Icefire

The northern territories of Equestria were known for their inhospitality. This far north, the terrain was broken and rocky. Few earth ponies settled here and, as a consequence, the power of their magic did not seep into the land, making it difficult to cultivate and grow. Small communities formed here and there, where conditions allowed, but they were organized around other trades, such as mining and logging. To make matters worse, the weather was almost constantly inclement. The storms that frequently blew down from the lands even further to the north were full of ice, snow, and fury. Tradition and history held that Equestria's first settlers had come through these lands. Tradition and legend also held that these storms were, in fact, the product of the Windigoes that supposedly still infested the lands that the three tribes had originally hailed from.

The storms were bitter cold, filling the air with so much snow and ice as to turn everything even just a few feet in front of one's eyes completely white. At the same time, fierce winds hurled the precipitation about, sending it blasting into anypony who wandered these climes with enough force to feel like a thousand stinging razors every second. Storms like this one could cut off the small, isolated communities that clung to life out here for weeks, burying passes and cutting off trails. Avalanches were commonplace and more than a few lives had been lost to them in the past few years. Few pegasi dared to try and work with the weather out here, as the storms were vicious and unforgiving. A mistake was liable to cost an overambitious weatherpony her life.

Conditions being what they were, travel during a storm like this was foolhardy to attempt without a party of companions to help battle the conditions and clear the way. Attempting to travel the mountains in this weather alone was nothing short of suicidal. Despite that, the pony who currently stood in the winds, the hem of his cloak flapping about wildly, was anything but suicidal.

The cloaked pony moved with surprising ease, despite the conditions. The snow was deep enough for his legs to sink up to the knees, but he seemed to walk over it as though his body weighed nothing. Every time he took a step, faint lines of ice seemed to spread out from his hooves in a web across the snow, forming a platform that spread out his weight and kept him from sinking into the snow. Rather than try and force his way into the wind directly, he instead walked in a direction to carry himself at an angle to the flow of the wind, before tacking back to start the process over. With such methods, he was able to travel a surprising distance in a relatively short amount of time.

After several hours, the traveler paused, reaching for something under his cloak. Drawing his hoof back out, he held up a strangely simple-looking device. It was a thin cord. One end was tied in a loop that allowed him to easily slip his hoof through it so that he could hold it up. The other end was tied around a single shard of nearly-clear crystal. Despite the shrieking wind that rushed all around him and continually made his coat flap in the breeze, the crystal dangled on the end of its cord as though the air was still. The crystal turned slowly as it hung. Then, like the needle of a compass, it spun so that one tip was pointing in a particular direction, almost directly ahead of the traveler. The tip that was doing the pointing appeared to contain what looked like smoke, starting out gray further up, and turning completely black at the tip.

"Not much farther then," muttered the traveler, stowing his tool away. Even as he did so, he hummed contemplatively. "The source is moving...which means...someone is carrying it."

He started walking again. To most observers, there would have been little difference compared to how he'd been walking before. But the most keen eyed ponies and those who knew the traveler well would have been able to tell that his steps were just slightly more hurried than before.

"Keep digging, you mutts!" shouted a gruff-voiced stallion. He looked over his workforce with an angry, impatient eye. This is taking too long.

An angry growl arose to meet his order. Diamond dogs did not appreciate being talked down to. Still, they regarded the stallion who watched them work with enough fear to not outright rebel. The generous helping of gems that he'd brought with him had helped to quell their rebelliousness.

Topaz snorted, his gray-blue eyes surveying the laboring dogs as they hauled dirt and stones out of the mineshaft, which stretched downward into the darkness, well out of sight. Diamond dogs didn't like digging like this. When they dug, their tunnels tended to meander, twisting about in random directions, ascending or descending as needed. Despite that, their tunnels never seemed to be under any threat of collapse. Their wanderings often took them around natural faults that could spell death for ordinary miners. And, no matter how random their subterranean wanderings seemed to be, they always seemed to manage to find what they needed.

Digging purposefully straight down was an almost foreign concept to them. Diamond dogs hated pits. A rigid, straight shaft, plunging down to what seemed to be no end was a waste of their strength and their skill. Still, the stallion demanded that they dig downwards and so dig they did. It was hard work. Digging at an angle made it easy to cart dirt and rubble out of the way. Digging down meant they had to rig up a pulley and haul the stone up by the bucketful. It slowed their progress considerably.

Topaz didn't like slow progress. His grayish-blue eyes trembled as he anxiously counted each bucketful of loose rocks that was hauled up out of the pit. Shifting uncomfortably, the faint light from the torches around the mineshaft caused his dark-gray coat to shimmer, looking as though his body were sheathed in crystal. The light also threw his cutie mark, a shard of blue-white crystal in the shape of a shield, into stark relief.

Anxiously, Topaz checked the pouch that he carried at his side, resisting the impulse to look inside of it. Touching the object within would have potentially deadly consequences, consequences he remembered his friend suffering when she had tried to pick up the item contained within. They'd managed to save her by severing her foreleg at the elbow. The severed portion had been completely consumed by growths of ebony crystals that had pushed their way out from under her skin, ripping it to bloody shreds before crumbling away. Before they'd managed to cut the leg off, she'd been screaming in agony, practically doomed to the slowest, most terrifyingly painful death imaginable.

Please wait just a little longer, Your Majesty, he thought nervously. We've nearly uncovered your new vessel. He knew that such thoughts were pointless. His king despised delay for any reason. Topaz's only hope was that he wouldn't feel that the delay was too long.

After all...King Sombra hated to be kept waiting.

The two dogs that stood watch at the tunnel entrance were hulking specimens, the type that diamond dogs usually employed as their enforcers and defenders. Their large, muscular bodies were covered in heavy, iron armor. Molding designs of metal came naturally to them and the armor was good and strong. Despite the stereotypes that dogged them (Ha!), diamond dogs were a long way from stupid. If anything that could be counted as a fault to their intellect, it was their single-minded focus that drove them to pursue gems. Because of that focus, though they possessed the skill and knowledge that would permit them to smelt iron into steel, thus making their tools and weapons lighter, stronger, and longer lasting, diamond dogs simply lacked the interest to do so. Their powerful bodies did not mind the bulk of the iron armor and they bore it with ease.

The two of them also carried spears, spears that they had wielded plenty of times before in the past, for it was not uncommon for a tunnel to open up into the lair of some fearsome subterranean beast. These dogs were experienced fighters, having faced numerous foes with dauntless courage. So it was, when the traveler appeared in the tunnel mouth, like a wraith seeming to materialize out of the heavy snow, they did not flinch or cry out, but instead leveled their spears at the unwelcome visitor.

"Apologies for the unheralded arrival," said the traveler. "I've come to speak to Topaz. Would you be so kind as to convey me to him?"

One of the guards curled his lips back. "Gem pony say visitors not wanted. You not wanted pony. Go away or I make pony-skin coat."

The hood the traveler wore concealed his movements somewhat, so it only shifted slightly as the pony beneath canted his head. "Well, that's unfortunate. In that case, I ask that you step aside so that I can find him myself."

"We not warn you again, pony," growled the dog, already lunging forward with his spear, aiming for the traveler's chest.

There was a blaze of pale-purple light from beneath the traveler's cowl. A wave of magic washed out from him and over the two attacking diamond dogs. In an instant, they froze in place, their spears halting mere inches away from him with a crackling sound. They were now covered in a clear sheath of ice, so perfectly transparent so as to be nearly invisible. They had been frozen with such speed that neither of them had realized what was happening.

A light-blue hoof reached up and swept the hood back to reveal the traveler's face, elegant and effeminate in appearance. Swept back, the hood revealed a flowing, silvery-blue mane. With a sigh, Arcana Lulamoon undid the clasp of his cloak, lifting it up in his magic and draping it over the shaft of the spear held by the guard on his left. "Look after that, will you."

Removing the cloak revealed a slender body, almost delicate in appearance. Even up close, it was difficult to see Arcana as a stallion. His body and build were often compared to the fashion model, Fleur De Lis, or even Princess Celestia herself, though Arcana was thinner and leaner than either of them, his ribs visible on his sides with each step he took as he walked farther into the tunnel.

I need to remember to break them out before I go, he thought. The freezing had been so swift as to be nearly instantaneous, giving water no time to crystalize, preserving the frozen diamond dogs both inside and out so that they could be easily thawed with no ill effects.

As Arcana walked, he came to forks where the tunnel split. Every time he did so, he paused and held up the crystal on its cord, letting it guide his way. Sometimes it wasn't all that helpful, as it might occasionally point at a random wall, a consequence of the tunnels winding around seemingly at random. Still, even then, Arcana was confident in his choices, simply by virtue that the crystal's orientation informed him that at the very least, he was headed in the right direction so long as he was moving downwards. His journey took him deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth.

As he went along, Arcana found himself frowning. Aside from the two guards at the entrance, he hadn't encountered a single diamond dog. It wasn't unheard of to wander their tunnels and encounter but a few of them, given how extensive such labyrinthine systems could be. Diamond dogs would mine out one tunnel and move on to another once they had stripped the first of its gems. However, Arcana could see gems lining the walls of this tunnel, untouched. The dogs should still be here, working to dig them out.

His ears perked up as he heard the clanging of metal against stone, the echo of tools carrying up the tunnel. I must in the right neighborhood. Granted, the tunnels could echo and distort sound, making it seem to come from almost any direction. However, Arcana simply used his crystal to guide him, the pitch-black point clearing up any confusion that might have resulted.

At length, Arcana's journey carried him through the tunnels until they opened up into a massive cavern. Looking up, Arcana picked out stalactites high above on the ceiling, indicating that this was a natural opening in the rocks, though the smooth, worked look of the walls showed that the diamond dogs had worked hard to enlarge the cavern well beyond its natural limits. In the cavern center, he could see the source of the commotion that he'd been following for the past two hours.

Diamond dogs worked furiously, pushing carts filled with stone away from a large pit that they'd opened in the center of the cavern. More loads of rubble were hauled up in buckets suspended from pulleys. The dogs worked with impressive industry and coordination, moving the rubble away and returning for more just as the next bucket came up the line to fill it. Looking around the edge of the shaft, Arcana could see his target standing on a ledge that allowed him to look over and straight down the deep pit.

Breaking into a trot, Arcana moved through the cavern. As he did, his approach caught the attention of one of the working dogs, who immediately barked out a warning. At once, several armed and armored dogs, not unlike the guards up at the tunnel mouth, swarmed out of a nearby tunnel, moving to intercept him with their spears raised.

Arcana's horn blazed into life, sending a wave of his magic washing across the floor. The dogs yelped as their feet slipped out from under them, their heavy armor bearing them down as their balance was lost on the sheet of nearly frictionless ice that had formed out of nowhere. Arcana's trot transitioned into a smooth glide as he slid across his ice with the ease of a professional skater. The commotion attracted the attention of the crystal stallion that had been watching the diamond dogs' work.

"Hello Topaz," said Arcana congenially as he stepped off his ice layer and onto the stone a short distance away from his target, "I've finally caught up with you."

Topaz snorted and backed away, his faltering steps carrying to the edge of the ledge so that his hindquarters were practically hanging out in space over a drop into the seemingly infinite depths. His eyes bulged in their sockets and the veins on his neck bulged, standing out beneath his coat. "Y-you...!"

Arcana nodded, taking a careful step back. "It's over Topaz. Sombra's power is about to be broken. He will never return."

"Of course he will!" snapped Topaz. "Nopony can stop his return. King Sombra will always return!"

"He will not," replied Arcana. "I have seen to it. That thing you carry is the absolute last remnant of him. All the rest has been destroyed."

"Then I am his last chance," said Topaz. "It falls to me to complete his resurrection. I sh-shall not fail him."

"There is no need for this," said Arcana. "Sombra will not return. Without that last piece, he cannot return."

"You don't know that! Nopony knows that!" exclaimed Topaz. "King Sombra's cunning is without peer. He is always ready. He always has a way. This time, I will be that way!"

He hefted the sack that he'd been holding in one hoof. "You cannot comprehend our King's brilliance. You only think you've succeeded. But he will have another way. He always has another way. I will bring him back from the brink and he will know that it was me who saved him."

"Boss!"

A dog's shout from the pit drew the attention of both stallions downwards and they found themselves staring down into the pit. Diamond dogs were swarming up out of it, their claws sinking into solid stone like it was clay, allowing them to climb without the need of ladders. For a moment, the shaft looked like an anthill that had been kicked, with dogs piling out of it in a panicked rush.

"We go no further!" shouted the first dog who'd escaped from the pit, his fur singed and blackened. "Too hot!"

"Death down there!" shouted another dog. "Fire and shadow!"

"Uh oh," said Arcana.

A low, guttural growl rumbled up the shaft, carrying enough force behind it to make the entire chamber shake. Small stones began to fall from the ceiling and Arcana looked up warily, worried about how much stress the cavern could take before it caved in on itself. A wave of heat, making the air ripple visibly, blossomed out of the shaft, followed by flickering orange and yellow light, making Arcana think of magma rising up from the inside of a volcano.

The ground shook with the sound of an incredible impact, followed by another. Accompanying was the scrape of rocks against something hard, getting louder with each successive repetition as something hauled itself up a tunnel barely wide enough to handle its bulk.

"Wha-what is this?" gasped Topaz, shrinking back from the hole.

"You have no idea, do you," muttered Arcana, "just what you've unleashed."

The tremors grew stronger with every second as the source drew closer and closer to the entrance to the shaft. Arcana turned to Topaz. "Give me the remnant," he said. "Let me destroy it and then destroy that thing. Don't be a fool."

Topaz blinked and glared at Arcana. "Never! I will carry out my king's will!"

"Then I will take it from you," said Arcana, lowering his horn.

Topaz backed up, his retreat taking him to the edge of the pit. However, he jumped forward with a cry of surprise and pain as another wave of heat bloomed upwards, accompanied by a jet of flames that seemed wreathed with darkness that was more shadow than smoke. Arcana momentarily forgot about his objective, the entirety of his attention taken by the entity that the diamond dogs had excavated. A massive, black arm, terminating in a five-fingered hand, extended out from the pit. The fingers ended with hooked claws that sank into the stone as the hand came down on the cavern floor, anchoring it in place so that massive arm could haul up the creature that it was attached to. As its muscles clenched, tongues of flame billowed out around it, the heat it emitted driving both ponies back away.

A second arm joined the first, then the tops of a pair of massive, bat-like wings. Following it came the horned head, shoulders, then the torso, the waist, and finally, the legs and feet. Now free of the mineshaft, the creature reared up on its hind legs, standing upright like a minotaur, but of much greater stature. The horns on the head curled like a ram's. Its skin, if it could indeed be called skin, was broken and cracked, orange and red light shining through the cracks. A mane of flame stretched out from its neck, running partway along its slightly hunched back. More flames issued in spurts and gouts across its body, both fire and smoke seeming to enshroud the creature like a cloak. As the panicking diamond dog had described it, it appeared to be an entity of shadow and fire.

Something like this should not exist outside the pits of Tartarus, thought Arcana grimly. Sombra...just what madness drove you to seek out this monstrosity?

"What is it?" gasped Topaz, his eyes bulging out of his head as he stared aghast at the monster.

"Something that I have only heard of in rumors amongst the darkest whispers...a demon remnant from an earlier phase of the world...a Balrog." Arcana was stepping back himself, shivers of fear shuddering down his spine.

Only now noticing the ponies, the monstrous creature turned its head, regarding them with fiery, glowing eyes. It snorted, then seemed to inhale before lowering itself into a crouch, planting its hands against the ground in a more animalistic posture as it roared at them. The roar was accompanied by a blast of heat that washed over them like the onslaught of a volcanic explosion. Arcana tensed, glancing sidelong at Topaz, who'd been reduced to a quivering mess by the creature's roar.

I'll worry about him later, thought Arcana. There's no way I can allow this thing to reach the surface.

The Balrog surged forward, lunging straight for them, its clawed hands outstretched. Arcana's horn blazed, the pale-purple color of his magic washing blue, then white, as a jet of energy slammed into the center of the fiery demon's chest. It exploded outward with a burst of cold, sucking all the heat out of the air, even from the very flames the Balrog itself exuded. At the center of that chill, a white light blazed and a column of energy blew the monster back, slamming it against the cavern wall. The creature let out an angry roar, seeming more surprised than injured by the blow. Nonetheless, Arcana strode forward, a wave of cold billowing out around him as a point of white light formed at the tip of his horn.

“There is nothing for you here, wretched beast of a forgotten age,” intoned Arcana. “The world has forgotten your ilk and it would not do to remind them that you still dwell in the darkest depths. Your time is done. Return to the shadows and sleep once more. Sleep until the passing of this age…the passing of all ages…sleep until the end of all things.”

"You fool!" screamed Topaz. "You cannot win against a beast like that."

Arcana whipped his head around and blasted a beam of his magic at Topaz. In an instant, the crystal stallion was frozen in place, his hooves anchored firmly to the ground by sheathes of ice.

"Be silent," said Arcana. "I will deal with you later."

He turned around to face the Balrog once more. However, he froze when he felt a shiver of wrongness wash over him. Whipping his head around to look back at Topaz once more, Arcana saw the satchel Topaz was carrying bulge and pull against the ties that held it to the stallion, seeming to strain to reach the demon that had emerged from the pits.

Topaz's eyes widened and he turned his head to bite down on the ties, pulling at them, undoing them.

"Don't!" shouted Arcana.

Topaz didn't answer, but instead continued. The ties came undone and the satchel was freed, hurling away from Topaz and flying straight towards the Balrog. The demon watched with uncomprehending eyes as the satchel burst into flame simply from the residual heat of the flames. The fires burned away the cloth, revealing the remnants of a unicorn's horn, slightly curved and washed with blood-red color at the tip.

The horn of Sombra, thought Arcana. Just as I feared.

The tip of the horn stabbed right into the center of the Balrog's forehead. The demon froze in place, as though time had stopped for it. Then the horn began to sink into the monster's head, inch by inch. The Balrog roared and clawed at its head with its hands. However, its efforts failed to dislodge the horn as it sank all the way in. Then the Balrog collapsed down onto all fours, its clawed fingers carving gouges int the solid stone of the cavern floor.

Arcana moved to attack while the creature was immobilized, but froze when he perceived movement at the edges of his vision. Turning he saw diamond dogs clustering at the entrances to half a dozen tunnels, watching everything with terrified attention. "Fly, you fools!" he shouted. He emphasized his point with bolts of magic from his horn. The flashing light drove the dogs back and erected barriers of ice over the tunnel entrances. Lastly, Arcana turned his attention to Topaz, who was still locked in place. A thought broke the icy bonds that held the crystal stallion. "Get out while you can!" yelled Arcana.

Topaz said nothing and did not move to heed Arcana's orders. Instead he stumbled back until his rump hit the wall and he pressed his body up against it, his eyes not seeing Arcana, but looking past him at the trembling Balrog.

Realizing that it was futile to try and convince Topaz to leave, Arcana returned his attention to the monster, trying to figure out what was going on. Is Sombra trying to assimilate it? Is that what his followers meant when they talked about a vessel? That's ridiculous. This creature is older than the world itself. There is no way a mere pony could overcome something that old and powerful.

Then the Balrog lurched, its motions convulsive and random. Cracking noises filled the cavern as its body began to contort and twist, seeming to fold in on itself in fits and starts. Its fingers curled back at an unnatural angle before clenching in, then merging with the hand. The arms and legs bent at random directions as they thinned and drew inwards. The horns curled even further to jab into the monster's skull before seeming to simply sink into the sides of its head entirely. The Balrog's lower jaw jutted outward, and then was joined by its snout.

It was sickening to watch. Every movement put into Arcana's mind the image of bones breaking, then being forcefully reset into new shapes. Bit by bit, the Balrog's form had changed. Bipedal no more, it rose up on four legs, now bearing a body that was unmistakably equine in shape. The creature could not be called a pony, for it had the stature and bearing matching that of the Princesses. Instead, it was clearly a shape belonging to a horse, like the houyhnhnms of Saddle Arabia. Its skin still cracked and bled orange and yellow light, looking like partially cooled lava. More flames burned at its fetlocks and billowed out to wash across its body at random. Its mane of flames still burned brightly, running up the demonic stallion's neck. It still bore the same bat-like wings it had in its previous form.

With a metallic, grating noise, accompanied by the crackle of flames, a broad, flat, horn, like the blade of a massive sword, broke through the skin of the creature's forehead, its faint curve resembling a scimitar. Its surface glowed red-hot, like metal heated in a forge. Bursting from the creature's rear, a tail formed from several individual strands of fire burst outward, lashing the air like a whip of many thongs, cracking loudly and releasing a flash of flame and heat as it did so.

That's right, thought Arcana, the few materials that describe Balrogs refer to them as wielding swords and whips of flame. But... Something troubled him. The Balrog hadn't produced those weapons before. Perhaps it just hadn't gotten around to it before Sombra's horn had attacked it. However, its animalistic behavior suggested that the thought of using its weapons hadn't even occurred to it.

The monster's eyes opened. Instead of the fiery pinpoints of light that had been the creature's original eyes, it instead regarded Arcana with blood-red eyes, highlighted by a blazing sclera or orange and yellow. Shadowy smoke stretched out from the corners of those eyes. The creature's gaze landed on Arcana with the full force of unbridled malice.

"King Sombra, I presume," said Arcana cooly.

"Knave," replied the former overlord of the Crystal Empire. The opening of his mouth to speak revealed pointed teeth, supplemented by a pair of impressive-looking canines.

"I'm impressed," admitted Arcana, tilting his head as he regarded his foe. "That demon was ancient beyond imagination. It should have been impossible to subjugate it to your will."

Sombra threw back his head and laughed. It was a booming sound that rocked the cavern and fanned the flames of his mane. "Yes," he said, his voice rumbling like the bowels of a volcano, "it was old indeed, as old as you described. It hails from an age before an age and many ages yet before our own age. It is older than the world itself, hailing from beyond its boundaries. I do not pretend to understand how it came to be but...

"As you said, it is old...old and senile. Its undying form could only wait in the depths of the earth as age after age passed and the world was made anew, time slowly stripping away the vestiges of its will until only bestial instinct driven by ancient malice remained, bound by a vessel of savage power. With that, subjecting it to my will was a simple matter.”

So that’s how it was, mused Arcana. There was an air of truth to Somba’s words. The Balrog’s actions had been born of unrestrained and unguided malice. It hadn’t drawn its weapons because it no longer had the mind to wield them. It was a bundle of violence and nothing more.

"That makes sense, I guess," said Arcana. "I have to admit, I am impressed. You truly are fearsome in your new form. One could only imagine the havoc you could wreak if you were allowed to run free."

"Allowed?" Sombra arched one eyebrow. "You speak as though you have the power to stay me."

"M-master..."

Sombra and Arcana turned their attention to Topaz as her crept forward, having sunk into a crouch halfway between bowing and crawling as he moved forward to face the fiery tyrant. "Your resurrection is complete, at last."

"Yes," said Sombra, his voice emerging as an angry snarl. "One only imagines what foolishness delayed you. You expect a reward, I suppose."

"N-no! Of course not!" exclaimed the stallion, lowering himself further to the ground. "I only ask that you spare this foolish servant's life and forgive his ineptitude. I apologize with all of my heart and soul for not working harder and faster to restore you to your full glory."

The corners of Sombra's fiery mouth curled up. It was not a friendly smile and certainly not a forgiving smile. It was a cruel smile, the smile of a creature that delighted in the pain and fear of others. "Forgive...I think I shall forgive you," he said, somehow managing to inject the deep, basso rumble of his voice with a taunting tone. "I might be compelled to forgive you, assuming you accept penance for your failings."

"A-anything!" wailed Topaz.

"Then burn!" Sombra roared. The glowing horn of his head blazed, tongues of flame merging with waves of shadow-smoke, merging together before spewing forth in a torrent, rushing to consume the unfortunate stallion, the one responsible for Sombra's own return from the brink.

The torrent of shadow and fire broke over a bulwark of ice that rose up from the cavern floor, forming a sloped barrier between it and the target of Sombra's ire. The ice hissed and sizzled as the heat melted it, turning it into steam. The black ribbons of shadow-smoke scattered into wisps and the fire was consumed by the steam. Topaz shrank away from the barrier, flummoxed by his own survival.

"Not much of one for gratitude, are you?" asked Arcana, stepping forward, wearing a taunting smile of his own.

"Gratitude..." rumbled Sombra. "Gratitude is the most foolish of sentiments. It convinces your inferiors that they have intrinsic value, that they do more than simply exist to serve a purpose. Gratitude incites complacency and disrespect. I am not beholden to a tool for doing the job it was made for. All the ponies of the Crystal Empire are my slaves. They are made to serve me."

His blazing gaze, accompanied by that seemingly bottomless malice landed upon Arcana. "You who would stand in my way and deny my right to rule are merely an eyesore before me. BEGONE!!"

With a sound that merged an equine whinny and the Balrog's original bestial roar, Sombra reared up before charging forward, lowering the broad blade of his horn, charging straight for Arcana, flames and shadows rising around it as he plunged the weapon straight into Arcana's chest. Arcana's body cracked, fragmented, and then shattered, bursting into shards of ice that exploded outward like shrapnel. Sombra had propelled his horn into a mirror of ice. The chilling shards cut into his skin and imbedded themselves into his body, freezing the area around him, causing frost to form over Sombra's body wherever he was struck.

Sombra pulled his head upward, bellowing in pain. His flames billowed with a roar of their own, their intensity increasing and washing over his body, melting the frost and leaving behind a number of glowing, angry lacerations that joined with the cracks that had already formed across his skin, like the surface of partially cooled lava.

Sombra whipped his head around, seeking his enemy. Arcana stood off to one side. Not moving from where he stood, Sombra whipped his tail at Arcana. The lashing thongs of flames released a thunderous crack. Arcana's image shattered yet again as the whips split another plane of ice, once again sending a hail of icy shrapnel at Sombra's body. Sombra's flames roared up and the ice melted before it could come into contact with him again.

"I see," snarled Sombra, casting his head about. Here Arcana stood, in yet another position. However, Sombra looked in another direction and saw another Arcana. Still more were appearing with alarming speed. "An ice user...You have impressive skill. However, mere ice is not sufficient to quench my flames."

Sombra's horn blazed brighter still. A wave of flame roared out in directions, washing over Arcana's images, melting them, then evaporating them into steam with an angry hissing sound. The flames and shadows died away, revealing Arcana once more. He still stood, the white light at the tip of his horn glowing brightly.

Sombra snorted derisively, his nostrils blowing out clouds of sparks and ash. He reared up, fanning those massive, bat-like wings, sending a wave of fiery sparks and smoke at Arcana. However, Arcana stood unfazed. The sparks vanished, going out as though they’d crossed an invisible line that erased them from existence. Glistening blue and white sparks formed in the air around Arcana, congealing together into massive shards of ice that then hurled themselves at Sombra like spears. The shards cut through the smoke, embers, and ash, their interiors blazing white as they seemed to chill the air around them. They did not strike Sombra directly, but instead embedded themselves in the earth around him. Abruptly, the shards exploded outward in a blizzard of branching ice blades, filling the space between them, including Sombra, with bitter-cold, razor-sharp death.

Sombra lowered his head, spinning in place. The curved blade of his horn and the fiery thongs of his whiplike tail smashed through the forest of icy blades, shattering them to pieces, turning them into a cloud of steam. Then the steam was consumed by shadow-smoke as Sombra charged out with a roar, beating his wings to gain speed as he bore down on Arcana. His flames billowed and flared. Sombra fell on the slender unicorn like a tidal wave of fire and darkness.

A slender blade of ice extended straight out of Arcana’s horn. Tilting his head, he used it to intercept the downward slash of Sombra’s own horn, the two blades meeting with a flash of light. To Sombra’s shock, the flames of his horn were extinguished and the recoil of the impact forced him back, though Arcana had not budged and inch.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” roared Sombra. “Your weapon is just ice! It cannot stand up to fire and steel.”

Arcana favored Sombra with a wry smile. “Ice is a funny thing. Ponies have the impression that it’s weak. However, that weakness is born from how slow it usually forms in nature. Air is trapped between the crystals, forcing them apart, weakening their bonds. However, if ice is formed fast enough, without allowing air to get between the crystals, its bonding strength is easily three-times that of steel.”

Arcana whipped his head around, using the ice blade jutting out from his horn to cut a downward diagonal slash through the air. A line of white whipped out along the path of the cut, rushing straight forward and biting into Sombra’s chest. The tyrant roared in pain. The fire along the line that had been cut into his chest had been snuffed out and more was extinguished still as webs of frost crawled out from the edges of the wound.

Sombra reeled back. His flames billowed once more and the ice spreading from the edges of the wound burned away. The fire in his chest reignited and the cut that Arcana had made now shown bright yellow and orange, joining the other wounds he’d acquired earlier. Arcana noted the that the injuries he'd inflicted hadn't seemed to do much harm to Sombra. Instead, they simply appeared to become a part of his body. The pain they caused was fleeting, but they seemed to lack any debilitating quality.

"Pitiful foal," growled Sombra. "Is this the best you can manage?"

"Not quite," replied Arcana pacing in an arcing circle, which Sombra matched, the two of them stalking around one another.

"For all your foolish determination, I admit that you have merit as a battle mage." His lips curled upward and he bared his pointed teeth in a fearsome grin. "Join me. Having a mage of your abilities will prove most useful once I reclaim my throne."

Arcana smirked, raising an eyebrow at Sombra. "Why would I do that...so I can bask in the warmth of your 'gratitude?'" He glanced over at Topaz, still hunkered behind the ice formation that was protecting him. "If it's all the same, I believe I'll make due with your enmity. It would seem to not carry much in the way of additional risk."

Sombra chuckled darkly, a rumbling sound that made the cavern shudder. "But, had you accepted, you'd at least live a little longer."

Now it was Arcana's turn to chuckle. "Actually, I don't think I need to worry about that. You will not be reclaiming your ill-gotten throne. You will not leave this place. I would go so far as to say that it will be your tomb, if there was going to be anything left of you to bury."

"FOOL!" roared Sombra, rearing up again, flames billowing across his body in a fantastic display. A wave of sheer terror washed out from him, a tangible force in its own right. However, the aura of fear washed over Arcana like a wave breaking across stone, leaving him unfazed.

"With my new vessel, I have gained unmatched power!" he shouted, returning to all fours. "This ancient power, ageless beyond all reason, places me on par with the Princesses themselves!"

"With all due respect to the Balrog," said Arcana, "I think you're overselling its power a little. Demons are not like dragons. They do not accumulate strength with age. In fact, as you've so helpfully pointed out earlier, this one actually degraded over time. Though that only really applies to its mind and will, the fact of the matter is that its own power remains unchanged, regardless of how many ages have passed."

Sombra paused, regarding Arcana with a surprised expression, as though the slender stallion had made a critical point. Then, his lips curled back and he began to chuckle. The chuckle rose in power and volume until it became a mighty, roaring laugh that shook the earth and made small stones rain from the cavern ceiling above. Arcana glanced up nervously, seeing cracks spreading across the ceiling.

"Pathetic, shortsighted, imbecilic fool," taunted Sombra, leering at Arcana. "You believe that I intended to rely merely upon the Balrog's power. I have said that this is a vessel, did I not? It is a vessel of darkness and malice, the perfect vessel for my power. Though those foolish mares and their little dragon friend disrupted my return, they don't know the true extent of my brilliance. I scattered shards of my power far and wide across the North. I could have been reborn from any of them, given a suitable vessel like this one. However, now that I am reborn, I can call them back to me. Combined with this vessel, my black magic will be taken to new heights and my power rise exponentially, until even the Princesses, in the full might of their magic, could not hope to stand against me."

"Oh...so that was your plan," said Arcana, canting his head.

Sombra threw back his head and yelled, "Shards of my soul! Return to me!"

The crystal that Arcana had been using to guide him to the final piece of King Sombra suddenly leaped against its tether, straining to reach Sombra. Arcana let go of it, allowing it to fly and pierce its way into Sombra's flesh. Arcana's eyebrows went up as the crystal was absorbed and Sombra's presence and power increased by a noticeable margin. The shadows of his body grew deeper, which made the flames stand out all the more starkly and seem to burn all the more fiercely.

Sombra smiled, his baleful gaze focusing on Arcana. However, to his surprise, Arcana made no effort to hinder him, no effort to strike before the missing pieces of Sombra's power could regather. Instead, Arcana waited. So did Sombra. They both waited.
...
...
...
...And they waited some more...
...
...
...
...They were still waiting...
...
...
...

..."Where are they?" rumbled Sombra. "Where are my crystals? They should have been impossible to destroy."

"I'm afraid they're gone," replied Arcana, smiling once again. "I must admit, it was a masterstroke, incarnating them using the Crystal Empire's own crystals as a focus. Even high-level purification magic would only break them into smaller pieces, or grind them into dust, and then still finer dust. Only something with the power to manipulate the fabric of reality itself, like the Elements of Harmony, could possibly undo and erase them and, of course, you made so many that anypony wielding the Elements would be hard-pressed to track them all down...or even most of them."

"Then where are they?" demanded Sombra. "What have you done?"

Arcana's smile widened. "I have been very busy, tracking down all those little pieces of your power. I am probably currently the only pony in the world who could truly destroy them."

"You?" retorted Sombra. "You are nothing more than a piddling ice mage. Your magic is pathetically weak. Mere frozen water cannot compete against my darkness."

"On that, we are in agreement," replied Arcana.

"Then, since you understand your doom, I shall bring it upon you!"

Sombra lowered his bladed horn, an orb of fire and black shadow-smoke congealing together at its tip, which he then launched, not at Arcana, but at the cavern floor he was standing on. The bolt slammed home into the floor, launching shards of molten stone, laced with black power, in all directions.

The shrapnel struck Arcana in several places and his skin seemed to crack, break, and then flake off. However, to Sombra's surprise, the fragments of stone launched by his attack had not actually penetrated Arcana's body, but had instead seemed to have lodged themselves into a paper-thin layer of ice that had spread across his body, all of it falling away to leave Arcana untouched.

The white light at the tip of Arcana's horn flared up once again. A wave of cold rushed out from him, spreading across the floor, leaving a layer of rime in its wake as it burst across Sombra. Icy vines seemed to crawl up his legs, threatening to bind them in place. Sombra strained against them, only to find that they were much stronger than they appeared. With a growl, his flames surged across his body once more. The ice began to melt, then shattered at last as he applied his strength to their against their now-weakened forms.

Charging forward, Sombra broke into a gallop, the steps of his hooves making the floor shudder with each bound as he closed in on Arcana. A jet of fire and darkness erupted out of his horn, looking like ribbons of flame and shadow entwining together as the torrent surged towards Arcana.

A circular plane of ice, its surface polished to perfection, seemed to blossom out of thin air between Arcana and Sombra. The surging torrent of flame and shadow scattered across its surface, washing out in every direction, but leaving Arcana untouched. Sombra, charging behind his magical attack, bulled through the barrier with brute force, splitting it apart with the curved blade of his horn, directing a slash at Arcana behind it.

However, Arcana was already gone. Instead, he was sweeping around to one side of Sombra, gliding across the ground over a thin layer of ice, skating with grace and speed. Still sliding along under his own momentum, Arcana turned his body so that he was sliding sideways while facing Sombra. The white light at the tip of his horn blazed even brighter and three massive pillars of ice erupted from the ground, catching Sombra between them, and holding him in place. The thongs of his whiplike tail cracked loudly, shattering two of the pillars, even as his horn carved through a third.

Turning in place, Sombra spread his wings and took to the air, rising up, almost high enough to scrape his horn against the ceiling. It crashed through a few stalactites, dropping them to smash into the floor. Bolts of fire and shadow descended from above, raining down completely at random. Where they landed, fire exploded outward, seeming to catch and burn on the stone itself, as though it were covered in oil.

Arcana slid to a stop, looking around himself. The heat in the chamber was rising to incredible heights. Fire roared on every side. Beneath the flames, he could see the shadow clinging to rock, like oil. In fact, he thought, unless I miss my guess, the shadow is acting as oil for the fire. How novel.

The fire was closing in from all sides. The entrances, which had been blocked by ice before, were now closed off by walls of flame. Arcana frowned, looking at the fires with trepidation. If he wasn't careful, burning to death would be the least of his worries. Sombra could just wait until the fire consumed all the oxygen in the cavern and simply asphyxiate him. And I'm guessing that breathing is not an issue that troubles his new form, he mused. After all, the Balrog had dwelt in an airless chamber beneath the earth for uncounted ages. It was highly unlikely that there had been much in the way of air down there either.

Lavender light licked up the length of Arcana's horn and a shimmering done of light spread around him. Looking around, he spied Topaz, still hunkered in the only other safe haven amongst the flames. Targeting the crystal stallion with his horn, Arcana tagged him with a spell that covered Topaz in a shimmering dome similar to his own. This will buy us some time, he thought. The domes purified the air in the immediate vicinity, rendering it breathable, even if the air outside their boundaries was positively toxic. It was one of the more advanced...and draining... spells in Arcana's repertoire. I suppose I should put an end to this soon.

The floor leaped beneath him as Sombra dropped back down, landing without even a token effort to slow his fall. In his new body, that was hardly a concern. He stood a short distance away, just far enough that he couldn't cleave Arcana's body with his horn without taking at least two steps first.

"I have had my fill of this farce," declared Sombra. "I had hoped that you might show me something more interesting to pass the time. But all that I have seen is more of the same. Ice magic is pitiful, especially pitting it against me as I am now. No matter how much ice you produce, I will melt it. You cannot freeze me."

Arcana actually laughed. The response confused Sombra, who actually took an uncertain step backwards, the flames issuing from his body guttering slightly. "Well, I admit that I was getting a little tired of playing 'wait and see' with you. If, by this point, no more shards of your power have arrived, then I think I can safely say that I got them all."

Sombra bared his fangs again, fiery light welling up in his throat like the flames of a furnace. "I don't know what you did to seal them away. There is no way to eliminate them. Break them to pieces and the pieces will come to me. Grind them to dust and the dust will heed my call."

"And yet they haven't," said Arcana. "I'm afraid you're mistaken about what I have done, just as you are mistaken about my magic. You actually disappoint me. For all that you are a heartless, unfeeling tyrant, thriving upon cruelty and malice, you are truly a brilliant mage. In Equestria, there are perhaps only one or two other ponies with your aptitude for the arcane arts. So I'm shocked that you would make such a basic oversight."

"What oversight?" rumbled Sombra.

"About my magic," replied Arcana. "Assuming that my ice is born from the Water domain, that it is merely frozen water; that is the mistake of a first-year student in magic school, not one of the greatest mages in the world's history."

"Then what is your magic, oh great conjurer?" demanded Sombra.

"I shall give you an object demonstration," said Arcana. The white light that had danced at the tip of his horn suddenly blazed brightly.

In an instant, the flames burning throughout the cavern were snuffed out. The heat vanished. Even the flames that formed Sombra's mane and burned across his body were extinguished. Though his skin was still lit from beneath through cracks, like a crust over lava, the sparks and tongues of fire that rose up into the open air were snuffed out nearly instantly. A wave of frost spread across the floors and the walls, covering everything, even crawling up Sombra's legs. Sombra growled and the heat within him blazed brighter, but the frost merely continued to spread across his body, until it was washed with blue and white that clashed harshly with the orange, yellow, and red that bled out from the cracks in his skin.

"I can't thank you enough for making this so easy for me," said Arcana cheerfully, the light at the tip of his horn blazing like a miniature sun.

"What have you done?" demanded Sombra.

"I used my ice magic," replied Arcana. "As I told you before, mistaking my ice for something from the Water domain of spells is a beginner's mistake. True Ice magic is actually born from the Fire domain.

"Let me give you a lecture on basic physics. Cold is not an energy in and of itself, rather it is the result of removing heat from the environment. In other words, cold is born from the absence of heat. I freeze things by using my magic to draw the heat out of them. Now, since you're such an astute mage, I will pose you a question. The heat that I drew out of everything, from the air, from the earth, from your own flames...where do you think it is now?"

Sombra did not need to speak, as his eyes answered for him. They focused immediately on the shining light on the tip of Arcana's horn; white light, completely different in color from Arcana's normal magic.

"Correct," said Arcana, grinning. "Now...allow me to show you what I intend to do with all that heat you've so helpfully provided me with."

The shimmering, pale-purple of Arcana's magic flowed up his horn, mixing into the tiny sun formed from all the heat he'd drawn in over the course of the fight. It flared up brighter still, then washed a pale, icy blue, almost like it was ice made light. Then Arcana leveled his horn at Sombra. A loud crack, not unlike the sound made by Sombra's whip-tail, echoed through the cavern as Arcana fired all that pent up energy straight into Sombra's chest. The blast stretched out like a lance formed from pure ice, punching straight through Sombra's body and out the other side before dissipating into the air in scattered motes that flitted about like very fine snow.

"There," said Arcana in a satisfied tone, stepping back to admire his handiwork.

The light from the flames within Sombra had gone out at the point of contact. Blue and white was spreading across the point of impact in the center of his chest. Instead of washing across his skin like the frost had earlier, it was instead washing through his skin and everything underneath it.

"Wha-" Sombra's voice, which had once been a powerful baritone that made the earth quake from its own force, now barely sounded like anything more than a strangled whisper. "What have you done?"

"I've finished this fight," replied Arcana.

Sombra raised a foreleg, perhaps intending to step forward and attack, maybe bring the edge of his bladed horn down on Arcana's head and split it in two. However, the leg simply shuddered haltingly and then locked into place. Already, the freezing process was visible as it ran down the appendage. It also ran upwards, locking Sombra's neck into place.

"You don't have much longer, so I shall make it brief," said Arcana. "I'm sure that you've heard of the limit to how cold things can get, the so-called Absolute Zero, where molecular motion ceases entirely. It is considered by some to be an impassible threshold. After all, while negatives can be applied to economics, in thermodynamics, it should be impossible to go lower than zero.

"However, by using my magic, I've devised a means to convert heat, to invert its energy value, change a positive into a negative, so to speak. Doing so creates an actual 'cold energy' that would not normally exist in nature. Then, by applying enough of this energy, I've actually found that reducing a target's temperature below Absolute Zero is actually quite a simple task, although I need a great deal of it. Past that threshold, I discovered a miraculous phenomenon. Matter does not merely stop...it ceases to exist altogether. It does not break up into smaller pieces, it vanishes from the material plane. True Destruction is what I call it; the Law of Conservation completely violated."

Sombra no longer had the mobility to open his mouth. But his eyes widened fractionally, the brows making cracking noises as they strained against their frozen state. At this point, their light was the only light still emitting from his body. A strangled gurgle, supplemented by more cracking sounds issued up his throat, but that was the extent to which he could vocalize his horror.

Arcana continued. "Under normal circumstances, it's an extremely draining spell. Depending on the conditions, it can take me over an hour to muster enough energy to cast it. I can supplement its power by drawing heat in from the environment, but I normally have to produce nearly all of the thermal energy needed to to produce the desired effect, combined with the spell to actually invert the energy values, casting it just once can leave me immobilized for the better part of a week.

"Which is where your flames came in. You tossed about your fire with such reckless abandon, that I was left with a wealth of energy with which to fuel my spell. Consequently, this time, it hardly took any effort at all. The cold has locked your body in its present state, which means you won't be seeding your soul across the landscape. I'm afraid that it's the end for you, King Sombra...this time, for good.”

Topaz crept out from behind the ice barrier that Arcana had used to protect him. So too did the diamond dogs begin to creep out from the mouths of the tunnels, surveying the scene before them with wonder. The cavern was coated with frost and ice, which caught the light from the torches the dogs carried, filling the air with dancing motes as the light caught off minuscule bits of ice drifting through the air.

The centerpiece of the tableau was unquestionably the figure of King Sombra. His body had been overtaken entirely, frozen inside and out, an icy sculpture of a monster that had once been a pony. Curious, the dogs and even Topaz crept closer.

They jumped back as a loud crack resounded through the room, the sound of something large and solid breaking apart. Bit by Sombra’s body broke apart, even large pieces seeming to drift through the air, rather than fall straight down, disintegrating into nothingness until, finally, nothing remained of the tyrant or the demonic body he had made from himself.

“Y-y-y-you d-destroyed him,” stammered Topaz, staring in shock at the space where Sombra’s frozen form had been only a few moments ago.

“Completely this time,” replied Arcana. “There is no chance of his return. He has finally been banished from the world to see what awaits him beyond the veil of the living. He is not coming back.”

“N-n-no…” whimpered Topaz, sinking to the floor. “It…it can’t be…” He shuddered and lowered his head to his forelegs.

Arcana looked over at Topaz with a faint frown. Rather than anger or disappointment, it was a look of sadness and pity.

“He’ll come back,” said Topaz, his voice suddenly firm. “He always comes back. He’ll be back and…when he does…” He groaned buried his face in his forelegs, sobbing pitifully.

Arcana sighed. “Let us depart from this place,” he said. “We should not intrude on the diamond dogs any longer.” He paused and blinked. “That reminds me…I need to thaw out that pair at the entrance before I go…”

“And so the last member of the Cult of Sombra is in custody,” said Shining Armor, running a hoof through his blue mane as he looked down from the dais at Arcana. “And, if your report is to be believed, Sombra himself is finally no more.” The walls of the Crystal Palace rose up around them. Arcana had traveled back to the Crystal Empire, with Topaz in tow, to give his report to its rulers. Cadance was seated next to her husband, in the throne of the Princess, somewhat larger and grander than Shining’s own chair, given his slightly lesser status as Prince Consort.

“You doubt my veracity?” inquired Arcana, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course not,” said Cadance, eying him warily. It wasn’t that she expected him to lie. He wasn’t Swift Stride after all. “I’m just worried. You’re certain that every last piece of Sombra is gone.”

“Absolutely,” said Arcana with unfaltering confidence. “The greatest risk was that Sombra would foresee the possibility of his own defeat and keep one small shard of his soul in reserve in some remote place, untouched while the rest were summoned. However, he was not nearly so discriminating.”

“How do you know that?” asked Shining, his eyes narrowing.

“Sundering himself the way he did when the Elements of Harmony defeated him was an act of desperation,” explained Arcana. “I studied his journals and his secret writings. He was…uncomfortable with the idea of sundering his soul unless it was absolutely necessary. Thus, one of his highest priorities after returning would be reclaiming the scattered portions of his soul. Without them, he would feel subtly incomplete, a constant sense of irritation, like having a splinter buried beneath your skin but being powerless to remove it. Thus, once he felt secure in his new vessel, he called all of them to him. But, by that point, the only piece left was the single tiny fragment I’d used to guide my way to him.”

Cadance lowered her head with a sigh. “So it is finished then,” she said, though there was a lingering trace of uncertainty in her tone.

Shining looked down at the floor at the base of his throne. "So... a Balrog, hmm? I'd always thought they were legends."

"So did I," said Arcana. "I don't believe even Celestia or Luna have ever seen one. All the old lore concerning them dates back to the time of Starswirl the Bearded, if not earlier, for he never seemed to concern himself with them. Nopony really seems to know where the stories came from."

"It's scary to think that they really exist," noted Shining.

"That is the only troubling loose end of this matter," said Arcana. "Sombra wrote about the one that the diamond dogs unearthed for Topaz in his journal, but he never wrote how it came to pass that he learned its location."

"That is troubling," said Shining. "But his source is likely long gone, since it came from the days before the Crystal Empire itself was banished into shadow."

"So we can hope," said Cadance softly.

“How is Topaz doing?” asked Arcana.

“He’s a wreck,” said Shining. “I’m honestly debating what to do about him. He came the closest that anypony has to truly succeeding in putting Sombra back on the throne. Even without the majority of his soul, if he came here wielding a Balrog’s power and even a portion of his native magic, I don’t think even I could have kept him out for long.”

“Even if my aunts or the Elements came to our aid, it would have been a difficult battle,” said Cadance.

“The Elements of Harmony might have had an easy time of it, if they had the chance to use their power,” said Arcana. “However, with the Balrog’s flesh, if it could be called flesh in the sense that we understand it, he had an excess of brute force to bring to bear.”

“So victory would have been certain, but the cost was likely to be high,” said Shining. “That’s why I don’t think I can forgive Topaz for being willing to bring that upon us.”

“I wouldn’t call him willing,” said Arcana. “He’s a victim of Sombra’s reign, just like the rest of his comrades. I would rather you help them if you could.”

“Victims?” asked Shining.

Arcana nodded. “In many ways, it was one of Sombra’s best means of control, cunning in its sheer simplicity. There was no great spellcraft at work, no subtle enchantments, no commands imbedded in the subconscious. All it was…was simple fear.”

“Fear…” Shining eyed Arcana skeptically. “You’re saying that fear of Sombra would compel ponies to help him. Wouldn’t they fear his return and avoid it?”

Arcana shook his head. “Think back to just a bit earlier in our conversation. Even after you heard my report and all the details concerning the mission, you still have considerable doubt in your hearts that the threat of Sombra is removed from the world. Sombra was remarkably clever in that regard, having laid down contingencies within contingencies.

“Now imagine living under his hoof, having that sense of fear being driven into you constantly; fear of failure. They had been conditioned to regard Sombra’s brilliance as beyond their comprehension, that his return would be a matter of course and, if they did not do their part to abet it, they would be left to face his wrath for their inaction, wrath that he’d probably visited on their friends and families often enough to imbed it firmly in their minds that their only hope lay in securing leniency through serving him faithfully. That is the essence of Sombra’s control that was at work with Topaz and the others. What they require is not punishment…but treatment for their trauma.”

He gave Cadance a plaintive look. “They need compassion and love. They need somepony to show them that there is a world after Sombra, that they need not live in fear of his shadow and that they are free.”

For a moment, Shining and Cadance were silent. Then, Shining spoke. “I’m surprised, Arcana. I wasn’t expecting you to get so passionate about this.”

Arcana shook his head. “Ever since the Crystal Empire returned, I’ve been hunting the shards of Sombra far and wide across the North. I've seen firsthoof just how powerful his influence can be, how potent and personal. After Topaz succeeded in merging a portion of him with the Balrog, Sombra intended to dispose of him, like a cheap tool that had fulfilled its purpose. I would rather that the ponies he victimized worst of all were not treated like criminals."

Shining and Cadance looked at one another, almost an entire unspoken conversation passing between them before they returned their attention to Arcana. "We'll do it" said Cadance.

"Thank you," said Arcana, bowing his head.

"One last thing," said Shining, looking at Arcana, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny, "are you upset with us about something?"

"Upset?" Arcana blinked. "No...I don't think I should be. Why do you ask?"

"Well...don't take this the wrong way, but you've been scowling at us ever since you came in here."

"Oh...that..." Arcana scrunched and contorted his face. "I think I get what you mean. My fight with Sombra was the most serious thing I've done in a while and my first real battle in over a year. It's been a while since I've but my 'game face' on, as it were and I'm afraid...the muscles are stuck."

Abruptly, shimmering dimples of pink magic appeared on Arcana's cheeks, matching the color of the light that enshrouded Cadance's horn. A second later, her magic pulled and Arcana yelped as his cheeks were stretched out to almost ridiculous lengths. Finally, Cadance released them, and they snapped back in place. Arcana's natural expression, a slightly vacant one, was back in place.

"There, much better," said Cadance with a titter.

"Thank you for your assistance, Princess," said Arcana sardonically.

"What do you intend to do now?" asked Shining.

"For now, rest," replied Arcana. "My task is complete. Then...I think I shall go to check on my sister. From what I've heard, she's been making fine progress with her apprenticeship under Sunset Shimmer."

"That's good to hear," said Cadance. "Farewell, Arcana Lulamoon. May your paths be untroubled."

"And may your rule be shadowed by darkness no longer," replied Arcana with a small smile of his own before he turned to depart.

Author's Notes:

And so concludes another bonus chapter from the A Knight's Tale series. I wrote this one coming off a bit of a Tolkien kick, having recently finished re-watching the Hobbit movies, the Lord of the Rings movies, while reading the books and even finally forcing my way through The Silmarillion after several previously aborted attempts. So yeah, I had Balrogs on the brain when I wrote this chapter, particularly because the Balrog was one of the best parts of the Fellowship movie and one of the parts I love watching over and over again. So I figured a fun thing to do would be to combine King Sombra with a Balrog and turn it into an epic boss battle.

All things considered...I think it went rather well.

In other news, the reason I'm releasing this now is to also inform my readers that the next and final story in the Savage Skies series has now been submitted and is waiting for the cue to update. Barring an unforeseen circumstances, it should be up in an hour at most, so look forward to it.