Chapter 18
The Final Face-off
Twilight made her descent down the stairs, into the last corridor. She felt more nervous than ever because the burning pain from her cutie mark got worse for every step she took. Once Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs, she took notice of the Crystal Mirror from Hearth's Warming, along with somepony standing in front of it. The purple unicorn was shocked to find out that it wasn't Flintheart standing in front of the mirror, but a certain draconequus instead. "Professor Discord!" Twilight gasped.
Said draconequus turned around and gave a sinister grin. "Surprise, Twilight!" "But, this doesn't make any sense." Twilight said. "Oh, what fun is there to making sense?" Discord asked. "It was so easy to trick everypony in Canterlot. Nopony ever suspected p-poor st-st-stuttering Professor D-Discord!" Twilight just stood in silence, trying to make sense of everything. "I don't understand. Professor Flintheart tried to kill me that day at the Cloudsdale Stadium."
Discord shook his head. "No, Twilight. I tried to kill you, and it would have worked even with Flintheart muttering his counter spell on the broom." Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. The teacher she hated the most was the one who tried to save her? "Then you were the one who let out that manticore during Nightmare Night, weren't you?"
"Of course, it was me!" Discord explained. "That manticore would have been the perfect distraction for me to get into the trapdoor, but Flintheart just had to stop me at the last moment. Flintheart caused me a lot of trouble, and I can't let you interfere either." Discord then snapped his lion paw, summoning ropes to bind Twilight. "Now that you are out of the way, the stone will be mine and this mirror should tell me how to get it." Without another word, Discord turned to face the mirror.
Twilight made an attempt to struggle out of her ropes, but to no avail. She knew that she couldn't let Discord get the stone. At this point, her best plan was to distract the draconequus. "So, I saw Flintheart threaten you during Hearth's Warming Eve. He was onto you from the very beginning wasn't he?" Twilight asked. "Yes, he was." Discord said without taking his attention off the mirror. "Flintheart was hoping to catch me off guard when I was alone. That was where he made his mistake because I am never alone."
After staring into the mirror for what felt like hours, Discord started to get impatient. "I can see myself with the stone, but how do I get it?" he pondered. "Use the mare." came a mysterious voice. Discord nodded and turned to face the unicorn. "Come over here and tell me what you see in the mirror, Twilight." Once Discord snapped his lion paw for the second time, Twilight was freed from the ropes.
The unicorn took a few hesitant steps towards the mirror. She stared into the mirror for a few moments when she saw her reflection moving on it's own. Twilight's reflection held on to a small, shiny object and placed the object in the pocket of her robe. After Twilight got over the shock of what she just saw, she gently moved her fore hoof towards her pocket and felt the object.
"Well? What is it? What do you see?" Discord asked impatiently. "I see myself shaking hooves with Professor Celestia because I won the house cup." Twilight held her breath, hoping that Discord bought the lie. It was at that moment when Twilight heard the mysterious voice again. "She lies." "Tell the truth!" Discord demanded. "Let me speak to her!"the mysterious voice ordered.
Discord felt very hesitant by that command. "But master, are you sure? I don't think you have enough strength." "I have enough strength to talk to her."The draconequus then snapped his eagle talon and Twilight was shocked by what happened next. Growing at the back of Discord's head was the face of a dark-gray unicorn with a red horn and silver crown. The unicorn stared at Twilight with burning red eyes. "Twilight Sparkle! We meet at last!"
"You're King Sombra!" Twilight gasped. "Yes! This is what happens when I lose my powers!" Sombra explained. "However, there is one object that would restore my strength, and that object lies in your pocket!" With a gasp, Twilight rushed back to the stairs. She was only halfway up the stairs before Discord blocked her way with a wall of flames. "Don't try to fight it, Twilight! Give me the stone, and become my crystal slave!"
Twilight shook her head and said, "I will never join you!" Sombra gave a dark chuckle to Twilight's protests. "You are really brave, like your parents. Do you wish to see them again?" Sombra asked. The lavender unicorn froze at the mention of her parents. "If you give me what I want, we can work together to bring your parents back!"
Twilight thought about Sombra's offer and reluctantly drew the stone from her pocket. She wanted to be reunited with her family, but she couldn't let Sombra have the stone. "That's right, Twilight! Together, we can become powerful! Just hand over the stone!" Sombra growled, losing his patience. At last, Twilight made up her mind and yelled, "Never!"
At that moment, Sombra lost his patience and ordered Discord to kill Twilight. Discord then tackled Twilight, causing her to let go of the stone. She attempted to reach for the stone, only to feel Discord grab her throat with his lion paw. Twilight started to lose consciousness from the lack of air. Out of desperation, Twilight tried to free herself from Discord's grip.
As soon as her hoof touch Discord's lion paw, the paw turned to stone. "What kind of magic is this?" Discord gasped as he stared at his petrified paw. "Fool! Kill her!" Sombra ordered. Before Discord could react, Twilight grabbed on to his eagle talon, turning it to stone as well. More of Discord's animal parts became petrified until the draconequus finally transformed into a statue of his former self.
With a sigh of relief, Twilight recovered the Sorcerer's Stone. She was about to leave when the room was filled by a dark mist. The mist came together to form the spirit of King Sombra. In one last attempt to kill Twilight, Sombra charged towards her, causing her to pass out.