All the King's Mares (Book 1/3)

Chapters

Chapter 1 - A Dark Awakening
Chapter 2 - Reunion
Chapter 3 - Progress
Chapter 4 - A Change of Course
Chapter 5 - Reconstitution
Chapter 7 - The Final Battle
Chapter 8 - Resolution
Chapter 6 - Into the Great Unknown

Chapter 1 - A Dark Awakening

Darkness. Then a light. It was purple. And it emanated from the horn of Twilight Sparkle, who remained curled up in a corner of the colorless environment.

“Hello?...Anypony there?” she asked the darkness, her meek voice mysteriously echoing for what sounded like miles. She rose to her hooves weakly, as if she had not stood in quite some time. “Hello?” she called out with more enthusiasm. “Anypony there?”

There was no response.

Suddenly, a small creature – resembling a Parasprite – lit up as it came into view. It was orb-shaped and kept itself afloat with a pair of small wings which vibrated rapidly. It possessed no legs or arms or feelers of any kind, but just two circular eyes which never seemed to blink and a mouth looking like a hyphen written across its visage.

“Huh?” Twilight asked as the creature neared her. It darted around her wildly. Then halted in front of her. She stared at it intently. “That’s cute,” she said. She outstretched her hoof, the creature darting right out of her reach. She tried again, but the creature zoomed beyond her reach once more.

It started on a path through the environment, traveling through the cavern as if it could see brightness in the night. It soon came to a definite location, and flew around in perfect circles continuously, as if marking a spot. Twilight followed the creature, her hooves taking small, quiet steps through the darkness, until she reached the spot where the creature was. She looked down at her hooves to find a large, purple staff in the dimly lit dirt below. The staff curved into an almost-complete circle at the top, a quill sticking out of the top, a note – looking just like a letter from Princess Celestia – was strapped to the bottom.

“Huh, what’s this?” she asked, sliding the note out of the staff, seating herself and reading it by the candlelight of the glowing creature. It read:

Twilight Sparkle,

I not have the time to tell you my story, but I am being imprisoned. I know not where I am. Whomever this note reaches, please use this staff to enhance your magical powers, so you may gain access to the outside world, and free me from this bloody hell. There is no light where I live: only darkness and bloodshed. Pinkie Pie would hate it here. Go! Time is short! Be on thy way! You are my last hope, Twilight!

- Celestia

“Oh my goodness!” Twilight exclaimed. “Princess Celestia! She’s in trouble! I have to help her! But how?”

The creature which had been spinning in circles had retained a certain position in front of Twilight. It spoke not a word, nor made any noise of any kind: it just levitated in midair. Twilight looked down at the wand at her hooves again. She picked it up and held it in her grasp. She squinted her eyes as a fire sparked inside her.

“With this staff, and this magic floaty thingy, I, Twilight Sparkle, shall have the mighty super-villain rue the day they imprisoned Princess Celestia!”

A thought came to her.

“But…who is the super-villain?”

She eyed the floating creature.

It made no noise other than the scarcely audible sound of its flapping wings.

“You led me to this staff,” she began, pausing. “Surely you can lead me to a way out of here…right?”

The creature did not move.

After a moment, Twilight grunted.

“Fine, I’ll get outta here myself,” she said.

As Twilight started on her way through the caverns, she began to feel a sensation of déjà vu come upon her. She reached a corner, her reflection staring back at her several times as she approached what appeared to be a crystal of some sort. The creature followed her shadow, bringing light to the environment. Its reflection appeared in the surrounding crystalline structures. A look around the dim place, and Twilight started seeing several exploded crystal structures, as if shot at by a beam.

“I remember this place,” she said. “This is where Chrysalis imprisoned me when I tried to stop her from marrying my brother back at the wedding.” She browsed the vast room, eyeing every crystal and crystalized stalagmite in sight. “But how’d I end up here of all places? This doesn’t make sense!”

The Parasprite-like creature casually followed Twilight as she moved about the cavern.

“Wait a minute…that means I’m under Canterlot!” she exclaimed.

Twilight hurried through the cavern, to the wall where she discovered Princess Cadence way back when. She used her memory and the light of the creature behind her to find her way through the underground chasm. She came to the tracks of the abandoned mining facility, but not a cart in sight. She halted her exploration, unable to cross this obstacle.

“Shoot!” she began. “If only there was another cart here, I could ride along the tracks and break outta here, and I don’t know any spells for materializing objects!”

Twilight seated herself to ponder this puzzle. She only waited a mere second before the staff she had carried all this way illuminated. It just might work. She picked up the staff, closed her eyes, and envisioned a mining cart on the tracks in front of her. A mystical sound was heard. She opened her eyes. No new cart had appeared in front of her. But her hooves felt differently. She brought one up to her face to find it slick and slippery, and practically frictionless.

“Okay,” she said doubtfully. She picked up the staff with her mouth. “If I understand this correctly, all I have to do is…” she took a few steps back and leapt into the air, landing right on the rails of the tracks, acceleration immensely as soon as her hooves hit the surface. She wanted to scream, but feared losing the wand in her mouth. Her widened, fearful eyes expressed her uncertain and frightful emotions. As she picked up speed, the wand began to tremble in her mouth, unable to stay balanced by the enormous amount of momentum she was building up. Finally, it just slipped out of her jaw and went flying down the shaft.

“Oh, no!” Twilight cried, watching in horror as the staff fell faster into the darkness than she was. It fell straight down into the black depths of nowhere, while Twilight – now unable to see – sped along the tracks of the shaft. At last she felt a break and was thrown off the tracks and onto solid ground. She was not hurt, but was considerably disoriented. She used her magic to enhance her horn to brighten her surroundings, for she had lost contact with the Parasprite-like creature and the wand.

“Where am I?” she asked as she began to wander through the darkness. After a few moments, a dim light appeared before her. She picked up speed, and started galloping to her destination. Faster and faster she charged, closing her eyes from the intense brightness, but not stopping until she reached the light.

The light was outside, in the world of Equestria.

Twilight had appeared in Canterlot; rather, a ruined version of Canterlot. The entire city was in rubble: debris everywhere, smoke emanating from every building which had appeared to have previously been on fire. Many smaller establishments were completely desecrated. The streets were destroyed and barely visible from the layer of black ash which had spread over the ground like a blanket.

Twilight wandered through the decimated city.

“Oh my gosh,” she said, her mouth gaped and her eyes suddenly transfixed with a sense of horrid fear. “What happened?”

Chapter 2 - Reunion

Twilight was devastated. What could possibly have trashed Canterlot so drastically? There was more destruction and smoke than when Chrysalis ruled in her eight-minute reign. She searched desperately for a soul - a colt, a mare - someone to talk to. As she wandered the town, her heart began to race, terrible thoughts of loneliness entering her mind and whirling around like a tornado.

Am I all alone? Is this all that will become of me? Where are my friends? Where's anyone? Am I going to die?

Out in the open and exposed, a fellow mare rose from the shadows of Canterlot Castle.

"Twilight Sparkle," she called from afar.

Twilight stopped herself in her tracks. She gasped with delight, turning to the source of the sound: Princess Luna. Although ragged, singed, and covered in ash, her beautiful mane and somber voice were unmistakable.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed, hurrying to the larger pony. "Oh my gosh! I thought everypony was gone! Oh, I'm so glad to-"

Luna did not part with Twilight's enthusiasm as she raised a hoof to silence the student. A timid grin grew on her face.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Twilight Sparkle," she said calmly.

"Do you know what happened here? Where's Celestia? And-"

Luna raised another hoof.

"I am fortunate to have escaped from the attack plagued onto Canterlot known as The Disaster. My sister, however, was not so lucky. She's been marenapped, her magic restrained, and the town destroyed. I hid in the rubble until I heard your hoofsteps, assuring me that all was safe."

"A disaster," Twilight repeated, pondering the term. "That's accurate."

"Indeed. However, after I witnessed the capture of my sister, I was forced to retreat, and do not know much of what happened afterward. All I know is that Princess Celestia is gone, and The Disaster spread throughout Equestria. As far as I'm concerned, we're the only two ponies still around."

"Oh no!" Twilight gasped.

"Never fear, Twilight, for I'm sure there is a silver lining somewhere in this haze."

"What should I do, Princess Luna?"

Luna stepped closer to the Castle, deep in thought. She rotated her head back to Twilight.

"I suggest you return to your home in Ponyville. There is no safer place to be right now, Twilight."

"Alright," she affirmed, nodding once.

Ponyville was in just as much of a destroyed state as Canterlot was. Nearly every building was inhabitable. The Library itself was naked, all the leaves burned off its roof, the trunk signed and most of the bark in ash, but Twilight squeezed her little pony body through what was left of the doorway and found the book containing the Elements of Harmony. Most of the books survived the attack, and fortunately, the most important one of all was part of the lucky class. Twilight set it on the ground and promptly opened it, finding the gems of friendship right there in the middle pages, glistening from the sunny sky overhead.

She was then reminded about her loneliness, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. She picked up the big crown thingy of Magic, sat, and held it in her hooves, caressing her hoof across the golden surface of the jewelry. She accidentally applied too much pressure, and the star atop the crown broke right off like a twig off a tree branch. "Ah!" Suddenly consumed with sadness, she wept, a few tears trickling down her lavender cheeks. She stared into her six reflections from the diamonds engraved into the metallic surface of the crown. Now broken, it seems that all hope for restoring Equestria to prosperity is impossible. If only Discord could see Twilight now: he'd laugh himself into a coma and wreak havoc throughout the world.

Twilight lowered her head. She closed her eyes as one or two more teardrops landed at her hooves. Then, the sound of wings flapping in the windless sky was heard. She perked up, and saw a yellow pony with a pink mane hovering just overhead, failing to notice the miserable Twilight below.

"Fluttershy!" she called.

Fluttershy panicked, alarmed. "Twilight?" she stuttered, desperately looking around for her long-lost friend.

"Down here."

Fluttershy looked downward into the Library. "Oh, there you are!" she exclaimed gaily. "I'm not used to seeing your house without a roof." She lowered herself down to the treehouse and positioned herself in front of Twilight. "I'm so relieved to see you," she said in a frightened demeanor. "I thought everypony tragically died!"

"I thought the same thing," Twilight replied. "Until I met-"

"Oh, dear!" Fluttershy kneeled at the sight of the broken crown. "Your big crown thingy - it's broken! What happened to it?"

Twilight gave Fluttershy a disgusted expression. "I stroked it," she said.

"You've got to be more careful around fragile things, Twilight."

"Really? 'Cause as I recall, I threw this thing into a trashcan and it was fine," she tossed the rest of the crown aside.

"What does this mean then?" Fluttershy asked.

"It means that we're no longer able to summon the Elements of Harmony, as long as the crown remains shattered," Twilight replied. "But I don't know how to fix it."

"I don't know how we can fix it."

Twilight rested her head on her hoof. "Glue."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"So, what were you saying earlier? About meeting somepony?"

Twilight lifted her head off her hoof attentively. "I met up with Princess Luna back at Canterlot, where I woke up and found nothing but destruction. She told me to come here."

"Canterlot? Well, how'd you get back here if everypony's gone then?"

"Railroad cart," Twilight answered, the demeaning thought of all that pushing and physical exertion she had to commence to get herself home popping into her head.

"Oh," Fluttershy paused. "Well, now that we're both okay, why don't we stay together and see what we can do about this?"

"Fluttershy, you're insisting we take action?"

"Actually, my plan was to go to my cottage and curl up under the covers of my bed and hide forever."

"That sounds more like the Fluttershy I know," Twilight gave a slight grin. "But I disagree. I think some information-gathering is what is needed of this. I'm sure there's something we can do."

"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight hopped up to her hooves. "I'm gonna take a look around town," she started for the exit.

Fluttershy lifted herself up off the ground. "Okay-"

"And I expect you to come with me."

"O-oh d-dear, um, okay, right behind you."

Fluttershy lowered herself back down and proceeded to follow Twilight out of the destroyed treehouse and through Ponyville.

"So...did Princess Luna say anything about what happened to Ponyville?"

"That she did, Fluttershy. She said that somepony caused this destruction known as The Disaster, and whomever it was, they took Princess Celestia - and possibly the rest of the population of Equestria - with them."

"Sounds horrible," Fluttershy lowered her head in cowardice.

"It is horrible," Twilight said. "That's why we're on a mission to-"

"Woah-!"

Chapter 3 - Progress

Before Twilight could finish her sentence, a large, hot-pink blob came speeding toward her, and inevitably crashed into her, knocking both herself and the mass to the ground. The mass was none other than the most playful pony in Ponyville, Pinkamena Diane Pie.

"Pinkie Pie, you clutz! You-" Twilight cut herself off. "You're alive?"

"Of course I'm alive!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "How could I run into you like this if I weren't alive?"

"Everypony else is gone," Twilight explained exasperatedly.

"No wonder this place has become a TLC!" Pinkie Pie got off of Twilight. She smiled.

"So, whatcha wanna do?"

"I want to get to the bottom of this," Twilight said, starting off in the opposite direction.

"Um, aren't you already touching the earth?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Twilight turned her head and gave Pinkie Pie a frightening glare of rage. She calmed, and resumed her stroll.

"Where are we going?" Pinkie Pie inquired, hopping behind, Fluttershy flying just overhead between the two.

"The Everfree Forest," she answered.

"T-t-th-th-the-the the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy trembled with fear. "Why?"

"Destruction appears to only be hitting cities. If that's true, then I know one pony who might be able to give us some intell on what has happened here. And you're both coming with me."

Fluttershy shook visibly as the ponies approached the dark forest.

"C'mon, Fluttershy," Twilight insisted, stepping into the shady land. "It's daylight. Even if there were any scary monsters in here, they would be too scared of the sun to come out."

"Oh, really?" Fluttershy spoke softly. "Tha-tha-that's a r-re-relief." She slowly drifted in, keeping her eyes right on Twilight, a rather colorful character compared to the grim environment surrounding her.

After about ten minutes' worth of walking, the frightened, elated, and determined ponies made it to Zecora's hut. Her hut, by little surprise, was untouched, the only smoke visible emitting from the nostrils of one of her weird zebra decorations. Twilight hurried to the door and knocked, the door opening upon contact with her hoof.

"Ah, Miss Twilight," Zecora began from her cauldron, making eye contact, "our eyes have been without many a night."

"Do you know what happened to Ponyville and Canterlot and everywhere else?"

"Ah, the Disaster as it were," she walked over to some shelves of bottles, searching for one in particular. "Brought onto us by a familiar cur!" She found a bottle and began pouring its liquid contents into the cauldron. "Legend tells of a mysterious power, abused by the bringer of our darkest hour! It is he who cursed our land, and brought ponies' happiness to an end!"

The cauldron boiled and steamed, exploded and bubbled, a large one escaping as the sihlouette of a large, evil-looking unicorn appeared for only a second before the bubble popped.

Twilight gasped. "King Sombra!"

"The former villain of the Crystal Empire, plays with forces stronger than fire. The Darkness it is called, for it is greatly appalled!" Another bubble - pure black in color - floated over the cauldron and popped. "The Darkness will suck Equestria of all light - slay King Sombra with all your might!"

Zecora concluded her speech by taking a seat behind the cauldron.

"So...if I understand you correctly, King Sombra obtained some kind of super-powerful magic known as the Darkness, and has used it to destroy harmony in Equestria, the rest of the population defenseless because they did not know about the existence of the Darkness?"

"And the Crystal Empire," Zecora added.

A moment of silence.

"It is simply a rumor, young squire."

"Right. Well, thank you, Zecora, I guess we'll be-"

Zecora closed her eyes. "Twilight, before you leave, there is a favor I ask of thee."

"Yes?"

Zecora sipped a cup of a hot fluid. "Have you met a fellow mare? One who needs a little share?"

"Um, well, I met with Princess Luna back at Canterlot."

"Hmm. A pony of royalty. She must be affirmed immediately."

"Can do, Zecora. C'mon, girls, back to..." Twilight lowered her head in disappointment. She sighed. "Canterlot."

The girls exited the Everfree Forest, retracing the many steps they took to reach Zecora's cottage. Then Twilight led the way back to the train station, where she and Pinkie Pie took turns pushing and pulling the railroad cart as Fluttershy silently followed from the air, Pinkie Pie remembering her phrase of transportation: "Shimmy-shang, cherry chunga, shimmy-shang, cherry chunga, shimmy-shang, cherry chunga..." Twilight became bored from all the travel and irritated with all the unnecessary background noise, despite the fact that she was surrounded by a few of her best friends. Her spirit did rise, however, when Canterlot was neared, the ponies parking their cart at the train station, where they hopped off (and landed) and started on their way to Canterlot Castle.

The trip back had taken another good chunk of the daytime. Thus, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon as a cleaned but still lone Princess Luna was found in front of Canterlot Tower within the Castle, where the Elements of Harmony were stored prior to their movement back to the book in Twilight's library.

"Twilight Sparkle," she said, announcing her adjunct's presence. "And friends. Pleasure."

"We come with word from Zecora," Twilight said, sounding exhausted.

"Oh? What doth she say?"

"She says that the villain behind all this destruction is none other than King Sombra. He controls a powerful force of magic called the Darkness, and with it, he is capable of overthrowing all of Equestria."

"The Darkness, you say? Hmm...I cannot say I have heard of such a power before. Do you have access to the Elements of Harmony?"

Twilight shook her head. "I accidentally broke my crown - their power is useless!"

"What a pity," Luna turned away and approached a window, staring out into the dusty city below. "However, since we learned of some alternative powers, there might be a way we can counter the Darkness after all without the Elements of Harmony."

"Alternative powers?" Twilight inquired.

"The power of love, as illustrated by the union of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, and, more recently, the power of the Crystal Heart. It may not be our first choice, but we cannot afford to let Equestria be conquered. This could mean the difference between life and death for us all, Twilight Sparkle." She turned back around. "You will need both Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, for their love and magic will evoke an all-new magic to the world. If they combine the power of their unity and the power of the Crystal Heart, it might be enough to counter the Darkness."

"Where can we find them?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know. My best guess is somewhere in the Crystal Empire...if King Sombra hasn't taken it over. Since he's seem to struck everywhere else - Ponyville, Canterlot, Fillydelphia, Appleloosa - he might be not have reached the Empire since it may not appear important to him anymore. Why settle for just an ancient Empire when he can have the rest of Equestria enslaved?"

"Don't tell me we'll have to take the railroad cart all the way to the Crystal Empire," Pinkie Pie groaned.

"The railroad cart? Oh are all the trains out of order?"

Everypony nodded.

"I may be singed, but let's see if I can still do this." Luna closed her eyes, her horn starting to illuminate. She concentrated harshly, a bright light shining from her horn, spreading throughout the empty room, the light surrounding the three ponies, lifting them up into the air, and making them vanish from sight in a flash of bright white light. In an instant, they were gone.

Chapter 4 - A Change of Course

The flash brought them all the way to the freezing arctic, very near the entrance of the Crystal Empire. The harsh weather retarded their progress, but they boldly pressed on through the blistering winds and ice-cold snow. Fluttershy's wings were so cold, they would not even be able to produce her the movement to fly. Thus, the pegasus of the group had to walk like the rest of them. With nighttime not too far off, it became increasingly difficult for Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie to venture on, their near-blinded vision becoming cloudier and dimmer with each passing minute. It was nearly an hour before they felt warmth in the air and grass below their hooves. They were in the Crystal Empire.

However, Luna had been incorrect in her hypothesis about King Sombra's attack patterns. He had already reached the Crystal Empire, only more destruction and rubble greeting the ponies as they limped to the location of the Crystal Heart, it still hovering in the center of the Empire. They collpased in front of it, panting from exhaustion. Twilight closed her eyes. A shadow stretched over Twilight. She opened her eyes and looked up, seeing a familiar face staring down at her: Princess Cadence: in about the same condition as Princess Luna.

"Cadence," Twilight coughed, trying to put some happiness and enthusiasm into her voice, but failing.

Princess Cadence did not reply immediately. As delighted as she was to see her sister-in-law again, there was a gruesome image of her beloved family member right at her hooves. She could not ignore that. She turned around. "Shining Armor! Twilight and her friends are here! I think she needs help!"

Twilight lost consciousness before she could even hear her brother's voice.

After a long, quiet night, Twilight found herself in a bed somewhere in the realm of the Crystal Empire, near Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, in a room which appeared to once have been a hospital. With the town vacant, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor used it for their personal purposes.

"Wha...where am I?" Twilight asked, rubbing an eye. She looked around.

Shining Armor heard her stirring and approached his sister's bedside. "You're in what used to be the hospital here at the Crystal Empire," he said. "And boy am I glad to see you, Twilie. I thought something terrible happened to you."

"Wha...what happened?"

"You passed out shortly after you arrived here. Cadence found you and we brought you here right away. You and your friends slept through the night. I guess you must've been busy yesterday."

"You have no idea," Twilight replied meekly. She cleared her throat. "Where's Cadence?"

"Protecting the Crystal Heart," Shining Armor answered. "King Sombra swept through here some time ago. We've been constantly vigilant about the Crystal Heart ever since. He already gained control of it once - there was no way we'd let him do it again. We managed to keep it from him, but not before he destroyed the entire Empire with his powerful magic. He used magic I had never even seen before - I had no idea how to react! So, Cadence and I just protected the Crystal Heart. The Crystal Ponies were marenapped, but at least we still have control over the power of the Crystal Empire, even though it's a giant circular pile of rubble now. Better question is: what are you doing here, Twilie? Not that I don't enjoy your company."

"We were sent by Princess Luna for you two. She said that if we combine the power of your love and the power of the Crystal Heart, it might be enough to defeat King Sombra."

"Combine our powers? Hmm..." Shining Armor paced the room. "That thought never occurred to me. The only thing is, I fear what might happen if we leave the Crystal Heart vulnerable for even a moment. King Sombra has not returned since his attack, and with the strength his mysterious magic is giving him, he could be anywhere by now. And we don't even know where he took all the Crystal Ponies. It's too great of a risk to even try. I'm sorry, Twilie, but...I'm afraid it might be a while before Princess Luna's request is met." He sighed. "Besides, I don't even know how to combine magical powers. You'd probably have to look it up in a-"

"Book!" Twilight exclaimed, bursting to life and hopping out of bed. "Don't worry, Shining Armor! Leave this to me!" Twilight hurried off to the Crystal Library as fast as her hooves could carry her.

"Good luck, Twilie!" her brother hollered as the distance between them grew ever larger.

Twilight found the ruins of the Crystal Library. With no librarian to guide her and a great deal of the place in smoke, her search became both more difficult and easier. Obviously, all the ash and fallen fragments of the building in her way, searching the shelves was a going to turn into a chore. But, a good number of the books were torched along with the building, thus narrowing her search. She did not need to check out any of the books which were nothing more than a pile of ashes.

Many minutes passed, and Twilight started to grow doubtful of the successfulness of her mission, when one of the books she was dismissing dropped to her hooves, and revealed an archaic page. She studied the page: it was a map of the area around the Crystal Empire. A mountainous region to the west was circled in red ink.

"Huh? What's this?" she studied the map further. "This looks important." She ripped the map right out of the book and brought it back to Shining Armor. By now, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had awakened, both of them also interested in Twilight's findings. "I couldn't find anything in the library on combining magic, but I did find this old map."

"Hmm..." Shining Armor closely examined the location of the encircled mountains. "I wonder what that circle is highlighting."

"Me too...but I just can't put my hoof on what it could be."

"Maybe it's a secret cave, and in its walls is the most powerful magic known to Equestria!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Everyone looked at her with blank expressions on their countanences. "Or maybe it's just a gold mine." She looked sheepish.

"Maybe it's an old campground for the Crystal Ponies," Fluttershy theorized. "After all, they have been here over a thousand years. It's possible that maybe that's where their old Empire was."

"If that were true, then why would it be circled instead of the new location?" Twilight asked.

"It was...just a thought..." Fluttershy mumbled, lowering her head.

"My question is not so much as what it is, but whether or not we should bother exploring it."

"Well, Twilie," Shining Armor began. "If something like this is as old as this map, I'd probably discourage you from even going near there. But, these are desperate times. And desperate times call for desperate measures. After all, what choice do we have than to explore all of our options? Princess Cadence and I will join you, since we don't know what's out there."

"But what about protecting the Crystal Heart?"

"It's unlikely that King Sombra will return. However, just in case he does, I'm sure we can trust your friends to keep it safe and sound while we're gone."

The decision was made, and the guard performed by Princess Cadence was replaced with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. The ponies bid their goodbyes, and then trudged through the bitter cold to the location of the circled mountains. It was a long and painful journey, the powerful snowstorm bringing nothing but despair to the dishearted clan. As they neared their destination, a shady, pony-like figure spontaneously appeared. It appeared to be nearly black in color, the size of Twilight, and had eyes as red as fire. It hissed and panicked the ponies.

With no time to think, Shining Armor braced himself and shot at it with his horn. The pony-like creature went flying through the air and landed in the snow. Shining Armor approached it and zapped it a few more times, fearful that it would get back up and attack them. He made sure it was down. It was then he was able to get a good look at it.

The creature was definitely a former Crystal Pony. Its mane, its tail, and its coat were shiny underneath all the blackness which shrouded its beauty.

"What the heck was that?" Twilight asked, shouting over the noise of the intense snow.

"It's a pony," Shining Armor answered in equal volume. "A Crystal Pony, to be exact. At least, it was. This probably has something to do with what King Sombra is doing with the ponies and Crystal Ponies he captured. C'mon, I'm sure the mountains are not too far off from here. Just a little further."

It was several more minutes before the ponies were face-to-face with the mountains. At the foot of the mountains: a mysterious cavern of some sort. They stood at the entrance to the cavern, all three mares and stallions hesitant to enter, but knowing there was no other way. As soon as Twilight put a hoof forward, a shadow emerged from within the cavern. A dark, shady figure approached the three ponies, its face and its whole appearance in shadow, hidden from sight.

"Wh-who t-the heck a-a-are y-y-you?" Twilight asked, shivering.

The stallion removed his black hood and stepped forward, revealing a large, blue wizard hat over a head of white, curly hair, pale-yellow eyes, and a long, white beard attached to his gray coat.

"One lucky stallion."

Chapter 5 - Reconstitution

"Hmm..." the mysterious stallion scrutinized Twilight in particular. "Giant, amethyst eyes, that lavender coat, dark-purple mane with the plum and hot-pink stripes...yes...yes, you're the legendary Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?" his voice was soft and cold, and almost sounded as if he were suffocating when he talked.

"Legendary!?" Stars formed in the pupils of Twilight's enormous eyes. "I'm legendary!?"

"Well, I'd say so. Good news travels quickly here in total isolation." The stallion stepped closer into the light. "I heard all about how you restored the goodness of the Crystal Heart to the Crystal Empire. I may not know much, but-"

"Oh my gosh!" Twilight suddenly recognized the pony she was conversing with. "Are you...Star Swirl the Bearded?"

The stallion smiled sincerely. "Last time I checked," he said.

"Oh my gosh! Star Swirl the Bearded! The greatest unicorn in history! It's you! You're really here!"

Star Swirl the Bearded snickered in delight. "Why don't you folks come on in? It's warmer inside."

"We'd be honored," Princess Cadence said for all three ponies.

Star Swirl the Bearded led them inside the dark, cozy cavern which seemed to go on forever into the colossal mountains. He used his horn as a source of light to guide the mares and stallions to his home, which was a vast, empty room, with large holes carved into the walls of the cryptic cavern, books filling the artificial shelves. All the stalagmites and other rocks were carved into tables, chairs, and other household furniture to make the place look more like a home than a cave.

"Make yourselves at home," he said.

"Thank you," Shining Armor gave a polite bow.

"Pleasure's all mine," replied Star Swirl. "I don't get many visitors here. In fact: you're the first."

Twilight became elated when she saw all the books, piles and piles of them, in addition to the hundreds in the shelves.

"Look at all those books!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, every spell any unicorn could ever cast is in this room," said Star Swirl. "Yet it's amazing how I can never find anything in here."

"It's beautiful..." Twilight looked up to Star Swirl. "But...how are you still alive? You died many years ago."

"Is that what Equestria says?" he asked.

"Yeah, there's a whole wing in the Canterlot archives dedicated to you for your contribution to magic. It's been there since I can remember. And last year for Nightmare Night, I dressed up as you."

Star Swirl the Bearded grinned. "I'm glad the rest of society still remembers me...I feared that if I disappeared...everypony would forget I even existed."

"Disappeared?"

The old unicorn sighed. "I never died...I probably should be dead by now, since I recently discovered a spell which could reduce the aging process. So right now I'm just a little older than I was when I 'disappeared.'"

"What do you mean you disappeared?"

Star Swirl took a few steps forward, his eyes on the ground.

"When I was...younger, I was the epitome of unicorn brilliance. And I probably still am. There was no unicorn in Equestria who could outcast me. Then...fate caught up with me...I invented a new spell which made the Elements of Harmony look like a levitation spell...I called it the Spectrum Illumination spell. It was so powerful, I was determined to never let the innocent ponies of Ponyville or Canterlot or any place in Equestria be threatened by an ungodly ruler. One day, we were under attack by a vicious alicorn named Demise. (And this was some time ago, long before you were even born, Twilight Sparkle.) Of course, everypony turned to me to slay Demise singlehoofedly. I used my Spectrum Illumination spell on her, confident that it would send her packing...I was utterly mistaken."

Star Swirl the Bearded walked further into the cavern, Twilight following behind him, until he stopped at a wall with a picture of a black-coated alicorn with red hooves and a purple mane in apperal to much of that of Princess Luna. He stared at it as he continued his tale:

"My spell failed. As a result, impervious to my attack, Demise got the upper hand, and plagued a shadow of darkness onto the town. We were doomed until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna emerged with the Elements of Harmony, which vanquished Demise...She was never heard from again...but, in price for her banishment, Canterlot was devastated...they blamed me for everything...I was so heartbroken and ashamed, I took all of my books and belongings and moved out here into this cavern, defying the aging process, and living on in solitude...I figured that everypony would forget about me and my contribution to magic...and though I'm glad they didn't, I doubt if I came back, they would love me like they did before Demise attacked."

"I don't see how everypony can not like you and yet still honor you," Twilight said.

Star Swirl the Bearded turned around. "Despite my mistake, I am still a powerful unicorn, my contribution to magic undeniable. They may not like me, but they cannot dislike my strength."

There was a pause.

"What exactly was your mistake?...Why did your spell not work?...Do you know?"

Star Swirl the Bearded lowered his head, turning to look Twilight in her large, beautiful, amethyst eyes. "That I do," he said. "The spell requires the pony casting it to announce a prayer of strength to evoke its power. The prayer then summons the magic in all of the ponies the caster loves, be they unicorns or pegasi or earth ponies. The combined strength and magic will make the caster so unimaginably powerful, no other force in Equestria could counter them...My mistake was so obvious...for it was that I lacked friends...sure, I was admired by all, but I had put so much time and effort into studying, learning, and inventing magic that I had no friends...and thus, I was weak in my attack. So weak, in fact, that I so much as tickled Demise."

"No other force in Equestria you say?"

"That's correct, Twilight Sparkle."

"Even more powerful than combining the love of Princess Cadence and my brother and the power of the Crystal Heart?"

Star Swirl perked up. "You want to combine the power of the Crystal Heart with the power of true love?"

"That's our plan."

"Pfft!" Star Swirl scoffed. "I suppose if you were trying to cheer somepony who's sad up, that might work. But beyond that, you're doing mediocre to nothing with that kind of attitude. The power of love is a strong one, indeed, but it's like a noble gas - it combines with nothing! If you want to get some real power in your horn without the Elements of Harmony, your best bet is to use the Spectrum Illumination spell I invented."

Twilight blinked twice. "What's a noble gas?"

"...Not important," Star Swirl replied shortly. "What is important is that you learn my spell...the only thing is...you're just like me, Twilight Sparkle: a brilliant magician without friends."

"I have friends," Twilight exclaimed.

"You-you do?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I have five friends: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash: the fellow spirits of the Elements of Harmony."

"Really?...Then where are they?"

"We left Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie back at the Crystal Empire to guard the Crystal Heart from King Sombra in our absence. The rest we assume were taken by King Sombra. I haven't seen them since the Disaster."

"Then...who are these good ponies?" Star Swirl asked, gesturing to the quiet couple who wandered the cavern.

"That's my brother, Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Cadence."

"Oh...pleasure to meet you two."

"Pleasure," Shining Armor and Princess Cadence said in unison.

Star Swirl returned to Twilight. "The strength of eight ponies isn't much," he explained. "The spell requires a massive amount of power - I don't know how much exactly - but I'm sure the strength of ten ponies would just be scratching the surface."

"I don't have a choice," Twilight replied.

"Very well. Are you an adult, Twilight Sparkle? You don't look grown-up."

"I am not," she said.

"What a pity. In that case, the spell could kill you. Your body might not be able to bear the great power the spell requires. Even if your execution is perfect, that amount of magical pressure on your body might be enough to kill you."

Twilight looked over to Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, who smiled back at her. She sighed.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Alright. Now, for its execution: you have to sit down, and really concentrate, and then recite the ancient hymn:

In bright as day

In black as night

I summon the power

To give me light

In bright as day

In black as night

In our darkest hour

For I summon the power

In bright as day

In black as night

Give me the strength

For I summon the power

In bright as day

In black as night

I give up my life

For I summon the power

In bright as day

In black as night

I summon the power

To give me light

Learn it, and learn it well. Only a perfect recital will enable the spell to be cast."

"I will, Star Swirl the Bearded."

"Excellent, Twilight Sparkle. You are a noble unicorn indeed."

"Thank you, Star Swirl."

"You are welcome. Now, be on your way, for time be short."

Twilight nodded, and she, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence started on their way out the cavern.

"Oh, and one more thing, Twilight Sparkle!" hollered Star Swirl the Bearded.

Twilight stopped in her tracks.

"Yes?" She spoke to his shadow on the wall.

"I would very much appreciate it if you didn't tell anypony I was here the whole time. It is better for them and for myself if they still believe that I am dead."

"Can do, sir!" she hollered back, she and her brother and his wife continuing their hurry out of the cavern into the blistering cold. They ran straightaway to the Crystal Empire, where a rather tired and bored Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy remained guarding the Crystal Heart.

"Alright, girls, I think we can finally put this nightmare to an end!" Twilight declared boldly.

"Yippee!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Yay!" Fluttershy yayed gaily.

"All we have to do now is find King Sombra! So...where is he?"

Chapter 7 - The Final Battle

Twilight had a dream where she made it to King Sombra, who hit her with one lightning bolt, and she surrendered. She was chained up and enslaved by her new master, who brutally beat her with a whip until blood could be seen oozing from her wounds. He laughed fiendishly.

Twilight, frightened by her nightmare, awoke in a fright to find the rest of her team not only unconscious, but out of the shield, for it had shrunken, and barely even housed her. It was shrinking by the minute.

"Oh, no! King Sombra!" she started running, not caring that her great speed would heat her up further than the harsh environment of Tartarus already is. Sweating from every pore in her body, Twilight pushed on without her friends, finally reaching her final destination.

A mountainous cliff greeted her, bordered with spikes and stalagmites. She noticed a cave on the side, and hurried up the steep ramp to the top, where, at the edge, nearly all of Tartarus could be seen.

"So you finally arrived," said a deep, dark, masculine voice. Twilight turned around to find King Sombra on a ledge above her. He looked quite larger than before. "Welcome to my kingdom," he continued. "One of my many kingdoms."

"Many?" asked Twilight.

King Sombra snickered. "I am no longer just a king: I am an emperor - the emperor of Equestria!" His horn glowed, a few bubbles sparking spontaneously in front of him: one with Ponyville, one with Canterlot, and one with the Crystal Palace within their orbits. "You recognize these locations? I hope you weren't planning on returning to any of them. Because, with virtually no defense, I have been able to put my ultimate plan into action. My minions have already arrived at Ponyville, Canterlot, and the Crystal Palace, and have already planted seismic bombs at their cores, which, when they explode, will consume each location, pulling it into my void of Darkness. There will be no Equestria for you to return to!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Twilight shot a bolt of magic from her horn, which instantly shot itself back to her. "Auh!" She toppled over on her backside.

~~King~~ Emperor Sombra snickered with fiendish delight again. His eyes lit up a moment, Twilight's shield disappearing as a swarm of armored, black mares began to surround her entirely on the cliff. "You won't be needing that," he hissed. "I modified the atmosphere of this part of Tartarus to be impervious to the heat and magical gravity. In addition, I'm sure my puny minions will...take care of you."

The minions crept closer, hissing and growling. As they got closer, Twilight began to see inconspicuous details about them. There was something about them which looked so familiar it was unbearable. Then, it hit her: the ones immediately surrounding her were her friends: Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and all of the other ponies who failed to escape Emperor Sombra's mighty wrath. An especially sizable pony leaped out from behind the crowd. There was no mistaking the sheer size of it: Princess Celestia - the leader of the minion squad. As she neared, her determination to end Twilight's life grew all the more fisable.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated on her maigc. Her horn illuminated, and then started firing bolts of light left and right, knocking minion after minion to the ground, incapacitated. As some were knocked out, more and more piled on. The wave seemed endless.

"You will never escape my army of minions!" roared Emperor Sombra. "Everypony in Equestria is against you now! Even with the magic of Tartarus strengthening you - it will still not be enough to survive my army!" He laughed, raising his gigantic hoof in the air, slamming it against the earth when he finished. He turned around and vanished from sight into the shallow cave behind him.

Twilight spent several more moments annihilating the minions, barely scratching the surface of how many there were. But she had bought herself enough time to charge up a final blast which she successfully cast, sending the remaining wave away. All was calm. Then, more minions started emerging from all sides. Twilight blew the smoke from her horn and hurried through the cave and upwards to where she believed Emperor Sombra fled. She found him in the center of a humongous platform, with an underbelly which looked like a mountain; a mountain with a flat top, that is. She noticed the plasma storm in the distance, gradually approaching the scene.

"Hey, King Sombra!" she hollered, disrespecting his newfound title.

The enormous unicron turned around. "You managed to escape my army?" he asked rhetorically. "Hah-hah! Not for long. But it appears you seem too confident in yourself to let a simple Army of Darkness get to you. So perhaps a magic duel is in order." Twilight lowered her head and dug at the ground below her. "To the death!"

Twilight sharpened her grimace. "Bring. It. On."

Emperor Sombra stood erect, then lowered himself as he mimicked Twilight's battle cry. He then charged with all his might to the tiny unicorn, who did the same. They quickly crashed horns. Twilight and Emperor Sombra started a one-on-one sword-fight with their horns, Emperor Sombra clearly having the upper hand. They clashed and clashed, Emperor Sombra's strikes towards Twilight were so strong, they broke off bits and pieces of her horn, badly damaging her. He rose off his front hooves, and took a final blow to her horn, breaking half of it, and sending the weakened pony back almost to the edge of the platform, where only an army of minions followed by a long, painful fall to the floor of Tartarus awaited her. She breathed heavily, experiencing massive pain - like a migraine - in her head.

Emperor Sombra approached her. "Give up?" he asked rhetorically.

Twilight was injured, weakened, beaten, abused, and literally one step away from falling to her death, which was exactly Emperor Sombra's plan on how to finish her off. All she did was close her eyes, and started quietly reciting the ancient hymn to cast the spell.

"...In bright as day

In black as night

I summon the power

To give me light

In bright as day

In black as night

In our darkest hour

For I summon the power..."

"What?!" exclaimed Emperor Sombra. "What are you mumbling?"

"...In bright as day

In black as night

Give me the strength

For I summon the power

In bright as day

In black as night

I give up my life

For I summon the power..."

"Stop that immediately!" Emperor Sombra put his hoof on the vulnerable pony.

The storm was directly overhead now, lightning and plasma sparking from the ominous, black clouds above. It grew dark and cold as the bright and superheated terrain was overpowered by darkness. Annoyed with Twilight's poor sportsmareship, he finally shoved her off the platform, watching in delight as she fell helplessly to the ground.

"...In bright as day

In black as night

I summon the power

To give me light!"

A moment before Twilight hit the ground, she stopped dead in midair, her fragmented horn illuminating a bright white light.

"What? What's happening?" inquired Emperor Sombra.

Twilight was engulfed within a bubble of light which shone brighter than a thousand suns. It flew back up the mountain, and centered itself in the middle of the platform where the almighty battle of magic between Twilight and Emperor Sombra took place.

Confused, enraged, and still powerfully charged with an abundance of magic, Emperor Sombra started shooting the bubble with bolts of magic. All they did was reflect back to him; he evaded their return.

Giant sparkles - in appearance indentical to Twilight's cutie mark - started appearing spontaneously around the bubble, almost in a perfect orbit. The spell was working. But would it pull through?

Twilight felt it: she felt everything. In addition to the pain and turmoil she was going through, she felt...them. She could feel the desire to soar, the will of kindness, the urge to party randomly, the instinct of honesty, the eye for fabulosity...hundreds...thousands of thoughts, desires - all spiraling through her mind like a tornado. She could hear their voices, calling her name; she could feel their hopes and dreams tingling inside her like butterflies.

Just then the bubble exploded in a rage of light as a massive magic bolt shot out to the clouds above, engulfing the entire region of Tartarus - then the rest of Equestria - in a sky of white light. The light spread out to the black holes of the Darkness, shrinking them, and transporting them to Tartarus as the light continued to spread to all of the buildings of Equestria which were destroyed in the Disaster. The orbs of Darkness which gathered around the colossal ball of magical light, which continously grew in size. They then gathered around ~~Emperor~~ King Sombra, who screamed in agony as he was consumed by the very Darkness he brought onto the forsaken world.

The bubble which concealed Twilight then gave one final blow, destroying all the armor of King Sombra's numerous minions, restoring their memories, and then restoring the condition of Equestria as the clouds receded and Twilight was gently set down in the center of the platform.

Chapter 8 - Resolution

It was a while before Twilight regained consciousness.

It seemed that some time had passed - give or take several hours - before she woke up. The environment around her was warm: not hot, but warm. It was the heat of Tartarus which kept her warm through the night and let her know that she was still breathing despite having just survived the casting of a spell which very nearly killed her. She slowly opened her bruised eyes, finding herself in the center of the platform where her battle against King Sombra took place. The clouds had receded, revealing a bright, blue sky. She limped up, gradually crawling to her hooves. She stood upright, barely able to keep her balance. She took a brief look around Tartarus. It seemed just like a regular desert now: warm, dry, and calm. She started on her way back through the cave, down the mountain, across the valley, and then a straightaway path down to Ponyville.

There, the instant one pony noticed her presence, the whole town erupted with animation.

"Twilight! Twilight!" everyone shouted gaily.

A mob of happy, excited ponies swarmed around her. Her friends and Spike inched their way to the front of the chaos.

"Twilight! Oh my gosh!" Spike exclaimed. "Your horn! Are you alright? We thought you were dead!"

"Hey, guys," Twilight said softly. "I'm fine. Really, I'm fine." She cringed from pain.

"That's certainly hard to believe," said a familiar voice. The source was none other than Princess Celestia. "You don't look very well, Twilight."

"I'm fine," replied the unicorn. She cringed again. "I wouldn't be telling you that if it wasn't true."

"What happened to your horn? It's clean off your head!"

Twilight glanced up her forehead. She sighed, looking down at the her hooves. "King Sombra crashed into me and smashed my horn...the pain was intense at the time...it doesn't hurt now, though."

"Twilight, without your horn, you won't be able to cast spells. You will be as magical as an earth pony."

"That's okay, Princess Celestia," Twilight's sincerity was undeniable. Her tone was so gentle and so quiet, you could feel the pain she was in.

"No it's not!" protested the Princess. "You're my faithful student, and quite the magician. Hardly anypony in history has exceeded your potential in magic. And you don't wish to try to restore your horn? I'm sure there's something we can do!"

"No...that's okay," repeated Twilight. "I don't need magic."

Everypony gasped.

"Don't need magic? Well what in Equestria do you mean by that?"

"Because," Twilight began. "My job here in Ponyville was to learn about the magic of friendship. I am honored to have been studying that field with real unicorn magic since I moved here from Canterlot...It was the magic of my friendship which let me cast that spell. Right before I cast it, I could feel everyone in my heart contributing to my effort, even though you had all been brainwashed by King Sombra to kill me...I would not have survived that spell if you all had not done that...I would have lost my life...I literally owe my life to my friendship with everyone...and, for the safety I have received...I am more than willing to lose my horn at the cost of my study with magic; because I know that, no matter what, I will have the magic of my friendship to protect me."

A tear rolled down several cheeks.

"Very well, Twilight Sparkle," began Princess Celestia. "But will you at least allow me to perform a cosmetic spell to at least make your horn look healthy?"

Twilight pondered that question.

"...Yes, I would like that."

"So, I guess that means I'm leaving Ponyville?" Twilight asked Princess Celestia later in the Canterlot Castle, after her horn was restored.

"You would," began the Princess. "But it has occurred to me that there are perhaps more aspects of friendship to learn and study than what magic alone could ever teach you."

"Oh? But...but I failed you, Princess."

"Failed me? How so?"

"I had to fight King Sombra alone, even though Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were with me...I abandoned them...I-"

Princess Celestia raised a hoof of silence. "I know you care about your friends...that is why you abandoned them."

"I don't quite understand."

"You knew that there was no way you could bring them to the battle. You went ahead and fought King Sombra because you knew that if you succeeded, you'd not only save your friends, but everyone in Equestria. I could not be prouder of you for your nobility, Twilight."

Twilight blushed.

"It is for that reason why I am not revoking you of your mission in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. Without magic, you are a mere earth pony with a horn. Regardless, there is still plenty to learn, study, and discover about friendship, Twilight. You can spend your free time working on your friendships, studying astronomy as I know you do, and maybe even settle down, get married, and have some kids."

"What? I feel as though that stopped making sense."

Princess Celestia hestiated to continue. "Um...forget everything after astronomy. But you love to read and learn new things, Twilight: I have come to understand that losing your horn is probably not the worst thing to ever happen to you."

"Well, I do love studying astronomy...but what about my cutie mark?"

"What of it?"

"It doesn't mean anything anymore!"

"I beg to differ, Twilight." Princess Celestia leaned in. "Your cutie mark doesn't have to be referring to your special talent as being handy with your horn, but just plain magic in general. You're very magical, Twilight: don't ever forget that."

"Hey, Twilie!" Shining Armor exclaimed from afar.

Twilight excused herself from the Princess and lingered over to the window, where he, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Princess Cadence were standing below at the foot of Canterlot Castle. "Hey, Shining Armor, what's up?"

"Pinkie Pie's throwing a I'm-glad-Twilight-isn't-dead party! And we can't start without you!"

"I'll be right down!"

Twilight returned to the Princess. "I don't suppose I can continue my training tomorrow?"

The Princess smiled. "Take as long as you need," she replied.

Twilight smiled back, said goodbye to the Princess, limped downstairs, and met up with her friends. They started off on their way back to Ponyville.

"I'm so glad we could finally meet up when we're not in peril," laughed Princess Cadence, slowing down to match Twilight's pace.

Twilight laughed and smiled.

Author's Note

...Sequel?

Chapter 6 - Into the Great Unknown

Everyone except Princess Cadence huddled into the hospital of the Crystal Empire. Where was King Sombra keeping his empire and all of the ponies in Equestria except the select few who managed to avoid his wrath? It's not like space travel was possible and he marenapped them to another planet.

"Cloudsdale?" Pinkie Pie asked during a conversation they were having across a table, a few books in front of them as they pondered the location of King Sombra. "That's the only town we haven't explored."

"There's also Appleloosa," Twilight added, a book in front of her as she sat at the table reading it. "But I doubt there's anything there that King Sombra would want."

"Not to mention Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia," Fluttershy whispered.

"Okay, so maybe not the only town we haven't explored," Pinkie Pie blushed.

Twilight slammed her face against the book she had just been reading. "AAGGGHH! What we need is an atlas, not these...what is this?" Twilight closed her book, the title reading Diamond in the Rough. "What the-" she tossed it behind her.

"An Atlas," Shining Armor began. "I don't think there was one in the library. But I think I can go find a map."

Twilight laid her chin on the table in doubt. "No, that's okay, Shining Armor," she said meekly. She put her face into her hooves. "I'm thinking...I know there's gotta be some place we haven't discarded yet..." she pondered and pondered. "I know there's more to Equestria than the everyday towns. But what? WHAT!?"

"Hmm..." Pinkie Pie began. "You remember when your future self came to Ponyville? And you were all panicky about this disaster that never came?"

"How could I not?" Twilight asked into the crystalline of the table. "What about it?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just on my mind."

Twilight moaned. Then...it hit her. "Wait!" she perked up. "The disaster! And the Cerberus!" She sat upright. "TARTARUS!"

"Tartarus?" Fluttershy asked.

"Tartarus!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed randomly.

"Tartarus," Shining Armor repeated. "Oh, boy. You don't want to go to Tartarus, Twilie."

"I don't think I have a choice, Shining Armor."

"Tartarus is an extremely dangerous place. Getting through it is suicide. There's no way you'll even get past the gate."

"I managed to bring Cerberus back to his home in Tartarus."

"You got lucky. And I'm thankful you survived, but there's no telling what's become of Tartarus since King Sombra took power. As if it weren't dangerous enough!"

"Why? Wha-what's in Tartarus?" Fluttershy asked softly.

"Besides acient, evil creatures capable of destroying Equestria, the guardian Cerberus, and the unlimited source of unparalleled magic and power found within the earth of Tartarus," Shining Armor began dramatically. "There's also treacherous terrain, volcanic activity, fire, magma, and if the heat won't get you, the magic will."

"How will magic get to me?" Twilight inquired. "Magic liberates me."

"It is also capable of crushing you like a bug. There's an enormous amount of magical pressure built up in the atmosphere. In fact, so much that if you so much as set hoof into Tartarus, the magic will act as a force of super-intense gravity, and will gradually and brutally crumble you to dust."

Everyone gulped.

"I'm sorry, Twilie, but...I can't let you do this. I'm all for saving the world - you did it right before I married Cadence - but, until now, I didn't think you would ever have to put yourself into unnecessary danger. As your older brother, it is my responsibility to protect you. And I will do that at all costs."

Twilight did not take her brother's consideration towards her safety kindly.

"We don't have a choice!" she argued. "It's either risk our lives or leave Equestria to be consumed by that monster!"

"Twilie..." Shining Armor walked over to her and put his hoof on her shoulder; she dismissed it. "I'd rather have all of Equestria consumed by King Sombra and have us enslaved for eternity than let anything happen to you or Cadence." He paused. "Do you understand?"

Twilight crossed her hooves in a pout. "I understand," she said. "But I don't agree with you."

"Well, unless you have some way of protecting yourself from gravity strong enough to shatter your bones, there's no way you're going to Tartarus."

"What about that magical protection spell you conjured up over Canterlot before your wedding?"

"That, Twilie, was to defend us from mere flies compared to the relentless damage of Tartarus. It will take a lot more than that to protect ourselves from the atmosphere...I'm sorry...but there's just no way around it."

Twilight put her head down on the table. She thought about her options. "What if I am able to conjure up a shield able to protect us from Tartarus?"

"Well...I suppose...but I don't think even you are capable of that...no offense."

Twilight hopped up to her hooves. "None taken; but I know of one pony who is."

"A protection spell, ya say?" asked Star Swirl the Bearded. "I haven't cast one of those since...euh, ever-"

"Did you just say ever-?"

"But, that doesn't mean I can't, Twilight. I'm sure I got something for ya in all these pages." Star Swirl started to search the shelves. "Mighty noble of you to wanna wander off into Tartarus." He flipped through some books, and finally stopped after three or four unsuccessful trials. "Ah, here we are! A plasma shield spell. It will protect you and your friends within a twenty-foot radius. And it's virtually indestructible."

"Virtually? As in...not completely?"

"'fraid so."

Twilight did not reply; she looked down at her hooves.

"It'll be enough to get you to King Sombra: I promise that."

Twilight rose back up. "I trust you," she said boldly.

"Good, good." Star Swirl the Bearded ripped a page out of his book. "Here's the page which explains how to cast the spell. I highly recommend you cast it before you pass the gate to Tartarus."

Twilight took the page with her horn, thanked the stallion, and started back to the Crystal Empire. She did not stop until she was within its borders. She was ready for Tartarus.

"I'm coming with you," Shining Armor said, stepping forward. "I'm not letting my little sister go alone this time."

Twilight accepted her brother's assistance.

"Can we come to?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Of course. In fact, let's bring Princess Cadence with us, too. I want everypony to give this journey their best - for if we fail...we will have no Equestria to remember."

A moment of silent contemplation.

"Let's go," Twilight said with a surprising lack of enthusiasm.

It was a long, ungodly trip to the gate of Tartarus. The ponies were attacked numerous times by large, black mares who had escaped the realm in a surprise pursuit of attack. They survived every battle - quite easily - but their morality started to decline as they approached the wretched realm of destruction. Twilight sounded bold and confident when she gave her speech, but now, her faith in herself was deteriorating as they grew ever so closer to the heat of Tartarus. Even before seeing the gate, she could tell they were getting close when the temperature gradually rose. Nearing the gate, she and her friends began to sweat. They were practically melting when the gate was in sight.

"There...there...there it is," she groaned. She wiped her forehead. "Now about that spell..." she withdrew the paper Star Swirl the Bearded gave her and studied the spell. "Alright...let's hope this works..." Her horn illuminated, sparks crackling around her, a flash of light, and there was a large, purple shield hovering over the ponies' heads which touched the earth. It followed them in. The gate was supposed to be closed and guarded by Cerberus, but obviously, King Sombra has had his way with it. With only the plasma shield protecting them, the ponies made their way inside, instantly feeling the immense gravity of pressure and magical buildup in the atmosphere, as well as the intense heat which caused them to prespire even more than they were prior to their entrance into Tartarus.

A swarm of black ponies - like a haze of flying monkeys - rose over the horizon mere steps into the environment. They zoomed down to the earth, slamming against the plasma shield and being sent back into the air upon contact, all within the shield safe from harm. But this was only the first few moments into the forsaken land. It would be another hour or so until they would reach King Sombra's chambers.

With the swarm "attacked" and ridded of, they continued on, slowly stepping further and further into the inhospitable environment. Volcanoes surrounded them on all sides. The terrain beneath their hooves became hard, hot, and jagged. Humongous stalagmites created a path through the territory, guiding the ponies to their destination. Each step became more painful than the last.

How could King Sombra ever survive out here? Twilight wondered to herself. Nopony could ever survive a minute in this place!

Then: disaster. One of the ancient creatures capable of destroying Equestria burst from the ground immediately ahead of Twilight. The creature resembled a quetzalcoatl. It was armored in a heavy, black, metallic armor which looked indestructible. It had huge, red, fiery eyes which were used to stare bloody daggers at the small ponies which dwarfed it in size. The first thing it did was slam itself against the shield, the shield reacting, sending it back in the direction from which it came, but, the quetzalcoatl, being extremely resilient, returned to its position, and started casting powerful attacks such as fireballs and lightning bolts, all from its mouth. None of its attacks struck the ponies, but the shield grew weaker. It growled a heinous growl.

Twilight closed her eyes and gulped, fearful of what would become of them if the quetzalcoatl made its next move.

The beast flew up into the skies, spun around several times, and then charged with all its might to the helpless ponies. As it dove, a massive amount of strength built up in its path. When the beast hit the shield - brutally damaging it - it was slingshot backwards into orbit and disintigrated as it left the atmosphere.

"Come on...we must...stay...on task..." Twilight panted. "I'm sure there's...not much farther...to go..."

Just then, a volcano erupted nearby, bringing in a river of boiling lava straight to the mares (and Shining Armor). The lava spread out when it touched the shield, and altogether avoided the ponies. Fearful of moving, Twilight ordered the rest to remain put until the lava passed. It was several minutes before the path through the remainder of Tartarus was visible. By that point - between heat and exhaustion - Twilight was unconscious.