Chapter 28-The Crystal Empire Part 2
King Sombra. Currently, the odds favor him. With Emerald Aura and Cold Colt who were both created by the rift now under his control, this situation could get ugly fast.
"Get them." Sombra stood atop his crystal stairs as Emerald and Cold Colt took action. They galloped towards the group. Twilight and the others were either hurt or tired, so it was defending them until they could recover.
"Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped up, knocking the two unicorns away with a hard iron tail, even chipping the armor that was given to them.
"A tail made of iron?" This was new to Sombra. He had never seen anything like this before.
"Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded as two magic beams were fired at Pikachu. Light blue and green. The thunderbolt pushed them back easily. This impressed Sombra more. A creature that could shoot lightning from its body and easily overpower two unicorns. Cold Colt and Emerald Aura were paralyzed from the thunderbolt, unable to move. "Let's finish this! Electroweb!" The finisher. Trapping them there, by not only paralyzing them but also placing a web of electricity that held them there. The damage was so good that it destroyed the gear, removing their mind control.
"Great job Ash!" Pinkie Pie yelled.
"How odd. A creature that can shoot lightning from its body and conjure up iron from its tail and use it as a weapon. Where did you get something like this?"
"I-Its called a Pokemon. Creatures from the other world connected by gateways." Emerald Aura explained before passing out.
"That would explain all those gateways I saw in the distance. I've already taken an interest to these Pokemon. Especially this dark one."
"Like I'd let a guy like you get close to Pokemon." Ash retorted.
"Hmph. Well, then Ash Ketchum. King of the Sea. Try and stop me then!" Sombra's eyes glowed as crystals appeared around Ash and Pikachu.
"Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Pikachu easily destroyed the crystals with its steel tail, clearing away the crystals. The crystals were then used as weapons, aiming at an angle, fit for thrusting as they were targeted at Pikachu. Pikachu jumped over the sharp crystals that rose towards him. "Get up there with Quick Attack!" Pikachu ran up the crystals, rushing towards Sombra and getting him with a quick attack. Fast and moves at blinding speeds. Great for getting an easy hit in.
"Rodent!" Sombra bellowed, shooting Pikachu away with his corrupted magic. Sombra had then trapped Ash in a crystal prison the same way he trapped Twilight and the others.
"Cheap way out Sombra!"
"Oh please. Victory comes in many ways."
"Pikachu! Handle it from here!" Ash had relied on his partner to handle everything from here. He was going to send the others away from here before it got worse. Pikachu broke the prison Ash was in as he turned his attention to the Unicorn King. Ash picked up Twilight and Darkrai, obviously taking each of them outside one by one.
"You won't get far!" Sombra hissed. His horn had made contact with Pikachu's iron tail. Pikachu was using everything to make sure his trainer got them all out one by one. Ash kept picking them all up, sending them out. Sombra then slammed his hoof on Pikachu's tail, pinning him there.
"Pika!"
"Stay!" He declared. Aiming at Ash who was carrying Fluttershy and Rarity, Sombra was ready to blast him. Pikachu wouldn't let that happen as he let out a surge of electricity from his body, shocking Sombra. He did have his hoof on him so he was a prime target for instant lightning.
"Thanks, Pikachu!" Ash thanked his partner as he had gotten everypony out. Pikachu had jumped away from Sombra, hopping onto his friend's shoulder. "Let's go!"
"Get back here!" Sombra chased after them while creating crystal stairs to keep up with them.
"We gotta stop him! Electroweb!" Electroweb was sent towards Sombra, however, it was immediately destroyed by a magic ray. "No good. Darkrai! Can you throw one quick Dark Void?"
"I'm hurt but not defenceless." Darkrai tossed a dark void as it hit Sombra dead on. Sombra had been subjected to Darkrai's nightmares as well.
"Nice shot!"
"Pikachu!" This gave them all time to breathe as Sombra was temporarily out.
"Thanks for saving us Ash, Pikachu. And good job putting Sombra to sleep Darkrai." Twilight had greatly thanked them.
"Now quickly. Let's restrain him before he wakes up." Applejack insisted. They did just that. Twilight had used some of her magic that she had regained to lift Sombra up. Applejack and Pinkie Pie grabbed some of the chains that Pikachu broke and placed it around Sombra. Sombra was now immobilized for now. Every pony took some time to breathe as the Crystal Ponies walked up after seeing what just happened.
"T-They stopped Sombra!" A pony gushed. Soon all of them were applauding as they felt like they had been saved.
"Not for long ya'll. We'd best be careful. He could wake up from his nightmares and break free. We'd best find a better way to really restrain him for good." Applejack said.
"Cadence! Shining Armor!" Twilight ran back inside, moving up the annoying amount of stairs until she came across Sombra's throne room. There they were. Two ponies she loved for a long time.
"Twily!"
"Twilight!"
She ran to the two of them, hugging them.
"We knew you'd come and save us!" Shining Armor sighed with relief. Twilight was doing her best to try and break the chains restraining them, even trying some magic.
"Twilight. You'll need the key to break us out. Go search further in Sombra's room." Cadence told her. Twilight had advanced forward, entering the room of King Sombra. She looked around, searching for the key anywhere.. until.
"Hello there." Obsidian was sitting on a table casually.
"What are YOU doing here?!"
"Me? I'm only here to spectate. See how this goes down. I am an extension of the rift after all. And I gotta say, this is pretty fun so far. That small little scuffle between Pikachu and Sombra was pretty entertaining if short. I wonder what'll happen next once Sombra breaks free."
"You think this is fun?! My friends and everypony else are constantly in danger due to you and your rift's cruel actions!"
"Oh?"
"Ever since the rift merged the worlds together, constant threats have attacked. The control of Darkrai, Malamar's attack and you and Chrysalis's actions at the Royal Canterlot Wedding. And now this. You all have to be stopped before your evil antics become worse!"
"Do you really think the rift does this for the sake of evil?" Obsidian said which caught Twilight off guard.
"What?"
"The rift is neither good nor evil. If anything it's neutral at best. You see Twilight Sparkle.. this has happened before."
"Happened.. before?"
"Oh yes. The wedding, this. This has all happened before in the true timeline. In the original timeline, your world never crossed paths with the World of Pokemon. You never met your precious Minccino, Minccy. Your friends never met Pokemon that they could bond with. Darkrai never arrived to Ponyville and more importantly... you never met Ash and Pikachu. All of this is a separate timeline. A new timeline forged by the rift. And very soon, future events that played out in the original timeline will happen in this timeline as well... but with an extra dash of Pokemon."
Everything Obsidian said had blown Twilight back. This was a separate timeline? Ash and she never met long with the other Pokemon? And future events will play out?
"No way..."
"Yes, way. In a way... the rift created these bonds for you. It created your friendship with the world of Pokemon. In retrospect... your friendship with Ash is fake. Fabricated. Not natural. A False Friendship."
"Y-You're wrong! Ash and I are friends! We bonded like how actual friends would!"
"But you were never meant to meet. And very soon... once the rift is satisfied, both worlds will return to normal. All Pokemon and Humans will return to their world along with you ponies. Then it'll be like nothing happened. As for me and the others? We'll vanish into nothing. After all, we're just creations from the rift based on your world and the other world. But I'm rambling on for too long. Good luck with finding your key." Obsidian had teleported out of the room. Twilight took a moment to take this all in.
Her friendship with Ash was never meant to exist. And at any point in time, the rift will leave, causing both worlds to return to normal. Her ears dropped as she continued to look for the key. She eventually found the key, getting out and freeing the two of them. However, her mood was different. She felt nothing but sadness and a bit of doubt.
"Thank you Twilight! Um... Are you okay..?" Shining Armor asked.
"I'm fine.. let's get out of here."
Outside, the Crystal Ponies had taken some time to relax. They had some hope in their hearts after the current defeat of Sombra. Twilight had come out with Cadence and Shining Armor, still down.
"You're okay!" Fluttershy sighed.
"Yeah..." Twilight mumbled.
"What's wrong Twi?" Rainbow asked.
"...Ash."
"Yeah, Twilight?"
"We're friends aren't we?"
"Of course we are. Why wouldn't we be?"
"Well..." She didn't want to tell them the truth. On how they'll have to part ways once the rift leaves or how their friendship is purely fictional. Never meant to happen.
"Something's wrong. Twilight. You can tell me." Applejack said to her currently sad friend.
"I don't want to talk about it.."
"Everypony. We have to get to it. The Crystal Heart. Twilight. You go home for now. Shining Armor and I have got this."
"But what if he wakes up?"
"I'll stay behind. I'll make sure he keeps on staying asleep for a long time." Darkrai insisted on staying behind to keep an eye on Sombra.
"Alright, Darkrai. Good luck." Ash replied. Making their leave, they left the Crystal Empire, leaving it in the hands of Shining Armor, Cadence and now Darkrai. Along the way, Twilight couldn't get all the words that Obsidian said out her head. She kept all that knowledge to herself.
Ponyville, near night.
Twilight had returned to Celestia's castle, letting her know that the Sombra situation, for the most part, had been dealt with.
"Well done Twilight. But it's not over yet."
"What?"
"There's still one final thing I want you to do."
"What's that princess?"
"A test."
"A test?!"
"Yes. But before that... Passion notices that you're feeling down about something. What is it?" If there was anypony she could tell it's Celestia.
"You see... I recently just learned that... my friendship was Ash was never meant to exist. In fact. The same can be said for you and Passion. This is all a separate timeline. Once the rift leaves... both worlds return to normal."
"And you're afraid that once it all returns to normal, you'll forever live with the knowledge of knowing that the friendship you made with Ash was never meant to be in the first place."
"Yes."
"Hmm. Tell you what. I want you to take this test... and after that... you'll learn two important things today."
"Yes, Princess Celestia! I'll get right to it! I'm going to need all my years of knowledge for this one!" Twilight galloped out of the room as Celestia smiled. But she frowned, knowing that the Sombra situation wasn't stopped for long. King Sombra was close to waking up. And to make matters worse...
His magic was still growing.
Sombra didn't stay asleep for long. Not many can break free from Darkrai's nightmares. Not many at all. But Sombra could... and he did. Once he broke free, the fear of the Crystal Ponies had kicked in once more as they began to panic. Shining Armor and Cadence were ready to stop him but this time with the assistance of Darkrai.
"Nice try. But your nightmares weren't that effective on me!" Sombra broke out of the chains with ease thanks to his magic. "Allow me to show you a true nightmare!" Those same crystal pillars rose once more but even higher. And they look much sharper than last time. "Having the power to cause nightmares to others by a simple void is both wonderful and a threat. And to think. On the other side, there are more like this one."
"We're still here Sombra! In case you haven't noticed!" Shining Armor yelled.
"Oh yes. You're still here. Why don't you get lost already? This kingdom is still mine!"
"Not whilst I am still here. I can put you in a deep sleep at any moment now." Darkrai said.
"I am aware. But it won't last long. My magic grows by the minute. You put me in a nightmare state once more, I will break out much faster than before."
"Shining Armor," Cadence whispered to him. "We have to find a better way to protect everypony else. Our protection spell won't last much longer." Shining Armor nodded in response. They had to do this quietly without Sombra ever noticing. Crystal Ponies all hid to avoid Sombra, still shaken up by his return.
Sombra had enough standing around as he immediately released a seemingly amped-up version of his magic rays.
Cadence placed up a protection spell, however, the beam had managed to make a huge crack in it. Shining Armor pitched in to help with the spell, keeping the spell up for a bit longer. Darkrai hid in the shadows, sneaking up on Sombra. But this tactic didn't work. Sombra had a much faster reaction time, shooting Darkrai down before he put him into a deep sleep again.
Thanks to Darkrai distracting Sombra, Cadence and Shining Armor took this opportunity to get a move on.
Elsewhere... Twilight had been sent back to the Crystal Empire. Whatever Celestia's test was, it must be grand if it means going back to the empire this soon. However, she felt a lot of pressure on her. Sombra waking up so quickly and having to protect the empire along with Shining Armor and Cadence who were still a bit drained. But it would be fine. Her friends are here to help as well.
"Are we really going back there again? I still haven't gotten over what happened with Sombra. Ugh..." Rarity shuddered.
"It's only been an hour. I'm not sure we're fully ready to take this on again Twilight." Fluttershy followed.
"We have to. The Crystal Empire isn't in the best state right now. We need to spread love and happiness to it. That way all hope will be restored to it and the ponies. Let's just hope Sombra hasn't gotten the better of everypony yet."
Shining Armor and Cadence had found a library, searching for any way to help protect the Empire from Sombra. Or at least get rid of him for good. They had asked an old pony who worked here where they could find any information. Unfortunately, she had no memory. After what happen with Sombra a hundred years go, most of the ponies only remember Sombra and not much else.
Outside, Darkrai was doing his best to distract Sombra. His dark voids weren't landing as much anymore. Sombra could tell when they could be thrown and where. The crystal ponies watched as this dark shadowy creature was helping to stop Sombra. They thought it would be the opposite. With its appearance, it looked like it would be on Sombra's side.
"How long are you going to keep avoiding me?!"
"As long as I can!" Darkrai released a dark pulse which destroyed the crystal platforms that Sombra was on. Darkrai was lucky to be strong enough to be a match for Sombra. Those crystals were tough to break. Twilight and the others arrived to see Darkrai handling Sombra.
"Darkrai!" Twilight called out.
"Twilight! All of you! Don't mind me! Just go and find Cadence and Shining Armor!" They took his command and kept moving on. They asked anypony if they had seen the two.
"I saw them go into the library over there.." A cowering crystal pony said. And in there were. Still searching for any information.
"No good. This might take forever. I don't know how much longer Darkrai can hold Sombra. Any luck Cadence?"
"No need, big brother!" They had entered the library. Safe and sound from Sombra.
"Twily! You're back!"
"Yes. We were sent here to help restore love and hope to the Crystal Empire!"
"Love and hope..." Cadence took a while to realise what this meant. "That's it! Love and hope!" She went through many of the other remaining books. "We need love and hope in order to restore the empire back to its true state and to push back Sombra!" She explained with a smile on her face. And she managed to find a book that could help with just that.
The History of the Crystal Empire. Everypony gathered up to the book as Cadence opened it up.
"A Crystal Fair. It was created by their first queen. And become their most important tradition. The fair was held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity in the empire so that they could protect it from harm." She read. "We could all put this together."
"That's gonna be a bit hard with Sombra roaming around." Ash responded.
"Yes. We have to put our faith in Darkrai." Shining Armor said.
"No need. Me and Pikachu can help Darkrai keep Sombra busy."
"Pika!"
"There you go running into danger again. Just make sure Sombra doesn't notice the Crystal Fair being put together." Twilight said to him.
"No need to worry! We'll lure him far away."
"Pikachu!"
"Besides. I bought this along with me." Ash said, raising his right hand to reveal his Z Ring.
With Sombra, Darkrai was running a bit low on steam. Sombra was still growing in magic so this meant that Darkrai was being pressured more and more. Before Sombra could get a clean hit on Darkrai, Pikachu's Iron Tail had knocked the unicorn king of his crystal platforms.
"We're here Darkrai! Twilight and the others have got this. We'll pitch in to help in the meantime."
"Thank you, Ash. Pikachu."
"Pikapi."
"How long will that last though? My magic has heightened to a point where I can now sense anypony from a faraway distance! I know where they are and what they're up to!"
"Then we just to make sure you don't get in their way! Pikachu! Quick Attack!" Pikachu moved at blinding speeds. The crystals formed up to try and stop Pikachu, but the electric mouse ran up the crystals while still in a quick attack state. Sombra could now see the quick attack coming as he flipped Pikachu over by raising his hoof up.
"Pika!" Sombra had then sent crystals upwards as they hit Pikachu's belly, sending him upwards.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried out!
"No more surprises! I can see much faster now!"
"Electroweb!" From above, the electro web was sent down. Sombra turned around to see it, destroying it with his magic. "Iron Tail!" A follow-up. An iron tail straight down, but even that was stopped by a shield Sombra cast.
"Darkrai. We'll have to lead him far away so that they can all focus on the fair."
"I know where we can send him. Back to the cold arctic north. He'll obviously return here no doubt so we'll join him in the arctic. We can keep him busy there."
"Great idea!" Pikachu kept hitting the shield with his iron tail. gradually breaking it. "Pikachu! Pull back for now!" Pikachu moved away from Sombra, returning to his trainer.
"You and your rat are persistent. I can see that you have been through many battles if it is this strong for its size."
"Hehe. That's the bond me and Pikachu share. Something you wouldn't get."
"Hmph." Sombra was wide open as the dark void appeared underneath him. "This again? Like I'd let you!"
"Electroweb!" Pikachu sent out an electro web which kept Sombra in place. The dark void also swallowed both Ash and Pikachu. Darkrai followed suit as they had left the empire and into the arctic north. The Crystal Ponies peered out, seeing what just happened.
"So.. does this mean Sombra's been stopped again? I don't know how to feel. They only temporarily stopped him and he got back up again." A crystal pony said, still worried.
The Mane 6 now had their opportunity. It was time to set things up for the festivities. Thanks to Ash, Pikachu and Darkrai, Sombra won't be able to stop this. He's currently occupied with the two. So they got to work.
After some adjustments, everything was in place for the festivities to begin.
"What's this thing for?" Applejack asked Twilight. There was this cracked sculpture of some sort of heart.
"The last page of the book mentioned that a Crystal Heart is the fair centrepiece. So I used my magic to cut one out of a crystal block."
"Nice work Twi. Think we're ready to get this fair up and running."
The fair is about to begin. High atop on the Castle balcony, came Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and Twilight. Pinkie Pie stood on the side with a wonky trumpet in her hooves. She blew on it, playing a horrible sound.
"Hear ye! Hear y-" Twilight was saying however Pinkie played that terrible ear wrenching sound once again which cut her off.
"Hehe. My bad." Pinkie hid the trumpet behind her.
"Ahem. Hear ye! Hear ye! Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor do cordially invite you to attend the Crystal Fair! And no need to worry! Sombra isn't here!"
Other crystal ponies who weren't outside had come out for this announcement. They all took a moment to realise that for starters Sombra wasn't here anymore, he was hung up with some otherworldly visitors and there two new ponies who seemed to be rulers. This was enough to stir up some hope in all of them. And it did. Their crystallized bodies had shown once more. They all had a smile on their faces as they actually remembered what the Crystal Fair was. It was an important celebration... one that could never leave their memories due to how wonderful it always was. They all gathered around to enjoy this fair.
"Come on in y'all. Got food and drinks that'away. Games and crafts are that'away. Crystal Heart's in the back near the princess." Applejack said.
"Did she say Crystal Heart?" A pony said as they felt like they remembered a crystal heart. Rainbow Dash flew over to a Crystal Pony to try and get the memory of the heart back in em.
"Totally nailed it right?" The crystal pony got a bit worried, moving away from Dash. But Rainbow began to follow her. "Must be feeling a lot of love and unity right about now." Rainbow Dash had stopped by a cart full of corn, still following the same pony. "Gonna have some grub huh? What are you thinking? Crystal Empire berry pie? Maybe some crystal corn on the cob." She was talking to nopony as the crystal pony had left a while ago. "What is with these ponies?"
Some ponies weren't fully crystallized yet. They were still down in the dumps. Until two ponies could feel like they could remember all of this.
"Seeing all of this... I feel like I'm starting to remember. Remember things from before the king."
"Me too." They took a while to remember. And it hit then. Their crystal bodies came back to them in a beautiful flash and their true dazzling colors were seen once more.
"The Crystal Heart!" They said in unison. "Do you think they really have it?" Dash zoomed in once she saw these two return to normal.
"Of course we have it!" She said. "Can't have a crystal fair without the Crystal Heart right?"
"Of course you can't." The old pony from the library said as she had come out as well. "The whole purpose of the crystal fair is to lift the spirits of the crystal ponies, so the light within them can power the crystal heart so that the Empire can be protected!" She said with more energy in her voice, returning back to her true self as well. "I DO work at the library!"
"What's that about powering the heart?" Rainbow dash asked as Applejack even heard this.
"I just can't believe you found it. King Sombra said he'd hidden it away, and we would never see it again. I only hope it will still be as powerful after all these years. Mmm. Funnel Cake." This was a problem. The crystal heart there wasn't the real deal. And it's just sitting out in the open. If the crystal ponies find out that it is a fake... then their hope will fade out and it's back to droopy dim de-colored ponies. Rainbow Dash flew up, grabbing a nearby flag and placing it on the fake heart.
"Twilight! We may have a problem! The Crystal Heart is no sightseeing sculpture.. its the actual real deal!" Twilight gasped. She opened up the book, looking at the page of the Crystal Heart. Nothing about it being powered by the crystal ponies.
"I didn't know it was an actual relic. The book didn't mention anything about the crystal ponies powering the heart." She kept looking through until she reached a certain page. Or rather... no page at all. It's been torn off. "There was a page missing! How did I not notice?!"
At the Arctic North, Sombra was being occupied by the three of them. He wanted to get past but they wouldn't let him.
"Think you can keep me here for long?!" Sombra bellowed.
"Man.. is it me.. or is he getting stronger?"
"Pika-pika."
"His magic is growing by the minute. The rift really gave him a boost didn't it?" Darkrai said.
"Yes..." Sombra's magic grew to an exponential rate suddenly. It skyrocketed as there were clusters of pillars that overtook a large part of the arctic. This overwhelming evil was enough to push Pikachu and Darkrai back as the snow was sent flying away. Sombra's dark presence was spreading out so far that it was closing in on the Empire.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash had set out to find the actual Crystal Heart.
"I've been trying to figure out how I'm meant to pass Celestia's test. Retrieving the Crystal Heart must be it. But there is something else you can do Rainbow."
"Name it."
"You and the rest of our friends have to keep the fair going. Ash and Pikachu are doing their best out there right now to buy us all precious time. We can't let it go to waste. Everypony's spirits are at stake here. Along with the activation of the Crystal Heart. If Sombra comes back again, then the fair's a bust and Sombra takes over once more. So please Rainbow. Keep them all happy for as long as you can."
"You got it Twilight!"
"You seem pretty different considering what happened earlier in the room." Obsidian had shown up once again, hanging out like he normally does.
"It's that guy from the wedding!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Hello, again Twilight. I assume you've gotten over the harsh truth... or is it still hitting you?"
"What truth?"
"Oh. You haven't told your friends yet, have you? I mean you're no Applejack after all..."
"That's enough Obsidian. I don't have time for this! Rainbow go!"
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash zoomed out as Twilight kept moving.
"You can't keep hiding it from your friends Twilight. Eventually, they're gonna have to know." Obsidian's words stopped Twilight's movements, reminding her of the inevitable future outcome. "What's it gonna be? Keep hiding the truth and risk damaging your so-called friendship with Ash and Pikachu? Or face up and tell them. Everything. To see if you really are meant to be friends. I'll be waiting for an answer soon." Obsidian vanished like he suddenly appears.
Twilight was left with this horrible truth once more.