that, and nodded, "Will do, Princess Celestia."

Spike waved a claw, "Bye princess!"

Spark finished shrinking down his acquired items, "A pleasure doing business with you!"

With a final wave to the monarch of that alternate Equestria, Twilight, Spike, and Spark prepared themselves to confront Starlight once more.

Author's Note

Man... 8k words... and here I thought chapter 5 of Fire Horse was my longest one! Sheesh!

Here we see Spark channeling his inner Crucible. He finally meets Celestia, and what does he do? Give her a thinly-veiled ultimatum.

He gets a chunk of Sombra's horn, and instead of destroying it, he makes a phone charm out of it. Will it bite him in the flank one day? Maybe, maybe not.

Also, as a point of reference, the armor our heroes were wearing during their confrontation with Sombra were a mix of space marine armor. Twilight has purple-themed Thousand Sons armor similar to the one shown here, Spark has pre-Heresy Iron Warriors armor but with his touchmark instead of the legion's insignia, and Spike has Salamanders armor, because dragon.

Let's hope Starlight and the Ponyville Rebels won't be freaked out by their costumes next chapter.

Also, I'm leaving Crystal War Luna's fate up to the reader's interpretation.

If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting!

Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I?
Have a good existence!
:)

"Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"