Twilight and Spike finally reached the top of the tower to see the resplendent, light blue Crystal Heart suspended above a wide circular disc. When Twilight stepped onto the disc, it began flashing like an alarm and alerted King Sombra. He throws up a wall of black crystals around the perimeter of the disc, trapping Twilight. She knocks the Heart out of the prison just in time, and it lands a short distance from Spike.

Panicking, Twilight asks, "The Heart... Where's the Crystal–"

Spike answers, "Here! It rolled over to me when you dropped it!"

"Don't move!" she exclaims. The dragon stayed still as possible. "You can move, just not toward me! How could I have been so foolish? I was just so eager to get it! Then when I saw what was going on outside, I..." she trails off.

Spike tells her, "You have to get out of there, Twilight! You have to be the one who brings the Heart to Princess Cadance! If you don't, you'll fail Princess Celestia's test!"

Twilight tries to teleport out of the Crystal trap, but as soon as she does, it teleports her back in. She says, "King Sombra is already attacking the Empire. He could reach the Crystal Ponies at any moment... reach Princess Cadance, my brother, my friends. There may not be enough time for me to find a way to escape." Upon realizing that she cannot deliver the Heart herself, she tells Spike that he must do it. "You have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to the Faire."

The dragon hesitates, "Me? But Twilight–"

The unicorn says, "Go!"

Spike stays, and tries to reason with her. "But–"

Twilight shouts, "Goooo!"

Spike grabs the Crystal Heart and jumps off the tower just as black crystals pierce the floor.

Applejack and Rarity are nervously reassuring the Crystal Ponies from the castle balcony.

Applejack says, "Now, don't y'all worry your pretty little Crystal heads! The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!"

Rarity says in a hushed voice, "I don't know if they believe you..."

Applejack replies in the same tone, "Don't know if I believe me..."

The last few wisps of magic vanish from Cadance's horn and the barrier disintegrates. A Crystal Pony tries to make a run for it, but she bumps into a towering crystal, where King Sombra appears and says, "My crystal slaves..."

She shrieks, "King Sombra...! He's back! I can't take it!"

Spike dodges the black crystals while making his way down the exterior of the tower. He calls down to the others, "Hey! Up here!"

Rarity asks, "Spike?"

He waves the Heart above his head. "I got the Crystal Heart!"

King Sombra growls, "That is mine!" He charges towards Spike as he runs down the spiral.

Spike trips and the Crystal Heart falls out of his grasp. Rarity gasps, "Spikey-Wikey!"

Shining Armor picks up the dazed Cadance on his back. She sees Spike and the Heart falling from the tower and spreads her wings. Shining Armor launches his wife into the air like a glider with all his strength, and she's just about to catch the Heart and Spike when King Sombra adds a little more power into his spell, and shoots up.

His body forms, and he licks his fangs. And the Crystal Ponies watch the scene unfold, hoping that Cadance will catch the Heart.

But she doesn't. King Sombra does, and laughs evilly as his crystal impales the mare and dragon. Blood slides down the crystal, and Rarity cries, putting a hoof over her heart, while Shining Armor screams.

The Crystal Ponies' hope fades and the few that have regained their shine lose it. King Sombra's voice can be heard all over the Empire as he says, "Yes! I have won. And now nopony can defeat me! I shall destroy the Crystal Heart!"

He laughs evilly as he levels his crystal to the ground, and shatters the heart. Twilight can hear all this from her prison and is crying.

She's mourning the loss of her sister in law and the dragon that she treated like her brother. She's also crying because King Sombra has destroyed the Crystal Heart which is the only thing that could defeat him.

And she couldn't do a thing to stop him. She was useless. She failed the Empire. The Crystal Ponies were slaves once again, and it was all her fault. If only she had thought before touching the Heart. If only...

Suddenly the tower she's in collapses, and she's buried under the remains of it. Her friends run over to her, having noticed and try to free her. However, she stops them.

"Run...go warn Princess Celestia." Her voice is weak, and her heart is shattered, but she still tells them, "Leave me."

"But Twilight, we can't leave you!" says Rainbow Dash.

The others agree with the cyan mare. Applejack says, "You're our friend, sugarcube. What sort of friends would we be if we just left you?"

"Leave me, and warn the Princess." Twilight says again.

"But-"

"No! Leave me, go warn the Princess; she'll be able to send help to defeat King Sombra." Twilight demands. "You'll be able to come back for me, but now you have to go and warn Princess Celestia. Quick, he's making a barrier around the Empire. You'll be trapped here!"

"Twilight, we can't leave you. We'll take you with us, or stay here, trapped."

"Just go! I'll be fine here, but if you don't go, the Crystal Ponies will never be freed! You can come back for me! Leave me and go warn the Princess before it's too late." After she says that, Twilight's eyes close.

The mane five stand there, until they are suddenly encompassed by magic and thrown out of the Crystal Empire. They hear King Sombra's voice. He says, "Yes, go warn the Princess! I shall defeat her!"

With nothing else to do, they decide to do that. Hearts full of sorrow, they start their journey to Canterlot.

Hey everypony! Here's the rewrite of The Darkness Of Crystals! The next chapter will be out soon (hopefully), and I hope that you all enjoyed this. If you did, then vote, like, fav, follow, and comment! I know this is short, but it's just the beginning.

When Twilight awoke, she hadn't an idea of where she was. She looked around, hoping to identify her surroundings. The room was made of crystal, there was a small window covered by bars... And her hooves were chained.

It seemed like a...cell. "W-what happened? Where am I?" Twilight asked herself.

Then she remembered everything. King Sombra had successfully taken back the Crystal Empire, killed both Cadance and Spike, and she didn't know what had happened to her friends or her brother. I hope he's still alive... And that my friends managed to escape in time and reached Princess Celestia...

She stood on the bed, looking out of the window at the Empire. "This is all my fault..." she whispered to herself. "This happened all because of me..."

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle," said a voice.

The mare turned to see none other than King Sombra himself. "You..." she scowled. "You monster! It's because of you that my sister in law and Spike are dead!" She tried to cast a spell, only for her horn to hurt. "Ouch," she said, putting a hoof to her head. Upon feeling metal, she asked, "What did you do to me? Where am I? Why can't I cast any spells?"

"What did I do to you? I did nothing. You're in my dungeons, and you can't cast any spells because there's a magic stopping ring on your horn. After all, I can't have you escaping now, can I?" He laughed. "You were sent here for a test, right?" When she didn't answer, he struck her with a bolt of magic. "Answer my questions, or I'll strike you again."

"Yes," Twilight replied, wincing as she rubbed the spot where the magic had hit. "Princess Celestia sent me here for a test."

Sombra laughed, "But you failed it. Surely the Princess must be..." he searched for a word. "She must be ashamed to have a student that failed an entire Empire. And you had all the Crystal Ponies hopes up."

Twilight's ears drooped down, but she said nothing. The King continued, "I wonder what Celestia saw in you. I mean, you just do things without stopping to think what would happen. And now, just because you didn't stop to think what would have happened, that mare that looks like Amore, and your dragon are dead." A tear rolled down the mare's cheek. "And the best thing is, it's all your fault. Your friends ran out of the Empire because they were ashamed to be friends with a mare like you."

"T-that's not true!" Twilight shouted.

"But it is, and you know that. After all, who would want to be friends with a mare that could get them killed any second?" Sombra asked. "Want me to show you?"

Before Twilight could say a word, the King's horn glowed as he cast a spell.

Twilight's eyes closed, and her friends stood there. Fluttershy asked, "Should we take Twilight with us?"

"Nah," answered Rainbow Dash. "Let's leave her here."

"Why?" asked Pinkie Pie.

" 'Cause it's her fault that Spike and Princess Cadance were killed. If she had thought before she doing whatever she did, then they would still be alive," Apple Jack said.

"But she's still our friend," Fluttershy said quietly.

"And she could have gotten us killed!" Rainbow Dash said harshly. When her shy friend took shelter behind her mane, letting out a soft 'eep', the cyan pegasus said, "Sorry, Shy. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I-it's ok," the shy mare said. "And when I think about it, I-I guess you are right."

Apple Jack looked up at the sky and said, "Ah think we all should go now, or we'll be trapped in here."

"Yeah! Let's go!" Rainbow said, and the five mares ran out of the Empire.

"I-it's just an illusion," Twilight told herself shakily. "Don't believe it."

"It's very real. Your friends abandoned you because they didn't want you. After all, who would want a friend that could get them killed any second? I know that I certainly wouldn't. Anyways, let's move on."

Without warning, his horn glowed, and the lavender mare found herself in a new nightmare.

Princess Celestia looked disappointed. "You call yourself my student?" Celestia scoffed as she narrowed her eyes at her. "Hmph. Some pathetic excuse for a pony who can't even do one thing right."

"Princess! Please come back! I'm sorry! I'll try harder next time! I promise! Please don't leave me!"

Twilight wailed on the floor. Crying out to somepony who wasn't really there. He grinned and put more energy into the spell. Twilight suddenly screamed.

"No, Princess! Please! Please don't kick me out! I'll try harder! Just give me another chance!"

Celestia narrowed her eyes angrily at Twilight and said, "No more chances, Twilight Sparkle. You are no longer my student! You aren't even close to being worthy enough! I made a mistake choosing you the first day I saw you. You are weak! Useless! You're nothing but a useless filly!"

"No!" Twilight screamed in despair as tears flowed from her eyes. She shot out her hoof in a desperate attempt to reach for the alicorn that wasn't even there.

Twilight found herself surrounded by her friends and family. Everypony she was close to. They were all giving her hateful and disappointed looks.

"Why? Why did you let me die, Twilight?" Cadance asked.

"You let that monster kill my wife!" Shining Armor appeared. "And to think that you were my sister."

"W-what do you mean, S-shining?" Twilight stuttered.

"What he means it that it was a mistake ever meeting you, Twi!" Rainbow Dash snapped harshly. "All you've ever done was get us into dangerous situations that could kill us!"

"Yeah!" the others agreed in unison.

"Rainbow...Applejack...Rare...Fluttershy...Pinkie..."

"Hmph! You only saw me as a slave! You just used me as an excuse to become Princess Celestia's student! Some mother you are!" Spike snapped bitterly. "And then you let me die, only caring about yourself!"

"That's not true, Spike!" Twilight cried. "If I could, then I would have-"

"You would have done what? Given me a much more painful death?" the dragon asked coldly.

"You're a terrible excuse for a student!" Celestia said as she glared hatefully at the unicorn. "I am better off with somepony who actually knows how to do things right! Even Derpy Hooves would’ve done better than you. All of Equestria is better off without you!"

Twilight gasped. Did Celestia really say that?

"I wouldn't be dead if you didn't messed things up at the Crystal Empire!" Cadance yelled.

Twilight suddenly felt something hit her. She gasped when she saw Rainbow Dash standing in an attacking position.

"That's for almost getting us killed all the time!" the blue pegasus hissed.

"R-Rainbow..." Twilight felt the tears finally fall. "I-I thought we were best friends..."

"You have no friends."

"No...No!" Twilight screamed in denial. "T-this can't be happening! It can't be real!"

"You see what I mean? I can't have a friend who acts like a lunatic!" Rainbow Dash snapped.

"She's a danger to us and Equestria." Celestia growled. "It's best if we just get rid of her. For our sake." she spoke with no remorse.

"I couldn't agree more." Shining Armor agreed.

"No..." Twilight whispered.

The group started to approach her. All with a deadly look in their eyes.

"No... stop...please...Stop!"

Twilight was shaking. "It's not real," she kept repeating to herself. "It's not real."

"It's very real, believe me. They hate you, and want you dead."

"N-no. That's not true!"

"It is. Your Princess hates you too. She thinks you aren't worthy enough to be rescued," Sombra laughed.

"Princess Celestia will rescue me!" Twilight said defiantly, with tears brimming her eyes.

"Sweet Twilight." Sombra crooned chillingly. "She's yet to even show up. What makes you think she would come to your aid?"

"Because I am her faithful student!" Twilight said proudly.

"Young, mare." Sombra chuckled, "I could teach you far more things than that pathetic excuse for a alicorn."

Twilight's eyes widened with anger. "Don't you dare insult the princess like that!" she roared.

Sombra saw the defiance in her eyes and sighed deeply. "It seems like we have a lot of training ahead of us." The king then grinned darkly. Sadistically. "Let's see how long it takes for a mare such as yourself to break."

Twilight could only scream as she endured her worst nightmare over and over. Seeing the disappointment on Celestia's face would forever embed itself in her mind. Sombra enjoyed seeing the younger unicorn cry and suffer. He focused harder. Making the nightmare seem more real.

Twilight covered her head with her hooves. Curling up on the cold, unforgiving floor and screaming at the top of her lungs while tears coursed down her face.

When he finally ended her nightmare, Twilight weakly opened her eyes and got on all fours. "I...will never...break..." she said weakly, "Princess...Celestia...will come for me... You'll see..."

Sombra smirked. He couldn't help but admire this mare's strong will. "I can assure you. The Princess will never come for you. If your friends can survive the frozen terrain, that is."

"M-my friends will get to her! You'll see! Princess Celestia and the Canterlot Royal Guard will come and stop you!"

"You make me laugh, mare. The Royal Guard is useless and powerless." King Sombra was about to leave when he said, "Before I forget, here's a present for you." Two guards came and put something purple and green on the floor.

Twilight realized it was Spike's dead body and screamed, "I hate you, Sombra! I hate you!"

And with that, she collapsed on the floor, exhausted. The King laughed and whispered into her ear, "I know that you hate me. But know this. One day, Twilight Sparkle, one day you will break. And only I would be able to mend you."

And with that he left.

I told you the chapters would get longer, didn't I? I hope you liked this, and don't forget to vote, like, comment, and follow!

The guards bowed and closed the cell door as the King exited, walking to another. They opened it and he entered. Sombra smiled upon seeing the state of the former Captain of the Royal Guards. "You look pathetic," he laughed.

The chained unicorn looked up upon hearing the King's voice and said in a voice filled with venom, "I hate you."

"I know that," Sombra replied. "Now, why are you crying like a little foal? Miss your pathetic alicorn?" he laughed.

Shining's hooves clenched in anger. "Don't you dare talk about Cadance like that," he hissed.

"Ah, so her name is Cadance," the corrupted unicorn says in understanding. "I see. She must be related to Amore, because of how easily I was able to kill her. You know, I loved that part when the crystal went through her heart. Do you know why? Because of all the delicious blood that came from it."

Shining growled. "Grrrrrrrr..." He was too angry to even care about who this Amore was.

"What happened? You wanted her blood?" Sombra mockingly asked. "Or did you want the honor of killing an alicorn?"

"Grrrrr..."

"Want to see her dead body with the hole in it?"

"Grrrrrr..."

"Is that a yes?" Sombra asked. He laughed, "I'll say it is. Guards, bring the dead alicorn in," he shouted, and less than a minute later, two guards entered with a dead body. They bowed and left. "Look at it," the King told Shining, who had his eyes shut. "I said LOOK AT IT!"

Sombra's shout was enough to make Shining open his eyes and jump. He looked down, not wanting to see Sombra, and regretted it. "C-cadance..." he whimpered. "C-cadance..."

"You are so pathetic," the King mocked him. "Crying over a dead body. She's dead and cold; she's gone. Why cry over her?"

Sombra laughed, and then put a hoof under Shining's chin, forcing the stallion to look into his eyes. His horn began to glow, and before the white stallion could do so much as look away, he was under the spell.

Shining Armor was standing on the Crystal Castle's balcony, watching as King Sombra got closer to Spike with each passing second. He put Cadance on his back, showing her what was happening.

She spread her wings, and he threw her, hoping she would be able to catch both Spike, and the Heart in time. But just as she was about to catch it, Sombra did, and his crystal impaled her and Spike. Their blood slid down, covering the crystal.

"Cadance!" Shining cried, unable to believe that his wife had been killed. "Cadance!"

Shining lay on the floor of the cell, crying and screaming his dead wife's name. The King laughed, taking pleasure in the former Prince's pain. "You're useless," he began. "Completely useless. If you hadn't thrown your mare into the sky like some sort of sports equipment, then she wouldn't be dead. Your hooves are covered in her blood, and you are responsible for her murder. You couldn't even do anything apart from crying, because you're useless."

And then without warning, his horn began to glow.

Shining Armor smiled at his wife as they lay together in bed. "I love you, Cadance," he said.

Cadance smiled at him, but instead of saying that she loves him too, she growled, "I hate you, Shining Armor." She spat his name as if it were a bad taste in her mouth.

"C-cadance? Why do you hate me?" Shining asked, wondering why his wife had said that. His eyes widened. "You aren't Chrysalis, are you?"

Cadance laughed. "Of course I'm not Chrysalis." Her tone was cold as ice; emotionless.

"T-then why did you say that you h-hate me?" Shining stuttered, scared.

"Because of you I was killed!" Cadance snapped. "If you hadn't thrown me into the air, then I would still be alive. You were just useless, standing there and watching as I flew closer to Sombra, hoping that I would be able to catch the Crystal Heart in time."

"C-cadance," Shining began, "I-I didn't think that-"

He was cut off as Cadance rose into the air, eyes glowing as bright as the sun, with her wings spread out. Her voice sounded like that of a monster's as she growled, "You didn't think that? You didn't think that?! I don't care what you thought; you got me killed! And now I'm going to take my revenge. If I'm dead, you should be dead too."

"Cadance, please listen to me," Shining pleaded, but it was no use. Cadance's horn began to glow, and she blasted Shining with a spell, killing him on the spot.

"No," Shining whimpered, curled up into a ball. "No." Tears rolled down his face, and Sombra licked them off, loving the taste.

"Look at you, crying pathetically over only two nightmares. You were lots of fun, Shining Armor. I'll be sure to visit you again."

Before he left, he said, "And in case you don't know, you can keep your mare's dead body. After all, it is a gift. Sweet dreams, little colt."

And with that, he was gone, laughing to himself.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot...

"Princess Celestia!" The doors to the throne room were suddenly thrown open as a guard rushed in.

He took a while to catch his breath as the Sun Monarch looked up from her paperwork and asked, "What is the matter? Has Twilight returned?"

"Your Highness-" the guard took a couple more breaths. "Twilight Sparkle has not returned, but her friends have. They are injured and say that- that King Sombra has successfully taken over the Crystal Empire, and has also kept Miss Sparkle and Captain Armor as his prisoners."

Princess Celestia gasped. "You- I- This can't be true!" She walks up to the guard and shakes him. "Please, don't tell me that this is true."

The guard bows his head and says, "I'm sorry Princess, but it's true. I'm sorry."

The Princess releases her grasp on the guard and collapses.

The guard is frozen in shock, not knowing what to do as he watches his Princess sob.

Suddenly Celestia stands, all trace of crying gone from her face. "Take me to Twilight's friends, if what you say is true."

"That monster!" Celestia screams. "I will destroy him!" She smashes a vase against the wall as she shouts, "I will fucking kill him! And once he's dead, I'll cut his heart out and eat it!"

The mane five and the guards are unsure of what to do as Celestia is going through a fit of anger.

Celestia continues screaming things and as she does, her mane and tail catch on fire.

"Princess!" A unicorn guard rushes forward and casts a water spell on Celestia, trying to put out the fire...

Shining is a cute pony. I don't think he'll be killed here.

I hope you liked this and don't forget to vote, like, comment and follow!

Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon!

Soon meaning, sometime this month or next month.

Quick tip: If you comment, I'll be updating much sooner.