Three hours earlier...
At the Insurgency's HQ, Starlight Glimmer and Insurgency Sunburst were putting on the finishing touches on Insurgency Sombra's upgraded anti-alicorn armor. Insurgency Celestia and the others have already left for their rescue mission, so there was no risk of them getting caught. It was Insurgency Sombra's specific request that his wife wouldn't find out about this. This was something he had to do himself.
"The attack on the castle has probably started by now." Starlight said, causing Insurgency Sunburst to pause his work and look at her.
"Would you rather be out there?"
"Understandable, isn't it? My friends are out there, fighting against the most powerful being in Equestria to save Princess Celestia and I'm stuck in here!" Starlight complained. Insurgency Sunburst put on a hurt expression.
"And here I was thinking you were happy to spend time with me." he joked, causing Starlight to chuckle. Though there was a certain bitterness in it that prevented Starlight from laughing at it. Before she could ask about it, Insurgency Sombra entered the room.
"Is it ready?"
"As it'll ever be." Insurgency Sunburst replied, giving the suit a pat. "Though I still wish you would have told me earlier that you found a way to fix it. I could have found a way to make it safer."
"Safer?" Insurgency Sombra retorted with a raised eyebrow. "Sunburst, I'm about to embark on a suicide mission to bring down the most powerful pony on the planet in the middle of a heated battle with only one shot to make it count. Safety was never an option here."
"Not with that attitude." Insurgency Sunburst muttered under his breath with an eye roll. Insurgency Sombra stepped forward and gave the armor a long, contemplative look, which didn't go unnoticed by Starlight.
"Having second thoughts?" Insurgency Sombra sighed and looked down.
"There's no room for second thoughts here. If I won't do this, nopony else will." Insurgency Sunburst felt this was the perfect time to bring up something again.
"I think Celestia would. If only you told her..."
"Sunburst, we went over this already. I told you why I'm the one who has to do this." Insurgency Sunburst finally gave up and left the room with a groan. Starlight watched him walking away in concern.
"Is he gonna be okay?"
"No, I don't think he will." Insurgency Sombra replied as he started putting on the suit, greatly surprising Starlight with his blunt answer. "The falling out he had with his Starlight when she joined the Regime really broke him. He loved her. He probably still does, but now he has to live with the knowledge that they can never be together again. Either the Regime wins and we're all gonna be imprisoned or executed, or we win and our Starlight will be imprisoned along with the other Regimers, probably for life." he explained.
Starlight cast another look at the door which Insurgency Sunburst walked out on. That would explain this bitterness she had never seen on his Sunburst. And from what she gathered he was also friends with Sombra in this world. So watching him march off into battle, probably to his doom, did little to lift his spirits.
"Either way, now we have a job to do." Insurgency Sombra pulled out a purple pill and swallowed it.
"Is that the alicorn pill the others mentioned?" Starlight asked.
"You didn't take yours?" Insurgency Sombra asked curiously.
"Are you kidding? I have a pill that increases the consumers abilities and endurance to alicorn levels! No way I'm gonna give up on a chance to study that!" Insurgency Sombra couldn't help but chuckle at this. She was Twilight's student alright. "Hey, if this mission is so dangerous, why don't you take more? Maybe those would make you stronger than Twilight. Or at least an equal."
"That's not how they work. Besides, overdose can be very dangerous. This is how we lost Fleetfoot. That idiot thought if she swallowed a bunch of them she'll be able to take on Twilight on her own. Worked about as well as you'd expect." he then finished putting the armor on completely and turned towards the exit.
"Well, here goes nothing. But before I head out..." he pulled out an envelope and gave it to Starlight. "I would like you to give it to Celestia. My Celestia, to be precise. Can you do that for me?" Starlight looked at the letter.
"Would there be any point to me saying you'll get to give it to her yourself?"
"I think we both know the answer to that." Insurgency Sombra replied with the same blank expression. Starlight sighed and took the letter. "Thank you." the stallion said before making his way out, leaving Starlight to look at the letter with a sad expression.
Insurgency Sombra was making his way through the streets of Canterlot towards the castle where he hoped he would find the Empress. He met no resistance. In fact, he met nopony at all. Though, this shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, considering the skirmish at the castle. All the Regime and Insurgency forces were at the castle and the civilians were hiding in their homes. Insurgency Sombra's hopes slowly started rising. Maybe this mission won't be so hopeless after all.
Immediately after that thought, he was hit by something with such a force that it knocked him down to the ground. Before he could get up to look around for his attacker, he felt all four of his hooves held down on the ground. He could only struggle as a black figure walked over him and leaned to his face. It was a changeling.
"Call Thorax! We got another one!" he instructed the others. Insurgency Sombra quickly realized what was going on. The changelings believed him to be a Regimer. Now that he thought about it, perhaps he should have made some slight alterations in the suit's design. It was based on Regime tech and appearance and he and Insurgency Sunburst followed the blueprints to a t.
He could probably clean up this little misunderstanding, since Insurgency Thorax knew he was with the insurgents, but there was no time for that. He had to get to the castle as quickly as possible, but he also had to use his magic sparingly. He needed every bit of it against Regime Twilight. Before he could think about a solution, the changeling above him spoke.
"You know, it's been a while since we've had a proper meal, boys. For all five of us, this one may only provide a little snack, but it's better than nothing." the changeling snarled, before he placed his hooves on the sides of Insurgency Sombra's head and started to drain his love. And by doing so, he unwittingly gave him an opening. Insurgency Sombra headbutted the changeling, making him tumble into the one who was holding down his right backleg. This knocked him over and Insurgency Sombra immediately used his newly freed limb to kick away the changeling holding the other. He then pulled his legs up and tried to do a back flip to kick away the ones who were holding his forelegs. Once he was free, he wasted no time and started to run further towards the castle. But he never made it far. Before he could even make it down the street, a figure landed right in front of him and punched him, making him back away. The unicorn looked up to see Insurgency Thorax blocking his way.
"Just where do you think you're going, huh?"
"Thorax, stop! It's me! I'm..." Insurgency Sombra's attempt to talk his way out was interrupted by another punch.
"Hello, me! Looks like you already know me, so I won't bother with an introduction. Nice to beat you!" Insurgency Sombra knew by that point that he won't make it out if this without a fight. He was quickly able to subdue Insurgency Thorax even without his magic, the new changeling king wasn't much of a fighter. But he managed to hold him up for long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
Without being able to rely on his magic, Insurgency Sombra was quickly overwhelmed. He struggled in vain to get out of the changelings' grasp, but simply too many of them were holding him down. He looked up at Insurgency Thorax, but before he could try and explain himself again, a second figure stepped next to him. Insurgency Sombra scowled as he realized the main world's Chrysalis.
"Excellent catch, Thorax." Chrysalis mused. "I feel this one has extremely powerful magic. We might be able to use him for more than just a food source." Insurgency Sombra turned his glare towards Insurgency Thorax.
"You let her out and now you're also letting her take control of your race again, Thorax? Some king you are." when the changeling heard the voice. he finally realized who he was dealing with.
"Wait, Sombra? What are you doing out here?" Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.
"Sombra, you say?" the changeling queen scanned the unicorn with her horn. "You are a very powerful unicorn in my world, but that's nothing compared to what I'm feeling in you. I'm a little curious about you." Insurgency Sombra just rolled his eyes.
"I don't have time for this! Unless you want Twilight to win, let me go!" he yelled. Insurgency Thorax found this hard to believe.
"You beating Twilight? How? Even Celestia couldn't do that on her own."
"My armor. It has highly advanced magic inside it that can depower Twilight and take away her alicorn abilities." this got Chrysalis' attention. A suit with that much magical power could surely get her back to her world.
"That is very interesting. Tell me, Sombra, would you mind sharing?" she started walking towards the unicorn who immediately realized what she meant. She was going to take his suit. He had no choice, he had to use his magic now! Trying to use as little as he could, he managed to blast away the changelings who were holding him down. He ignited his horn and pointed it at Chrysalis.
"Don't try anything stupid! With this suit's power, I can easily overwhelm you!" Chrysalis just chuckled.
"I'm not so sure about that. We have been rounding up quite a few Regimers out here and I have taken a little love from each of them." she ignited her own horn and started advancing towards Insurgency Sombra. Insurgency Thorax wasn't liking how things were progressing and decided to stand between the two quarreling creatures.
"Hey, I think we should just settle down and talk things over. We all want the same thing here." Chrysalis had to restrain herself from slapping her forehead. Just how naive and ignorant this stupid grub was?
"Maybe you do, but I will be more than happy with a ticket back to my world. And with all the love I've collected here and that suit, I will be able to get." Insurgency Thorax was dumbstruck.
"But... according to what Sombra said, we're gonna need that suit to take down Twilight." Chrysalis growled. She just about had enough of this stupid kid.
"Did you actually think I care about your stupid little war, your rebellion and your hive? All I want is a way back home!" Insurgency Thorax was horrified.
"You're just going to ditch us? But... how can this be? Our Chrysalis even gave her life to tear down harmony in Equestria and leave it vulnerable for us!"
"Then your Chrysalis was an even bigger fool than you are! Now get out of my way!" she then blasted him away and threw herself at Insurgency Sombra. The unicorn was force on defensive, not wanting to waste any more of his magic. Instead, he tried to throw various debris at her that he found lying around. He had a hard time with this without his magic as he was not an earth pony. But Chrysalis used a magical barrier to protect herself with. Anything Insurgency Sombra threw at her just bounced off.
Cursing under his breath, Insurgency Sombra turned around and ran off to hide between the buildings. Chrysalis smirked viciously. "You can run, but you can't hide, Sombra. I can track your love. Never thought I'd ever feel it inside any version of you. And for Celestia, no less. But it gives you away." Chrysalis followed the trail of love which increased in intensity. Insurgency Sombra must be getting tired. And indeed, he caught her at the end of a street, panting and leaning against a building.
"There you are!" Chrysalis exclaimed in glee. She grabbed Insurgency Sombra with a telekinetic grab and slammed him against a wall, she then leaned in his face and focused all of her magic into her horn as she shoved in in his face. "Now, why don't you make it easy on yourself and just give me your suit." To Chrysalis' surprise, Insurgency Sombra just smiled brightly.
"Sorry, but I don't have it." Chrysalis looked down at him in confusion. He could clearly see the armor on him, what was he talking about? But then, Insurgency Sombra's body lit up in green light and he transformed into Insurgency Thorax. Chrysalis recoiled in shock.
"What?!" Insurgency Thorax then leaned his head to the side and Chrysalis felt her head being shoved into the wall. As it turned out, Insurgency Sombra sneaked up on her and bucked her from behind. Insurgency Thorax then used his own magic to finish the job with a blast that knocked the wicked queen unconscious.
"Thanks Thorax." Insurgency Sombra said as he helped the changeling up. "Without you, I would have wasted much magic to deal with her."
"If you really wanna thank me, don't tell Celestia that we let her out, ok?" Insurgency Thorax said nervously.
"Only if you keep her locked up this time." Insurgency Sombra replied with a chuckle.
"We will. And thanks. We will keep causing trouble around the city, you go and get Twilight. Good luck!" Insurgency Sombra thanked him and headed off towards the castle. Insurgency Thorax was about to pick up Chrysalis, when his brother walked up to him.
"There's something I don't understand. You may have copied Sombra's look, but she was using his love for Celestia to track him down. You couldn't copy his feelings. What was that about?" Insurgency Thorax laughed nervously.
"You heard what Sombra said, I need to get her back to HQ. See ya later, Pharinx." he said, before running away, leaving his brother staring after him in suspicion.
The battle at the castle was still raging on when Insurgency Sombra arrived. He had a hard time saying out of sight, but fortunately everypony seemed to be too preoccupied with with their current opponents to notice him.
He started looking around for Regime Twilight and after a few moments, he noticed her tussling with the main world ponies in the air. Currently, she was flying around with a lasso around her horn, dragging Applejack with her, before spinning around a couple times and throwing the farmpony at Rainbow Dash. The two collided in the air and crashed into the ground, right in front of Insurgency Sombra.
"Are you OK?" he asked as he helped them up. Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Oh, yeah. Never better. We were just thrown out of the air by a crazed, all powerful alicorn. No biggie." Before Insurgency Sombra could reply, he saw Regime Blueblood and Regime Spitfire heading their way. The two mares scoffed, not sure if they were ready for another fight, but Insurgency Sombra stepped forward.
"I'll handle those two. Go and help Cadence wear down Twilight as much as you can." they didn't even stop to respond before heading off. The Regime ponies tried to go after them, but Insurgency Sombra blocked their path. "You'll have to go through me first." they looked at each other, than back at Insurgency Sombra.
"As you wish."
"No problem."
Insurgency Sombra ran out of the castle courtyard and looked back to see the two Regimers chasing him. He managed to lure them away, but he didn't know what to do now. As he was running, he noticed an abandoned box of rockets laying around on the ground, probably left there by Regime troops who had to abandon their post to deal with the changeling disturbances.
Insurgency Sombra silently thanked the creator as be took the box and ignited the rockets with his horn and they flew out of the box towards his pursuers. Some of them hit Regime Blueblood in the face and chest, blasting him away and knocking him out, but Regime Spitfire simply dodged all of them in the air. Insurgency Sombra didn't even have time to curse before the Pegasus reached him and kicked him into a wall with both backlegs.
"Did you really expect that to work? The Wonderbolts do this kind of thing for a living!" she boasted. Insurgency Sombra slowly got up and glared at her.
"Why are you doing this, Spitfire? Twilight took away your place in the Wonderbolts. You're nothing but a goon to her! If you left her and joined us, we could help you restore your former glory." Regime Spitfire just rolled her eyes.
"Argh, not this again!" she groaned. "As I told Thunderlane, shove your offer where the sun doesn't shine! I may not be happy with my position within the Regime, but I like Equestria how it is right now. We finally have a leader who can get things done. Besides, I finally seemed to have gained favor with Twilight after saving Flurry Heart in the Statue Garden. I'm sure bringing her your head will improve my station even further." she grinned, much to Insurgency Sombra's horror.
"What happened to you, Spitfire. Did Soarin's death really affect you this much?" Regime Spitfire's eyes narrowed into a frightening glare as she threw herself at Insurgency Sombra.
"Don't mention his name, traitor!" she shouted in fury. "He was ten times the stallion you'll ever be! I lost him because of Celestia's incompetence! That won't happen again!"
"I'm sure he would be absolutely thrilled with you right now." Insurgency Sombra said sarcastically while dodging her attacks.
"He would agree!" Regime Spitfire screamed. "I'm doing this for him! He wouldn't turn his back on me! He wouldn't turn away from me!"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Insurgency Sombra had officially given up on Regime Spitfire at this point. She had obviously picked her side. And that meant he could stop holding back. Regime Spitfire was too quick for him to hit, so he settled for a different approach. "From Wonderbolts captain to Twilight's lackey. You've surely come a long way, Spitfire." he spat. Regime Spitfire narrowed her eyes and increased the ferocity of her attacks.
"Shut up!" she yelled, punching at him even harder. But due her furious state, she didn't even notice that she was only hitting a barrier.
"An embarrassment to the Wonderbolts and an embarrassment to the Regime too."
"Shut! Up!"
"And an embarrassment to your partner's memory."
"SHUT UP!" Regime Spitfire punched him as hard as she could, but the only thing she accomplished with this was injuring her hoof. She cried out in pain as she hugged her hoof to her chest and then Insurgency Sombra simply punched her lights out.
"And an embarrassment to Equestria." he was about to turn around and head back to the castle to find Regime Twilight, but he was met with another magic blast to the face, which he couldn't block since he already dispersed his barrier. He managed to stay on his hooves looked up to see Regime Rarity standing in front of him.
"I never wanted to believe Twilight when she said that you of all ponies work for the Insurgency! I can't imagine why somepony of your station would turn on the Empress!" Insurgency Sombra narrowed his eyes at the white unicorn.
"I couldn't just sit back and let Twilight herd all of Equestria like sheep! I'm surprised you could, Rarity."
"Twilight only wants what's best for us!"
"We are not her playthings! And she's no god! Now if you really want what's best for Equestria, step aside and let me deal with her!" in response, Regime Rarity just blasted him again. Insurgency Sombra blocked this time, but he realized that he already used up too much of his energy. And he still needed additional magic to teleport the two Celestias and Shining Armor off that train. He needed to end this quickly.
Regime Rarity blasted him again, but this time instead of blocking, he actually used a counterspell that threw her attack straight back at her. Regime Rarity wasn't expecting this and she ended up bieng knocked back by her own attack leaving her moaning on the ground in pain. Insurgency Sombra was about to make sure she stays down, but then he heard a train whistle from the distance.
This was the signal. The train was about to get in range for him to get his ponies off of it. He turned to do just that, but before he could, he saw a purple blur dash into the train's direction above him. He immediately knew that it was Regime Twilight and the realization made him panic. If she learned that the attack on the castle was just a diversion, that meant his plan was also in danger. He had to act as quickly as possible.
"Well, may fortune favor the foalish." he sighed. He quickly performed the teleportation spell, then he used every bit of magical energy he had left to charge up his armor and unleashed an almighty cry.
"TWILIGHT! YOUR TIME IS OVER!"
Apparently his call had the desired effect, as shortly after the train in the distance came to a screeching halt, Regime Twilight flew out of it and headed straight towards him. This was it. It was now or never. Insurgency Sombra charged up the armor, he channeled every bit of his magic into his horn, recited his wife's spell in his head and...
...and then he felt a surge of electric shock tear through his body, causing him to scream in pain as the power crystals in his armors overloaded and exploded and his body burned everywhere. The cause of his suffering was Regime Rarity who managed to recover and saw Insurgency Sombra about to attack Regime Twilight and decided to intervene. The shockwaves around Insurgency Sombra's body only ended when Regime Twilight came crashing down on him and shoved him into the ground. The Empress of Magic glared down at the wounded unicorn who was groaning in pain and coughing up blood.
"I knew it." she snarled. "I knew you would never betray Celestia! Finally you give me a reason to put an end to your manipulations" Insurgency Sombra couldn't help but chuckle humorlessly. Form what he discovered about his main world counterpart, manipulation was something he excelled at. It seemed like they did have at least one thing in common.
"If you want to see a betrayer so bad, your majesty, look in a mirror." he scoffed up at the alicorn before coughing some more. Regime Twilight glared down at her, then lifted him up with her magic.
"My rule brought peace!" she argued, sounding like she was trying to convince herself rather than Insurgency Sombra, but by that point he was far too gone to care who it was.
"Your peace... Your peace... changed you too much." the reference was vague, but Regime Twilight still got it. And suffice to say, she wasn't happy about it. She used her forelegs to crush Insurgency Sombra's neck, which took longer than it normally would have due to the alicorn pill, but eventually, the unicorn's neck did give in with a sickening crunch and she let go of his lifeless body, allowing it to fall on the ground.
Regime Twilight smirked in satisfaction as she looked down at him. She felt good. She finally managed to get rid Insurgency Celestia's inside pony. Another step to finally end the Insurgency. But as she was about to leave the scene, she heard some civilian ponies around her who witnessed what she did and they didn't sound too pleased about it.
"Did the Empress just kill Sombra?"
"Sombra would never threaten Equestria! Why would she?"
"How could Twilight do this?!"
Regime Twilight tried to ignore their voices, but as more and more ponies gathered around to discuss what just happened.
"Did she do it just to spite Celestia?"
"This is horrible! He was one Equestria's greatest ponies!"
Regime Twilight shut her eyes and covered her ears to try and shut them out, but they just kept coming.
"Is this our Empress who's supposed to protect us?"
"Murderer!"
"Are we sure the Insurgents are the bad guys in this war?"
"ENOUGH!" Regime Twilight screamed before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky, leaving behind a stunned crowd, including Regime Rarity. The white unicorn stared at the retreating form of her Empress in shock. She had seen her do some pretty extreme things since she took over, but at least her previous victims had trial before they were executed. What Regime Twilight just did was flat-out murder. A line that Regime Rarity expected she still wouldn't cross. She looked back down at Insurgency Sombra's corpse in horror. Sweet Faust, when was this nightmare going to stop?
Insurgency Celestia made her way back to the labs of the Insuregncy's HQ, eager to see if her husband made it back alright after getting them off the train. Shining Armor has already taken the main world's Celestia to the infirmary and Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Cadence immediately made their ways to her once they arrived back. The survivors have all made it back. Casualties have been... acceptable. But the one survivor Insurgency Celestia wanted to see the most was nowehere to be found. She only found Starlight Glimmer sitting at a table, looking rather grim.
"Starlight, where is my husband?" the unicorn looked up at Insurgency Celestia sadly and gave her the letter she got from Insurgency Sombra. Insurgency Celestia was confused, but she opened it anyway and instantly realized her husband's hoofwriting.
My dearest Celestia,
If you're reading this, that means I have made the ultimate sacrifice for Equestria, it's ponies and most of all, for you, my love. I know you will be furious with me once you read this letter and also heartbroken to learn I am gone. But in your heart, you will come to realize that it was the right thing to do.
I have found a way to fix your anti-alicorn device and make it operable against Twilight. I knew that if I told you. you would insist on using it yourself. I know how stubborn you can be more than anypony. But I couldn't let you do that. Equestria and the Insurgency need you. Mort than they need me. And Twilight had become too powerful. I had to do this or die trying. But deep inside, I think I've already accepted that it's gonna be the latter. But if I'm going to die, I'll do it happily knowing that my death protected you.
I'm sorry for everything we missed out on. I'm sorry I never fulfilled your greatest desire and made you a mother. I'm sorry for these past five years where we could not be together without having to worry about being ambushed by Regime death squads. And I'm sorry I had to leave you like this, by deceiving you and not even saying goodbye. We all knew this would happen one day, the curse of your immortality, but I'm sorry it had to be like this.
Please, grant me my last request and be strong for me. Move on. Win this war and create a new Equestria better than ever before, because if anypony can do it, it's you. And once you're done, be there for everypony like you always were and find somepony who will fill in the void I have left in your heart. I couldn't ask you to mourn me forever, I could not rest knowing that you did. I have had a wonderful life with you and I don't regret a minute of it. All I regret is not being there in the moment of your triumph.
I bid you farewell now, my love. I must go now. My body may be gone, but my soul will always belong to you.
Your forever loving husband, Sombra.
Insurgency Celestia felt like the world faded around her. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream in rage at Insurgency Sombra's betrayal. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to find somepony to blame for this. But in the end, there was only one thing she could do. Strangely enough, she didn't do this in a while. She could resist this when Canterlot was destroyed, she could resist this when her most faithful follower and loyal student tried to kill her and she could resist this when her sister turned on her and became Nightmare Moon again. But this was now too much. In the first time in over five years, Insurgency Celestia cried. Her husband may have believed that she was going to win this war, but frankly, she wasn't so confident in that anymore.