There was one thing King Sombra could give the guards who escorted him; they refrained from attempting to make conversation. All the better; guard ponies on duty that were chatty were liable to shame their post in some way or another. He was led in silence down several halls and passages. They were barely wide enough for two ponies crossing in opposite directions to pass by each other comfortably, and the ceilings in most of these passages were much lower than those in the ballroom and grand hall. Before long he felt like the walls were pressing in ever so slightly. Any members of the palace staff they encountered leapt to the sides of the halls somewhat dramatically and waited for them to pass. They never said anything to the guards, but their whispers followed Sombra down the halls and the sensation of their eyes crawled the length of his spine the whole way.
Suspicion was rooted in fear and uneasiness, and part of him took pride in knowing he inspired terror with his presence alone. His infamy had only grown in the thousand years since he enslaved the Crystal Empire to his will and was banished by the Elements of Harmony. What could stop or prevent his return to power if he so wished it?
Princess Luna.
This time the pain in his chest was sore, a dull ache, and didn’t pass right away.
True, she wasn’t the only thing standing in the way of that course of action. Princess Celestia was formidable enough on her own, and if the two sisters combined their power— He gave a small shudder. That wasn’t something he wished to relive any time soon. Not to mention the new wielders of the Elements could equally pose a problem. But still, the Princess of the Night…
He inhaled deeply, held his breath for a beat, then exhaled slowly through his nostrils. Weariness crept into his bones. What was the use of it? Centuries ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated to seize power. In fact, he hadn’t! However, now he was struggling to see the point in it. Something had changed after he left Luna at the mercy of Chrysalis and her Changelings. Now the benefit in such an action didn’t spring to mind right away. Really, was there any benefit in returning to rule the way he had before?
Is it worth the effort it would take to seize power? Is it worth the effort necessary to then hold onto what I’ve taken? He found his gaze drawn downward to his hooves as he walked along, and swallowed over the hard knot in his throat. Is it really worth… her hating me?
He allowed his steps to drag and his mood plummeted even further somehow. Around him the halls blurred from his sight, not passing quickly but just vanishing from his span of attention. It was only when he saw a transition from the tile and masonry into a rough, rocky floor that he paused and started to take notice of his surroundings once again. Before them a flight of barely-shaped stone stairs descended into a vast, dark cavern, lit only by the soft glow of multi-colored crystals dotted here and there. Sombra lifted his head and pricked his ears up. Perhaps it was mere imagination but he thought he heard low, musical tones coming from the crystals.
“This way,” one of the guards said, before he began their descent into the gloom, illuminating his horn for light. Sombra watched him take the first four steps down, then followed cautiously. The stone stairs felt firm beneath his hooves but they slanted on a somewhat steep angle and dropped off into the darkness on either side. He place his weight as carefully as he could, trying to focus on both where he stepped and where he was being led.
A tone like a low, lone chime echoed around them. Sombra flicked his ears multiple times, trying to listen closer and pinpoint where the sound originated from. The first note trailed off, growing duller and duller until finally it had faded from hearing entirely. But even as he lost that note, another chimed in the opposite direction, the tone a hollow gong.
“Do you hear that?” he said aloud before he could stop himself.
“Hear what?” the guard behind him demanded, his tone instantly suspicious. Sombra didn’t answer right away and instead began to look all around them, trying to see as many of the crystals as he could.
“That sound,” he said absently. “Like music.”
One of the stallions snorted quietly and the other made a scoff that he tried to mask as a fake sneeze. “Probably an after-party dance or something,” the one leading the way said dismissively. “The gala is so loud you can catch a few chords every now and then even down here.”
Sombra wanted to argue the point but held his tongue and instead replied, “Yes… perhaps you’re right.”
That appeared to satisfy the guards, at least partially. They were fools regardless but it served no purpose to debate; if they could not hear the sounds the crystals were making, so be it. The unicorn king didn’t need to say anything that would raw more unwanted suspicion from them and besides, it was likely a result of his own affinity with crystal magic. He did his best to ignore it for the time being and indeed, the sounds faded to the edge of his hearing for a while.
They must have traveled down half a tower’s length before Sombra was finally led to a spacious alcove. It cut deep into the cavern wall and within it, many large crystals grew randomly from the rock, emitting a faint luminescence. Here he felt a pulse akin to a heart’s beating coming from the crystals, and their chimes were faint but harmonious.
These have known magic, he thought to himself, and recently. He entered the alcove cautiously, slowly examining his surroundings.
“You will wait here for the rest of the night into the morning,” one of the guards announced.
“When the princesses send for you, an escort will arrive to show you to the audience chamber,” the other declared. Sombra glanced back at them, irritated by their coarse manner, but the two young stallions were already departing and paid him little heed. He settled down with a derisive snort.
Commoners! No respect or manners, the lot of them!
Once he’d put them out of his mind, he regarded the alcove with interest again. For all that he was practically still a prisoner, he finally felt a bit more at ease. This place felt comfortable, familiar. He was briefly reminded of the Star Lake Caves from his youth and the magic and crystals he’d found there. The two places were similar, yet different. The residual magic here felt warmer, gentler, something he found peculiar. He looked upward, wondering.
Crystals are some of the most powerful conduits and stores for magic, he thought. Many naturally absorb stray magical energy, and it feels as though these have absorbed a great deal. But this doesn’t feel like any sort of magic I’ve encountered before. Is it possible… This cave is right below the Canterlot Royal Palace. With so many ponies in one place, with all this… ‘love and harmony’, could the crystals also have absorbed some of their positive energy?
Theoretically he was sure it was possible, though that didn’t make the possibility a definite. He shifted where he lay, a particularly light blue vein of crystal catching his eye. Well, there was a way to find out… Pushing himself to his hooves, he approached the vein cautiously. The light blue crystal emitted a soft glow and a low hum as he drew nearer. Strange; it was almost as though it was attuned to him. That was impossible, of course. There was no way a crystal so full of positive magical energy was naturally attuned to his sort of dark magic. Yet all the same it responded to his approach.
What does this mean? he wondered. Pausing, he thought on it and came to the conclusion that there was only one way to really find out the crystal’s secrets. He drew closer, preparing to magically extricate the crystal from the rock surrounding it—
“I wouldn’t dooo that if I were youuu!”
Sombra jumped at the unexpected sound of Discord’s voice, scrambling away from the crystal vein and looking around wildly for the draconequus. Chunks of small rock fell from the ceiling and he glanced up, stunned to see Discord’s head and entire upper torso emerged halfway through the top of the cavern. Sombra worked his mouth soundlessly for a few seconds before finally getting a few words out.
“H-how… how did you—?”
“Drilled a tunnel,” Discord answer the unfinished question casually, as if it were the most obvious solution to come up with. “You know, they really should consider making some subterranean levels. Would make for excellent storage space. Or a training area for practical magic. You know, whatever suits one’s fancy.” Sombra furrowed his brow at this, but didn’t have the opportunity for a remark before the chaos spirit continued. “Anyhoo, the end of our little encounter with Their Highnesses didn’t quite go exactly as I planned—”
“Did you even have a plan to begin with?” the unicorn interrupted dryly.
“Not entirely, but that’s beside the point. I was wondering, since we’re both sort of in the doghouse now, why don’t we keep each other company until you have to go topside for more ‘Interrogation With Royalty’?”
Sombra lifted his brows, giving Discord a flat look. “You’re likely to pester me out of boredom anyway, so any objections I would make to your company would be utterly useless, I presume.”
At this Discord shot out of the ceiling like a cork from a bottle and got right in the unicorn king’s face, grinning fiendishly. “Got it in one!” he exclaimed. “You know, you really ought to be given more credit for your brilliance, King Spooky-Boots! You’re so much more clever than most ponies realize.”
Sombra gave a noncommittal hum. He wasn’t sure how much of the draconequus’s comment was sincere and how much was gleeful sarcasm. Still, he had a feeling he needed to say something, lest his uninvited ‘guest’ decide he wasn’t chatty enough.
“I could say the same for you,” he returned as politely as he was able.
“Thank you, you’re too kind. And anyway, who really plans out a scheme in full detail?”
The apparent non-sequitur threw the dark king for a loop. “I— what?”
“You asked if I even had a plan to begin with,” Discord remarked, filing the talons of his eagle foreclaw with a glittering purple hoof file. “I’m not exactly fond of that ‘plan’ word, it implies too much organization, too much association with dear old Twilight.” He pause to turn and stare quite directly at nothing on the far wall, adding in a conspiratorial stage whisper, “Really, that should be her special talent, don’t you think?” Before Sombra could fully make sense of this bizarre behavior, Discord addressed him again, pointing with the file. “You see old chum, I don’t plan, I scheme. Much more available wiggle room. Plus if the scheme gets foiled, no panic or distress on my part. It’s far more practical.”
“Mm, if you say so, I suppose I’ll take your word for it,” Sombra said. “So tell me something.”
“Yyyeeesss?” his company asked in a tone of false sweetness. “How can I help you, Your Phantasmagorical Majesty?”
“Are you trying to avoid the princesses now that your scheme to ‘party-crash’ with me has completely been derailed?”
Discord’s ears snapped up and his eyes widened like a cornered animal. A second later he flung the file out of sight, a too-wide grin on his face. “A-haaa, I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” he answered. Sombra snorted and rolled his eyes.
“Naturally,” he agreed sarcastically. He looked away and yet again his eye fell upon the vein of light blue crystal. Of course! He’d almost forgotten thanks to the abrupt appearance of the chaos-bringer. Regardless of the distraction, the crystal still hummed and reacted to his presence. Ignoring Discord for the moment, he moved toward the vein, transfixed. He needed to know what was causing this to occur. A simple spell should do the trick…
There was a sharp, painful yank on his tail.
“Weren’t you listening to me earlier? It’s not like you’ve got an excuse like ‘oh, I don’t have ears’. Here, need me to spell it out nice and slow for you?” Discord asked before leaning in uncomfortably close and all but shouting in his ears. “I— wouldn’t— do— that— if— I— were— you.”
Sombra jerked his tail free in indignant rage, horn glowing with the dark, sparking smoke of his magic as he aimed it at Discord’s throat. “How dare you grab my tail like that?! I am a king; you ought to have learned to respect my personal space by now!”
“Yeesh, touchy,” Discord huffed, pulling back. “And here was kind old Dissy, just trying to help you out. Learn to take a favor, Spooky! Look, I don’t get the whole fixation you’ve got with crystals, but you might wanna think twice before you got casting spells in this place. No telling if Their Highnesses can detect that and think you’re up to something, after all.”
Begrudgingly the unicorn backed off, releasing his anger and his magic slowly. Really, the draconequus had a fair point. Perhaps some of the magic in these crystals came from enchantments placed there. Luna and Celestia could be looking in on them right now. He growled low, struggling to get his irritation under control.
“I hate that you have a point.”
“Yes, most ponies do,” Discord said, nodding amicably. “What’s with that, anyway, your little fascination with crystals? Aside from having ruled the Crystal Empire once and all that?”
Sombra regarded him with cautious interest. It was rare enough anypony asked him personal questions, Luna being the most recent exception otherwise. Rarer still did he ever get questioned about his affinity for crystals. He supposed nopony cared to consider that, likely because they were too afraid of him to ever give much thought to anything beyond getting away. And much as the draconequus didn’t lend himself to a serious manner, something in Discord’s voice sounded genuine when he asked about the connection. Sighing, Sombra took a second to compose himself before relaxing and clearing his throat.
“What do you know about unicorn magic? Anything at all?”
“Eh, can’t say I’ve ever really cared to know. But I figured I’d ask because nobody else seems to know why you’re obsessed with the dratted things. Besides, isn’t that what friends are for?”
Sombra gave a small shake of his head before he said anything further. Really, Discord was incredible if he already considered them to be friends! Sombra had never truly had any real friends in his life, not that he could recall, and he certainly didn’t know the first thing about being one.
Remarkable, he thought. Truly incredible.
Somewhere on the edge of his hearing, the crystals in the cavern gave small chimes, encouraging and comforting.