//------------------------------// // Legit in Umbra Silentium // Story: A Tyrant Uplifted // by ToneCraft //------------------------------// After Aurora left, Sombra stood and put the book away, "Another spell to practice.." He said to himself. The librarian watched the young unicorn leave the building and go to the fields. ------ The red and black horn glowed brightly as he focused. Dark red crystals formed around the field, growing into tall spires.The aura around Sombra's horn stopped shining as he finished the spell, looking at the rubies he'd just synthesized. "Maybe I could sell them." He thought, wondering if the vendors would believe they were real. "Hey everypony! Look! It's the dull-coated bookworm!" A red crystal pony shouted as he approached, "He's made some rocks!" Sombra groaned and started to walk away. "Hold on, Sombra. You've got to take credit for your artwork. Nopony else'll want to!" He laughed, along with the three others with him; a green, a blue, and a gold. "Look, Flare, I'm not in the mood for your taunts, so leave me alone for once." Sombra said angrily, his nostrils flaring. "When are you going to learn to stop talking to Sunrise Flare like that?" The blue interjected. She had a pale mane and tail, and her mark was a gold harp. "I'd rather not talk to him at all," Sombra retorted, "So, Acoustic Sapphire, how about getting your high-and-mighty flank away from me? And take Topaz and Emerald with you!" Ten minutes later, Sombra would limp away from the field, a tear falling from his eye, and bruises blemishing his coat. ------ Twilight paced back and forth, "What could this even mean, Spike? My power, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence's power, drained all at the exact same time? Even Shining Armour was affected!" "I don't know, Twiight," Spike said, "But Princess Celestia called you to come and meet her in the Crystal Empire castle for--Okay, seriously, stop pacing, you'll put a hole in the floor of the train--anyway, she called you for a reason. Twilight gasped, "Oh, no! What if somepony's hurt?! Spike, what if our power was used to make some kind of attack? I mean, I've never heard of somepony's power getting hijacked like that, but it's possible, isn't it?!" She steadily got faster, "Whatif Cadence never getsherpowerback?! OrPrincessCelestia,whatifshe'spermanentlyweakened?Sheisfourthousandyearsoldand--Ow!" Spike was standing with a tray held out to the side so that Twilight would walk into it, "Get a hold of yourself, Twilight!!" She stopped in her tracks, "You're right, Spike. I'm sorry." ------ Cadence smiled as she saw Twilight enter the room, "Twilight!" The two princesses ran to each other, and jumped immediately into a little dance. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" "Nice to see some familiarity in the weirdness going on the last few hours," Shining Armour mused as he entered, "Hey, Twilie. We've got to meet at some point when Equestria's not in trouble." "Got your humor as always, Shining," Twilight rolled her eyes. Then another surge of power was forced from all three of them. The stallion's scream echoed around all of them again, this time accompanied with a brief sight of a black unicorn, not long enough to identify who it was. Twilight staggered to her hooves and looked around. As she looked up, she saw Celestia frantically trying to stop her unconscious sister's descent.