The Alicorn Ring

by Dull Mist

The Obsidian Castle

The Obsidian Castle

The soles of my muddy and worn out sneakers rang against the stone floor with quiet taps as I walked through halls painted with dust and decay. The darkness that filled the castle was murky, almost seeming like a physical substance that I could feel moving across my skin and entering my lungs. It was thick, heavy, and it never seemed to end. It was like a substance that coated my bones and flowed into my joints, making me feel more tired and sick with every step. It was only by the strength of my will, and the desire to find the others, that I was able to force myself to keep moving forwards.

Fluttershy and I made sure to only make our way down passages that had enough light for us to see with, and this meant avoiding most of the inner castle. While there were sconces and fixtures in the wall made for holding torches and candles, none of them were lit, so the only light source we had were the open windows. It was just barely enough for me to see the hand in front of my face with.

“What do you think happened to the others?” the pegasus asked me, treading as lightly as possible so as not to make too much noise, and seeming to flinch at every time she did, even at her own voice. Her mane hung in front of her face, something I have come to recognize as a sort of way to hide herself, and she stuck very close to my side.

“Applejack and Rainbow Dash I'm sure are fine.” I replied morosely. Throughout our entire journey here, they had been the most able to tough it out and keep on moving forward while the rest of us begged for rest. Applejack especially had endurance that, frankly, struck me as unreal. “As for the others...I can't really say.” I tried to keep my voice gentle so as not to scare her, but if I was being completely honest with myself, I didn't see how they would be able to get out on their own. Hopefully they were helped by their more physically capable friends.

Fluttershy adopted a thoughtful look behind her shroud of hair. “They are alright, I'm sure.” she commented, causing me to look at her from the corner of my eye. “Even if they were by themselves, which I doubt to be the case. They're very capable.”

I recalled the way that Rarity almost had a heart attack when she was asked to step through mud, and how Pinke Pie could never focus on one thing for more than five seconds at a time. I didn't comment.

Please let her be right. Please don't let them be...

“What's wrong Kael? You're looking kind of pale.” my companion asked, thankfully interrupting my train of thought.

“Nothing.” I said quickly. “I'm...nothing's wrong. I'm fine.” I struggled desperately for a change in the subject. “How are you doing? Is your wing still hurt?”

I shouldn't have come her in the first place. I shouldn't have let them come here.

“I'm...fine.” She said, not sounding entirely convinced of either my words or her own. She was obviously just as scared and worried as I was. She took a moment to extend her wing, injured when were falling off of the side of the castle, and winced. It stood out at an awkward angle, and some of the feathers were bent. “It still hurts, I'm afraid, but it's nothing serious.” I nodded, somewhat troubled, but still relieved to hear it.

We walked in silence for a few more minutes, listening carefully and staying alert. The sounds of the old castle permeated the wide halls, the occasional whispers of crumbling rock and crashes of falling structures reached our ears, always coming from far off into the darkness where we didn't dare explore. A dry wind whistled through the the castle, the first wind that it has seen in centuries, like the ghostly whisper of the ones who used to walk these very halls.

“I've got to admit...” I said quietly, peering down yet another wide, dark hallway. Everything in this castle seemed to be built with sole purpose to intimidate, doors, windows, and the occasional art pieces made far larger than conventional reason dictated. “I was expecting this place to be a bit more...scary.”

Fluttershy didn't answer, her eyes locked on a massive, somewhat deteriorated portrait of a dark pony pony draped in blood red robes and gilded with obscene amounts of gold, a severe scowl on his face. It made me want to shrink away just from looking at it.

“I mean, I don't really know what I was expecting from the domain of an evil magical overlord,” I continued, keeping my voice low as it seemed that I should. “But that we haven't run into any vicious traps or guardians is somewhat surprising, but maybe I'm just overthinking it.”

Still she didn't answer. I looked at the pegasus, and when I didn't see her standing beside me, I looked behind me to see her still standing in front of the giant picture. “Fluttershy?”

Finally, she took her eyes away from it. “This is the third time we've passed this picture.” she said.

“What?” I said, striding back to where she was standing and giving the portrait another look. It rang a chord of familiarity with me, but it was simply one of many decorations that lines these halls. Forlorn statues, decayed banners, and other pieces of art, almost all of them depicting some battlefield or angry looking pony, so rotted that it was impossible to tell what they once looked like lined these halls almost like clockwork. I could have passed this particular picture ten times in the last few hours and not have realized.

“That's impossible.” I said, frowning at the stern faced pony in the picture. “We've been taking directions at random. There's no way that we could be walking in circles.”

Fluttershy shirked away from me slightly, disconcerted by my frown. “I wasn't sure about it when I passed it before...” she muttered. “But I remember it now.” she pointed with a hoof to the end of the corridor we were walking down. “Around that corner is a big door framed by two statues, one of which is missing a head.”

I looked at her, and then in the direction she was facing. We couldn't have been walking in circles. I thought as I made my way forward, her following me close behind. We simply couldn't... The very thought turned my stomach into a knot.

Nevertheless, when I turned the corner, I immediately saw that she was right. Ahead of us was a door, although gateway might be a better term to describe it. It was almost twice as tall as me, stretching up the wall halfway to the ceiling. It was made out of dark wood and wrought iron and had golden lettering written in an unfamiliar language on the top, different from the language that I had seen the ponies use before. It looked like it would be able to withstand getting hit by a monster truck. Or a magical fire breathing bull made out of stars and magic the size of a monster truck.

I hope I don't run into one of those again... I thought to myself. Of course, just as she said, flanking the door on either sides were two large statues of rearing, spear wielding ponies, one with its head curiously absent. This, I definitely did remember seeing before.

“Well...shit.” I said lamely as she stepped up beside me, looking up at the towering door. There was no sign as to what lay behind it, although I imagined that it was something of great importance.

“Last time, we went down that way.” Fluttershy said, pointing down the hall to the left. “And the time before that, we went down that way.” She pointed down the other hall to the right.

I sighed. “Well then...I guess we don't really have much of a choice than to go through...here.” I said, vaguely gesturing at the entire door.

Fluttershy let out a small whimper, stepping closer to me. I wasn't much fond of the idea myself.

I forced myself to put on a smile. Given my current situation of being tired, sore, and dirty, it was almost painful to do so.“Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be fine. We've been doing pretty well so far.” I said earnestly. It seemed to boost her confidence, but only by a little.

I reached out my hands and grasped the handles, lower than on doors I was used to despite its size, and kept it firmly there for several seconds before withdrawing it. Finally, I turned to Fluttershy who was standing close to my side with wide eyes, trembling slightly.

“Do...you want to go first?” I asked, praying that I didn't sound too hopeful. To my dismay, she shook her head wildly, sending her long pink hair flying all around her and taking a few steps back.

“Of course you don't...” I muttered, taking a deep breath as my heart hammered in my chest. I slowly wrapped my hands around the handles yet again, counted down from three, and pushed.

The double door was massive, but it moved rather easily, gliding inwards on silent hinges as though of its own accord. Fluttershy and I both hold our breaths as we waited anxiously to see what lay behind it.

To our mutual surprise, the first thing that we noticed was the fact that a dim light seemed to pervade throughout the entire room, seemingly without a source and leaving no traces of shadows, as though it emanated from the walls themselves. The second thing we noticed was how incredibly massive the room beyond was. Fluted columns of what looked like marble, as thick as centuries old trees, stretched from the ground to the ceiling, almost vanishing in the shadows above that the light did not penetrate. The floor, much unlike the black stone that we had been walking on for the past few hours, was a misty white colour with natural swirls and veins of grey and black that I had never seen in a mineral before. Even the windows, stained glass depicting various scenes of a black unicorn in various victorious and triumphant scenes stretched several stories tall. Everything about the room seemed as though it was made to dwarf whatever was in it.

So enraptured I was with the sheer size of the place that I forgot to even see what was inside of it. I look around from where I stood on the doorway revealed rows and rows of wooden shelves filled books lining the ground with glass cabinets filled with works of art sitting against walls and around bare desks and tables cluttered with crystals.

“It's a library...” Fluttershy said with awe as she started to walk forward, her eyes on the towering shelves and her hooves ringing on the floors. I reached out a hand to stop her from going any further, but hesitated. The room had an air of emptiness to it that told me that nothing had touched these books in a long time. Dust had settled heavily on every surface, small puffs of it rising with every step she made, and the room was so large that surely we would hear anything in it that made a noise simply from the echo it would make.

My suspicion was still strong however, and my steps were hesitant as I followed Fluttershy inside.

“If only Twilight could see this.” she said with wonder in her voice. I found myself curious as to where all of her previous fear had disappeared to. “She would be so happy.”

“Remember, we need to find a way out of here so we can find the others.” I said, snapping her out of her awestruck stupor. “I'm sure Twilight would be much happier to see us alive and in one piece than she would be here.”

I was surprised to see a small smile appear on her face. “Yes, you're right. Let's try to find another exit.” Fluttershy immediately fell into step with me again as we started to walk along the rows and rows of books.

Everything of the room spoke of simplicity and function. Besides the stained glass windows, there was no decoration save for the columns that held the roof up. The shelves themselves were made of thick, plain wood, simple, yet strong and utilitarian. I gently ran my fingers over the spines of the tomes as we went along, stealing glances at the unreadable titles. I couldn't help but burn with curiosity over what was inside of them, even more so than I did at Twilight's home. These books have been here for hundreds of years, and with their wooden and leather covers and with script that looked like it was written in ink made of gold, they certainly looked the part.

We also came across a few of the scattered about tables and desks that dotted the massive room, sometimes off to the side in a cluster and sometimes sitting ostentatiously in the middle of the way. Each one had its own array of clutter on them, instruments, books, papers, and most of all, crystals were scattered on every open surface. On the first couple that we came across, we couldn't help but investigate.

“Oooh, how pretty...” Fluttershy murmured, gazing deeply into a pyramid shaped crystal of the deepest and brightest blue colour that I had ever seen. She picked it up in her hooves and started to examine it from all angles, cooing softly with delight. “Rarity would love this...”

I smiled slightly to myself, pleased and somewhat amused. It was good to know that she was strong enough, both mentally and emotionally, to not let our situation weigh to heavily on her mind to enjoy even something as small and harmless as this.

I turned to the tables and started to examine the crystals myself. Most of them were uncut and looked like any other crystal you could find in a museum, but some of them were obviously shaped and styled in a particular way. There was a rosy pink sphere the size of a baseball, a cloudy white crystal in the shape of a figure 8, a sunny yellow diamond shaped one the size of my hand, and more shapes and colours that I didn't even know the names of.

Gingerly, I went to pick up on of them, a long prism that, while completely clear, seemed to bend the light around it to make it look like it was made out of all the colours of the rainbow. As soon as it was in my hand, all of the colour in my vision disappeared, and the everything suddenly turned into various shades of grey. I immediately dropped it back on the table with a start and everything went back to normal.

That was weird... I thought as I watched the inanimate piece of crystal. Are they all like that? I went to pick up another crystal, an uncut lump of black, an as soon as I made contact, I started to feel incredibly sleepy. Another one was so cold that I would have gotten frostbite if I held onto it for too long, another gave me an overwhelming feeling of dizziness, and another was, despite being the approximate size of a golf ball, too heavy for me to even lift.

It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do to handle all of these crystals as they were obviously touched by magic, maybe even Sombra's magic, but I found it somewhat amusing and fascinating, and they all seemed to be harmless. One crystal in particular, a red hexagonal prism that fit quite comfortably in my hand caught my interest. It was warm to the touch, and it caused a small, yet very soothing warmth to resonate through my body, easing my aches and pains slightly. This one I pocketed.

“Alright, we should get going.” I said after a few minutes of examination, giving the strange minerals one more look over. What I would give to be able to learn how magic worked, and maybe even learn how to perform it.

Fluttershy was strangely quiet, and I looked over at her to see her with the same cerulean pyramid in between her hooves. Her eyes were trained on it, unwavering, and she gave no indication that she had heard me before.

“Fluttershy?” I said curiously, a little bit louder this time. She didn't even blink. “Come on Fluttershy, your starting to scare me.”

“So pretty...” she muttered to herself, barely loud enough for me to hear. A thin line of blood appeared from her nose and started to fall to the floor.

“Shit!” I cursed, scrambling over to where she sat, enraptured by the crystal, and quickly knocking it straight out of her hooves. She gave a start and tried to lunge after it as it clattered along the floor, coming to a spinning rest against the wall. Immediately she went to lunge after it, but I grabbed her around the middle, causing her hooves to start scrabbling against the smooth floor to the try and retrieve the gem.

I held on tightly to her as she struggled vainly for a moment, her uninjured wing flapping wildly. It was surprisingly hard for me to keep her as she tried to force herself out of my grip and after the gem. It seemed that there was a lot more strength to the petite pegasus than met the eye.

“Fluttershy, you need to – oof – calm down!” I said, receiving a flailing hoof in my stomach as I spoke, almost causing me to let go. “Get ahold of yourself!” Just like how the others were, the blue crystal that she had been staring at seemed to be enchanted, although with a more sinister purpose than the ones that I had looked at. She didn't even look from it as she struggled, a panicked expression on her face.

“Dammit Fluttershy...” I growled. My only companion turning feral was the last thing that I needed right now. “Calm down!” With a burst of effort, I pulled Fluttershy toward me, forcing her to look at me instead. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were small, and it barely looked like she could even see me for a moment, but after a moment, recognition slowly seemed to dawn on her, and she relaxed in my grip.

“Oooh...” she moaned softly, closing her eyes with a wince. “What just happened? Why does my head hurt?”

“Probably for the same reason my stomach hurts...” I replied, putting an arm around my midsection and wheezing. Christ almighty, if she could kick that hard, why hadn't she just broken down every wall we came across until we found the others?

“You're hurt?” She winced once more and rubbed her temple with a clenched jaw. “Oww...what happened? I don't seem to remember anything...”

I peered at her closely, ignoring my own discomfort. “Are you feeling okay though?”

“I...think so. My head hurts for some reason and-” she stopped as a drop of blood fell form her nose once more and landed on her hoof. She stared at the little red spot on her yellow coat and shuddered. “Oh my...”

I let out a huge sigh of relief and let go of her, no longer worried she was going to dart off like before. “Yeah, 'oh my' is right.” I said with a rueful laugh. She looked up at me with big, troubled eyes.

“What happened? Why does my...ooh...head hurt?”

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again. What had happened? Now more than ever I wish that we hadn't been separated from any of the others. Some insight the inner and outer workings of this pony magic would certainly be valuable at the moment.

“As far as I can tell,” I said slowly, “you seemed to be under the influence of some weird cursed crystal.”

“C-cursed?” she squeaked fearfully. I gave her a small smile.

“I think it stopped when I knocked it away from you. You should be fine now. Let's just take a moment to-”

I was cut off by the noise of something falling on the hard stone floor, ringing dully through the room as it echoed off of the ceiling. Everything then went silent.

Fluttershy and I looked at each other nervously, neither of us daring to speak. We waited to hear anything more, but nothing the cavernous library was as still and silent as it was before. Or at least, as it seemed to be before. It occurred to me that we had made a lot of noise just then, certainly enough for anything else that may be in here to hear us.

I leaned a bit closer to the frightened mare. “We should get moving.” I whispered. I briefly toyed with the idea that it was nothing to worry about, wind knocking something loose or gravity tipping something over, but I wasn't able to convince myself. Fluttershy seemed to be in the same position.

The pegasus nodded and gingerly got to her hooves. Keeping our steps light and our ears perked, we began to make our way through the library again, looking for another exit. This time, the countless books that surrounded us were completely forgotten and ignored. The two of us were for more concerned with the thought that we may not be as alone here as we thought we were.

Another noise, one that sounded more like a book falling off a shelf caused the two of us to stop in our tracks, a bolt of fear running down each of our spines. Fluttershy gave a muffled little whimper that sounded deafening in the silence, causing me to grit my teeth.

Please let it just be nothing. Please let it just be a couple of rats running around.

After a few more minutes of creeping by rows and rows of books that just never seemed to end, I heard it. A muttering, high pitched voice, muffled by the shelves. Putting my hand out for Fluttershy to stop beside me, I cocked my head and listened intently, only managing to make out snippets of what it said.

“Master...displeased with me...-truders will not...dirty thieves...”

The voice was very...odd was the only real way to put it. Very tinny sounding, it was like listening to an old gramophone from a distance. It crackled and fuzzed unnaturally with every other word, making it rather difficult to understand. It was hushed, sounding helplessly excited and anxious even though it was trying to be quiet.

“Precious libr...desecration...for mast...mustn't let...”

Fluttershy had evidently heard it too, as she started to pull on my shirt frantically. It was only then that I realized that the voice was getting louder, which could only mean that it was getting closer.

I cursed inwardly as I followed her. You're trying to not get yourself killed, remember?

Strangely enough, although I could hear the whisperings of this voice, I couldn't hear a trace of movement. The sounds of footsteps or of breathing were curiously, and somewhat disturbingly absent from our pursuer. I couldn't be certain, but it seemed like it was getting quieter as we moved along, so I could tell that we were moving in the right direction.

We just need to be quick and quiet, and everything will be fine. I thought to myself, trying to calm my nerves.

In Fluttershy's haste, and probably due in no small part to how dizzy she still seemed from her ordeal, she stumbled on her hooves and was sent sprawling forward. Instinctively, she spread her wings to stabilize herself, but with one of them injured, all she did was angle herself so that she slammed into the bookshelf beside us.

I froze as a small rain of books fell from above, shaken off by the impact and clattering noisily on the floor. Fluttershy seemed alright for what it was worth, but neither of us said anything as we looked at each other fearfully, waiting for the inevitable.

“Intruders! Intruders in the library!”

“Get up, let's go!” I hissed, trying to bring her to her hooves as the unnatural voice got louder and louder. She mumbled and whimpered apologies that I ignored as she hobbled forward unsteadily, and much too slowly for my liking. The lack of footsteps made it so that whatever was chasing us could be right behind us without me even knowing.

Immediately, the image of something vaguely pony shaped with grotesque wings popped into mind with fangs that rivalled a sabre toothed tiger. Something that had been living here for hundreds of years with no food that was eagerly looking forward to its next meal.

“Aha!” the voice cried from right in front of us, almost giving making my heart stop with fright as...something suddenly blocked our way at the end of another aisle of bookshelves. Floating in front of us, about the size of a basket ball, was sphere of pure, yellow light, like a miniature sun that was placed in front of us though it gave off no heat. It's entire being was light, literally having no other discernible features other than the fact that it was bright enough to gently illuminate our surroundings while still managing to not be able to see through it. It seemed to be very angry.

“Intruders!” it proclaimed loudly at us in its strange, tinny voice, crackling and fuzzing with each word. And was that an English accent I heard? “You are trespassing on the private library of High King Sombra, the splendid and divine ruler of all that is and shall be! For your crimes most dire you shall be flogged, beaten, and hung by your throats from the highest rafters to be eaten by the crows! I command you to now follow me to the dungeons where you shall be imprisoned before being put to a death most painful.”

Fluttershy and I could only stare in silence, blinking as the little ball of light floated away and disappeared around a shelf. Seconds stretched on in silence, and when we did not follow it, it reappeared.

“Did you not hear me trespassers?” It demanded angrily. If it had a face, it surely would be giving us the most hateful scowl right about now. “By decree of High King Sombra, the splendid and divine ruler of all that is and all that shall be, you are commanded to follow me!”

That's definitely an English accent. This time, it didn't start away, expecting us to follow. Instead, it simply floated where it was, waiting for a reaction from either I or Fluttershy, very much seeming like an impatient parent would command a child to do its chores.

“What...” I finally spoke. I had so many questions bursting through the surface of my brain that I couldn't decide which one was more important. Finally, I picked one that seemed the most harmless to ask. “What are you?”

“Aha!” The ball chirped in its oddly mechanical voice, rising a few more inches into the air and managing to conduct and air of pride. “I am the creation of High King Sombra himself, forged from his wondrous magic unequaled and unparalleled in this and all worlds. I am given the important task of keeping his private library” it said, emphasizing the word private accusingly, “organized and well kept. And so, it is with the highest of all authorities that I sentence you both, and your fellow intruder scum, to death!” There was a small pause.

Before I could respond to this, although I really didn't know how I planned on responding in the first place, Fluttershy gasped. “Our friends? Do you know where they are?”

I glanced at the pegasus, her head pain seemingly forgotten only to have been replaced with eagerness and hope. “I don't think it's going to tell us that Flu-”

“Indeed I do, worm!” it replied loudly. “I know the Obsidian Castle from brick to every brick. There is nothing within these sacred walls that escape my knowing.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, hope shining in her eyes as she smiled. “Can you take us to them? Please?”

I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to slap my hand against my forehead.

“Ha!” the orb of light said loudly, bobbing up and down slightly with what seemed to be mirth. “Excuse me as I laugh at you, pathetic pony. Ha! You're comrades are already doomed! As we speak, they approach numerous traps constructed by High King Sombra himself, conjured for the express purpose of teaching any would-be thieves and assassins the error of their ways. Of course, no being has ever survived being caught in one of them. You should rather consider yourselves to be lucky that you will only be sentenced to death.”

I opened my eyes to see a severely disappointed Fluttershy with her head bowed meekly and the hope vanished from her eyes. I didn't see how she expected that this...thing was going to help us, but it seemed she was willing to grasp at even the shortest of straws, whatever she could to find her friends. Now, the hope was rapidly draining from her eyes, and I could hear a quiet sniffle coming from her.

My eyes narrowed at the floating ball of light. Sure, it was the creation of a malicious being of incredible strength, one who was slowly killing me with its tainted magic and who was inches away from breaking out of the prison that held it, but a line had to be drawn somewhere, and this thing was dangerously close to crossing it.

“Now, you miserable little thieves,” it snarled at us nastily. “I'll generously give you one last chance to follow me before I call the guards to haul your pathetic selves to the dungeons.” It's voice turned amused. “If you behave yourselves, you may even be lucky enough to be buried beside your little friends, if you all aren't simply left to rot in the dirt.”

Another sniffle, and the faint drip of water hitting the stone floor met my ears.

And now that line has been crossed.

“Now you listen to me you overgrown firefly.” I growled, stepping forward as my vision started to tinge red. “I really couldn't give less of shit what cesspool you came from or what egomaniacal ass created you.” I took another step, and it slowly backed away. “We are not going to be following you anywhere. In fact, we're going to turn around and be going on our merry little way, and there's not single damn thing that you can do about it.”

“”Y-you can't-” It sputtered. Somehow that just made me angrier, and I felt my entire body tense as I drew myself up and loomed over it.

“Not. A single. Thing.” I hissed. “And if you're smart, you will float along and go back to counting books like the good little librarian you are, because I have half a mind to take one of them and beat you senseless with it.” I didn't know if I could even touch this thing if I wanted to, what with it seeming to be made of nothing but light and all, but the words just came out without me realizing. And oh, how I so wanted to do exactly that...

My angry tirade was interrupted as something strange started to happen. The ball of light started to distort, flashing brighter and dimmer, changing colours and size rapidly until it looked like a rainbow coloured strobe light before stabilizing once more in the same size and colour that it usually was. I glared at at it with red eyes, daring it to say something else.

“Lord Sombra...” It said quietly, backing away slightly. Then to my surprise, it lowered a few inches, almost as though it were bowing in the only way that a floating ball of light could. “My humblest apologies, my lord, I did not realize who you were. Please forgive my gross transgression...”

I blinked, and all of the red in my vision quickly vanished. “You...what?”

“Please my lord, I did not realize who you were.” The thing continued, almost as though it was groveling at my feet. It's tinny voice sounded fearful. “You're form is different, and it was only once I felt your magic that I recognized you. I beg your pardon, my lord, for the things that I have misguidedly said to you and your...companion.”

There was a pause of silence as the light waited for an answer, it's form flickering a bit as it prostrated itself before me. Was it actually afraid of me? Why did it suddenly seem to think that I was Sombra all of a sudden when he was still nestled safely in his prison between worlds? And what was that about my magic?

My eyes widened as I remembered something from a few days ago, when I, Fluttershy, and the Princess of the Night had found ourselves trekking through the Everfree forest.“I’m tracing the magical signature of the ring.” Luna had said as she led the way through the brush. And then, a few days after that when I had woken up, they told me the true circumstances surrounding my coming to Equestria. “Because he created it, the Alicorn Ring is irreversibly connected to him and his will.” Celestia had explained to me.

I looked at the metal band around my finger with wide eyes. It seemed that, as much of a burden as it was, it had its occasional uses. When I had unconsciously used the ring's magical properties to defend myself and Fluttershy from the wolves, I went unconscious for three days, but it seemed that I was able to use only a little bit of the magic without being affected the same way.

I blinked as realization flooded me. It was the magical “signature” that it was recognizing as Sombra's and since, presumably, no to beings had the same magic, much like no two humans had the same fingerprint, it was mistaking me for Sombra. I was effectively wearing the most impermeable disguise to ever be made.

I shot a glance to a very confused Fluttershy who looked back at me with wide eyes. I winked at her, and her expression turned to the picture of bafflement.

Alright Kael, think despotic and psychopathic. I told myself.

“I'll uh...forgive the error of your ways, my servant,” I said uncertainly. “but if you cross me once more, rest assured that your punishment will be...” I paused as I thought of what to say. Despotism didn't really come naturally to me. “...very bad.” I finished lamely.

It was as though a switch had been flipped as the ball of light started to prattle on excitedly, heaping liberal amounts of praises that would cause an emperor to blush. I let it ramble for the moment as I gave Fluttershy a sideways grin. She seemed torn between backing away slowly from the living magic that was currently babbling about my greatness and demanding to know what was going on right then and there.

I held up my hand for silence, and was immediately met with it, much to my amusement. I contemplated toying with it a bit more, but dropped the idea when I realized that we had more pressing concerns and that the answer to them was literally right in front of me. Prudence, at this moment, was probably more important than getting a few kicks.

“You said that you know the layout of this castle, top to bottom?” I asked, trying to sound like I was demanding an answer as I imagined Sombra would with its servants, but most likely failing. The thing immediately perked up.

“Yes my lord! I know every stone, step, and stairway in the castle.” It boasted.

“Do you know where our frie-” I managed to stop myself before I uttered the word 'friends'. Evil rulers did not have friends, they had enemies. “Do you know where our intruders are?”

There was a brief moment where the orb of light went still and quiet, its light rapidly flickering and changing colour like it did before. I watched it curiously for a few seconds before it snapped back to normal.

“Two of them are in the treasure room, specifically where the rarest of our books are kept for safe keeping. They have been there for a long time, and I suspect that they are trying to find any weaknesses of ours through the texts.” Fluttershy and I locked eyes, immediately coming to the realization that yes, now we knew where Twilight, and likely Spike was. Now we just needed to know about the others.

“There are three more heading towards the main hall at this very moment. Their movements are sporadic, so I believe that they do not know where they are going.” It's voice turned amused. “It seems that our enemies are underestimating us by sending such amateurs. No matter, they will learn the folly of their ways soon enough.”

I was about to shrug off its comment, but something in the way that it was said, expectant and eager, made me narrow my eyes suspiciously. “Why do you say that?”

This time, it chuckled. “Why, they are heading straight for a trap my lord, one of your own personal designs. It will not recognize them as members of the castle staff, and as such they will be swiftly...neutralized.”

Before I could react, Fluttershy was had thrust herself forward. “You need to take us to them!” she said urgently. “Please!”

The light recoiled slightly and made an indignant noise. “Get away from me you little-”

“Take us to them.” I interrupted firmly, thankfully before I heard what it was going to call her. It immediately forgot Fluttershy and turned its attention back to me.

“But my lord, your traps will surely take care of them, there is no need for us to waste our time with them.” It protested. “It is the other two in the treasure room that pose the most threat. And besides, I was created for the sole purpose of keeping your library organized and in good condition-”

It stopped talking abruptly as a frown creased my face, and the ball of light shrank away slightly. It sent a slight thrill through my body to see such a small action of my displeasure affect it so greatly. I've always been the one who was the commanded, not the commanding. It was a feeling that I could get used to.

“Did I stutter? Remember, you're on thin ice already with your earlier transgressions.” This was starting to get a bit easier. “Now I'll say it again...take us to them.”

“Yes my lord, as you command! If you will simply follow me.” the light said before quickly floating off in the opposite direction, leaving Fluttershy and I to follow its lead. Pretty soon, we found ourself out of the maze of bookshelves and finally out of the library.

“Why is he listening to you?” Fluttershy whispered as we followed the magical creation down an opulent flight of stairs. It was just far ahead of us enough that it wouldn't hear, and the sounds of our steps mostly hid our voices if we were quiet enough.

“It thinks I'm Sombra.” I said. She gave me a bewildered look, and I wiggled my right hand, displaying the ring on my finger. It took her a moment, but realization slowly dawned on her. She said nothing as she turned away from me then, a troubled look on her face.

We continued to walk in silence, not wanting to talk too much on the off chance that our guide overheard us say something that would make it realize its mistake. After a while, it started to dawn on me just how massive this castle truly was. Fluttershy and I hadn't seen very much of the castle from the inside as we had been avoiding opening any of the many doors that we had come across, but now that I was being shown the rest of the castle, the size started to set in. I could probably wonder these halls aimlessly for days and and only explore a quarter of the entire place. Thank goodness we weren't wandering aimlessly.

For such small creatures, ponies sure liked to build big, I noticed. The ceiling was at least 10 metres above us at all times, and heavy banners of thick cloth hung down on each side, the insignia of a horn and a shield in the middle of a star on a field of red on each one. The floor looked to be made of black glass, so polished and flawless that I could clearly see my harried reflection every time that I glanced down. The effect was somewhat dizzying, as the ceiling and the banners and every other decoration that we passed was also being reflected, making it feel like I was walking in the middle of the air with the ceiling far above me and the ground far below. Thinking about it too much made start to feel slightly sick, so I looked away.

After about 15 minutes of walking, I couldn't help but ask. “How much further are they?” I said to the the ball of light as it dutifully floated ahead of us in silence. We were moving pretty quickly, and we had be at least be close to them. A few corners away, hopefully.

“Not far now, my lord, not far now!” it called back in its inexplicably English accent, still sounding somewhat warbled and mechanical to my ears. We turned another corner and a door immediately flew open beneath one of the large banners, admitting us to a wide open courtyard of crumbling statues and destroyed vegetation. Above us, a cover of wrought iron carved into intricate shapes of vines, leaves, and animals stretched over the entire open space. The light snuck its way through the holes and played a beautifully hypnotizing pattern on the ground.

“The intruders have yet to set of the trap as they wander aimlessly through the halls, my lord, but with enough time they are bound to stumble upon it.” it paused for a moment before it continued to speak somewhat hesitantly. “Er...might I suggest, my lord, that we simply let them be destroyed by it and saving us the trouble? Surely there is no way that they will survive if they are caught. It would take a pony of strength and skills that rival your own, and surely there is none that exist on this world, so their demise is inevitable one way or another.”

I felt Fluttershy shudder from beside me, and I almost mirrored her. This thing was awfully sure of the...efficiency...of Sombra's traps. I could only hope that it was simply over exaggerating for sake of impressing its 'lord.'

I was on the verge of simply telling it to shut up and move faster, but something stopped the words before they came. The only way that we were able to make it this far through the castle was because it was showing us the way, and it was our best chance of finding the throne room, the place where Sombra was first defeated and where I needed to go. I didn't know how fooled it was thinking that I was Sombra, and a few errant words that were uncharacteristic of the despot might be enough to break my facade and cause it to turn on us. Granted, I wasn't exactly worried for our safety if that happened, the only thing that it seemed capable of doing in the library was bossing us around, but if we didn't get to the others soon...

Nevertheless, I had to be careful with what I did and what I said around it. The illusion may be fragile enough to break with only a few careless words, and if that happened, our chances of getting out of this castle will be much more slim.

“I want them alive so that I can teach them the error of their ways.” I told it. Fluttershy glanced at me with a surprised expression, and I winked at her. “If they are injured before I can get to them, I will be severely...displeased.”

The light brightened considerably. “Yes my lord! I understand!” it said eagerly, sounding like an excited child who was told that he was going to be having three Christmases and two birthdays this year. Immediately it started to move faster, and Fluttershy and I had to run to keep up with it.

We crossed the courtyard, went through another door, and continued down some winding passageways. Eventually, we came to a stop.

“They are in the Hall of Legends.” our guide told us as we stood in front of yet another unusually grand and opulent door made out of gilded black wood. Much like the entrance to the library, it made for a very intimidating presence, and I didn't doubt that it too held something very important behind it. A golden inscription was written on the wood in large, strange lettering that I recognized to be their language.

“Shall we attempt to sneak in my lord?” it suggested with the tone of one eagerly wringing their hands together at the thought of a wonderful treat. “Or should I announce your presence and command their obedience? Or maybe we- hey!”

It didn't get the chance to finish as Fluttershy rushed forward in her impatience and opened the door ahead of us and walked on in. The light only sputtered indignantly as it was ignored and interrupted. I gave it a consoling shrug as I followed her.

“Pinkie dear, would you please stop making faces at that statue so we can get going? It seems obvious that there's nothing here but some tacky artwork. And Rainbow Dash, would you put that thing down?”

“Aww, this isn't tacky Rarity! I mean, is it tacky to have an entire room devoted to nothing but paintings and statues of yourself looking scary? Is it tacky to then call that room 'The Hall of Legends?' Is it tacky for that room to be big enough to hold an Ursa Minor?”

“Yes Rainbow Dash, it is extremely tacky. Now can we please get going so we can find-”

“Girls!” Fluttershy shouted with excitement, rushing forwards to her friends. Rainbow Dash was hovering in the air with a snarling bust in her hooves, casually tossing it up into the air and catching it over and over again. Pinkie Pie was happily bouncing from one statue or picture to another, trying to emulate the snarling faces that she saw in each one. Rarity, for her part, was in the middle of the room and switching from berating and pleading with one to the other. All three of them immediately stopped to see us enter the room.

“Fluttershy!” they all cried at the same time, rushing forwards to greet her in one big hug. With her attention diverted, the bust that Rainbow Dash had been in the middle of tossing fell back down to the ground and smashed against the floor, shattering in several pieces. I heard the our guide make a sharp noise from beside me as it did so. It sounded...startled, for some reason.

The embracing ponies were a cacophony of laughs and happy exclamations as they revelled in one another's presence. Not for the first time since I have come here, I found myself slightly jealous over what they had with each other, but I quickly smothered it. I simply let them have their happy moment and found a small smile on my face.

“We were so worried for you darling!” Rarity said with a relieved smile as their group hug slowly broke away. “We didn't know what happened to you when the castle appeared. We barely managed to stay together ourselves.”

“I was worried about you.” Fluttershy replied, wiping gently at her eye with a hoof. “We were told you were heading right for a trap.”

“Eh...Master?” The ball of light murmured from beside me. I ignored it for the moment. Whatever it was, it could wait.

“A trap? Heck, I would have welcomed a trap rather than have to wander around for hours on end with nothing remotely interesting happening.”

“Master, I really think-” I interrupted it with a wave of my hand, and shrunk away.

“We haven't found any traps.” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “We've found plenty statues and paintings of mean looking scowl-y ponies, but no traps.”

“That's a relief.” Fluttershy sighed.

The ball of light was back again. “Master, it would be our best interests if we-”

“Would you be quiet?” I snapped at it. “We aren't taking them to the dungeon, if that's what you're pestering me about.”

“No my lord, I-”

“Kael! You're alright too!” A loud, sandy voice called, the others only just now noticing me. The three ponies started to come over to greet me, all smiles and sunshine, but hesitated when they saw the thing floating next to me.

“Ooooh, what's that thing?” Pinkie Pie squealed as she bounced over and and stuck her face right up at the ball of light so that her nose was almost inside of it. “It's so preeetttyyy.” With a sigh, Rainbow Dash grabbed by the tail and tried to pull her back while Rarity shook her head.

It recoiled away from the pink pony with a disgusted sound. “Step away from me you peasant!” It's voice immediately changed back to subservient. “Master, I only wish to explain-”

It was interrupted yet again, although this time it was from the loud slam of the wooden doors slamming shut behind us.

“Oh dear...” It said quietly. “That's...not good.”

“What's not good? What are you talking about?” I asked it sharply. Its defeated tone was very worrying, and I wondered if I should have paid it more attention before.

“That trap, my lord. It has been set off.”

There were concerned glances amidst the ponies, but I barely noticed them. “What? How?” I asked, my voice higher than it was just a few minutes ago.

“The statuette...” it replied, and it took me a moment before I realized what it was referring to.

I turned my eyes away from the now shut, and most likely sealed doors, dreading what I would see.

On the floor, the smashes remains of the bust that Rainbow Dash had been carelessly throwing around lay shattered in many pieces. Thin, wispy trails of black mist seemed to be leaking out from the pieces, congealing in a small gaseous ball over the wreckage. It was slowly getting bigger as more of the mist was collected into it.

“Oooh, what's that?” the easily distracted Pinkie Pie wondered aloud, only seconds away from bouncing over to the new phenomenon before Rarity grabbed her firmly by the tail and plonked her down next to her.

“That's a very good question, Pinkie dear...” Rarity's eyes turned towards me curiously. “What is that?”

I opened my now dry mouth and tried to speak for a moment, but before I could say anything, the ball of black gas exploded with a loud bang, sending flecks of its substance flying in every direction. Immediately, every single picture , statue, and, and sculpture in the room started to violently shake on their frames and bases until the whole room was a chorus of banging and rattling.

We slowly back away from the room, casting nervous glances in every direction until we got to the door. As I thought, they were locked.

“Y'know, when I said that I would have welcomed a trap...” Rainbow Dash said with a guilty grin. “...I was being sarcastic.”

Suddenly, a black hoof appeared out from one of the pictures bearing an image of a bloodied Sombra moments away from driving a spear through a helpless opponents neck. The picture wavered like a pool of water as the hoof turned into a leg, then into a torso, and then into an armour covered body that very much resembled the one in the painting. The image of the mad king in the picture was gradually disappearing as the body freed itself more and more from the frame until it finally did, landing on all four bloody hooves.

It turned to us and smiled with a mouth of sharp teeth. Meanwhile, statues were slowly starting to come alive, and more images were coming to life out of their frames. And they were all looking at us.

Somebody screamed, and I couldn't tell if it was me or not.

Comments

[Ninjahzzzz]

Well,You've got what i at this point am calling 343-Wheatley spark,An ubermage,A speedster,A entity of pure chaotic good,A fashionista with an eye for precision,A Master of unlocking(Either the ring or good ole protag,Either works),A farmer who can probably kick through solid steel,And a beast tamer.....Fuck it,Just snipe the damn thing!

[Zanec]

“...very bad.”

Change that to ...dire and we might have a deal.

[Zanec]

To be honest, this chapter was not one of your... most excellent chapters...
It was too predictable, clichè.

[GoodwinGamerJack]

4087266
All up against the average embodiment of all evil, raghhh, blergh, CRYSTALSSSS.

[Hurricane Rush]

shiversss ooo the imagery is not pleasant