//------------------------------// // Preparations // Story: Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms // by Alphadude007 //------------------------------// Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms Chapter 33-Preparations -Crystal Empire: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return- Sombra looked out at the silhouettes of the mountains the surrounded the city from the balcony, his eyes squinting against the glare of the early morning sun. His gaze turned down towards the crystal ponies that were just now getting out of their homes for their daily duties. And so another day of my reign begins. Sombra thought, a smile tugging at his face. Sombra's ears perked as a voice spoke up behind him. "And it is in dire jeopardy, King Sombra." He knew that voice. Sombra turned around to face the grey alicorn, Sombra's green and red eyes staring into his visitor's yellow ones. "How can that be? My subjects show no signs of rebellion and there are none that threaten my rule." The alicorn snorted. "A search within thy borders would prove fruitless, but I am here to tell thee that beyond those mountains, two more alicorns like myself shall try to remove thy royal title." Sombra's eyes narrowed. "The Equestrian princesses. Just as thou foretold." The alicorn nodded. "Remember, Sombra. I have imbued thee with powerful magic. Powerful enough to rival the Elements that the princesses wield. Thou will be more than a match for them." "And should they best me?" Sombra asked hypothetically. "Then the Crystal Empire will no longer be thine and it will come under the rule of another." The alicorn responded. Sombra put on a determined look. "Should they defeat me, then none other shall have the Crystal Empire." He said, walking past the alicorn and going inside the castle. "This empire is mine alone to rule. If I cannot have it, then no one can." "What will thou do, Sombra?" The alicorn asked as he watched Sombra head towards the door on the opposite end of the royal bedchambers. Sombra took a deep breath. "Prepare myself for the battle ahead. And ensure that this empire remains with me." He said, his curved horn glowing dark purple, green tendrils of magic shooting from his horn. With a dark purple flash, Sombra departed from the castle. The alicorn smiled after seeing Sombra disappear. "Today's the day, Siphon." He said, raising his hoof-mounted gauntlet to his face. "Today our plan goes into effect." The Shadow could hear the excitement in Siphon's voice. Oh joyous day! And Sombra is confident with his abilities? "More than confident I'd say." The Shadow said with a chuckle. "We will wait until he fights the princesses and when Sombra is disposed of, Luna will play her part." And the long night will begin. Siphon concluded with a hiss. "Absolutely. Now then, shall we check up on the progress of the princesses?" The Shadow suggested, his horn beginning to glow yellow. May as well buy Sombra a few extra minutes before the Equestrians arrive. Siphon concurred, both him and his master disappearing in a bright flash of golden light. Shooting Star's eyes cracked open as she awoke from her slumber. Looking around at her surroundings, she was comforted to know that she was on the same couch she fell asleep on the previous night. With a yawn and a stretch of her limbs, Shooting Star stood up. "Oh, good morning." A male voice said to the left of her. Shooting's head turned to see Shining slowly walking down the stairs. "Good morning to thee as well." Shooting replied. "How long hast thou been awake?" Shining shrugged. "I'd guess about half an hour." He figured as he reached the bottom of the staircase. Shooting glanced out the window of the crystal house to see the sun rising between the peaks of the mountains on the eastern side of the valley. Hmm. Princess Celestia must have just raised the sun. Wait… the princess! She thought, her mind immediately going to the report she was supposed to give the princesses. "I have to go." Shooting said hurriedly as she started towards the crystal house's front door. Shining's head turned towards Shooting, his eyes widening at the departing pegasus. "No, no, no, no! Thou canst leave yet!" He exclaimed, dashing from the bottom of the staircase and in front of Shooting, blocking her way to the door. The Equestrian scout's eyes narrowed at the crystal pony in front of her. "Get out of my way, Shining." She growled between gritted teeth. "I am sorry, Shooting Star. But I cannot let thou leave just yet." Shining replied. "I have a report to give to my princesses back in Equestria. Why can't I leave yet?" Shooting asked in a determined tone. Shining looked down at the wooden floor and sighed. "Because there is one last thing I must tell thee about King Sombra." Shooting backed off from the crystal pony. "One last thing?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "Yes." Shining replied with a nod. "Forgive me if I did not tell thee sooner, but we-" Shooting cut the stallion off. "What is it thou wish to tell me, Shining? I do not have much time." "The final piece of the story is Sombra's coronation." Shining responded. -Southern mountains, Crystal Empire: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return- "How much farther north do we have to go?" Luna shouted over the howling mountain wind, her eyes straining to stay open against the gusts. Celestia didn't look back at Luna as she responded. "It cannot be much farther by now!" She answered. I seriously have no idea how much farther we have to go. The pair of royal sisters glided between mountain peaks, the wind picking up as it blew in their faces. "Tia! We can't stay up here much longer! The wind will take us out of the sky before we can reach the Empire!" Luna cried. Hearing her sister's cry, Celestia began searching for solutions to the frigid temperatures they were flying through. The higher we are, the colder it gets… I wonder. She thought, her purple eyes shooting down towards the ravines below them. It would be risky, but it's better than fighting the wind and freezing up here. The solar princess looked back at her sister. "Luna! Dive towards the rocks below! We'll have to maneuver through the ravines!" "Have thee lost thy mind!?" Luna shouted back. "Surely there's another way!" Celestia gave a huff. "It's either fighting this wind or taking our chances in the crags below!" Luna's eyes dropped to the rocks below and then rose back up to Celestia, the wind stinging her eyes as she looked ahead. Oh to Tartarus with it! She thought, gritting her teeth in frustration. "Fine! Let's go!" Luna replied, closing her wings as she began her descent. Celestia watched her sister dive towards the rocky chasm, soon following her with a dive. As the peaks passed from her field of view, the grey rocks on the floor of the abyss rapidly approached her. Watching Luna's wings open up, Celestia followed suit just above the tops of the rocks. I hope the Empire is close. The white alicorn thought as she zipped past the peak of a boulder. Yellow eyes watched eagerly as the two sisters dive into the valley, a smile spreading on the grey alicorn's face as his black mane and tail billowed in the wind. Nothing a little environmental manipulation couldn't fix. Going through those ravines will definitely impede their progress. The Shadow thought. Hopefully that'll give Sombra enough time to do what he needs to do. -Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville: Present Day- Silver Star's eyes scanned the raucous collection of ponies known as a "party". He looked out at all the ponies dancing to the music coming from the record player in the corner of the room, the groups of ponies idly making conversation at the snacks and punch table, and finally his eyes settled on a trio of multihued mares playing a game he'd heard others call 'pin the tail on the donkey'. The more of the enjoyment he saw the ponies having, the more sour his look became. These ponies are having too good a time for this to be real. Am I just having a stupidly happy nightmare or something? Chassis thought, closing his eyes and began trying to pinch himself. He opened his eyes and looked down at his hooves. Wait a tick… hooves. Duh. He figured, giving himself a solid facehoof. Well I guess I'm not dreaming. Well if there's anything to be gained from this experience it's the knowledge that there's more than enough love for me to feed on after this. "Hiya!" A happy voice exclaimed next to him. Silver jumped in reaction to the sound, his head snapping in its direction. Standing right in front of him was a poofy pink pony, the biggest smile Silver had ever seen plastered on her face. "Uh, hi." Silver responded uneasily. "My name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours?" The ecstatic pink equine asked. Silver's green eyes darted from side to side, looking for an escape route. "Silver Star. And you're the one who threw this party, right?" Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!" She exclaimed. "When I saw you in the bakery this morning I knew that newcomers were in town so I decided to throw this party for you and your friends!" "Yes, that's nice and all but- wait." Silver caught himself mid-sentence. "How did you know I had other ponies with me?" Pinkie giggled innocently, despite the suspicious look Silver was giving her. "My Pinkie Sense, silly." "Huh?" Silver asked, flabbergasted by her response. Pinkie grinned at the confused stallion. "Basically my Pinkie Sense is these itty-bitty tingly feelings I get on my body whenever something's about to happen. Like if my tail's twitching, something's going to fall." Pinkie stated, shaking her tail for emphasis. "Then there are combos like when my ears flop, eyes flutter and knees twitch, that means a door's about to open!" Silver's right eye twitched. But how did-? When did she-? WHAT?! Chassis began to feel his mind go into a meltdown. "I think I need to sit down." Chassis stated, a blank look finding itself on his face. Plopping his rear on the ground, his green eyes continued to stare into space. "Okie-dokie lokie!" Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully as she began bouncing away towards another corner of the party. I don't know whether to be confused, infuriated by her logic, or happy that she doesn't know about us. Chassis figured, the room around him beginning to slow its spinning. I sure hope Fang and Cipha are handling this better than I am. "So your name is… Trixie, right?" Palm Spring asked the cornflower blue unicorn. The unicorn puffed out her chest in pride. "Yes it is. And your name is…? "Palm Spring." The disguised changeling replied in a friendly tone, extending a cinnamon brown hoof in greeting. Trixie reached out and shook Palm's hoof in response. "So are you new to Ponyville too?" Trixie chuckled at the question. "Well I wouldn't say 'new' is the correct term." "How so?" Palm asked, cocking an eyebrow at the vague answer. Trixie let out a sigh, as if recalling a memory. "Let's just say that my past experiences with Ponyville haven't been the most… positive." She said, noticing the confused look on Palm's visage. "But my attitude has improved since then. Now I seek to make ponies happy rather than belittle them for my own gain." "Well that's good to hear." Palm said, not knowing what to make of Trixie's response. "So what are you doing here in Ponyville? Here for the party?" "Absolutely. When I received the pink one's invitation, I couldn't say no." Trixie said with a smile. "And I could ask the same of you. What are you doing in Ponyville?" "Oh. Uh, nothing." Palm replied, trying to think of a cover story for their mission. Trixie's eyebrow arched. "Really? Come on. Nopony comes to a place like Ponyville without a reason." Come on, Cipha! Think! Think! The changeling's mind shouted, beads of sweat beginning to form on her brow. "Hey Palm!" A voice to her left shouted. Relieved that Trixie's attention had gone from her to whoever shouted, Palm looked to see whom the exclamation came from. To her surprise, a sky blue pony came bounding over to the two mares, a cup of purple liquid in his hoof. "You have to try this punch! It's awesome!" Palm eyed the punch. "Uh, thanks Speedy." She said, taking the cup from her accomplice's hoof and took a swig. The sweet tang of fruit immediately hit Palm's taste buds as the purple punch swished around in her mouth. After swallowing the drink, a resounding "Mmm." emerged from her throat. "That was pretty good." Speedy's smile widened. "I told ya!" He exclaimed, his eyes turning to the mare that stood next to Palm. "And who's your new friend, Palm?" Trixie extended her hoof to the stallion. "Trixie. And your name's Speedy?" Speedy nodded. "Yep. Speedy Delivery. And is your name just Trixie or is there something else to it?" Trixie's smile slightly faded. "Well I was once known as the Great and Powerful Trixie, but that was a long time ago. Now I just go by Trixie." "The Great and Powerful Trixie, hmm?" Palm wondered, her mission coming to the front of her mind immediately. "So you're really skilled with magic, right?" "Well I wouldn't say really skilled, but I do possess quite the range of magical abilities." Trixie replied sheepishly. "Why do you ask?" Speedy and Palm swapped grins. Speedy cleared his throat. "Well Trixie, we have a proposition for you." -Ponyville Library- Twilight glanced up at the clock that hung from the wall. Seven past eight. The others should be getting here fairly soon. She figured. "Well everything's set." Spike said from beside her. Twilight looked down at her draconic assistant just in time to see him lick a glop of nacho cheese off a few of his claw, a plate of cheese-covered chips held up to the purple alicorn with his other hand. "The nachos are ready and the library is set up for the meeting." A smile graced Twilight's features. "Thanks, Spike." She said, her horn glowing a bright purple. A similarly colored aura surrounded the nachos as the plate of cheesy snacks was levitated from Spike's hand and placed next to the stack of reading material about the Elements. "And you sure you're alright after having that vision?" Spike gave his guardian an empathetic look. "Yeah I'm fine, Twilight. Besides if I were you it wouldn't be me I was concerned with." "Well thanks for the kind words, Spike. But both our visions will be addressed equally during this meeting Luna had us bring together. Speaking of which, have you gotten any messages from her ever since this morning?" Spike shook his head. "Can't say I have, Twilight. Maybe she had some royal business to attend to." Twilight looked at the wooden floor in contemplation. "Maybe. Whatever the case for her absence, I'm sure all the Element-bearers can come up with a solution." She said optimistically. "I hope so too." Spike said with a slight smile. Suddenly both Twilight and Spike's heads turned towards the door when a Ck ck ck sound came from outside. "Hello? Is anypony home?" a soft voice from outside the door asked. Twilight's eyes lit up. "Yes, Fluttershy! We're here!" She called, coming to the door to open it for her guest. Upon opening both halves of the door, Twilight smiled at her yellow pegasus friend. "Come on in. We've got some snacks if you want some." Fluttershy smiled at the offer as she entered the library. "Thanks but I just had some dinner with Angel and the animals, so I'll pass." "So how's your day been, Flutters?" Spike asked. "It's been good, thanks for asking Spike." Fluttershy responded. "Although ever since you told me about that vision of yours Twilight, I've been a bit concerned." Twilight gave her bashful friend a grin. "Thanks for the concern, Fluttershy but I'm fine. I've just been trying to figure out what all's going on around here. I mean with the dreams and now these visions-" "Wait." Fluttershy stopped Twilight, a confused look finding itself on the pegasus's face. "Did you say visions? As in more than one?" "Oh it's not like I've been having multiple visions, Fluttershy." Twilight said dismissively. "Spike's had one too." Fluttershy's gaze went straight from Twilight's to Spike's in half a second. "You had one too?" She asked in shock. Spike rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah I had one earlier today like Twilight did. But don't worry about it. We'll talk about each of our visions during the meeting when the others get here." "What?!" A voice shrieked from the library entrance. All three heads turned to see a wide-eyed Rarity standing in the doorway. "Spike had a vision too?" "Rarity? When did you get here?" Twilight asked. Rarity gave the doorway a glance. "Well you really should close the door when other ponies have gotten inside, Twilight. But did I hear that both you and Spike had visions?" Spike put up his hands trying to calm the fashionista's worries. "We're both fine, Rarity. And like you probably heard me tell Fluttershy, we'll both talk about our visions when the others get here." The worried look on Rarity's face faded slightly. "But still, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who'd like to know what is going on here. First those ghastly dreams each of us had and now two of my best friends having strange visions." She said, sinking to the floor and covering her face with her hooves. "I just want to know why all of this is happening!" Fluttershy exchanged looks with Spike and Twilight. "Well I'm sure we'll all have a better idea of what's going on after the meeting." She said in a reassuring tone. "Yeah!" Spike exclaimed. "We'll get to the bottom of this thing if it takes us all night! So do you want any nachos, Rarity?" He asked, the unicorn looking up from her hooves to the cheese-layered chips. "Uh… I'll pass. It's not that they look delicious, it's just that they're not very…. clean." She said, giving a disapproving look at the snacks. "I had a hooficure earlier today and I do not want to ruin such beauteousness with such messy edibles as nachos." A simple no would've done just fine. Spike thought, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. -Canterlot- Luna looked up in the sky at what she had just raised. She took a deep breath, knowing what the circular white ball in the sky meant tonight. Her eyes reflected the full moon that stared back at her, taunting her with its memories. The Shadow was on the verge of returning, there was little she could do about that. She knew the havoc he would wreak upon Equestria- no, not just Equestria, the world- when he came back. When he comes back, it'll only be a matter of time before he unleashes his attack. But where? And how? Luna wondered, her eyes staying glued to the moon above her. His vengeance will be swift. His anger will be powerful. Luna could only imagine what terrors would ensue should the Shadow take Equestria. Her thoughts then turned to her subjects. They wouldn't know what hit them. Luna knew full well that against the Shadow's power, there was little to do but run. She'd seen his thought process during her imprisonment. He would win, just like how he did with herself. Luna's eyes stared angrily in defiance at the moon. Not this time. Luna thought. With a quick turn, Luna walked back inside the castle. Luna looked up to see Celestia waiting for her, Discord standing next to her. Both of them gave the lunar princess a sympathetic look. "Are you ready?" Celestia asked. Luna's head turned towards the open doorway, silver moonlight pouring in through the entrance. With a sigh, Luna turned back to her sister. "Yes. Is the doorway open?" She asked the spirit of chaos. Discord tapped his chin with an eagle claw. "Hmm. Well open might not be the best description." He said, giving air quotes 'open'. "Even so, we must make haste to the tomb entrance." Celestia said, turning towards Discord. "Lead the way." With a light smile, Discord gave Celestia a quick bow. "Certainly, Princess." With that, he leapt in the air and began gliding down the hallway. Luna and Celestia exchanged looks before they began following the draconequus down the empty corridor.