And THANK YOU for coming to see the GRRRREAT AND POWERRRFUL TRIXIE!
Cheers erupted on the streets as the unicorn street magician soaked in the applause and delighted cries from the crowd. Her knock-em-dead fireworks finale went off, and she listened to the herd of onlookers eagerly talking about the performance.
"Did you see that? Those purple sparks? That was the new Princess!"
"Honey, look! It's one of the Element Bearers!"
"Wow, I bet she had the magician set them off just to let us know she was coming through to wave hello!"
The second wave of magical fireworks went off with a little extra red pepper, or maybe it was just Trixie seeing a little more red as Twilight Sparkle innocently upstaged her without even noticing, waving at the crowds below as she did a quick circle.
It'd been bad enough trying to rival her when she was just a unicorn. But noooo, they had to stick WINGS on her and make her a pretty pretty purple princess for good measure! Trixie was tempted to give a few rockets a little extra accidental "kick" to scorch some prissy pony tail, but the two armored pegasi shadowing Twilight made that idea vanish faster than her disappearing 2-bits-in-the-hoof-and-out-the-ear trick.
Sailing with regal majesty, Twilight finished her quick lap around the square and sped towards the stadium.
"If they see you scurry, the ponies always worry....", thought Twilight. And besides, it meant she'd noticed she was being tailed. "YOU TWO CAN STOP HIDING BEHIND THAT AWNING NOW, I KNOW YOU'RE BACK THERE!"
Orange Wedge slid from behind a corner, managing to keep a perfect guardpony face and seem sheepish at the same time. Big Starlight looked only mildly disappointed that the jig was up as he pulled up to hover in front of Twilight.
"Miss Sparkle, it came to our attention that you happen to have six very Element-like lumps in your saddlebags as you left Celestia's quarters. We thought you might want to know.". The Appleloosan Desert would have felt wetter than Big Starlight's comment... "Also, you completely forgot to bring a single piece of her Highness' jewelry out of said car. Would you be so kind as to explain, Miss Sparkle?"
Twilight Sparkle managed her first simultaneous aerial facehoof and sigh, clopping a gold-plated shoe against her horn. Didn't Celestia hire the Royal Guard to look good and NOT pay attention to royal hijinks? "Gentleponies, I'm sorry to have concerned you, but yes- there IS something going on at the Stadia, and her Highness has requested the Elements be brought forth."
"So we're holding her up. Big S, we shoulda stayed at the train, we shoulda...."
"Hush.", rumbled out of his companion. "Miss Sparkle, we'll fly you in. Alicorn or not, the Elements always get an escort. Up and over, Orange. Form wing, double time!"
Three flying ponies dwindled to an purple, orange and black trio of dots as they climbed to clear the stadium walls. Trixie watched them lift off with more than mild curiousity- and a little listening (with some help from Early Edition's Eavesdropping Ear spell) had picked up more than enough of the brief conversation to get her mind racing. Trouble, big trouble in the stadium and not a single pony in the know wanted it to get out?
"Thanks for the heads up, Twilight Dorkle.". Pouring the day's hefty take of bits out of her overturned hat into a saddlebag pocket, she made her way towards the trains. Plenty in here for a first-class ticket to anywhere else but whatever trouble was on the way...ew. Something fetid and cold wafted up from the grate set in the center of the square, setting Trixie's nose to watering. Yeah, something DEFINITELY was stinking around the Crystal Empire. The brief rumble that followed made her think that the city agreed as the grate vibrated under her hooves...
---
The source of that rumble had managed to calm down...slightly. This was a bit like a volcano that ceases to erupt and merely simmers with a caldera full of lava, expecting someone to toss a virgin in to appease it. No virgins (or a big bowl of salad, Sombra wouldn't have been picky on the appeasing) had appeared to make Sombra's transit more pleasant, but at least the tunnel was dry and his nose had mostly closed up from the abusive odors. Above him, the tunnel leveled out and a pair of lights could be seen, waving about as somepony made their way down to check the failure in the sewer line.
Dirty Job and Squeaky Clean chatted at they reached the dropoff. Dirty Job's sorrel coat was mostly hidden by a set of waders, and Squeaky hefted two large toolbags on his sides. Neither was all that happy to be down there, either.
"Aw, did it HAVE to happen when we were on duty, Dirty?"
The mare matched his look with one of equal disdain. "Of COURSE it had to happen while we're on duty, Squeaky. You wanted to take that lunch break early, so we HAD to switch with Buff and Polish."
An extra set of hooves became audible from below.
"Um...you hearin' that Dirty?" "Somepony must have been caught down there!", replied Dirty Job as they swept the lights on their helmets down the stone tunnel, catching the dim form of a pony lurking at the edge of the glow.
"Hey! Is anypony out there? Just call if you can hear me! Is there anypony home?"
"Call....call...yes, I will call. A MASTER CALLS, THE SLAVE OBEYS!"
Twin green beams of pestilent light played across the eyes of Dirty Jobs and Squeaky Clean, eating into their minds and consuming their wills as Sombra threw his power into the spell that had made him infamous across half of Equestria and feared by the rest...The Stare Of Flames. The two ponies shuddered as any illusion of freedom vanished inside their skulls. HE was watching. HE was the Master. Obey or burn under the eyes of the Master, to suffer for eternity!
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Sombra felt like a king again- and here were the first two subjects of his new empire.
"Ahhh....SLAVES. IT IS GOOD TO HAVE PROPER SERVANTS ONCE AGAIN.", intoned the black unicorn as he reached the edge of the rise. "NAMES, SLAVES." In a pathetic half-tone, the broken pair of ponies gave them. YOU, "DIRTY". You will lead Us to the pink wench you call "Princess Cadence".. He paused as the rasp of talons skittering up the tunnel behind him announced a quartet of Kindred finally catching up with him, bearing his stone palanquin. Stains from it's abuse in the flood were obvious, but the sturdy material had remained mostly intact, if filthy.
"Squeaky...clean this while I discuss the way above with this mewling wretch you call your fellow."
"Make it sparkle. Use your...tongue."
In the small corner of his mind not occupied by the dread will of Sombra, Dirty Jobs retched as Squeaky Clean's body crawled it's way into the seat, lapping at every crack and crevice. Squeaky's eyes rolled back into his head as the earth pony's brain found a hole in the mental landscape and crawled in to hide from what his body was apparently quite willing to do without him having a word on the subject. It was like grazing on the brimstone fields of Tartarus, rolling in rusty nails, unclean, unclean, unclean, unclean...
"unclean...*slurp*...unclean...*lick*...unclean for Master..." dribbled out of the mouth of Squeaky Clean as his lips turned black from rubbing away the sewer muck. Dirty Jobs monotonously explained a route through the tunnels to the stadium as the tunnel behind Sombra filled with things her mind told her Should Never Have Been There. Most of them looked back. All of them seemed to consider her delicious. She'd seen a hungry griffin once just before it tore into a meal, when it didn't think she was looking. The eyes on her...made that griffin look like a butterfly. A small fragment of Dirty Job's head screamed at her to run, run, RUN...but the spell held her fast, words spilling out of her mouth as she obeyed the Master, preparing the way for the Master, the great and terrible Master...