Chapter 15
Battle With the Cockatrice
Twilight stepped further down the tunnel as she knew she was getting closer to the Chamber of Secrets. As she reached the end, she took notice of a giant statue in front of her. Even more shocking, was Rainbow Dash lying unconscious in the middle of the room. With a gasp of shock, Twilight rushed over towards Rainbow Dash before she tried to shake her awake.
"Rainbow, please wake up!" Twilight began to panic when Rainbow wouldn't open her eyes.
That was when Twilight heard hoofsteps, stepping towards her, followed by a voice that said, "She won't wake up."
Startled, Twilight turned around to see Mosbar, the pony from the diary. Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. It seemed that Mosbar looked exactly the same as he did 50 years ago.
"M-Mosbar? I don't understand. How is it that you are here? Are you a ghost?" Twilight asked, confused.
"I am a memory preserved by the diary." Mosbar answered.
Twilight wanted to understand what was going on, but didn't have any time. She had to get Rainbow out of here as quickly as possible.
"Mosbar, you have to help me! There is a cockatrice and it could be here any minute!"
"It won't arrive until it is called." Mosbar noticed Twilight's wand on the ground before picking it up.
As Twilight noticed that, Twilight stood back up before facing Mosbar.
"Give me my wand back, Mosbar!"
"Oh, you are not going to need it." Mosbar put the wand in his robe pocket. "I don't see why you would want to help that pegasus. After all, it was Rainbow Dash who opened the Chamber of Secrets!"
Shocked by what she heard, Twilight looked back to Rainbow Dash. She didn't want to believe it. She knew Rainbow Dash and she would never do something like that.
"N-No! You're lying! I-It can't be!" Twilight stuttered as she still tried to process what she just heard.
"Believe it, Twilight! Ever since she found my diary, Rainbow had been writing the messages on the wall and letting everypony know that the heir of Slytherin was here! I suppose you could say she was put in a trance!" Mosbar explained.
"You mean that you were manipulating her!" Twilight glared at Mosbar.
"I suppose you could put it that way. Unfortunately, the power of the diary was too much for her to handle and she tried throwing it away. It doesn't matter anyway. Everything is going according to plan! Rainbow Dash was just as easy to trick as that oaf, Big Mac!"
Twilight started to get angry with Mosbar for insulting her friends like that.
"Big Mac is my friend!" Twilight yelled. "You framed him, didn't you?"
Mosbar nodded. "Yes, and soon the monster would kill off all mudbloods until there are only pure bloods. Tell me something, Twilight! How was it that somepony like you was able to defeat the dark king? How was it that you were able to stand up to him as a foal and even earn your cutie mark?"
"Why do you care about King Sombra? He was after your time." Twilight pointed out.
Mosbar let out a dark chuckle. "You're wrong, Twilight! King Sombra is my past, present, and future!"
Taking out his wand, Mosbar used his magic to write his name on a nearby wall. He waved the wand and rearranged the letters to make it so that the name read, Sombra.
As she saw the new name on the wall, Twilight let out a soft gasp. She then faced Mosbar with fear in her eyes.
"I-It's you! Y-You are Slytherin's heir! You're King Sombra!" Twilight stuttered.
Mosbar gave a sinister grin. "That's right, Twilight! This only shows how powerful I truly am! Professor Celestia is gone just from the mere memory of me!"
Twilight shook her head. "You're wrong! Professor Celestia will never truly be gone as long as there are ponies who believe in her!"
Suddenly, the screech of a bird echoed through the chamber. Twilight looked up to see a familiar phoenix flying about her and recognized it as being Celestia's pet phoenix, Philomena. The phoenix was carrying a wizard's hat before dropping it near Twilight. Upon taking a closer look, Twilight realized that the hat was old and withered.
"So, this is what Celestia sent to you? A withered hat?" Mosbar laughed. "Enough games! It is time for the famous Twilight Sparkle to meet her end!"
Right as Mosbar said that, an enormous door from behind him began to open up. It was too dark to see what was behind the door, but the sound of enormous footsteps told Twilight exactly what was hiding in the shadows. Not wanting to risk getting petrified, Twilight ran as fast as she could to get away from the cockatrice. As she ran, Twilight ended up slipping and falling on the floor.
Twilight could hear the cockatrice stomping closer towards her when Philomena showed up and started attacking the cockatrice. Even though Twilight couldn't see what was happening, she took a glance at the cockatrice's shadow and could tell that that Philomena was clawing at its eyes.
"No!" Mosbar yelled as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Your bird might have blinded the cockatrice, but it can still hear you, Twilight!"
With the cockatrice distracted by Philomena, Twilight slowly got back up. She took a few steps back, but her hoofsteps caused water to splash, gaining the attention of the cockatrice. Once again, Twilight ran as fast as she could with the cockatrice giving chase. The cockatrice chased Twilight through the sewer until the purple unicorn ran into a dead end.
Desperate for a way out, Twilight searched for another path, but it was too late as the cockatrice had her cornered. It was unable to see her, so Twilight stayed as quiet as possible before taking notice of a nearby rock. Thinking fast, Twilight grabbed the rock and threw it right behind the cockatrice, to which it began to follow the sound away from Twilight.
With a sigh of relief, Twilight ran out of the sewer and back to where Rainbow Dash was. Rainbow Dash looked worse than ever as she laid motionless on the floor, so Twilight desperately tried to wake her up.
"Don't bother, Twilight!" Mosbar spoke up. "Rainbow Dash is getting weaker while I am only getting stronger! I shall soon return as King Sombra, more powerful than ever!"
Just when Twilight was about to try to wake up Rainbow Dash again, the cockatrice returned. It faced Twilight as it charged right at her. It was at that moment when something shiny from the wizard's hat caught Twilight's attention. She reached into the hat before pulling out a sword.
Now that she was able to fight back, Twilight raised up the sword. As the cockatrice rushed towards her, Twilight began to climb the nearby statue while avoiding the cockatrice's pecks and scratches. The purple unicorn soon reached the top of the statue as the cockatrice flew up to her level.
With nowhere else to run, Twilight faced the cockatrice and swung her sword at it. The cockatrice soon caught Twilight off guard as it scratched at her, forcing her to let go of the sword. The cockatrice continued to scratch and peck at Twilight until she was covered in scratches and bruises. Despite how weak she felt, Twilight grabbed the sword once again and used it to slash off the cockatrice's beak.
With a cry of pain, the cockatrice collapsed to the floor as it gave its last breath. Mosbar watched as Twilight climbed back down the statue. Twilight panted heavily before collapsing to the floor, feeling weaker every passing second.
"I'm impressed, Twilight, but defeating the cockatrice wasn't enough. I can see the life slowly draining from you. You will be with your parents soon." Mosbar gave a sinister grin.
As her strength was slowly leaving her, Twilight took notice of the diary in Rainbow's hooves. She took one look at the diary and thought of an idea. Using what little strength she had left, Twilight grabbed the diary and opened its pages.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Mosbar looked confused. The moment Twilight grabbed the beak of the cockatrice, Mosbar knew exactly what she was planning. "No! Stop!"
Mosbar rushed over to stop Twilight, but it was too late as Twilight drove the beak right into the diary. This caused Mosbar to scream in pain as his body was slowly fading away. Twilight then closed the diary and with one last stab, Mosbar let out one last scream before he disappeared completely.
The moment Mosbar faded away, Rainbow Dash woke up with a gasp. She took a look around before taking notice of Twilight.
"Twilight, I'm really sorry! This was my fault, but I swear I didn't mean it! That jerk, Mosbar made me do it and-" Rainbow Dash paused before taking a closer look at Twilight. She was horrified to see Twilight covered in cuts and bruises. "Twilight! What happened to you!"
"I-It's okay, Rainbow!" Twilight panted. "Just follow this passage to find Applejack and get out of here!"
Worried for Twilight, Philomena flew over towards her and gave her a concerned look. Despite how much pain she was in, Twilight managed a smile.
"You were amazing, Philomena! I couldn't have done it without you! Thank you!"
Twilight slowly closed her eyes before feeling a drop of water fall on her. That was when Twilight realized that tears fell from Philomena's eyes with each tear falling on Twilight. Thanks to the healing power of the tears, Twilight's wounds began to disappear. It was at that moment, when Twilight fully recovered before she managed to stand back up.
"Whoa! What just happened?" Rainbow Dash tried to process what she just saw.
"It was the healing powers of Philomena's tears." Twilight explained before turning to Rainbow Dash with a smile. "Everything is going to be fine, Rainbow! Let's get out of here! I'm sure that everypony else is waiting for us!"
With Rainbow Dash safe, Twilight lead her down the passage, where they met up with Applejack. It was at that moment when Philomena helped everyone escape by flying them out of the cavern as Twilight and her friends made their return back to Canterlot.
