Promises
"Got to admit, it took a few days but this place has really started to feel like Canterlot once more." Rogers and the Crusaders enjoyed the sunlight that streamed down from the breaks in the clouds, seeming to breathe new life into the city that had been in evil's clutches for so long. The first thing that the Crusaders had removed were the numerous statues of Tirek, after driving the rest of his forces out of the city.
"Yeah, it is starting to feel like how ah remember it," Bloom agreed with Scootaloo, who had a hoof draped over her shoulder. "That was so long ago...when we first created the Crusade. We could barely get anything done without fighting and now look at us. Canterlot is ours and we're down to the last of the Five...oh, and Ahuizotl ah suppose."
"Well, we have the star-spangled hero to thank for most of our victories," Sweetie pointed out as she smiled over her shoulder at the Captain, who accepted the praise with a nod of his head. "But we did most of the work of course."
"Of course."
"Going to have to do something about that soon," Scootaloo grumbled as she gazed at the sky, seeing the sun up there for the third straight day. "Hey Cap, can you move the sun by any chance?"
"Doubtful, but I'm always willing to try."
"You suck at humor."
"That I do," Rogers agreed, yet his focus was hardly on the conversation that the ponies were having. Instead he was looking around at all of the other Crusaders that were repairing their once great capital. Statues of evil were being torn down while banners that once showed the tyrannical grip of the Five were being burned in the streets. But what made a smile spread along the Captain's face was that both the Crusaders and the ponies that had been living in Canterlot were all working together to rebuild their city.
'Maybe harmony isn't as dead as Tirek believed,' Rogers figured before Belle stamped a hoof, turning the Captain's glance away from the ponies and to the mare that wore a look of impatience on her face. "Let me guess, you just said something important that I failed to hear?"
"How you've survived your battles with the villains here astounds me sometimes," Belle growled with frustration as she shook her head, giving the Captain a stink eye before motioning for Applebloom to speak once more. "As you were saying..."
"Well...while the rest of ya spent most of yer time helping to drive the remaining soldiers out of the city, ah searched the castle fer anything that might be of use to us...and ah think ah may have found something." Intrigued by her discovery, the group followed the yellow mare into the castle and up into the throne room. Rogers' eyes narrowed as he glared at the obsidian throne that greeted them, the only item of Tirek's reign that still remained in the castle.
"Give it a rest, Cap. We tried to move it and it didn't budge. Once this is all over, then we'll find a way to move it," Scootaloo promised the Captain, who let go of the rage with a sigh. Applebloom then brought the group over to the back wall behind the throne, where she tapped her hoof against one of the bricks that was just a bit off from the others. All eyes widened as the bricks slid back to reveal a passageway that descended down into the darkness.
"No way...a hidden passage," Belle whispered with awe.
"And judging from the amount of dust that has accumulated, no one has been down there in a very long time," Rogers observed as he wiped his finger along the passage floor, causing a streak to form in the thick layer of dust.
"Haha! That's my mare!" Scootaloo praised with a laugh as she pulled Applebloom in tight. "Leave it to you to not only find a secret passageway in a few days, but to find one that Tirek couldn't find after living in this castle! Is there anything that you can't do?"
"Stop it, yer making me blush," Applebloom shyly responded as she glanced away. Belle made a gagging sound before she walked ahead into the passageway, the Captain and the other two ponies following after her. The descent downward took a few minutes, since they were stopped every once in awhile by somepony sneezing, but eventually the path straightened out again and revealed to the group the secrets that it had been hiding.
"You have got to be kidding me," Belle whispered as they all stepped out into a massive chamber that was filled with items and contraptions that made the ponies' heads spin. Numerous computers and machines decorated the walls, a massive tube filled with a liquid bluer than the Captain's suit occupied the center of the room, and the rest of the room belonged to tables and blueprints, which were scattered everywhere and also covered in dust.
"Holy Tatarus...this must be the princesses' hidden laboratory," Scootaloo whispered to herself, getting looks from the other three. "Yeah, I kinda heard that the princesses had this place. Rainbow Dash told me after hearing it from Twilight. Well, more like overhearing it and...look, it doesn't matter. This place is real!"
"And it's incredible," Applebloom said in awe as she began to search around the room, starting with the tube that stood tall over every other invention in the room. "I...only heard of this back when Twilight was alive, but I thought that it was only in its infant stages."
"What is it?" Rogers asked her as he walked beside the mare.
"A healing tube...well, that's what she called it when she showed the idea to mah sister," Bloom clarified before flashing a coy smile over at stunned Scootaloo. "What? Yer not the only pony that heard secrets of the mane six from yer sister. But yeah, it's a tube that's filled with some sort of magical liquid that Zecora discovered. Apparently, over enough time, it can be used to heal any energy. The problem was the liquid was completely unstable and could kill a pony if not applied right. But according to these notes," Bloom trailed off as she picked up and dusted off the reports about the tube.
"Whoa, what are these?" Drawn to the intrigue, Rogers soon joined Belle as she gazed over numerous blueprints for what looked to be a mechanical horn. "You seeing this, Cap? They were working on artificial horns. Hey AB, think that you could build one of these for me?"
Applebloom stopped talking to her notes and joined the pair, taking the blueprints from Belle and scanning them over with her eyes. Amazement spread farther and farther across her face the longer she read, and after finishing one blueprint she grabbed the next one that was closest to her, devouring the knowledge that it held within a matter of seconds.
"This is incredible! If these blueprints are as accurate as ah think they are, then not only would ah be able to build a replacement horn fer ya...but ah might be able to channel the magic of any foes that we come across." All the Crusaders stared into each other's eyes as she said this, each of them thinking of only one name. "Ah need to get started on these immediately. Ah need to focus on these, so Cap and Belle, can the two of you go off and see what else ya can do?"
"Wait a moment, what about Scootaloo?" Belle asked as the Pegasus walked by her with a smirk on her face.
"Sorry Belle, I get special privilege," she bragged before waving the two away. Belle rolled her eyes while Rogers chuckled good humoredly, the two leaving the pair alone so that they could work.
"Those two can be so sweet sometimes that it's disgusting," Belle grumbled to the Captain once they were back inside of the throne room.
"At least we all have a reason to smile again," Rogers pointed out while they walked the castle halls. "Tirek is beaten, Canterlot is free and now we finally have a new base to recover to after the loss of the forest."
"I've been meaning to ask about that. I was barely conscious for most of what happened...is our home really gone?" Belle hesitantly asked, getting a nod from the Captain that was as somber as it was apologetic.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't save your base, but I promise to save your home," Rogers assured her, getting another eye roll from the mare while she quickened her pace.
"And speaking of disgusting, stop being so damn heroic and nice all the time. It really irks me." Belle then tried to turn her thoughts to something else, but Rogers saw a flash of pain followed by a sad mood cast over her face, and she looked at the floor for a moment before speaking. "Hey Cap...you know that I hate to ask any favors from you, but...before all of this happened, my sister used to own a boutique up here in Canterlot and I was just wondering..."
"Of course I'll escort you there." Belle flashed him a grateful smile before the two headed out, walking past numerous smiling ponies who were only too happy to be tearing down anything within the castle that reminded them of Tirek. After stepping out into the sunlight and into the streets, the two were stopped dead in their tracks by a crowd of ponies that had formed to see them.
"Or more specifically, you," Belle smirked as the crowd began to cheer at the sight of the Captain, who held a hand to wave to them with a modest expression on his face. The ponies all began to chant for the Captain while foals raced up to meet him, some of them with trash can lids painted in the colors of his shield. "Oh sure, I save your life in the battle against Tirek, but does anypony care about that?"
"I care. And I know what each of you has done to help me," Rogers answered her while kneeling down to meet the foals, who suddenly lost their nerve in the face of the Captain. Sweetie Belle watched from the sidelines as the parents of the foals came up and helped their children to thank the Captain for giving them something to believe in, causing her face to fall slightly as a realization dawned on her.
'That's right. The reason that so many ponies, including ones within the Crusade, are willing to fight against the Five is because Cap gave them hope. He gave them a hero to believe in. But...the battle with Tirek showed me that he's not invincible. And if he were to die in battle...' Belles eyes then set as she reached her decision. 'No. The Captain can't die. No matter what else happens, he has to live. So that the ponies of this world will have somepony to believe in. And I'll make sure they do, no matter what.'
"...Are you ready?" Belle shook herself free of her thoughts before glancing up at the Captain, who wore a smirk on her face so transparent that she sighed aloud at what he was thinking. "Let me guess, you were saying something important and I missed it. Alright, rub it in. What was it?"
"I was just asking if you're ready to move?" She bowed sarcastically in response the Captain's question and the two headed off once more, Belle biting her tongue as more and more ponies came out to see the hero of Equestria. "Do you remember where it is? Because I still get lost in this city."
"It's been a long time, but if I'm correct then it should be right around..." Sweetie Belle's words became a lump like coal in her throat as she turned the corner where her sister's boutique had once stood, only to see a large pile of rubble that was all that remained of her sister's dream. Belle's eyes sunk while she and the Captain walked up to the remains, finding a sign sitting outside of the rubble.
'This is what will happen to any that oppose us. Your dreams and your lives will be crushed.'
"Well, they're thorough, I'll give them that," she snarked, but when she glanced up at Rogers she found that he was gazing upon the remains with a look of sorrow that she had never seen upon his face before. "Rogers, what's the matter? Yeah I wanted to see this place, but it was just a building. It wasn't..."
"I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle. This...simply reminded me of something on my world," he said softly, making Sweetie's ears perk up at the tone in his voice. "Of returning to a city after so long, only to find everything that you once loved is either torn down or in disrepair...and how all you have left of it is the memories." Surprise was the only emotion that Belle could feel in response to the Captain's words, but when she glanced into his eyes she found that his expression was far beyond the world they were in. She waited patently for a few minutes until the Captain snapped out of his thoughts, sighing slightly before resuming the look of determination that she had always seen upon him.
"Hey, Cap?" Sweetie asked when the Captain turned away and began to head back to the streets. "Is...there something that you'd like to share with me?" She could see Rogers thinking about her offer for a moment, before the confident smile that often made her roll her eyes returned to his face and he shook his head instead.
"It's nothing, Sweetie Belle. Just thoughts and memories that belong in the past." Rogers then turned and walked away, never letting Sweetie see his eyes go from 'confident' to 'determined' to 'do right' in a moment. 'I'm tired of seeing this. Of places of creativity and joy torn down, because of a madman or a tyrant. All those memories, all that joy that Belle must have felt when she used to visit that place...gone. But no more. No more tyrants killing loved ones, no more destruction just to prove a point. All that's left is you, Sombra, and I promise that I will make sure you fall...and speaking of tyrants.'
==2==
From the light that shone onto the frail centaur within his cell, Rogers found that Tirek had not moved ever since he had been relocated from the throne to his new home. Rogers lit a lamp before walking up to the bars of the centaur's cell, gazing down at him while the villain stared ahead without acknowledging the Captain.
"Heard from the guard outside. Seems you haven't been any trouble since we threw you in here," Captain America said. Tirek gave no response, choosing to stare ahead with a blank look upon his face. "No threats of revenge, no trying to eat the magic of the ponies that bring you food. I'll admit, out of all of the five you're the one I expected to be the least quiet. What's the matter?" Tirek again said nothing in reply, getting the Captain to shrug before turning to leave.
"Why?" The one word stopped the Captain and he glanced over his shoulder at the shriveled centaur, who had moved his eyes to gaze at the Captain. "Why did you save my life? After all that I have done?" Rogers thought about his answer for a long time before he finally decided to answer the centaur.
"Maybe it was to send a message. To show that mercy and restraint is a far greater answer than vengeance or murder. Maybe it was because I thought you might have information about Sombra that we might need. Or maybe," Captain America began as he fully turned to gaze at Tirek, his eyes blazing with virtue and truth, "I just couldn't stand by and watch as someone called out for help."
"But...me? I am your enemy, the one who brought so much death and destruction. Why even tease the idea of saving me?"
Rogers then gazed at the ceiling, lost in memories for a moment. "You asked why I fight so hard, despite having no power, no magic? Because I never give up. I don't give up when faced when an unbeatable foe. I don't give up when I'm horribly outclassed and have no way to win. But most of all I don't give up...on those who have given up. Even when they've fallen so far, even when they have lost everything. Because...when someone is at their weakest is when you see who they truly are. What they do when they've fallen. And most usually do two things: They either lie in their darkness...or they stand up. So will you lie in that darkness? Or will you be better? Will you stand up?"
Rogers then left the centaur there alone, alone to think about the Captain's words. Tirek gazed down at his hands, clenching them slightly before turning his attention to the sun that still rested overhead. A small frown crossed his face when he saw that it had yet to move, yet to change position without his aid.
He then summoned forth all the magic that he had left, the shred of alicorn magic that he had managed to hold onto in his horn, knowing that he would have more than enough power to blow through the bars. But then he hung his head for a moment before gazing up at the sun once more, the words of Rogers in his mind again.
And then the sun began to move.
==2==
There was a change in the wind. Sombra could feel it on his face as he gazed over the Crystal Empire from atop his spire, gazing off into the distance from where the wind came. He did not bother to look down at the ponies below, for he knew for the first time in a long time there was hope among them, a hope that was so powerful that they dared to show it even with him there.
'It doesn't matter. For soon I shall dash that hope,' he smirked before there was a knocking at his chamber door. "Enter." One of his gargoyles slowly cracked open the door and peeked into the room, visibly flinching under the gaze Sombra gave him.
"Uh, sir? It's...Ahuizotl. He's here to see you." Sombra raised a single eyebrow in response to the gargoyle's news, but after mulling it over for a moment he nodded his head to allow the creature to enter. Ahuizotl was then hurled into the room by the gargoyle, the hybrid of creatures wearing terror like an outfit as he scrambled over to Sombra.
"Sombra...thank the heavens you're alive!" Ahuizotl said with gratitude in his voice, not noticing the look that Sombra was giving him. "Tirek...Tirek is done. The Captain and his ponies managed to beat him. This is bad, this is far worse than anything we could have believed to happen."
"Ahuizotl..."
"I mean, we expected maybe to lose Starlight or Chrysalis due to their own stupidity. I know that many of you thought that I'd be the first of the Five to bite it."
"Ahuizotl..."
"But what can we do to stop the Captain now? Tirek was the strongest of all of us and even he wasn't able t--HURK!" Ahuizotl was silenced as Sombra grabbed hold of his throat with his magic, lifting him into the air with a smile on his face that pierced Ahuizotl's heart with pure terror.
"Yes, Tirek is beaten. Starlight and Chrysalis are dead. All those who stood in my way are now gone...save one," Sombra cackled with a smile on his face that sent chills up every creature within his kingdom. Ahuizotl's eyes filled with realization a moment before a blast of black magic erupted from Sombra's horn, removing Ahuizotl's head from his body. "And trust me when I say, I couldn't be happier, Ahuizotl. Everything is finally going the way I want it to." Sombra then cast the headless corpse to the side and stamped his hoof twice.
"You called, boss?" the gargoyle asked as it opened the door, sparing the corpse off to the side a moment of pity before turning his full attention to Sombra.
"Yes. Captain America will soon be on his way. Assemble every guard that isn't assigned to the project and prepare them to fight to the death," Sombra instructed before thinking a bit to himself. The gargoyle then began to cower slightly as a smile crossed Sombra's face that he only wore before many lives were lost. "And also clear the top of the spire. And get some of the strongest gargoyles you can find."
"Sure...what for boss?"
"Because I feel like being particularly cruel today. Now then, grab those gargoyles and bring me the sun and moon. Time to remind the world why I am called the hero killer."
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...Sombra, you could have at least taken Ahuizotl's artifacts before killing him. You know? Insurance?
Ah well, Sombra's gonna lose. If not to the Captain, then by the Deus Ex Metal Horn!
Also, Tirek decided to move the sun for them after getting beaten? How big of him...Doesn't mean he's instantly likable though. Maybe in a thousand years he'll be reformed into a member of society? Ah well.
Keep on writin', you've done a terrific job, through and through. Makes me wish someone could adapt this into an actual comic! That'd be kick ass!
Okay, good news, it looks like Celestia and Luna are alive, bad news, Sombra's finally getting off his flank, make or break time boys and girls.
6687593 Celestia and Luna alive?
aren't they dead?
6687637 Sombra asked to be brought the sun and moon, what does that sound like to you?
6687637 The most powerful tool in a war, propaganda, we don't know who really is alive and who isn't .
Called it, Belle is Equestria's version on Winter Soldier.
6687689 Oh
So Celestia and Luna are alive and Sombra plans to execute them in front of everypony, somehow I doubt that's going to go to plan.
6687977 no he's going to ask the captain to make the choice of sacrificing him self or let celestia and Luna die and being the hero will sacrifice him self. and call hulk
6688081
Or the Cap will just throw his mighty shield and save them both while defeating Sombra.
6688176 or Thor throws his hammer and leave's it on him trollolllol
Of course... Of course I catch up only to end up at the biggest cliffhanger of the story.
Woah woah woah... Back this train up!!! You just contradicted yourself, mister author sir, as Tirek is very much ALIVE later in this very chapter!
6689045
Thought for sure I got all those. Thanks for pointing it out.
That blue liquid that needs an external source to stabilize it, can't help but think the ponies accidentally recreated the super soldier serum and just need to discover vita rays to get it up and running.
So we have Falcon Scoots, Iron Apple, and the Winter Belle. Avengers Assemble.
That was unbelievably disappointing, I was really hoping that Ahuizotl would become a good guy. I didn't really care how, I just hoped he did.
Hm...Why do I feel Tirek is going to help in beating Sombra? And what is Sombra's plan? Is he going to force Cap to sacrifice himself to save the sun and moon? Or is he going to make it next to impossible for him to save them, only to expect him to save them, but be to exhausted to fight him? Or possibly make him choose to save the sun and moon or his friends? Either would be a good plan. Heh. Perhaps he'll try one, then the Avengers will arrive and throw the plan out of whack.
Wait, so if Tirek has "just a shred of Alicorn power left" and all the ponies got their magic back when he powered down, shouldn't the (apparently still alive) princesses be rapidly regenerating back to full strength about now?
6690006 I think since he killed all the Alicorns the magic just dissipated when he lost it all. properly. maybe.
Sombra, the final boss and the most difficult one. How are the heroes going to fight someone that doesn't have a physical body ?
Great update to the story. Please keep up the good work.
6690624 simple call magneto' I don't care he's a villain just call him and tell him they what to kill all mutants or is a treat to them. that will get him on your side
6691036 shadows aren't metal, dude
6690134 Sombra mentions "the sun and the moon". Obviously, Celestia and Luna aren't dead
6691242 no but he can inprison him in it' try getting out of that donut pipe noob.
6691244 or he could be talking about the literal sun and moon.
6691815 yeah but he says he wishes to remind the world why he is the God Killer.
WHAT ARE THOSE??!!
I had to...
uh............... crap.
6740374 WHAT IS THIS??
yknow what I think he's trying to compensate for something
You really like Sombra’s villain qualities based on the stories I’ve read so far. Even when he died against Superman, he still managed to break him. Props on Sombra’s unmatched cunningness