• Published 29th Dec 2012
  • 2,685 Views, 143 Comments

Sonata de Equestria - MyHobby



Equestria's history is catching up to the present. When Twilight Sparkle uncovers a dark crystal heart in King Sombra's tomb, she and her friends find themselves on the run from timberwolves, windigos, and Sombra himself.

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First Movement: Part 8- Kindness A Capella

Kindness A Cappella

Sombra chuckled, satisfied that he had frightened Twilight Sparkle sufficiently. The look on her face when he appeared in the Dark Crystal Heart was almost worth the years of waiting, watching, and plotting. Perhaps she would even believe that he was contained inside the heart, and lock it away, hoping to keep him prisoner. The foal… she has no idea what’s in store for her.


Dusty Shelves limped down the pathway, eyes darting to-and-fro in search of the landmark he sought. His bloodshot orbs fell upon a simple sign featuring an arrow pointing to the right, with a diamond-shaped symbol below it. “Somber, w-we’ve reached the b-ba-bar-barrens.”

A dark wisp of magical smoke floated out of the earth pony’s saddlebags and into his ear. A deep voice whispered to Dusty. “Then our journey has ended. Are you familiar with the Diamond Dogs?”

The tan stallion shook his head. “Just th-that they’re gr-g-greedy, selfish thieves.”

“Just the sort of creatures who I require,” the ethereal unicorn replied. “The more selfish a creature is, the easier they are to manipulate. Remember this, son of earth.”

Somber Tidings urged Dusty to continue onto the empty field. The unicorn was just about to explain how to get the Dogs’ attention, when they came upon a most unexpected sight. The entire field was crawling with Equestria’s Armed Forces.

Soldiers were setting up tents, digging holes, and marching in time. One soldier dropped a small glowing orb down a hole, waited for it explode in a magical flash, and then watched as the magical wave flowed through the tunnels. A blueprint of the caves appeared on a sheet of parchment as the magic bounced into the cavern walls. The earth pony looked to a golden-armored pegasus and reported. “Still no sign of the Diamond Dogs, ma’am! They’ve cleaned the place out.”

The pegasus shook her head in annoyance. “Keep searching! We’ll find those ragamuffins one way or another.”

Dusty was about to turn away, when his companion whispered into his ear again. “Find out what happened.”

The earth pony wandered into the military camp and made his way slowly up to the pegasus mare, she seemed to be in charge. He was stopped half-way by a unicorn guard brandishing a spear. “Hold it, citizen, this area is off limits.”

“Wh-wha-wh-what’s…” Dusty was already a nervous stallion, but the presence of an armed soldier put him even more on-edge.

The soldier tilted his head to the side quizzically. “What is it? Spit it out.”

“What. Wh-what’s go-go-g-go…” Dusty’s face contorted painfully as he tried to get the words out, but they refused to come. He was about to just give up and turn around when another voice interrupted the conversation.

“What’s the problem, corporal?”

The soldier turned to address the pegasus mare in charge. “Captain Stonewall, ma’am. I was just informing this pony that the area is off-limits.”

The captain looked Dusty Shelves in the eye, doing nothing to ease his nerves. “Do you have business here?”

“L-looking for… L-looking for somepony.” He averted his gaze, not willing to look into the captain’s violet orbs any longer.

Captain Stonewall sighed. “Well, a good place to start is Ponyville, it’s a small town not far from here.”

Dusty nodded, and began to limp his way back to the path. Stonewall whispered out of the corner of her mouth to the corporal. “Something seemed off about him, I don’t like it.”

“Do you want me to follow him?” The unicorn raised an eyebrow; he had learned to trust his leader’s gut in every situation. Something to do with pegasus magic.

“No, I’ll just shoot a message to the local authorities.” She turned back to monitoring the tunnel mapping. “A little pony like that isn’t gonna be able to cause much trouble.”

Still, Captain Stonewall considered. If there is trouble, I’m sure the locals will be able to handle it. Resourceful ponies, those Ponyvilleans.


Dusty had made it some distance down the path before Somber Tidings spoke up. “What was that?”

“Th-that was me… making a fool of m-m-myself!” Dusty gritted his teeth. “I can’t t-t-talk when I’m nervous.”

“Is that so?” Oh, you pathetic thing, Sombra silently chuckled. You have no idea what you’re getting into.

“Yes.” Dusty Shelves saw the outskirts of Ponyville appearing through the trees. “D-don’t make a thing ou-out of it.”

“DUSTY SHELVES!” A shout broke the quiet of the peaceful summer day, startling the tan stallion. He turned to see who it was, but he became even more confused when he saw the source.

“Fluttershy?” That wasn’t right. Fluttershy didn’t shout. She certainly didn’t shout to other people, and she never, ever ran up and hugged somepony. Not without lots of cajoling. What had happened to Fluttershy, and who was this butter-yellow pegasus mare hugging him now?

“Oh, Dusty, I’m so glad you’re alright! Everypony’s been worried about you! We thought that you were dead!” Dusty Shelves felt his ribcage begin to constrict as the Fluttershy look-alike crushed him in a bear-hug. She had been spending an awful lot of time around those bears before he left.

His eyebrows lowered. Not before I left, he thought. Before I was abandoned.

He pushed Fluttershy off of himself and spoke. “You’ve changed.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened momentarily, before her entire body seemed to compress into a small ball of yellow-and-pink fluff. “Not really. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

That cinched it; this pony was indeed the Fluttershy he knew, even if some things were different. “I-I-I’m not off-ff-fended.” He shook his head. “I just-just was surprised, is all.”

Fluttershy got up off of the ground and brushed her mane out of her eyes. “Surprised? At what?”

Dusty was nearly at a loss for words. “Th-the last t-time I saw you, y-y-you had a hard time ta-talking with your best friend, never m-m-mind me!” He scratched at his head, bemused. “What happened?”

“Fluttershy! Who’re you talkin’ t- Well I’ll be hog-tied,” the two were joined by an orange-coated mare, wearing a brown Stetson hat. She looked up and down the grey-maned pony’s body with a concerned look on her face. “Dusty Shelves, what in the hay happened to you?”

He glanced down at himself, self-consciously noting his patchwork coat and rats-nest of a tail. “Been travelling.”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Why don’t we all go get a nice, warm cup of tea?” She smiled. “It’ll do you good.”

Dusty frowned, this wasn’t right. They were treating him like he was their friend. He didn’t have any friends left in Ponyville. Nopony cared about him.

Right?

“C’mon, Dusty.” Applejack led him along the road to Downtown Ponyville. “You can tell us what you’ve been up to these last couple years.”


Sombra was not at ease, lying inside the saddlebags as a depowered crystal. He was close to two powerful enemies, the very same who had stolen his empire from him. He wasn’t certain that he could fight them as he was.

Still, in the meantime, Sombra was going to sit back and learn.


The trio of corporeal ponies came to Sugarcube Corner. It was generally the place to hang out in Ponyville. Though the main selling point of the place was their delicious (and, believe it or not, nutritious) baked goods, they also served a wide variety of coffee and tea. Two teas and one coffee were ordered, and Dusty found himself sitting across from the two mares.

He took a pensive sip of his herbal brew and decided to break the ice. “So, s-since when have you t-t-two been f-f-f-friends?”

Applejack set down her coffee. “It all goes back to that Summer Sun Celebration.” She shook some sugar into the cup as she continued. “I’m guessin’ that you were in the crowd when Nightmare Moon made her appearance?”

“Y-y-yes,” he replied. “She threatened to m-m-make the night ‘l-l-la-last forever.’”

“Well, at that point Twilight Sparkle, that’s Celestia’s Personal Student, made a break for the library.” She took a sip, grimaced, and proceeded to spoon creamer into her drink. “I figured that she might know what was up, so I followed her.” She pointed to the pegasus next to her. “So did Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.”

Satisfied that her brew was sufficiently sweetened, Applejack guzzled it down. “Turns out the six of us were the key to unlocking some cosmic spell or another, and we stopped Nightmare Moon.” She grinned cheekily. “We’ve been best friends ever since.”

Dusty must have had a terrible poker face, because Applejack noticed that something was wrong. “Wassa matter? Something about that night bothering you?”

The tan stallion spoke through gritted teeth. “J-j-just a little.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she recalled that night, now so long ago. “That was the night you disappeared, wasn’t it?”

Gazing into his tea, Dusty nodded. An awkward silence pervaded the table until Applejack decided to prod. “What happened to make you decide to leave?”

Dusty Shelves narrowed his green eyes at the farm pony. “If th-there is no food in the a-ar-area, a g-g-g-g-gazelle will move on. If the-there are several males v-vying for dom-domin-dominance, a lion will seek greener p-pas-pas-p-pastures.” He crossed his forelegs and lay them on the table-top. “There was n-no p-p-place for me here, s-s-s-so I moved on.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes in return. “Ah’m not sure what you mean by that, pal.”

Dusty got to his feet, fore-hooves leaning against the table. “No, I s-s-suppose you wouldn’t.”

He tossed a bit on the table and limped off, leaving the two mares feeling confused. The orange-and-yellow mare also had a hint of anger in her expression. “Huh, some ponies have all the nerve, I guess.”

“I wonder what happened to him, he seems so…” Fluttershy searched for the right word. “Bitter.”

“Yeah, an’ I don’t like his attitude one bit.” Applejack stood up and placed a tip on the table. “Seems he can go right back to being missin’.”

Fluttershy frowned at her friend. “He’s not the only one who needs to examine his attitude, Applejack! What’s important is that he was lost, and now he’s found, and we should try to help him fit back in.”

Applejack blinked as her butter-yellow friend trotted out the front door of the bakery. She stood there a moment longer, pondering Fluttershy’s words, before deciding that her early-summer harvest wasn’t gonna buck itself. She trotted out the door and headed back to the farm, where she was stopped by a particularly pink pony.

“Applejack! I’ve gotta tell you the awful news!”


Fluttershy caught up with the tan-and-grey stallion quickly, it didn’t seem like he was in any big hurry. She slowed down as she came up alongside him, smiling softly. “Do you have a place to stay while you’re in Ponyville?”

Dusty raised an eyebrow at the mare. “No, I d-don’t. Why?”

Fluttershy pointed down a side-road that lead to the center of town. “Well, since Twilight Sparkle is out of town, I’m sure that Spike will let you stay at the library. You could probably even have your old room back!”

The stallion tensed up at the mention of the lavender unicorn. “T-t-twilight is out of town, you say?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, yes. It’s a big mission from Princess Celestia. She might not be back for a while.”

“Oh… sh-sure...”

The two of the arrived at the library in short order, and Fluttershy knocked on the door. Nopony answered. She then tried the door-handle and found it locked. A quick peek inside confirmed that no one was home.

Fluttershy scratched the back of her head, befuddled. “I… I guess he could be at Rarity’s.”

As Fluttershy walked towards their new destination, Dusty couldn’t help but shoot a disapproving glare at the tree-grown building. “Pfft, how unprofessional.”


Rarity had finally taken a moment to clean up. She was absolutely covered in dirt and filth, but certain other things had taken priority. The letter to the princesses had been sent, and Spike was currently attempting to send Twilight’s notification. A fwoosh of flame was heard outside the bathroom door as the baby dragon once again tried to send the letter. A groan and an “Aw, come on!” sounded from his throat as the plume of magic smoke returned to its sender.

The designer scrubbed shampoo into her mane in an attempt to get the feeling of dirty out of her hair. She tried not to focus on their troubles, but even as the relaxing heat of the shower cascaded down her back, she found her muscles tensing up at the news they had uncovered. Sombra was not only back, but it was entirely possible that he had never left. Now that they had finally awakened Spike, it seemed that he was unable to send a message to Twilight. The dragon said that he had trouble over long distances, but he wouldn’t stop trying until he was blue in the face.

Another burst of flame-breath, another slight pause, and then another defeated sigh. Spike had been at it for hours now; he had to be sick and tired of it. Rarity smiled at the thought of the young creature who never gave up when it came to his friends. Her smile inverted as another failed attempt caused Spike to yell in frustration. “Why won’t this stupid thing work!? Argh!”

Rarity finished rinsing out her mane, turned off the shower, and stepped out. She levitated a towel off of the rack and began to dry off. A spell would have been quicker, yes, but she’d been in a hurry all day long; it was time to relax. Wrapping her purple mane in a smaller towel, she stepped out of the bathroom. Spike was slumped over the back of a chair in the kitchen, staring glumly at the unsent letter. “I can’t do it. I can’t even tell her to be careful.”

The white unicorn walked over to the baby dragon and hugged him from behind. “It’ll be alright, Spikey-Wikey. You should write another letter to the princesses and let them know. I’m sure they’ll find a way.”

He nodded sadly, a blush coming to his chubby widdle cheeks. “Yeah, they’ll know what to do.”

The dragon began to scrawl a message on the back of the parchment, when they both heard a knock at the door. Rarity’s eyes widened as she patted the towel covering her decidedly un-curled mane. “Spike, could you get that, please? I’m not ready to entertain guests!”

Spike quickly finished the letter, and then sent it off to the royal palace. “On it!”

Rarity rushed up the stairs to her bedroom as Spike called after her. “What do you want me to tell them!?”

“Tell them I’ll be right down!” Rarity’s horn glowed as she levitated several beauty supplies. “Make them some tea, perhaps! You know your way around the kitchen, right?”

Spike’s sarcastic snort came from near the boutique’s doorway. “Of course I do! I have the apron to prove it!”


Spike opened the door to reveal Fluttershy, standing with a tan stallion that the small dragon had never met before. He sure didn’t look like much. “Hey, Fluttershy. Come in, Rarity’ll be down soon.”

“Thank you, Spike.” Fluttershy walked into Carousel Boutique with a small smile on her face. The stallion followed close behind, creepy bloodshot eyes darting around the room. Spike made a mental note to keep an eye on the new guy.

“I was just about to put some tea on, anypony have a preference?” Spike made his way to the kitchen and climbed onto the countertop. He opened the cupboard and pulled out four mugs, one for each person present.

“Just h-h-had some,” the grey-haired earth pony replied. He had a sour expression on his face as he sat at the table. Spike decided that he didn’t like this guy one bit.

“Do… Do you have any raspberry?” Fluttershy’s timid question snapped the baby dragon out of his annoyance. He smiled and pulled a packet out of Rarity’s tea jar.

“One raspberry tea, coming right up!”

As the water started to heat up, Rarity came into the room, mane properly coifed. Fluttershy turned to her fashionable friend and gestured to the stallion beside her. “Hello, Rarity, you remember Dusty Shelves, right?”

“Fluttershy! I’m so glad to see you. Could we, perhaps, talk in private?” Even with her current stress levels, Rarity was always the polite hostess. As Fluttershy trotted over to her, the unicorn smiled and bowed to her newest visitor. “And welcome to Carousel Boutique, where the fashion is chic, unique, and magnifique.”

While the two mares conversed, Spike sat down next to Dusty. “So, what’s your story?”

“B-b-been travelling.” Dusty refused to look at the small dragon, giving the assistant librarian something of a complex. Spike tapped his claw against the table-top and glared.

“What do you do for a living? I thought I saw a book on your flank.” Spike pointed a claw at Dusty’s Cutie Mark, displaying an open novel.

“L-l-l-l-librarian.” Dusty shifted so that his bum was hidden beneath the folds of the table cloth, nudging his chair away from the inquisitive reptile.

“And you’re from Ponyville? Fluttershy acted like you’d been here before.”

This time, Dusty did look at the dragon, eyes burning. He spoke softly, but with a subtle fury. “Y-y-you should keep out of other p-p-p-pony’s business. I’m not here to t-t-t-talk with you, creature.”

Spike got up from the table, chances of a good mood completely ruined. “Well, fine by me. Wallow in your own misery.” He waddled over to the teapot, and grabbed it off of the stove just as it started to whistle.


Sombra flowed out of the saddlebags and into a flower pot. From his vantage point, he was able to hear the latter part of Fluttershy and Rarity’s conversation clearly.

“They kidnapped you and Spike? That’s horrible!”

“That’s not the worst of it; it’s what we found out while we were there…”

Sombra listened as Rarity related her adventure to the pink-maned pegasus. His ethereal teeth ground together as he listened to the Diamond Dogs’ failed attempts to locate the Alicorn Amulet. Those foals promised me that they knew where to find it; they will pay for their lies!

“Why didn’t you tell them that you didn’t know where the amulet was? Wouldn’t they let you go?”

“Fluttershy, if I told them I didn’t know where it was, they would have just made me tell them who did know.”

“Oh, my. You’re right; they would have just gone after Zecora. You couldn’t do that to her.”

“Especially considering what they were planning to do with it…”

Sombra’s fury fully ignited at the next segment of news Rarity related, the Dogs had told her of his continued existence! His eyes glowed green as the plant above him withered and died. Those mangy, miserable, malodorous…

“So, we’ve decided to ask Applejack if we can all stay at Sweet-Apple Acres until the princesses can decide what to do.”

Blast! Sombra fumed. Now even the princesses have been alerted! I must move up my plans!

A smoky wisp of magic floated over to Dusty’s ear, and Sombra’s bitter voice clouded out all other thoughts. “We must leave this place to make preparations for Twilight Sparkle’s return.”

Dusty sat erect and mumbled an answer. “But w-w-what about F-f-f-fluttershy? What do I tell her?”

“Make something up; just get us out of here!”

“I-I have to go!” Everyone present turned at the sound of Dusty’s voice. “I just-just remembered that I need to-to be somewhere.”

Fluttershy’s worried expression would have been adorable, if Sombra hadn’t been so furious. “Can I walk you over to wherever you’re going? Some things have changed since you’ve been gone.”

“I… Uh… I think I can m-m-man-manage.” Dusty thanked his hostess and trotted out of the door.

He looked back at his saddlebags as he sped up to a run. “Where are we going, Somber Tidings?”

Sombra’s bitter eyes were all that Dusty could make out. “Go into the woods called ‘Whitetail,’ if the Dogs did any of what I commanded, it should be ready for us.”


As the sun disappeared below the horizon, Dusty passed Fluttershy’s cottage and entered the woods. He trotted through the darkened trees and began to shiver in trepidation; he’d traveled enough to understand that the woods were not a friendly place at night.

As they entered a clearing, the earth pony stallion sat down, his body not able to continue any further without rest. His weak leg burned with pain, and his heart beat with effort and fear. “I gotta stop… I g-g-g-gotta rest.”

Somber Tidings flowed out of Dusty’s saddlebags and into the night, like some dark, treacherous fog. He surveyed the clearing with glowing eyes, and smiled with fangs bared. “Yeeesss, so they can follow simple orders.” He turned to Dusty with an evil gleam in his eye. “Watch, son of earth, and be amazed!”

Sombra’s horn glowed a deep purple, and his eyes began to leak mystical energy. The wind began to blow, and the temperature dropped several degrees. His shadowy magic flashed and lit the clearing, allowing Dusty to get a glimpse of his surroundings. The entire area, which he had assumed was a natural clearing, had in fact been the scene of a forest fire. Burnt wood littered the ground, and roasted stumps stood out like nature’s version of a tombstone. The cold wind began to pick up, and Somber Tiding’s shadowy form had become a cyclone of darkness and wicked purposes. Only the unicorn stallion’s unnatural eyes remained of his barbaric features.

The wind picked up once more, and Dusty curled up to keep himself warm. Many dead branches and much tinder was caught in the gale, and appeared to be drawn towards the swirling blob of magic that was the unicorn king. A large amount of wood now flew about, orbiting the vortex of magic.

That’s when the howling of the wind transformed into the howling of wolves.

Green magic surrounded the floating branches, and they began to separate in clumps. Each pile of deadwood shifted, rearranged, and finally connected. As the piles of wood landed on the ground, they proceeded to stand up. Dusty’s eyes widened as he caught sight of the dangerous creatures that now stood before him. No longer a pile of sticks and stones, the once-dead forest lived again.

The Timberwolves were on the hunt.


Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike gathered around the Apple Family’s campfire, sharing s’mores and stories. Applebloom had requested a ghost story, but her older brother, Big Macintosh, had mentioned that it might not be good subject matter, considering what had brought the ponies together. Pinkie Pie tried to make light of the situation, but nopony was in much mood for jokes at the moment.

Instead, the ponies were relating various low-key and heartwarming events that had happened since they had last met. Applebloom had taken a test on spelling, Fluttershy was now taking care of a family of wombats, Rarity’s new commissions were pouring in; and so the night went.

The festivities were interrupted by an unearthly howling that filtered through the night. Big Mac got to his hooves immediately, followed by Applejack. The orange mare turned to her older brother with fierce determination in her heart. “Ah’ll take the others into the farmhouse, get them settled in. You get that contraption ready to use, an’ I’ll join you when I can.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac was a stallion of action, not words. He galloped over to the barn and produced a long, steel pipe.

Rarity peered after the red stallion with worried eyes. “And just what is that for?”

Applejack pushed her towards the farmhouse, where Granny Smith was waving the others in. “Just trust me when I say we got a handle on this, an’ if you hear a loud ‘boom,’ it’s just us takin’ care of business.”


Captain Stonewall sat in her tent, writing a progress report for the day’s activities. The Diamond Dogs still eluded her, but she wasn’t going to stop the search that easily.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud howl sounding from the forest. She poked her head out of the tent flap and shouted to a passing soldier. “Diamond Dust, you’re from Ponyville! What’s making that awful racket?”

The earth pony turned on his rear hooves and stood at attention. “Captain Stonewall, ma’am! It sounds like Timberwolves, creatures comprised of dead branches and stumps come to life!”

She narrowed her eyes. “Dangerous?”

The stallion nodded. “Carnivores, and hungry ones, too! They fall apart easily, but they always come back for more.”

A passing pegasus couldn’t help but add in his two bits. “I thought they only appeared around Zap-Apple Season.”

Stonewall glared at the pegasus for speaking out of turn. “KP duty tomorrow, Runabout.”

“Sorry, ma’am.”

The captain turned back to the first soldier. “Is he right about the zap-apples?”

He gulped in response. “That’s when they appear en mass, but there have been a few reports of strays…”

Captain Stonewall stepped out of the tent, her red-brick Cutie Mark becoming visible. “Post a double watch tonight, I don’t want any wolves sneaking into my camp.”

The stallion saluted and trotted off. Stonewall grabbed her trusty spear and began to sharpen it, just in case the night turned ugly.

Author's Note:

So not only did this chapter arrive later than the others, it is the first chapter to not feature a song! (A capella, get it!? Haw.)
I feel that any kind of singing was just gonna interrupt the flow, and I did not want that at all.

It's a lesson that i've learned from various toylines over the years, gimmicks are all well and good, but don't overuse them.
Songs are still gonna happen as the are required.
Perhaps this way I can also catch up on the songs that still need to be written for real... Hmm.

So, enjoy the chapter, and nitpick if you wish!

I'm really, really trying hard to make this a cohesive tale from beginning to end, really improve my writing ability.
I know i've alienated my readers in the past with constant perspective-jumping, and too many plot-points.
I aim to avoid those pitfalls this time.

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