What the hell happened? Nexus had no understanding of time at the moment, but he knew that the last place he was was in Sombra's hideaway cave with twenty-five soldiers. Now he was in a cell with Goldenchord again. He could hear the whispers of the night. The lines between the dream and the reality he was waiting to get back to where blurred harshly. He'd never heard the sounds of the night before in a dream. He looked around the cell to see what Goldenchord might use to escape, but there was nothing.

Nexus could see the shine in his coat was gone. Nexus hadn't quite understood why Crystal Ponies shined until now, it was hope that kept them going. Without it, they were nothing. That's why Sombra wanted him to die by his hand. He was taking the hope from all of them, and Goldenchord would be what showed the empire that Goldenchord, their symbol of hope, was nothing against him. Goldenchord looked up to the single window in the cell, at the full moon. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath as his horn glowed. The sound of a piano and small violin orchestra as he stared to sing.
(the following song is Song of the Night: by. Mando Pony. It is being used without permission.)

"Luna, won't you guide me home? Luna, won't you calm my fears? Princess, alone I pray to you, Princess, I don't know what to do.

"Won't you tell me how to break this spell? The darkness ever present in my mind? Are the shadows alive, I can't tell. Are there puzzle pieces I am meant to find? Never felt so helpless, nor so trapped. I can't escape, I'm drowning. Until I look up in the sky enraptured, for you have found me.

"And this night I know I am by your side. And this night I know I don't have to hide. Luna, you have guided me home. Luna, you have calmed my fears. Princess, I give my thanks to you. Princess, I give my thanks to you. To you…"

He looked back down to the crystal floor as the last note drug on and faded.

"What was I thinking?" Goldenchord thought to himself. Nexus still didn't know why he knew why he could now hear his thoughts. "I never had a chance against Sombra. Now I'm going to die without giving anything to the people. She's my last hope."

Luna. He'd prayed to everypony else but Luna. Even if they don't come for him, there had to be a way out of this. There was a painting of him after all. Goldenchord looked back up in Nexus' direction and blinked. For some reason, Nexus blinked with him and the scene changed. The world was bright in the daylight, or at least as bright as it could be from under thick clouds hovering overhead. Goldenchord sat with his forelegs in chains as the crowd finished gathering for the show.

They all looked absolutely afraid of what was happening. Nexus wasn't feeling to good about it either. They were in the center of town, where the crystal heart should have been. From the official report Nexus had read about the Crystal Empire during Shining Armor's time there, the Crystal heart was hidden at the top of the tower. Where the only access point was an underground tunnel. That must have been what Goldenchord and the slaves were doing.

Sombra stepped out from his portable throne and stood next to Goldenchord. "Silence. You are all here to witness the trial of our greatest traitor. Lunarus Autore Goldenchord, you are charged with the crime to treason by rebellion. You have caused much damage to our fair city in hopes of destroying it. By my decree, that of Lord Sombra, you are hereby found guilty of your crimes against the Great Crystal Empire. Your punishment is death by the means of your rebellion. Death, via the removal of your vocal chords. What are the final words of the accused?"

"Princess Luna guide me to the world beyond this one. And Faust bring you all your salvation." Goldenchord said loudly.

"Very well."

Sombra's curved horn glowed black with shadows as did Goldenchord's throat. He only shouted in pain for a moment before it turned to distorted choking. His head tilted back and a bulge in his neck started to come forwards. His body started visibly shake as he tried harder to shout for help. Just as his pain was reaching its precipice, a loud explosion rocked the city.

Sombra looked up from his execution to see a column of smoke and fire rising from the city. Goldenchord fell to his stomach clasping his neck. He took ragged gasps of air into his starving lungs for several seconds. He looked up to see what must have been a beautiful sight. A few hundred pegasi flew overhead in red and gold armor. The crowd scattered earth ponies and unicorns flooded down the streets towards palace.

Sombra shuttered for a moment before running as fast as he could towards the entrance. Goldenchord saw this and looked to his hoofs in their crystal chains. His horn glowed as the sheen returned to his coat and the cuffs started emanating the sound of a violin at its highest note. They shattered instantly. Goldenchord then looked to see Sombra near the entrance to the castle. His horn glowed again as the ground beneath their hoofs began to shake violently to the sound of a string quartet playing the most heinous sounding music ever devised.

The ground cracked beneath Sombra's hoofs and the palace doors fell along with tons of crystal, blocking his way.

"Sombra! This is the end!" Goldenchord shouted as best he could as hundreds crystals started shooting from the ground and in powerful arcs towards Sombra.

The unicorn blocked them all and with a shield and vanished for a moment. He reappeared behind Goldenchord and attempted to swing at him with his foreleg. Goldenchord ducked and swept the leg. A move that form his previous attempts at fighting Sombra, Nexus wouldn't have expected from him. Sombra didn't expect it either. He fell flat on his back. Goldenchord then attempted to bring his hoof down on Sombra's head.

Sombra rolled out of the way and stood as fast as he could. Goldenchord turned fast and bucked Sombra right in the jaw. Not tactically impressive, but enough to throw Sombra back. Goldenchord wasn't going to give him any chance to recover. He charged as fast as he could towards him. He tied to shout, but it hurt too much. Sombra used Goldenchord's momentum against him. He side stepped him, grabbed his foreleg and threw him into the pile of crystals Goldenchord made at the castle gates.

Sombra teleported infront of him as he tried to stand and he threw him against the pile.

"You are right, this is the end." Sombra said hammering punch after punch into Goldenchord's stomach.

"He is right Sombra." A familiar regal voice called.

"The end for thou!" Another called.

Nexus, Goldenchord and Sombra looked up to see the silhouettes of two alicorns. Sombra summoned a gigantic crystal and started to ride it up towards the two shadows in the now clear blue skies. The two summoned a great light beam and vaporized the poor, outclassed unicorn into smoke, leaving only his head. Sombra's head shouted in anger it fell towards the crevice that Goldenchord had created. As it passed through, Goldenchord's horn glowed as the sound of a lone violin started up from the street. The crevice he'd created closed and he collapsed onto the ground.

From above, the two alicorns floated down and became clearer. Celestia and Luna stood in the square now, as young as Nexus saw them currently. Luna rushed to Goldenchord's side.

"He breaths Tia. He is okay." Luna said looking back to her sister.

Celestia didn't seem interested in Goldenchord. She looked over the city like she was trying to find something. "I don't sense it Lulu."

"Lulu?" Nexus said surprised such a name like that existed. He knew Luna called Celestia, Tia. But Celestia referring to Luna as Lulu? Perhaps she stopped after she got over eight hundred.

Luna looked around and knit her brow. "You are right sister. It is missing."

"Is there time to find it before the city crumbles?"

They were answered by a loud rumble of thunder. The wind started to pick up as the clouds they tried so hard to clear have started to cover itself again.

"We must recall the troops immediately." Celestia said.

"Recall them, I must get him to a doctor."

"We don't have time Luna. Leave him."

"I can't."

"P-Pu-Purala." Goldenchord shuttered. "W-Where's Purala?"

"You shall be alight young one. You will be safe."

"Luna, what are you doing?"

"He is injured, he needs help."

"Ugh. All troops in the Empire," Celestia shouted in her Canterlot voice. "evacuate now! Unless you never want to see Equestria again!"

The wind was picking up quickly and snow started to whip by Nexus' face.

"Purala… Purala…" Goldenchord groaned as Luna levitated him up onto her back.

"Tiss okay. Thou will be safe soon."

"Purala. I…I promised! Let me go! I'm all she has!"

Luna didn't say another word as she took flight. He shouted for her to stop as the three retreated with the rest of their troops. The wind picked up and so did the snow. Eventually, the wind got so strong, that Nexus' hoofs started turning to must and blowing away in the wind. He watched the alicorns fly away with Goldenchord as Nexus fades into black.

Author's Notes:

Nexus: Lulu? I'm going to get some mileage out of this one.
Me: Only off screen. You'll be nice here.
Nexus: Damn it.