//------------------------------// // Here we go // Story: Sombra's Return // by Brawny Steed //------------------------------// Spike could not have been more nervous. Why? Because a peace conference was about to happen within an unspecified time, the guests would even include the Changeling Queen, he and his friends were handed the Elements of Harmony for safekeeping, there was probably something out there that was driving the world to the brink of war and there they were, on a train bound for Ponyville and talking as if there was nothing to worry about. Given their past experiences, Spike had learned that when it came to their circle of friends, ANYTHING could happen. Well, perhaps not anything, Spike thought. Discord was still locked away. Still, he would have appreciated having some other weapons or magical items than just the Elements. As extra precaution, he had written down a note to himself which said “Need help, now!” to send to the princess in case of an emergency. Sure, as a team they could face anything, but even then, Spike felt almost certain that something would happen and cause havoc. Again. Any moment. ... Any moment now... … ...Why hasn’t anything happened yet? “..And then, BAM!” The words caused Spike to jump. “Soarin’ just slammed into the barrels and broke at least three of them on impact!” Rainbow Dash was telling some stories of how her training went over at the Academy. Nopony paid attention to Spike fall out of his seat with the fun they had. Why were they so calm? --- Maybe it’s best that I calm down, he thought. How could something bad happen, anyway, since Ponyville was safe? ~~~ The train arrived unscathed at Ponyville station and the ponies got off. Spike was bringing up a few bags containing various gems. Rarity just had to make a small purchase stop at the gemstore for a resupply of gems she couldn’t find out in the field. Not that he’d mind doing, though. She managed to get hold of some amethysts for him if he did the job. As soon as he stepped off the train, there was a bright flash everywhere. “Whoa! What was that?” “Did somepony decide to take a picture of us or something?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Because I was not ready there. Give us a heads up next time, Featherweight.” Nopony answered her call. “Featherweight, it is okay to talk, you know.” Rainbow called again. “What makes you think it’s Featherweight?” Twilight asked. “Because he‘s the one who took our photos during the whole Gabby Gums thing.” That made the purple unicorn stay silent and take note of Ponyville. “Um... where is everypony, to begin with? Even with work, there should be somepony running around.” “Sure should be,” Applejack added. “It’s market hour. Carrot Top should at least be out and about with her crops for sale.” There was not so much of a hint of a noise coming from the market. “Okay, this is starting to get creepy again,” Rainbow commented. “You can say that again,” Rarity said and took a look inside one of the houses. “I don’t even anypony-” She was cut off by a couch slamming right onto her muzzle from the window. “Rarity!” Spike left the bags of gems and rushed to her as fast as he could, as did the others. “Are you okay?” “Bla-gar-derug-Luna... Ah could do wit’ sum cocopuffs,” was the following garble out of Rarity as she tried to get her bearings straight again. The couch shook a little before flying into the air, accompanied by more couches coming from nearly every house and together they formed a massive, bipedal thing that towered above them. Rarity’s couch was included in that thing. Luckily that wasn’t noticed by her. At the moment. The others did, though. “It’s a giant couch...” Applejack started. “Golem?” Twilight offered. “Couch golem,” Spike summarised it. “Hey, do you think it shoots couch pillows out of its arms?” Pinkie asked. “Pinkie, if you don’t mind, that is... it’s not helping with that idea,” Fluttershy said. “I know, but why a golem made of couches? Whoever thought of this was not very-” “QUICK!” Rainbow pushed Rarity out of the way while the others ran away to avoid the golem’s foot that had moved in an attempt to crush them underfoot. “I was gonna say creative!” Pinkie protested. Spike rushed to get his note he left by the bags as fast as he could while Rainbow flew up to keep the golem distracted from the others. Applejack went straight for a rope to form a lasso and attempt to topple the golem. Rarity managed to pull herself together and have a look at the golem attacking them. “IS THAT MY COUCH ON TOP!?” Pinkie pulled out her cannon and fired it at the golem. Twilight provided shields against its blows. Spike found his note in the pile and blew it out as hard as it could. “Hah!” The smoke swirled still in the air before Spike’s eyes and then the note popped back and fell down on the ground. “Not good,” Spike commented. He didn’t hear the shuffling of stones underneath fabric. “Twilight! I couldn’t send a notice to Celestia. We’re cut off!” “Shoot,” Twilight muttered. “Okay, we’re taking this thing down, regardless of how many couches we’ll have to go through.” “Seriously, why couches?” Pinkie asked while her cannon fired at it nonstop without either her to use it or reloading. “Would you prefer something else?” Rainbow asked. The slicing of fabric caught their attention and the next thing they knew, they were looking at another similar golem that, whilst smaller in comparison to the one made of couches... was made out of gems. Specifically, the gems that Rarity had bought. “And now they steal my gems! Ooh, it is on now!” “Ah!” Spike narrowly avoided the gem golem’s attack which was clearly meant for him and tried to avoid its second strike. Keyword: tried. The golem swatted him away and sent him flying into one of the empty houses. “SPIKE!” Twilight let anger and concern for Spike get to her head and instinctively blasted the gem golem back to being a mere pile of gems with one shot. “I’m okay!” Spike opened the door of the house to show himself. “I’m good. Never looking at gems again the same way...” Then he saw the gems scattered on the ground. “Ha! Take that, you delicious stones!” “Ugh, dreadful usage,” Rarity commented. “Though much more creative than the couch golem- MAKE SURE MINE MAKES IT! - and a lot more dangerous if you think about it. Good thing it wasn’t bright. “Now, let’s recollect my gems while Rainbow Dash and Applejack handles the couches and-” She stopped at the sound of gems colliding together rapidly. Looking back to where the pile was, they saw something else. The gem golem had reassembled itself. “Oh, snap.” --- Celestia and Luna landed in Ponyville shortly after take off, surprising everypony nearby. Most had to give a quick bow to them before continuing their work. The two princesses had only visited the town together once before, when Luna had been released from Nightmare Moon. “What are we doing here, sister?” Luna asked Celestia. “Ponyville is safe. No one has come to attack it.” “And yet there is something, Luna.” The elder alicorn wasn’t even looking at her. Her tone was stern and focused, as if she was expecting Tirek himself to come by. “Twilight Sparkle and the others should have arrived earlier today here in Ponyville, yet... I somehow lost my connection to the spell I cast on the Elements. The connection was lost here and yet nothing seems wrong.” “Beyond the fact that we should have seen Twilight Sparkle at least rushing up to meet us,” Luna concluded. Galloping hooves brought their attention and there was the mayor, Ivory Scroll. “Your majesties!” Ivory Scroll took a quick bow before continuing. “I wasn’t aware that-” “We are not here on formality, mayor,” Celestia interrupted, her voice now kind to avoid misunderstandings. “Something has happened in Ponyville and we are here to find out what.” “Here? But Ponyville isn’t under any threat.” “We know,” Luna informed the mayor. “But recently Twilight Sparkle and her friends were in Canterlot and they were supposed to be here again by this time.” “I’ll see if anypony has seen them coming off the train from Canterlot,” Ivory Scroll said and cantered off. “Good mare,” Luna commented. “She knows what to do.” “And now we can concentrate,” Celestia said and activated her horn. She sat down to conserve energy and focus on the spell. It allowed her for a few moments, gain perfect understanding of her surroundings within a certain perimeter. Said perimeter also included all of Ponyville and some parts of the forest with ease even if she didn’t concentrate on it. Is that the princesses? What are they doing here?   What’s going on? My cousin’s over in Baltimare, it’s been raided recently. I wonder if she’s okay. I like muffins. Now where is Pinkie, we need her to watch the twins. I’m not apologising. Ah, good times that were. Changelings are coming again, I am not gonna lie back and let them drain me of love a second time! I like eggs. Celestia could ignore all this, but such action would make her probably ignore what she was searching for. She pressed on. Where’s Rarity, I thought she’d be back by now? Sweetie Belle. Gotta find out where we can get our cutie marks as demolitionists. Scootaloo. Heh, that girl doesn’t give up on anything. Hmm... AJ gotta be back by now. Ah best check up on the fillies just in case she can’t come. Big McIntosh. I really don’t want to get caught here. Wait, who? I don’t want to do this. I’m sorry. Hold on, that sounded just like- Twilie... I can’t stop myself here. Celestia opened her eyes immediately. “Shining Armor is here,” she told Luna as she rose up and looked about for a place that he might be hiding out. Luna didn’t answer at first, but she fired up her own magic to see active magic taking place. There were a few around, but the largest of them all was easy to spot. “Golden Oaks Library.” The two princesses walked with determined speed over there and shortly after, they were joined by Ivory Scroll. “Rumble said he saw them get off the train station, but then there was a bright flash and they weren’t there. He first thought it was a teleportation spell being used.” “Twas not,” Luna replied as soon as they stood outside the library door. Celestia knocked twice and asked after her student. No answer. “Assume that somepony is in there and that they don’t wish to talk.” To bolster her words, Celestia cast a spell to conceal their presence before opening the door. The sight that greeted them was a large, swirling, purple and green dome in the center of the library giving off a surge of magic energy. All three mares were reluctant to step in, the smaller of them having good reason to in that she was scared out of her head again. Luna was almost stunned speechless but recognized the magic. Celestia focused on trying to see through the dome. Her eyes flared up and she saw three unicorns inside. A mare and two stallions - the latter of which was Shining Armor for certain - lying on the ground connected by their horns. Combined magic energy. So that’s how he did it. “What is that?” Ivory Scroll asked quietly. “It’s dark magic,” Celestia told the earth pony with a stern tone. “And there is only one unicorn who has used it so actively before.” “King Sombra,” Luna hissed and stepped in. The moment she did, a large number of separate shields went up around the dome, its color awfully reminding of Shining Armor’s own magic aura. Luna hesitated for a bit before continuing into the library, followed by Celestia. “Uh, I’m just going to stay out here, if that is alright with you, your majesties,” Ivory told them with a clear hint of fear in her tone. Celestia nodded in her direction before focusing on the dome. “Sister, I must ask,” Luna said quietly. “Have you ever broken through any of Shining Armor’s shields before?” “Once,” Celestia answered. “When he was first starting out as captain, I tested how strong his shield was. I also used the time to teach Twilight that one combat spell she needed in case of an emergency.” Luna had to chuckle. “Oh. Good that you can multifocus, sister.” She returned her attention to the shields and gave a test shot of her own magic against one of them. It bounced off towards another, which sent the bolt hurling against at least seven other shields before sending it straight back at Luna. The moon princess dodged the bolt and it flew out the door, past Ivory Scroll who had taken cover the moment Luna started shooting. “What was that?” The mayor asked them. She was ignored. “Stronger?” Luna asked, turning to her sister. Celestia shook her head. “Smarter,” she corrected. And then a pair of green eyes with red irises and purple smoke flared up and narrowed down on the two princesses. --- Four times. Four times already had Twilight blasted the gem golem and four times it had reassembled itself. The couch golem was large enough to be bested by just one pony (as Rainbow claimed) but the much smaller one made of gems was worse. Its composition was, for lack of a better word, brilliant in its design. The amount of gems allowed it a wider range of agility, coupled with its bipedal form, though Twilight couldn’t figure out why it had taken that form. Its assemblance of several smaller gems said that it was brittle, though that was compensated with that it could reassemble itself. The fact that it was made from gems meant that it was hard and strong at the same time. While not strong in physical strength, it would no doubt pack a serious punch if it hit any of them. Not to mention cutting their coats. Twilight did see that it had two weaknesses. One she could exploit right there. It was a golem. When she told Rarity about it, she merely said, “Yes, Twilight. That much is obvious.” But there was more to it than that. A golem was a magical construct that lacked independent thought which meant that it had to rely on a local source of magic to keep it sustained. That was why she and Fluttershy had left the big fight in the square, looking for the chain that kept the golem going. Spike was riding on Twilight’s back, because the gems had given him quite a fright. Despite him being the golem’s second weakness. “Okay, the town is empty, that would imply that we are trapped in some form of place that only looks like Ponyville, but it isn’t. I think if we disrupt whoever is doing this, we’ll be able to get back to Ponyville.” “So... why did you bring me along for this, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t think I’d be able to help a lot with this.” “Fluttershy, I’m not willing to send you into either of those golems. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are gonna have to hold out until we find this unicorn and stop them,” Twilight defended. “Besides, I’m not sure if I can do it alone.” “That’s why we’re here with you, Twilight,” Spike told her. Twilight turned to him. “Shouldn’t you be with Rarity against that thing? You can easily eat those gems.” “But those are Rarity’s gems,” he defended. “I can’t just chew on something she had to pay for in Canterlot.” Twilight just rolled her eyes. “Look, if you ever had a crush on somepony, would you do something that would upset them just like that?” “Spike, I’d tell them the circumstances and make an apology,” she retorted at him. “And right now, I think she would appreciate the help.” “VERY MUCH SO!” They had no idea how Rarity managed to hear their conversation. “I... um...” Spike hesitated at first, but seeing Twilight’s blank face looking at him and Rarity sounding to have trouble, he relented. “Okay, I’ll go. Be safe, Twilight.” “You too, Spike,” she replied and they split up. --- “No point in hiding now,” Celestia said and unmade the spell concealing herself and Luna. “To what do I owe the pleasure of drawing the Royal Pony Sisters to me, once again?” Sombra spoke to the two alicorns. “To find out what has happened to Twilight Sparkle and her friends,” Celestia replied first. “You, while not an immediate priority, are however charged with kidnapping ponies across Equestria and enslaving the Crystal Empire-” “What I do with MY subjects ought to be none of your concern,” Sombra snapped at her. “I do as I please with them, as do you with YOUR subjects, Celestia. You should not have bothered back then.” “We did bother, because what you were doing was affecting all of Equestria, monster,” Luna retorted. “Ponies are meant to be free and live in harmony, not be domesticated by some upstart overlord who sees himself master of all.” “Believing yourself to be righteous is one thing, Luna. It is another when you simply have more power than the other monarchs and rulers and use it merely to tell them that you are not to be opposed. “But that is not why you are here,” he reminded them. “Twilight Sparkle is around, that much is certain. But I will say no more on that subject.” “Then we will force you to,” Celestia replied and charged up her horn. “Not this time.” The shields evaporated and a new, much bigger shield rolled on against the sisters, pushing them harshly out of the library past the mayor and into the open square. This attracted a number of onlooking ponies to the disturbance. Celestia and Luna were unharmed, much thanks to their own shields, but the larger one was meant to push them back, not to harm. Out of the tree house stepped a pony, who made the mayor step away in shock and the princesses to cringe at the coming struggle. “I must say, your good nephew-in-law, was it,” Shining Armor said as his horn fired up. “-is quite the expert at combat magic himself. And I took the time I had with him to practice it all.” Celestia narrowed her own eyes and chose not to hold back against Shining. “Mayor, get clear.” Ivory Scroll just barely escaped getting hit by the sunbeam directed at the captain. Ponies were getting surprised by the sudden aggression and some did not want to get caught in the crossfire. Others... “Agh! Princess Celestia has gone mad!” “She’s trying to kill her niece’s husband!” “Run for it, lest we get killed!” ...You could probably guess who said those things. “Calm down, everypony!” The mayor rushed to make sure there would be no mass hysteria happening in HER town. “The princess has not gone insane! We have a situation, that is all!” “What kind of situation?” Lyra Heartstrings asked. The smoke that occurred when the good captain was hit faded away and Shining Armor was shown unharmed, much thanks to a small forcefield hugging his body like a second coat, seen only due to its glow and his horn. He looked angry. “I was hoping that you’d try to see reason on this and wait things out, Celestia, but now... I am going to show you just how dangerous I am with this host’s body.” His horn flared yet again and the summoned beings in heavy barding flashed up between him and Celestia. “That kind,” the mayor told the unicorn. “Oh.” Shortly afterward, ponies still evacuated, but because they didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire between the captain of the guard and Princess Celestia. Luna, whilst she actually could do something to help, had other concerns. While Sombra was focused on Tia, she could try to find the bearers of the Elements. He said that Twilight Sparkle is around, yet nopony has seen her or her friends... Luna took one small moment before flaring up her eyes. What she saw was the ethereal, a mix of what was there and what was really there yet not there at all. That at least was how most professors at the School for Gifted Unicorn proclaimed it, as there were very few scholars in it. The ethereal is a space between spaces that if accessed correctly, could allow a unicron to travel between planes of reality. What Luna saw within, was not pleasing. “Rainbow, we need ta end this now!” Applejack shouted above the creaking noises the giant golem made of... were those couches that thing was made of? “I got it! Help Rarity and Spike with that thing made of gems,” Rainbow told the farmer. “Pinkie, keep the couch golem distracted as best you can!” “Come on, shoot pillows already! I’m shooting pies at you with my party cannon! You gotta shoot back!” Pinkie Pie was really going at it with her contraption, firing pies without having to reload. Luna ignored the pink pony to focus on the others. Rarity and Spike were facing a much smaller one, reaching up to Tia’s height, but on two legs and swinging wildly at the little dragon. Spike was being incredibly brave for once, since he was doing his best to hold it off from Rarity and trying to bite its legs. Rarity was using her telekinesis to fling whatever free rock or gemstone she could get her hooves on. The roar of a pegasus divebombing brought Luna’s attention back to Rainbow Dash who was diving down hard against the couch golem, planning to use her famous Sonic Rainboom and blow it up. “HUSH NOW, QUIET NOW, IT’S TIME TO GO TO B-” She was cut off by something slamming into her, disrupting her streak and made her crash against the ground. Hard. “Dashie!?” Pinkie yelled and stopped firing her cannon. “Ugh...” Rainbow cracked her neck and got up, rubbing her forehead. “Okay, what hit me?” Then a pegasus stallion landed in front of her with eyes fixed on hostility. “Sorry about that, but I’m frankly not allowed to let you get away with that trick.” Luna quit the sight there and looked for Ivory Scroll. “Tia, I shall bring back Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” “Please do,” Celestia replied. “I shan’t take long on this end.” The dark alicorn scanned the field and found the mayor talking to the local squad of Royal Guard ponies regarding the situation. Luna rushed over there, ignoring the guards’ bows as she approached. “Madam Mayor! I require your assistance with breaking a spell.” “Break a spell?” Ivory Scroll repeated. “Yes. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are locked in another zone, so to speak. I know the spell needed to bring them back, but to do so, we will need to replicate the situation that is going on over on their side to prevent any horrific accidents.” Ivory Scroll looked blankly for a second before nodding. “I’ll provide what I can. Just say what is required, your Majesty.” “We’ll be aiding as well, your Majesty,” the squad leader of the Royal Guard added with a salute. Luna looked deep in the mayor’s eyes. “I need you to- And follow me on this! - gather the town’s couches in front of the library.” Ivory Scroll’s reaction was at first... blank. She merely stared at Luna. Meanwhile, Sombra fired off a large beam of magic that nearly singed Luna’s cheek. She did not even flinch. Eventually the mayor regained speech. “You.. want.. couches in... okay.” Then she ran off, shouting requests to everypony in Ponyville. The guards didn’t flinch at first, until Luna gave a glare that said “Don’t you ponies have work to do that has to do with the safety of everypony in Ponyville?” Then they saluted and flew off to help the mayor and anypony who might have trouble with their couch. Now to see if I can reach Twilight Sparkle with communication...