They were in Apple Loosa at last, walking around and looking around the town. It looked like an old western town, like you would see in those old movies, which reminded Zach of many stories of old that always got him excited as a kid. Shaking his head clear of these old memories, he took a moment to note how most of the buildings were boarded up and given some reinforcements. Looking forward, he started paying attention to what Braeburn had to say about the town, since most of the buildings didn't serve their original purpose anymore. Except the bar. That seemed to be perfectly normal. Walking into the building at the end, which was now the headquarters for the Apple Loosians, they took seats around a table. A map of Equestria sat on top, red flags on the majority of locations, while green flags dotted a town every now and then.
"Obviously, we're not the only place holding out against the forces of Chaos, as they've come to call themselves, but we're one of the more noticed ones. I'm sure you saw our handy work," Braeburn said, before he pointed to one of the green flags, which was on the town by the name of 'Baltimare'. "Plenty of others are holding out in Baltimare, but I highly doubt they are even close to working together. It's probably just every pony for themselves there. We only consider it friendly since the Wonderbolts are holding the area as best they can," Shaking his head as he finished his sentence, Braeburn looked around at all of them, waiting for someone to say something. He'd done all the talking so far.
"Alright, why are all the cities in Equestria horse puns of cities from Earth?" Zach asked, looking around at the rest of them, only for all of them to shrug their shoulders while giving him confused looks. Shaking his head after realizing what he had just asked them, he waved off the question like he never even asked it and let them continue with whatever they needed to say.
"Anyways, we need to go to Baltimare soon, see if there are any ,'rebels', as they call themselves,' would like to come back with us to help, since we're planning a raid on the fortresses the Chaos forces have made nearby," Braeburn said, before looking to Rarity, "do you know where any of your friends are?" He asked, earning a shake of her head in reply. Letting out a sigh, he mumbled something quietly, then started walking towards the stairs. Before he could climb them, the door was thrown open by a frantic looking pony, who was gasping for breath while he looked around. Seeing Braeburn, he made his way across the room as quickly as possible, nearly tripping in the process.
"We've got trouble and it's coming fast!" he said, before he calmed himself a bit. "Sombra is on his way," he stated, fear in his eyes. The room was silent for a minute, looks of dread on all their faces. Except for Zach, since he wasn't quite sure who he was.
"Can I get an explanation on who this Sombra guy is?" Zach asked, looking around at everyone. Rarity went to explain who he was, but was cut off when a crystal started slowly growing out of the floor next to them. They all watched it for a second, watching it slowly grow before it started shaking the building.
"Run!" Braeburn yelled, snapping them all back to reality as they booked it for the door, getting out just in time as the crystal shot up in size, tearing the building a new one. All the while, a nagging feeling was in the back of Zach's head and it just bothered him, he wasn't quite sure why. Waving it off for now, he joined the others as they kept running, random crystals coming up out of the ground. Getting a clear picture of what this guy was capable of now, Zach took a moment to look around for Sombra. This was a mistake, as he ran straight into a crystal, which responded to his contact by sending out more crystals in the shape of a cage.
"Well damn," Zach grumbled quietly, as the crystals started closing in, making it hard for him to even sit in there. They didn't stop until he was curled up into a tight ball on the ground. Catching a glimpse of his friends running through a crack in the crystals, he saw them looking back at where he was, looks of, he wasn't entirely sure, on their faces. "Keep going, I'm done for," he said, mostly to himself. They seemed to react to this, as they all turned and ran from Apple Loosa, earning him a little laugh. With incredible timing like that, he felt like a genius. Until a dark mist flew in front of him, then he felt scared. He could just barely see a solid form in the middle before the mist flew away.
There, standing before him was a grey guy in armor, a black horn that slowly turned a bright red at the tip was present and very ominous. Spooky even. The man was wearing what appeared to be battle armor, he could only imagine how powerful this guy was to walk around with armor like that on. The last thing he took note of was the crown on his head, which looked cool in his opinion. A large smile was present, but he didn't say anything as he leaned in, his dark hair flowing in the wind, before it flew into his face and made him grunt in annoyance. Stifling a laugh, Zach watched him struggle to actually get it out of his face, his grunts growing angrier with every failed attempt.
Stopping his futile struggle, Sombra pulled out a brush made of dark crystals with a hint of red in them. Taking it to his hair, he quickly battled it out of his face, and like magic it stayed out of his face. Now that he was not being bothered by his hair, he leaned in once more, while throwing a glare that screamed 'I dare you' at his hair, before looking Zach dead in the eyes.
"Yessssss," He hissed, which only caused some more stifled laughter to come from Zach.
"Yessssss?" Zach asked in a mocking hiss, which caused him to bust out in laughter, earning an angry growl from the man.
"Cease this foolish behavior!" He suddenly bellowed, ceasing the laughter from Zach as he gave him a very worried look. "Good, now listen, peasant. You are now a prisoner of King Sombra!" Sombra announced, as crystals flew out at Zach's hands, making heavy shackles as the crystal cage he was in receded. Standing up, he felt just how heavy they were, which made it quite obvious to him how hard it would be to run.
"But seriously though, why did you just come up to me and say 'yes' like that?" He asked, waiting for an answer from the king. It took him a minute, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he thought up a way to explain it. After a minute, he found a way to explain it.
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna banished the Crystal Empire while under my control, and their magic was too powerful for me to revert on my own, destroying my ability to speak normally as a result," he said, anger clear in his voice as a dark feeling surrounded the immediate area. "Now that they themselves were banished, I hope they harm themselves trying to return," he spat out with obvious anger, a crystal chain sprouted from the shackles that Zach wore and went straight into Sombra's hand and he started pulling him along. This didn't last long, since Zach did his best to match his pace.
"I've been ordered by 'Lord Frank' to bring you to him, but I have a better plan for you," Sombra said, not sounding very happy when he mentioned Frank. After seeing Zach's uncertain face, he slowly let out a long, evil, dark, laugh. A crystal cart came rolling up, crystal beings pulling it. A cage made of.....iron was on the cart, and the door was already open for him. Guess even Sombra knows his limits when it comes to glittering crystals.
"Don't bother throwing me in, I can get in there myself," Zach said, stepping ahead of Sombra to get in, but he was simply picked up from behind and hurled into the cage. "What the hell did I just say?" Standing up as he asked, he looked at the grinning face of the dark king, before a separate cart made of wood and iron rolled up beside them, a throne of crystals sitting in the back. Watching as Sombra climbed into it, he realized just how much this guy was going to be a pain. Without a call from the king, the carts started moving again, showing just how obedient the crystals were to this man.
"We have much to discuss, and I'm sure you'll love your new home," King Sombra called out, somehow making his voice reach his ears from behind. Plus it overpowered the sounds of the wheels rolling through the dust and the grinding sound that they made as they rolled. "I know you won't come willingly, just because of the....circumstances, but I ensure you that this will be way better than dying to Frank" he continued, which beckoned Zach to turn around and face him as he talked.
"What the...hell?" Zach mumbled quietly in confusion as he observed Sombra without his chest piece, a drink in hand and grapes in a goblet right next to him. What a sight to behold indeed, and it made him look like even more of an asshole. Sombra threw him a large grin, before he used his magic to levitate another drink from somewhere next to him, before bringing it over to Zach.
"Drink, I'm sure you'll enjoy it," he said, before taking a sip from his own glass. Taking the glass into his hand, he took a long good look at the liquid to make sure it wasn't something bad. "Stop being so skeptical, it's just water in a crystal glass that makes it look like something else," the king clarified, which seemed to be purely honest in his mind, since the king hasn't given him a proper reason to distrust him yet, besides him being straight up evil. Bringing it to his lips, he felt the liquid pour into his mouth. It was water. Cold too. Pulling it away from his dry lips, he felt a new wave of energy flood through him, like water was the only thing he would need to survive. Besides, water tastes way better when you're in a desert anyways.
"Alright, I see you aren't lying to me, yet," Zach said to the dark king, as he continued to drink from the glass, "but what I want to know is what you have in store for me," he continued, keeping an eye on him as he gave him that dastardly grin again. Damn that was hot. No, wait...
"Nothing too terrible, just a special necklace that shows your allegiance to me," Sombra said, which took Zach a bit to realize what this meant, but it hit him like a train when he finally realized what he meant. "Don't worry, you'll be in control most of the time, and you'll only lose control when I will it," he continued, a laugh slowly rising from his throat, filling the air around them.
"I'm so boned..." Zach mumbled as he finished his drink. With a sad sigh and full acceptance of defeat, he held it out for a refill.