The air above Canterlot had a deathly stillness to it, as if nature itself was trying to hold its breath in honor of the raging battle that was just seconds away from erupting underneath its darkened sky. But the night was far from silent, the sounds of an explosion and the hiss of magic as it shot through the air rented open the silence that was there. Down on the abandoned street stood Twilight Sparkle, having just dodged a blast of magic that she had only a split-second's warning to evade. "You've finally given up on me, Celestia?" The softness of her voice surprised even her as it left her mouth.

The princess was just as surprised at the softness as she was at the fact that the unicorn didn't instantly retaliate. "I... I have not given up on Twilight Sparkle. Only whatever monster you have made her into, Sombra."

Twilight's laughter peirced the air with a sharpness akin to a bird's whistle. When it finally subsided, she looked up into the sky where the waves of happiness from the Crystal Empire were quickly fading into a sickly grey color. "You think Sombra is behind this?" Her face contorted into a smile as she slowly brought her gaze down to settle on her former teacher. "No, I'm doing this on my own free will. The only thing Sombra did was to release me from the bonds of friendship." She spat the word at Celestia, who recoiled as of she had been slapped

"You say it is a bond, as if it is something that restrains you." The princess slowly trotted forward, as if she thought that her words would make any difference. "What was it that defeated Nightmare Moon? Magical power? Were you able to defeat her alone?" The questions were thrown at Twilight as if they were blows. "No, you weren't. It was only the power of friendship that allowed you to overcome her and return her to being Luna once again."

"I only used the Elements because I had it still stuck in my head that I thought I needed them. An idea put into my hea-"

"And how was Discord defeated? Was I, an all-powerful goddess as everypony else calls me, able to stop him?" She stomped a hoof onto the ground. "No, I wasn't. Luna and I had had too little time to reestablish our bond of friendship and love, leaving the elements nothing but useless hunks of scrap gold. My magic alone wasn't enough to stop him. But yours, when you were united with your friends, was enough. Twilight, ple-"

"Stop trying to shovel that 'friendship' crap down my throat, Celestia." Twilight's horn brightened threateningly as the Princess took another step forward. "Both of those times I was left blinded by it. I believed that I needed those, as you so fittingly call them, useless scraps of gold." She snorted at the expression of fury on Celestia's face and rolled her eyes. "You've read just as many books as I have, my tutor. You know exactly how the mind can twist your beliefs, making you believe that you cannot accomplish something and because it believes that, it won't let you do it."

"Twilight, it is not just some kind of propoganda that everypony believes." Celestia's voice grew imploring as she stepped forward, only to jump back when a bolt of magic crashed into the ground where her hoof would have landed next. "I myself tried to make everyone see otherwise, but it was impossible. Friendship really is m-". Celestia leapt aside as a bolt of light similar to her own, except for its lavender hue, blasted through the air that she had just been occupying.

When she finally recovered her balance, she looked over to see Twilight letting out a large yawn. "I'm getting bored with you, Princess." The unicorn's horn began to glow with a blindingly bright light. Celestia pulsed magic into her own horn in response, readying a few spells out of her repitoure of thousands. "Time for this student-teacher relationship to be over."

Both of their magical charges collided in midair, signaling the true start of the battle. The sound of their thudding hooves soon followed the blast as they charged horn-first, deathly intent in one's eyes and regretful resignation in the other. Celestia felt an impact against her chest that sent her flying though the air, though not the way that winged ponies were intended to. As her back hit the wall of some sort of store, another bright light filled her vision and overwhelmed her.

Why did you choose Twilight? Why did you want her to be your slave, Sombra?. As the thought passed through her mind, everything began to fade into nothingness. The sounds. The lights. The pain. Everything faded as a great blackness came up from below and engulfed her.

Cadance's hair swept through the air as she blasted yet another shadow-pony with her magic, another small peice of her heart being ripped away when a Crystal pony fell out of the dark aura that had enveloped it, each shattering body sending a spike of agony stabbing into her chest. It's dying scream was lost to the din as all around her screams just like it exploded every second.

"Princess! We must retreat!" A pony fought his way over to her, clearing the way with his short spear. "We need to get you away from this place!"

"There is nowhere left to retreat, Swift Steel." Her voice barely puntured the blanket of screams that hung over the room.

"Then you must leave alone! Take to the skies where they cannot follow!" The stallion's eyes tightned again as he slashed another foe in two, the crystal pony within crashing to the ground without even screaming. "Quickly, Princess, you must flee before we all fall under Sombra's rule!"

She stepped around the grizzled guard and shook her head as she conjured a shield to deflect a blast of black light that shot towards her. "I will not abandon those under my rule to face that fate alone. If we fall, them I shall fall with you this time. Fight on, Swift Spear. Show them that we shall not leave our lives without a fight."

The stallion who held her gaze looked at her for a second with some kind of fiery pride. "You've changed from the princess you once were." His thoughtful look eventually melded into the face of a soldier, though his eyes still shone with a mixture of agony at killing his own kind and pride that his ruler would not abandon them to their fate. "Let us fight on, then. To the very last."

The entire palace shook as one word thundered through the halls and beat against the windows until they shattered. "Cryyyystalssssss."

"Fight on, right Princess?" She looked down into the fearful eyes of the stallion, who had most likely been enslaved by Sombra until his downfall. "Even in the face of death itself?"

Cadance found herself smiling at the door where the black smoke was flowing into the room. "Yes, soldier, let us fight on." The smile faded from her face as she cast her gaze around the room while she awaited their doom to arrive, taking in the bodies that littered the floor.

"To the very last."

Far away from the conflict of the north and even a good distance from the conflict of the city of Canterlot slept Shining Armor on the corner of Spike's hospital bed. His eyes snapped open as a cold wind gusted into the room, a feeling of dread cascading down his back.

He lifted his head to find Spike's own eyes staring him, shining with the same fear that filled his own body. "You feel that too?"

The dragon's voice was raspy as it cut through the eerie quiet that filled the room. "Yeah, I did."

Shining Armor got up and trotted over to the window, looking out over the city that had the air of being completely abandoned. None of the lights were on, nopony was walking the streets or laughing inside. "It feels like something is wrong."

"Horribly wrong." Spike shook his head against the pillow. "Something is horribly wrong."

Author's Notes:

Please forgive any misspellings, I wrote this entire chapter via my iPad (which doesn't have spell check since I refuse to use auto-correct) and please report them in the comments. Thanks!