Luna paced anxiously from one side of the Canterlot throne room to the other. "Where is she?"
"I'm sure Cadance will arrive as quickly as she can," Celestia said, in an effort to comfort her sister. "Although, with things resolved in the other reality, I fail to see what the emergency is."
"Well, perhaps if you spent a little more time in the world you're responsible for, and a little less time wooing some stallion, then I wouldn't have to spell it out for you," Luna shot back with a scowl.
Celestia frowned, but held back her retort. Moments later, Cadance rushed into the room.
"I came as quickly as I could," she said, clearly out of breath. "What's going on?"
Luna remained silent, simply gesturing for the guards to leave the room. Once they had done so, she spoke, her tone low and serious. "What I have to say concerns one Twilight Sparkle, and the new addition to her life, the stallion calling himself 'Black Knight'."
Celestia sighed in exasperation. "We have been over this, Sister," she said. "I admit that the resemblance is uncanny, but his behavior is completely different from that of King Sombra. He even aided us in the defense of Canterlot. Besides, I detected no trace of Dark Magic in him when we first met."
"Not to mention he and Twilight spent a night in the Crystal Empire without causing any trouble," Cadance added. "Shining Armor even insisted on posting extra guards around the Crystal Heart, and none of them reported even seeing either of them."
"So, nothing strange at all happened that night?" Luna asked the younger princess, a shadow of uncertainty entering her expression.
Cadance frowned, hesitating a moment before answering. "Well, one of the guards in the throne room went missing, and the other seems to have fallen into a coma, but nothing seems to have been disturbed in either the throne room or Sombra's study beneath it, as far as we can tell. If Sombra really had returned and was controlling my sister-in-law, wouldn't he have gone after the artifact capable of defeating him, rather than risk exposure spiriting away a single guard?"
"You seem to misunderstand," Luna said, looking more certain than ever. "I do not think that Sombra is the one in control, at all." Calling upon her magic, she summoned up a scroll and held it out to her sister.
Unrolling it, Celestia looked over what was written on it, her expression growing dark. "A Memory Stealing spell? Luna, where did you find this?"
"In the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of the Royal Library," Luna replied. "Normally, access to it is restricted due to it containing such dangerous spells as this. However, I believe Twilight had access to it as your personal student."
"Luna, what are you suggesting?" Cadance asked, not liking where the conversation seemed to be heading.
"I will suggest no longer, but rather state it openly," Luna declared. "I believe that Sombra somehow survived his most recent defeat, despite his apparent death, and that Twilight Sparkle discovered him. I believe that she was unwilling to pass up new magic, and stole his knowledge of Dark Magic for herself, replacing his memories with ones that would ensure his loyalty to her. Given how quickly she has learned to wield it, this is the only course of events that makes sense to me, short of her having both prodigious ability and a willing teacher."
"But... But this is Twilight!" Cadance protested. "She would never do something like that!"
"I'm sorry, Cadance, but I never believed Twilight would turn to Dark Magic, either," Celestia said. "Given recent... personal distractions, it would seem my sister had a clearer view of events than I. As much as it pains me to say it, it would seem that we have to accept that none of us knew Twilight Sparkle as well as we thought."
"I... This must be a misunderstanding," Cadance replied, unwilling to believe that the filly she had once watched over could have became some scheming villain. "There has to be some other explanation!"
"In this instance, I would love nothing more than to be proven incorrect," Luna said. "However, we do not have time for uncertainty. We must address the situation, and quickly."
"While I agree that this is worrying, I fail to see the need for such haste. Recklessness only leads to mistakes, after all," Celestia cautioned. Grimacing, she added, "Especially where King Sombra is concerned."
Luna winced at the memory of that harshly learned lesson, and the events that occurred because of it. "Because, if we leave this situation as it stands, we may have to face multiple threats at once." Her expression darkened as she explained, "The Nightmare Forces are soon to return..."
Celestia gasped, finally grasping just how bad the situation could get. "If Twilight becomes corrupted by them, with her new knowledge of Dark Magic..."
"...Then we may have no choice but to deal with her by force, before she follows in Sombra's hoofsteps as a tyrant," Luna finished.
"I refuse to let that happen!" Cadance cut in. "We have to find out the truth. There might be a perfectly innocent explanation. Twilight said she learned Dark Magic from a book Sombra left behind, right? If we show up without giving her time to prepare, and she can show us the book, that would prove that it's just a coincidence, wouldn't it?"
The Two Sisters exchanged a skeptical glance. "...It would certainly be a point in her favor," Luna conceded.
"Then we shall resolve this tonight!" Celestia declared, heading towards a balcony and spreading her wings. "Twilight will have just recently returned from dealing with Sunset Shimmer. Now will be the best time to catch her off-guard if she has turned evil. If not, than she will surely understand our need for caution in such matters."
The other two alicorns nodded in agreement, each expecting a different outcome, but both determined to see the matter resolved as quickly as possible.
However, the entirety of what was awaiting in Ponyville and in the days to come was not foreseen by any of them.
Before reading chapter (insert number here): OOOOOH YESSS CHAPTER UPDATE!
After reading (insert chapter number here): ...you and your darn cliffhangers.
8302700
And yet you keep coming back for more, so it clearly works... You know you love it!
Ohhhhhhh yes it works... Good God I love it
8302804
omnomnom
8302844
Glad that you're eating it up!
8302851
Ah, Nightmare Rarity approaches...
8302877
Possibly. Who knows how Sombra's presence will change things?
...Besides me, I mean...
I never asked for this cliffhanger...
I don't know if I should be happy or angry about this.
8302984
I never asked for this meme, but you don't see me complaining.
8303030
Then, I am doing my job right!
Don't need the Cliffhangers to keep me coming backm, i retuned to far dead fics, then this living utopia of life... *glances at almost all good Mass effect fimfic crossovers* That said, I like this glance into the princesses a bit more, to see how they are, this is heavily necessary for a annalist like me to make semi-accurate (inaccurate) guesses!
Gentle breeze guide your path, a warm smile welcome you home.
8303085
Thanks! Glad you like it!
8302881
Who, indeed.
I find it funny how Luna thinks that Twilight having both prodigal magic ability and a willing teacher is too far-fetched to be true, when it is the truth.
Didn't Sombra and Twilight gain a book from the Crystal Empire to support their (bullshit) story?
8303495
Exactly!
8303637
Yep! Cadance might not have considered that, but Sombra thought ahead.
I think you mean 'prodigious' ability, not 'prodigal'.
Also, Luna must have been a fighter when she was younger. You need lots of ranks in the jump skill to be able to jump to conclusions like that. Especially if you want to make other people go along with it.
8303503
Please feel free to point out specific examples if you see them, and I will be happy to fix them. I usually write in past tense, so not sure where that slipped through.
Thanks! I'm glad you gave it a chance, even though it isn't your favorite pairing!
8303679
You're right. Thanks for catching that!
Nah, Rogue is the one gives enough skills for Jump and Diplomacy!
*Flashes green eyes*
Oh Tia, you're only screwing yourself over.
8303744
Nah, Twilight hasn't fallen that far... yet...
8303677
Well, let's hope they don't ask Applejack if Black Knight is Sombra, she is a terrible liar.
8303824
To be fair, she probably wouldn't hesitate to tell them, anyway.
8303846
Exactly.
Fuuuuuck... even without imminent Nightmare Rarity, this would end badly, I just know it.
You are such a tease with these short chapters / interludes!
8304585
Yeah, but conflict makes for good reading!
8305155
Yeah, but at least I didn't keep you waiting very long for it.
8305209
Lol, I'll take that as a sign that I'm doing well, then!
Oh come on! Now I just want more!
*new
8306906
Thanks for catching that!
8310073
Well that's something I guess. That's honestly what I came here for anyway. Sorry just when stuff like that happens I kinda feel cheated out of an experience (that's why I don't like massive time skips).
8310089
This was an intentional tease. All the better to appreciate it when she finally does come out to play on screen, as it were.
Just wait until Sombra hears from Twilight's interactions with Flash Sentry. He probably can't wait to make his acquaintance.
8315506
Indeed! Flash will actually take a larger roll in the sequel... just probably not as anypony's love interest. Regardless, Sombra will be all to happy to hold him responsible for his human counterpart's actions.
So, question, is Nightmare Rarity not going to be a thing in this story? I'm not sure if that has been asked yet. Personally, I prefer Nightmare Rarity over Moon.
8329694
You'll just have to wait and see! But don't worry, that question will be answered definitively before too long...
Every time I see them refer to Sombra as Black Knight I can't help but think of this:
I wonder if this could be a possible future for our favorite slightly-less-than-evil-couple-of-doom. Well, maybe not the orbit part. More in the general overwatching all of Equis sense.
But I'll butt out now.
It does explain a few things. Mostly the PoV of luna, cadence, and Celestia but also what is to happen soon. We just finished with the reflections arc and then the equestria girls part with calculated kindness. Now twilight is back and probably tired. The whole of EG was a month in the other world; she's going to be more tired then usual. Then shes going to have to deal with three princess in the front of her house. Sombra is your wild card and Luna is going to try and prove that twilight is guilty! Well, despite twilight having a book. Which reminds me, would twilight have read the book yet? It's still knowledge and twilight would be the studies type.
8316712
Wait a minute... what interaction with flash? I don't remember reading much about him at all. But that does make me want to see what would happen when he and Sombra meet. Flash was pinning for twilight more then twilight was pinning for flash. So if flash pins after her now with Sombra, I will have no idea what would happen. Unless you make this either a Sombra, flash, twilight three way or flash x twilight. Then... I would be highly disappoint with all the hipe you've give me over the past YEAR... sorry my friend but Sombra x twilight for life.
8391228
Indeed! And yes, Twilight already read the book. Wouldn't be Twilight, otherwise!
8391259
Oh, no. Flash's attraction was completely one-sided in this version of events, as Twilight had a stallion waiting for her back home.
8391325
You really know how to make some one happy don't cha.
This can only end in disaster.