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.