Ever since the beginning of history, there has always been an unmistakable calm before a major conflict. These calms range from wars to simple stand offs between enemies. A moment where every side involved takes a sigh of relief, or a moment to reflect on their life and how it came to this point. Determining if every decision that lead them to this point was the right one. This time was no different...Daybreak/Solar stood pointing at the Sombra, waiting for his response, but no pony moved, every being in the chamber was either lost for words, or too shocked to react. Sombra stared at him for several moments, waiting, perhaps, for the golden demi-god to lower his finger or make some move of aggression. But he never did, and so both parties sat staring at each other. Upon realizing his enemy was waiting for some kind of response from him, a sneer curled up Sombra's lips

"You're here to kill me then? Really? You're just gonna stroll up and kill me? What will you do if I don't fight back I wonder? I doubt you have the heart to-"

The explosion that came seconds later drowned out whatever the king had been saying. Both thrones were ripped apart in a fiery blaze, sending Chrysalis and the surrounding drones flying into the crowd below! The queen and those surrounding her connected with the crowd, sending the entire rank and file order of the changelings into chaos, which was just what Solar had wanted. The drones below the destroyed thrones, scattered about like bees whose hive had been shaken. Solar simply strode down from the destroyed chairs into the crowd, looking for Sombra. He was not foalish enough to think that such a simple attack would have killed the King. He had sensed his attack connect, but he also sensed a quick barrier had been made at the last possible moment, so he could only assume that Sombra had been blown into the crowd below.

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were easily discernable from the crowd of scrambling drones, Solar approached them with haste, knocking and punting several drones from his path along the way at his leisure.

"Where is Sombra, did either of you see where he went?"

Both mares shook their heads, Solar had expected as much

"Stay together and find a way out.."

The roof above their heads exploding in black fire interrupted their brief conversation. Solar blasted the two mares away, none to lightly, and dove, just as the rubble found his former position. The mares coughed and sputtered in annoyance, having their fur partially singed by Solar's magic was nowhere near pleasant, despite it having saved their lives. Rainbow Dash took her gaze upwards where the roof of the cave had previously been. She now saw only the bright rays of sunshine indicating an exit.

"Found one"

He ignored Rainbows smart remark and searched around for the King, knowing he only would have made that hole to try and escape again. Quickly spotting his target making a dash for the exit, Solar took off in full sprint, pursuing the King through the crowd of scrambling drones.

"Come on...Rainbow...we gotta go before this place comes down!" Daring tugged against Rainbow's mane, pulling her eyes away from the pursuit unfolding within the hive.

"We should help him Daring...it's why we're here"

"We were here to make sure he got to Sombra, not to help him fight...we can't get involved in a fight of that scale, we'll only be in the way" She had her teeth on Rainbow's tail now, and was pulling her away from the scene and falling debris, towards the massive exit hole that hundreds of drones were now fleeing through.

"Rainbow if we don't get outside we'll be crushed, then what good will we be to him"

That seemed to do the trick, the mare shook her head and flared her wings

"Uh...Right let's go!"

She rocketed towards the exit with Daring close behind! Dodging falling debris seemed to have become a special talent of theirs just by necessity alone. The mares barely dodge the occasional boulder that decided to be larger than they were, but soon enough they broke through the layer of dust and bounced against the dirt ridden ground above. The rolled over away from the slowly expanding hole in the ground and watched as tons more drones exploded outwards into the air, then crashed into the cliff face or were temporarily blinded by the sun, causing most of them to crash just like Rainbow and Daring. They could only assume Chrysalis was among that horde fleeing the tunnel, because they never actually laid eyes on her.

Nearly all the drones stayed in the same general location, even the ones that crashed or hurtled out of the hole at top speed, returned to the group that was gathering several yards back from the expanding ground.

Daring pointed to a small cliff slightly overlooking the hole where they could see what happened safely, without being too far away to assist if needed. Rainbow nodded and followed her up, the drones were clearly to preoccupied with whatever was happening below to care about the two mares.

They had barely settled themselves when another explosion ripped apart most of the remaining ground in the chasm. Several drones who were too close were either blow away somewhere, or plummeted through the hole for an unforeseen amount of time. Following the explosion, golden flames erupted from beneath the hole and shot into the sky! King Sombra emerged from the hole and crashed through the drones surrounding it, skidding forward in the dirt, catching himself, and breaking into a full sprint, in the opposite direction, toward the exit of the chasm into the grassy plains. The drones who weren't knocked over seemed confused as to what had happened, seconds later when Solar emerged from the fiery hole looking like the embodiment of all things demonic, and took off after Sombra, they seemed to gather it for themselves...King Sombra was getting his flank kicked, and was now running for his life!

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash took only a few seconds to recover from their shock, and, along with the rest of the changelings, then instantly take off in full pursuit of the fleeing pair.

.....

The king emerged from the rocky gorge to the grassy plains, thinking that the open prairie would serve as a better fighting ground for him than the terrible monster now pursuing him. As prairies normally lead to forests, and Sombra was certain that he could lose Solar in a forest if he had to flee and become a shadow once again. Unfortunately for him, this grassy plain was very small and very short, it stretched for about the length of Ponyville town square, then dropped off into, what looked like, an endless canyon of rocky abyss.

If he wasn't forced by his own pride to maintain his appearance as a king, Sombra's ears might have dropped down in fear. No forest, meant no escape, that meant he had to face the monster currently barreling toward him at an unbelievable speed. The king turned a 180 and filled himself with his dark powers, allowing hatred and fear to fuel his horn as he faced down the snarling beast that was Solar Eclipse, speeding towards him, drawing ever closer. He began to form barrier of crystalline dark magic between him and the oncoming Solar, the barrier extended several spikey appendages outward, daring anypony to try and pass through it.

"I am King Sombra, Ruler of the Crystal Empire, and I shall destroy any who stand in my way!"

.....

Solar was not halted by the King's pointless war cry, he continued on his charge towards the fearful prey, and in one magnificent leap...he smashed straight through Sombra's barrier, tackling him into the ground. Several shards of sharp crystal stuck into Solar's chest, but he paid them no mind as he felt his claws tighten around the kings neck. He stared deep into the soulless eyes that were King Sombra and watched in cruel amusement as the dark unicorn struggled to breathe beneath his grasp. He slowly tightened his hold on the kings throat, taking sweet pleasure as he felt neck veins pulse into his fingers. He bared his fangs to the struggling king and hissed in his ear, though it was more than loud enough for all those around them to hear.

"So this is the true face of a king, a ruler, in his final moments...coward...you look your gonna cry...do you truly fear death so much? Or maybe...maybe you fear that black abyss of nothingness...maybe you know that somepony like you is destined for Tartarus...That look of fear in your eyes right now...do you even know how many ponies you've made experience what you're feeling? You're the kind of monster I have no problem crushing from existence, as you shall now experience..."

Sombra hacked several times against the tightening grip around his throat, but someone managed to cough out a few gasps of laughter.

"Ha *cough*...You think I'm the monster here...you...you're worse than I ever was, and you know it...You've done the same things I have, the only difference is...unlike me...you just haven't claimed your throne yet-"

Crunch!

Solar felt his claws sink into and passed the kings neck as he crushed his bones into toothpicks beneath his claws. Solar stared at the blank expression on Sombra's face, enjoying the fear the was his last expression.

His sneer of victory vanished in an instant, for seconds later, smoky black tendrils erupted from the ground and bound themselves around Solar. Looking down he growled in anger as the kings body dissolved into a smoky shadow, and reformed right in front of him. The King's armor formed after his body had fully regenerated and attached itself to his skin with a sickening clank! He sneered at Solar

"So much for your grand scheme of vengeance eh?"

Solar did not so much as blink at the King, but nevertheless his golden flames erupted from beneath the ground, appearing to spawn from the same source as Sombra's tendrils. They snaked there way up through Solar's bindings, and vaporize them back into nothingness.

"Why won't you just stay dead already!?" Solar snarled at his snickering enemy

"What, and miss this chance to reclaim my throne? Never!"

They both moved simultaneously, Solar bringing up his hands, and Sombra arching his horn, towards each other. They each expelled a wave of power towards the other with such force, that the impact of them connecting shook and cracked the ground beneath them! Green fire met black energy and seemed to split the world apart!

"What is it with you and fire? Green fire, golden fire, can't you do anything else with all that magic, or was the knowledge of the book too much for your petty mind to handle?"

Solar reached outwards and, quite literally, grasped hold of his green flames as it traveled from his other hand, then pulled it downwards, slamming their magical duel into the earth and cutting off both of their streams. Sombra staggered slightly from the pull and was barely able to dive away in time as Solar appeared in front of him and swung his claws for the King's throat.

Sombra was already counterattacking before he even finished rolling away! Before he came to his feet, several large black crystals shot upwards from below and fired at Solar like bullets.

Not even bothering to move away, Solar held out his palm as though to catch the on coming shards. However as they reached his body, each seemed to explode into glassy sand. Solar spun his arms in front of his body, causing the small pile of glass to gather like a miniature tornado. Solar directed the stream at Sombra, who, without missing a beat, materialized a wall of crystal in front of his form, causing the wind blown attack to blast apart against it.

Solar snarled and began to erect twin golden blades from the ground. The tips of both had small flames burning on the ends of each.

"Really? This again? Your memory must be as bad as your marriage...and considering your current situation...well..." The sneer that followed only fueled Solar's hatred for the king that much more as he grasped the handles of both and charged!

Three scythes burst forth from the ground to defend their king from Solar's attack. As he swung for Sombra's head, the king parried with the first scythe while using the second to sweep at Solar's feet. Solar quickly warped behind the king and went for a killing jab to his kidney, but was once again parried, by the third scythe appearing in his path. Solar jumped away and crossed his blades in an X across his torso, assuming a basic guarding stance he had watched some unicorns use. Sombra's crackling laughter served as fuel for Solar's burning flames, but he did not dare allow it to distract him. He knew Sombra wanted him to charge, and knowing from their past battle, the skill Sombra possessed, a charge would be unwise.

"Why don't you just tell me where the Crystal Heart is, so I can be on my way? I'm a busy king and it's pretty clear that despite your
power boost, you're still no match for me."

"The Heart is safely out of your reach, so why don't you focus on me, after all...by the time this is over, the Crystal Heart won't be the one your worried about" He inflamed the tips of his blades brighter for extra emphasis.

Sombra merely smirked and began to walk toward Solar, ever so subtly curving his walk. Solar could tell he was trying to circle him like prey, so that his scythe would have a better angle and he would be off balance. Solar shot the same smirk right back and followed the circular motion. The pair now circled each other, both daring the other to strike first, but Solar knew better. In swordplay, the one who strikes first is usually the most eager or impatient. Both of those could be taken advantage of, and Solar felt both feelings right now...plus, he knew Sombra's tendencies of impatience were much worse than his just from watching him inside the cave briefly.

Adding that to the fact that he knew the only way to get the upper hand on the King was through a counter strike, he felt much more comfortable waiting on Sombra's patience to run dry before continuing. He wanted him dead so badly...but he knew that his bloodlust would get him killed if he was not careful.

They continued to circle each other for endless minutes that dragged on for eternity, dwindling down the patience of many changelings, but also making them sloppy. So it was no surprise that Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were able to sneak so close to the fight without being detected. They were within 50 feet of the stand off, hidden behind a conveniently fallen tree, watching with great intensity for any moment where they might be able to assist.

Solar watched the King's hooves, hoping for a sign of his next move, waiting for the simplest thing to slip him up or cause an opening which Solar could exploit. But Sombra wasn't having it, each of his steps were as precise and accurate as the last. He stepped over and around his own hooves without tripping, keeping his eyes locked on Solar's torso.

Solar analyzed everything the King did as he walked; from the amount of milliseconds it took him for each step, to which foot he picked up and dropped first. Anything and everything that might give him helpful info on the king, no matter minor it seemed, was of interest to Solar's eyes.

Solar barely had time to react as the attack came, the first scythe missing his head by mere centimeters as he ducked. The second came and forced him to drop into a roll towards the King to avoid being severed in half. He came up right into the third scythe and only managed to keep his head by pushing the blade of is own sword against his neck just as Sombra's scythe found it. The strike knocked him several feet away, and left a deep (self inflicted) gash on Solar's neck. His blade had missed anything important, but the bleeding was nevertheless annoying. Sombra resumed his position with a mocking smirk, his three blades of death daring Solar forward.

"That was an impressive way to defend yourself, I'll give you that. I would have never thought to practically cut my own head off to block another from doing the same" the sarcasm embedded in Sombra's voice was very unwelcome to Solar and only served to piss him of more, if that was even possible.

"By the way...how does that sting? I can't imagine that those flames on your sword are just for show.."

Unfortunately Sombra was right, the fire around Solar's swords had a side effect which he was now finding very annoying. Although his wound had cauterized almost instantly, it was now causing an unending sting in his neck that refused to leave him be. He felt as though he was being zapped by a thunder cloud every couple of seconds, and it was severely limiting his concentration.

What he didn't understand was how he had not seen Sombra's attack coming, even he had to move around in some type of motion to move his blades, yet Solar had never seen his hooves move until the attack was already upon him.

His thoughts were broken by another scythe coming for his head, Solar ducked and dove himself backwards

"What again?! But his hooves never moved!"

He came up and by pure instinct, positioned his right hand blade to defend his back. This saved his life as the second scythe connected with his sword, causing both blades to slide over one another. Solar caught Sombra's movement in his left corner eye at the last moment and mimicked it. Both blades attempted to hook downwards against each other causing a brief parry that knocked Solar's blade free from his hand.

Solar stole a glance at Sombra and saw the third scythe was absent. The millisecond decision to press the attack rather than attempt to locate the third blade, seemed to take forever in his head.

Solar dove forward into a role as though diving for the King, as he tucked, he aimed and threw his blade straight for Sombra's head. Propelled by his magic, the blade sliced through the air without falter. Sombra's general surprise was shown with a frightened yelp as he ducked his head and glanced after the blade, to ensure it did not circle and return.

The King realized his mistake too late, as he returned his gaze forward, Solar was already upon him and coming at him with an uppercut from below.

Solar saw that Sombra could not escape in time and knew his attack would connect, effectively crippling Sombra, then he would finish him in a fiery blaze of death, a funeral fit for a king (pun intended). As his fist connected with the bottom of Sombra's jaw, Solar's vision suddenly erupted into white light and a searing pain found its way into his skull. Nevertheless he kept his follow through and pushed his fist through the attack, then immediately collapsed to the ground in blinding pain as the King was propelled up and back away from him.

Solar grasped his head in pain and shook the stars from his eyes. His vision fluttered back to normal and he saw the object of his new headache. The butt end of the third scythe had jabbed him in the face, were he not in so much pain, the very thought of such a strike would have made him laugh. Luckily it seemed Sombra had faired no better, Solar spotted him lying several feet away, very dazed and unable to successfully make it to his feet.

Head still throbbing, Solar wobbled to his feet, once he had steadied himself he walked over to where the King was spread eagle on the ground. As Sombra heard him approach, he rolled over and attempted to stand but his body said no, and his hooves gave out the moment he was right side up. Solar stood over King Sombra with a satisfied smirk on his face, the King hated him for thinking he had won

"A blow under the jaw, instantly crippling to just about anypony who isn't ready for it, and you weren't ready"

"Neither were you.."

"What do you..?"

Solar's senses screamed a warning, he reacted instantly, diving into a backflip he watched in slow motion as the scythe traveled under his belly in mid air, missing him, once again, by mere inches. The blade flew past him and impaled itself into Sombra's back as he tried to turn away, propelling the surprised king backwards several more feet. Solar landed upon his feet, more surprised than anything and thanked his mother that he had such acute sense.

Solar strode over to the king once more, watching as he writhed in pain, impaled by his own blade onto the grassy dirt. Were it anypony else he would have felt pity for them and possibly removed the curved blade. Sombra was an exception though, he wanted to see him die this time, and make sure he did not just turn into smoke again. The king's eyes showed real pain, and Solar spotted actual blood seeping from both ends of the wound. He put his foot against Sombra's ribs and pushed him onto his side, revealing that the blade had indeed pierced him straight through. In fact, it seemed that most of blade had shoved itself through the front side of his chest. Solar was sure that if it had not been a curved weapon, it might have gone straight through him completely.

"Killed by your own weapon...pathetic. This was your weakness all along? Your own sick, dark magic? Had I known that from the beginning..."

Solar felt a surge of grief in his gut, but knew it was not he who was feeling it...he did know why it was there though. Celestia had been right...goddess that sucked...Daybreak hadn't needed him at all to defeat Sombra after all. That meant everything they had done to get here was pointless...

Shaking his head aggressively, Solar returned his mind to the present situation. He would have plenty of time to worry about his fate later. For now he needed to ensure Sombra died, permanently this time.

Extending his hand outwards, a small ball of hot energy began to form within his grasp. The swirling mass formed and contracted in his hand, shaping itself into, what appeared to be, an extremely miniature...sun. Sombra's eyes widened in fear, even he must have been able to tell what would come next. Solar reached down and grasped his claws firmly around the King's throat, lifting up to eye level. The scythe stayed embedded within the Kings chest and Solar was careful to give it some distance from his own as he held Sombra to his face.

"Look at me" He hissed at the King.

He could see bits of blood dripping from within Sombra's fangs, and his eyes seemed to be glassing over. But nevertheless Sombra looked him in the eyes. Solar held the small sun up to Sombra's face, making sure he could see it clearly.

"This is your death my king, my only true regret is that it didn't come to you sooner, and that Daybreak needed me to do it."

He pulled his hand back, firmly grasping the sun in his palm...and the world erupted into a blinding white light. Solar nearly dropped Sombra in surprise, but kept a firm grip in case, although it was clear he was not causing it either, as the King shut his eyes in pain. Solar looked towards the source of the magic light and found he could not believe his eyes.

The Crystal Heart was floating in the air, hovering above the very spot on the Cliffside, where Solar had last made it vanish, safely hidden within a pocket dimension. If that wasn't weird enough, it was spinning rapidly, and causing a small little bubble to form around itself. the bubble expanded outwards at the pace of each spin the heart made (in other words pretty damn fast). Solar, and the struggling King within his grasp, watched as the bubble expanded outwards, engulfing the cliff side. Then with a small pop it vanished, leaving four ponies standing in its place, one of them holding the Crystal heart.

Solar could not believe his eyes as he stared at the mare at point in the group of four. He could never mistake that purple coat anywhere, but at the same time it seemed impossible...

"Twilight..."

Solar was so distracted he had forgotten about Sombra...until he felt two pairs of hooves wrap around his chest, and pull forward. Solar's eyes went wide as his body erupted into blinding pain, he found Sombra's eyes staring directly into his, an evil grin spread across his face. Solar looked down and saw the merciless blade that now extended from Sombra's chest into his own. Sombra sneered him, then to Solar's horror, became a shadow once more and appeared in front of him, the wound his scythe had made, completely gone.

Solar stumbled forward and collapsed to his knees, and watched as the scythe also evaporated from his body...but the wound did not. He looked up and saw the blade hovering inches above him, Sombra's mocking smile still ever present. Solar saw the blade drop, felt the blinding pain pierce his back, and heard the voice of a mare screaming his name...then his world went black.

Author's Notes:

Sooooo another chapter done. yay :D

Oh and just in case any of you are wondering how the hay Twilight and the others got there, fret not, that's what the next chapter is for :3