Crystal Symphony [CYOA]

No… No, no, no. No! Your gemstone eyes freeze upon the unmoving and lifeless body of your friend. You are left speechless, the magical membrane of your crystallized gorge is unmoving despite the grasp and relentless say-so of your dark magic, it refuses your inbred urge to weep, to cry and to sob. Your visualization falls into a muted and blurred discoloration, the haziness itself is practically impossible to orient throughout as your body begins moving forward on primordial and most basic of instincts alone. It can’t be, no. This can’t be… It just cannot be. He did not…

“Huh,” Fair Trade voices trembles with a visible pain as she tries to stand herself up, “Removing the Fidelity Helmet should be impossible, how did he-” her question rings in your mind like a demonic taunt as she tries to reach to him.

“Don’t. Touch. Him!” your scream, like a concluding cry of an eldritch and miserable opus, echoes through the empty walls of the invisible trap. Your confused and practically blind body smashes and collapses through the solid crystals and sharp, barely visible blades of Fair Trade’s maze. You can’t see, you can’t feel, you can’t do anything comprehendible or rational in the lurid confusion you find yourself in. You are incapable to think about anything, your mind is unable to concentrate and contemplate; your body is moving on its own and it is moving towards him…

“A̮̹̫̻̫̾̾̒̎ͦ̅̈́u̫̺̞̣̲̱̰͆̿r͛̄͂ͫ͗̆ͪ͝ô̬͔̳̊͑ͫͅr͇͕͔̈́̽̆̿̽ͨͅa̧̻̪͉̺̠͑ͅ,̛̬̅̀̐̚ ͇̲̏́c̨̭̟͚̰̤̬̄̏o̗̤̝͐̔̄̈̆̑̓ṃ͈͙̍́ͮͫ͐̐e͔̩̬ͫ̔̾ͨ̽̌ͅ ̗̺̼̇ͤ́ͣͭ́̆ḩ͔̰̻ẹ̴̖̱̘͚ŕ̼͇̘̱̰͓̩ͪ̏ͫͩé͓͙͕̼͆ͮ,”a voice of Red Sulfur, or so you assume, breaks through the crust of your disorder and loss. Your body, sheepishly, akin to a mindless corpse, turns to follow it. Your hooves grasp through an empty space in the floor and barely avoid falling into what you can only assume to be a pit; you are unsure how, but you body carries on. Just barely, scarcely, you are able to suffer the enormous effort it takes your body to pass through the labyrinth.

Your confusion is slowly replaced with melancholy and anguishes as the veil of darkness lifts off your eyes once you finally end up standing before the body of your friend. You can hear the maleficent flickering of your sinful magic.

“He is breathing,” your crystallized voice resonates with a harsh grind.

“He is not breathing,” Red Sulfur’s voice responds back.

“He can still be alive,” you continue as you crudely kneel before his unmoving body, his lion mane is covering his face.

“I’m sorry, Aurora but he is .̟̹̦̳̘̜̥̓̓ͤ.̛ͧͭ̑̔.̢̬.͍̖̞̟̫ͫ̊̽̈̉ͅ.̰̲̹̘͛̍̒̂̓̿͒.̹̥͢.̴̰͙̬̭̪̬̾ ͙͇̬͕̱̫ͬ̾͗̋ͦͣ.”

“No.” No, that’s ridiculous. That is absurd. It’s just outright stupid. Golden Shield would never die like this. “No.”

“Aurora,” his voice rings in your mind like the final punishment of the tribunal, “He’s d̢̠̫̻͇̮͕͉ͪ̍͐e̹̭͎̭̲̹͍̋͐̇͠a̛̭͔̥̳̽͂ͬͨd ̹̹ͬ͛̈ͬ͊̌͌.”

“Check his pulse, Red Sulfur… He’s in coma, I’m sure of it,” your hollow voice snickers, “Just that, he is… comatose.”

“Aurora, I’m sorry.” No. “He’s dead.”

Dead. Dead! Dead!!!

Dead… No…

No, no, no.

No!

No…

The world around you twists into a raging and roaring ocean of blurred shapes and washed out colors; you no longer feel in control of your own thoughts and feeling. Slowly, you feel yourself slipping into the deep, dark eye of the void. You find the current sensation similar to one having the worst of headaches, and amnesia, in the middle of a rampant storm. You are able to sense your body taking steps forward, but you are unable to focus on it any further…

“Yes, as I said,” a similar voice echoes and wakes you up from your shock, “I’m fucking alright… He’s the strongest stallion, which is not saying much, I just needed more freaking time. Hey, Aurora, did you take care of him by your-”

You arouse from your blackout in a painful, shocking instance. Finally, accepting the reality around you, you find yourself holding Lunar Meridian with a powerful grasp by her throat. Her face is blue, even more than before; the heavily bruised and whitewashed bat pony is suffocating in your hooves. In panic, you take a step back and release her. Red Sulfur is quick to place himself before the body of painfully breathing mare and you, as if you’re an enemy.

“I’m…” you begin as your voice collapses on itself, “I’m sorry… Lunar Meridian - I just…”

“Aurora,” Red Sulfur tucks the edges of his hood in a retort, “There was… no other way, do you understand?”

“What do you know?!” you snap at him. Your demonic voice quakes the serenade of the hanging javelins.

“I know just enough!” he snaps back, “My master died defeated by a golem on his way through the tundra, he passed away without anypony knowing… for hours, Aurora; the death of my master was pathetic and miserable and I was not even there, with him, in his final dying moments!” His scarlet eyes slowly fill up with crimson, boiling blood.

You give him the most hostile of looks you can possibly manage, however, you find no words or even strength to argue back. Of course, Golden Shield did it for your sake; he died for your sake… What in Tartarus’ name. What is even the point of saving the Crystal Empire if everything you care for and everypony you love will die during all of this? You twist your body and, with it, all of your concentrated anger as you smash your hooves into the court door.

Red Sulfur places his hoof near yours and, tiredly, he exhales and nudges his head forward, “We have to go on…”

>What do you do now?

>>29810716
Calm the fuck down. This anger will be needed to fight the ultimate evil.

You imagine yourself taking deep and relaxed breaths; it is uncomfortable and near impossible to imagine, however. The feeling of being relaxed and calm sounds like a betrayal of the memory of Golden Shield; it is a treachery to not be angry and sad…! Your friend is dead, he will no longer talk to you and he will no longer speak out your name. You will not longer hear your voice; you will no longer see his peaceful and self-confident, yet smiling, face. Golden Shield is one of the very few ponies you truly had a care for and, now, he is dead. To liberate the Crystal Empire: is all of this really what you want? Is this really the drivel which pushes you forward… when all is lost; when everything is forgotten? No, of course not - you’re not here to be a hero and a messiah to the ponykind. You are here to stop him.

You are going to face Sombra for what he has done, for the horrors of the past, present and future. Your revenge…

You are here for your retribution, and the tyrant of the ultimate evil will pay in blood. Sombra will fall by your hoof.

You give Red Sulfur a cold but assertive nod, and you push both of your hooves against the heaviest door in all of the Crystal Empire. Your body finally obeys and unquestioningly pushes wide open with an screeching cut. Before you there stands the court room of “his majesty”. This is the place that, even now, carries his cold and hollow, emotionally drained presence; the air itself is crisp with his powerful, torturing magic. Before his grand and noble, ebonite crystal throne rest a pair of bright, purple braziers. Their wintry flames engulf the entire room in their light.

“So,” Trade speaks up as she keeps her distance from you, “Here we are, in my throne room.” The Vizier pauses and then, with a smirk, she points towards the biggest and edgiest gemstone located on the very top of Sombra’s throne, “Here is the Crystal that is able to eat my magic. It doesn’t do anything.”

>What do you do now?

>>29811004
Well if that's the crystal then, it might be a lock to a secret room the sombre has in the throne room. Before we do anything to the crystal, what does the Quarts Eye see?

“It does sound like Sombra to pull off a trick this twisted and shameful,” you say as you place your hoof forward the throne, “Or to make it look like it. There must be a reason it drains our magic, a proper answer or not…”

“Hey, believe me,” Fair Trade shrugs her weak shoulders and motions all around the room, “I’ve tried everything.”

“I don’t blame you for being inattentive,” Red Sulfur notes with a yawn, “But you were.”

“What do you mean?” Fair Trade exhales and angrily narrows her eyes at him.

“Red Sulfur?” you ask, “Does your Quartz Eye sense anything?”

“Yeah,” he nods at you and then, lazily, he places his hoof on the ground, “There’s a long descending tunnel that starts deep, deep beneath the floor; she can’t really say how far the entrance is, but for sure it’s deep as King’s ego.”

>What do you do now?

>>29811453
Use our magic eye to find it and figure out how to get there. Ask Fair if she's tried shooting dark magic at it.

>>29812330
How about we shoot the crystal with our lighting spell and not wast our magic on pointless spell.

Lunar Meridian leans and softens herself against a wall in a rather dreadful pose; she stand ups tired and absolutely exhausted despite her, more or less, phony attempt to hold on and present herself mightily. Hers and yours glares cross and, after a short and uncomfortable pause, the bat pony gives you an arrogant nod. She is not mad, thankfully.

“What do you think about the crystal,” you motion for Red Sulfur to follow you, “That sucks out the dark energy?”

“No idea,” he shrugs and shakes his head at you, “It would make sense for it to be part of this puzzle-trap…”

“Fair Trade,” you grind her name through your crystallized with a diaspora, “You have mentioned using dark magic on that one crystal, did you not? Does it have no effect at all, are you sure?”

“I did yeah,” she gives you a smile, “And I gave up after a couple of tries and attempts, nothing came up out of it.”

“Right…” you shrug your head as you turn to face Sulfur, who takes an uncertain step back, “What do you think?” He pauses in contemplation and you; you pause in an uncertain hesitation. “Should I just blow up the crystal with my lightning spell? I don’t want to waste my magic any more than I have to.”

“I can only assume,” the stallion grunts and rubs under his chin with annoyance, “That using the dark magic somehow actives and opens a secret door under the throne room, but even after opening it, you will have to reach it somehow...”

Fair Trade swings her hoof into the air with a silent, melodramatic grin, “Over-thinking and using your brain doesn’t suit you, Aurora Flare,” she jokes, ignoring the grim situation, “I know a spell that might be of use for this circumstance… I can’t promise you won’t screw up using it, which is all up to you.” The Royal Vizier sneers at you.

“We don’t have time for this,” you dourly take a slow, menacing step towards her. Your hoof strikes the empty floor.

“Okay,” she steps back, “Okay, I’ll teach you the runes of my Umbra Exsilio that should allow you and your friend, as long as you are holding him, to pass through solid objects; hopefully it’s not so deep the spell fades away before you reach this tunnel. So, what do you say? All I ask in exchange is for you to let me stay back here, with my injury.”

>What do you do now?

>>29812369
I was trying to play along like "oh no we don't know the answer" but ok.

>>29812528
Fine. Get across to Lunar that this bitch isn't to leave her sight.

>>29812528
Well It will help us bypass this puzzle and Fair and Lunar both took heavy damage. So learn this new spell and get closer to the crystal heart.

“Fine,” you groan after a brief moment of though, “Neither you or Lunar Meridian look healthy, it’s best the two of you take it easy and rest before we are to face Sombra. We are going to return with the Crystal Heart, wait for it.”

“Sure,” Fair Trade gives you a shrug as she gives her cursed and corrupted horn a painful rubbing, “We will be.”

“Lunar Meridian,” you make yourself know as you approach the bat pony with an eerie discomfort; you did try to strangle her only a couple of dozen of minutes ago, after all. The heavily beaten and damaged mare gives you a quick cork of her head and then, her bruised muzzle twists into a short smile, “Freaking trust me, Aurora… Sorry for your loss. The Royal Legate was not a bad pony, for a stallion,” she pauses and spits blood, “Damn shame, for real it is!”

You mentally smile to yourself as you kneel near her and point your hoof in Fair Trade’s direction; Lunar Meridian throws you a confused and slightly insulted glare. You then cross your hooves over your chest in a powerful, deadly hug and then, you gesture your hoof at the bat pony herself. Lastly, you gently stomp your hoof several times against the cold surface of the charcoal-black floor present. You do all of this in an attempt to tell her that she needs to protect Fair Trade. No, that is not the case; she should be the cunt’s warden, not protector.

“You want me to freaking stay here?” she whines and swiftly leans herself off the wall, “I’ll be more help…!” She notices the deaf and negative shake of your head and, with a defeat, she sighs, “I can’t fucking go there, is that it?” she asks.

You give her a thankful nod after which you leave the bat pony with a comforting pat on her shoulder. You throw a quick glance around the courtroom to make sure there’s no way a weakened, pregnant mare can escape an agile and fast flying monster that is Lunar Meridian – that is the case.

Red Sulfur joins the triangle you and Fair Trade have made around an empty space on the floor, a space that is highly visible and present in the light of the braziers.

“Give me your hoof,” Fair Trade motions for Red Sulfur to place his hoof on the floor to which he, after some silence, responds. His hoof is bleeding and, despite the healed and somehow closed wound, he still leaves a bloody imprint upon the surface of the floorboards. Fair Trade wastes no time using the blood of Red Sulfur to draw the three demonic symbols of her dark craftsmanship, the secrets of her magic revealing to you in all their bloody glory. “That should be it,” she comments as she hollowly clops her hooves over her chest, “I did my part; can you do yours?”

“I can,” you grunt as you stand up and allow the dark veil of your inner fire, the dark flame of your soul, to consume your vision. You draw the symbols of the your most powerful, and only, spell of absolutely hostility and aggression as your dark magic begins twisting and blooming into crisp, trembling shock of electrical current. Dark-red lightning bursts from within your body and from the high voltage of your inner, magical conjuration.

The lightning spreads thicker and bigger until it meets the artifact of Sombra which immediately swallows your dark power like it’s nothing. Despite the absolutely insane amount of lightning you have created and send towards it, it appears unaffected. Or so he wants you to think; lightning or not, what you have used on it is dark magic, a key: a trigger to open a secret door.

“Right,” you calm yourself down as Sulfur leans his body closer against yours. You take him by the shoulder, like a friend would.

“Take your time,” he mutters to you as the hood over his head tightens in a jealous envy, “Don’t rush it too much…”

“I’m ready,” you mutter as you concentrate once more and open the black canvas of your inner, void imagination. You recreate the symbols Fair Trade have drawn in your mind, edge by edge, line by line - until the three runes light up in a vile, green colors as bright as neon. The dark magic slowly begins leaking inside out of your body until it completely consumes you and Red Sulfur in its eldritch, pulsating layer. After a brief second, you and your companion turn into a weightless and bodiless shadow, a dark shade that instantly comes falling down the floor. You make sure to control your movements despite the struggle and implausibility of you doing a good job out of it on your very first try; however, once you manage to keep the spell going with the resolve and struggle at which you have never done before, you catch up and arrive to your destination, through a very discreet opening, into the entrance of the tunnel. Your magic vanishes and the two of you reappear in a dark, practically unlit room from the very shadows themselves. Sulfur takes it worse than you; he collapses and vomits on the floor after the experience.

After using the “Crystal Note” for so long and having been forced to exist in the presence of the dark magic for as much time, you forgot how corrupting, vile and uncomfortable it is for other ponies to experience the touch of this magic… it is an extremely unpleasant feeling. And here you are, you are practically radiating the very same magic!

>New Spell Learned:
[Umbra Exsilio] [Cost: 1% Dark Magic]
Turns the spell caster into an ethereal shadow that is able to pass and blink through walls and other objects.

>Body Changes:
12% [-2] Alicorn ‘Dark’ Magic [Magic]
16% [+2] Volatile Arcane [Magic]

>What do you do now?

>>29813073
I had forgotten what dark magic is like to normal ponies. It must be uncomfortable to even be near me right now. Are you going to be ok, Red?

>>29813073
Let have Sulfur regain his composer, then we will start heading down the tunnel to what ever is down here.

Down there, descending a long spiral staircase, stands a single regular wooden door...

Thanks for playing, will continue tomorrow.

Can I ask a question here: how did you take the first post? Was it a little too much on the emotion scale or just enough?

>>29813642
I thought it was absolutely great. Shame I wasn't around to participate until a bit later though.

>>29810695

>>29815204

>>29813642
It was very immersive and I liked it. Sorry for not being able to follow Symphony until now.

>>29815872

You softly place your crystal hoof on Red Sulfur’s back as he painfully gasps for air, tightens the grip over his stomach and vomits once again. With a grunt of disgust, the stallion struggles to stand as she gags and throws up the last of the acid liquid in his abdomen. The student of Ginger Spice takes a deep, heavy breath and, after a gulp, he exhales.

“Are you going to be alright, Red Sulfur?” you ask him with a visible and present worry.

“Ugh, might be,” he replies with an annoyed grunt, “Until the next time… I’m fine.”

“Can you go on?”

“Yes – yes,” he lazily shrugs his shoulder and leans his body against the surface of the wall, “I’m going to be fine.”

You reassure his answer with an uncertain nod as you take a step through the darkness to follow him. You are practically unable to perceive and distinguish the long, descending and crumbling set of stairs that leads you and companion further and further into the darkness of this hidden subterranean vault. Thanks to his enchanted hood and his Quartz Eye aficionado, Red Sulfur has more power than you in the shadows to avoid accidently stumbling and missing the stairs and falling through the empty space, breaking his bones in the process; you follow his direction and the sound of his movements and, sometimes, you push him back when the stairs begin crumbling under him.

The descend is atrociously long, it is so painfully long that eventually you come to a realization that Sombra is simply toying with anypony who dares to try to and enter through here in search of the Crystal Heart and the final salvation. The lower you descend, the more present yours and Red Sulfur’s steps twist into a monotone aria, echoing from the pitch blackness of the walls and the hollow stairs you tread upon, with only the crumbling sound breaking the monotony.

“Come on!” Red Sulfur is the first one out of the two of you to break, “How much longer does it go?!”

>What do you do now?

>>29817015
If you want speed it up Sulfur, you can grab onto me and I'll jump down the middle. then use telekinesis to grab both of us before we hit the flood.

You mentally twist your imaginary lips as you address him with a turn of your head, “If you want to speed it up, Red Sulfur, we can grab on to me and then we can jump off down the middle until we reach the end down there.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he mutters slothfully and pauses himself, “You are already badly damaged.”

“…I am, am I not?” you slowly halt, “But then, I can use my telekinetic spell when we are about to hit the floor.”

“You won’t be able to know where the floor and how long the fall is in this darkness,” He answers stubbornly.

“I just have to trust you and your Quartz Eye to tell me when to use my magic to stop us.”

“Alright,” he winces, “Alright, you win – let’s do that. I don’t want to lie and say I’m not tired from this entire walk. I think it might be best if you pick us up and use your magic to lift us down; you know, it’s much-much safer that way.”

“Good,” you nod at him as you slowly turn your body and approach the sharp, sudden edges of the steps. You mentally calm yourself as Red Sulfur comes near you and then, he places his hooves around your body; from up close you are able to see that he looks very sick and tired – much more than usual. The darkness is already filling up your eyes and vision. You allow the arcane blood of your dark existence to slowly and carefully escape out of your body though all the crannies and openings in your mouth and gemstone eyes as it begins to surround you and your companion in an eldritch cocoon. With a flick of your mind the twisted engravings of the spell are rapid to turn your dark magic into a powerful and thick layer of telekinetic force. You concentrate to make sure that spell remains and holds for as long as possible as you slowly raise the two of you into the empty space in-between the circular staircase and then, you send the two of you falling through the darkness. It takes you ten or so minutes to get to the end.

>Body Changes:
11% [-1] Alicorn ‘Dark’ Magic [Magic]
17% [+1] Volatile Arcane [Magic]

Once you finally are able to see your hooves touching the improbable surface of the tunnel, you gently push Red Sulfur off your body. The red-manned stallion creepily coughs into his hoof, “What a pain it’ll be to go back, I think.”

“It will be,” you sigh to yourself as you look around yourself in search of a way forward; you find a simple and plebeian looking wooden door secluded in the spherical room you are currently in. Without hesitation you quickly approach the door and attempt to open it by handle; however the door escapes your grasp. Like a pest, a sleazy spider, the door slides away from you. You try to come near and open it once again yet, it repeats the same motion.

>What do you do now?

>>29817382
This is getting stupid. Smash parts of the wall and see if it limits the doors movement. The less magic we use, the better.

“Hold still, you stupid door!” you bark at the silence as you attempt to smash and nail the entrance to the wall only to have the wooden door escape from within your grasp once more. In a mild but growing annoyance you continue smashing your hooves again and again as you try to get a grasp of it; damn you and your stupid traps, Sombra! You take a step back as the door stops in the middle of the ascending towering wall, practically impossible to reach from here. Despite the obvious potholed marks you have made, the door is able to slide on top of them, and floor as well.

“Aurora,” Red Sulfur shouts at you as he quickly jumps and climbs a couple of steps towards the door, “Try to scare it towards me, I should be able to catch it if it’s close enough! He says. It is now you notice that the door has a triangular gemstone of black and blue colors on top of it, like some sort of demonic emblem or a symbol of the king.

“Are you sure?” you grunt at him as you bow your body with a struggle and then jump straight towards the dancing door only to miss it once more. The wooden entrance slithers out of your hoof in a playful, taunting matter that it random and absolutely impossible and unfeasible to predict.

Impossible to predict… unless, you are Red Sulfur’s Quartz Eye. The stallion somehow manages to rush towards the door once it is in right position and, in just the right second, he manages to pin it towards the wall and nab the handle of it. The living door immediately stops its struggle in a dead halt as, with a screech, it begins opening.

“What do you see?!” you ask him as you quickly rush on top of the steps to reach the layer he is standing on top of.

“It’s…” he pauses in a confused and agitated snarl, “It’s just a… wall,” he opens the door to reveal an empty wall on the other side of it, the same kind of wall that is surrounding you in this room, as if the door is just an empty frame.

>What do you do now?

>>29817756
Do the same thing we did with the crystal in the throne room with the gemstone on the door.

“It is probably another one of those… dark mechanisms,” you explain as you slowly, with a grind, move your head forwards. “Take a step back, Red Sulfur, I don’t want to hurt you,” you say as you push the thick, dark canvas of your spell crafting over your eyes. You dip your hoof into the putrid, glowing smear of emerald hue as you then engrave the symbols of your spell onto the surface of your psyche. The satiated, ever-growing plasma of electric energy bursts of your body in shape of a raining, scattering lightning tempest that quickly spreads towards the crystal gem.

The vividly eldritch gemstone consume your magic in the same manner the same kind of crystal did beforehoof, until your powerful and destructive magic succumbs and disappears within the crystal like fire in a freezing cold water stream. After a short, uneventful pause, the stone wall behind the door begins slowly crumbling down in an incredibly bright, white and increasingly warm hues. The welcoming luminosity can only mean one thing: The Heart.

>Body Changes:
10% [-1] Alicorn ‘Dark’ Magic [Magic]
18% [+1] Volatile Arcane [Magic]

“I think we found it!” you say as you take a step forward only to have yourself to stumble upon a figure whose simple attendance puts the entire room into a nightmarish subsistence. The colors wash out, the sounds deafen and the air turns morose and morbid. The pitch, red eyes peer at you from the other side of the door before Sombra himself finally takes a step forward and, without you even having a chance to react, he grasps you by your throat and shoves his predatory grin right at your face. The boiling, decaying magic lifts of his horn and you feel yourself losing control of your own body as his magic quickly begins taking over control over your own.

You try to struggle but you can’t.

“This is where your quest stops, Aurora Flare,” the king’s voice whispers in glee, “All this way, and for nothing…”

>What do you do now?

>>29818144
Focus your hatred and push his magic back. Use your magic to loosen his grasp enough to get a punch in. You are so dead now Sombra.

>>29818144
We can't let him win after all the things we gone through. We have to win; for our friends and family, for Golden. Stun the king with the light spell, and punch him in the face.

You try to focus, you try to push his magic and his growing control over your body back but… you are unable. You fall into a blind panic as your body no longer heeds to your thoughts and no longer moves in accordance to your instincts and cries. Not just your crystal body, but even your magic is not your own – it is his. You attempt to concentrate on the little of power, the little of magic that is still controlling your memories and reality of your existence to burst just enough arcane to draft the spell of brightness in order to blind him, however, that does not work. Sombra simply moves his head in another direction and your entire body, like a wooden puppet, flings and flies through the air in a horrifying fashion. To have no control over your body, to be a toy, it’s your prime nightmare.

“To think you would come all this way to stop me,” he taunts you in cold, slithering voice that only he is able to make. His voice is able to cut the minds of those he tortures, it is able to rend and pierce through their feelings and emotions. The king of shadows nudges his head back and you float towards him once more, unable to do anything but whisper in a hush he is probably not even able to hear. “And now you can’t… a withering and dying melancholy.”

“You are going to pay for this,” you mutter in an anguishing hush, “For all my friends, for my family and Shield.”

“Strong words,” he says as he slowly begins turning the magic inside you into a cold, burning fire that slowly cracks and corrupt the thin and fragile layers of your crystallized flesh, “Strong words with nothing to back them up, slave. Your love for them is weak, and for your weakness you will face the greatest punishment. I will not kill you, my traitorous apprentice. No. I will have you see the death of everyone you love and the destruction of your credence.”

>What do you do now?

>>29818609
No!

Where is Red? He should be here. Why hasn't Sombra adressed him, hmmmmm?

“No!” you scream with the last remains of the control over your body that you have, “I won’t let you!”

“The world belongs to the strong,” Sombra’s eerie voice torments you as the reality around you begins to crumble and the visions of piles and piles of defeated and blemished bodies and ruins of a once beautiful empire envelop your mind; and in front of them, his cackling vision and demonic, red eyes. You try to fight him but, you are unable, the control of the dark magic he has and the sheer magnitude of his power is just something you can’t fight… not alone. You make an attempt to call for help, to ask Red Sulfur to help you yet, your crystallized voice simply dies out.

What are you even doing – you ask yourself? There’s no way he’s going to be able to help you, he needs to escape!

“Red Sulfur,” your quiet voice whispers into the darkness that surrounds you both, the dark magic inside you burning away what remains of your spirit and soul alive, “Where are you? What has Sombra done to you? You must run…”

“Aurora?” his voice finally answers, by some miracle being able to hear you, “Aurora?! Snap out of it Aurora!”

You mentally gasp for air as you take a step back away from the door, the veracity real and ever-present once more. You find yourself standing before an empty wall and a casket of a door; not a single thing been changed aside the nightmarish vision that you have went through. You jolt your head away from the door in horror as Sulfur places his hoof on your shoulder with a visible worry over his face, “Hey, you don’t have to be this devastated your magic did not work, I don’t think it is that easy,” he says, “You’re right, it probably activated another door somewhere else.”

“No, I… That’s not it,” you shake your head in a negative.

“I wonder if there’s a door-” he begins in a though as he lifts his head and gazes at the wall; it is then that the black triangular gemstone blazes into a crisping, greenish fire and Red Sulfur’s eyes turn green, and his irises turn red. The stallion face twists into one of horror and shame as he stumbles on his step back. The stallion collapses and whimpers, “No… Mother- You don’t understand,” the stallion mutters to himself in his nightmarish delusions, “What am I doing here? That’s now what I meant! No… I’ll learn how to read, just give me time… Don’t say that, please.” You can see tears forming under his eyes, “I’m not a thief,” he says, “I just wished to see what it was that you hid, I’m sorry mother! Please, mother, do not say that. I’m sorry for losing it but, – No, I’m not a disappointment! Stop it…”

>What do you do now?

>>29818919
Shake him, that gem is clearly showing us our
worst nightmares. Let trow a rock at it.

>>29818919
Of course it's another trap. Hey Sulfur, snap out of it! Your mother isn't here, it's just an illusion.

You push yourself in front of the door in-between it and Red Sulfur. You place your hooves on his shoulders and give him a strong and emotional wobble, “Red Sulfur, your mother isn't here, and it’s just an illusion. Snap out of it.”

“W-what?” he asks as the green glow slowly lifts off his shoulders, “I was… back at my home,” he whimpers and quickly covers his eyes to rub off his tears away, “…Damn, I see how it is then,” he swiftly looks away from the door.

“The door that shows you your worst fears and nightmares,” you nod, “Nopony else but Sombra could come up with a magic this maleficent and evil; what a bastard.”

“Yeah,” Red Sulfur timidly shrugs his shoulders and then looks over them, “It’s an obvious trap… Forget you heard anything, alright? Right, there must be another passage or some sort of mechanism in here, it is not a dead end.”

“You are probably right,” you say as you pick up a forsaken rock from under your hooves, “To think he would put a trap that even he himself can get caught up in – no… He wouldn’t even use dark magic here.” You toss the rock with all the power you can manage directly into the wall behind the doorframe, forcing a massive and spreading crack to appear all the way across it. This will take too long. “If we can’t use dark magic to open the closed door then we will have to do it the old fashioned way,” you say as you strike your hooves together and then, send a barrage of powerful punches right into the crumbling surface. Once you are able to see the other side, you gallop right into the wall and break through it with all the force and weight behind your cadaver. You find yourself in a suspiciously bright replica of the Crystal Tower with an ascending set of stairs with no end; you are not even able the see the top!

“What do you see?” Red Sulfur asks as he follows you through your makeshift entrance, “Oh… more stairs.”

>What do you do now?

>>29818919
Stand between him and the door. Snap him outta it.

>>29818963
Let's not mention his mother.

>>29819169
Well we better start climbing. Say Red... after we save the Empire, where do we go from there? Do you have any plans?

>>29819169
Let's see how long they are this time. You wouldn't happen to know a way to make this easier? I don't think levitating upwards would be less taxing then climbing the stairs.

You release a heavily annoyed sigh as you take the first step to what might as well be a climb to Mountain Everhoof. It is not surprising that Red Sulfur shares your annoyance as he follows you suit on your slow ascend; you should be able to run without much a problem but, for your companion it’ll be a challenge of his stamina and his fresh injuries. You consider using your telekinetic spell once more but you quickly realize the futility as levitating upwards would be as much taxing on you as climbing the stairs by hoof. Still, this is going to take a long time. If only there existed a spell to shift and lift gravity; a spell that powerful is probably impossible, right? Regardless, no way have Sombra walked all the way up without using some kind of scheme or spell to assist him; you don’t think so – at least…

“You wouldn’t know a way to make it easier, would you?” you ask Red Sulfur with an empty but sheepish smile.

“Me?” he retorts with a surprised expression, “You are the wizard in-between the two of us; if you don’t have a spell for this situation then all we can do is climb and climb and climb… and be careful if there’s another trap on our way.”

“Yeah,” you shake your head as you take another step forward, “This is going to take a while, an hour?”

“I don’t see the top, an hour might be more or less true,” he yawns into his hoof, “You are probably curious but no, Aurora, there are no mechanisms to make this easier for us – at least, Quartz is not able to sense any of them.”

“Yeah, I figured,” you pause, “Say, Sulfur, after we save the Empire, where do we go from there? Do you have plans?”

“I feel like this is the fifth time you asked me that,” the stallion raises his eyebrow with a tolerable and mellow smile, “I’m not sure, I’ll probably continue the research of my master if I’m able to find anything he have left – that is, if I’m still alive after all of this. Finding a cute and talkative mare that enjoys my good qualities would be a bonus as well.”

“A mare, huh, you are quite the flirtatious fellow are you not?” you ask him in a tease.

“Nothing wrong with a harem if everypony in it is happy,” he teases you back and then pauses, “Though, we have to defeat Sombra first for that, and I feel like even with the Crystal Heart, if it’s there, it is going to be impossible.”

>What do you do now?

>>29819712
The Heart is the key. We still need everypony else. From all this we need to go thought I think it's clear that the Crystal Heart is something he fears.

>>29819712
Even with all his might Sombra can't keep back the north without the Heart. I'm pretty confident we can defeat him with it. I keep asking you about plans because I have nothing to go back to.
I lost the only pony that can understand, and would have accepted me as more than a friend.

>>29819788
Yeah, I like that.

Without Shield there's just isn't really anything for me to look forward to. Maybe one day being cured but even the thought of going back to my old life is hollow.

“The Crystal Heart is simply an object of incredibly power, we are still going to need the help of everypony else but, from what I and you know, Sombra fears the Crystal Heart. He has no way of destroying it, or he does not want to.”

“I remember you saying that he gave you a mission to find a way to destroy the Crystal Heart,” Red Sulfur looks behind his shoulder at you, “It’s true that it means he’s unable to break it himself, but he wants to. It’s strange, does he not care for the winter that the Wendigo will bring to the Crystal Empire once there’s no Heart to hold it down?”

“He’s not that sort of pony who would do something so reckless,” you admit, “He thinks he can stand hoof to hoof with the forces of nature and defeat them. Three years ago, it was his ego but now… he can control the sun herself.”

“He’s powerful enough to banish Celestia and take over the command over her Celestial Sun, it’s why I’m worried that even with the Crystal Heart he might be too strong for us to handle,” Red Sulfur mutters beneath his breath.

“Falling to despair and depravity is what Sombra wants us to do. We must stay optimistic, caring, loving – we must keep the emotions that feed the Crystal Heart going, Red Sulfur, we can’t give up. This might be our only chance.”

“I know,” he shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly if not a bit aggressively, “No way I’m giving up now, we went too far. It might be easier to escape to Zebrica or somewhere else as far from Sombra as possible, but that is bothersome.”

“I’m sorry that I keep asking you the same question…” your hollow and miserable voice silently grinds at him.

“What are you,” Sulfur blinks and tucks the edges of his hood to let more of his ears free, “I wasn’t serious.”

“No, it’s just that,” you take a deep, mental breath, “I ask you about your plans because I have nothing to go back to, Golden Shield is the only pony who could understand me and accept me more than a close acquaintance; there isn’t anything for me to look forward to. Even looking forward to finding a cure is now hollow, where is my old life now?”

Red Sulfur stops on his tracks and thus, makes you come to a stop in an impulse reaction. The stallion narrows his eyes in a tired but understanding expression and slowly turns his head ninety degrees to face you, “I understand what you are feeling right now, Aurora, and nothing I can say will make you feel better. Distress, anger, sadness – I felt all of it when we discovered the body of my master. With him, at least I had something to do, at least I could find the use and purpose for my Cutie Mark, and I felt hollow – I still do. However,” he rubs his shoulder awkwardly, “As much as I joke about it, do you really need somepony more than a lover? Is friendship not simply enough for you?”

“That’s not what I meant!” you sigh, “But my mother is dead and my father is probably dead as well, I have not seen him for three years now and he was forcefully pushed into the rank of Sombra’s forces with a Fidelity Helmet.”

“I don’t know the whereabouts of my family either, “Red Sulfur says without any kind of worry as he continues climbing up the stairs, “But you have other ponies who you are friends with, do you not, even if that is just friendship based on instincts of survival, it is still friendship – just like the two of us, we went through a lot to think alike and to share stories after all of this is done. But there is also that Soarin Pegasus, and the foals you deeply care for; even that bat pony can be considered a friend of yours; she thinks so. She looked extremely eager to assist us… well, you.”

>What do you do now?

>>29820103
Are you going somewhere with this? I'm not gay, you know. And as much as I like those foals, they could still have a family to go back to.
I don't even know if Soarin is still alive. Last time I checked Cloudsdale was frozen by some monster from tartarus.

After a long and tedious ascend, in the faraway ending of the tower, you are able to catch its bright glimpse and presence: the Crystal Heart.

Thanks for playing, will continue tomorrow.

>>29820103
If you're trying to tell me that I had friends that care about me, then that fine. But I'm want someone more then a friend Sulfur. Let just continue climbing this dam tower of stairs.

File: 98e20312ce4d4ded.png (129KB, 800x800px) Image search: [Google]

129KB, 800x800px

Why can't Sulfur understand?

>>29820103
Thank you Red. I appreciate that.

>>29820335
He's into Ginger Spice, not into us.

>>29821876

You grumble in your angry retort as you silently stomp your hooves, “Don’t you understand what I’m saying here, Red Sulfur? I want somepony who is more than a friend, is that too much to ask for? If you are trying to tell me that I have friends who care for me – that is fine, I appreciate it; and I’m thankful for Lunar Meridian being so reliable and helpful, truly. However, I’m not gay.” You pause during the awkward silence, “Meridian won’t give me what I want.”

“You’re so melodramatic,” Red Sulfur cringes and he follows you in your hefty and ill-mannered ascend, “You have that Pegasus fellow, do you not? And as I said, you were quite happy when those two foals were near you: like a mother.”

“Neither I or you know if he’s even still alive, Red Sulfur – have you forgot Cloudsdale being frozen over by one of the titanic monsters of the Tartarus?! He might be dead… Just like Golden Shield… I don’t want to think about it! As for the foals, what’s wrong with me having motherly feels at my age?! But they probably still have a loving and caring family, they are not my foals – it’s not right.”

“I hope not every mare is as crazy as you during their thirties,” he hides his hushes chuckle with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, shut up!” you whine in a repulse as you overtake him even more, forcing a distance between the two of you.

“Once we are able to find you a cure you will have a whole life to find a coltfriend, if you are that set on it…”

“It might be too late, I don’t have a century,” you pause, “L-let’s just keep going,” you grunt at him with a step.

He sighs and shakes his head, “If you are going to act like that then you won’t be able to meet anypony for sure.”

“Shut. Up!” you cry as your body reacts to your ignorant commands and rushes further up the stairs with an extremely high-speed gallop. Red Sulfur tries to yell for you to wait for him, but your body, and you yourself, ignore him. You’ll let him catch up but, right now, you do not want to hear a thing from him. He is a bigheaded prude! In the haze of your agitation you do not notice the fact that, eventually, you take on and reach the final level of the staircase and then, once you slow down, you catch an eyeful of its shining presence. You gradually approach and enter a circular platform with a shining, beacon-like pedestal in the center of it and on top of it, in all its crystal and loving glory, lays the Crystal Heart. The real thing, no doubt, it is the same heart as the one you saw three years ago.

>What do you do now?

>>29823681
As much as we can just to pick it up and put it back where it belong. It's likely that sombre had put another trap on or around it.

>>29823681
Wait for Red to get up there and awkwardly apologise for how we reacted.

You throw a glance towards the Crystal Heart that calls for you so alluringly and forbiddingly, similar to an illicit and sinful fruit you have only been able to taste once in your life. For certain, the way is slowly spins in place and radiates a warm, calm energy is extremely tempting. Still, you stop yourself from jumping straight into another trap, either on it or around it. You look around the hanging tower pedestal as you notice and spot the barren and radiating form of the Crystal Empire, a magical and fake allure akin to a dark mirage; another one of Sombra’s magic tricks, no doubt.

You wait up for Red Sulfur to catch up with you and you make no stupid or sloppy movements, you barely take a step on the base of the upper layer of the cursed tower. Eventually, the stallion stumbles with a heavy and harsh exhale, he glares at you with a vigorous hostility as he coughs and holds down another vomit. He exhales, deeply.

“For crying out loud, Aurora,” he complains, “This is not a marathon; I mean, it is a race for time but I’m not prepared for it, I get tired,” He snaps his head up and grumbles, “I’m able to take care of it but… give me some time.”

“I’m sorry Red Sulfur,” your hollow voice echoes as you help him to stand up, “I did not meant what I said before.”

“Its fine,” with pride he tries not to lean for your support too much, “We’ll look for your special somepony together after,” he offers you an ironic joke as he finally takes a step on the platform himself, “Is that…?”

“The Crystal Heart.”

“This is the first time I see it,” he opens his eyes in a surprise as his iris widen and then light up as bright as the richest of crystals, “Is it… the real thing?” He suspiciously corks his eyebrow and takes a step forward it.

“It is, yes,” you admit, to yourself and to him, “It’s the same one Sombra has ordered me to find a way to destroy.” You pause as you notice him slowly approaching it, “Be careful, this is too just obvious. There must be a trap here.”

“I don’t think so,” he nudges his head forward, “Quartz Eye can’t sense anything wrong. It’s fine if I touch it, right?”

>What do you do now?

>>29823966
I belive so.

“I don’t see why not, just… be careful, alright?” you give him a nod of your head, “Just in case.”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” he shrugs his head, “If anything, she’ll warn me,” Red Sulfur points at his hood and then takes careful and slow steps towards the pedestal. With every step of his approach, the luminosity of the Crystal Heart slowly entangles him in its heavenly presence. The reef gold stallion stops himself right in front of the pedestal and takes a deep breath, his hooves trembling as he stands so close to the very heart and spirit of the Crystal Empire. He raises his legs towards it before he stops and takes it all in; he looks over his shoulder at you, “Give me a second here.”

“Take your time,” you nod at him with a mental smile, more than willing to let him experienced it in his own terms.

“Alright,” he nods to himself with a stubborn determination and places his hoof on top of it. As soon as he holds the Crystal Heart in his hooves, his entire body begins to slowly transform into its primal, original beauty. It is a magnificence that every crystal pony has thought to be lost and forgotten. Red Sulfur now has a shiny, gradient scarlet mane and tail, as well as strange but gentle polygonal reflection in his gemstone-like eyes; he looks beautiful and gracious, to say the least; even his manestyle is different, tugged in a way you would find the ponies of old having it. The stallion takes a moment to exhale as he looks at you with a smile, “So this is how happiness feels like.”

However, however… in a matter of a second towards which you are unable to even react to, the ground around Red Sulfur turns pitch black. Out of the ebon void a thick and tall wall of black crystals erupts and surrounds Red Sulfur before he can even think of jumping out of the way; even his Quartz Eye too late to warn him. The devilish conundrum surrounds him from head to rump, with barely any space for him to move aside from a very small, taunting openness above him.

“…Damn it,” Red Sulfur’s voice echoes from inside the prison as the black crystal shards begin to slowly spread and grow, like some eldritch grass, through the entire plateau of the tower’s layer and towards you.

>What do you do now?

>>29824234
Can he throw the heart to us?

>>29824234
Sulfur toss the heart to me, I don't thing I can break you out of there.

>>29824234
Darn. At least he's not hurt. Still happy, Red? I might would even say you look handsome like that.

“Red Sulfur?” you ask him with a shout, “How are you holding up inside of there? Hey, are you still happy? You look much better under the Crystal Heart’s influence than you did without it… I can say, even handsome – for a colt!”

“Not funny, Aurora,” Red Sulfur’s voice grumbles, “Another trap - damn it to Tartarus! Can you get me out of here?”

“I’ll try,” you mentally wince as you slowly approach the charcoal grass only to have the semiprecious gems spread towards you like crawling, meatless claws. You take a step back and they are quick to follow you, “Damn it,” there’s a magic inside those demonic and black crystals – King Sombra’s magic. You can feel an immense power coming from it, a magic that is no doubt will be an obstacle that even you, a dark magic warlock, will have a problem to overcome.

“Aurora? What is going out there?” he asks as he attempts to strike his hooves against the solid crystals: nothing.

“I don’t think I can free you, Red Sulfur, I might get trapped as well. Think you can throw the Crystal Heart to me?”

“Wait, do you intend to leave me here by myself, alone?!” his voice asks in disbelief, “That’s… I can’t believe you.”

“Sulfur,” you grunt, “I’m sorry, but I can’t risk it! If we both are trapped, then that’s it; Empire is doomed!”

“I will not forgive you…”

“Sulfur-” you blink in a surprise as you notice the Crystal Heart flying through the air in a slight bend in your direction; it rolls through the air in a slow and beautiful motion. You adjust yourself, you bend your crystal knees and then, you make a jump for it. You fly above the sizzling and expanding crystal tendrils of Sombra’s dark magic as you barely avoid them catching you; you grasp the Heart in your hooves and land barely a few inches away from the edge, evading falling to your probable death. Unlike to Red Sulfur, the Crystal Heart has a surprisingly negative effect for you, the usual presence of love is harmony is burning and painful, it is probably the first time since forever that you are able to feel real, indistinguishable pain; it’s something that you hate. Your body twirls from the sudden fire.

“I won’t forgive if you if you fail, Aurora Flare,” Red Sulfur’s voice resonates from within his prison, “You owe me; promise me to beat the king’s face in mine and my master’s steed as well. I’ll be waiting for you here… already free!”

>What do you do now?

>>29824594
I promise. In the meantime... take a nap or something.

Let run. We have nothing slowing us down now and we need to destroy the king's glare.

>>29824594
We better start running if we want to get to the pedestal to place the crystal heart before sombre come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2MXxrUjJis

“I give you my promise,” you say as you clop your hoof once against the surface of the crystal floor, “Stay safe for me Red Sulfur. Take a rest, a nap; I’m going to need a lot of repairs once all of this is done, you best deliver!”

He does not answer back; however, you are certain that his response is a simple and lazy shrug of his head. You take a step towards the now-descending staircase only to stop and throw a worried and uncertain glance behind your shoulder at the blackening crystal prison your companion finds himself in. It is fine, he is going to be alright; what Sombra is after is the Crystal Heart, will not bother a pony who does not have it – not now. You shake your head in a trembling grind as you rush down the stairs with one and one goal alone – to reach the real pedestal before Sombra.

You do not even think about the individual steps and the need to take a proper step, you treat the entire staircase like a linear pathway; a galloping course. Your mind is set on one goal and one objective alone, and your body obeys you as much as it possibly can. You skip massive chunks of the flight of steps with a jump and you stop yourself with a grinding hail to avoid sliding off the circular staircase, quickly continuing your rush forward. With your mind set and your entire body moving in an uncanny unison, you are able to reach the exit of this strange, alternative pocket dimension and then, reach the top of the dark vault with the same kind of haste as you have done beforehoof. Sadly, at the end of it you stumble upon an open gateway that, once again, leads to a naked and open broad wall.

You know what to do this time, and you are not wasting any time. You draw the green runes of Fair Trade’s spell on the canvas of your mentality as you prepare and allow the surge of black magic to escape out of your body and swiftly cover it in a thick layer similar to a mix of tar and putrid oil. You press your hoof against the cold surface as you are able to see and sense your body losing its tangible presence; you transform into a shade, a ghost of the shadows and tailing darkness. You push yourself forward even further as you pass through the thick deposit of stone and crystal formations, the entrance through the solid wall, and then, you begin quickly flying towards your ascend.

>Body Changes:
9% [-1] Alicorn ‘Dark’ Magic [Magic]
19% [+1] Volatile Arcane [Magic]

Eventually, you burst out of the floor in the center of the court room as the existence of the purple braziers swiftly reflects off your crystal body, in a fashion similar to the eyes of a demonic but uncaring ward. You make sure the Crystal Heart is safe and secured as you let the remains of the shadow spell to slowly lift off your cadaver. Once you make sure you are ready to continue, you notice something strange – an uncanny and unwelcoming silence.

“Lunar Meridian? Fair Trade? Are you here?” you ask the hiding darkness only to receive… no answer back, nothing. You take secular and silent steps around the room as you finally notice the existence of some sort of pollution and haze, a rivulet layer of green vapor which have been slowly consuming the entirety of the room; it lies so thick you are unable to see your hooves. Is this some sort of deadly, toxic methane…?

You finally notice a body of your companion and friend: Lunar Meridian. The bat pony lies in unconscious with a visible trail of blood following her last movement. She lies on her chest with her head and one of her hooves pressed against the surface of the door that is now shut; either she have tried to keep it from closing and stop Trade from escaping, or she was attempting to escape after her herself. She is exhaling, slowly. A sleeping gas – it is the only explanation. There was one more trap in here, one Fair Trade have activated once you and Red Sulfur were gone.

>What do you do now?

Perfect song to fit Aurora:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LvEj01NBmQ

>>29825250
She'll get hers. As much as I would love to storm after her we need to restore the Heart ASAP.

>>29825250
Get the bat out of the room. We need as much help as we can and with the blood trail she likely have token heavy damage.

Past the thick crystal walls of the Crystal Castle, a dark and evil presence stands in wait…

I'm ending it here for today, thank you for playing! Hope you are enjoying the final arc so far!

>>29825437
There's something fun about replaying an episode with Aurora and Red. It's like all the shit you put us through is to make up for the fact that we know the answer already.

>>29825474

>>29826599

>>29827651

>>29828201

>>29829441

>>29831329

>>29825474
I wonder if Vincent was testing us if we would metagame or not.

>>29831993

>>29833207

“Curse you to the deepest pits of Tartarus, Fair Trade!” your scream ricochets through the empty courtroom as you slam your hooves against the surface of the throne gate; the thickest and most durable of all the doors in the Crystal Castle is unable to resist your primal anger. Under your push its surface bulges and then, explodes in a massive and quickly growing rupture. “I swear to the heavens that if I catch you ever again, you will be begging me to kill you!”

You notice a sparkle in the far corner of the room as you try to relax, a dazzling reflection of a medium-sized mirror in strange, dark crystal like frame: it is the Futurium Ash Mirror, the enchanted – no, cursed – object that allows you to see the final moments of your own death. You pause, no; you do not have the time to look into it… No, you are not afraid, it doesn’t matter now. You take an extremely concentrated pause before you charge towards the door and slam it wide open with a strike of your shoulder, releasing the clouds of growing, green sleeping gas further into the tall hallways of the castle. After, you grab the insensible bat pony by her hoof and drag her out of the room.

“Lunar Meridian,” you try to wake her up with a slow and gentle slap, “Snap out of it, you are dying out here…!”

No use, either her fight with Golden Shield have weakened her entirely, or the sleeping gas was that potent, strong and lethal. Regardless of the reason, she is completely knocked out; however, she is still able to breathe. You can’t say for certain that you feel or hear her breaths, however, her mouth opens and her chest rises. You drudge your head in insecurity before you come to a conclusion that you can’t stay here with her; you find yourself practically drowning in the urgent and merciless sands of time. The only thing you can do is to cover her wound with her hoof…

You do just that, you push the metallic hoof armor of Lunar Meridian against her semi-open wound in an attempt to cover it. Please stay safe. You make a nod of your head in some sort of gratitude before you sprint towards the uncannily and ghastly corridors. As you hold the Crystal Heart close to your chest, the pain grows and spreads until you feel a growing semblance of a migraine and asthma as if the artifact of love and happiness is rejecting you…

Damn it to Tartarus! You push your body forward despite the throbbing suffering and pain, the sooner you reach the pedestal and put the Crystal Heart on its rightful place, the sooner all of this will be over. The toxic, green light of the corrupted sun reflects off the crystals of your body and tauntingly ballets across the walls of the halls when you pass under the massive, stained glass windows of the castle, in some of those tainted mirror reflections you are forced to see and face the silhouette of the high king – the shadow tyrant himself – King Sombra. You shake your head in anger; pause and then you approach one of the windows in your haste closer, smashing it to complete oblivion.

As the glass shards rain upon the cold floor and echo with a clanging jitter, you stomp your hoof once more to finish and crush the engraved and stained art of Sombra whom is portrayed basking and taking pleasure in his absolute victory. You curse yourself for the wasteful moment as you continue on your rush to your destination. Once you enter the Caecus Sapphire maze and trap, you rush through it regardless. Somehow by instinct you body remembers and nudges you away from the invisible blades, sturdy walls and deadly pitfalls. Until you pass it without even having to slow down… at first. You stop when you spot the body of Golden Shield; even now, he is lying there – unmoving.

You force yourself to come to a stop and, after a begrudging and painful grunt you allow yourself to approach you friend once again; this time, however, your mind as clear as it will ever be. As you put your hoof near his body, you kneel down before his bleak and unmoving muzzle, the eyes of your friend are closed and his features are petrified in an everlasting smile. You bastard… killing himself and leaving you all alone by yourself, what right do you have to smile? You want to cry but you can’t, for no matter how hard you try the tears will not escape your hollow carcass.

You slowly raise the Crystal Heart and, after a moment of hesitation, you place the Crystal Heart on the body of your friend. With a single and simple touch, his dead body slowly begins to return to its imaginative and glorious, as well as vivid, crystalline and translucent color. Even more than ever, his snow white lion mane has a royal and regal feel to it. As white as a pearl and spread out like a ceremonial crest, it no doubts marks him as the defender of his kin. You remove the Crystal Heart off his chest after his final transformation is complete; your hooves tremble in agony.

“Rest in peace, my friend,” your crystallized voice breaks as you turn away from him, “I’m going to avenge you…”

With those words and an even tighter grip over the Crystal Heart, you rush further across the massive corners and through hallways, through the withered garden and further jumping across the massive set of stairs until you finally reach the destroyed entrance. You expose yourself to the greenish glance of King’s Glare and the rusted, orange smog of the outside; both the nature and the brainwashing tower are unaware of the salvation that you hold in your hooves.

You notice a large amount of cursed ponies slowly creeping in your direction, together with the remains of Blackward’s platoon as well as several crystal golems and militarized bat ponies. With this, you waste no time as you slide down the steps and the rush beneath the Crystal Castle to where the pedestal is… Only to stop on your tracks.

Near the Crystal Heart’s pedestal stands King Sombra, not in a nightmare but in flesh. He stands so close to you, yet the cold air around him makes you feel as if you are an ocean reach of him, an ocean that will drag you to its darkest depths if you even dare to try and take a step across it. As his head turns to face you with an uncannily jolt, your gemstone eyes meet his, and you are unsure if his are more living than yours; they are filled with a boiling, crimson blood. Around Sombra lie dead or defeated ponies of the united Equestria, including the Initiated of Harmony. Even with the Elements of Harmony on their necks, they were unable to defeat him or even pose enough of a threat for him. Gliding Wind, the element of loyalty, Verity, the element of honesty and an unknown mare with an element of laughter – all of them have failed. Next to them, lie Spitfire and Soarin as well as countless other pegasi. In his grasp, by the force of his diabolic magic, Sombra holds a pale, light grayish cerise maned mare, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

“Still living and still kicking are you not, my treacherous apprentice? I’m satisfied by your decision to bring the Crystal Heart to me,” his tone a strange, cacophonic mix of mockery and royal thankfulness, “Now; you shall give to me…”

>What do you do now?

>>29834548
Someones been to busy with stroking his ego. Bow head in fake devotion and keep a firm grip on the heart both with hooves and tk. Approach him and as soon as he reaches out for it use the blinding spell and run towards the pedestal.

>>29834934
That would work, can we also punch him in that stupid face of his after we blind him.

>>29834548
I have had the strength and wit to survive it seems. Is it worth it? What is there to rule over? A land of the dead? You will turn all that has worth to dust.

>>29834934
>>29834965
It's an idea, but I doubt it'll work since he's fuck off powerful. Or! We can also cast the spell that makes us intangible to reach the pedistal.

>>29835024
He's powerful, but not wise. He think we are still loyal to him, so his guard is down and we have the surprise attack on him.

>>29835044
After what we've done I doubt he'll think we're loyal.

>>29835214
Well he doesn't know what we did. If you read the last paragraph, he's not only mocking us but also thankful we did all the dirty work to get the heart even though he could of done it himself. So we have the upper hand right now and he think we are still loyal to him. Also if he see we are being disloyal at any point he will just take control of us and force us to watch as he destroy the heart.

>>29835256
But the same paragraph he calls us treacherous.

>>29835288
We have a king who is full of himself and know that nothing can't stop him, but the crystal heart. So he know we gone through all his bullshit just to get to the crystal heart thinking we will just give up and give him the heart when he appear in front of the pedestal. So we need to distract him in some way to put the heart back where it belong.

hmm

>>29834934
This seems kinda okay.

>>29834965
This we can do later, when we will place the Heart where it should be.

File: king_sombra_by_roselinath-d8xgabk.png (692KB, 900x900px) Image search: [Google]

692KB, 900x900px

Is Sombra a misunderstood but well-intentioned villain?

>>29837350
I want Sombra to take us as his dark Queen and have his foals.

Bump of fear.

>>29839483
Let it die, Vincent will start a new thread on Friday.

>>29839492
Let it die, let it die.