Chapter thirty eight

Earlier, and much further away…

The bright sun opens up a whole day of new possibilities as it fills the sky over head for the group of friends in their travels through the forest. Twilight and the gang have made their way deep in to the Ever Free Forest by noon now and have made rather great time. Having a larger group with you can make the trip easier as many creatures who would want to attack a young pony out on a stroll alone, don’t want to risk the fight that they could get if there is more than just a few, after all there is power in numbers. A few that might not apply to though, if they are gutsy enough.

Although the numbers may aid in keeping yourself protected from nasty’s that you come across out in the wild, they do little to help when it comes to your own friends pestering you now for information about what you and your rather cute house guest have been up to as of late. Ever sense they got out of the house, and after Twi gave another run down of the basic plan. The young princess has gotten nothing but ‘how are you and Flash doing’ and ‘why isn’t he here as well’. Though it is partially her fault, her last words that she gave on the matter did raise some questions while they had time to sleep on it. Her friends are her friends after all, and soon enough they will find out about her current status with the guard.

That doesn’t mean however that she can’t hold back on that little detail for a little longer, while she feeds them the story about what happened while doing her royal duties as a princess out in the caves. Having already told them about the attempted assassination on her in the middle of the night, which that alone was enough for them to almost unhinge their jaws at, she picks up with the rest of the story.

“Okay so ya came in to the cave while tryin’ to search for the changelin’s that might have been there” Applejack puts the image together in her mind, picturing her princess friend lead a group of guards “an’ that’s where you met up with the queen?”

“Precisely… and where the ensuing fight occurred.”

“How many of them were there?” Fluttershy asks her friend, watching a questioning hoof come to Twilights chin as she tries to remember.

“Oh it can’t come to me right now,” Twi brushes it off after her mind draws a blank, “though there were enough for the queen herself to see fit to almost leave and let the soldiers deal with us…”

“You’re almost starting to sound as awesome as me…Almost,” Rainbow nudges her friend in the shoulder while they walk, “I’m assuming she had a change of heart when they got their rumps kicked?” She asks, trying to picture a few strapping royal guards dishing it out to changelings.

“Well of course…a fight came about, took them off kilter, and they were done in quite fast,” Twilight fills in while keeping her head on a swivel, looking for anything that might try to attack as she keeps the sword close to her side. Thinking on what came next in her tail she gets back to the story after relaying the slaying of the changelings, “Chrysalis is not one that likes to be shown up by having her own soldiers beaten so easily, she jumped in to the fray pretty quickly… seemed a little hurt about being embarrassed.”

“Well she probably isn’t too happy with you exposing her back in Canterlot during the wedding either,” Rarity points out, while she keeps her mane from getting tangled up in the branches sticking out along their way.

“That’s true…” the princess ponders what else the monarch said, “Though Chrysalis did say she wanted to make things quick. She had a ‘date’ to get to…” Twi says, watching all her friends faces shoot towards her. Even seeing the ears on the guards with them perk up in response while they eavesdrop at the rather surprising news, “I don’t know if she was serious, it could have easily just been something to throw us off for a moment.”

“Or the queen has a king now!” Pinkie hops up and down in joy, even though she is talking about the queen of the changelings now having another at her side.

“Now that’s ridiculous…” Rarity rolls her eyes, “could you imagine Chrysalis finding one that fits with her?”

“Probably one just as bad as her to begin with…” Spike points out while he hold a claw out to help the lovely snowy unicorn across a small stream. Watching the sincere smile cross her face as she tries to hide it from her friends to avoid any questions of their own, and keep it on Twilight.

“Well one things for sure in this matter,” Fluttershy states, as she puts some of the pieces together, “We’re sure to figure it out before this is all done.”

“That much I can agree to,” Twi reluctantly accepts that fact, as she lets the conversation die down.

During this though AJ has been putting two and two together in her head trying to figure something out, “So wait just a second now sally… did Flash get hurt durin’ this all, and that’s why he isn’t ‘ere?” she asks the pony who was present amongst them that was there.

Twilights face starts to lose some color to it as she is reminded, for the millionth time, about her colt still back in bed in Canterlot. The questions of if he’s healing well, if the wounds have gotten worse, or even if he is behaving like he said he would, flying in to her head one after the other as it leaves her mind spinning. All the while the mare remains blind to what has happened there during their leave.

After a long, drawn out sign, Twilight finally answers them, “Yes…” she states bluntly to them all, trying to answer while maintaining her composure, “he took a knife to the wing from the assassin while they were in the air, and Flash got kicked in the ribs by Chrysalis and that managed to break a few of them in place, the queen does have a nasty pair of legs to her.”

“You didn’t mention that injury while you told us what happened you know,” Rainbow points out to the alicorn.

“Oh right… thought I brought that up,” Twilight awkwardly scratches the back of her head as she remembers leaving out that little detail to avoid more questions, “Flash currently is in Canterlot and being treated by a nurse there… seeing as I can’t at the moment…”

“And we know that ya would have loved to stick back and do that sugar cube,” the country gal rests a comforting hoof on her friends shoulder.

“Well I already did with the wing wound…” Twi answers, adding one last bit, “apparently I’m rather good at being a medic.”

“Awe! I bet you looked so cute playing doctor to your injured guard…” Pinkie purses her lips together, even getting the few guards with them to chuckle under their breath at the comment, “…although the blood probably took away from that moment.”

“Sadly it did…” the princess says with a straight face, snickering to herself as she start to whisper to herself under her breath, “Though it wasn’t the last moment we would have…”

“Could you repeat that one Twi?” Spike crosses his, expecting an answer from her.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me now… you know very well that my hearing has gotten better than all of you with age,” a small but growing grin starts to develop on the young drake, “And I heard everything.”

“Oh fine…” Twilight bites her tongue at forgetting there was a dragon in their group for a moment, knowing she is about to get an ear full anyway, “It wasn’t the last moment we would have with one another…” she says almost hearing the jaws drop around her.

“So are you saying that you and Flash are…?” Fluttershy starts to ask when she gets a heartwarming smile in return from Twilight, as even now the yellow Pegasus starts to blush. Having the blood shine clear though her canary coat, “Oh… oh my.”

“So it’s official?!” Pinkie of all ponies almost jumps out of her skin in response as the head of Twi slowly nods.

“Yes girls, it’s official…” she manages to get out before the congratulations start to flow her way from the mares and the dragon around her, while the guards mind their business at the time and keep a watchful eye.

“Congratulations Twilight!” Applejack gives a light hug to her friend.

“It’s about time…” Spike snickers, while soon getting a hoof from a white unicorn to the side, “I ah mean, glad to see you’re so happy.”

“Thank you Spike, and thank you girls… you were all right anyway,” she reminds them to avoid the impending ‘I told you so’, “on the other hoof I wish I had done it a little sooner than now.”

“Well in this case, better later then never I say…” Fluttershy assures her, “who else knows at this point?”

“Well Celestia sure does by now…” She makes the comment, not realizing that she even had at the time. Seeing the confused and puzzled glares from them, Twilight eases their curiosity, “it’s kind of hard to hide such a thing when the princess catches you in bed with one another,” she gets out of her mouth, soon being returned with several glares from them instantly. Even a few are more confused than before as she realizes how badly that can be taken, “Sleeping! Just Sleeping! Nothing like that, at all… he was injured, I patched him up, and in the middle of the night when I woke up, Flash made some room so I could be closer to him. It was hooves off!”

“For now that is…” Spike mutters to himself, only having Rarity pick up on his comment as the pair starts to giggle.

“Oh calm down, Twilight…” Rainbow tries to ease her, “we’re just playing around, it’s great to hear that you have finally gotten Flash by your side… in more ways than one,” she remarks, watching a royal flush of red, come to her friend’s face, “he’s a great colt, and any of us who aren’t blind, can tell that you are more than just happy when you’re around him. Although I have to ask, how did Princess Celestia take it when she walked in on that?”

“Well enough to the point that she didn’t even wake us up to bring the news of sending me and you all out to the tree,” Twilight relays, “Just sat there in the chair across from us and read a book quietly…”

“Clearly, she approves…” Rarity makes note for them all, “What do you think your brother is going to say when he finds out?”

“Well first of all he will probably say ‘figures’, and I’ll get an ‘I told you so’ from Cadance,” she tries to imagine their expression, and her brother’s full reaction.

Not knowing the details of Flash and Shining’s conversation when the Captain gave the guard the rundown of his sister. Twilight soon finds herself getting a picture of Shining, playing the part of the older brother, chasing after Flash with a sword through the halls of the Crystal Empire, after she introduces him now as her Coltfriend.

The image though is shattered the moment a fowl stench fills the air in her nose, and almost singes the inner hairs off. Shooting up her muzzle to take a better whiff, Twilight would know that smell from anywhere as the princess grips her own blade. Each of the guards do the same as they have the same mind set as she does, readying themselves. Though for now each of the others stand there and try to figure out what is going on at seeing half the group preparing for a fight.

“Is everything alright?” Fluttershy asks the obvious, seeing the stern look on the alicorn’s face.

“We are probably going to have company here soon…” Twilight remarks as her vision comes true and the source of stench comes forth to them.

A single Timberwolf lunges out of the forest and tackles Twilight to the ground under his claws.

The smell of rotting vegetation, which makes up its body along with various pieces of trees and bushes, put the creature together in a horrid creation. Dripping saliva falls down from its fangs and lands on the princess’s face as she lays there in a trance for a few seconds, hearing the rapid hoof steps of the others that were with her, coming closer to her aid. Though much to the awe of her friends who have seen very little of her rage side. The ‘damsel’, doesn’t need it in the slightest.

Drawing out the sword from its holder. Twilight uses what strength she can muster, along with the sharpness of the blade to cleave the creature up the middle as the two halves fall off to either side of her. Sap rains down from the wound and covers the mare’s body as it mimics the blood of the creature from the wound created by the sword cutting through it. Getting to her feet, Twilight takes note of the odd glares that they give her.

For such a sweet, young and rather good looking mare, she can be rather vicious at times when it comes to protecting herself or others that she loves. Something that becomes even more apparent when a few more of the creatures, quite literally, come out of the wood work. The royal guards draw their weapons and take on the threat in their sworn duty to protect the princess, and her friends, from all harm as they duke it out. Even the ponies that don’t carry any weapons manage to put in their own hits here and there.

AJ uses her rather attuned apple bucking skills, and powerful legs to shatter the wolves apart as they come and try to pounce on her. Timing it just right so that hoof meets jaw, and then flanks meet ground. While her competitive counterpart, Rainbow Dash, does the same and uses her strong wings to power through her own targets. Holding her hoof out in a fist, gladly clotheslining a couple along the way in her path. Rarity, after deciding that being friends with a princess of Equestria who has more than a habit of getting in to all sorts of trouble, has decided that it would do her heath well to learn more than just a simple telekinesis spell. Now leaving her more than capable of sending a few energy bolts and swinging a rather hefty branch like a bat, on top that she still manages to conjure a shield here and there to defend herself and her friends. Fluttershy, as expected, is in the process of being chased by quite a few of the wolves. As they singled her out as the easiest prey to try and get.

Thankfully though, the Pegasus is met in the middle by Pinkie’s confetti cannon as she loads it with something with a little more oomph, namely party grenades laced with kerosene, or full blown chain shot. The yellow pony looks over her shoulder at the remains of broken twigs and branches that once were the wolves, now nothing more than smoldering pieces of wood with chunks missing out of them, twisted and mangled.

“When did you start packing those?” Fluttershy gets out in somehow a normal speaking level.

“What do you mean? A good party planner should always carry an arsenal of things for any occasion,” Pinkie loads up another shot, taking aim at a few more as they come in, “even if the occasion means braking out some of the more painful treats and entertainment…some ponies are in to that sort of BDSM thing.”

“How do you know about that?” the Pegasus gets up and covers her ears, just enough so as to hear her friends answer.

“Hey! I host a variety of parties’ thank you very much…” she pulls the firing cap on the top and let’s loose another volley of shot in to her targets. Sending the pieces of them sprawling out across the ground in piles of debris as Fluttershy looks at her friend’s handy work. Now knowing why she would walk past Sugar Cube Corner on several nights and hear some of the strangest of noises, well past closing time. Putting those thoughts out of her mind, Fluttershy does her part and lures targets for Pinkie to take down, seeing as the shy one seems to be the target of many of the wolves.

Though out of all of them it’s safe to say that, besides Twilight with her own sword at hoof, Spike is doing the better part of the damage. Dealing with and fighting a pony is one thing that the pack has come to face before after many visits of them in to the forest, though a dragon is a whole new deal. The toughened hide of his scales have only grown thicker with age, and have left him almost impervious to their claws as they try to slash at him, and the fangs are all but useless, as before they can even get within range to use them. Spike already has fire spewing from his gullet and lighting them up left and right, so long as he can keep them from his softer underbelly, the drake is untouchable. Leaving him in the zone to use his sharpened claws, and longer tail to slash and crush some of the wolves that try to sneak up behind him.

Twilight with one blast from her horn, obliterates another assailant to bits. Looking around at the others at how they are doing, the princess notices that the wolves that haven’t been completely destroyed, are being repaired bit by bit. Drawing the foliage around them to patch their wounds up in a few seconds so they can get back in the fight.

‘This isn’t going to end well if we can’t put an end to them…’ she summarizes in her mind, though as Twilight locks eyes with her dragon friend letting loose another torrent of flames, she gets an idea.

With a heavy tap of her sword to a rock near her, Twilight grabs Spikes attention as he turns to her, holding a wolf in a head lock, “Kinda busy right now, Twi!”

“I know, Spike,” Twilight blocks another attack with a quick ward from her horn, “Spit on my sword!”

The drake holds there for a second, and is about to ask if she is completely serious. Though the glare that the princess gives him, tells Spike that she means exactly what she said. With a hack from the deepest part of his throat, Spike coughs up a hunk flem and glazes the blade in it’s slimly texture.

“Thank you!” She calls back to him, knowing full well that dragon spit is just as good an incendiary as pitch or tar, if not better. Twilight touches the tip of her horn to the edge and in less than a second, a dark blue flame erupts around the weapon, lighting up the area in an eerie glow and giving the princess and even eerier grin, “Now… let’s play.”

Whipping the now glowing blade about, she slices in to the wolves as the fire burns in to them. The new wounds leave nothing to repair upon as the sap that bleeds forth only heats up and acts like a poor form of pitch, fueling the burn and engulfing them one by one as the princess dishes out her own special level of punishment. Even the other guards with them take a step back and allow her to go to work with the rather impressive weapon. The alicorn’s own skill showing even more as she almost dances with the flame and downs several more of the creatures, before the rest of them wise up that this probably wasn’t as easy a target as they thought.

Retreating off in to the forest to avoid having their lives cut short by a rather zealous mare with a blade. Twilight watches the rest of them run off and turns around to see the curious look on all of the ponies, even the guards at that, faces. Rather pleased that she did so well for the first time of them seeing her in real combat with a weapon, the princess snuffs out the flame using her magic and cools the blade down with a quick spell before sheathing it once more. Almost embarrassed that she never told them exactly how she learned how to use a blade, Twilight starts to scratch the back of her head while they continue their way down through the forest.

“I ahh… took a few lessons with Princess Luna on sword fighting…” she says like it’s nothing while they still remain alert to the threat that still could loom.

“Looks like more than just a few lessons with Luna…” Rainbow replays the clip of Twilight whipping the blade in to their loose ranks like that of a true soldier, “seriously? How long have you been training?”

“Well I wouldn’t really say ‘training’,” Twilight continues to play it off, she brings out the blade once again while they now admire the craftponyship that was put in to it. “Luna gave me this upon my coronation as a gift, and soon afterwards, would give me lessons here and there on the down low at first while Celestia went about her business.”

“Seems like a good thing that she did…” Spike remarks as he sees the fresh scorch marks about the blade from the little trick that she pulled, “though where did you get the idea to set it on fire?”

“Oh that? That’s called Fire sword…” she remarks on a whim, not even thinking to explain it at first, “just a little thing I picked up from my Coltfriend…” she winks at them while they continue on, not hearing the comment from one of the guards behind.

“I have to learn how to do that…” a royal guard mutters off to his fellow guard next to him, before getting a quick slap to the back of the head by a superior as they walk behind the mares and dragon ahead, deeper in to the forest.

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It doesn’t take much longer for the gang to finally reach their destination a little later in the afternoon now. The regal sister’s castle stands still in ruins, out not too far in the distance. Once home to them in their earlier years as a younger princess pair of Equestria, the forest around soon grew too wild for them and they had to relocate to Canterlot to have a new place to be at the center of their rule. The years have not been kind to the castle as the Ever Free Forest soon took over even more so in the years sense then.

Roots grow in through the masonry, vines entangling the columns, while some of the glass windows remained shattered over time left to neglect. Overall though thanks to the rather sturdy foundation, the superstructure has remained intact and protected some of the works left by ponies of days long gone in the transition to Canterlot. Though through all of this, the castle will remain at such a distance, as the ponies who have journeyed this way seek something just outside the boundaries. An open crevasse only traversable via a bridge that spans it lays present to the mane six and their group as they stand at the edge.

“It feels like ages sense we’ve been back ‘ere…” Applejack looks around at the gloomy scene, feeling the cooling mist from low hanging clouds and the musky smell in the air from the forest, “Wasn’t the last time when the Elements of harmony were brought back in the first place?”

“If memory serves me correctly,” Rarity explains with a hoof over her chest as she looks down in to the void, “yes it was, sadly though visibility was a little easier back then and not so much now.”

“Well we have to get there one way or the other…” Twilight starts to try and think back further in to her memory from when they first found this place, which was the last time they came here.

Having made the trip only once, and having been gassed by the forest itself before hoof and half awake at the moment doesn’t help the matter right now. There’s a stair case around here that they seek, using the magic from the horned ponies to light up the way. They make their way along the edges here, trying to find it. Even with the illumination it takes almost half an hour for them to finally come across the stair case that leads safely down to the ground floor of the sheer drop otherwise.

At the discretion of the guards with them, the mares take up a position behind them as Spike takes up the middle while they creep down step by step. Listening in for the sign of any other ponies’ presence among them. It soon becomes apparent at first that they seem to be alone in the fissure as they make their way to the mouth of the cave. Guards take up either side as they move around to cover all their bases and take an enemy by surprise if need be. Looking in to the cave they can see the tree there before them as the seemingly natural light shines bright still, blinding them slightly from the contrast of the haze outside.

The wondrous Tree of harmony looks almost like a star as it branches off to hold the elements of generosity, honesty, laughter, kindness and loyalty. All of which leading to the center where they help to make up the final element, magic. Along the trunk lies the cutie marks of both Celestia and Luna as it leads down to the ground. This may have mesmerized any other pony who comes across it, but Twilight has but one focus at the moment while she takes note of one crucial fact.

“The Elements…” she starts to gasp, “They’re gone!” the others notice finally the ends of the branches missing the little artifacts while center is plucked clean just as well.

“What?!” Rainbow shoots up in the air with her wings, before pounding her hooves together in frustration, “The Queen probably got here first!”

“Beat us to the punch she did…” Pinkie scorns while digging her hooves in to the ground and huffing like a bull.

“Well… I wouldn’t blame Chrysalis entirely,” they hear a familiar but terrifying voice call out to them as they all move in closer to the room.

From around the tree, King Sombra makes his return known as he casually strolls from his hiding place to witness the shocked faces of those that were his adversaries in the past, and now present. The fully armored and larger king takes out the sword from its sheath as he readies himself for the fight that is sure to come with having them now standing between him and his way out.

“S-S-Sombra?!” Fluttershy stutters while trying to spit out the dark unicorn’s name.

“That’s King Sombra to you, thank you very much,” he reminds them of his status.

“I don’t get it?” AJ scratches the back of his head, “is he taller than I remember seein’ from back in the Empire?”

“As I told the queen, being dead or cast in to oblivion, can really take a lot out of you…” he starts to growl before getting cut off by the Alicorn in the room.

“What did you do with the Elements of harmony?!” she yells at the top of her lungs, “And how did you know Chrysalis has-” Twilight pauses at first before the pieces in her head finally fall in to place with one another and she gets a picture of what they’re dealing with right now. The evil grin plastering itself on his face as he even sees the revelation come to the princess, only confirming to her the truth before the others haven’t even a clue what is going on. “You’re that date she had to go to when we found her in the caves?” she says softer than the situation should probably allow as the rather smug king stands there and nods his head.

“As it would come to have it, I was… she told me about that one in the caves when you uncovered my queen,” Sombra says proudly, happier than he would have guessed at first to be able to call her as such.

“You mean to say you… and…Chrysalis… your queen?!” Rarity finally sees all fall together. Getting a small amount of vomit to even come up her throat at first, before she realizes that Spike was right. She would manage to fall for some pony just as bad as she. “Ugh… this is just getting worse and worse.”

“Not quite yet…besides there is still time for me and her… oh never mind that now,” he gets back on track with things at hoof, “we have business to attend to right now.”

Sombra pats his side, as a satchel dangles off from him and the sound of stones clacking against one another on the inside rattles through the cave. Rainbow starts to dive towards the unicorn as she hears the sound calling out to her friends.

“He has the elements!” Dash tries to tackle the king only to get herself swiped out of the sky by a quick magic burst from his horn. Thankfully it wasn’t the sword as it would have took off her wing in one go. Never the less the cyan Pegasus is hurtled in to the wall, while the others now take their own positions to try and bring him down. Sombra starts to snicker while stomping his hoof on the ground, signaling for a little extra back up.

A dozen or so changelings come out from behind the tree from their hiding place, while they let Sombra have his short spiel with the ponies. Though a few of them, much to their dread, still have the image of the king plowing their own queen stuck in their head as they meet the Equestrians in the middle for a brawl.

RD soon gets up to her feet and is back in the fight as she rams a changeling in the side with her head. Careening him in to the wall across while boxing another with her wings. Before lifting him up and off the ground over to her friend, “AJ! Heads up!” she drops the adversary to her longtime rival.

Applejack doing her part and hind kicking him just before he hits the ground, cracking bone as he skips across the surface of the cave, “Assist points right there!” they high hoof one another before getting back in to it.

Pinkie breaks out the cannon yet again and goes ham on those around her. Unlike the Timberwolves that would simply fall apart at the sheer shock wave of the explosives or burn from the fuel. Changelings, being made of flesh and bone have parts of them break off and skin start to peel back as the flames engulf their bodies and burn each to a crisp. Fluttershy and the pink one work in tandem like they did out in the forest, the Pegasus leading targets to her while the party pony takes care of them. Though this time a little more organized as the yellow pony also calls out shots for her to take.

“And… Fire!” Pinkie lets another one rip as the chain shot severs cuts clean through bone, tissue, and tendon alike as it leaves many of her victims bleeding out on the ground before the loss of fluids take them.

“Awe… they’re suffering,” Fluttershy starts to pity them. Before getting a pink mare wearing a battle helmet in her face screaming.

“Now is not the time to show mercy, private!”

“But where did you get the-?” she tries to ask, until another volley cuts her off.

Meanwhile the guards, Spike, and Rarity have backed themselves against the wall as they fight with the enemy. The guards happily will show off almost in front of a mare such as the pure white unicorn with them, though if any are holding their own still. Spike still manages to one up them as he puts in his fair share of punishment, however these are a little tougher than your average wolf.

A changeling sword comes stabbing towards the dragon as the attacker tries to pierce his target. Only to have the attack blocked by the magical aura that Rarity brings up to protect her rather special companion. Taking the opportunity to now return the favor, Spike with a quick flick of his tail, smashes it in to the neck of a changeling, crushing his windpipe and leaving him gasping for breath where he lays.

“Good hit there, darling…” Rarity plays coy with him as she winks. Noticing the twinkle of a gem in the wall as she extracts it with her horn and hurtles the amethyst in to the head of a changeling.

“Thank you, dear…” he answers, bringing his claw up in to the rib cage of another and sinking the sharp ends deep in to the organs. He can feel the green ooze flow around his hand as he drops the victim down to strike at another. Though that’s interrupted the moment one changeling gets close and manages to pierce his soft stomach hide with a well-placed dagger between the plates.

"Argh!" he grunts as he feels the blade slip in to him, the sound drawing the attention of the one unicorn as she even manages to put aside the less physically violent side of her, and kick the changeling in the jaw, clear off of him so as not to make another attempt.

“Oh my, are you hurt?” she asks concerned of his status. She knows that Spike has gotten far tougher in the later years. But it still does her mind a great ease to see that he is okay, and no matter how old he gets, he’ll always be her little Spiky-wiky.

“Its fine…” he pulls the blade out slowly before dropping it on the ground next to him, “just a scratch,” he answers to reassure her, even though the dragon knows that he will require some patch work before this is to properly heal.

All the while at the same time Sombra has been dishing out his own punishment here and there. The years that he has had to master a sword come in to play now as he manages to punch, cut, slice, and stab royal guards that try to get in his way. Although in reality, much like the encounter that Chrysalis had with them, as much as he would like to stay and fight. The king does have better places to be at the moment as be breaks out his Shadow form and takes off from the ground above those fighting.

However, his flawless exit is stopped by a particular alicorn as she goes through the smoky haze and tackles the king in the center down with her in to the ground. Charging up her horn lightning quick, it’s still not fast enough to get a round in to the king first. As he slides out from under her and brings his sword around. Meeting the princess in the middle as she wields her own blade to his surprise, the look of such a decorated blade in the hooves of one so lovely and elegant. It’s a rather charming thing to see in a mare, one that isn’t afraid to pick up a weapon.

‘And mine is ready to over throw an entire empire…’ he reminds himself, ‘no wonder I like her so much,’ Sombra brings the blade back for another attack as he now finds that more than anything he is now blocking her attacks then delivering his own.

The mare has been rather pissed off that Sombra dares attack the tree and take the elements that brought her and her friends together in the first place, now intending to use them for whatever the purpose they have in store might be.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” he antagonizes her, trying to hit the right nerves, “upset that your elements have been taken?”

“Oh will you shut it!” she snaps at him while driving her blade between his legs and barely missing his Colthood.

The ensuing glare that she gets is enough to show his discomfort with having a sharp edge so close to that which he prizes. Doubling back with an elbow to the cheek, Twilight feels the hit on her soft skin resonating through her whole skull as she falls over, quickly tucking and rolling off to the side and recovering quickly on to her hooves as she was trained to do.

“Well I’ll be… you really can fight,” the king says rather impressed at the princess’s actions.

“So far better than you…” she mocks, soon getting a series of red magic energy bolts fired off in to her direction as they hit and explode along the ground. Forcing her to bring up several shields to try and hold off the attacks. The snarls of the king can be heard even over the fighting behind them further in to the cave as they stand closer to the entrance, and the echo vibrates throughout.

The red horn on the king glows brighter and brighter as he powers up an attack, tracing his target, “If it’s a fight you want… then it’s a fight you’re going to get!” Sombra launches off a red bolt of lightning that seems to split off in to several as he shotguns his opponent.

Twilight goes wide eyed, and summons a ward as the bolts impact both the shield and around her. Leaving large chunks of dirt kicked up from the energy dissipating in to them as the static charge lingers in the air and almost makes her hair stand up on edge.

‘The king has gotten stronger sense the last time we encountered him…’ she keeps a close eye on him. Bringing up an energy barrier to block an attack from the angered unicorn, and feeling the surge of power almost crack her shield entirely. There has to be something new up his sleeves, he was brought back from the dead clearly by the queen. But in his absence he would have lost a lot of his power, she figures in the back of her mind, ‘…how did he manage to get it back with such vitality…’ the young mare tries to find a reason, seeing it in the glimmer on his chest. The unmistakable look of crystals adorning the armor make it obvious to this point now, ‘those are from the Crystal Empire. That explains a lot right now,’ she answers.

Knowing full well that as long as he has that armor on him, Sombra can draw as much power from the crystals as he may need in combat. Even with her own magical prowess, the alicorn is barely able to hold her own against a unicorn that has been doing this far longer than she has ever even been alive right now. Their magic meets in the middle in a single spell, and cause’s sparks to fly as it fails to part with one another. As Sombra soon turns the other hoof and has her now running on her own while Twilight goes on the defensive for a bit, seeing as he can overpower her.

“Oh come one now, Twilight!” he snarls at her while watching the beads of sweat fall down her face as she starts to pant from the energy expenditure to block his attacks, “I know you have more in you then just that… after all you’re Celestia’s student! Her prized pupil, I know she has taught you more! Show me!”

Twilight lowers her head for a moment to clear her mind, there is more she has been taught. For a second she forgot not to hold back, though considering who this is, not any more. Twilight’s horn starts to arch with black surges of energy as she conjures up an old trick now that she’s grown accustom to over the times practicing. Pushing her own limits, the mare pumps more energy in to the Spike Bomb than before as the glowing green glob leeches out towards the king and plants itself on the ground before after a short time exploding and sending shards of spikes every which way there is to offer.

Twilight shields herself to prevent any kind of collateral damage from her own spell, and looks through the transparent shield to the explosion she just causes right at the feet of the king, ‘If he didn’t leap away, he’s more insane than any of us ever thought,’ she summarizes before the smoke starts to clear finally. Looking through the mist, her jaw continues to work itself looser as she watches the shrapnel from her bomb forming back up in the center from the original detonation point.

With Sombra now holding the shards in his own magical grasp.

“Congratulations, you learned a spell that I mastered when I was still a foal,” the wicked grin grows on his face as the ball is formed back up in a clump and he holds it still, “Now, let me show you what it can really do!”

Sombra touches his horn to the ball, fusing all of the spikes together while the green glow returns, before soon turning crimson red from his own touch of magic as small jolts of energy can be seen leaping across the gaps between the shards. With one final smirk, and pulse of energy, the king hurtles the bomb back at its original creator. Without a moment to lose, Twilight brings up a Spike shield in front of her as it hits.

The energy from her own spell causes Sombra’s to detonate on impact, sending its own spikes planting in the wall and ground surrounding her. After the impact, she lowers her shield and sees the mass of shards puncturing the ground in the surrounding area. Though when she looks back at her attacker, Sombra just wears a smug look about his face as the faint glow in the corner of her eyes start to brighten.

The princess looks back at the many shards and sees the energy inside building up once again, as it takes a split second for her to bring up a shield before the secondary detonation takes place. Far larger than the first, as the pieces splinter off. The protection spell fails her under the hit and breaks apart in one go from the duress. Leaving the alicorn there with several bruises appearing under her coat after the shock wave hits and throws her around like a rag doll.

Looking up slowly in a daze on the ground, she sees the dark unicorn standing there over her with a snicker on his face. Twilight’s only instinct tells her hoof to reach over to the blade next to her so she can strike at him. Only to get a much larger hoof pinning hers down, the pressure pushing more and more, even threatening to crack her bone underneath.

“You won’t be needing that right now, dearie…” Sombra torments the poor alicorn under his brow as she can smell and even feel the fowl smelling breath upon his tongue as he holds his muzzle so close so close to her face, “you see if I wanted you dead, I would have done it by now. After all, between the two of us, who is better in a fight?”

In one final act. Sombra drops his knee down in to her chest, knocking the wind out of the princess and leaving her with a rather upset stomach as he makes his quick get away from the cave and back in to his Shadow form. Now flying up in to the air and away from the ponies.

The others soon finish up their little bout and upon seeing the final shot made by the king to their friend, rush to Twilight’s side to help her up after the hit. Stumbling at first, Twi coughs it all out and manages to keep her gut under control long enough to get her final footing.

“Thank you, Spike,” she says to the dragon companion that holds her up.

“What we’re here for Twi, what happened with Sombra?” he asks, looking out and not seeing any sign of him.

“The king has gotten away… for the moment,” she tacks on at the end to give some sort of light at the end of the tunnel, “he has the elements, is working with Queen Chrysalis, and from what I saw back in the caves, they have moved to a whole new location.”

Fluttershy thinks for a moment, “so we don’t um, know what to do?”

“Sadly…” Twi lowers her head for the time being, “not at the moment… at least we know what we’re up against though,” she reminds them, finally able to walk on her own without wanting to throw up.

The princess looks behind her friends at the tree now standing there empty of what makes it, it. All of the elements, gone now, and without such a clue as to where they have been taken. The once peaceful place below the ground now holding the bodies of changelings that have fallen and even a few of the guards that made the trip here, but will never make the one back.

‘Why does this have to happen?’ Twilight asks herself, ‘the changelings could have been reasoned with at first and if not a different solution could have been found… the senseless slaughter of them, and having royal guards fall. And for what exactly?’ she wonders it all as she takes the sight in and close to heart. Though to her surprise, there is a slight movement amongst the bodies left about. A dark figure wiggles their way down and around the ground trying to get closer to the tree for some cover. Looking closer and closer she sees what it finally is.

“Hold it right there!” she yells out to the changeling as he flips over in time to see a pair of lavender hooves come down on his throat. Twilight starts to strangle and crush its windpipe with just sheer anger coursing through her system. “Where did Sombra take them? What is Chrysalis’s end game? Where are you all hiding?” she raddles off in rapid succession before watching even the creature’s dark coat turn blue, “Well go on, answer me!” she screams while her own friends manage to take her off of the nearly fallen enemy. The changeling struggles to get its breath back while the royal guards that remained, get to his side and hold him captive.

“Calm down now Twi!” Applejack holds her friend in her blood lust.

“He knows what they are planning!” Twilight yells back, “If we find out, we can try and stop it!”

“Kind of hard for him to answer when he can’t breathe,” Rainbow dash corrects her friend’s mindset, “And will get answers from him, that’s if you don’t kill him first.”

The very word of Kill is enough to get her to calm herself down and settle her brain’s over active self as her friends release her for now and she calmly walks over to the changeling, careful to hold a hoof up so that her friends don’t jump back on her for the move she just took. Looking down at the creature now there broken after the fight.

Twilight holds a single fore hoof under his chin so she can look at him in the eyes, “You will tell us everything we want to know, will you?”

He growls at the princess and even tries to lunge his head forward to try and bite at her hoof. Missing as she pulls it back quickly, and decides to spit in her face instead. Green blood that flows in to the changeling’s mouth, now cakes itself on to the princess’s face as she uses a wing to wipe it off.

“Fair enough…” Twilight responds before cocking back the same hoof he tried to bite and with all the force she can muster at the time, cracks a back hoof across his face. Spewing the remaining blood in his mouth across the ground.

For just having seen her skills with a blade, it’s rather shocking for her friends to see Twilight acting like this towards another. Twi turns her back to the prisoner as the shocked expressions on her friend’s faces fly over her head. Her whole mindset that of a pony on a mission and fully prepared to get the job done that she has been tasked, leaving her narrow minded to what her friends may be wondering.

“Guards, see to it that he is bound up tight. I wouldn’t want him to leave us in the morning before we do…” she says as she reaches the cave entrance and addresses the sky.

“Princess Twilight,” one guard says while bringing out some rope from a small sack, “I assume we are staying out this night?”

The mare in question looks up and sees the darkened sky about them, it managed to get this way fast, more than she had realized at first. “Yes, we will… the forest is far too dangerous to venture in the middle of the night. We’ll make camp, and then head out at first light…” Twilight steps out while the others follow suit not too far behind her to set up camp, eat a meal, and get some rest now before sleep takes them.