This is the true story of how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated King Sombra. The wind blew harshly as it always did in the frozen northern part of Equestria, but this was an unnatural storm. Created by King Sombra to keep his enemies out of the Crystal Empire. "Are you sure we can trust him, Princess?" asked a member of the royal guard.

"To be completely honest, I do not know," replied Celestia.

"But if he tries to do something or backstabs you, we will not be there to help and will not know if he does backstab you or your sister. I still say that we should send a squad with him instead of you two," stated the armored guard.

"I understand your concern for me and my sister. But I do not think we have much of a choice in the matter captain. If this pony truly knows of how to sneak past King Sombra's defenses, then we have to take that chance," replied Celestia.

"So we have come to an agreement," asked Luna.

"Yes." Celestia walked over to a pony draped in a brown cloak covering his entire body only allowing his forelegs and bottoms of his hind legs to be seen but even those were hidden by the cloak's shadow. He was watching off in the distance. "Phonyyx." the hooded pony looked at the princess as if to acknowledge her "My sister and I have come to an agreement. And we are ready."

"Okay then, follow me," Phonyyx told Celestia and walked over towards the eastern edge of the storm surrounding the Crystal Empire. Celestia and Luna followed him along. He stopped and began to quietly chant. A glow began to appear in his hood, colored not unlike that of King Sombra's magic. Then both Celestia and Luna's bodies glowed with that same color. "There. That will mask you from any detection magic that has been placed or hidden." His hood glowed the dark-purple color again and he began to chant something else. A boulder near them began to shake slightly and a glowing rune appeared on its side and reveals a passageway leading underground.

"What is that?" asked Luna, puzzled at the symbol on the boulder.

"I placed the rune on the boulder to seal the entrance to the passageway and to keep it hidden. The passageways are all sealed with similar runes and all the passages run underneath the Crystal Empire," Phonyyx answered while walking down the steps with Celestia and Luna following him through the entrance. Phonyyx resealed the rune behind them and continued on through the dark and dripping tunnel. The clop of hooves echoed loudly. The only light for the three ponies to see by was the light spell Celestia was casting. They entered a chasm which held multiple stony bridges connecting tunnels, crisscrossing this way and that way, up and below. They were all silent. The silence was subsequently broken by Phonyyx. "Hide," Phonyyx almost whispered to them as he ducked behind a rock on the edge of the stone bridge. Celestia dimmed the light spell and ducked behind a large rock along with Luna. A group of almost a dozen creatures comprised of a thick, black, oily substance walked across one of the bridges.

"What were those things?" asked Luna once the creatures were well beyond earshot.

"Shades. Living shadows created by Sombra, they are what his armies are truly made of," responded Phonyyx. "Now, let's get to the exit."

"Wait."

Phonyyx stopped and looked back at Luna. "How do you know so much about King Sombra, the Crystal Empire, and those creatures. You are hiding something from us."

"Luna!" Celestia stammered angrily, but without raising her voice. "I don't think this is the time at all for arguing with Phonyyx."

"No," Phonyyx said with his head down. "Luna is right. I haven't told either of you anything that you need to know." Phonyyx untied his cloak and it fell to the ground and Luna and Celestia saw an unbelievable sight. Standing right in front of them stood an alicorn.

"You're an alicorn?" the two princesses stated simultaneously with widened eyes.

"No. I am not an alicorn," Phonyyx said looking at them. He had a red coat with both his tail and mane colored black and grey, with blue eyes, and his horn was naturally curved back slightly. And there was a sword sheathed on his back.

"But you have wings and a horn," stated Luna.

"Yes but that doesn't make me an alicorn. I am half unicorn, that's my horn, and half phoenix, that half gives me my wings," Phonyyx stated to the confused mares while putting his cloak back on, this time leaving the hood down, leaving the hilt of his sword and his head exposed in view. "And King Sombra is my father." Celestia and Luna's mouths dropped to the ground.

"But if he's your father, then why are you helping us when that would lead to his downfall?" Celestia asked.

"I'm fully aware of the atrocities that my father has committed. And just because he's my father doesn't mean I should just ignore it. And we don't have the best of relationships anymore. He's changed, twisted. And needs to be stopped. Now let's keep moving." Phonyyx began to walk and the trio eventually emerged, hidden, out of a pillar of the castle right in the middle of the Crystal Empire. "There. King Sombra is up that tower." Phonyyx pointed to another pillar. Phonyyx jumped up and quickly flew over to the entrance and motioned for the two princesses to do the same. The three intruders hastily flew up a stairway and emerged in a room with Sombra on the opposite side of the room, looking out to his crystal slaves. Silently, the three ponies all walked up to Sombra. A red light suddenly appeared beneath both Luna and Celestia. A rune trap! Thought Phonyyx. He dashed towards Luna and Celestia, knocking them out of the rune's range just as it created a crystal cage, imprisoning Phonyyx inside.

"Did you really think I didn't know that you were coming," asked Sombra. He turned around to face the three intruders and summoned dozens of shades. "Now your foolishness shall bring you all your deaths." Luna and Celestia fired spells at the shades, successfully holding off the first few shades, but the shades simply kept spawning. Phonyyx attempted to teleport out of the trap, but it simply teleported him back in and slammed into the walls. Then a thought came to Phonyyx's head. He unsheathed his sword and began to teleport as quickly as he could until finally, he aimed his sword at the wall when he was ported back and smashed through the cage, using the increased momentum from the teleports to force his sword into the wall, destroying it. Sombra then pinned Phonyyx against a wall with his crystals. "You know that offer I gave you is still up for consideration," Sombra told the red pony.

"And I already gave you my answer and I will give to you again. You can fuck off with that damn offer." Stammered Phonyyx through his bloodied mouth.

"Now, is that any way to treat..." Sombra began but Phonyyx teleported out of Sombras crystalline grip. He appeared beside Luna and Celestia with his sword drawn.

"Phonyyx, can you get Luna and me a clear shot at Sombra?" asked a bloodied Celestia. Phonyyx responded by firing a jet of flames from his sword, clearing a path to Sombra. But Phonyyx didn't stop there, he created a series of crystals that pinned Sombra to the floor, immobilizing him. Celestia and Luna then cast a spell, turning Sombra into a shadow and banishing him to the frozen north. But the Crystal Empire disappeared with him. Celestia looked around and asked, "Where did Phonyyx go?" Phonyyx had simply disappeared. Phonyyx looked around. His home, gone. His father, imprisoned. His entire world just fell apart. But he was walking away from the sight of the battle. He was surrounded by cold, harsh winds and kept walking. Never telling Celestia nor Luna about where he went. He didn't even know where he was going. Or for how long he would walk.

There is nowhere for me now.