Shadow and Crystal

“I was hoping that you six would be together when the letters went up, but I suppose this will have to do.” Sombra sighed wistfully, “Now you don’t even have a place to go back to. I guess you’ll HAVE to journey to me now. That’s fine; I’ll kill you when you do. And then I’ll destroy whatever’s left of Ponyvi-.”

A bright ray of yellow light barreled towards Sombra, piercing dead center between his eyes and burying halfway through the stone wall behind him.

Celestia stood in the middle of the room, all pretenses of calm gone and forgotten. Her wings extended fully, her nostrils flared, her eyes took on the slightest crimson hue and were filled with an anger as hot as the sun that the white alicorn raised. Every mare in the room took a step back, away from the Goddess’s rage

She spoke with the full force of her royal Equestrian voice, one as loud as the darker alicorn’s but carried an entirely different note. Celestia did not make a statement; she was delivering an absolute demand. “Sombra,” she bellowed, “blight on our fair land, danger to our subjects, thou hath threatened our dearest friends, hath attempted to hurt them, hath been a darkness in our light. Be gone now from this place, and know that ye shalt be pursued and thine influence shalt be quelled!”

Sombra grinned, a yellow glow growing from the hole made by Celestia’s magic. He was slowly dissolving, black and green sparks rising into the air as the yellow magic spread. “I look forward to it, Princess,” he hissed. His voice lingered for a brief moment after his body was gone.

Twilight Sparkle was the first to find her voice. “Prin-Princess?”

Celestia turned toward her student, her previous anger still clearly etched on her face; Twilight could hardly keep eye contact with her mentor. Celestia tried to soften her features, but her mind wandered back to that blood-red horn, the crimson eyes and acid aura that had dared to enter the Canterlot Castle, skulking in the darkness like a rat. The Princess’s eyes burned bright with rage. Twilight flinched.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” the white alicorn said, “I’m not angry at you, I could never be angry at you. But Sombra… Sombra infuriates me.”

The purple unicorn looked up at Celestia. “Princess… did you… kill Sombra?”

“No, Twilight, that wasn’t Sombra. It was a shadow, an image he manipulated to speak through from the frigid North.”

“But…” Twilight’s voice trailed off.

Celestia could hardly fail to notice the hesitation in her student’s voice. “What’s wrong, Twilight?”

The motherly glow had returned to the alicorn’s eyes, but Twilight could only remember the steel that had lain there some minutes ago, the slight satisfaction that entered those eyes when Celestia’s yellow bolt pierced through Sombra. Her mentor, the ever-kind and forgiving Princess of Equestria had done that. That same Princess was holding Twilight’s gaze, evidently worried for her. “It’s… It’s nothing.”

“I see…”

Fluttershy’s small voice spoke, shaking hard and on the verge of tears. “P-Princess Celestia, what about our homes? What happened to all of my critters?”

Pinkie Pie’s mane straightened out with an audible hiss. “The Cakes!” she gasped. “If that stupid hissing unicorn hurt even ONE of them I’ll BUCK HIS HEAD RIGHT OFF OF HIM!” Pinkie growled, a low guttural sound that no pony had heard since they confronted Discord.

Luna’s horn began to glow with magic; she closed her eyes and stood silently for some seconds. “We hath spoken with Discord. He shalt head to Ponyville and report to us upon ascertaining the situation. That is all we can do for now.”

“No!” Pinkie yelled, causing everypony in the room to look at her. “I need to know what happened to the Cakes! What if they’re hurt? How do I know that they’re okay?” She turned to Luna and Celestia in turn. “Princess, you have to let me go back!” Tears fell from her normally grinning face, her mane growing duller with every word and thought.

Rarity and Applejack took a place at Pinkie’s sides. They knew what was going through the pink pony’s heads. Images of Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were almost reflected in their eyes. Pinkie locked eyes with both of them and all three locked themselves in an embrace. Each of them, Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy included, shed tears.

Pinkie sobbed. “I brought the letter in; it would be my fault if they were…”

A deep, whimsical voice came from behind the ponies.

“My dear, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my encounters with Sombra it’s that he’s always to blame.” Discord stepped forward, conjuring a white, heart-spotted handkerchief from thin air. “You’re the Element of Laughter which is, as I’ve said before, a personal favorite of mine. Please do stop crying.”

With uncharacteristic gentleness, Discord handed Pinkie the handkerchief and turned to face the alicorns. He bowed, and spoke. “Your Highnesses, I have seen Ponyville and can affirm that there were no deaths although some were injured by the explosions. They will, however, survive.” A fresh batch of crying emerged from every non-alicorn pony, this time of relief. Pinkie’s hair regained a bit of its bounce. “I have done some quick repairs to every building that was damaged and took the liberty of… re-decorating a bit.” A small giggle escaped the ponies as they thought back to Discord’s other “re-decorations.”

“Thank you, Discord,” said Celestia. “Please, return to Ponyville and wait for a while.”

Discord’s shoulders slumped, but he bowed and disappeared. A puff of smoke come up from the place he was just standing and resolved itself into the words “Waiting is Boring! Oh, and keep the handkerchief – Love, Discord” before floating up into the endless ceiling.

Rainbow chuckled, a strained sound after her small crying fit. “I guess he really is reformed.”

Celestia nodded and smiled, then gestured for the ponies to follow her. They left the amphitheater; the orb of yellow magic fizzled and plunged the spacious room back into darkness.

The white alicorn lead her group back through the recklessly turning hallways. They walked in silence, no pony sure of what to say. Twilight Sparkle was left to her tumultuous thoughts.

Princess Celestia was her mentor, the first pony to talk to when she needed advice. She was powerful, the most powerful creature in all of Equestria, but she was serene and gentle.

A darker, more cynical voice appeared in Twilight’s mind.

And she had intended to kill Sombra.

But it wasn’t Sombra, it was just a shadow, an image, Celestia had said so herself!

Yet, she had seen Celestia’s satisfied smile, had watched that mother-like figure hit Sombra dead center with absolute precision and no hesitation.

No, Sombra was evil!

Did that make it okay to kill him? After all of the reading she had done on the sanctity of life, the hours of studying magic that preserved life, Celestia’s lectures on why magic should not be used to hurt other, could she really think that it was okay to hurt anypony?

But Celestia was doing it to protect Equestria, to protect Twilight and her friends!

Then how do you explain the green in her magic?

“Twilight… Twilight!” Rarity’s voice broke through her friend’s stupor. They had nearly returned to the throne room, stepping out of the darkened and cobbled corridors and onto marble and carpet. Twilight had barely even noticed. “Darling, are you feeling quite alright?”

The purple unicorn waved a hoof dismissively. “Yeah, Rarity just… tired, I guess.”

Rarity nodded a bit, although she did not look completely convinced. “Yes, it has been a rather… stressful day. But Twilight, if there is anything else that is bothering you do not hesitate to talk about it.”

“Okay, I will.” Twilight gave a half-hearted smile.

They walked into the throne room, again surrounded by the stained glass. Celestia turned to face them. “Ponies, I do not think I have to say much. Sombra has returned, he hopes to turn our world into his plaything, and I must ask you six to keep this from happening.” The white alicorn straightened.  “Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, I ask you to stop Sombra’s darkness from spreading, to save our land as you have done in the past,” she gestured towards the stained glass with a wing, “will you do this?”

A resounding “Yes!” sounded through the room. Only Twilight hesitated, not enough to be noticed by any pony but her.

“Then rest now, you shall leave when you are at your fullest. Twilight, can you lead your friends to your guest rooms?”

Twilight nodded absentmindedly, thinking back to the many times she had stayed in the castle. They filed out, the door closing behind them with a dull thud. The alicorns were left alone.

Celestia slumped back in her throne as Luna used her magic to ensure that the door was locked. Finding that it was, the darker alicorn began setting up wards around the room, protecting the throne room from any wandering eyes or ears. Luna pondered Celestia’s actions as she worked, knowing that as tired as she was, it was nothing when compared to her older sister’s state.

At last, the Princess of the Night finished her spell casting. She hesitated for a moment. “Sister,” she said, “just why did this occur?”

Celestia kneaded her eyes with a hoof and turned to Luna. “It was necessary.”

“Necessary?” Luna’s voice rose involuntarily. “Necessary for that darkness to enter our castle, to learn of our plans to end his rule, to ruin any surprise we may hath had?”

“He will be less cautious, more foolhardy now that he knows that somepony is coming to directly oppose him.”

“He shalt do all he can to stop our friends! Their journey has become all the more perilous because of this day!”

Celestia held her sister’s eyes, allowing all of the force that the Princess had gained over the course of her reign to show through. “I have confidence in my student.”

Luna was speechless. They were quiet for a while before Celestia broke the silence.

“When will Shining Armor arrive?”

“Tomorrow morning at the latest,” responded the Princess of the Night.

The white alicorn nodded. “Good, Twilight and her friends will have left by then, and there is no need to worry them more than must be done. How far along has the citizen evacuation come?”

“Most of Canterlot hath been moved to Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and Appleloosa. The residents of Ponyville have all been evacuated.” Mentally, Luna commended Discord for his flawless lying. Nopony in Ponyville had been hurt as there were no ponies in Ponyville, but Discord had carried off his lines without a hitch.

Well, at least that was going for them. Celestia pushed herself from the throne, preparing herself for the days to come. She hid her exhaustion behind a mask of confidence and made sure her steps maintained their spring. Celestia gestured towards Luna with a wing. “Come sister, we have a war to prepare for.”