Chapter 1

The crystal festival was in full swing, the many crystal ponies were gleefully entertaining themselves at the many fun filled attractions put on by the visiting Princess Cadance and her entourage.

Pinkie Pie entertained passing ponies with a jester routine she made up on the fly.

Rarity created beautiful hoof crafted baskets and other primitives to distribute among the fair goers.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy (mostly Rainbow Dash) competed in the jousting tournament attempting to wow the ponies who attended.

Applejack had her hoofs full keeping the extremely inquisitive crystal ponies away from the “Crystal Heart” that Twilight had cut from a crystal block.

And Twilight raced against time to prevent everything from crashing down around their ears.

She dashed through the streets of the Crystal City desperately wracking her mind for any clues that would lead her to the location of the real Crystal Heart.
“Ok think Twilight, Think! If you were an evil overlord where would you hide your most powerful relic?”

She came to a halt just outside the crystal palace at which her faithful assistant Spike caught up.

“Huff…huff…Twi…can you go slower? I’m having trouble…keeping up.”

Twilight frantically turned towards Spike.

“There’s no time! King Sombra’s almost through Cadences’ barrier and I have no idea where the Crystal Heart…”

Twilight trailed off as an idea struck her. Where else would you hide something from your subjects other than the one place they feared to go?

“Of course!” she exclaimed, “The palace!”

Rejuvenated by this revelation, Twilight sprinted towards the palace with an exhausted Spike struggling to keep up.

Bursting through the front doors, Twilight immediately headed towards the Throne room. Once there she began to search every nook and cranny.

“Twilight we've already been in here remember?” Spike said, “If the Crystal Heart was here we would have noticed it before.”

“I know Spike but where else would King Sombra hide it if not in his throne room?”

Twilight was about to continue when another thought struck her.

“Except…” she said slowly as her mind embraced the thought, “This isn't Sombra’s throne room!”

Spike cocked his head to one side, clearly confused.

“It’s not? But I thought this is where he lived when he was in power?”

Twilight vigorously shook her head as she moved to the center of the room, just in front of the throne.

“Sombra did live here but it didn't look like this.”

Placing her hooves wide to steady herself, Twilight began to focus on a spell she had only witnessed once before, caste by her mentor Princess Celestia prior to sending her on this mission.
It was a spell of Dark Magic, unlike traditional magic which required focus and energy, Dark Magic needed only the willpower to use it and energy in the form of rage or hatred, extremely dangerous but Twilight was confident enough in her abilities that she could safely cast the spell, after all, Princess Celestia believed in her and wouldn't have showed her the spell unless she had the utmost confidence in her.

Her thoughts grew darker as she focused her will on the spell, drawing on painful memories and emotions long since buried, Twilight thought she heard faint laughter as if from a great distance but quickly brushed it aside as she released the pent up energy.
With a flair of dark green and purple magic, Twilight fired a beam directly at the top of the throne. A single crystal absorbed the entirety of the blast and changed from a dull purple to a deep black. Like a plague the blackness spread out from the crystal, enveloping the throne and most of the room revealing a spiraling staircase in the center of the room leading down into a black pit.

Swaying slightly from exertion, Twilight walked forward to peer down the newly opened staircase. Several hundred stairs were visible but were lost in the gaping maw of black that rose up to meet them just at the edge of the light. Unable to see the bottom she had no way of judging how long it would take her to reach the end.

Steeling herself for the trial ahead Twilight turned towards Spike.

“I want you to stay here and under no circumstances are you to follow me. Understood?”

Spikes voice quivered with sadness as he replied. “But Twilight…!”

“No but’s Spike, Princess Celestia said I was to accomplish this task alone, besides…” her tone softened as she patted his head. “I want you to be safe.”

Spike sighed deeply, “Alright Twilight if you insist but please be careful.”

She smiled down at her assistant. “Don’t worry Spike, I’ll be fine.”

With that she illuminated her horn and began to make her way down the stairs, careful not to trip but still keeping a brisk pace as to not waste time. After several hundred stairs Twilight notice and eerie feeling slowly creeping over her, unlike anything she had ever felt it was like a pervading coldness that radiated up from the blackness seeming to try and keep her from going any further.

“Must be a security measure put in place by Sombra to deter would be thieves.” Thought Twilight.

“I’m afraid not my dear.”

Twilight froze and quickly looked around. “Whose there?!” she cried.

Spikes voice drifted down from above. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”

Convincing herself that she was just hearing things she replied. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong.”

With slight dread Twilight started a fast trot, determined to reach he bottom as quickly as possible. Several minutes passed with no indication of an end.

“It can’t be much further now.” She said to herself.

“You are correct in that assumption.” A voice replied.

Knowing she heard something this time, Twilight increased the power of her light spell to better illuminate the stairwell. “Show yourself! I know your there!”

A faint chuckle drifted from the blackness below. “In due time my dear, in due time.” The darkness outside the ring of light appeared to deepen. “I've been watching you.”

A cold sweat started to cover Twilight as she thought of what to do about this new threat, however before an idea presented itself she heard Spikes voice once again.

“Twilight? Are you OK? Who are you talking to?”

Before Twilight could answer the voice spoke once again.

“Ahh I see you brought your pet dragon along with you, we don’t want him getting under hoof do we?”

The stair well began to shake violently as the entrance to the throne room above started to close. Twilight had just enough time to look up into the terrified eyes of Spike before she was sealed in with the blackness.

“Now that we’re alone…” the voice trailed off.

Twilight summoned all her courage and faced the general direction the voice seemed to be emanating from.

“You won’t stop me from reaching the Crystal Heart, whatever you are. I will succeed!”

Laughter answered her. “My dear Twilight, that’s exactly what I want you to do, in fact…” the voice seemed to pause in consideration for a moment. “Why don’t I assist you?”

Before she could reply, Twilight suddenly found herself standing on a mist covered floor at the base of the stairwell.

“What?! Huh?!” she stammered.

Another chuckle. “My dear it was only a simple teleportation spell.”

Twilight quickly regained her composure and examined the room she was in. There wasn't much, aside from the swirling mist there was only a wooden door, painted black with a black crystal fixed to the top of the frame. Seeing no other way forward than the door Twilight moved to open it.

“I wouldn't if I was you.” The voice said.

Ignoring it, Twilight grasped the handle with her magic…and was thrown across the room as the door moved rapidly along the wall, dragging Twilight with it.

The voice sighed, “I warned you.”

Still ignoring the voice Twilight attempted several more times without success to open the door, each time however it would jump just out of reach. With each failed attempt Twilight's anger increased until finally unable to contain her rage she charged up a dark energy blast and fired directly at the black crystal just above the door. Apparently that’s all it needed as the door immediately returned to its original position and began to pulsate with dark magic.

Smiling to herself Twilight moved to open the door.

“Well done.” The voice said, “But before you open that, there is something I wish to know.”

“And what would that be?”

“How does it feel knowing your precious mentor sent you here to die?”

“No!” cried Twilight, “Celestia sent me here to protect the Crystal Empire against King Sombra, she placed her trust and confidence in me this time as well as before and I have never let her down.”

The voice signed again with what sounded like sadness. “Then she has deceived you.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the last words from the voice. “You lie Celestia always tells me the truth and never hides anything from me.”

“Is that so?” the voice continued, “Then tell me, as Celestias’ most favored student. What happened to the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago?”

“Easy, King Sombra enslaved the crystal ponies of the empire in the hopes of controlling the world and was stopped by Celestia and Luna but instead of submitting he cast a powerful dark spell that engulfed the entirety of the empire along with himself.”

“Wrong.” The voice hissed, “It’s true that dark magic was used to banish the Crystal Empire into the void, not in a final act of defiance but to protect it from the usurpers known as Celestia and Luna.”

“No that’s not true, Sombra was evil he needed to be stopped.”

“And who told you he was evil?” inquired the voice, “Celestia? Luna? History is written by the victors. The Crystal Empire was in its height when Sombra came into power, he was a just king, beloved by his subjects. A mighty warrior and commander in his own right but an even greater negotiator and diplomat. Under his rule the Empire expanded to untold lengths, its market flooded with ponies and other sentient creatures from around the world. Its citizen’s happiness powered the Crystal Heart for decades extending Sombra’s life and power allowing him to accomplish even more for his Empire.

Sadly it could not last, one day a message arrived from the fringe of the Empire, two ungodly powerful beings were cutting a path of destruction straight to the Capital. We had so little time to react, the armies mustered to halt their advance were incinerated before they could even loose a spell, whole towns and villages were destroyed in seconds, millions dead in the first day alone.”

Twilight stood stunned by what she was hearing, she believed the voice was lying but the great sadness as it recounted its tale cut to her very core
.
“Two days…” it sighed, “Two days they ravaged the Empire, until finally they reached the outskirts of the capital. There waiting for them was King Sombra himself, drawing upon all his strength as well as that of the Crystal Heart, Sombra attempted to protect the Empire he loved from the Alicorn usurpers.”

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “No that’s not true, the princesses were trying to save the Crystal Empire from Sombra, and they would never kill innocents!”

Ignoring Twilight remark the voice continued. “The battle lasted for several day, Sombra valiantly standing his ground against the two god like beings. Sadly he could not endure the onslaught and was struck down on the third day, gravelly wounded. As the two Alicorns stood above him, the eldest and most powerful told him what they intended for his people and empire.

Upon hearing their plans his anger and hatred towards them exploded out as he called upon the most powerful and vile black magic to aid him in one final attempt. Using his remaining life blood, Sombra banished the entirety of the Empire into the void, hoping that the two Alicorn beasts could not follow. He was successful but it cost him his body and soul but to him it was a price that needed to be paid to protect his people.”

The voice trailed off, apparently finished with its tale. Twilight stood stunned for several seconds as she contemplated the story she had just heard
.
“That can’t be true, it just can’t be!” Twilight murmured, “The princesses are nothing short of benevolent.”

“That is exactly what they want you to believe, would any pony serve them as willingly as they do now if they knew that they had slaughter an entire kingdom?”

Twilight did not answer even as she herself knew the answer. No. No pony would follow the princesses if they knew that they tried to overthrow a benevolent ruler and not an evil tyrant.

Still trying to fully understand what she had just heard Twilight posed a question to the voice just to break the silence.

“What did you mean earlier when you said Celestia sent me here to die?”

“You contain a power that Celestia fears, she as seen what you can become and it is greater than both herself and Luna combined. Knowing that you would not be easy to control she sent you here in the hope that you would fail in your task and be destroyed. That is why she told you to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal alone and without the aid of your friends because without them you would fail.”

Twilight considered this and found the voices words rang true, ever before when a crisis arouse she and her friends would band together to stop it, utilizing the power of their elements to achieve their goals. It was rather strange this time when Celestia told her that under no circumstances was any pony other than her was to locate the Crystal Heart.

“That still doesn't explain who you are and why I should believe you!”

The voice spoke with a deep sadness as well as pity. “My dear Twilight, you have been lied to your entire life. It’s natural that you would deny the truth no matter how terrible over the sweet lies you have been fed...”

The mist underneath Twilight's feet parted creating a path to the black door.

“This door when powered will lead you to the Sanctum of the Crystal Heart however you will be faced with a trial that you musts overcome in order to pass.” The voice said

Twilight walked slowly forward until she stood directly in front of the door. Grasping the handle with her magic she hesitated slightly.

“What will I face?” she asked.

“Your greatest fear.” Answered the voice. “The truth.”

“So be it.” With those words Twilight swung open the door and stepped through the threshold.

End Chapter 1