> The tyrant of fear and hate
>  by Askre
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1. Arriving in the frozen north.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1

The snow ruled for the time being close to the mountainous region. The sky was dark with gray clouds that poured down more of the white cold crystalline water ice. The wind howled as it swept up the flakes, throwing them wildly around and in the process obscuring the view of anyone who was unlucky enough to be traveling in this weather.

This was a wild weather, not controlled by the ponies further south in Equestria. It wasn’t scheduled and would only stop whenever the clouds had finally passed. It was no wonder very few ponies ventured so far north, most preferred the more controlled weather environment of their homeland. 

But in this cold desolation a noise began sounding that was not the howl of the icy wind. It was gradual and became louder and louder and as it grew something began materializing. On top of the thing was a blinking light that was barely enough to illuminate the dark landscape. Then as it became more solid it had an appearance of a tall blue box, with dark windows and on black surfaced sign on its roof stood in white letters “Police Box”.

The box fully materialized and the noise died down. The howling wind overtook all sounds again and already the snow started to build up on the newly arrived object. A door opened and a maroon colored pony head with a white muzzle and navy blue mane peeked out, peering her eyes when hit by the cold snow.

“Yaaaah, cold, cold, cold,” she shrieked and pulled her head back in and quickly closed the door.

It wasn’t closed for long, shortly later another pony peeked outside. This one was a stallion, brown with a dark brown mane. He shielded his face with a hoof as he peered outside, looking mildly puzzled.

The stallion ducked back inside and closed the door. Outside the box did not look big enough to contain two ponies, inside was another matter. It had a huge control room, hexagonal in shape with many lights on the edges. Up a ramp towards the middle was a hexagonal shaped control panel with many buttons, levers and screens. More screens hung above it and producing through the middle of it was a long hollow transparent tube. A doorway at one end of the room indicated a passageway towards even more space.

“Well this is definitely not the place,” the earth stallion said with a shrug as he trotted away from the door. He wore a blue vest with many pockets and on his flank was an image of an hourglass. “I daresay we are even a wee bit too far to the north.”

“You don’t say.” The maroon mare grunted where she sat close to the ramp, she was busy drying her head with a towel. She was a tall pegasus, about as tall as the stallion. Aside from her maroon color, she also had a white back. Her right hind leg was white down from the gaskin and her hoof and pastern on the left foreleg was white as well. Three suns decorated her flanks.

“Now, now just a minor hiccup, I’ll see what’s going on,” the stallion chuckled and proceeded to walk to the control panel.

“Soooo I take it we are still not back in Fillydelphia?” the second pegasus mare asked. She was smaller than the other one, blue with a white and red mane and tail. Her cutie mark was that of a heart with lightning bolts shooting out of it.

“Not exactly, I dare say we are a bit too far north of Manehattan even, that is when Manehattan will be founded,” the stallion responded as he worked on the panel, pushing buttons and looking at screens.

“Will be… we are still in the past?” the blue mare asked with a slight groan.

“Wake up Private, I’m curious to know what he knows about this period,” the brown stallion said with a mild chuckle.

The blue pegasus shrugged and turned to a shape that lay next to her. It was another stallion, a dark gray unicorn with a dirty blonde mane and tail. His hooves were dark brown and a book was on his flanks. Gently she began shaking him from his slumber.

“Wha?” The unicorn looked slowly up, he had decided to take a nap earlier and for some reason decided to do it in the control room.

“The Doctor wants you, Private,” the blue mare said with a warm smile.

The unicorn grunted and slowly rose to his feet. With a yawn the stallion walked to the ramp and approached the control panel where the earth pony was still working. The Doctor looked up when seeing him coming and immediately pointed to a screen.

“So mister sleepy-head, can you tell me what you know about this period of time?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

Private gave another might yawn before glancing at the screen. It took a second for his brain to really decipher what said there as it was still on sleep mode. He tilted his head as it more fully came to him and then his eyes opened a bit more and his brow rose a little.

“Ah… this is before Luna’s banishment… before she became Nightmare moon,” Private muttered, his voice was tired and sounded like someone who didn’t like talking too much.

“I can’t quite place the period; I think this is before Discord arrived the first time but it could be after…” he then added but then peered closer to the screen. “No wait, this is after. Ah, the year is familiar, it’s just not quite coming to me.”

“You noticed that too huh?” the Doctor said, that caused the other three ponies to look at him quizzically.

“I keep staring at that date, I know something is supposed to happen around this date, but no matter how much I try and think about it, nothing. Nothing at all, it’s like the date is memory locked. It looks so familiar but for some reason, nothing comes up,” he continued.

“Why would a date be memory locked? Because somepony doesn’t want it to be remembered,” the Doctor then both asked and answered himself.

“And let me guess, we are going out to investigate?” The maroon mare raised an eyebrow, not looking too impressed, neither did the blue one. Private however was showing mild intrigue on his face.

“Of course, Foxy, why not? We’ve arrived at this curious mystery and I for one am just eager to crack it, something happened around this time, maybe not today but in the next few days, that somepony doesn’t want others to remember,” the Doctor said joyfully as he rushed down the ramp and towards the door leading out.

“I’ll tell you why, I have a young daughter waiting back home that I would like to get back to. Sure mom is watching her but… you’re not listening.” Foxy the maroon pegasus groaned and looked at the blue one. “Dew, can I hurt him?”

“Oh you know how he is, drawn to mysteries,” Dew shook her head with a small chuckle.

They heard the door open and then howling from the wind outside, the door quickly closed again and the Doctor came walking back towards the ramp, his whole front covered in snow. The joyful expression was gone and he looked mildly embarrassed and slightly irritated.

“I think, we better wait for the weather to calm down first,” he grunted and rolled his eyes when the other three ponies giggled.





It was hours later when the weather finally calmed down. The dark clouds slowly drifted away and revealed the night sky. The blue box opened, letting some snow in as it was almost half buried by now. The Doctor leaped out and showed no care as he began trudging forward with an eager grin on his muzzle.

Private came next and produced light from his horn so that they would have some illumination. The unicorn simply followed the trail the earth pony was making in his haste to explore. The two Pegasi mare flew out soon after, Dew being mindful to close the door behind them.

All four ponies were wearing warm clothes, their fur not quite adapted to the chilling weather yet. At the moment three of them just followed the fourth. The Doctor seemed to be heading towards a high point, possibly to see if they could spot some sign of civilization from a good vantage point.

The Doctor was not a true earth pony; he was actually a special breed of ponies called time ponies. Unlike the regular Equestrian ponies, time ponies could regenerate into a new form, sometimes one was a pegasus and when that body failed it might regenerate into an earth pony or even a unicorn. 

The box he travelled in was a special ship the time ponies had created to travel through both time and space, called a TARDIS. It would usually take form of whatever helped it blend into its surroundings, thus obscuring it from view. For some reason the Doctor’s ship was stuck as a blue police box, he never gave a straight answer to why that was. Then again he was a bit unusual among the time ponies.

The three ponies that now followed him were regular Equestrian ponies, they had met the Doctor a few years ago and started traveling with him after he saved them on few occasions. Foxy started travelling less after having her daughter, this was one of those rare times she had relented to come along for a trip. A trip the Doctor had promised would just be a short run around the block.

“I think we’re reaching the top of a small hill,” the Doctor called to the others as he continued to plow through the snow. “Dew, Foxy, do you see anything?”

The Pegasi mares ascended higher up into the sky and started to look around. It was difficult to see as the snow blended the landscape rather well. Then Foxy thought she spotted light in the distance and pointed it to Dew who figured it might be a settlement.

“I think we see a city to the east,” the blue pegasus called down to the stallions.

“Yes, I see it.” The Doctor was now on top of the hill scanning the distant horizon. Out of a pocket on his vest he produced advanced looking binoculars that should not have fitted in there at all and put them before his eyes.

Private finally caught up with the time pony who still scanned the horizon with his binoculars. The unicorn dimmed his magic light a bit, figuring the glare from it might interrupt the Doctor. They stood there for a long while before the brown pony made any movement, Dew and Foxy finally landed curious as to what was taking him so long.

“I…” The Doctor lowered the binoculars, he was frowning a bit. “I think it’s a city, a city this far north…”

“There are no cities this far north, or were even as far as I know.” Private frowned. History was his passion and he was sometimes a bit notorious for knowing obscure facts that weren’t always in common history books.

The Doctor didn’t respond, he was raking his mind and vast knowledge for any reference to a city this far north, surrounded by snow and ice. The other ponies could do little but wait. The time pony used the binoculars again for a second before lowering them.

“We need to go,” he said in a dead serious tone, his face a bit pale. It was almost as if life had been drained out of him.

“What?” Private and the mares looked at him confused, it was rare to see their friend like this. He was usually so eager to explore new places, a mysterious city this far north would usually have had him giddy with excitement as far as they knew.

“We need to leave, now!” the Doctor repeated and started to usher them back down the hill.

They decided not to argue even though this behavior was very odd to them. Foxy didn’t complain as she had wanted to leave anyway before they went out. The four ponies headed back towards the TARDIS and to the end of an unusually short exploration.

How could I have been so stupid? The frozen northlands, a date that looks so familiar yet can’t think of anything that happened, the Doctor berated himself. A shriek from Dew caused him to jerk his head back up.

The blue pegasus had jumped to the air when suddenly out of the ground sprouted a large dark crystal, it had nearly impaled her. Foxy and Private stopped dead in their tracks, staring at it in surprise then looked startled around as more crystals began producing out of the ground.

“Oh no, no, no, no.” The Doctor cringed and side stepped just as a crystal popped up from the ground right next to him. “Run! Fly! Just get out of here, get to the TARDIS. NOW!”

“Doctor, what is going on?” Dew called as she and Foxy started flying off towards the blue box.

“Very, very, very bad things,” he simply answered and had to dodge a large chunk of crystal that nearly knocked him over.

The crystals already producing out from the ground began trembling as if some unknown force was shaking them. Suddenly they began shattering revealing ponies with dim crystal like coats and wearing dark armor. Their eyes were sickly green with red irises, from the corners produced faint purple mist.

“Get the spies!” one of the ponies growled, the others obeyed immediately and began chasing after the fleeing travelers.

“Doctor, the TARDIS!” Dew called, she and Foxy had started a dive towards the ship but it was already being surrounded by dark crystals.

“Oh this is bad, I should have realized… Foxy, Dew, never mind us, you fly south, NOW!” the Doctor yelled when seeing that the crystals were beginning to encase the blue box.

“Fly south? What?” Foxy exclaimed but then yelped as something suddenly wrapped around her wings. Unable to fly now, she crashed to the ground. Groaning the pony looked at her feathery limbs only to see bolas wrapped tightly around them.

“Foxy!” Dew turned around in her flight intending to land and help the other mare but more bolas came careening from the air, wrapped around her wings and she fell down as well.

Private and the Doctor came running where the two mares lay disoriented after the fall. The unicorn’s horn began glowing as he intended to use his magic to untangle the wings, but he was momentarily distracted when the time pony suddenly fell down. The chasing armored ponies were still throwing bolas and now the brown stallion’s legs were wrapped up and entangled.

“Never mind me, free them, get them to fly south,” the Doctor snapped at the unicorn as he started to try and remove the entangling ropes off himself.

Private hesitated for a second before turning to where Foxy lay in the snow. The mare was already trying to rise up, though she still felt a bit light headed. The stallion hurried to her, his horn glowing as he prepared to take hold on the ropes that now bound her wings. But something rammed into him, throwing him to the side. Yet another crystal had produced out of the ground, hitting him.

“Private!” Dew cried when the unicorn crashed to the ground, spots of blood were on the snow around him and an ugly gash on his side where the crystal had struck him.

The crystal shattered revealing yet another armored pony. His helmet looked a bit more stylish, indicating a high rank. His sickly green and red eyes glared down at the unicorn, then at the now captured ponies around him the other soldiers were gathering up.

“Private.” Dew started to crawl towards the fallen unicorn but was intercepted by two ponies. Before she could even give another sound they had already produced chains and began binding her legs, they also removed the bolas and put some sort of restraints on her wings.

The same process was being done on Foxy and the Doctor, though his set of chains looked heavier as if they were made with the sturdy body of an earth pony in mind. The captain of the soldiers still stood over Private, watching the proceedings. Once the conscious prisoners had been gathered, he pointed at the unicorn.

“Mend his wounds then wake him up, the king wants them alive!” he growled.

Two soldiers started to work on Private’s side wound, bandaging it up. Then they shackled his legs and also put a shackle on his horn. Once that was done they produced something smelly from a flask and put it under his nose, the unicorn’s face scrunched up and he blinked awake making a face at the nasty smell.

“Sweet Celestia, what died!” he complained and was promptly slapped hard by the captain.

“Do not speak that name here!” the heavily armored pony snapped. “Get up and go to the others!”

Private saw stars after the hit so it took him a second to actually comply with the order. He winced when stressing his wound and glanced to his bandaged up side. Then without a word stumbled over to his friends.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” the Doctor whispered when the unicorn joined the chained up group.

“Who are these ponies?” Dew asked glancing nervously at the soldiers who were now forming a circle around them.

“Border guards most likely, keeping a watch on the edges, ensuring no spies or other unwanted ponies come unannounced,” the brown stallion told them.

“Come to what?” Foxy looked at the armored ponies, their coats didn’t look quite right, at least what she could see of their coats since the armor covered most of their bodies.

The Doctor didn’t have a chance to respond, the captain arrived in the circle. The green in the soldiers’ eyes began glowing more and suddenly the whole group was enveloped in crystal and sunk quickly into the ground. This happened so fast that before he and the other prisoners knew it they were suddenly deep in a city made of crystal.

Three of the prisoners, opened their eyes wide in shock and wonder. The whole city, every single house was made of some sort of crystal and at the center stood high a huge dark tower and  sickly green fire burned on big torches around it. The sky was in an ominous sickly yellowish glow. The Doctor looked sad, almost as if he remembered this place differently.

There were other ponies around. They looked like they had once been colorful but now looked drab and depressed, their crystal like eyes were sad and the ears were downcast as they slowly made their way around the streets. The soldiers marched the prisoners towards the tower and some of the sad looking ponies looked up at the group. Nobody said anything, they just stared with pity in their eyes.

As they approached the large building, they saw more of the depressed looking citizens but these were chained up with shackles on their legs and necks. Those were being marched off by soldiers to somewhere. They looked tired and ragged as if they had been toiling endlessly without any rest.

“Doctor… where are we?” Foxy whispered and cringed when a pony stumbled on his march. The soldiers began berating the poor stallion and one started whipping him and didn’t let off until the slave finally forced himself to rise up and start walking again.

“They… they can’t do that!” Dew protested, having seen the same thing but the Doctor immediately shushed her.

“Dew Doe, we are prisoners, those are slaves, right now we are not in any position to do anything,” he whispered sharply. Fortunately, the soldiers ignored their talk since they were still walking forward.

“But…” The blue pegasus looked back but could no longer see the marching line of slaves, soldiers now blocked her view.

“I know it’s hard, but you must stay strong, we will get out of this,” the brown pony said and smiled a little. “I promise.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Foxy pointed out.

“We are in the Crystal Empire, Foxy.” The Doctor looked at her and sighed a bit. His three friends all looked at him confused.

“Crystal Empire?” Private blinked, not even he had heard of that one, yet something was nagging at his mind, he just couldn’t quite make out what it was that was bothering him.

The prisoners were led into the large crystal tower that served also as the palace. They went through a long dark colored hallway that lead to the throne room. Private was starting to tire of this walk, his wound stung and it didn’t make it easier to move. The unicorn also noticed that as they approached the Doctor was starting to look grimmer.

The soldiers lined up the prisoners right in front of the dark crystal throne before taking a deep bow to the one occupying it. Foxy, Dew and Private blinked when seeing the tall unicorn stallion sitting on it. The mane was black and almost lion like and the horn was curved like a blade and was red. He looked down at them, a sadistic grin crossed his muzzle, revealing sharp fangs. His red eyes peered down at them. Yet he looked so regal with a red cape lined with white fur, the silver armor and hoof guards and the crown sitting on top of his head. 

“Hello, Doctor,” the king greeted, the voice was dark and ominous.

“King Sombra.” The Doctor narrowed his eyes on the dark unicorn who grinned even wider.

End Chapter 1
> Chapter 2. The throne room.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2

King Sombra regarded critically his newest prisoners for a moment before chuckling darkly and leaping of his throne. As he did a trail of black smoke followed him and didn’t subside until he had landed right in front of the Doctor. The unicorn king stood taller than the time pony, so the brown stallion had to look up at the grinning gaze of the tyrant.

“It’s been so long, Doctor, so you have finally returned to my empire,” the king said as he began circling his prisoner.

“It was not your empire when I was here last!” the Doctor snapped, glaring at the circling unicorn. That only cause Sombra to laugh mockingly.

“Well it is now. Tell me, who are your new friends?” The tyrant looked over at the other prisoners who were feeling a bit nervous about this large dark pony. “Those are not Swift Mane and Trinity.”

“You leave them alone, in fact I demand you release them, your business is with me!” The Doctor claimed, he took a step back when Sombra turned back to him and was nearly muzzle to muzzle with the time pony.

“Oh forgive me Doctor, I hadn’t realized our roles had switched, I suppose you are in charge here and I am your prisoner. Isn’t that the typical time pony arrogance? Thinking always that you are the ones in charge?” the king snorted, every word lacing with sarcasm.

“Just leave them alone. I’m the one you want, not them.” The other stallion didn’t flinch at the cold gaze he was receiving.

Sombra snorted and took a step back. His horn began glowing purple and green energy and suddenly the Doctor had the same kind of shackles on his legs and neck and the slaves outside. The brown stallion almost buckled under the sudden weight that was put on him.

“Take him to the dungeon. I’ll speak with him later,” the king snorted to his guards. He ignored the dark look from the Doctor as the armored ponies dragged him away.

“Foxy, Dew, Private, stay strong! We’ll get out of this. I promise! Don’t listen to him!” the Doctor called just before he was pulled out of the throne room.

The king snorted and rolled his eyes before turning his full attention to the remaining prisoners. He smirked down at them as he approached. Private had to lean on Foxy, he was so tired by now, Dew was on his other side and looked nervously at the tyrant.

“Typical time pony,” the King chuckled as he examined the three ponies in front of him. 

“You don’t like time Ponies?” Foxy ventured to ask, she winced when Sombra fixed his gaze on her and scowled.

“Let us just say that we do not see eye to eye,” the tyrant growled and stepped closer, but his gaze kept going back to Private. “Hm, an Equestrian unicorn. What is your name?”

“Huh… what?” Private looked up and found himself locked in Sombra’s gaze. “Ah… Private… Private Iceland.”

“That’s an unusual name, even for an Equestrian,” the king remarked and arched his brow.

“I got eccentric parents,” the other stallion muttered.

“I’m sure.” Sombra didn’t sound too interested in this tidbit.

While the king spoke with Private, Dew Doe had noticed something by the throne. The pegasus cringed when she realized that it wasn’t a statue on a platform. It was a living pony, a young mare. She had crystalline eyes like the ones outside and her coat looked like it had once been light purple and her mane golden, but the colors were drained and she looked just as sad and downcast as the citizens outside. The mare wore a light looking leather collar that had fine chains that chained her to the platform.

The slave noticed the attention and slowly turned her head to look at Dew. The eyes were empty of hope and life, her will was utterly broken and she just simply existed. The blue pegasus cringed and really wanted to go to her to comfort her and help her out of this horrible situation. Then Sombra stepped in front of her, causing Dew to look up.

“And what is your name, little pretty?” the tyrant asked.

“Dew Doe.” The Dew tried to stand tall but even if she was an average sized mare, she was currently the smallest pony in the throne room so it didn’t look very impressive.

“Pretty name, for a such a pretty little mare,” Sombra murmured and examined the pegasus with his eyes, he grinned when Dew Doe’s eyes narrowed.

The king returned his attention to Foxy. The maroon pegasus wasn’t sure what to think when the tyrant stepped up to her and stared at her with a rather critical expression. The attention was in fact making her uncomfortable and she found herself unable to hold the gaze of the dark unicorn and glanced down to the floor.

“And what do they call you?” King Sombra placed a hoof under Foxy’s chin and raised her head so she looked at him again.

“Foxy Stripes,” the mare responded and felt like the stallion in front of her was staring right through her, into her very soul.

“And what are you afraid of, Foxy Stripes?” Echoed in her head. Images started to flash through her mind. Ponies calling her names, teasing her.

“Where you hit with an ugly stick when you were born?” a cruel voice teased.

“Are you sure you’re not adopted. That can’t be your sister.” Another snorted.

“Seriously, what’s up with that mess on your head you call a mane.” A third jeered.

“Hey, leave my sister alone!” Dew saw that Foxy was suddenly frozen and tears were starting to form in her eyes. The strangest thing was though that Sombra had never moved or said anything but suddenly purple mist had begun pouring out of his eyes and his sclera turned green.

Sombra dropped his hoof and stepped back, he looked at Dew Doe smirking. His eyes locked with hers and the mare’s angry expression was replaced with that of a shock. She gasped as suddenly her mind was flooded with images, she was frantically working, trying to reach ponies that needed medical attention, dying all around her and she was unable to do anything about it. She ran to body after body but was always too late.

Private looked confused and concerned at the mares that stood on either side of him. Both now had these same glowing sickly green and red eyes. They looked upset and were tearing up. The unicorn turned his head to the king and narrowed his eyes.

“Hey! What did you do to them?” he asked and rose away from Foxy and tried the best he could to stand by his own strength.

“Showing them their fears,” Sombra stated simply as he approached the unicorn again. “Not their worst, I’m saving that for later. But this will keep them distracted while we speak.”

“W-what do you mean?” Private still kept an eye on his friends, not liking how horrified and upset they looked. He froze when the king was suddenly standing right next to him, having pushed Dew Doe aside to do so. The larger unicorn leaned uncomfortably close to him as he gave him a strange friendly smile.

“It’s rare to find an Equestrian unicorn in these parts, once I took over the empire they have kept themselves far away and under the protection of their precious princesses,” Sombra told him and gently put a hoof on Private’s back. “I’ve been just dying to study them and the magic flowing through their veins.”

I don’t like where this is going, Private thought, he somehow managed to refrain from visibly cringing. “Is it really any different from uh yours?”

Sombra raised an eyebrow at the question, then he started to laugh. Private wondered what he had said that was so funny. He grunted when suddenly the king pulled him into a one leg hug, it stressed his wound but more importantly, seriously violated his personal space even more.

“You don’t know a lot about magic, do you?” Sombra asked, finding it rather amusing how Private tried to keep a distance by leaning his head away from him while their bodies were pressed up against one another.

“No… I failed basic magic theory in school.” Private really wanted to tell the other stallion to keep his hooves off of him but had a feeling, being a prisoner, it wouldn’t matter much.

“Your eccentric parents, must be so proud,” Sombra mocked and finally let go of the other unicorn, who stumbled a bit and had to hold himself up by leaning on Foxy.

Private just glared in response, that seemed to amuse the king even more. Sombra’s horn began glowing and the chains of the other stallion vanished, so did the shackle on his horn which had prevented him from using his own magic. The bandages were then enveloped in dark magic aura and began unwrapping, revealing the still fresh gash on the pony’s side.

Ow. Private grimaced at the sight of it and was rather glad he had not been conscious when it had been taken care of. His body began tingling as Sombra suddenly enveloped him fully in dark magic aura.

“Hey!” the unicorn protested but then saw to his amazement that his wound was healing up.

“There, much better. Now then, I want you to shoot me with your strongest magic blast,” Sombra said in a dead serious tone.

“Excuse me?” Private looked at him confused. “Shoot you? I only know like the barest basics of magic.”

“Let me be the judge of that, shoot me,” the king snorted.

Private glanced at his friends again who were still stuck in the spell the tyrant had put them under. Feeling like he didn’t have much of a choice the unicorn began building up magic energy in his horn, as much as he could muster. It began glowing bright and he actually strained to keep it all under control. Then with a growl he sent it right at the king.

Sombra didn’t look to impressed. He simply moved his head a bit to the side to duck the magic energy that sailed past him and dissipated harmlessly on the steps leading to the throne. The king glared at Private who was actually out of breath after shooting the blast.

“That was pathetic,” the tyrant grunted and shook his head.

“T… told….told you,” Private wheezed, never having used so much magic in his life.

“Perhaps you aren’t as useful as I had hoped you would be.” Sombra frowned but in his mind the gears were turning. “Then again, I would hate to waste this opportunity of having an Equestrian unicorn to study, pathetic as he is in use of magic.”

King Sombra looked at the mares, his eyes turned green and the purple mist began pouring out of them. Suddenly Foxy and Dew’s eyes turned to normal and the two Pegasi seemed to wake up with a start from a bad dream.

“That was… horrible…” Foxy stammered and fell down to her rump, putting one hoof over her chest. Dew shuddered and had to lie down on the floor.

Sombra used his magic to make the chains disappear off the Pegasi. They didn’t notice as they were still recovering from their frightful experience. Private was about to go and try and comfort both of them, when in flash the two mares had leather collars around their necks and attached to them were thin chains like a leash.

“Huh… what?” Dew sat up when she noticed her new accessory.

“Take the ladies to a room and keep them under constant watch, have chambermaids tend to them,” King Sombra ordered nearby guards.

“W-what’s going on?” Foxy wondered but was forced to stand up when a guard grabbed the chains of her collar and pulled harshly at them.

“Hey!” Private wanted to do something but found himself unable to move, he could only helplessly watch as his two friends were pulled out of the throne room.

“Private!” Dew managed to look at him confused and bewildered before being nearly choked as a guard pulled harshly at her leash and the mare disappeared out of the room.

“You better not do anything to them,” the unicorn glared at the king.

“That will all depend on you,” Sombra said and now smirked sadistically as he slowly walked over to his prisoner.

King Sombra started to slowly circle the unicorn. He was quite enjoying the fear and uncertainty emanating from him. He had new toys now and was going to enjoy seeing them all suffer, starting with this stallion. The tyrant shrunk the circle more and more as he walked, he had already realized that his prisoner hated ponies coming too close to him or even touching him. Only his closest friends were granted such a privilege.

“So tell me, Private,” Sombra stopped right in front of Private, their muzzles mere inches away from touching. The king’s eyes began turning green again and the mist returned. “What do you fear?”

Private was unable to look away from the grinning gaze, it locked him in place and the unicorn started to see images rushing through his mind. He saw things, shadowy things looking at him, poking and prodding him. It didn’t let up, they were so close, he could barely breathe. Then there were voices.

“Why is he so weird?”

“Does he even know how to speak?”

“Does he even show any expression aside from bored?”

“Seriously he just sits there, it’s creepy. Do something.”

“Why isn’t he more like his brother? He’s so active and outgoing.”

“Maybe you should consider a therapist, this can’t be normal behavior. Just look at his brother.”

“I’m not like my brother… I’m not like my brother… I’M NOT LIKE MY BROTHER,” Private screamed, the tears were flooding down his cheeks. “Leave me alone! I don’t want be like him. I want to be myself!”

Then as suddenly everything had appeared it all vanished and Private was back in the throne room, he was breathing rapidly and his cheeks were stained with his tears. The unicorn hung his head as he tried to recover from this terrible experience, he ignored the cruel chuckle next to him, knowing Sombra stood there watching him.

“And those weren’t even your worst fears,” the King murmured and stepped up to stand by his prisoner’s side. He lowered his head so his muzzle was right next to Private’s ear. “I can hardly wait to pull those out.”

“Oh get bent!” Private snapped, lifted his head again and tried to step away from the other unicorn, but he found himself still unable to move away.

Sombra just grinned, enjoying the discomfort he was causing his prisoner simply by standing so close to him. But he was tiring of this game and the Doctor hadn’t left his mind either, the tyrant knew he would have to deal with him soon enough as well. Using his magic, he produced yet another leather collar that encircled Private’s neck.

“Take him to a separate room from the mares, keep him under constant watch and have a servant tend to him,” the king ordered and walked away from the prisoner.

Private grunted when a guard came, grabbed the chains of the collar and began pulling him away. He didn’t resist though and allowed himself to be taken out of the throne room, feeling relieved to be finally out of the same room and the king.

Sombra watched the prisoner being taken away before turning back to his throne. As he walked towards it he went over in his mind what he had learned. The king knew these were no spies as his soldiers at the border had initially thought. However, they had come with a pony he couldn’t say he had cared much for seeing again.

The tyrant walked up the steps leading to the throne, stopping for a moment to gaze at the mare chained close to it. She looked back, once in a distant memory she had flinched and averted her gaze, tried to look as small as possible, tried to be invisible and hoping against all hope the unicorn would do nothing more than looking at her. Now she just looked back and waited.

The king smirked, it hadn’t escaped him that Dew Doe had been staring at his little pet on the platform. Sombra hadn’t mentioned it though as he was still determining who they exactly where and how he could use these new prisoners. Already plans were beginning to form in his dark mind plus contingencies to those. One thing was for certain, he would greatly delight in using them against the Doctor.

Sombra left his pet be for now, there would be time to enjoy her later. He continued to his throne and sat down. His thoughts turning to the time pony that now inhabited his dungeon.

He will not be easy to crack, he never was, the king sneered and rubbed his muzzle thoughtfully.

“I could tear him limb from limb, enjoy the agony of his screams and watch his blood spill all over the floor. I could feast on his innards… but these time ponies are tricky, what if he can regenerate from even that,” Sombra muttered but shook his head. “No death is too good for him. I want him to suffer.”

“His little friends will definitely be useful for that. He’s always so ‘caring’ towards those ragtag that follow him,” he snorted and rolled his eyes.

The king was interrupted in his musings when an armored soldier arrived in the throne room. The pony immediately bowed low when Sombra narrowed his eyes on him.

“My lord, we have brought that blue box your spell encased when we captured those ponies at the borders,” the soldier announced, trembling a little at the cold gaze given him by the dark unicorn.

Ah, that traveling box the Doctor uses, the king thought and rose up in his throne. “Have it put in storage for now, I’ll take a look at it later.”

“Yes, my lord.” The soldier bowed again and quickly departed the throne room.

Sombra stepped down from his throne and began walking down the steps. Now that he had secured the TARDIS and put the Doctor’s friends under guard in separate rooms, the king felt it was finally time to have a little chat with the time pony.

End chapter 2
> Chapter 3. The dungeon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3

The Doctor had a headache. Though it was not really a proper headache, it was more of a dull sort of feeling in his brain. The time pony didn’t like it, it was interfering with his thinking process. It had started slowly the moment he had arrived in the Crystal Empire, but at first he had just ignored it, but now he really couldn’t.

“Just as arrogant and full of himself as ever,” he muttered and tried the best he could to rub the temples with his hooves. It was very difficult with these chains on.

Another thing the Doctor had noticed was that he couldn’t feel the time stream. As a time pony he was very sensitive to it and could usually tap into it with a mere thought. Now there was nothing, it was as if something was blocking him and the stallion had a feeling he knew who was responsible.

“Can’t say much for the room service here,” he remarked and looked around. His cell was cramped, damp and dimly lit. He had a pile of moldy hay to lay on and nearby was a wooden bucket. The Doctor did not relish the thought of having to use that bucket when it would be necessary. 

“Sounds like you had a run in with old King Smokes, partner,” a voice addressed him.

The Doctor looked out between the bars of his cell. He could just make out another pony in the cell that was opposite his on the other side of the hallway. The other prisoner kept out of what little light there was, but the time pony could tell that his fellow inmate was looking at him.

“You could say that,” the Doctor agreed with a nod. “I take it you had just the same luck?”

“Oooh boy ain’t that the truth, been here a month now, dunno why he ain’t killed me yet. Probably enjoys seeing me suffer,” the other pony spoke, it was a mare judging by how she sounded.

“That certainly sounds like him.” The Doctor shook his head. He rose up and walked closer to the bars. The moment he did the other pony attempted to shuffle further into her cell, it was like she was avoiding being seen.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Apple Core, proud agent of the newly established Equestria Secret Service,” the mare responded and could be seen shaking her head. “And my first mission, I get myself caught like a fly in a honey jar.”

Newly established? Oh right, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna established it shortly after defeating Discord, I believe it was to help combat monsters and other possible threats to Equestria, the Doctor thought and sat down right next to the bars.

“So, what’s your name, partner?” Apple Core asked curiously.

“Just call me the Doctor.” The time pony smiled. “Apple Core, you wouldn’t be a member of a big clan of earth ponies called the Apples?”

“Big?” Apple Core giggled, clearly finding the thought amusing. “I wouldn’t call us big, but yeah I’m in the Apple family. I guess my name was a dead giveaway. Didn’t know we were famous, most of us are just simple farmers.”

The Doctor chuckled, already figuring that this was probably one of the earliest members of the big clan the Apples would one day be; she was probably only a generation or so away from the founders of the family. 

“So why aren’t you a farmer?” he asked curiously, he was finding it delightfully distracting to talk with his fellow inmate. It seemed to keep the dull feeling away from this mind.

“Eh, I tried but the farm life never seemed to go well with me. I wanted excitement, adventure, so I signed up as a palace guard for the royal sisters. When they established the secret service, I jumped at the chance for more excitement,” Apple Core responded and sighed deeply. “But as you can see, I ain’t exactly the top agent on their roster. Captured during my first mission, interrogated and now left to rot in old Smokey’s dungeon.”

“Apple Core, why are you hiding?” the Doctor asked, he could see the silhouette of the mare flinch.

“I… I don’t want to disturb you, partner. I… don’t quite look… good,” she spoke hesitantly.

“You won’t, Apple Core. I promise,” the time pony said reassuringly. “Come on, I want to see my fellow inmate, we are in this together after all.”

There was a shuffling of chains as Apple Core slowly rose up. The Doctor could hear her moan faintly in pain as the mare slowly moved towards the bars of her cell and the light. The time pony had to confess to himself that he had been wrong, what he saw did in fact disturb him. But he didn’t show it outwardly but he also felt great pity for the poor pony and that he showed.

Apple Core had crystal shards embedded into her all over her body, her face, her legs, her haunches, her underbelly, her back. Everywhere black crystals had been jammed into her. Not even her cutie mark of an apple core had been spared. Her strong golden coat had streaks of dried blood on it and her moderate amber mane and tail looked messy and unkempt.

Sombra, you horrible, horrible pony. The Doctor felt even more contempt towards the dark unicorn.

“Doesn’t look good, does it?” Apple Core whispered, gingerly patting a shard stuck in her chest. “I was dressed up as a crystal pony, told to blend in. Figured I was the best fit for it since crystal ponies are just shiny earth ponies after all. Did my coat up all shiny and even painted over my cutie mark with a more crystal pony like one to make it look all authentic.”

“But they saw right through me, we hadn’t realized that the crystal ponies look different when in a sad state and that got me caught. I was interrogated and showing more how inept I am, they cracked me open good like a rotten apple. Then Sombra did this to me, said ‘since you want to be a crystal pony, let me help you with that’ and jammed these into me. Not deep enough to kill me, but enough that it hurts like Tartarus and hurts way too much to pull out.” Apple Core fell silent and looked down at the floor.

“I’m just a worthless Apple, couldn’t even keep secrets I was supposed to keep,” she sniffed after a moment of silence.

“I’ve never met a pony who is worthless,” the Doctor said and smiled warmly.

“Well you have now,” the mare said bitterly.

“I’m not so sure of that. But since you have already spilled the beans about it, what was your mission here exactly?” the time pony wondered, figuring that the only reason Apple Core had spoken so much of who she was, was because she had already told everything when interrogated.

“Determine Sombra’s strength, see if it was possible to maybe defeat him using the elements the sisters found when they defeated Discord.” Apple Core shrugged. “Guess they’ll never know now.”

That might actually work, the Doctor mused but the moment he began thinking actively the dull feeling came over him again. He grunted and decided to focus again on the mare.

“So Doctor, enjoying yourself?” A dark voice however caused his attention to divert to the owner.

King Sombra had just entered the dungeon and was approaching the cell. Apple Core quickly shuffled further back into hers when seeing the unicorn arrive, the Doctor however stayed put, his eyes narrowing on the tyrant.

“Hardly,” the time pony grunted. “Where are my friends?”

“Hopefully enjoying their rooms and the service I have provided them. I certainly don’t think they belong here in my dungeon like a time pony,” Sombra snorted and glanced at the cell Apple Core was in. “Or a spy.”

“No, they don’t.” The Doctor felt slightly relieved to hear this, though he couldn’t help but worry over what the tyrant was up to. This amount of ‘hospitality’ meant the tyrant was up to something. 

“So let me guess, I’m currently finding it difficult to think and I can’t sense the time stream, you are behind that aren’t you?” he looked at his shackles, wondering if they were the root cause.

The tyrant looked at him and grinned. Sombra could see the frustration on his prisoner and it delighted him to no end. He had prepared for this moment and was going to enjoy every single second of it.

“Not enjoying my spell are you, Doctor?” King Sombra laughed and moved closer to the cell, grinning like a maniac. “I made it myself, especially for you.”

“I’m touched,” the Doctor muttered dryly.

“I always knew you would return Doctor, your kind always do, the meddlesome type. So I made sure to prepare for your return. I studied your race, time ponies and I couldn’t say I was overly impressed with what I learned.” The king sneered. “My spell is meant to block your abilities and dull your mind.”

The Doctor frowned and didn’t try to think too hard, he had already realized that caused the spell to work even harder. Then he froze when realizing the implication of what King Sombra had just said.

“Where are they?” he asked sharply.

“Of whom do you refer?” King Sombra pretended not to understand, he knew full well what the Doctor had realized.

“The time ponies you captured, that’s the only way for you to have studied us. We haven’t arrived yet in Equestria in your time period,” the Doctor snapped, glowering now at the king. “In fact I am the first who came here.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sombra mocked and grinned even wider when hearing his prisoner snort in frustration.

The Doctor took a second to calm himself down. He was currently doing exactly what the king wanted and being angry wasn’t going to help him or his friends. The pony looked at his shackles, they looked pretty standard and made of iron. He could probably easily get them off if he had any of his tools, but they had removed all his clothes before throwing him into his cell.

“I don’t suppose the spell emits from these shackles do they?” The Doctor lifted his chained front legs to show them to the king.

“No, those are just standard restraints, the spell is over my entire empire. You felt its effect the moment my soldiers brought you here.” Sombra frowned a little, he could see that his prisoner was trying to remain calm now.

“Oh right, sorry, as you said yourself, the spell is dulling my mind.” The time pony lowered his legs again.

“Indeed, don’t tell me you have so suddenly resigned yourself to your fate, not so shortly after demanding to know where your fellow time ponies were,” the king snorted.

“I’ve resigned myself to nothing, but what use is a temper tantrum just for your amusement. I’m not here to entertain you,” the Doctor stated and looked away. “In fact I don’t think we have anything more to say to each other, you just want to see me suffer.”

“I do and you will,” King Sombra chuckled darkly.

“I’ve been into their minds, Doctor, I have only tasted but a small sample of their fears but it showed me quite enough. How easily do you think the maroon one would crack? Her mind was quite fragile, mere words put her to tears.” The king smirked when the Doctor looked at him again, frowning.

However, the time pony still said nothing. There was no point in trying to battle with words right now, he needed more time to consider his options. The Doctor could only hope that his friends would heed his warning and not listen to the king They all did have one advantage after all, three of them were not in the dungeon.

“Not saying anything?” The king’s smirk dropped a bit. His horn started glowing and from Apple Core’s cell there came a grunt and suddenly the mare was pulled so close to the bars that she was pressed up against them. She cried out in pain when some of the shards in her body were pushed further in by this process.

The Doctor cringed when there was another cry from the mare. She was pressed so hard up against the iron bars that some of the crystals were really starting to dig further into her flesh. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the king.

“Leave her alone! She is not a part of this,” he demanded but was only rewarded with a devilish grin from Sombra.

“Oh but she is. Your compassion betrays you Doctor, I can see it in your eyes. You would spring to her rescue if given even the slimmest chance,” the King said and used his magic to press Apple Core even harder to the bars, almost as if he was going to pull her through between the tiny spaces.

“She is suffering, I’m just angry, how is this making me suffer? If she dies, sure I’ll loathe you even more than I already do. I’ll grieve her, she’ll be one of many ponies that I couldn’t save and regret that I couldn’t save, but there have been so many now that she would just go on a very, very long list.” The Doctor rose up to stand on all fours, just about managing to ignore the heavy weight of the chains. 

“You know what happens when a list gets too long, with too many names?” He was scowling now.

“It becomes a statistic and statistics tend to dull the effect a bit. So go ahead, kill her if you really think that will help you sick twisted desires. I’ll be sorry to see her go, she is a very nice pony and from good family but at least I know one thing, she died doing her job. Serving the princesses and for her, a former palace guard and now their top agent, there is no higher honor than that!” The Doctor concluded his speech, still standing and staring hard at King Sombra.

The magic holding Apple Core vanished and the mare crumbled gasping to the ground. Some of her wounds had reopened and bled a bit. She didn’t move much but was breathing, although heavily and with some painful moans escaping her lips.

King Sombra hated to admit it but the Doctor was right. Although he enjoyed torturing the spy it hadn’t really given him the desired effect from the time pony. The tyrant would need to hit harder and something closer to home, not just some worthless spy down in his dungeons. The king glared at the Doctor and snorted, this would be tricky but then again he had always loved a challenge.

“We’ll speak later, Doctor,” King Sombra growled and turned away from the cell.

When the unicorn departed the time pony dropped right back down to his haunches, those chains were really heavy. When the Doctor was certain Sombra was in fact gone, he let out a sigh in relief.

“Phew, didn’t think that would work, fantastic.” He allowed himself to chuckle. The stallion then glanced worriedly to the other cell.

“Apple Core? Are you alright?” the Doctor asked concerned, the mare still just lay there, moaning in pain.

“That was… quite a… speech…” Apple Core groaned and slowly, very slowly rose a bit.

“Well it worked, he stopped torturing you.” The time pony happily pointed out and smiled. Apple Core turned her head to look at him, raising an eyebrow as she did. 

“I don’t want to sound rude, partner, but your speech sounded like you barely cared if he killed me,” she grunted and winced when accidentally disturbing few crystals buried in her body.

“Didn’t care? That’s exactly what I did say I would do, but we must look at few facts here. I’m chained up, stuck in a cell and not with my tools. Sombra was out there using his magic which even I have very little defense against. All I could do was talk and thus…” the Doctor let the sentence hang looking intently at the mare.

Apple Core frowned, she had not paid that much attention to the speech. The mare had been in pain after all. However, she had to admit that King Sombra did stop torturing her after the Doctor was done talking.

“You had him think that my death would do diddly squat against you, it wouldn’t matter since you’ve seen so many die already,” she guessed.

“I’ve seen many ponies die, many and no, they are not just a statistic to me. However, I’ll be damned to Tartarus before I allow my grief for those I failed to save to be used against me by that good for nothing tyrant,” the Doctor said gravely.

“So you needed to diffuse his threat, tell him that it was useless for him to kill a random pony in front of you.” Apple Core’s brow rose a little when the Doctor grinned.

“Apple Core, I think you and I are going to get along just fine,” he said with a chuckle and started to look around. “Now then I’m going to be needing your sharp mind right about now.”

“Wait what?” The mare stared at him confused.

The Doctor didn’t respond right away, he was examining his chains and then started to do the same with the bars on his cell. The stallion frowned little then cringed when the dull feeling started to come all over him again. However, the stallion had already figured out a way around this hampering of his thinking process.

“You may not have heard it, but Sombra has a spell going that prevents me from thinking. The moment I start thinking too much my mind just suddenly slows down and it becomes difficult to proceed with whatever thought I had,” he explained and looked over at Apple Core. “Well, you are not a time pony, you’re an Equestrian earth pony, you are going to need to think for me.”

“Time pony?” Apple Core was really confused now, as far as she could see the stallion was an earth pony just like her.

“It’s a long story and we probably don’t have much time, we need to start thinking about how to get out of here and out of these chains,” the Doctor said and gestured to the chains on his legs.

“How?” the mare asked now utterly confused.

“Good question, how are we going to get out?” he asked right back smiling wide.

“You’re asking me? I asked first,” Apple Core protested.

“That you did, but I already told you I’m a bit disabled in the thinking department right now. We’ll need to work together to find a solution,” the Doctor told her

Apple Core managed to sit up but as she did, the mare still stared unsure at the Doctor. She tilted her head and looked around, but as far as she could tell there was no way out. The door was made of heavy thick iron bars and the walls were thick solid crystals. Now this pony wanted her to think of a way out of a place she had spent a month stuck in.

“You’re completely off your gourd,” she remarked and turned her attention back to the Doctor.

“I am, isn’t it wonderful?” The Doctor chuckled.

End chapter 3
> Chapter 4. Companion chambers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4

“Ow, ow, ow,” Foxy complained and pulled against the brush that tried to untangle her mane. “Seriously, this thing on my head was not meant for brushing.”

“S-Sorry… I’m so sorry,” a whimpering voice apologised, belonging to the green mare who was currently attempting to brush her mane. She was not chained but still looked just as sad as the rest of the ponies outside.

Foxy cringed, not in pain but in embarrassment. The poor servant was just trying to do the job required of her. Nearby two other mares were tending to Dew Doe, brushing her mane and coat. They were in a room with a large bed, it also had a small sitting area in one corner with a lounge chair and a couch. A doorway further inside lead to a bathroom.

“No it’s alright, just continue, my mane is just a bit of a messy thing,” Foxy assured the servant and allowed the brushing to resume, cringing a little as another tangle was removed.

“So you all are crystal ponies?” Dew asked, she had never heard of that type of pony, but it certainly explained their eyes and the very crystal themed motif of their city and castle.

“Y-yes ma’am,” the mare tending to her coat whispered.

“And your king is currently having us all prettied up, I take it we are his next playthings?” Foxy snorted and looked at the leather collar around her neck and the lightweight chains. The terrible memories from the spell in the throne room had worn off quickly when the maroon mare saw the brushes and other body care equipment the servants had brought. Now she felt just more general contempt and disgust.

“We were told to tend to you,” the mare brushing Dew’s mane said in a tired voice, she looked the oldest and most worn. “We just assumed, since you wear the consort collars.”

“Dew.” Foxy glared at her sister. “I’m going to kill the Doctor.”

“Now, now, just let them finish, we might as well play along for now,” the blue pegasus said calmly, though deep inside she was just as unimpressed. She just had a feeling that if the servants didn’t do their jobs, they would be punished and she kept thinking back to the poor stallion who had been whipped for the simple act of stumbling and being too tired to walk on.

“Dew, you know I’m not comfortable with being prettied up, if I see a single dress shown my way, I can’t be held responsible for what I might do,” Foxy whispered and winced for the last time when the servant was finally done with her mane and started on her coat.

“I’m not exactly thrilling at this idea either, Foxy. But just look at them, they are scared out of their wits, let them finish and hopefully we will be out of here before anything bad happens,” Dew responded sharply.

Foxy fell silent, mumbling something about bossy older sisters. She glanced back at the servant mare tending to her. She looked young, in her teens in fact. The pegasus frowned a little and just couldn’t fathom why someone would force such a young girl to work, she was pretty sure the three servant mares were just as much slaves as the ones in chains outside.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Foxy asked, the servant warily looked up at her.

“Uh…Emerald, miss,” she whispered and continued brushing the coat.

“Ack, don’t ‘miss’ me, I’m Foxy, just call me that.” The pegasus smiled warmly.

Emerald just nodded and continued with her work. Foxy frowned and wondered how to spark a longer conversation with the teen. Somehow asking how long she had been a servant didn’t seem appropriate. Everyone were though momentarily distracted by a loud voice coming from somewhere:

“THIS IS A WHAAAAAAT!?”

“Oh my, that was Private.” Dew gulped and her brow sunk in worry. “I hope he’s alright.”

“Wow, didn’t know he could scream this loud.” Foxy blinked. The servants made no remark and just continued their work.

Foxy took a glance at the pile of clothes on a nearby chair, it where the ones she and Dew had worn when arriving. The servants had helped them out of them before starting to work on their manes and coats. The pegasus walked over forcing Emerald to follow her as she was still brushing.

“Well since we are hampered from flying right now, I don’t suppose the scarfs are long enough to use as a rope to escape out the window,” Foxy said and glanced over to Dew.

“Foxy, we’re not leaving anywhere without Private and the Doctor,” the blue pegasus grunted.

“I didn’t say anything about leaving them, just brain storming escape ideas.” Foxy grinned a little though it was a bit forced. “Because I’m getting bored out of my mind just sitting here and being brushed to look more pretty for that stupid… he’s not standing right behind me is he?”

Foxy quickly glanced back but was relieved to see no one had in fact entered the room, it was still just her, Dew and the three servants. The crystal ponies were though starting to look a little confused.

“She’s always like that when she’s bored,” Dew told them and chuckled slightly.

“Frankly I wish he would just show up here already and get this over with,” Foxy grunted and walked back over to Dew, forcing Emerald yet again to run after her.

“Foxy, let her finish.” Her sister pointed at the green servant who had started her work again. The maroon pegasus grumbled and sat back down, folding her legs as she did.

“Excuse me, do you know who that mare was that was chained near the throne?” Dew asked, addressing the oldest of the servant.

“That’s Amber Waves,” the old mare whispered and looked even sadder. “She’s the King’s… personal slave.”

I gathered as much, the blue pegasus thought with a mild frown.

“Is she the only one?” Dew wondered but then looked at her collar and cringed. “No wait, don’t answer that question.”

The servants didn’t seem to dare talk more anyway and now hurried with their work. Before the two pegasi mares knew it, they had finished and left the room, taking also their old clothes with them. Dew frowned and couldn’t help but wonder why they had suddenly sped up their work, maybe she had started asking too sensitive questions.

“Well so much for the scarf escape route.” Foxy looked at the now empty chair. “Any bright ideas?”

“None,” Dew grunted and rose up, she walked over to the innermost window of the room, it had a view of the city. She could see tired and ragged ponies walking around on the streets.

Unlike Foxy, the frightening images from the spell hadn’t left her mind. Dew was very worried; she had noticed that the Doctor hadn’t smiled once ever since he realized where they were. It was highly unusual if he wasn’t smiling or grinning, even in face of danger. The way he spoke to King Sombra, it was obvious they had met before and that they didn’t like each other.

That isn’t so unusual though, we’ve met plenty of ponies before that the Doctor’s met previously. Even some the Doctor was not too glad to meet again, but this time, it was like he was afraid. The mare furrowed her brow as she considered this.

“Oooh, ooh, we could use the bedsheets.” Foxy was clearly still brainstorming escape ideas. Dew just shook her head and kept her focus on the outside.

“Gah where is Private and his magic when you need it,” the maroon mare grumbled.

That actually caused Dew to turn her head to see what her sister was up to. Foxy was in the process of trying to remove the sheets, but it seemed they were fastened to the bed with some sort of fasteners that were difficult to remove with hooves or your mouth. At least if you didn’t know how.

“Seriously, what kind of sheets are fastened to the bed,” Foxy remarked and tried her best to pull at the sheets.

Dew just smiled and once again shook her head, mildly amused by her sister. Her smile dropped when seeing dark magic aura envelope the doors and they began to slowly open. Foxy was still too busy with the sheets to take notice.

“Um Foxy…” Dew grimaced when seeing King Sombra enter.

Foxy spat out the mouthful of bedsheet she had and looked up at Dew, she hadn’t heard her nor noticed that her sister was looking past her. The maroon pony looked rather annoyed as she pointed at the sheets.

“It’s like this was intentionally made to be difficult to take off, at least without some magic. Really is that idiot that paranoid of prisoners using the sheets as rope?” she asked and raised her hoof, it made a clank sound as it made contact with Sombra’s breast plate.

“Oh… now he’s right behind me.” Foxy carefully glanced to her side to stare at the grinning face of the king.

“Well, more to your side actually,” King Sombra corrected with a chuckle. Foxy let out a nervous giggle and quickly sidestepped away so there was more space between her and the tyrant.

“I do hope you are both enjoying your accommodation, I can see already that my servants have been tending to you,” he said glancing now at Dew who didn’t move from the window. Foxy carefully took another sidestep to increase further the distance from the king.

“I suppose, is this the luxury edition of your dungeons? Because don’t try to tell me we are just your guests,” Dew responded dryly.

King Sombra chuckled and started to approach the mare. He was amused by her attitude, having seen glimpses of it in the throne room. She wasn’t trying to be defiant, but she was clearly attempting to be brave and was making a valiant effort of it.

“My dungeons are reserved for spies and other enemies of the state. There is no need to overcrowd them after all, others go to my mines or other hard labor,” Sombra stated as he stopped right in front of Dew. He leaned his head down so he was nearly muzzle to muzzle with her. “Are you telling me you would prefer any of those alternatives?”

Dew faltered a little, she had to admit that right now there was an advantage to being in this room over the dungeons or the mines. They probably didn’t have a free run around the castle but at least here they had a higher chance of being able to escape and free the others.

“No… just confused, I mean we came here with a pony you threw in the dungeons. We will not deny being his friends,” Dew Doe whispered and found it increasingly difficult to hold the gaze with Sombra, his red intent eyes seemed to burn right through her and she could almost feel the dark magic welling inside of him.

“True, you did,” Sombra nodded and took a step back. He turned his head slightly to look at Foxy who was still standing nervous further away.

“It’s probably not escaped either of you that the Doctor and I are not friends,” he snorted and frowned slightly.

“However.” The frown vanished and he smiled again as he turned his attention back to Dew. “The Doctor didn’t speak to deaf ears. My business is with him, not you. I will not grant his request to release you but I will not harm you, unless you give me a reason to.”

“Joy, so why the collars?” Foxy blurted out and tugged at the chains on her neck wear, causing her sister to palm her face with one hoof.

“A security measure, you did arrive with the Doctor after all.” Sombra moved away from Dew and now approached Foxy who gulped and considered asking for a mouth zipper next Heart Warming’s eve, that is if she lived to see another Heart Warming.

“Just so you know my brain and my mouth aren’t always connected together or in agreement, so I may not always say what I meant to say,” the maroon mare tried to clarify as the king stepped up in front of her.

“Slap me,” Sombra simply said.

Foxy blinked at this odd request that came completely out of the blue. She looked at Dew Doe who was just as confused. She looked at Sombra again who waited patiently with a grin on his face.

“You want me to slap you?” she asked just for clarification, the king nodded. “I should warn you that I don’t always know my own strength.”

“You can proceed whenever you wish,” the king said holding back a chuckle.

Foxy slowly and hesitantly lifter her hoof, then raised it fully and swung it, expecting to hit the stallion square in the face. But in mid swing her entire body froze, suddenly the collar began chocking her, the mare gasped for air and crumbled to the ground.

“FOXY!” Dew cried and came running over. She dropped down to the floor and gathered her sister into her front legs. The collar had stopped choking her and the maroon pony was now coughing and retching.

“And that’s why the collars,” Sombra chuckled, his smile now looking crueler.

“So much for not harming us,” Dew snorted and hugged Foxy closer to herself. “You could just have told her that the collar would choke her if she tried to hit you.”

“A burned hoof learns quicker to avoid the fire,” the king told her, his expression turning grimmer. He lowered his head to be once again muzzle to muzzle with Dew Doe.

“I did also say, ‘unless you give me a reason to.’ Now I have demonstrated with this small sample what I am willing to do. So let me advice you, miss Dew Doe, don’t test my patience too much, my mercy has limits and so does my hospitality. Your sister will live, but there are far worse things I could do to you,” he growled menacingly.

Dew said nothing and looked away. She concentrated on her sister, caressing her mane gently and holding her while Foxy regained composure again. The mare wasn’t even really sure why she had said that to Sombra. She looked up again when hearing the king walk away, he was headed towards the entrance of the room.

“Servants will come with food for you soon, we’ll be talking later,” he said before he disappeared out of the chamber.





Private breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down. The stallion sat in a middle of a room that was similar to the one Dew and Foxy occupied. Next to him sat a purple colored crystal pony stallion patting him reassuringly on the back.

“I-I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to startle you like that,” the servant said apologetically, he was wearing a blue vest. “I guess I assumed His Majesty had informed you… uh what these… ah collars were.”

The unicorn slowly glared at him causing the crystal pony to immediately stop patting him. Private then slowly raised one hoof and pushed the other stallion further away from him and his personal space.

“Ah sorry?” the purple one cringed.

“Why am I wearing… a consort… collar?” Private whispered sharply and used his magic to try and grab hold on the chains. He found that he couldn’t, there was some sort of a protection on them.

“I don’t know, really, I’m as surprised as you are sir. His Majesty has so far only shown interest in mares as far as I could tell.” The crystal pony shrugged. He then gestured to himself. “I’m Rubinstein, I’ve been ordered to attend to you.”

Nice… just nice. Private hung his head. Now he had a stallion servant too. 

“So anything you need? I could get the maids to come and brush your mane and coat, if you’re hungry I can send for food for you,” Rubinstein counted up but only received a cold glare from the unicorn.

“Sorry, I ramble. This is a first time I’m attending a… royal consort…” He stopped for a second when receiving a death glare from Private. “Guest… I mean guest… I’m sure the collar is just a mistake.”

“Anyway… this is actually the first time I attend to a guest too… I’ve just recently been moved to the castle to work. I used to be in the mines like the other slaves, but I suppose the position opened up. I rather not think about why the position opened up, I like sleeping at nights. I don’t even know why they picked me, do I look like a servant material to them? I used to be a mason before His Majesty took over,” the servant continued rambling, gesturing wildly with his hooves.

“Do you always talk so much?” Private grunted and wondered if this was some form of torture King Sombra was subjecting him to.

“Well, yes when I’m nervous I just start rambling on. Sorry, I can’t help it, I’ve been nervous ever since he took over, I mean he didn’t need mason slaves so I was just thrown into the mines and now I’m serving in the castle. I’m just so out of my element,” Rubinstein answered with a shrug.

Just my luck. Private lay down on the floor and wrapped his front legs around his head. Rubinstein had not stopped talking and was now rambling about his family of whom he had no news at all, then went on about the other servants who Private had no idea who were and then went into another long winded ramble on what he should be doing for the unicorn.

Private almost wished he had just been thrown into the dungeons. But deep down he really couldn’t fault the crystal pony from being nervous, it couldn’t be fun to be serving someone like King Sombra, not knowing where his family was and probably being at risk being sent in chains back to the mines at any time. Or worse.

The unicorn sat up and then leaned towards the servant and put a hoof over his mouth. As much as he sympathised, all this chattering was starting to grind at his nerves. Rubinstein fell silent and looked unsure at Private who removed his hoof.

“Just be quiet for now, please,” Private said and sighed in relief when the servant nodded and did not resume talking.

With silence finally achieved the unicorn started to look around. However, the room, although luxurious wasn’t all that remarkable. He was also pretty sure that window didn’t open fully. He would need more information before proceeding with making any plans.

Then I guess I have no choice but open up the chatterbox again. He sighed and turned back to Rubinstein.

“You wouldn’t know why he’s so interested in Equestrian unicorns? Because that’s so far the only reason I can think of why I’m not rotting in the dungeon,” Private asked.

“I wouldn’t know sorry sir.” The servant shook his head.

Private sighed, he wasn’t so good at this questioning thing. That was more the Doctor or even Dew Doe and Foxy. He was almost tempted to just tell Rubinstein to resume his rambling, who knows, maybe something useful would come out by accident.

“How far from here is the dungeon?” he decided to ask.

“Uh far, you’ll need go all the way down and to the sublevels. It’s constantly guarded,” Rubinstein responded, wondering at the question.

The unicorn frowned, considering Sombra said he would be under constant watch, that would make it difficult to go the dungeons and try and spring the Doctor out. He was about to ask some more when the doors to the chamber opened and in walked King Sombra.

Rubinstein flinched and immediately ducked down in a bow. Private rose up to stand, refusing to bow for the king. The tyrant just chuckled before glaring down at the covering crystal pony.

“Leave us!” he snapped. Rubinstein immediately rose up and hurried out of the room. The doors closed behind him with a slam.

“So Private,” Sombra glanced at the unicorn and smiled. “Enjoying the company?”

“Uh… sure, why not,” Private grunted and grimaced a bit when the king came even closer.

“That’s good to hear, you like the room I’ve provided for you?” King Sombra started to circle him in a rather tight circle, even swatting the tail so it came only inches from hitting the smaller unicorn.

“I… guess.” Private was really starting to feel uncomfortable and had to lean his head back so the black tail of the tyrant didn’t strike him.

“Good,” the king stopped so he stood beside his prisoner.

I swear to Celestia if he doesn’t stop this… Private grit his teeth, almost fearing something was going to happen he wasn’t going to like. Aside from the king’s insistence to stand so close to him. He froze when a leg was put around him.

“Now I must confess that I have always had certain fascination with Equestrian unicorns. Then again you probably guessed that already back in the throne room,” King Sombra said, greatly enjoying the discomfort he was causing the other unicorn.

“Now as pathetic as your little display of magic was it still wasn’t half bad. I must admit it probably would have been more boring to have a unicorn with more magical potential. I mean, somepony like you probably barely has any magical defenses at all,” he continued and suddenly hugged Private even closer to him, pressing their heads together. “Care to put that to the test.”

Will you PLEASE, let go off me. Private was screaming on the inside. This was just really starting to get too freaky for him. There was little though he could do, Sombra was too strong and held him firmly. The king’s horn began glowing and his eyes turned green.

Private winched as his own horn was suddenly forcefully activated. The King had turned it on quite easily. The smaller unicorn gasped as he could feel a drain, it was like something was being sucked out of his body, then he heard a cruel chortle inside his own head.

“This wasn’t even a challenge, how disappointing, but it will serve its purpose,” the dark voice of the king remarked. “Now stay still my little one, this next part will hurt!”

The drain stopped and now Private could feel a searing pain. It started up in the horn and then slowly crawled down it, entered his head and then began coursing through his entire body. The unicorn started crying out and began to struggle against it, but he was still held firmly by the evil king.

“Make it stop… MAKE IT STOP!” Private started screaming in agony.

Finally Sombra did let go and the smaller unicorn crumbled to the floor, moaning and sobbing in pain. The king deactivated both horns and stared smirking down at the prisoner. Private had his front hooves on his head and breathed heavily.

“It always does hurt at first, but then you get used to it,” King Sombra whispered softly and started to gently caress the blonde mane beneath his feet. “I’ve infused some of my own magic into you, help you boost you up a little bit. See how it works with what little magic you have in you.”

The King continued to admire his handiwork, this had been a bit easier than he had expected and he was a little disappointed that the unicorn couldn’t struggle more against it. However, he was not one to complain since what he had set out to do had in fact worked. He continued to stroke Private’s mane, giving him false assurance that this was all over now.

Sleep, little one, you and your friends will be useful tools to use against the Doctor, he thought and cast a sleeping spell on Private. Then Sombra levitated the unicorn to the bed before leaving the room.

End chapter 4.
> Chapter 5. Questioning the servants.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5

“Well guess we can’t do plan F, physically attack him,” Foxy said, she lay now on the bed, resting after her earlier choking experience.

“Plan F?” Dew Doe was starting to wonder just how many plans her sister had cooked up by now. She was sitting on the floor next to the bed.

“F for fail because I was pretty sure that was going to fail anyway,” the maroon pegasus grinned innocently and rolled onto her back, stretching her legs in the process.

Dew smiled, she always admired how quickly Foxy could bounce back. Her little sister always had this ability to try and see the humor in their situations and could brighten up the gloom by her positive attitude. She might sometimes gripe and complain but was never fully serious about it.

“Soooo have to admit, aside from tricking me into chocking myself, he didn’t do terribly much. I was half expecting him to enact on some ‘royal privileges’ with us,” Foxy then remarked and scrunched her face a bit. “Not that I’m complaining that he didn’t, I’m rather glad that he didn’t.”

“Oh we’re not out of the woods yet,” Dew grunted and glanced at the restraints that were on her wings. They were not very comfortable and she really was starting to feel the need to stretch her feathery limbs.

“But we need more information, right now all we know is that the Doctor in the dungeon somewhere, the collars choke us if we try and harm the king and Private must be in a room nearby since we heard him scream.” She looked back at Foxy who still lay on her back.

“Additionally, knowing bit more about this Crystal Empire and this King Sombra wouldn’t hurt either. I wonder why we’ve never heard of this place,” Dew frowned, considering Private’s encyclopedic knowledge of history, it was rather strange that not even he had heard of it.

“Maybe it’s something to do with that memory lock the Doctor mentioned,” Foxy suggested with a shrug.

Her sister’s brow rose slightly, the brief discussion Private and the Doctor had about where they were had actually slipped her mind. The sisters looked over to the doors when there was a knock.

“Uh, enter?” Dew called.

One door opened fully and Emerald the crystal pony entered pushing a cart full of food. The young mare took it all the way in then stepped aside, she fidgeted her hooves nervously where she stood and seemed to be working up a nerve to speak.

“I-I have brought you your food… as ordered,” she whispered finally and kept staring down at the floor.

“Thanks.” Foxy rolled to her stomach and sat up. Emerald didn’t seem to be quite finished but was still working up a nerve to continue.

“I’ve… I’ve also been assigned as… as your chambermaid, I’m to see to all your needs,” the crystal pony finished.

“Great, we’ll need a detailed map of the castle layout, guard patrol schedule and quite possibly something that can cut these collars off.” Foxy counted up with a wide grin. Emerald blinked in confusion but Dew just groaned, she was half tempted to grab a pillow and throw it at the maroon mare.

“Never mind her, she’s not being serious, we know you couldn’t possibly provide any of those things,” Dew assured the servant. “But we would like to ask you few questions if possible.”

“I… uh I will try,” Emerald whispered nervously.

Foxy leaped off the bed while Dew spoke with the servant and walked over to the cart. She started to inspect the food, it was corn, berries, funnel cakes and some assortment of fruit the mare didn’t quite recognise. Some of it had a bit of a crystalline look to it so the pegasus guessed this was locally grown food.

“First of all, are there any guards outside our room?” Dew asked, recalling Sombra saying they should be under constant watch.

“Not right outside… but further down the hallway at the end,” Emerald responded.

“Hm, they are probably watchful enough though,” the blue pony tapped one hoof thoughtfully on her muzzle. “Is there a gray unicorn with a blonde mane and tail nearby?”

“I-I think he’s two rooms down, Rubinstein is attending to him as far as I know,” the crystal pony shrugged unsure.

I wonder if the guards will stop us if we try to go and see him. Dew frowned a little, she glanced to the cart when hearing loud chewing noises. Foxy had grabbed a corn cob and was making a short work of it.

“Emerald, I know this one will very difficult for you, but what can you tell us about King Sombra?” Dew Doe looked back at the crystal pony whose eyes bulged out at the question.

“I…I…h-he is our king…” she whispered and was shaking like a leaf.

“We noticed.” The pegasus nodded, the question clearly upset Emerald too much to be able to answer it so she tried another one. “What can you tell us about the Crystal Empire?”

Emerald was too shaken now to answer, she just shook her head and looked extremely nervous and uncomfortable. Dew wondered if the servants were conditioned to not talk about either of those two subjects. She wouldn’t put it past the king to make sure they didn’t talk too much.

“Never mind it then. If we go out of the room, will we be stopped if we try to visit the gray unicorn I asked about earlier?” Dew tried to divert the subject elsewhere. It took a moment for the servant to respond as she had to calm down first.

“I-I don’t think so…” Emerald whispered once she had stopped shaking, the girl still looked nervous.

“Let’s put it to the test. Foxy, stop stuffing your face, we are going to see Private,” Dew said and rose up to her feet.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Foxy asked, in her hooves was a mostly finished funnel cake.

“I’m not hungry, besides I don’t feel like eating until I at least know he’s okay.” The blue pegasus had a determined look her sister knew meant that she wouldn’t stop until she saw the unicorn.

Foxy shrugged and quickly scarfed down what was left of the cake before rising to her feet. She hurried to the doors with Dew, before they opened them, the sisters glanced at Emerald who seemed unsure what to do, it was clear the crystal pony was waiting for some orders.

“I’ll handle this,” Foxy said and smiled at the servant. “We don’t require your service right now, just wait here or go do whatever you need to do. You can have some of our food if you want.”

“Uh… all right.” Emerald just looked even more confused now.

The sisters left the room and entered a long hallway. It was rather dimly lit compared to the chamber they had just come from. At all exits there were two guards, none of them raised any protests to the mares leaving, but the closest pair did glance towards them.

Dew ignored the guards and headed in the direction Emerald had told them Private’s room was in. Foxy followed but did glance around, there wasn’t much to see, the hall was made out of the same dark crystal wall and the floor had nothing on it. This all looked rather dark and foreboding and gave the maroon mare chills.

Foxy felt a tinge of relief when she and Dew entered the chamber two rooms away from theirs, especially so since there was a familiar face lying on the bed sound asleep. Nobody else was in the room so the mares hurried over to the bed, Dew promptly jumped on it and started shaking Private.

“Private, Private, wake up,” she whispered but the unicorn didn’t even stir.

“Not that long ago he was screaming so loud that we could hear it, now he’s suddenly sleeping like a rock,” Foxy remarked. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Private was a light sleeper and generally very sensitive to ponies coming close to him.

“You don’t think Sombra put a spell on him?” Dew stopped shaking the stallion and looked at her sister worried.

“Probably.” The maroon pegasus shrugged. The blue one rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully, then she lowered her head so her mouth was right next to Private’s ear.

“Private, I got pancakes,” she said in a sing-a-song voice.

Private blinked awake and his head rose up quickly. He started to look around in confusion but then his attention fixed on Dew and Foxy who were both giggling. The stallion grunted and then raised a hoof to rub his head, he had a mild headache. Then he noticed the chamber.

“Crap, this wasn’t just a nightmare,” he muttered.

“I’m afraid not,” Dew said and scooted closer to him. “How are you feeling.”

“I got a headache and you are in my… ah never mind.” Private rose to sit, considering their situation the stallion figured he shouldn’t be griping about ponies coming to close to him, especially his friends.

“Sooo, you have really never heard of this Crystal Empire?” Foxy asked and sat down next to the bed.

“It’s not in any history books I’ve read,” the unicorn grunted. “I think the only one who can tell us about it is the Doctor or if we want to go for the unlikely, this King Sombra.”

“We tried asking the maid tending to us, but she didn’t seem too eager to talk,” Dew told him.

“You should try the guy that was here earlier, he wouldn’t stop talking.” Private muttered. “I think he’s supposed to be the one tending to me.”





“This is plain hopeless,” Apple Core sighed and sat down. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m just not seeing a way out.”

“Well I don’t agree that it’s hopeless, but I do agree that we may not be going out for a little while.” The Doctor sighed, the dull feeling in his mind was really starting to affect him.

The two prisoners had spent few hours now trying to brainstorm some ideas, the Doctor would ask questions about this and that, the guards, the layout, when food was brought. Apple Core answered the best she could, but even she had limited information on how things were.

“In fact our escape may just depend on the fact that my friends are outside the dungeon,” he said and furrowed his brow in worry.

“What do you think your friends can do? Surely they are just chained up somewhere else,” the mare snorted.

“Perhaps, perhaps not, King Sombra wants to use them against me, that I’m almost sure of. So why not play nice with them, confuse them… ugh…” The Doctor groaned when the spell started to prevent him from thinking too much.

“So you’re saying they might have freer rein than us?” Apple Core wondered though she was skeptical of that idea.

“Yes… don’t worry, they are good ponies and can handle themselves well in tough situations,” he said and smiled, memories didn’t seem to be affected by the spell as the time pony could easily recall the first time he met his three friends.


***


The future, yet in the past.

The Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS and looked around. His eyes were greeted with a green field just outside the suburbs of a city. The time pony stepped outside and took a moment to just watch the peaceful scenery. Further ahead he noticed three ponies sitting and talking. Well the two mares, both pegasi, one blue and one maroon were talking, the gray unicorn stallion wasn’t talking much.

Since they hadn’t noticed his arrival the Doctor ignored them for now and took out a device from his vest pocket and started working on it. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary immediately but he was still curious about a strange reading he had received from the scanners inside the TARDIS.

This is very odd, he thought and pocketed his device again. He looked up again when hearing a shriek that was immediately cut short. All three ponies were gone. The Doctor frowned, that didn’t look right to him. Although the pegasi could have easily just flown up, there was nothing that could conceal a unicorn for a long distance.

The Doctor quickly ran to the spot he had seen the three ponies at, now he could definitely feel something was off. He reached into his vest pocket to get his sonic screw driver, but tripped in the process and fell to the ground. Through the ground was tough more like it as, grass and dirt didn’t greet his muzzle, instead he continued to go down through a shimmering green portal into white empty space.

Ooooh this is not good. The time pony realized he was still falling, right below him he could see the ponies, the two mares were in the process of descending towards the unicorn who looked disoriented on the white ground.

“Move him out of the way, move him out of the way!!” the Doctor yelled as he realized that his fall would crash him right on top of the gray pony. He figured his sturdy earth pony body could take the hit to the ground.

It was too late, with a thud he crashed right onto the unicorn who had been rising up. Both stallions groaned in pain. The Doctor knocked his head up against the ground and saw stars. Up on reflection he was almost glad that he had a softer landing, even if it was at the expense of the other stallion.

“Ow, who put that hole there on the field?” The Doctor groaned as he tried to rise up. He felt a pair of hooves grab one of his legs as he was pulled off the unicorn. It was the maroon mare.

“Careful, ow, ow,” the time pony complained as the pegasus managed to fully pull him off.

“Are you alright, Private?” the blue one landed next to the groaning unicorn who still lay flat on the ground. His only answer was a grunt and a glare.

“Awfully sorry about that, didn’t even see that portal before falling through it,” the Doctor said and dusted off himself.

“Uh well it just suddenly appeared under us, who are you?” the maroon pegasus asked.

“Just call me the Doctor,” the time pony responded and stared up to the portal. It didn’t look that far away. The mares could probably fly the stallions up one at a time.

“Doctor what?” the mare asked confused.

“Just the Doctor,” the Doctor smiled at her, then looked at her two friends. The unicorn was standing now, giving him a suspicious glare, the blue one watched with a more curious expression. It was then the time pony noticed the device the unicorn was holding in on hoof.

“Where did you get that?” the time pony asked and frowned in concern and pointed at the device. There was no response from the gray pony, he just continued to stare in silence.

“Sorry, Private doesn’t socialize too well.” The blue pegasus smiled apologetically. “He bought it recently at a pawnshop downtown. He hasn’t told us why he bought it.”

“That’s because it’s compelling him not to,” the Doctor said and grabbed up his sonic screw driver and aimed it at the device. It suddenly sparked, forcing Private to drop it to the ground.

“Hey what …the…?” the unicorn and the two mares blinked in surprise when the device transformed into some sort of a black stone.

“You’ll thank me later when we get out of here. That was no device, that was a lure to a trap,” the time pony snorted.

The Doctor started to scan around and his frown turned more worried. But the worst part was that the portal was slowly closing. The three other ponies just stared at him bewildered and confused.

“A trap that we are smack down in the middle of,” he said and grit his teeth.


***


Crystal Empire, Sombra’s reign.

“And then what happened?” Apple Core asked when the Doctor had fallen silent, for some reason he had just started talking about the first meeting with his friends.

“I asked Foxy and Dew if they were strong enough to carry us. Foxy said she could easily carry one of us and that’s when Private finally passed out, he had a concussion naturally after first hitting the ground and then having me crashing right on top of him. He had tried to use his magic to pick up the lure, probably got too curious about it.” The Doctor shook his head smiling. “He’s much more curious than he gives himself credit for”

“So Foxy carried Private up and pushed him through the portal. Then she came back down and then both of them carried me up. It was a very narrow save, the portal closed just as Dew’s tail was through,” he continued.

“That pocket dimension we had fallen into had actually been the mouth of a trans dimensional entity that was passing through. The lure was its way of getting food as it travelled. We were very lucky to escape when we did, or we would have made a tasty snack for it,” the time pony finished with a chuckle.

Apple Core blinked in confusion, she couldn’t understand how nonchalant he sounded about having almost been eaten. Although she didn’t quite understand the whole trans dimensional thing, the mare knew when a pony just told her about being nearly a meal for a monster.

“So you were almost eaten by a monster,” The mare said unsure. She noticed the Doctor scowling when hearing her say that.

“It wasn’t a monster, sure it defied our understanding of how the world works, but it was only doing what came natural to it. Animals have to eat, yes it almost ate us, but that doesn’t make it a monster, it didn’t know we were sentient,” the Doctor retorted.

“You just said it used a lure to bait you into a trap,” Apple Core pointed out.

“A lot of predators use lure or traps to catch their prey, that doesn’t make them monsters, just clever,” he immediately counterpointed.

Apple Core couldn’t really argue with that. This pony was though very odd in her mind. The Doctor eased his scowl and now just looked tired. She decided to change the subject to something else.

“So, you guys been friends for long?” the mare asked.

“Few years. Funny thing that, I wasn’t actually looking for traveling companions that day. In fact I wasn’t sure I wanted to… I had just dropped off two friends and decided to stay out of their lives, they had… I’ll tell you later,” the Doctor sighed and slowly rose up. He walked to the hay in his cell and lay on top of it.

Sombra better not harm them. I don’t want to lose them, Trinity, Swift Mane, it was so close, a narrow escape. No wonder they ended up wanting to stop, he thought as he slowly drifted into uneasy slumber.





“Excuse me?” Private stared at Dew and Foxy as if they had both grown extra heads right in front of him.

“Look, I know this is a bit much to ask, but since he is showing interest in you because you are a unicorn. You probably are the one pony that can gather intel from him, one way or another,” Dew Doe said with an innocent smile.

“So far he’s done something that caused me searing amount of pain, said something about fusing his magic with mine and he’s done most of the talking. I’m not sure I could get a question in even if I wanted to, plus you know I’m horrible at questioning ponies without being too obvious about it,” the unicorn grunted and folded his legs.

“Yes but aside from the Doctor, who is currently not available to us I remind you, you are the most observant. Please Private,” the blue mare put on her most endearing smile.

Don’t you dare flutter your eyes, don’t you dare… you are fluttering your eyes. Private groaned when the mare started doing just what he was thinking. “Ugh… fine.”

“Do you want me to leave you two alone.” Foxy rolled her eyes and just smirked at the glare she received from Private and cackled on the inside when seeing Dew blush.

“It doesn’t help either that I’m wearing this thing,” the stallion snorted and grabbed a hold on one chain on his collar and pulled at it. “You know what this is?”

“Yes, we know. It’s a consort collar, it also chokes you if you try and harm Sombra,” Foxy said and rubbed the part of her neck that was not encircled by the collar. “Trust me, got first hoof experience.”

“Foxy asked about the collars and instead of telling her, Sombra told her to hit him, when she tried the collar choked her,” Dew explained when Private raised an eyebrow at Foxy’s words.

“And what about you two?” the unicorn wondered.

“That’s the tricky part, we don’t know how much we can travel in this castle or palace or tower or whatever,” the blue mare said and sighed a little.

The three ponies looked at the doors to the room when hearing one opening. In walked Rubinstein with a cart full of food. The Crystal Pony stopped short when seeing everyone around the bed and looked embarrassed.

“Oh I’m sorry, sir. You were sleeping earlier when I checked in on you so I figured I would just slip your food in and allow you to wake up to it,” the servant said apologetically.

Private just grunted, now that Dew and Foxy were in the room he wasn’t feeling as inclined to talk much. Foxy shook her head when seeing that the unicorn had dropped into his far more common silent stance, she waved the servant to come in with the food.

“I’m Foxy Stripes and this is Dew Doe, we are Private’s friends,” she introduced her and Dew to the servant.

“Hello, I’m Rubinstein. I’ve been assigned to attend to your friend while he’s here.” The crystal pony smiled weakly at the greeting.

“That’s the one who wouldn’t stop talking?” Dew whispered to Private who nodded. She quickly leaned towards Foxy and gave her a signal that her sister knew meant essentially ‘grill him.’

Foxy immediately sprang to her feet and walked right over to Rubinstein who was uncovering the food on the cart. The crystal pony glanced at the grinning mare, unsure what was going on, he had actually planned to quickly evacuate himself from the room since Private had company.

“So, Rubinstein, been working here long?” Foxy asked, crossing her front hooves in a leisurely manner.

“Uh well no just few days actually. I used to be in the mines, but well they apparently needed more servants here so they took me and few others over here,” Rubinstein told her and smiled nervously. “I actually don’t know much about service work, I used to be a mason…before… be…fore…”

Suddenly the stallion cringed and for a moment seemed to be in a pain. It didn’t last for long though and he was soon back to what seemed normal for him. He looked unsure at Foxy who was watching him with some concern now.

“Ah… sorry, this happens when I try to remember…try to remember the times before His Majesty came to power,” he whispered and then shuddered.

“That’s weird,” Foxy frowned and looked at Dew and Private. Her sister was scratching her head and the stallion frowned in thought.

“Alright, alright, never mind that. What about ‘His Majesty’ surely as a servant you’ve heard plenty about him by now, even if you haven’t been here that long,” the maroon mare decided to change the subject.

“Well his Majesty is… is uh… standing right behind you.” Rubinstein winced and quickly did a deep bow.

“Oh you got to be kidding me!” Foxy griped and glared behind her.

There indeed stood King Sombra, smirking at the reaction from the maroon mare. Dew and Private started a bit, they hadn’t even noticed the king enter the room. He must have used some sort of a magic spell to come in unnoticed.

“Seriously, this getting old, fast,” Foxy grunted and turned around to be facing the large dark unicorn.

Sombra’s only response was to chuckle before glancing at the crystal pony who still kept himself in a bow, the King snorted and walked closer to him. Rubinstein didn’t dare looking up and shivered a bit when knowing that his tyrant stood right in front of him.

“You talk too much, slave. This isn’t a difficult concept for you is it? Bring them food, then leave,” the king growled at the covering servant.

“Now hold on, it’s not his fault. I started to talk with him and asking questions,” Foxy spoke up, she took a step back when King Sombra glared at her, his eyes were glowing green now and the purple mist produced from the corners.

The king’s horn began glowing and dark magic aura enveloped around Rubinstein. The whole time the tyrant kept his eyes on Foxy. Suddenly the servant began yelping in pain, the magic around him was harming him.

“W-what are you doing?” Foxy gasped and grimaced when there came another painful yelp from the crystal pony.

“Leave him alone, it wasn’t his fault!” Dew protested, she was so tempted to try and go and help Rubinstein out of there, but Private had already grabbed her to hold her back. The unicorn was staring darkly at King Sombra.

“I’m punishing a slave, worthless worm who can’t keep its mouth shut, a pathetic creature who is to be seen and not heard as it tends to its betters,” the king growled. The magic aura dragged the crystal pony across the floor so he was right in front of Foxy. There he continued to writhe in agony from the magic torture.

“Please stop.” Foxy pleaded, staring in horror at the poor pony who was starting to cry and beg for mercy.

“You pity this thing, don’t you? Your compassion for it tears at your heart. You’ve only met it just today and yet there you are, pleading on its behalf. I can see why the Doctor calls you his friend. Will you beg for this worm’s life, Foxy Stripes? Will you go on your knees for it?” King Sombra spoke in a mocking tone, his horn began glow more dark energy and it seemed to intensify the torture. Rubinstein was screaming now.

Foxy felt tears come to the corners of her eyes, she couldn’t look away. She felt a sting in her heart when the crystal pony began screaming in in pain. The pegasus wanted so much to embrace the poor stallion and comfort him, make the suffering stop.

Finally, the mare looked hatefully at Sombra, slowly she knelt down and her eyes narrowed. The king watched her every move, his sneer slowly turning into a grin as he saw what was happening.

“Please spare his life, I beg you.” She gritted her teeth at the dark laughter that started echoing around the room.

The magic aura disappeared and Rubinstein lay still breathing hard and sobbing. He curled up in a ball when hearing the clank of the king’s hoofguards as Sombra approached. But the dark unicorn was staring at Foxy and not him, smirking devilishly.

“How fortunate for you, Foxy, that I feel being merciful. Keep that in mind next time you start asking the slaves questions you shouldn’t be asking,” he whispered softly, then his smile changed into a sneer as he bent his head down to stare right into the mare’s eyes.

“Because next time, I may not feel so merciful,” he snarled at the frightened pegasus and raised his head again. With those words, he left the room ignoring the others.

End chapter 5
> Chapter 6. Dew goes exploring.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6

Nobody spoke yet, even if it had been a while now since King Sombra left the room. Foxy had laid down on the floor where she had knelt, staring at the ground looking uncharacteristically grim. Dew had put her legs around Private and clung to him. The unicorn just stared forward, scowling. Rubinstein had already picked himself up and in a hurried whisper excused himself as he stumbled out, leaving the three ponies behind.

“Who wants to bet he was just waiting for one of us to be asking around?” Foxy finally broke the silence. She slowly looked up at her friends. “Seriously, Rubinstein hadn’t even said anything of use and I had barely started asking questions.”

“Actually he did say something,” Private pointed out. “He said that something prevents him from remembering the time before the king came to power.”

“You think we were on to something by hearing that?” Dew asked. She let go of the stallion and sat up more properly.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, keep in mind that shortly after Rubinstein said that, Sombra appeared. Whatever spell that’s was on him probably alerted the bastard to what was going on,” the unicorn said, his scowl changing a bit more into a thoughtful frown.

I need to get into the throne room, preferably when the king isn’t there. I wonder if this Amber can tell us something, Dew Doe thought and glanced towards the doors of the room.

“I think we need to be a little more practical on this one, what we need to do is find a way into the dungeon, free the Doctor and get the heck out of here,” Private grunted. “As fascinating it would be to find more out about this place, I don’t think it’s beneficial for our health to stay here too long.”

That actually makes more sense. Dew brow rose a bit. She had figured they would need information about the empire and the king before proceeding, but now that she reconsidered, that was probably secondary to freeing the Doctor. 

“So anypony know where the dungeon is?” Foxy asked with a skeptical tone and expression.

“Sort of, the entrance is at the bottom of the castle, the dungeon itself is on a sublevel,” Private told her, causing both mares to look at him mildly surprised. “What? I asked Rubinstein where the dungeon is, he told me.”

“Aren’t you usually the silent one?” Foxy teased and just grinned at the glare she received. 

“Knowing where the dungeon is located is one thing, going there is a whole another matter,” Dew Doe said and climbed down from the bed. “I think we need to put it to the test how limited out travel is here.”

Foxy and Private looked at her shocked. Even though the mood had lifted slightly, the memory of what happened to Rubinstein was still very fresh on their mind. 

“Dew, we just watched the guy torture a slave right in front of us. He forced me to beg for his life, can you imagine what he will do if he thinks you’re trying to escape or go somewhere you’re not supposed to?” Foxy said sharply.

“Well we aren’t going to get anywhere if we don’t know the limits of our travel, now do we? Look, at most the guards will stop me from leaving the hallway, I mean that’s what they are here for,” Dew pointed out.

“Wait, you’re going alone?” her sister exclaimed and quickly rose to her feet, even Private was rising up.

“If all three of us try and go it will look that more obvious that we are trying to get to the dungeon. If just one of us is walking around, it at least makes it look like it’s just out of curiosity. ‘I wandered out because I was bored sitting in my chamber,’ that kind of thing,” the blue pegasus explained and started to walk to the doors.

“This is insane,” Foxy protested and really just wanted to follow. Dew Doe changed her direction up on hearing that and walked over to her sister and gave her a hug.

“I’ll just see if I can get past the guards,” she assured her.

“No you won’t,” the maroon pony grunted. “If they do let you past, you’ll see how far you can go.”

“I will return shortly,” Dew Doe just said as she let go, it was then that Foxy grabbed her in a brief hug before allowing her sister to head out.

“Dew,” Private spoke up, he had climbed down from the bed and looked at the blue mare that was almost at the doors, she looked back him. The unicorn sighed, there were so many words he wanted to say right now, just none came up to the mouth part which was required for them to come out.

“Be careful,” he finally said with a sigh.

“I will.” Dew smiled before slipping out of the chamber.

Once again the blue pegasus found herself in the dimly lit hallway. The guards were still at all exits and again the ones that were closest kept an eye on her. Dew arched her brow as she considered which way to go. She tried to think back when she was pulled out of the throne room, she had been so scared and bewildered that the mare hadn’t really paid that much attention to the directions.

Dew Doe took a deep breath and proceeded to the nearest exit. The guards didn’t make any movements even as the mare approached them. She stopped in front of them and took a moment to regard the two armored ponies, these were crystal ponies as well, just sturdier looking. But like the slaves, what was visible of their coats looked drab and drained. Their eyes had a faint tint of green.

Wonder if they are under some sort of mind control, she thought. Well here goes nothing.

The pegasus walked past them and out of the hallway. She half expected to be stopped at any moment, but there wasn’t even a peep of protest. Dew looked back rather surprised before taking in this new section of the castle. She soon spotted other guards standing around.

Ah, that would probably explain it. Dew figured that the other guards knew that the next pair would stop her if she went somewhere the mare wasn’t meant to go.

Dew Doe glanced back again, now that she knew they weren’t stuck in the guest chambers she really did want to see how far she could go. Foxy had been too right, knowing her older sister well. Figuring that she might as well since the opportunity was there the mare continued onwards, she soon found herself in another long hallway.

This one was a bit more decorated with flags that carried dark crystal emblems. There were also pillars made of black crystals and if a flag didn’t hang on a wall there were tapestries that looked rather finely woven. Torches lit up the whole way and as Dew Doe walked through she realized this lead to the throne room.

Dew stopped short when seeing the dark throne, the memories of the spell Sombra put on her while there came back. The mare cringed a little and halted her approach. The only relief she felt was that the king wasn’t sitting on it, but who knew how far away he was.

Well I wanted to go to the throne room, the mare thought and started to slowly approach again.

When she reached the entrance, the pegasus carefully peeked inside. There was no sign of Sombra anywhere. Amber, the pony on the platform, was however still there. She looked just as downcast and empty as when Dew had first seen her. 

The poor girl. Dew looked at her with pity, she shuddered at the thought what Sombra had been doing to her and for how long.

Steeling herself, Dew Doe entered the throne room and walked straight for the platform. She did have to walk partly up towards the throne before reaching it, but once there the mare stopped in front of Amber. The crystal pony became aware of her and slowly looked up.

“Hi,” Dew greeted her with a smile and sat down. “I’m Dew Doe.”

There was no response from Amber, she just stared at the blue mare with eyes that were empty of hope and any joy. Dew Doe had to fight back an urge to reach out and hug her, there was no telling what kind of reaction Amber would have.

“I was told your name is Amber, Amber Waves.” Dew figured that for now it was best just to talk and see how it went from there.

The mention of her name did seem to stir Amber a bit, a tiny spark of life seemed to return to her eyes and she looked more nervous. The crystal pony looked down, opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it again. Dew couldn’t help but wonder when the slave had last heard her name spoken.

“W-who… are…you?” Amber whispered and hesitantly glanced up at Dew Doe. It was as if speaking her name had woken the crystal pony up from stupor.

“As I said I’m Dew Doe, I came here earlier with three friends. We were captured and brought in here. I come from Equestria,” Dew told her gently.

“Why… are…” Amber looked down again. “Why… are you here?”

“That’s a good question, it wasn’t the plan to come here, however one of my friend has this traveling machine we use and it got us stuck here,” the pegasus shrugged.

“No… I mean.” The crystal pony closed her eyes. “Why have you… come to me… speaking my name… I had… forgotten my name.”

“I like helping ponies, it’s my talent, it’s what my cutie mark stands for. Helping ponies in need. I just can’t stand seeing somepony in a bad situation. I want to help you as much as I possibly can,” Dew Doe explained to her.

“I’m… I’m beyond help.” Amber shook her head. “I’m… His… He owns me… I’m his pet.”

Pet? Dew Doe felt sick hearing that. This just filled the pegasus with even more determination.

“No, you’re not beyond help and you’re noponies pet. I know he’s made you think that and right now it’s difficult not to think otherwise.” She started telling her and intended to continue but then noticed that Amber was stiffening up in fear, her eyes widening.

“He’s coming.” The crystal pony whispered.

Oh pony feathers. Dew quickly stood up and looked around. Not wanting to take the chance, remembering what happened to Rubinstein, the pegasus quickly walked down the steps away from the platform. She would have to try and talk with Amber later.

Dew had barely reached the bottom when King Sombra walked casually into the throne room. The mare stood straight and tried not to look as if she had just been talking with Amber at all but instead had just been looking around.

Sombra didn’t stop walking until he was right in front of the pegasus, he regarded her critically. For once he wasn’t smirking or grinning. His expression was strangely neutral, Dew wondered if this meant he hadn’t guessed why she was here.

“I hope I do not need to educate you as I had to educate your sister,” the king said and his eyes narrowed a bit. “Then again I recall showing you twice now what I am willing and capable of doing.”

“Nope, just taking a little stroll.” Dew tried her best innocent grin. He’s not buying it.

“Let’s not forget, Dew Doe, I’m familiar with the Doctor, I’ve met him before and his previous companions,” the king snorted, not too impressed by Dew’s excuse.

“Swift Mane and Trinity… they have been here?” the mare blinked then recalled Sombra mentioning them to the Doctor.

“They came here before I took power.” The tyrant rolled his eyes. “They of course tried to prevent me from taking it. They failed.”

Yeah, that one is obvious. Dew Doe frowned a little in concern. Foxy and her knew Swift Mane, he was their supervisor at the Social Service office in Fillydelphia. Trinity worked there as well. They had been just as surprised to learn they had known the Doctor as well in the past.

“The Doctor also looked different, he was a unicorn then,” Sombra mused and raised an eyebrow when seeing the confusion on Dew Doe. “You didn’t know? Time ponies regenerate when they are dying, they change forms.”

“No I knew that… I just thought he had been in his current form longer,” the pegasus said and didn’t like the smile that came on the king.

“His current form, he’s in it thanks to me,” the King said and his smile turned to a grin when seeing Dew Doe cringe. “When he confronted me, I killed him. Or at least I thought I did.”

“Weakened from his regeneration and knowing they had no defense against my magic, they fled like cowards. But I knew he would be back, so I prepared myself for his eventual return. I knew he wouldn’t rest knowing what I had done.” Sombra snorted and rolled his eyes again.

Dew Doe would have liked to correct Sombra on this one, the Doctor had in fact been in quite a hurry to leave once he realized where he was. She didn’t however and figured it wouldn’t matter to the king, the Doctor was here and that was all he was concerned about.

Figuring that Sombra wasn’t going to do or say much more, Dew decided to try and go back to the chambers. She had been gone long enough, the mare excused herself and started to try and go past the large unicorn. An ironclad hoof was put right in front of her, preventing her from leaving.

“Going so soon? I wouldn’t mind your company a little longer,” the king said and stepped in front of Dew again.

Oh no, the mare restrained herself from gulping or showing any sign of nervousness. Foxy’s remark about royal privileges suddenly came back to her mind. The king was again regarding her, smiling slyly

“You are a lovely looking mare, Dew Doe, it’s almost worth it to have the Doctor to deal with again to have you here in my presence,” Sombra murmured and took a step closer.

“Oh I’m sure, but I should remind you that you said you wouldn’t harm us and I would consider anything inappropriate happening right now, as harming me,” Dew Doe pointed out, not overly impressed by the admiration she was receiving.

“Oh I wouldn’t dream of it,” King Sombra claimed as he removed one of his hoof guards, revealing his black hoof. He reached with it and gently caressed Dew’s cheek, she narrowed her eyes but said nothing for now.

“I could of course, it’s well within my power. What could you do to resist me? Nothing, your wings are restrained and there is nopony around that could get you away from me. I could do it, right here, right now if I so wished,” the dark unicorn smirked as he moved his hoof to Dew’s mane. 

The mare tried not to show any reaction, she was repulsed that he was touching her, but so far it had just been her cheek and now her mane. The King wasn’t wrong, if he wanted to he could do whatever he pleased with her right now. However, she was not going to give him the satisfaction of looking afraid or intimidated by this, she had dealt with leery stallions before. The only difference, she couldn’t slap this one in the face and demand he didn’t touch her.

“But no, I do not think I will, I wouldn’t sully you with such depravity. I think you worth the wait.” He then said and pulled his hoof away and put the armor back on it.

Oh, he thinks we are going to be staying that long, well joke’s on you buster. Besides, my heart belongs to Private, whenever I can get it into his head that it does, Dew thought allowing herself to feel bit relieved that nothing was actually going to happen. Suddenly the restraints on her wings dropped down with a clank, Sombra’s horn was glowing, indicating he had released them.

“Show me those wings of yours,” he requested and stepped back a bit.

Dew raised an eyebrow but then slowly and gingerly spread out her wings, it really felt good to stretch them finally. The pegasus cringed a little when seeing the state her feathers were in, the wings clearly needed a good preening.

“Very lovely.” The King nodded in approval and came closer again. “Fold them.”

Make up your mind. Dew grunted and did as told, but then she realized why he had ordered that as the wing restraints returned.

“Wouldn’t want you to try and fly away now would we?” Sombra said with a chuckle. 

“I suppose not,” the pegasus muttered, without knowing why she glanced back towards where Amber lay. “Why not just chain us up? Why give us so much freedom?”

“Careful now Dew Doe.” King Sombra walked past her and towards the throne. He stopped at the first step and glanced at the mare. “As I asked you earlier, would you prefer an alternative treatment? I can more than provide the chains and the walls to link you to them.”

“No… never mind.” Dew looked away and started to walk towards the exist of the throne room. She hadn’t expected a straight answer anyway. Suddenly the chains on her collars were pulled and the mare was forced back to the steps of the throne.

“I don’t think I dismissed you yet,” King Sombra said, he was now seated on his throne, his horn was glowing and it was his magic that held the chains.

“No… no you didn’t,” Dew grunted.

“Now tell me the truth, Dew Doe. Were you trying to talk to my pet over here?” Sombra gestured to Amber.

“Her name is Amber, Amber Waves just so you know,” the blue pegasus snorted and then realized she had pretty much answered ‘yes, yes I did.’ “Please don’t hurt her, I just wanted to talk with her, not asking any questions.”

“Oh I wouldn’t hurt my little pet over there,” the king said softly and looked at Amber, the crystal pony said nothing, just remained motionless. “Who told you her name?”

Dew hesitated. He was probably aware that he had broken Amber, that she was just a shell of her former self. The pegagus suddenly realized that this was a trap for her, seeing if she had been asking questions like Foxy had. She had questioned the servants that groomed her, and the oldest had told her Amber’s name. Would she be punished for that?

“I-I did…” much to the surprise of both Sombra and Dew, Amber spoke. Then the pegasus noticed that the tiny spark of life was still in her eyes.

“P-Please forgive me… my lord… she was just being kind… I told her nothing else…” the crystal pony whispered and kept her head bowed.

Sombra scowled a bit. He wasn’t inclined to believe her, it sounded a little too convenient for him. However, whoever had told Dew the name hadn’t really said any big secret. He had found it mildly amusing that Dew felt she needed to remind him of Amber’s name, oh he knew her name, he just chose not to address her by it.

“Fine then, Dew you can go now,” Sombra said and waved the blue mare off dismissively. Dew Doe hesitated, glanced at Amber before leaving the throne room.

The king meanwhile continued to stare at his pet slave. He could definitely see some small difference now, Dew’s brief talking with her must have done just enough to lift her spirit a fraction.

Interesting, a magically pathetic unicorn, a pegasus mare with deep rooted desire to assist others and another who has a habit of talking before thinking, Doctor, you choose the strangest friends. The unicorn rose from his throne and stepped towards the platform.

“Well, Amber,” the king spoke her name in a mocking tone. “Rise.”

Hesitantly Amber rose up to stand but her head was still downcast. Sombra put a hoof under her muzzle and forced her to look at him. Yes, he could see it, the crystal pony was actually clinging to it that someone had spoken her name and been kindly towards her.

“You didn’t tell her your name at all did you. I bet it was your mother who did, I know she is working here in the castle as a servant. That is why you submitted to me was it not? The payment so that your family be spared the mines, could at least live decently,” he snorted and held her in his gaze.

“Y-yes my lord,” Amber whispered, unable to look away even if she wanted to.

“Your sisters, your brother, your mother, they now all work here in the castle. I’ve allowed your mother to retain her memories of you, the others however not as much, they do not even remember each other. You best remember who you serve and keep serving if you wish me to change that.” The king lowered his head closer to hers, dropping down his hoof in the process.

“I-I won’t my lord.” The crystal pony didn’t dare to move now.

“Good, I’ve already punished your brother for his loose tongue.” King Sombra started nuzzling at her cheek. “I would hate to have to hurt you as well.”

Rubinstein… Amber closed her eyes and held back the tears. She tried to cling to the thought of her family as her tyrant worked his mouth down to her neck.

End Chapter 6
> Chapter 7. Private's very bad morning.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7

Private blinked awake and immediately groaned when seeing the dark crystal ceiling above him. Slowly he glanced around, only to confirm that he was indeed still in the chamber in the castle. The unicorn sighed, missing his bed and room back home in Fillydelphia. With a grunt he rose to sit up, usually he woke up fairly easily in the mornings, but right now he just wasn’t sure he felt like going out of the bed.

Yesterday he and Foxy had just waited in his room until Dew returned. Foxy started to become nervous once some time had passed and Private had almost been tempted to go out and look for her when the blue pegasus finally returned.

Dew didn’t say much, just said that they could apparently move around, she made it as far as the throne room. However, she wouldn’t elaborate more and fell silent if asked if she saw the king around. The sisters then retired to their chamber as everyone was tired, it had been a long day.

It had taken Private a bit to fall asleep again since he had already been asleep thanks to Sombra’s sleeping spell. It didn’t help that his mind was on a bit of an overdrive. He was very freaked out that Sombra showed so much interest in him, especially considering his low level magical abilities.

There was a knock on the doors, Private glanced at it but said nothing. Carefully one opened and Rubinstein peeked in, for once the crystal pony said nothing, he just smiled nervously and pushed in a cart with breakfast. Once the cart was inside, the servant just did a quick bow before rushing back out.

Great, now I feel guilty that he is too afraid to speak. Private shook his head and looked at the cart. It was mostly fruit and veggies. No pancakes? Damn.

He used levitation to float some food to him and he started eating. The unicorn stared forward as he did, wondering how they could escape. As far as he was concerned, escaping was top priority.

Wait, even if we do get the Doctor out, is the TARDIS still where we left it? He suddenly remembered that the TARDIS had been in the process of being encased in crystal the last time they saw it.

“Enjoying your breakfast?” The dark voice of King Sombra addressed him.

“Gah!” Private jumped and nearly fell off the bed on the other side. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that King Sombra had managed to come in unnoticed. What was that Dew said about me being observant?”

Private glared at the king and slipped off the bed so he had it between him and the tyrant. I would tell him to stop, but that would probably just encourage him to keep doing it

“Well, Private, I do hope you had a pleasant night.” The king said half mockingly and started to go around the bed towards the unicorn.

“Would have preferred my bed at home,” Private muttered and grimaced when the dark pony was now standing right in front of him.

“I suppose nothing is quite like home,” Sombra chuckled, then he grinned wide. “I couldn’t help but notice yesterday that you and your friends were very interested in my empire and even me.”

Well from our perspective, neither of you exist, the smaller unicorn thought.

“I’m interested in history and… well you know the Doctor, you probably already guessed that we are not from this time line,” Private relented to give some form of an answer.

“It had crossed my mind.” The king agreed with a nod.

“Well I’ve read pretty extensively about Equestria’s history and there is nothing about you or your Crystal Empire,” the smaller stallion grunted. “Yet according to the date we saw, it’s only been few weeks or so since the Princesses defeated Discord.”

“Ah yes, that spirit was quite a nuisance, took a lot of my powers to keep him away from the Crystal Empire,” Sombra mused, tapping his muzzle with one iron clad hoof. He glanced at Private who stared at him with mouth agape.

He could keep Discord at bay? Private suddenly found the dark unicorn in front him a whole lot more scarier.

“Do not be so surprised, Dark Magic like mine and Chaos Magic like his aren’t that dissimilar, it’s more that we could cancel each other out, I couldn’t enter Equestria while he ruled it but he couldn’t enter the Crystal Empire either.” Sombra’s gave a slight shrug.

Private didn’t feel much better hearing that. Discord’s second attack had maybe been more focused on Canterlot and Ponyville, but the effects were still felt all over Equestria. The unicorn still remembered it vividly when some of the letters in his book just suddenly came to life and began dancing around. Dew had to fight her own breakfast which had turned it some sort of an oatmeal monster, Foxy and her daughter Coal had spent most of the day fleeing from the filly’s suddenly alive toys.

“So you like history, hm?” King Sombra peered at the smaller unicorn who was broken out of his thoughts. “Tell me, what do you know of the great mage Meadowbrook?”

“Oh wow, that’s old, older than even Starswirl the Bearded.” Private arched his brow a little. Then he had to rake his brain a little bit, he figured it was innocent enough to answer this. “Uh, she had eight enchanted items… ugh I’m rusty in wizards and mages…. I think she was also experts in enchanted seals.”

“Indeed,” the king said with an approving nod, then he turned and started towards the entrance. “Follow me.”

Private hesitated, the last thing he really wanted was to spend any more time in close proximity of that particular pony. However, it wasn’t like he had much choice, Sombra wasn’t going to take a no for an answer.

“You can follow willingly or I can drag you along with me,” the king said without even turning to see if Private was following.

Grunting the smaller unicorn started after the bigger one. Keeping a respectable distance between them. Or that was the plan but Sombra waited for him at the entrance of the chamber, when they started down the hallway the king kept his pace to walk right beside his prisoner.

They walked for a while down more hallways, up stairs, down stairs and through corridors. Private was just thankful that so far the King had remained silent. There wasn’t much remarkable to see though, everything had the same dark crystal motif and torches that lit things up with greenish hell flames.

Not that Private was paying much attention to décor or lack of it, but in his mind he was mapping out the route they were taking. He was pretty positive they were probably higher up in the castle tower by now.

Where is he taking me? Private frowned now that the walk had gone for quite a bit. Wherever it was, King Sombra kept it clear away from the guest chambers.

Finally they entered a dark room. The only real illumination was from a sickly blue crystal from the ceiling that shone a beam of light on top of a dark crystal table. Resting on the table was a big black book. It looked incredibly old, that was probably not even paper used in it, most likely parchment. Private couldn’t tell for sure, the light from the crystal wasn’t enough.

Sombra walked all the way to the table and Private followed. The book cover was made of some sort of black wood, it wasn’t painted. On it were carved the images of hellish looking creatures. But the most striking feature and stood rather out was a round silver object resting on the middle of the cover. Engraved on the medal was the image of a unicorn head.

“The Umbrum Tome,” Sombra growled softly. “Within it are kept the secrets of powerful spells and forbidden dark magic that could enhance my already considerable power.”

“But its forbidden knowledge was sealed by Meadowbrook, she took the tome here to the Crystal Empire and asked the first Queen to hide it away. She did, deep within the earth, sealed with many spells and wards.” The king raised a hoof and gingerly touched the black surface of the cover.

“I searched for this thing for nearly my entire life knowing it could unleash even greater power within me. It didn’t take the slaves in the mines long to find the hidden chamber after I took the throne and my magic was formidable enough to break the spells and the seals locking it away. But even my strongest spells don’t work on Meadowbrook’s seal on the tome itself.” Sombra slammed his hoof on the table beside the book and narrowed his eyes.

Private eyed the tome worried. He didn’t know a lot about magic but judging from what he was hearing, Sombra could never be allowed to open that book. Then again that didn’t seem to be too much of a problem since the king hadn’t been able to yet. It was then that unicorn realized that the king was now peering at him.

“There is one way though that I’ve been just dying to test, but it requires an Equestrian unicorn,” he said and smiled now wickedly.

“Um… what do you mean?” Private whispered, his ears lowered and he took a step back. His eyes widened when Sombra’s horn began glowing and he conjured up a jagged knife.

“I did consider if blood could remove the seal,” the king growled and looked at the tome and twirled the knife lazily in his magic aura.

Private froze in shock when Sombra then turned the knife to his own face and forcefully began cutting a deep bleeding line into it. The king grit his teeth as he did this assault to his own features before leaning over the tome and let the blood drip onto the silver medal. Once the medal was covered in blood, the dark unicorn raised his head and used his magic to heal the still bleeding wound on his face.

“But as you can see, nothing,” the tyrant snarled, his horn glowed brighter and the blood on the book began to bubble. “Not even when I try and enchant it.”

This is sick. Private just felt ill watching this going on. Then his jaw dropped as the implication finally hit him. “You’re not an Equestrian unicorn.”

“I certainly am not,” Sombra snorted as if he was insulted by the very notion of being one. Then he turned to look at Private again, a sinister smile now plastered on his muzzle. “But you are.”

The smaller unicorn didn’t even get a chance to protest. Magic aura grabbed him by the ears and he was dragged back to the table. Private struggled wildly, kicking and trashing around, but to no avail Sombra had him in a firm magical grip as he forced his prisoner to position his head above the book.

“No… no please don’t,” Private cried as he saw the knife approach his face. He tried one more time in desperation to kick free but only found his legs magically bound as well.

“Your fear is delightful, Private,” Sombra’s spoke softly but there was a sinister edge to it.

“No,” Private whimpered and tears started to form, fearing now that this was it. He yelped when the knife was plunged into his cheek and it dragged across his face, letting a stream of blood down on top of the silver seal.

The knife was pulled out and the whimpering, crying unicorn was tossed aside. Private didn’t bother wondering why he was still alive, he just desperately tried to put his front hooves against his bleeding wound, it didn’t help and blood just seeped between them.

“It still won’t open!” Sombra snarled and plunged the knife deep into the table, it sank all the way to the hilt. He glared down at the whimpering bleeding pony on the floor. With a roll of his eyes, the dark unicorn used his magic to heal up the deep cut on his prisoner’s cheek.

“Be quiet!” he snapped, stomping one hoof on the floor and his eyes lit up in green and red flames. 

Private huddled up on the floor and tried desperately to quiet down his sobs. The wound was maybe gone but the pain was still fresh on his mind. He couldn’t believe he was still alive, the unicorn had fully expected to be drained of all blood and his lifeless corpse to be tossed aside. Well the tossing had certainly happened.

Sombra continued to glare down at him for a second before turning his attention back to the book. With a snort he dispelled the knife away and used his magic to clean up the blood from the book. He narrowed his eyes and sat down his mind now deep in thought. 

“W-why didn’t you kill me?” A voice interrupted him, the king glared to his left, Private was carefully watching him, there was still fright in his eyes and was hugging the wall to try and have as much distance between them.

“Now why would I kill the only Equestrian unicorn I currently have available?” Sombra pointed out and then narrowed his eyes so the smaller pony flinched. “Even if he is just a pathetic worm who can barely do magic to safe his own life.”

There was no response from Private who just huddled up again and tried not to think of what had just happened. He really, really just wanted to go home now, crawl under his bed and just stay there for the next few years. Now more than ever the unicorn felt they had to escape as soon as possible.

With an irritated grunt Sombra rose up and stepped over to his prisoner. Private winched but didn’t dare to move as the dark unicorn put an ironclad hoof on him. Sombra was frowning in thought the whole time as he began tracing an invisible line, starting on the pony’s neck, going down his back, partway his belly and then ending at the book image on his flank. 

“The lay lines in your body are very under used, do you use your magic at all?” the king snorted, he kept tracing invisible lines on the prisoner, always ending on the cutie mark.

“Levitation… mostly,” Private whispered and shuddered at the groping hoof. His magic was tingling, it felt the invisible magical veins being disturbed by the cold iron and the dark magic probing them. “Light spell…sometimes.”

“I’ve seen more magic used by my slaves,” King Sombra snorted unimpressed and finally removed his hoof. 

I’m not sorry to disappoint you, the smaller unicorn thought. He had a strange feeling deep inside of him that he pushed aside. Now he just hoped he would be allowed to go back to his chamber and be left alone.

King Sombra grabbed the chains of the collar and pulled the other unicorn forcefully to his feet. Private hung his head, grimacing at the sight of blood on his hooves, his blood. His face was also still bloodied even if the wound was healed.

“I probably should just toss you into the dungeon with your Doctor. Unless that historically interested mind of yours can come up with some idea how to break the seal,” the tyrant growled and pulled at the chains, forcing Private closer to him. He used a hoof to grab under Private’s muzzle and forced him to look up locking his eyes in his. “Can you give me a reason not to just toss you down there? Stop wasting my time on you and just concentrate my effort on your lovely mare friends?”

No… not really. Private shivered under the cold emotionless gaze.

“My patience runs thin, worm,” the king growled, his eyes turned green and the purple mist began producing from the corners of his eyes. “You will soon have a very fleeting moment to give me your answer.”

The girls will be all right, right? I could probably be of a better assistance to the Doctor down in the dungeon. Private considered his options. The next thing Sombra said though chilled him to the bone.

“You have one second before I tear off your useless horn, use it to reopen the wounds I have healed for you and throw you into my dungeon to rot with your time pony friend,” the king threatened with a sneer.

“I-if I help you… b-break the seal… can I see the Doctor?” Private stammered, hoping this would buy him a little time before he would be mutilated beyond repair.

“You think the Doctor may have an idea how to break it?” Sombra frowned and his eyes stopped glowing, he had to admit he hadn’t considered that. The problem was, would the Doctor cooperate.

“W-wouldn’t hurt to ask,” Private whispered and fell down to his rump when the king finally let go of the chains. He closed his eyes when Sombra put a hoof on his head in what almost seemed like a comforting gesture.

“Now then, I’m very pleased to see that you have the thinking capacity to make the correct decisions. I do admit, I would have hated to have to cut that handsome face of your again,” the king chuckled and removed his hoof after taking a moment to pat Private on the head.

Handsome face? No… mind out of the gutter please… he’s just messing with you. Private grit his teeth as he slowly rose up.

“But first things first.” King Sombra’s eyes narrowed. His horn activated and a beam of energy struck Private’s horn, encasing it in dark magic aura and connecting it to the dark unicorn’s

Privat gasped and then clenched his teeth. It felt like something was constantly pushing at his head, something big and something heavy. His knees started to buckle, he began to shake, sweat started pouring down his whole body. It didn’t let up for a whole minute and by the end of it the unicorn was starting to sob, this was just too much.

Finally Sombra stopped and his prisoner crumbled to the ground, wheezing and sobbing. His head felt like it was going to explode, his ears were ringing and now his entire body was wet from sweat and ached. Slowly he looked up at the king who was smiling.

“The collar is fine enough in case you try and attack me but that’s about it. Figured I should put a few extra security spells in you if you’re going to be working for me to break that seal,” Sombra explained.

Private didn’t respond, just stumbled back to his feet. He took few deep breaths to try and calm down but found it wasn’t really working. He was anything but calm. Ever since arriving he’s nearly had his guts torn out by a crystal, shown some of his worst fears, dark magic fused into him, his face cut and now this. 

Please stop touching me. The unicorn whimpered this time when a leg was put around him in a gentle hug.

“Now how about we go and see the Doctor and see if he’s willing to help us with our dilemma here,” King Sombra said and smiled. Ah he’s beginning to crack. 

King Sombra let go of his prisoner and allowed him to go first out of the room. Private walked rather clumsily at first, still recovering from the massive amount of magic he had just been force-fed. The dark unicorn followed still smiling, the gears in his head turning.

The Doctor will no doubt give him a pep talk, try and cheer him up, Sombra thought and gave the book one the table a glance. With a chuckle he used his horn to make the silver colored seal disappear.

Fear. If it’s strong enough, it can make you see anything. With a devilish grin the king left the room and shut the door behind him, then he hastened his pace to catch up with Private who had already stumbled a bit down the hallway.

End Chapter 7

> Chapter 8. Back in the dungeon.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8

The Doctor looked up when hearing some commotion. He still lay on his hay pile, where the time pony had spent most of his time trying to ignore the dull ache in his mind. He rose up and walked to the bars of his cell, he noticed that Apple Core was also peeking out.

“Go ahead, I have few things I must attend to. I will be back shortly. Don’t try anything foolish, my guards are outside and remember the spells I put on you,” King Sombra could be heard saying.

The two prisoners then blinked when Private slowly walked into the corridor. The Doctor’s eyes opened wide in shock when seeing the state his friend was in. His face was bloodied, there was blood on his hooves, his coat looked matted and damp as if his entire body had recently been sweating profusely. The unicorn walked in slow clumsy steps as if he had barely any energy left. About the only bright thing the Doctor could see was that Private’s wound on his side had mysteriously healed.

“Private? What happened?” The Doctor asked sharply and could feel his anger rising towards Sombra. The unicorn, when hearing in which cell the time pony was in, walked closer to it and slumped down to his haunches.

“Now is not time for the silent treatment. What happened?” the brown stallion snapped when it didn’t seem like his friend was going to speak, but then he realized the unicorn might just be too frightened to talk and hoofed his face to hide his embarrassment. “Sorry, I know it’s really hard for you right now. But I need you to talk with me.”

“Oh nothing, he just cut my face open to get me to bleed over a seal on a book called the Tome of Umbrum,” Private finally whispered and grimaced at the memory.

“Before that he fused his dark magic into me, felt like I was being burned from the inside out. He also dragged out some of my fears, put spells on me that will probably kill me if I try and help you, I’m wearing this.” The unicorn started clawing at the collar with one hoof. “He keeps touching me, keeps getting close to me… he’s driving me crazy!”

“I’m sorry.” The Doctor sighed and sat down. “I knew something like this would happen. That’s why I didn’t want to stay here when I realized where we were. I knew he would do something like this.”

“King Sombra’s magic feeds off on fear and hate. It is obvious that he’s picked on that you do not like ponies coming too close to you and getting too uh familiar with you to use that term,” he explained to the unicorn.

“So that’s what he meant when he said my fear was delightful when he was about to slice my face open,” Private muttered and hung his head. “I thought he was going to kill me!”

“Hey excuse me.” The two stallions looked over to Apple Core’s cell, she looked rather concerned.

“Uh what was that about a Tome of Umbrum? That didn’t sound good,” she asked.

“It’s the historical records of the dark ponies, Sombra’s race, detailing their history and such,” the Doctor responded causing Private’s head to snap back to look at him. The time pony raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“He said it was a book full of dark forbidden magic that could enhance his powers and that it was sealed off by Meadowbrook, he plunged a knife into my face to try and open it!” Private growled.

“What a surprise, Sombra is a sadistic lying bastard. Private, he was just doing it to scare you, he’s messing with your mind,” the Doctor said and then glared towards the entrance of the corridor. “And I bet he’s actually just standing right out there, laughing at what he probably thinks is just a big joke!”

“Oh it’s no joke, Doctor,” the dark voice of the king said and Sombra walked into view.

Private so wanted to glare at the king, but found himself unable to do so. Instead he just turned his head away, avoiding looking in the dark unicorn’s direction. Sombra smirked and stepped up so he stood right next to where Private sat. The smaller stallion shrunk down and tried his best to ignore the king.

“Haven’t you done enough to him?” the Doctor snorted, glaring at Sombra who responded by simply putting a hoof on Private’s back.

“Oh I have barely started,” the king murmured, gently patting the covering unicorn.

“I told you, your business is with me. Leave him alone,” the time pony demanded and slowly rose to stand.

“Ah but he’s so generously offered to help me unseal that book I showed him. Granted I didn’t give him the right name, and that ‘seal’ he saw was just a silver coin I’ve owned for a long time, currency from a distant land I once traversed in,” King Sombra chuckled and conjured up the silver medal again, he threw it down in front of Private. “Here Private, keep it. I have no further use of it.”

“Private,” the Doctor looked at his friend worried. “Did you offer to help him?”

“I…” Private raised his head to look at the Doctor, then flinched when seeing Sombra’s grinning face almost side to side with his.

“He said, he would help me if I allowed him to see the Doctor. ‘If I help you break the seal, can I see the Doctor?’ Those were your words were they not, Private? I have granted you your request.” The tyrant’s grin turned even more sinister.

“Oh no, Private you didn’t…” the Doctor whispered startled as he heard this.

“I-I thought I was just buying myself some time,” Private whispered, now frightened beyond belief.

“I know,” King Sombra said softly and raised his hoof to touch Private’s cheek. “And now, you’re mine!”

Private’s eyes widened but he couldn’t look away again. He was locked in Sombra’s gaze; he could hear the faint voice of the Doctor protest but it was all muting out. All he could see were those eyes, those dark evil eyes, he was lost in them. The unicorn heard a sinister chuckle, followed by a dark commanding voice.

“You are mine now, little one. Obey me.”

“Don’t obey him. Don’t obey him!” the Doctor shouted but he knew he was too late. Private’s eyes were glowing green now and he just stared vacantly into the air. King Sombra let go off him and stepped back, admiring his handiwork.

“He’s not quite a statistic now is he, Doctor.” The king glanced at the cell, already seeing what he had done was working. The time pony was seething with rage.

“What? No speech? Nothing?” King Sombra mocked and then glanced at Private. “Rise.”

Without hesitation Private rose up. The glow in his eyes diminished a bit but there was still green in his eye white. The unicorn started to look around as if was first now noticing where he was. He glanced at the cell with the Doctor showing no sign of recognition, then he looked at Sombra, cringed and immediately ducked down in a deep bow.

“Sorry my lord, I didn’t notice you there,” Private immediately whimpered an excuse.

“You’re forgiven this time,” King Sombra chuckled, he turned his attention to the cell again. The Doctor was just staring at him, dark look on his face.

“One down, two to go,” Sombra laughed and started to walk out. Private followed him immediately, not even looking back at the Doctor. The two unicorns disappeared out of the dungeon.

With a sigh the Doctor dropped down again to sit. He hated to admit it but Sombra managed to strike a blow this time. Private had probably been his easiest target, the unicorn was so easily frustrated and when irritated or uncomfortable tended to be more prone to make mistakes.

“That was one of your friends right?” Apple Core glanced over to the Doctor’s cell, there was no response.

“I’m sorry, guess they won’t be so much help after all if this is what he’s doing to them.” The mare shook her head.

“He hasn’t gotten Dew or Foxy yet,” the Doctor spoke up and then glanced at the floor outside his cell. The discarded silver coin still lay there, Private had not picked it up. He smiled and carefully tried to reach between the bars. He just about could touch his hoof on the metal object. His smile turned into a grin.

“Apple Core, I know it’s going to hurt, but I really need one of those crystals that are in you,” he said and started to chuckle.





King Sombra walked after the long corridor that was leading him back up to the castle, still with a wide smile on his muzzle. This had been even easier than he had thought, almost disappointingly easy. He glanced back to where Private walked just behind him, the unicorn had a rather normal expression but did avoid meeting the king’s gaze, lowering his head.

Seeing that they were nearly back to the castle, Sombra lit up his horn for a second and the eyes of his prisoner became normal. The smaller pony stumbled on his walk and blinked in surprise as he looked around, then he shrunk in fear when seeing he was alone in a long corridor with the king.

“W-what’s going on, w-where is the Doctor?” Private asked, his last memory was sitting in front of the Doctor’s cell.

“Still where he belongs, in my dungeon.” Sombra stopped his walk and turned to look at his prisoner again. “You however, are now under my command.”

“W-what?” the unicorn’s eyes widened in shock and shrunk all the way down to the floor when the king approached and came muzzle to muzzle with him.

“I granted your wish to see the Doctor and now you are bound by your words to assist me in breaking the real seal on the book you saw upstairs. That’s one of the many spells I put on you before we came here. It’s called the Crystal Deal Spell, a very potent, no backing out spell that seals deals between two ponies,” the king explained to him in a hissing whisper. “I have fulfilled my end of the deal, now you must fulfill yours.”

“I-I don’t recall any agreement being made,” Private whispered, his ears going down and he felt a small surge of anger.

“The Crystal Deal Spell doesn’t care for such technicalities.” King Sombra gave a sinister chuckle as he raised his head. “I bound it with your exact words. ‘If I help you break the seal, can I see the Doctor?’ I answered yes by taking you to him. Now all the spell will care about is you helping me break the seal.”

Private blinked and deep down in his mind a tiny, tiny voice desperately told him that this had to be some sort of an elaborate evil cruel joke. But the more rational part of his mind told him that the king wouldn’t be joking about something like this. He had somehow managed to put himself into the servitude of the tyrant.

“T-that explains that, but why am I suddenly here and not still talking with the Doctor?” he asked nervously.

“Regular mind control spell, just wanted to hammer in the point to the Doctor that as of now.” King Sombra smirked sadistically. “You’re mine.”

“So why release me from under the mind control spell,” his prisoner asked, from his perspective it just made more sense to just keep him as an obedient drone.

“You’re more entertaining this way,” Sombra chuckled and started to turn around, he glanced back when he noticed that Private still lay crouched on the ground, staring at him with an expression that was a mix utter disbelief and terror.

“Come along, Private,” the dark unicorn ordered now sounding a little more annoyed.

Private could barely believe it, his body started to obey without his input. He rose up and began following the king, even hastening his pace to walk side by side with him. The smaller stallion stared down at his still automatically walking body, he tried to stop, he tried anything but nothing.

“W-what is going on, why can’t I stop,” the unicorn cried in panic.

“Compulsion spell, sister spell to the mind control spell, however you still have your mind for yourself but your body obeys outside commands, in this case mine,” Sombra explained with a shrug and glanced down at his Prisoner with a smirk.

“Does it stop…?” Private was starting to feel weak again, it was clear his body was forcing itself to walk at this pace despite the lack of energy to really go on.

“When I allow it,” the king said.

“Have I mentioned that I hate you,” Private whispered, actually sneering a bit when Sombra just laughed.

“No, no I do not believe you have,” the king said but suddenly he felt something off and frowned. He quickly looked back the way they had walked and narrowed his eyes.

“Stay here,” he growled and suddenly vanished down the corridor.

Private did not complain and slumped down to the floor. He just decided to enjoy the fact that he was no longer walking. The unicorn wondered though what had happened, Sombra had looked like he had been struck by something.

Wonder if something happened in the dungeon? He thought since that was the direction the king had gone into.





“What did we just do and how?” Apple Core shouted as she struggled to keep up with the Doctor, they were running at a mad pace deeper and deeper into the dungeon. Both were free of their shackles and the mare no longer had crystal shards embedded into her body. She still had the wounds though and that made it more difficult to run.

“Little less talk and more running, we need to somehow hide because I think Sombra detected our little trick,” the Doctor said and was cackling. Inside his right ear was the silver coin.

“Sorry, I’m just still processing how our shackles vanished, then you somehow managed to break the bars, then the crystals in my body vanished and all you had was that silver coin and one of the crystals in my body, which by the way hurt like Tartarus to pull out,” the mare counted up as they turned a corner into a dark corridor.

“Hey, your pain has granted us our freedom, surely that was at least a little bit worth it,” the time pony chuckled.

Apple Core couldn’t really argue with that, though saying they were free was a bit of a stretch. They were still in the dungeon being pursued by guards, she wouldn’t be calling this free until they were outside the castle.

“We really need a sewer access soon, or underground cavern or…” the Doctor fell silent and looked back. He came to a dead halt and turned to face the direction they had come from.

“What are you doing?” Apple Core stopped few feet ahead of him.

The Doctor didn’t respond; he had already noticed that the noise behind them had died down. The guards wore heavy armor and thus it was impossible for them to be very silent, especially when running. He took a step back when seeing that the shadows were moving, black smoke was starting to form, green eyes with purple mist were approaching.

“Apple Core.” The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “Keep running.”

Oh sweet mother of mercy. Apple Core felt a cold chill when seeing King Sombra come out of the smoke, staring gravely at the Doctor.

“RUN!” the time pony yelled, turned around and started galloping, pulling the frozen mare with him as he reached her.

King Sombra growled as his entire body dissolved into black smoke, safe for his head. Then he gave a monstrous roar as he started charging after them, filling the corridor with smoke and shadow.

“Doctor… can’t run no more… the wounds…” Apple Core whimpered, some of the wounds had reopened and were bleeding.

“Keep going, just keep going, find a place to hide,” the Doctor encouraged her as they managed to turn to another corridor. He stopped them both, grabbed the silver coin out of his ear and put it in Apple Core’s.

“W-what’s with the coin?” the mare asked with a frown and not understanding why they had suddenly stopped.

“Silver if properly handled can sometimes help against dark magic, it’s not a perfect solution, but it can help. But you run, now!” The Doctor said and pushed her away.

“But… what about you?” Apple Core whispered and gasped when seeing black smoky tendrils approaching the entrance of the corridor they were now in.

“He doesn’t want to kill me… he just wants me to suffer,” the Doctor said and smiled. He held back a groan as the dull feeling returned to his mind, the silver coin had actually helped block the spell.

“Apple Core, you can do it. Your mission is not yet over, go get the Princesses, tell them to use the Elements. Go, now!” the time pony pointed her away.

The stallion sighed in relief when the mare finally started running, albeit clumsily due to her injuries. Behind him was now a big thick wall of smoke and producing out of it was the head of King Sombra. The Doctor slowly turned around to face the dark unicorn.

“You want to know what I did to the other time ponies I captured, Doctor?” the king growled as he floated closer to the time pony who stared back at him with defiance.

“Let me show you!” The dark unicorn opened his mouth impossibly wide, showing nothing but a gaping hole of darkness as he plunged for the Doctor.





Apple Core shivered where she hid behind a large chunk of rock and crystal. She had run to the end of the corridor and found much to her surprise a large cave. Judging from the tools and other equipment the mare had seen, this was either a mine or it was part of the dungeon that wasn’t finished yet.

Right now, she didn’t care. The earth pony needed to rest, some of her wounds still trickled blood and it wouldn’t stop if she moved too much. The mare still couldn’t believe all the crystals were out of her. The Doctor had done something strange with the silver coin, lightly tapped at the crystals from a certain angle and poof, they were gone. He did much the same with their shackles.

Apple pulled the coin out of her ear and stared at it. It looked nothing special, had a unicorn engraving on both sides, with some markings on it that she couldn’t understand. No doubt a foreign language from whatever distant land Sombra had been in when he received it. But why would he have something that could dispel his magic?

Unless he didn’t know, which can’t be right, surely he knows what might affect his magic. Or he figured that the Doctor couldn’t use it with that spell that affects his thinking, or there is more to this coin than even old King Smokes knows, she thought, there was definitely an odd shine to this coin.

A distant sound caused the mare to freeze, she quickly put the coin back in her ear and held her breath. It was the unmistakable sound of armor on the move, soldiers were nearby, no doubt looking for her. The mare didn’t dare peeking from her hiding place, the light was maybe dim but she wasn’t taking any chances.

“She can’t have gone far, His Majesty said she should still be injured,” a gruff voice growled, it was not near but not far enough away either in Apple Core’s opinion.

“You think she went into the caverns? It would take forever to find her in that maze,” another one snorted. The armor movements stopped, Apple wondered if they had halted by the entrance.

“Bah, I say we just let her wander there, she’s injured and with no supplies. She won’t last the day,” the same guy then said dismissively. “There is no way out of here anyway, this was all dug to be part of this dungeon.”

“Yeah, what a great idea, let’s go and tell His Majesty how we didn’t find her and just let her loose in the cave system next to the dungeon,” the first voice growled sarcastically.

“So… we’re going into the maze?” the other one sighed.

“We are going into the maze,” the first voice snorted.

The sound of moving armor started again and now Apple Core dared a peek from her hiding place. She saw two soldiers head into the cavern and go deeper into it. The mare raised an eyebrow, judging from what they had said, there was no way out in that direction. Apple turned her head to the entrance that lead back to the dungeon.

That’s my way out, whether I like it or not, she thought and carefully rose up. Looks like King Smokes was satisfied with just capturing the Doctor and is letting his grunts look for me. Hopefully it means the rest of the dungeon isn’t crawling with soldiers since he thinks he knows where I went.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Apple Core slipped out from her hiding place and headed back to the corridor.

End chapter 8
> Chapter 9. How to wash and annoy your unicorn.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9

Foxy carefully peeked out of the chamber, nothing much had changed though she could swear there were different guards now at their posts. She considered what to do, Dew was still sleeping and Emerald had earlier brought them breakfast. Foxy had already eaten her share of it.

Let’s poke around, the mare snuck out and carefully closed the door. Then she casually walked over to one pair of guards.

“Sooo, what’s the pay like?” she asked, crossing her front legs. The only response was silence.

“Great, you’re as bad as the Royal Guards at Canterlot. Let me guess, I could do a whole dance routine in front of you and you wouldn’t even bat an eye.” Foxy stuck her tongue out at them.

“And what’s with those green eyes,” she muttered and shook her head when still there was only silence from the guards.

Seeing that this was going nowhere, the mare turned and headed to the end of the corridor. Giving the guards there only an innocent smile, she passed through to the hall beyond. Foxy continued on, not really knowing where she was going, the pony had just been so bored waiting for her sister to wake up. Who knew, maybe she could find out something that could help them escape.

Foxy passed through few more halls and corridors that all looked remarkably similar. There were always guards and at some points they prevented her from going into some sections of the castle. Her roaming came to an abrupt halt when she met up with Private.

“Private!?” the mare cried and rushed over to the stallion. He had been slowly walking through a hallway and didn’t look very good, his hooves and face had dried blood and in general the unicorn looked messier than usual.

“Private, what happened?” she asked and offered to support her tired friend.

“You… don’t want to know,” he grunted but was rather glad to have some help standing up.

“Ah, yes, yes I do actually,” Foxy corrected him but the unicorn was silent. Sighing, knowing Private could out silence a statue the mare instead began helping him walk.

“We need to get you to your chamber and to the bathroom, you need a good scrubbing,” she then said. Private made no protest, that had been his plan anyway.

“Seriously Private, what in Equestria did he do to cause you be this tired and weak?” Foxy grunted as they continued to navigate the castle back to the hallway with the chambers.

Private sighed, he really didn’t want to talk about it and just wanted to forget all about it. Generally Foxy didn’t try too hard to have him speak, she knew him too well to know that was futile, however the unicorn supposed the mares should hear what was done to him so they could be more wary of King Sombra.

The stallion started to tell her about his less than stellar morning. Private shuddered at the memories and just felt queasy at the thought that he was now forced to work for Sombra. Foxy listened frowning at first but by the end of it was grimacing. 

“Then something happened when we were heading back, he told me to stay and went back to the dungeon. After a while he came back, looking grimmer, told me to just go, I assumed he meant back to the chamber so I just left but he remained behind,” he finished just as they finally entered the hallway with the chambers.

“Seriously, that guy is sick. So wait, you have to work for him now?” Foxy asked concerned while she opened one of the doors to Private’s room.

“He put some sort of a spell on me that apparently will force me to do it. He can even order my body to do things without me being able to stop it,” the unicorn grunted and allowed the pegasus to take him to the bathroom.

“Jeez, can hardly wait to see what he has in store for me and Dew,” the mare said with heavy sarcasm. “Will you be okay in there on your own? Or need some more help?”

“You are not bathing me!” Private snapped and then blinked when he noticed that there was no faucet or any sign that there was running water.

“Oh right, over thousand years ago, no indoor plumbing.” The unicorn hung his head.

“Oh, sooo what are you going to do?” Foxy said and looked around. There was an old style bathtub and supplies for cleaning and in one corner there was a hole. The mare blinked when she realized what that hole was for. “It certainly gives you perspective when our bathroom back in Fillydelphia looks more luxurious than a castle from a thousand years ago.”

“We need to have water brought to us, it’s pumped from somewhere and then we need that heated, manually with fire.” Private sighed, one upside of knowing history was knowing some of the more primitive ways ponies did things.

Foxy peeked back into the chamber, there was no sign of Rubinstein but the mare wondered if there was some way to call him. Then she noticed a cord close to the bed. The mare trotted over to it, grabbed it in her mouth and pulled hard, nothing happened immediately but she assumed it would take little time. Private now glanced out of the bathroom, curious to what his friend was up to.

After a few minutes of waiting, Rubinstein came running. He was in so much hurry that he nearly tripped over himself as he entered the chamber. The Crystal Pony quickly righted himself up and stared confused at Foxy for a moment before looking at Private at the bathroom.

“I’m sorry I’m late, almost missed the bell when it rung. What can I do for you, sir?” Rubinstein asked, confusing the other two since he hadn’t been that late at all, they guessed the torture yesterday was still fresh on his mind.

“I need water to clean myself up,” Private grunted, trying to shield his hooves and legs from view, though he couldn’t do much for his face.

“Right away, sir.” Rubinstein then turned and hurried back out to carry out the request.

“He didn’t seem too bothered by your uh face, then again considering who he is working for, guess he’s used to it,” Foxy said and started to approach the chamber doors. “I’m going to check on Dew, you going to be alright?”

Private grunting was all the answer she needed, so with a chuckle the mare left the chamber. Foxy headed for the room she and Dew were staying in and up on entering saw that her sister was up and sitting by the food cart and eating.

“Hey, where did you go?” Dew Doe asked curiously but with a hint of worry.

“Oh just walking around a little, met Private looking like he took a stroll through Tartarus…” Foxy found herself slammed to the ground and her older sister standing right over her looking terrified.

“What happened to Private!?” she cried in panic. She became pale as Foxy gave her the abridged version of what Private had told her. Then in a blue flash she was gone from the room.

Yeah Dew you’re so totally not into Private, I can just totally see how not you are into him, Foxy grumbled and rose back to her feet. One day I’m going to lock those two up in a room and not let them out until they confess their feelings.

No wait that would be cruel. She shook her head and headed to the doors, not wanting to miss the spectacle that was Dew insisting on helping Private clean himself up. She could almost picture it in her head, the unicorn suddenly regaining all his energy to try and keep away from his not so secret admirer, shouting that he didn’t need any help. One of the few times Private would speak in a loud voice.

Foxy left the room and headed to Private’s chamber. As she looked in the mare grinned at the spectacle before her, as she expected the unicorn was now running around the room and right after him was her sister, holding a washcloth she had apparently found somewhere.

“I DON’T NEED HELP!” Private shouted as he tried to keep a distance between himself and the pegasus.

“Just let me get rid of the worst before the bathwater arrives,” Dew insisted and kept pace with the stallion.

And around and around they go, who need movies when you got this, Foxy cackled and sat down in the entrance and decided to just enjoy the show. She also knew this would probably help Private keep his mind off what had just happened, at least this was a more familiar territory for him.

“That cloth isn’t even damp, it won’t clean anything,” Private protested but then stumbled on his run and fell flat to the ground, his body finally reminding him that he didn’t really have the energy for this.

“Oh no, are you alright?” Dew was instantly by his side and helping him sit up.

Private just grumbled and rubbed the spot on his head that had hit the floor. Then he was subjected to the cloth now that Dew had caught up with him. The unicorn grunted and griped but didn’t do a whole lot to try and push the mare away from him.

Rubinstein finally arrived with the water, it was in a big tub carried by two other Crystal Ponies. Foxy rose up and stepped out of the way so they could enter. The servants immediately took it to the bathroom to prepare the bath.

“Looks like they are getting everything ready, come on,” Dew said and started pushing Private towards the bathroom.

“Hey wait, you are not coming too, I can do this myself. Dew, stop it. DEW!" Private protested but it fell on deaf ears as the mare pushed him into the bathroom and went inside as well.

Foxy rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was half tempted to go to the bathroom and watch as the unicorn made more futile attempts to protest the help until finally relenting to it, but decided against it. Private’s dignity had already suffered enough without her adding more to it. Instead the mare turned around intending to head back out, only to walk right into King Sombra.

You are wearing armor; how can you be so silent. Foxy internally screamed in rage that for the third time the king had somehow snuck up behind her. Outwardly she just stared nervously at the dark unicorn who looked rather serious.

“Where is Private?” the king simply asked.

“Cleaning himself up,” the mare responded and was half tempted to say why he was cleaning up but somehow figured Sombra didn’t care.

Foxy held back a sigh and a protest when the king immediately walked past her and headed for the bathroom. Instead she just followed, hoping against hope that Sombra just hadn’t believed her and was checking up on her story. The mare could hear voices coming from the bathroom that immediately fell silent when the king stepped into the entrance.

The maroon pony could just barely peek into the room since Sombra filled up most of the entrance. Rubinstein and the other two Crystal Ponies were standing with towels ready, Private was in the bathtub now all wet from the water and Dew had been busy cleaning him up. She had stopped when the king arrived and now all watched him with dread.

“Slaves, I take it you have a good, very good excuse that you are having my guest working instead of you three,” Sombra growled low, glaring at Rubinstein and the two other Crystal Ponies.

Oh boy. Foxy winced and hoped they weren’t in trouble.

There was a rush of movements as the three servants immediately pushed Dew Doe out of the way and took over washing Private, nervous grins on their faces. The blue pegasus didn’t dare protest, not wanting to bring more trouble to them. Private grunted and didn’t look any happier now that three ponies were washing him instead of just one.

“I will leave you to it then, we’ll speak later, Private,” the king said and stepped back into the chamber. Foxy watched him leave and figured that he had simply been making sure Private had gone back to his room. She peeked back into the bathroom, Dew had relented to allowing the other three continue working and now just sat down and waited. Suddenly an evil grin came on the maroon mare.

“Hey boys, make sure to brush him, and brush him thoroughly,” Foxy said in a sing-a-song voice. Private’s eyes opened wide in shock then he gave the grinning pegasus a withering glare.

Dew chuckled and as if to make a further point, grabbed the nearby brush having it ready when the servants had finished drying the stallion. Private glared at the brush as if it was a knife. Foxy was desperately holding back her laugh, it always amused her much the unicorn hated brushing his mane and tail.

Then again, maybe we shouldn’t be tormenting him considered what happened this morning, she then thought and suddenly felt a little guilty for not considering that Private probably wasn’t in mood for company or teasing.

“Okay sorry, that was too much, Dew drop the brush,” she said with a sigh. Dew glanced at her but did as she was told without questioning it.

“Sorry, Private. I forgot we aren’t exactly at home and are prisoners of a sadistic tyrant,” the maroon mare then apologized with an uneasy grin.

Private rose up from the bathtub and stepped out of it. The servants immediately began drying him up, the whole time though the unicorn kept staring at Foxy, he had actually been mildly surprised that she had called the brushing off. He glanced at the brush that now lay on the counter. Using levitation, he grabbed it up and floated it right back to Dew Doe.

Oh you big softie. Foxy chuckled to herself as her older sister squealed in delight and went straight to brushing the stallion’s mane once the servants were done drying it.

“So Private, since you did get to see the Doctor, did he tell you anything?” Dew asked as she continued her work, removing tangles from the mane and making everything nice and smooth.

“We didn’t get to talk for too long, but he did tell me that King Sombra’s power come from fear and hate and that’s he’s been messing with my mind. My guess is, he’ll probably try something with you two as well,” Private told them. “I also told Foxy that he roped me into helping him unseal some sort of a magic book. I have absolutely no idea how he wants me to help.”

The servants finished drying up Private, then they emptied the bathtub using the hole in the corner before leaving with the water tub and the wet towels. The other three ponies relocated themselves to the chamber, Dew continued there to brush Private’s mane and tail.

“You know next to nothing about magic, why would he want your help to unseal a book on magic?” Dew Doe wondered with a frown.

“I think he thinks my knowledge of history will help,” Private grunted. “Or he’s going to do some sort of a ritual that requires a ritual sacrifice and I’m it.”

“Let’s hope it’s the former then,” Foxy cringed at the thought of her friend being sacrificed to open a book.

“We need to get the Doctor out and escape before he opens that book, according to him it will enhance his magic and this guy seems too powerful enough already for me,” the unicorn snorted and glared at his collar.

“Well, have any brilliant plans how to do that?” the maroon pegasus asked, arching her brow as she did.

“Absolutely none,” Private sighed and hung his head. Dew finished brushing him and rose to return the brush to the bathroom. 

“It’s all fine and dandy to say we need to get out of here, but if we are going to make any process, we need to stop saying it and start trying to come up with something,” Foxy pointed out. “Since you have been down there now, do you know the way to the dungeon?”

“I could probably trace myself back,” Private shrugged but then sighed deeply. “But I don’t think Sombra is going to give me a lot of opportunities to go there again. He’s probably eager to have me start helping him open that book.”

“Can you describe the way? I assume it’s mostly downwards,” Dew Doe asked as she returned from the bathroom, she sat down close to the unicorn.

Private furrowed his brow as he tried to summon a clear picture of the way he had gone with King Sombra to the dungeon. However, his memories were spottier for that as he had still been in shock from having his face cut up and magic spells forced into him. The stallion did his best to describe the way but did confirm that the way was mostly downwards.

“Alright I must admit that I hate the idea that we have to split ourselves up to try and find a way to get out of here, but since Dew confirmed yesterday that our movement’s aren’t too restricted, I guess I must relent to it. I’ll try and get to the dungeon and see if I can help the Doctor,” Foxy volunteered though with some reservation in her voice.

“But Rubinstein was right, there are several guards there and I dunno if they let you through unless Sombra is with you,” the unicorn mentioned.

“I’ll worry about that,” Foxy said with a chuckle, then she looked at her sister. “You have anything planned?”

“I actually I have something in mind,” Dew said but didn’t clarify, she didn’t want to tell them just yet that she had managed to talk with Amber. The mare wasn’t sure if doing so would help them at all but she at least wanted to have another go at it.

Foxy didn’t question it, figuring her sister knew what she was doing and even if she did question it the blue pegasus would just use her older sister authority. Private frowned a little but also did not speak up, but he looked a little worried as he glanced at Dew, remembering how silent she had been when asked if she had met the king yesterday.

“That only leaves Private, but I think he’s already said what he’ll be doing,” the maroon pony glanced at the gray one who snorted.

“I’ll see if I can delay Sombra from going anywhere, no promises though,” the unicorn grunted. “Because he’s currently in control of me and if he orders me to shut up, I’ll shut up whether I want it or not.”

Oh crud, that also means he might order Private to tell him if we are up to something. Well guess we can only hope he doesn’t, Dew thought and suddenly felt nervous as the implication hit her that Sombra was in control of her friend. She really didn’t want to think it but Private was a liability now.

End chapter 9
> Chapter 10. The King and the Princesses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10

King Sombra walked out on the balcony that gave him a view over the city. With emotionless eyes he regarded his enslaved subjects going about their dreary lives. A line of chained slaves heading for the mines and other hard physical labor marched below under the watchful eyes of his guards.

The dark unicorn glanced towards the streets, seeing the occasional unchained pony walking on them. The king didn’t mind; it gave them the illusion that at least they had escaped the fate of the slaves in the line, that whatever menial jobs they already had actually kept them safe. But slaves died all the time in the mines or the fields and needed to be replaced, thus the ‘free’ ponies were just a reserve for when that happened.

Yet his mind wasn’t so much on the marching slaves or any of his subjects out and about. He was still thinking about the Doctor and how he had almost managed to escape. The king hated to admit it, but that had been surprising and on top of that the spy was still on the loose. His guards had yet to report in that she had been recaptured.

Sombra narrowed his eyes, he had been careless. He should have realized that keeping the Doctor just chained up in the dungeon wouldn’t be enough to contain him. There were other forms of restrains just as effective and the king realized that he should have used them in the first place.

Just to be on the safe side the Dark King had doubled checked the traps he had laid to the Crystal Heart. They were all still up and waited whoever that tried his or her luck at finding it. Now the only thing that could potentially defeat him were the two princesses. That was another thing Sombra hated to admit, but with them defeating Discord it was probably only a question of time before they would turn their attention to him.

After all, they were friends with Princess Amore and these Equestrians have this ridiculous habit of saving their friends or avenge them, he thought and looked down when hearing some shouting.

The guards were dragging a young colt towards the line of slaves. Other soldiers were keeping the crying mother away as she struggled to break through and save her son from the cruel fate of the mines. The boy was screaming in fear and tried to wiggle loose but was held firmly by the guards.

King Sombra just watched, figuring that a slave had died and this was the replacement. He did raise an eyebrow though when the mother looked up towards the castle, the dark unicorn half expected her to stare at him hatefully, curse him out and the usual shouting when his laws were being enforced.

“Please, King Sombra, have mercy!” she shouted much to his surprise. Oh he had heard pleas of mercy before but it still always intrigued him when one of his slaves worked up the nerve to do it.

“Please,” she continued and stopped struggling against the soldiers. “He’s all I have left, please spare him from the mines.”

This might be entertaining. Sombra smirked and engulfed himself in shadow to transport down to the ground. He reappeared right between the guards dragging the colt and the soldiers keeping the mother at bay.

“Guards, hold for a moment,” he ordered, they had just been about to put chains on the boy who had stopped screaming but whimpered in fear when seeing the dark king arrive.

“You ask for mercy.” Sombra then turned his attention to the mother and walked closer. The soldiers made way for him and the mare shrunk down, bowing her head in fear. The king started to circle her, glaring down at her with contempt.

“Is it not mercy that he has now been given a purpose in life? That he is old enough to work for his king?” he growled, inwardly he was greatly enjoying the fear coming from her.

“Can he not serve you in some other way?” the mare dared herself to whisper. Sombra had to admit being mildly impressed by her courage.

Sombra glanced at the cyan colt who shivered and kept his head lowered. The boy looked to be in his mid-teens and did look rather frail compared to most of the slaves. The king figured he would not last for very long in the mines at all. He looked back at the mare, she didn’t look that old either, was he mistaken that this was the mother? Or perhaps she had born the colt when she was young.

“And what would you suggest he do to serve his king?” Sombra asked, he put a hoof under her muzzle and forced her to look up at him. “Jobs are very limited for one such as him.”

“I… I… don’t know,” the purple pony whimpered wanting to look away from the red intent eyes of her tyrant but couldn’t.

“You do not know yet plea for him anyway,” the king snorted and turned around to the guards. “Take him away.”

“NO! The… the castle… maybe he can work in the castle,” the mare shouted just as the guards started to chain the crying colt.

“Guards.” Sombra gave them a signal to halt again, he glanced back at the mother with a frown. “It is a rare privilege to work in the castle. Why would he be worthy of such opportunity?”

“He can learn… and he likes to tell stories… maybe he could entertain you…” the mare whispered though she was really grasping at straws at this point.

The king raised an eyebrow and then walked over to the colt who cringed and made sure to keep staring at the ground, not daring to look at the dark unicorn. Sombra regarded him critically.

“Alright slave, your mother has asked I show you mercy and that you could entertain me at the castle. So let us see if you match her expectations, tell me a story,” he ordered.

The colt blinked and worked up enough courage to look confused at the king. Then he eyed his mother who just watched him with worry. Slowly the boy dared himself to sit up, wondering how he could possibly entertain Sombra.

“I… uh… once there was a Princess.” The boy stopped and nervously looked at the king who showed no expression, just nodded for him to continue.

“She was the Crystal Princess and loved all her subjects and kept them safe. However, an evil force kept trying to take her city and take her subjects. She stayed strong and kept the evil force at bay, until one day she was betrayed. The evil force took over, banishing her and took over her city. She promised to return one day and free her subjects and drive it back out. The end.” The colt held his breath as he finished the story, fearing the reaction it would cause.

Sombra started laughing much to the surprise of everyone, especially the boy. The king took a second to stop and compose himself, before glancing with a devious grin at the mare who was unsure what to make of this.

“You were right, he does like to tell stories doesn’t he,” Sombra said. He turned his attention back to the colt who gulped and hoped this meant he was not going to the mines.

“Although the story was rather short, lacked any characterization and had some factual errors,” he said and smirked. “For one I didn’t banish her.”

“I killed her!” The smirk changed into a devilish grin, causing the colt to wince and look back down.

Hm, perhaps it would be a waste of resources to put this child in the mines, Sombra frowned and his eyes drifted back to the mother.

“Very well, let it not be said that your king is without mercy. He will work in the castle,” he declared and waved the guards away.

“However.” The king smirked, freezing the signs of relief on both the colt and the mother. “Now my guards must find another to take your place.”

King Sombra looked between mother and son. The mare was first to realize what he meant and gasped in shock. The soldiers suddenly surrounded her and the guards picked up the chains and started to walk over to the purple crystal pony. Then it finally hit the teen what was going to happen.

“What? No! MOTHER!” He would have rushed over but a heavy iron clad hoof was placed on his chest.

“Your mother has sacrificed herself so that you may live,” the king told him in a mocking tone. Then he looked towards some of the guards nearby. “Guards take him to the slaves in the castle have them prepare for his new duties”

The guards responded immediately, grabbed the colt and pulled him away. He tried struggling at first and kept looking towards his mother but they were soon gone. Sombra glanced back at the purple mare who was now chained up and being driven towards the line. With a cruel chuckle the king teleported back to the balcony.

Well this was mildly entertaining, he thought and started to head back inside, but a voice from above stopped him in his tracks.

“SOMBRA!”

The king growled and turned around to face the intrusion to his empire. Flying towards the balcony but halting before coming too close and hovered in the air on her powerful white wings was one half of the co-rulers of Equestria. Her white body and multicolored ethereal mane were a rather stark contrast to the otherwise dark environment she now found herself in.

“Princess Celestia,” Sombra scowled, this was an unusually bold move by the sun princess.

“I am here to deliver you a final warning, Sombra,” Celestia told him sternly. “Release your hold on the Crystal Empire, step down and free the crystal ponies.”

“And if I don’t?” the king asked though the dark unicorn was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“You will face the full might of Equestria,” Celestia declared, careful not to reveal too much.

“And that full might would be those Elements of Harmony you used to defeat Discord?” Sombra inquired in a mock bored tone as he examined one hoofguard, he grinned when noticing that the princess’s stern stance had faltered slightly.

“Do not be so surprised that I know, Celestia, I caught your spy.” The king looked at her with a sinister smile.

Oh no, Apple Core. Celestia somehow managed to maintain her composure but deep down she now worried for her agent. The Princess had been wondering what had happened to her as Apple Core had not reported in yet.

King Sombra smiled, the only thing that was missing was dragging the crystal impaled carcass of the spy from the dungeon and to the balcony. That couldn’t be done though, but the dark pony had another idea he could do.

“And I also have this,” he said and summoned up what looked at first like a dark crystal statue of a pony. But at closer inspection it was almost see through and in it was a pony, a brown one with an hour glass cutie mark. The eyes still shone with defiance.

“Doctor.” Princess Celestia gasped and her expression went from stern to worried for a moment before reassuming the stern look as she glared at the king.

“Seems I keep catching your spies Celestia, you must be desperate to be sending time ponies now,” Sombra said with a chuckle.

He thinks I sent the Doctor as well, the princess noted, now she was very concerned. She knew the Doctor seldom travelled alone.

“Where are the others?” Celestia demanded to know.

“Safe, for now,” Sombra responded and shrugged slightly. 

No one is safe with you, tyrant, the princess thought and glanced towards the crystal encased pony. Stay strong Doctor, my sister and I will free you and your friends.

“I’ll not repeat myself, you have heard my warning.” She decided this was enough, Sombra was trying to play his usual mind games on her but the princess was not going to give into them. 

“So I have,” the king snorted and watched as Celestia flew a bit higher before she disappeared in a yellowish flash.

King Sombra frowned, he had hoped for a little more reaction from her. He glanced at the Doctor and powered up his horn to make it disappear. With a heavy frown he turned and walked back inside the castle. Time was running out, Celestia would be back, but this time with the elements.

It seems I do not have time for my usual games, he snorted and started to walk in the direction of the guest chambers.





Princess Luna averted her eyes when a blinding flash indicated her sister’s return to the Castle of the Two Sister. The midnight blue alicorn immediately rose from her throne and trotted over to Celestia who looked wearily towards her.

“Well my sister, I take it the fiend did not see reason,” Luna said before muttering to herself. “Much as I predicted, but would you listen? Noo.”

“No Luna you were right,” Celestia sighed and shook her head sadly.

“What is wrong? Shouldn’t we be preparing then to wield the elements to use against him and free the Crystal Empire?” the moon princess asked and seemed almost ready to head right to the armory to dress up in her armor.

“It’s not that simple,” the white alicorn told her and started to walk to the side entrance that would lead to the library. He sister followed, arching her brow but waited for the older princess to continue.

“Sombra knows of the elements,” Celestia said and walked over to a chair in the library, she pushed it back and a hidden lever began opening the entrance to a secret side room.

Luna cringed when hearing that, their plan had been to take the Dark King by surprise. He was well known for being rather prepared against attacks and if he knew, it meant he would be ready for it, that would mean a much more prolonged battle than they would want. Of course they were still unsure if the elements would even work, which is why they had sent an agent first to spy on the Crystal Empire.

“I suppose he heard how we defeated Discord,” the younger princess mused as they both found seats in the room to sit in.

“That and he captured Apple Core,” Celestia revealed with another sad sigh. Luna narrowed her eyes. “I do not even know if she’s still alive, he didn’t show her to me, but she hasn’t reported in yet and it is way past the appointed time she was to make a report.”

“Then I say we gather the elements and go confront the fiend, I am certain they will work,” Luna proposed with a determined tone.

“There is more,” her sister continued. The moon princess was starting to wonder if all they were going to do right now was Celestia giving the news bit by bit. “He captured the Doctor and his three friends, he thinks we sent them.”

“You do not think he has access to the Doctor’s machine do you?” Luna asked now visibly worried.

“I’m not sure, he was too busy gloating over having caught my ‘spies’ as he put it, if he did we would probably never know it until too late,” the sun princess told her and looked sadder now. 

“Then perhaps we have no time to lose, sister, we must go the Crystal Empire and unleash the Elements of Harmony on the tyrant,” Luna said, the determination returning to her.

Celestia was actually inclined to agree with her, but it kept bothering her that Sombra was now aware of what they had planned. They already knew that the dark pony was far from as arrogant as Discord who had believed himself unbeatable. There was no telling what waited them when they arrived.

It also didn’t help that he had captured the Doctor, she and Luna had only met him a few times in this time period, but they had already been rather impressed by what he and his time machine could do. Sombra might just have the advantage right now.

“I don’t think we can do a direct frontal assault, Sombra will not just be waiting for us to blast him like Discord did,” Celestia pointed out. “The Doctor is encased in crystal; I wonder if his friends share the same fate.”

“I could try a dream walk and see if I can find them,” Luna suggested though hesitantly, it would mean they needed to wait until the night and hope they were asleep, which naturally meant more delays.

The sun princess rubbed her muzzle in thought as she considered her sister’s suggestion. Although Sombra had powerful mind controlling abilities, he could not walk in dreams like Luna so it would be safe for the most part. There was still a risk that he was around and would wake up the pony or interfere in some other way.

“You haven’t been able to spot Apple Core during the nights?” Celestia wondered.

“I never went out of my way to look for her since she is on a critical mission,” Luna admitted and grumbled a bit afterwards. “Now I wish I had, if I can’t locate them, I’ll see if I can spot her.”

“This new ability you’ve developed is certainly starting to come in handy, Luna,” her sister smiled gently and nodded in approval of the idea.

“I still need practice, not sure yet how our subjects are taking to it that I can walk in their dreams,” Luna sighed shaking her head.

“I’m sure they will learn to love it,” Celestia said reassuringly.

“Tia, you think the elements will work on Sombra?” the moon princess asked quietly, she had been pretty certain that the elements were all they needed, but as this discussion went on longer, she was beginning to wonder.

“I am certain that if we can get a good clean shoot at him, they will defeat him, the tricky part will be getting that good clean shot. This is why we can’t just barge in there, we’ll have to show guile, Sombra is either ready for us or preparing for us,” her sister explained.

“He’s probably doubling that effort since you went ahead and told him we were coming,” Luna pointed out, that actually caused Celestia to hoof her face.

“Yes… you’re right, me going there and pretty much telling him that we were coming was not my best plan. I don’t know why I thought that would work, I suppose I had some dumb hope he might actually see reason.” She removed the hoof from her face.

“I can’t help it, Luna. I try seeing the good in everypony, even someone like Sombra. I mean he is the last of his own pony race, does he really wish to go down in history as such a horrible representation of them?” Celestia wondered and looked down to the floor.

“To be fair the dark ponies never had a favorable reputation, they were allied with Tambelon after all,” Luna said and shuddered a little when recalling one of the evilest kingdom in history and its demonic king.

“Then perhaps I hoped Sombra would be the exception,” her sister muttered sadly.

End chapter 10

> Chapter 11. The study.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11

Private watched the mares leave the room, they had finally decided to allow him a little privacy and rest after events this morning. Once they were gone, the stallion lay down on the bed and stretched his legs. He had to admit that although primitive, the bath had been rather relaxing although the unicorn would have preferred bathing on his own.

One thing kept him from fully relaxing and that was the castle’s owner. It was probably only a question of time before the king would have him go to work. The unicorn was still unsure how he was supposed to help unseal a book. His knowledge of history didn’t really cover breaking magical locks.

The unicorn tried to think back to the book he had seen, doing his best to ignore the painful memories that followed. The book had looked very old and then there were those demonic figures carved into it. Private frowned, now that he thought it over, it felt familiar.

Why did he lie about the name? he wondered. Then again it was probably just all part of the ploy to trick me into his service.

With a sigh the unicorn closed his eyes, wanting to try to nap a little. His eyelids had hardly come down when the pony found himself standing right before King Sombra. The dark unicorn looked much bigger and in the darkness around them a whole lot more menacing.

“You are pathetic, Private,” the king growled and stepped closer to the covering stallion. “Barely any magic in you, can’t even admit your true feelings to that mare, outshined by your brother. It’s almost fitting that you are now enslaved to me.”

“Because what other purpose do you have? Dusty old tomes in a museum where you hide and call work? You’re nothing, you’re utterly forgettable,” he continued with a sneer.

Private had cringed at first and looked away but then it hit him. Sombra had mentioned the museum he worked in back in Fillydelphia. The unicorn had so far not told the king where he worked, just that his interest lay in history. It dawned on him that he was just dreaming, having clearly been so exhausted he had fallen asleep instantly.

Having realized this was a dream seemed to vaporize the king and now the unicorn stood alone in the darkness, it started slowly to be replaced by a green field and a sunny sky. Private frowned, he knew it was possible to have a lucid dream where you were aware of it and could even control it, but it had never happened to him before as far as he knew.

“Private Iceland!” A voice shouted.

Private looked around but saw nobody. However, that voice had been familiar. The unicorn grunted when everything started to fade away. He could hear the voice shout again and thought he saw a silhouette of a pony but then his eyes opened and the stallion became aware that someone was shaking him.

“Wake up!” King Sombra growled and removed his hoof when seeing that the unicorn was complying.

“What… huh?” Private looked up and silently groaned when seeing the king stand by his bed with an impatient look. Great, time for the real nightmare.

“Time to get to work, rise and follow me!” the dark unicorn snorted and turned around. The compulsion spell kicked in, forcing his prisoner to stand up and go after him.

“Ugh… how long was out?” Private wondered, talking more to himself than Sombra.

“It is evening, you will be brought food in the study,” the king said without looking at him.

“So what do you exactly expect me to do? You know my magic is pathetic and history knowledge can only bring you so much,” the smaller unicorn wondered as they began once again to walk through many corridors and halls.

“Haven’t you gotten it through your thick head already. I don’t need you to unseal any book. I was tricking you into my servitude.” King Sombra looked back at Private and grinned sadistically. “Like I said, the Crystal Deal Spell doesn’t care much about details. It only thinks I need you to break a seal. You never said you would help me break the seal of a book if I allowed you to see the Doctor.”

“What?” Private’s jaw dropped and he felt cold suddenly. The king laughed mockingly.

“It was all done just to make the Doctor suffer, give him a headache and a pointless riddle, now he will worry that I’m opening some pathetic book to enhance my powers and have forced one of his dear friends to open it,” Sombra said shaking his head, his muzzle still carrying that sadistic grin. “Honestly, Private, I thought the Doctor would have chosen smarter friends than that.”

“S-so… what are we going to do?” his prisoner whispered, he was starting to become really frightened.

“Have you forgotten already?” the king glanced at him again. “I told you when we first met, I’ve been dying to study an Equestrian unicorn.”

Private gulped but couldn’t do much but follow. This actually did make more sense, why would a powerful being like Sombra need a magically pathetic unicorn to unseal a book he couldn’t unseal himself.

“And you should just see what I have in store for your mare friends,” the king chuckled but deep down was frowning a little, realizing too well that he had less time than he would have liked and had to speed things up. The tyrant expected the Princesses to attack within days.

The smaller unicorn sighed, worrying about the mares now. Considering what Sombra did to him, the stallion shuddered over thinking what he would do to them.

“So what was that book anyway that I saw?” Private asked, might as well unravel that mystery.

“Hm? Oh just an old spell book I’ve owned for years; some were written by some of the greatest mages of the dark ponies.” Sombra smiled more genuinely as if he was reliving a happy memory.

“The Tambelon Codex?” Private asked as the name just suddenly hit him. The king glanced back at him curiously. “Never read it, but seen it in the Canterlot Museum of Magic. You can’t even get access to it unless you’re a certified historian or archeologist or a high mage working for Princess Celestia.”

“Are you telling me that my spell book is going to end up in the Canterlot Museum? Unless it is another copy, I know there are few.” Sombra frowned a little but then shrugged it off as not important.

“Something like that,” the smaller unicorn grunted. He realized where they were going after walking for a little while more, the room where he had seen the book.

Private gulped as the vivid memories came back to him, the knife cutting into his cheek, the dark magic being forced into him. The pony didn’t want to walk any further but he was still under control of the compulsion spell thus force to walk after the king. As they came closer the stallion was starting to sweat a bit from fear.

King Sombra stopped his walk, causing his prisoner to stop too. The dark unicorn glanced back, then backed up so he was standing beside Private. The king had an uncanny smile as he regarded the stallion with hungry eyes. The smaller pony shivered, feeling extremely uncomfortable and even more frightened at the sudden attention.

“There is that delicious fear again,” Sombra purred, reaching up with a hoof and touched the spot on the cheek where he had cut Private with the knife and started to gently caress it.

“Ah, I can’t have enough of it. It’s like the sweetest wine. The uncertain fear that you might die. Now you’re being dragged back to the room, where for a fleeting moment you feared that was it, you were going to perish. It’s primal, the fear of death, even lesser animals have it,” he continued to speak in a soft voice, moving his head closer so his muzzle was mere inches away from Private’s other cheek.

Private felt ill, the warm breath from Sombra’s mouth didn’t help. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next. Thus he was rather surprised when the king stopped caressing his cheek and moved his head away. The unicorn carefully opened one eye, Sombra still stood next to him, smirking.

“But we mustn’t get distracted, right now we have other things to do,” the king murmured and gestured for Private to go on.

Hesitantly Private started to move, this time on his own. It seemed the compulsion spell had some sort of a limit, perhaps because it thought he had followed Sombra’s order fully by following him and then stopping when the king did. He didn’t really care, just felt mildly relieved to be moving on his own right now.

They finally arrived in the room, it was still only illuminated by the blue crystal on the ceiling but the table and the book where gone. Once Sombra was inside he lit up his horn using his regular magic instead of his usual dark magic, it was blood red much like his eyes. Several crystal torches on the wall lit up the whole room due to the spell the king was casting.

Are those statues? Private frowned when seeing what looked like three ponies made entirely out of dark crystal further inside the room. Other things also caught his attention, there was a long table or a counter that was loaded with various alchemy equipment and what looked like proto-chemistry tools. There were also few shelves lining up against the walls with books and scrolls. This had all been previously concealed by the dark.

The unicorn’s jaw dropped, mostly at the sight of the equipment on the table. He had seen some of these before in less than ideal condition in his father’s office while being identified after a dig or in the museum he worked in. Seeing these in somewhat pristine, albeit slightly used by now, condition was amazing to him.

This hadn’t escaped the attention of the king who raised an eyebrow in mild amusement. However, Private soon remembered that this was no time to gawk and that he was currently in the company of a tyrant who stabbed him in this very room. The unicorn glanced at the statues and suddenly realized that they were see-through.

“Are… wait… are there ponies inside there?” Private whispered and started to approach them.

“Yes indeed.” Sombra smirked and allowed his prisoner examine the statues. He especially awaited his reaction to one of them.

Private grimaced as he took a closer look, one pony was a mare, the other two were stallions. All had it in common that on their flank was an hourglass as a cutie-mark. Then the unicorn realized that one of them looked awfully familiar.

Doctor? The unicorn cringed when recognizing the Doctor.

“The other two are time ponies I captured some time ago, had to put them in stasis after studying them for a while, they kept regenerating into new forms after some of the tortures I put them under,” the king grunted as if this was some minor annoyance for him. 

“But it served its purpose, I was able to be ready for him.” Sombra glared at the encased Doctor.

Great, that means Foxy is going down to the dungeon for no reason and I can’t warn her. Private glanced at the other ponies and felt a little nauseous, the mare looked like she was in horrendous pain and the other stallion had a horrified expression frozen on him. Only the Doctor had a defiant look on him.

“I thought you wanted him to suffer, how will this make him suffer?” Private slowly turned to face the king.

“Oh he knows you’re in the room now, he can hear and he can see, but he can’t do anything,” Sombra chuckled and approached the long table, already he was levitating jars and bottles, pouring the contents into a bowl.

“He will be hearing and seeing everything I’ll be doing too you and being unable to help you.” The king smiled wickedly as he turned away from the table, using his own magic to heat up the bowl he levitated in front of him.

Private could only gulp and let out a small whimper. He would have backed away but found that he was unable to move, his legs were frozen in place. Sombra approached with the bowl of now steaming liquid.

“Drink!” King Sombra ordered and presented the container to the prisoner.

The compulsion spell kicked in and Private grabbed the bowl with his magic and put it to his lips. With a grimace he then swallowed the content of it, not stopping even if the hot liquid scalded the inside of his mouth. He wanted to cry out in pain but the spell forced him to continue to drink until every last drop was inside. Then the unicorn finally dropped the bowl gasping and sobbing, he would have screamed but now his throat just hurt too much from the burns inside of him.

Sombra just watched and appeared to be waiting for something to happen. Private could only wonder for what, so far all he could feel was the burn in his throat and mouth. Suddenly he noticed a glow from his horn, straining his eyes upwards the unicorn saw it were the circle like indents on it that were slowly beginning to emit a silver colored light. It started from the tip of his horn and then went down the circles towards his head. Once the line of light reached is forehead it began spreading across his head in several directions like small veins, going down towards his neck and from there spreading across his body until it reached his cutie mark.

“W-what?” Private could only say, his voice hoarser and whispery than normal due to his burned throat.

The king said nothing, instead he started to walk in circles around the smaller unicorn, examining the glowing vein like lines with his eyes. He didn’t look too impressed though and at one time snorted in disappointment.

“I’m starting to think that the only use I have for you at this point is a hostage against the Princesses,” Sombra grunted. “Your lay lines are in a pathetic shape.”

Gee, it’s not like I didn’t tell you that I was pathetic at magic. Oh wait, I did. Private held back his own grunt, not daring to repeat this out loud. The light began to dim and few seconds later it was gone from his body.

If only I had more time, but the Princesses could come any day now and I must be prepared for them as well, the king thought and stepped in front of his prisoner.

“Even with some of my magic infused into you it doesn’t seem to have made much difference, then again for all I know it’s because of my magic that we saw the lines at all,” Sombra said and started to prepare a spell with his horn.

Private didn’t bother to respond and shivered when dark magic aura began enveloping him. It felt oddly cold to the touch. Then the pain started, it was like thousands of needles were being jammed into him all over his body. The unicorn cried out and tried to struggle but found that his body was held firmly in place with the dark magic.

Sombra ignored the sobs coming now from his prisoner and kept the spell going, a thoughtful frown was on his face as he watched Private’s reaction to it. After several minutes he finally let up and deactivated the magic, the king also removed the spell that kept the unicorn in place. Private dropped down to the floor in a crying heap.

“From what I could gather, your magic seems mainly linked to your talent, fascinating,” Sombra murmured and rubbed his muzzle with a hoof. “You Equestrians do seem rather obsessed with these flank pictures you call cutie marks and your destinies. What did you say your talent was again? History?”

“Oh right.” The king looked down at the sobbing pile that was Private, remembering that his prisoner was hardly in any condition to really speak.

“I do need to attend to few things before we continue, that should give you enough time to recover.” Sombra shrugged and started to walk to the door. Just before he left, the dark unicorn glanced back. Using his magic, he lengthened one of the chains on Private’s collar and linked it to the floor, the king then disappeared out of the room.

It took few more minutes before Private managed to quiet his sobs and dared to look up. With a painful groan he slowly rose to his feet and glanced at the chain, then he turned his attention to the three crystal encased ponies.

Well… so much for trying to keep him in the room, he thought and tried to ignore the pain in his throat.

Now I wonder if I can get him out. Private looked at the Doctor. Hesitantly he glanced back before activating his horn and started to feel the crystal with his magic. The unicorn could already sense that this was just a shell that didn’t go all the way through.

My magic is maybe pathetic but having magic talent linked to archeology can have its uses. The unicorn allowed himself to smile a little. His passion was history and what better way to study history but through archeology like his parents. Due to this, Private’s main magical ability was being able to handle things, especially fragile things, with the utter most care as the layers of rock and dirt were removed from it.

When seeing the crystal encased ponies, Private had entertained the idea that maybe he could get them out of it. He just knew that wasn’t possible with Sombra in the room. So the unicorn did what he knew the Doctor would do, wait and see how things played out. He already knew by now that the king wasn’t after information from him. Sombra wanted to study him and had already said he wasn’t going to kill the only Equestrian unicorn he currently had access too.

The only thing Private hadn’t anticipated was how much the study session would hurt. He really lucked out that King Sombra wanted him to recover and just left to attend whatever it was he wanted to attend to. The unicorn just hoped it wouldn’t involve the mares.

Here goes nothing. Private braced himself, ignoring the pain and started to concentrate his magic around the Doctor’s head, wanting to free that first. He slowly started to chip away at the crystal, using just enough forceful burst of magic to crack it then slowly widening the crack. The unicorn would have preferred to have tools to do this, but there were none around and in a pinch, just pure magic would do.

Ugh, using just magic takes forever, how does dad have patience to do this like that, the unicorn grunted, the crack was widening very slowly.

Private really didn’t like how much time this was taking, Sombra could return at any time. The unicorn just wasn’t strong enough to do it faster and he was using a spell his father had taught him. Private didn’t use it that often after he graduated and stopped helping on digs, he was more in the handling ancient relics carefully department.

Finally, the crack encircled the crystal covered muzzle of the Doctor. Using magic to push into the faults, he managed to pull the crystal chunk off. Private dropped the crystal piece to the floor since he wanted to continue to free the rest of the head.

“Private, before you continue, don’t remove the crystal on top of my head, leave a good chunk behind. Believe it or not, this thing is actually blocking that suppression spell Sombra has going. Guess he figured I was harmless all encased in crystal like this. Say wasn’t he controlling you earlier today?” The Doctor began speaking now that his muzzle was free.

“He’s still controlling me, he just doesn’t have that mind control spell on me active,” Private whispered and winched a little, it still hurt to talk.

“Figures,” the time pony said and blinked his eyes a bit when they were finally free. The unicorn began working on the rest of the body. “Always knew that archeology spell of yours would be useful. Leave it to Sombra to think your magic is pathetic and useless just because it’s not on his power level. Guys like that only respect power.”

Private just nodded, rather glad right now that his default mode was not to talk too much. The Doctor wouldn’t be expecting him to respond vocally every time and could usually read his expressions well enough.

“Well the good news is, Celestia knows about us and is intending to come with Luna and use the Elements of Harmony on Sombra, the bad news is, Sombra knows of that plan so he’ll probably be ready for it or is making himself ready for it,” the Doctor said as he watched Private work on his crystal prison, one leg was now free. “Uh, what’s the status on the ladies?”

“Foxy is going to try and sneak into the dungeon to find you, we didn’t know you had been moved here. I don’t know what Dew is planning, she didn’t tell us,” Private whispered and with a grunt freed the second leg.

“That’s possibly bad or possibly good. I know Apple Core, the mare you saw down in the dungeon, should still be free. Maybe Foxy can help her instead. Possibly bad because for all I know Apple Core has been recaptured already and executed or is long gone,” the brown pony tapped his muzzle with a hoof as he considered this. “That leaves Dew, you’re certain you don’t know?”

The unicorn shook his head, but then he reconsidered when remembering Dew’s return from her exploration yesterday. He proceeded to tell the Doctor about that. In the meantime, Private managed to free another leg.

“Hm, she clearly was doing something before she returned. She must have wanted to go back to that, knowing Dew she probably didn’t want to worry either of you about it. That girl has a bad habit of trying to do things on her own,” the Doctor grunted and started to stretch his legs once all four were free. The rest of crystal around his body started crumbling easily away leaving only the chunk on his head.

“Right, you’re free, Sombra will know I freed you, now what?” Private asked and sat down, he glanced at the other ponies. “I should I try freeing them?”

“No don’t bother…” The Doctor sighed and reached to gently pat one of the crystal encased time ponies. “I’m afraid they are no longer with us. One thing Sombra hasn’t figured out, is that we actually can die and I mean die and no regeneration. They have probably already used up all their regeneration energy during their torturous stay with him and were probably on their last limb when he encased them. Even if they were still alive, their minds are probably too far gone. You’ve noticed yourself that King Sombra is not a gentle host.”

“So we just leave them?” the unicorn inquired with a sad sigh of his own.

“I’m afraid we have no choice, now let’s see about getting that collar off you.” The Doctor ran over to the table and started to look over everything on it, then he seemed to realize something and slapped his forehead.

“Stupid, it’s a magic collar, it can’t just be burned off. We’ll just have to unfasten the chain on the floor for now.” The time pony started to gather jars and bottles, carefully inspecting the ingredients before pouring them into a bowl.

Private waited anxiously, knowing that the king could return at any moment. The Doctor finished mixing and balancing the bowl on his back, he ran over to where the chain was fastened to the floor. The unicorn watched when his friend poured the contents of the bowl onto the chain and the link. There was a loud hiss and steam rose up from the liquid as it met metal and crystal.

“Alright, let’s put this earth pony body to good use,” the Doctor chuckled, wrapped a part of the chain around one leg before pulling as hard as he could. The end of the chain snapped loose from the floor, freeing Private.

“What did you do?” the unicorn asked confused and rose up, he didn’t get an answer right away since the Doctor was already hurrying to the door.

“Have to give Sombra this, he’s very well stocked, he had a lot of ingredients that could make various useful acids if you just know how.” The brown pony smiled and carefully opened the door and peeked out of the room.

“Can you make your way back to where you and the ladies are being kept?” he then asked and looked at the unicorn who nodded.

“Great, lead the way then,” The Doctor smiled and gestured for Private to go out first, with him quickly following from behind.

End Chapter 11
> Chapter 12. Foxy in the dungeon.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12

Foxy Stripes was actually surprised how far down she had managed to come; no guard had really stopped her though some had kept an eye on her. The mare also noticed that not all of them had green in their eyes, some looked quite normal. She wondered if those were working willingly for King Sombra and didn’t require mind control.

The pegasus found herself in a long corridor, it matched Private’s description to the one that would eventually lead to the dungeon. She glanced around but found nothing remarkable about it, like elsewhere it was lit up with those greenish torches. Shrugging, the mare walked down the corridor, hoping this led to the dungeon.

It was a rather long and boring walk, Foxy was almost ready to just give up on it when up ahead she finally spotted two guards standing by an entrance. That of course posed a problem, she could not enter unnoticed and it was quite possible those two would bar her entrance.

Well here goes nothing, she thought and continued to approach. Her hopes of being ignored were quickly dashed away when both guards looked directly at her.

“Halt,” a guard with a bluish looking coat under his dark armor ordered. Foxy noticed that his eyes were normal, so where the ones on the other stallion who was light gray in color.

“No one enters without being escorted by the King or a guard,” the other guard clarified.

“Well you two are guards, can’t one of you escort me?” Foxy asked and smiled innocently, it vanished instantly when seeing the blue guard smirk. Oh crud, I know that look too well.

“Perhaps something could be arranged,” he said in a much softer and gentler voice.

Foxy was instantly on her guard, she knew this kind of situation all too well. A stallion wanting a certain kind of favor in turn for whatever she wanted. The mare had been foolish and gullible enough in her teens to fall for such tricks, but not now and she had long since sworn to never resort to that ever again.

There was just one problem with the current version of her dilemma. They were in a tight corridor, her wings were restrained so she couldn’t fly away to escape and she was sure that despite the armor, the guards could outrun her. The mare had a feeling that even if she said no, neither of them would have any qualms to just take what they wanted whether she liked it or not.

As she feared the blue guard took a step forward, clearly intending to arrange something as he had put it. There was clear greed and lust in his eyes as he sized Foxy up, especially paying attention to her rear end. The gray guard stood and watched but was smiling as well, the mare just knew he would be wanting a turn as well.

Oh horse apples. The mare took a step back, wondering if she should just try her luck and run. Then she remembered her collar and a crazy thought occurred to her.

“Now guys, before we do anything we might regret later,” she said and smiled nervously. “Does my collar mean anything to you.”

To her relief the blue guard halted his approach and looked at her collar. His face fell and his eyes widened, his friend looked quite shocked as well when seeing the neckwear for the first time. They both cringed and started looking around worryingly as if they feared the King would suddenly sprout out from the shadows.

“Ah… my apologies… I didn’t see the mark of a consort,” the blue guard stammered and backed away.

I can’t believe I can thank that bozo for the collar, it just saved my rump quite literally. Foxy was now grinning wickedly as more ideas were coming to her mind. Now that she knew the collar kept her safe from overeager guards, she had full intention to utilize it fully.

“So, just so we are on the same page here,” Foxy said and crossed her legs. “This collar means you can’t touch me?”

“The collar means you are the property of the King and he does not share his property, so yes we are forbidden from touching you unless it is make sure you’re safe from any harm,” the blue guard said and was still eyeing the shadows nervously.

Ugh, I’m not his property. Foxy had to restrain herself from groaning at what she had just been called, but the mare knew she would just have to live with it. No use complaining.

“Safe from any harm, well that’s good to know. Does that mean I still can’t take a peek in the dungeon?” she asked and did wonder why the two stallions glanced at each other, it was almost like they were not quite sure.

“My lady, the King would slaughter us if anything were to happen to you and right now we have a fugitive running loose there. It isn’t really a good idea to visit it right now,” the gray guard now spoke, sounding a little more courteous than the other one.

Oooh, are you telling me the Doctor has escaped? Foxy had to really fight back a grin and did her best to just feign a surprised look. Now I really have to get inside and help him get out.

Foxy took a note of the two guards, she saw no wings or horns. Ordinarily it would mean they were earth ponies. However, she wasn’t sure how similar to them crystal ponies were which those two most likely were. If they were similar that meant, even if she was pretty strong for a pegasus mare due to her size, they could easily overpower her with sheer strength alone.

Another problem was that they were watching her and both very alert. They would probably react quickly to anything she tried to do. She did notice though that their helmets did not cover their muzzles.

The corridor forces them to stand rather close to one another, if I position myself correctly… Foxy turned around as if to leave, casually she glanced back at the two guards who looked somewhat relieved thinking she was going to head back and thus out of their hair.

I am so dead if this doesn’t work. The pegasus thought as she subtly lined herself up. Then with a might shove she thrust her hind legs up in a powerful kick, each hoof aiming for a different guard. There was a loud smack as both made contact and the two crystal ponies were thrown back, slamming their already injured heads to the wall.

Foxy quickly turned around, knowing she only had seconds to finish what she had started. The guards had not been knocked out but had been disoriented as they sunk groaning to the ground. Using her mouth, the mare quickly pulled the helmet off the blue guard and with a swift punch of her fore hoof, hit him in the cheek, fully knocking him out.

Unfortunately, the gray one was already rising up with a growl. Foxy, eyed the helmet she still held with her mouth then swung her head and using it as an impromptu club, smacked the stallion in the muzzle again, sending him smashing against the corridor wall. Tossing the now cracked helmet away, she quickly stepped closer, pulled the head protection off the disoriented guard and swiftly knocked him out with a punch.

“Should I be relieved or suspicious that I just managed to knock out two trained castle guards?” Foxy muttered as she regarded her handiwork, two unconscious guards lying by her feet.

The mare decided to worry about that later, she did have the element of surprise after all. Foxy opened the door and peeked inside, there were no guards but it was a hall of some sort with cabinets, chairs and tables, another door was at the furthest wall.

With a grunt, Foxy dragged both guards one at a time with her into the hall after putting the helmets back on them. She hoped to find something to tie them up with, or in best case, just toss them into a cell. The pony found another door partly hidden by a closet and opened it, it looked to be a storage area of some sort. Hanging on a hook was the Doctor’s vest and other winter gear.

Oooh, gonna need that. Foxy grabbed the vest but ignored the winter stuff as it would be too cumbersome to carry, the mare knew the vest was the real treasure. She carefully peeked into the pockets and smiled when seeing some of the Doctor’s many tools in them. The mare placed it on her back, then glanced back at the unconscious guards.

With a heave, Foxy dragged the two stallions to the storage room, after quite a bit of pushing and shoving she managed to stuff both of them into it before closing the door. Then she dragged the closet to fully conceal and block the door and for good measure put most of the tables and chairs in front of it.

“That takes care of that, now to find the Doctor.” Foxy smiled and trotted over to the door she figured lead to the rest of the dungeon.

Looking inside she noticed several cells, all unoccupied but two had their bars broken. Foxy frowned a little at that, could this mean that the Doctor escaped with another prisoner? She entered the corridor fully and took a closer look at the nearest cell, nothing remarkable could be seen in it that could clue in who had occupied it.

Foxy headed further after the corridor, hoping to see some sign of life, preferably not a guard though. She passed many more cells, looking casually into one of them she almost wished she hadn’t. There were skeletons in it, pony skeletons. It appeared that some were really left to rot and be forgotten down here.

Eugh, I knew that guy was evil but, jeez. The mare shuddered and continued to walk, ignoring the cells from now on.

Soon the mare found herself in a more twisting parts of the dungeon, it also had many more turns and corridors intersecting with one another. Foxy sighed as she realized that finding the Doctor here could take a while and she probably didn’t have that much time, King Sombra would notice her missing if he came to check on them in the guest chambers.

She considered risking calling him when two legs suddenly wrapped around her neck and a pony made a valiant effort to pull her back. Foxy blinked and immediately stood firm, though the other pony almost managed to have her take a step back.

“Ugh… you’re heavier than you look,” a female voice grunted.

“Thanks for noticing,” Foxy snorted and felt something being put against her neck.

“Alright fine, now don’t you make any wrong moves, missy, you’re gonna be my ticket out of here,” the pony hissed.

“This would be more impressive if you hadn’t just put a dull rock up against my neck,” the pegasus pointed out, not feeling too threatened. She was guessing it was the prisoner on the loose.

“Besides.” Foxy turned her head and inwardly winched at seeing the injured earth mare that was making a valiant effort to take her hostage. “I think we are on the same side.”

“How do you figure?” the pony grunted, not hiding the suspicion in her eyes. She did let go of Foxy and backed away, still holding the rock.

“I’m just as much a prisoner of that bozo who imprisoned you here, see this collar? It is a choke collar that prevents me from hurting him, it also marks me as his… ugh ‘property.’ I came down here to search for a friend of mine, you may have met him, goes by the Doctor,” Foxy calmly told her and smiled a little as she turned herself around to face the golden mare.

The mare sized Foxy up with her eyes, still looking wary and suspicious. The pegasus wondered how she received her wounds, they were all over her body like she had been stabbed multiple times.

“How did you get down here? Surely the King doesn’t just let his property wander off,” the earth pony stated, still not quite trusting her.

“Well we seem to be allowed to walk around most of the castle, although to get in here I had to knock out the idiots guarding the entrance and stuff them in a storage room,” Foxy told her, that caused the mare to raise an eyebrow. “My name is Foxy Stripes by the way.”

“I’m Apple Core,” the injured pony relented and dropped the rock. “And I’m afraid King Smokes recaptured the Doctor, I don’t know where he took him.”

“King Smokes,” Foxy giggled and snorted. “I have to remember that one.”

“Seriously though,” she then said after regaining composure and furrowed her brow. “That put quite a dent in my plans. Because I was sort of counting on the Doctor still being here.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what he was planning after we escaped. I’ve found out that I’m stuck here, there is no way out except the exit which is guarded… wait you said you knocked the guards out?” Apple Core blinked as she realized that.

“I did, which means the exit should not be guarded anymore.” Foxy nodded, though for all she knew new guards had arrived and discovered the two in the storage room.

Apple Core glanced back and winched when straining some of her injuries. Foxy frowned in concern and stepped closer. She could only guess that either the mare was extraordinary stubborn or her earth pony sturdiness kept her standing.

“Maybe you should sit down before moving on, you look like you decided to take a stroll through Tartarus,” the pegasus said and wondered if the Doctor had something of use in the vest pockets.

“What, you’re telling me we aren’t in Tartarus?” Apple Core weakly joked but did sit down as advised, Foxy grinned at it while she began peeking into the pockets.

“I used to have Crystal Shards embedded into me, courtesy of his Royal Smokiness. The Doctor used this to somehow get rid of them.” The earth pony reached into her ear and pulled out the silver coin. “No idea how he did it, said something about it being capable of countering his spells.”

Foxy listened as Apple Core continued to tell her how they had escaped and then their mad dash through the dungeon before King Sombra recaptured the Doctor. The mare had then spent her time skulking around in the dungeon and avoiding guards who still searched for her. The pegasus was rather impressed to learn that she was an agent of Celestia and Luna.

“Nope, nothing in here, I guess we might be lucky and they have something stashed around to treat wounds,” Foxy declared once she had gone as thoroughly as possible through all the pockets. 

“I somehow doubt it, but thanks for looking, sorry about the rock earlier,” Apple Core said and put the coin back in her ear, then prepared to stand up again.

“Don’t sweat it, I probably wouldn’t do much different if I was in your position.” The maroon mare smiled.

“We better get moving, I know there are still guards around here somewhere,” the earth pony said and glanced around.

The pegasus couldn’t argue with that, plus she was on a limited time herself. King Sombra would no doubt come looking for her if she wasn’t present up in the chambers. The two mares made their way back to the exit, so far they were lucky not to meet any guards, though at one point Foxy could have sworn she heard the clink of an armor before realizing it were the chains on her collar, she had forgotten they would sometimes strike together as she walked.

“Right, there is a really long corridor through that door,” Foxy said once they arrived at the hall just before the exit to the dungeon.

“Guards at the end?” Apple Core asked as she eyed where the tables, chairs and a closet were stashed up against the wall. Guessing already that was where the storage room was.

“Uh there were guards in the hallway that lead to the door down to this corridor,” the maroon mare said and sighed, this might be trickier than she had initially thought.

Apple Core frowned heavily at that but then had a thought. The armor the guards wore did cover them pretty well. She walked over to the tables and started to move them out of the way. Foxy blinked when seeing what the other mare was doing.

“Ah, you know I stuffed two unconscious guards in there right?” she asked and walked over.

“Yeah and they aren’t making any noise so they must still be out. I was thinking about removing the armor of one of them and then pretending to be a guard escorting you back out of the dungeons,” Apple Core told her and grinned. 

“Ooooh of course, I’m a ‘consort’ so it wouldn’t look out of place if a guard is escorting the consort back after she wandered off to where she wasn’t supposed to wander.” Foxy nodded and started helping Apple Core remove the obstacles to the storage room. During the process, the vest slipped of her back but the pegasus ignored it for now while she was busy.

It took a bit of work but they finally made it to the hidden door. Foxy opened it and both guards poured out of it with some noise. They still looked out but were breathing. Apple Core began removing the armor of the gray one as he was the smaller of the two, just a little bit bigger than her. The pegasus did her best to help but made sure to keep an eye on the stallions in case they began to rouse.

“Ugh, this heavy armor is not doing my wounds any favors,” Apple Core grunted as she began dressing up. The mare wasn’t so sure anymore if this had been a good idea, she was already weakened enough by her injuries.

“You sure you can do this?” Foxy wondered while she pushed the stallions back into the closet. It was a little easier now that one was no longer in his armor.

“Got no choice, I have to escape this castle. Don’t know what you plan to do, I mean those two will probably remember you attacking them,” the other mare pointed out while she watched the pegasus put the closet and the tables back in front of the door.

“I’m not leaving without my sister and our friends, so I’m heading back up to the chambers,” Foxy declared and turned to the other pony who was picking up the Doctor’s vest from the ground. “But I can probably help you get out of here.”

“You know, King Sombra is probably not going to be very kind to you once he finds out what happened here,” Apple Core remarked and gestured to what was visible of her wounds. “This is what he did to me and I’m a spy. You really want to find out what he’ll do to you for helping a spy escape.”

“I already got a pretty good idea, but I’m not going to let that stupid idiot…” Foxy stopped midsentence when she saw Apple Core’s eyes suddenly open wide and the vest dropped from her hoof.

“Oh no… no, no, no, no. He’s not behind me. If I don’t look back, he is NOT behind me!” The pegasus declared, her right eye twitching and she pointed behind her with her left fore hoof.

There was a clank as the hoof definitely made contact with a chest plate. Foxy wanted to scream, shout and curse but all that came out of her mouth was a meek whimper. The mare dropped her leg back down and finally relented to look back, doing so very slowly. Staring right into the grinning gaze of King Sombra.

“Foxy, my dear, how ever did you manage to find yourself all the way down in my dungeon,” the king said softly and raised one leg to place his ironclad hoof on her back.

“I… um… just wandered around.” Foxy could barely whisper.

“Indeed, guard, what happened to the two imbeciles that were supposed to guard the entrance to the dungeon?” Sombra glared at Apple Core, who blinked when she was addressed by him.

Oh Celestia have mercy, he doesn’t recognize me, he thinks I’m one of his guards. The mare couldn’t believe the luck. Then again, Sombra had only emerged behind Foxy just as the pegasus had been responding to her. He must have just been arriving and figured she had been stopping Foxy from proceeding further in.

“Uh I was just about to investigate that myself, when your consort arrived, my lord,” she responded doing her best to deepen and alter her voice and hoping against hope that the Dark King wouldn’t recognize it.

Sombra frowned and dropped his hoof back down to the floor. For a brief moment both Foxy and Apple Core feared that he was just playing with them and was about to reveal that he knew what was going on all along. Much to their relief the king simply started to glance around and then noticed the furniture stacked up against the wall.

“Now this is rather unusual placement, guard, remove those away from the wall,” the king ordered, Apple Core grunted but obeyed knowing she would blow her accidentally successful disguise if she didn’t.

I can’t believe he doesn’t recognize her. Then again the armor covers most of her features and her cutie mark and it’s too dimly lit to see the wounds. Foxy didn’t dare move or say anything in protest, but she just knew this couldn’t be doing the pony’s injuries any good.

The door was revealed again. Apple Core glanced at Sombra who inclined his head in a nod, the mare reached and opened the storage room, the two unconscious guards once more fell out.

“One is missing his armor.” King Sombra narrowed his eyes as he walked closer to the two stallions.

“Maybe the spy did this, my lord?” Apple Core suggested and subtly pushed the vest out of sight, she had a feeling Foxy could never retrieve it without rousing suspicion. “Then took the armor in hopes to sneak out, posing as one of your guards.”

Wow um that’s risky to suggest, considering she is trying to sneak out as one of his guards. Foxy cringed and wondered if the cover was blown now. Sombra was staring at the two guards with suspicion in his eyes.

“Wouldn’t have thought Equestrians had that kind of imagination,” the king snorted and gave the disguised mare an amused glance. Apple Core politely chuckled at the joke while inwardly she growled at the insult.

“Throw those two idiots into a cell, I’ll talk with them when they wake up, then spread the word that the spy is dressed up as a guard and is trying to sneak out. I’ll escort my consort back up to the guest chambers,” Sombra then ordered and turned back to Foxy.

The pegasus just couldn’t believe this incredible stroke of luck. They had actually managed to fool King Sombra with the guard disguise and now it was Apple Core herself who was tasked with letting know about the spy. 

“Yes, my lord,” Apple Core bowed her head, sighing quietly in relief.

“Come along, Foxy Stripes, what would your sister think if I allowed you to wander around in the dungeon.” King Sombra smirked and walked towards the exit, he stopped by it while waiting for the pegasus to follow.

Foxy giggled nervously before walking over to him, she gave Apple Core one last glance before she followed the king out to the long corridor. It was still hard for her to believe this had worked, the king clearly didn’t bother with knowing his guards to well.

“So… I take it you heard me calling you uh… less than flattering names?” the pegasus had to admit being rather worried to be alone now with the Dark King in the corridor.

“Oh please, you should hear some of the things my slaves call me, that was tame compared to some of the insults that have been hurled my way. The guard might have taken some offense to it though, you were lucky I arrived when I did,” Sombra said and glanced at the mare with a smirk.

“Heh… yeah, well I did tell you about my mouth.” Foxy did her best to grin. This at least confirmed that Sombra had thought Apple Core just to be another guard in his service.

“That you did, perhaps we should find some other use for it,” the dark unicorn murmured. He stopped his walk and turned to face Foxy who was forced to halt as well.

Other use… oh you got to be kidding me. The mare froze when Sombra leaned his head closer and started to scent her neck before moving his muzzle upwards towards her mane, inhaling greedily.

Great I get away from one leery idiot only to be accosted by the one idiot I can’t trick away. Foxy grimaced wondering how she could escape this situation. She shuddered when feeling the warm breath from Sombra’s mouth next to her ear. This was making her really uncomfortable and some unpleasant memories were surfacing.

“Ah, what is this? Have I come closer to what you fear the most?” the Dark King whispered softly, his eyes turning green and the purple mist started pouring from the corners.

“Uh… what do you mean?” Foxy whispered and gasped when she was locked in Sombra’s gaze.

“I tasted your fears once, Foxy Stripes. But those were fears you can live with, thanks to the support of your family and friends. But this fear, this one is truly buried,” the king was smiling maliciously, still hovering his muzzle mere inches away from the mare’s face.

“I… I…” the mare stammered, more memories were rushing through her mind as if they were being pulled forth. Her eyes were turning green as Sombra managed to gain access to her mind.

“To be used and then thrown away, to never know any love,” he whispered softly and reached up with a hoof to gently caress Foxy’s cheek. The mare whimpered as she saw all the stallions in her past who had used her, either just for the cheap thrill or trying to get through her to her sister.

“You really truly fear that you will never have any fulfilling relationship, never have anypony who loves and cares for you as you are.” Sombra smiled wickedly.

The dark unicorn had to restrain a laugh as he felt the mare’s mind slowly crumble. As he had suspected she was much easier to manipulate than the others. Underneath that sunny attitude and blabbermouth was a very vulnerable pony. She could live with the name calling, she could even live with it that other ponies might think her odd, but the one thing that truly bothered her was how unlucky she had been in forming any lasting relationships. It had really marked her deeply.

“Have you considered that perhaps it was a stroke of luck that you came here? Think about it, you’re not locked up, you have been treated reasonably well, although you have forced me to discipline you twice but that can all be forgiven. Here you can live as if you were a queen, no one can touch you safe for me and I will only touch you gently,” Sombra murmured and slowly moved his muzzle so it hovered just barely half an inch away from her cheek.

No… no that isn’t right… he… but… the guards… they backed off when seeing the collar… we can move freely… he’s not mad he found me… no this isn’t right… Foxy struggled in her mind against this idea, yet a tiny part in her mind was actually thinking what he said made sense.

Sombra could feel the struggle in the mare's mind but could already tell that she only needed one final push. He was already relentlessly barraging Foxy's mind with her fear of being alone, showing a life without love and nobody caring for her. With a devilish grin the Dark King moved himself closer and suddenly wrapped one leg around Foxy as he pressed his mouth up against her's in a gentle kiss.

The mare was taken by surprise at first and her first instinct was to struggle, but she didn’t and instead relaxed into it. Purple mist was pouring from the corner of her eyes and already the sclera had turned fully green and her irises changed from light blue to red.

“Here you will be loved and cared for, Foxy Stripes,” Sombra whispered when their lips parted and held back a mad cackle when feeling the last defenses crash inside her mind.

“Y-yes,” Foxy whispered feeling a bit dazed, feeling gentleness and care from the stallion in front of her.

“You are mine now.” Sombra’s voice echoed through her head. “Obey me!”

“Yes, my lord,” the mare said and smiled. “Please command me.”

Two down, one to go. The Dark King now finally allowed himself to laugh as he had now full command of yet another of the Doctor’s friends.

End chapter 12

> Chapter 13. Dew's return to the throne room.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13
 
“What are you doing here again?” Amber Waves appeared not to believe it when seeing Dew Doe walk hesitantly into the throne room. The blue mare looked warily around as if she feared seeing King Sombra around.
 
“Abusing my privilege of being able to walk around freely.” Dew smiled and relaxed a bit when seeing no sign of the tyrant and approached the platform.
 
“L-look I appreciate what you did before… showing me some kindness, saying my name… but he won’t tolerate it forever, he doesn’t want me to be too hopeful,” Amber whispered and nervously looked at the entrance to the throne room.
 
“Why not?” the pegasus asked as she sat down in front of the crystal pony.
 
“When I’m hopeful, or happy or content… it shows on my coat, it shines. All crystal ponies are like that, we show our mood rather obviously by shining like crystals, it’s our innate magic…” the chained mare relented to explain and glanced at her drab looking purplish coat.
 
“But when we are in fear, terror, despair, then we are like we are now and that’s how the King wants us to be… it fuels his evil magic, the more despair we feel the more powerful he is…”
 
Dew Doe felt ill hearing that, it sounded just too horrible, that someone would deliberately want a whole population to feel nothing but fear and despair so it fueled his power. This just made her wish even more that she could do something to help.
 
“So uh… why are you specifically his… pet?” Dew asked, hating to refer to the mare like that.
 
Amber looked down and sighed deeply. Dew could almost swear her coat became even darker as the crystal pony contemplated how to answer.
 
“Beware making deals with the King, he always ensures they are completely in his favor.” The crystal pony shuddered.
 
“Few years ago my entire family were to be sent to the mines, me, my little sister, my little brother, our mother, all of us. I… I couldn’t bear the thought of them slaving away in the mines… our mother wouldn’t have lasted a week and my siblings… I had to protect them… somehow.” Amber winched and Dew figured it was because of the memories. A tear started to crawl down her cheek.
 
“I was desperate… because there are very few options if you are to be sent to the mines. So I pleaded to the King… and told him that… if he spared my family the cruel fate… I was his to do with as he pleased.” The mare looked down.
 
“And he took you up on that offer.” Dew finished feeling even more disgust towards King Sombra. Predictably, Amber nodded in response.
 
Right so she is tied here to protect her family, she might even be willing to stay here as long as it means they are safe, the blue pony thought as she pondered this.
 
Dew Doe had to admit not having expected this to be the reason Amber was chained to the platform. She thought the crystal pony was from some random selection of mares the King had chosen to be his personal love slave. That Amber had chosen to subject herself to this to save her family hadn’t even occurred to her and now the pegasus felt a little dumb for assuming.
 
“What are their names?” she asked, deciding for now to give the chained pony at least a friendly conversation and who knows, maybe she had met a member of her family.
 
“My mother’s name is Reflective Quartz, my sister is Emerald Shine and then there is Rubinstein,” Amber told her and smiled a little. Dew definitely saw her coat lighten up slightly but barely paid attention to it as two of the names did ring a bell.
 
“Uh, your sister was assigned to me and my sister Foxy as a personal servant and your brother is serving my friend Private Iceland,” Dew said and frowned as she remembered the old mare who had told her Amber’s name. “And I think it was your mother who groomed my sister and I.”
 
“H-how are they?” the crystal pony whispered, looking rather startled that Dew had in fact met her entire family.
 
“Emerald is doing fine I think, Foxy and I haven’t had her do too much. We just can’t bear the thought of having her wait on us. Rubinstein is doing good too, Private tolerates him,” Dew told her, not really wanting to tell about how Sombra tortured the Crystal Stallion in front of them.
 
“The King told me he had punished Rubinstein for a loose tongue, do you know what happened?” Amber asked nervously causing Dew to hesitate.
 
The blue pegasus sighed, she still felt partly responsible for the torture. It was her who had sent Foxy to try and question Rubinstein. She still shuddered how the poor pony had been tortured in front of them, even if he hadn’t really said anything of use. Punished just for talking at all.
 
“Please understand that my friends and I are prisoners, even if we have been allowed to walk freely. We were trying to get information about our location and King Sombra. I asked my sister to try and find something out by talking to your brother. Rubinstein hadn’t really told us anything of note when the King caught us in the act, but he clearly spoke enough,” Dew Doe told her finally and was relieved that Amber just nodded and seemed to understand. Then something occurred to her about what the crystal pony told her.
 
“Wait, Private told us your brother was only recently moved to the castle to work and used to be in the mines,” she looked at Amber confused.
 
“I… what?” The chained pony didn’t look confused, she looked more alarmed. “Uh… I mean… that can’t be right. I have been here for years… I… he told me…”
 
“Your brother only remembers what I allow him to remember,” a dark voice addressed them, causing both Dew and Amber to freeze. Slowly they glanced towards the entrance of the throne room. King Sombra stood there, smirking at the two shocked mares.
 
“Your brother was already in the mines when you pleaded for him and the rest of your family, in fact you didn’t start pleading for your family until we were going to send your mother down there. Are you sure you’ve been giving Dew Doe your story straight?” the king asked and casually walked closer to the steps of the throne. As he fully entered the throne room, Foxy Stripes became visible behind him, her eyes still green and red.
 
Foxy? Dew looked towards her sister worried, but she didn’t dare move from her spot since that would mean going past Sombra and she wasn’t sure if he would let her.
 
“I… I…” Amber gulped. “I didn’t think… think she needed all the details… it’s not like she can do anything.”
 
“You’re right, she can’t,” Sombra stated, never taking his eyes off the frightened crystal pony.
 
“Also your sense of time is a little out of it, it’s not been years, it’s been months. But I suppose you can’t be faulted for that since you’ve had nothing to count the time with,” the dark unicorn shrugged and glanced at Dew Doe who kept looking at her sister.
 
“It…. uh…. felt like years…” Amber looked down, cringing a bit.
 
“What have you done with my sister?” Dew Doe whispered and rose up, she was face to face with King Sombra now. Foxy had halted at the bottom of the steps.
 
Sombra casually glanced back at the maroon mare and smiled. The blue pegasus gasped when seeing her sister do the same in response to him. The king turned his attention back to Dew Doe, his smile changing back into a smirk.
 
“Much like with your friend Private, I have now full control of your lovely sister. She is so desperate for someone to love her, that when I presented her with the opportunity, she took it,” the king said and grinned when Dew Doe started to look incensed and shoot him a death glare.
 
“What did you tell her! What did you do?” the blue pegasus snapped, knowing full well how vulnerable her sister was in the matters of love. She knew of every bad relationship, had been there for her for every breakup and every time when a stallion had used her.
 
What Dew Doe didn’t realize was that this was exactly what King Sombra had hoped for, the blue pegasus was full of hate and anger towards him and now that she was in full eye contact, his eyes turned green and he instantly locked her in his hypnotic gaze.
 
“Ah so much hate, you really love your sister and hate anypony who tries to take advantage of her,” the king whispered softly as he tried to find a way deep into Dew’s mind.
 
“I admit, Dew Doe, that you puzzled me a bit. Your fears are not very strong. Yes you have a great need to help ponies and fear being unable to, yet you understand that you never can truly help everypony. You can even live with it if Private Iceland will never be yours. I realized that it would be a waste of my time to use your fears against you,” he continued and could feel the mare’s mind struggle against his will. “Frankly, you are a very boring mare, so little inner conflict, no deep rooted fears. You’re a hopeless romantic, pining for a stallion who is too introverted to even know how to return your affections. Luckily for me, my powers don’t just run on fear.”
 
Dew Doe felt torn, deep in her mind she realized Sombra had tricked her but another part was just becoming angrier and angrier that he had used her sister’s deepest and darkest fears against her. She so wanted to rip into the King right there and now and voices in her head were telling her to do it, just give in, attack.
 
“Embrace your hate!” the voice egged on.
 
Sombra frowned, this was actually harder than he had initially thought. Dew was actually struggling against his prodding. The dark unicorn activated his horn and extended his powers so that he would still have access to Dew’s mind as he glanced back at Foxy. The maroon pony didn’t seem to notice what was going on, just kept staring at Sombra with a smile on her face.
 
The king grinned as he realized that Dew needed a certain type of final push. He wouldn’t even need to conjure up images in her head. He pulled back everything, leaving the mare dazed and wobbly. Sombra turned away and started back down the steps.
 
“W-wha….” Dew Doe blinked as she regained her senses. The mare saw that Amber was just looking away, trying not to watch what was going on. Then Dew looked at Sombra and what she witnessed filled her heart with rage.
 
King Sombra had gone to Foxy and wrapped one leg around her as he very sensually kissed the maroon mare on the mouth. The pegasus very eagerly returned it and was clearly enjoying the attention from the dark stallion.
 
“LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE YOU BASTARD!” Dew Doe screamed and raced down the steps. As she leaped for Sombra, the mare didn’t notice his horn activate and his tail started to produce shadowy tendrils that caught and engulfed her completely.
 
Dew Doe screamed, raged and struggled fiercely but could do nothing. She was stuck in inky blackness and could barely think straight. All she wanted to do was stomp Sombra into paste. The mare paid no attention to the dark echoing laughter around her, in fact Dew barely even heard it.
 
“Yes, embrace it, let all the rage course through you,” the dark voice of King Sombra whispered in her head. “Let it burn your very essence.”
 
Oh Dew Doe, if only you knew what games I had in store for you. I was always going to twist you under my control last, let you see your sister and beloved buck and bow to my every whim while you could do nothing, forcing you to come kneeling to me and beg me to release them. Sadly, the Princesses have forced my hoof and I must act soon to counter whatever plans they have, the king thought to himself as he continued to feed off Dew’s hate and slowly crept further and further into her mind. It was time soon to change gears.
 
“Dew Doe, think rationally. I never forced your sister into anything. I gave her a choice, she chose. However, she would never have chosen if she hadn’t come here in the first place,” Sombra spoke now softer and friendlier. “Focus your hate, who brought you here, who forced this situation that your sister had to go desperate measures to finally find what she always wanted.”
 
Dew Doe stopped raging and stared blankly forward. The Dark King smiled wickedly, knowing that memories were flooding through her right now.
 
“I swear this is just a short trip around the block,” the voice of the Doctor sounded in her mind. “I just want to test these new devices up in the Crystal Mountains and I want my three friends to help me.”
 
“I don’t know,” Foxy spoke now. “You tend to have a different definition than us of what a short trip means.”
 
“Come on, Foxy, it’s been so long since we’ve taken a trip with the Doctor, Private and I are going, why don’t you?” It was Dew Doe’s own voice that spoke up.
 
“Coal’s birthday is coming up, I much rather go down to Ponyville and join Derpy in planning it,” her sister said, still sounding reluctant.
 
“The Doctor can drop you off in Ponyville when we are done without any trouble, you know that,” Dew Doe chuckled. “Besides, we could stop in Manehattan and buy her a Mare of Liberty doll, you know she’s always wanted one of those.”
 
“Alright fine, but only because you two are going,” Foxy grunted.
 
“Well, that was a twist.” King Sombra was mildly surprised. He had been prepared to direct Dew’s hate to the Doctor for bringing them here, but seeing how it had been Dew Doe who convinced her own sister to come on this trip sounded even better to his dark mind.
 
“So, you convinced your sister to come on this doomed trip, instead of accepting that she wanted to stay behind and plan the birthday for her daughter?” he asked slyly.
 
“No… no no no… I didn’t mean… I didn’t oh no… It is my fault. I kept nagging at her to come, she’s always been so reluctant to do much after Coal was born. I just wanted her to have fun again,” Dew protested and grabbed her head with her hooves. She was shaking badly. An iron clad hoof was put gently on her.
 
“And now she serves me, thanks to you.” King Sombra bent down his head to whisper this into her ear. The darkness disappeared and they were in the throne room again. The tears were streaming down Dew Doe’s eyes as she watched her sister still standing there at the bottom, still under the control of the dark unicorn.
 
“Yes, that’s it. Just give in and you can join her and Private,” he kept talking and could already feel the mare’s mind crumble. Her eyes were turning green and red.
 
“You are mine,” King Sombra commanded. “Obey me!”
 
“Yes… yes I will.” Dew Doe’s eyes now matched her sister’s and she looked down.
 
“And then they were three.” The dark unicorn laughed, feeling his will now dominating the two pegasi.
 
“As for you!” His demeanor changed swiftly as he turned to Amber who covered on her platform. King Sombra narrowed his eyes and his horn began glowing with dark magic, an aura surrounded the crystal pony and she began changing into the cyan colt he had agreed earlier today would serve in the castle.
 
“What was your name again? Bright Smiles?” the king growled as he stalked towards the covering boy. “Not terribly bright are you? Forgetting your lines even if you assured me that you remembered them. I told you that Dew Doe has met my pet’s family, there was going to be a chance of her knowing some of her story already.”
 
“S-sorry, m-my lord… I just… I panicked,” the colt whispered.
 
“You had a simple job. Delay Dew Doe if she came here again to talk with my pet. You are fortunate that despite your blunder it worked, but your blunder could have made her suspicious that this was a trap,” King Sombra snapped and slapped the boy hard on the cheek with his right hoof. The only reason the Bright Smiles wasn’t sent flying across the throne room was because of the chains holding him to the platform.
 
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” the cyan pony cried and curled up on the platform, nursing his sore cheek.
 
Sombra snorted but decided this was enough for now, he could always punish him more later. Instead he returned back to Dew Doe who still hadn’t moved where she sat. The king took his time to admire this latest acquisition, then with a flick of his spell he removed the wing restraints from both pegasi.
 
“Spread those wings, my lovelies, you probably need to preen and groom them by now,” he instructed and smiled when both starting doing that. For a short while he watched as the two worked on their feathery limbs until he suddenly remembered Private.
 
I almost forgot him, he should still be chained up in the study with the crystal entombed Doctor, he thought and sat down. Concentrating his magic, he started a spell that would give him access to Private’s mind and tell him what he was doing. He half expected the unicorn to be lying bored on the ground by now.
 
“Hello what is this?” Sombra frowned heavily when seeing that Private was not in the study, he was in a hallway.
 
“The Doctor? He’s freed the Doctor?” The king rose up with a growl, he almost dissolved himself into smoke to go after them when he realized where in the castle the two stallions were.
 
Hm, Sombra backed up and sat down in his throne. He looked at the pegasi who were still busy preening their wings. King Sombra smiled as a different plan came to his mind.
 
“Oh ladies,” he addressed them. Both looked at him immediately, one smiled and the other was more neutral. “Your friends, Private and the Doctor, are heading to the chambers and expect to find you there.”
 
“Be dears and go fetch them for me. Ask the guards to help you if you need to, oh and Dew Doe, remember to tell Private to obey his king,” he instructed them.
 
Both mares shrugged and rose up. They stretched their sore wings a little and then trotted out of the throne room. King Sombra watched them go, a devilish smirk on his muzzle and soon he was chortling cruelly.
 
Oh Doctor, prepare at last to suffer, he thought and his chortle changed into a disturbed evil laugh.
 
End Chapter 13


> Chapter 14. Past transgressions.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 14
 
The Doctor peeked around the corner, so far no guard was in sight. The time pony glanced back at Private who was bringing up the rear. The the unicorn still looked to be in some discomfort from the hot potion he had been forced to drink earlier.
 
“We’ve been rather lucky with guards recently,” the Doctor commented. He found that rather suspicious.
 
“Yeah, but I know the next few corridors until we reach the chambers are heavily guarded,” Private whispered. He walked over to the entrance and peeked into the corridor himself. “Odd, there should be four guards here.”
 
That is odd. The time pony frowned in thought.
 
The Doctor sat down to think this over. At first when they escaped the study, the two stallions had evaded guards and other ponies working for the tyrant as they made their way downwards. Then suddenly it was as if they had all vanished. Now that the time pony took his time to consider it, it seemed to have happened shortly after Private could have sworn something was watching them.
 
I wonder. He looked at his friend who was still peeking into the next corridor. The time pony didn’t like this. Something was definitely not right.
 
“Hey, there are Foxy and Dew,” Private noted. He quickly looked around before walking into the corridor to meet the mares.
 
“Oh well, that simplifies things.” The time pony rose up and started into the corridor, he froze when seeing the mares and that they had glowing green and red eyes. Private had noticed it too as he halted on his walk towards them.
 
“Private, Doctor!” Dew called, excited. The two stallions noticed that the wings on both pegasi were not restrained.
 
“Private… we need to run.” The Doctor realized quickly that this was a trap. The guards must have been pulled aside and were just waiting for them somewhere. The time pony darted back the way they had come.
 
Private Iceland hesitated, but nodded in agreement. He quickly turned around and was about to head after the Doctor when hearing his name addressed. The unicorn looked back and saw that Dew and Foxy were trotting towards him. He thought they looked unnaturally happy.
 
“Private! Don’t forget to obey your king,” Dew called. This froze Private as he was about to run after the time pony who was already way ahead of him.
 
"You are mine!" The dark voice of King Sombra echoed through his head. "Obey me!"
 
“Gah!” Private stumbled and fell to the ground. There was a rush of movements and hooves reached down to help him back up. Dew Doe and Foxy were now by his side and the blue mare gave him a hug.
 
“Oh, are you alright?” she asked with a worried frown, gently caressing her friend’s mane.
 
Private didn’t respond to it, his expression had an uncharacteristic scowl and his eyes were now glowing green and red. The unicorn pushed Dew away and stared into the direction the Doctor had gone. The time pony was still visible in the distance.
 
The stallion glared back. Several guards had gathered behind them. Dew and Foxy stood by his side, waiting expectantly. Private only recognized the mares as friends and the guards were clearly there for his use. In fact, now his corrupted and mind-controlled self hoped he might be rewarded for a good service for his king. He looked at Dew and smiled.
 
"Serve me well and she is yours," the voice of King Sombra promised. That was all the unicorn had to hear.
 
“After him!” Private snarled as he pointed after the fleeing time pony. Then he ran down the long corridor with the mares and the guards following.
 



 
Oh this isn’t good. The Doctor was in a mad dash through the castle. He had heard what Dew called after Private and seen the change come over him. It was obvious that with the right words the unicorn would be brought right back under control of the king.
 
The time pony hated to admit it, but King Sombra seemed to have the upper hoof on him right now. All three of his friends were under the dark unicorn’s control, he didn’t know where the TARDIS was, wasn’t sure of Apple Core’s status and didn’t have any of his tools.
 
Need to get in contact with the Princesses somehow, that’s about the only way, he thought as he darted into yet another hallway that looked the same as the others. And would it hurt to show some creativity in the architecture?
 
Why was I so careless? I should have immediately left when seeing that the TARDIS hadn’t landed in Fillydelphia. He ducked into another hallway and to his dismay still couldn’t see any viable way to hide, so the pony kept running.
 
As the time pony ran, he recalled the last time he had been in these halls. So long ago...
 

***

 
The Crystal Empire, before Sombra’s reign.
 
“Applewood, here we… that’s too shiny to be Applewood,” the Doctor declared as he opened the door to the TARDIS. Instead of a bustling Equestrian metropolis, he was staring at a gleaming crystal city. Even the ponies appeared to be made out of shining crystals. In the center rose a tall, white tower.
 
“Where have you taken us now?” A green pony head with a darker green mane peeked out of the TARDIS. It belonged to a pegasus stallion who stared awestruck at the city and ponies before him.
 
“Swift Mane, welcome to the Crystal Empire. One second,” the Doctor said and rushed back inside and to the consoles. After a moment, he returned outside to join Swift Mane again. “As a matter of fact, we are over one thousand years ago in the past.”
 
“This city looks amazing! Where is it?” the pegasus asked and looked at the time pony. He arched his brow when he saw the contemplative look on his friend.
 
“The Crystal Empire… thousand years ago… I’m forgetting something,” the time pony muttered, but very quickly resumed his more cheerful appearance. “Ah that doesn’t matter, let’s get Trinity and check it out. I have a friend here.”
 
Swift Mane shrugged, having long since gotten used to the Doctor switching moods at the drop of a hat.  He turned to enter the time machine again when he saw a chocolate-colored earth pony with purplish hair step out. The mare looked around before glancing at the stallions.
 
“This is shiny,” she remarked with a chuckle.
 
“Welcome to the Crystal Empire, Trinity,” the Doctor said and gestured towards the city with a flourish.
 
Once all three ponies were out, the Doctor locked the TARDIS and they headed into the city. The two Equestrian ponies half expected to be taken deep into the city to meet this friend the time pony had spoken of; they were not quite prepared for him to take them straight to the large crystal tower.
 
The city was glistening with light and color. Trinity actually had a bit of trouble focusing on one thing - it was just sensory overload for her eyes. Swift Mane wasn’t much better, so he just focused on the direction they were going. They soon reached underneath the tower and marveled at the heart that rose up on a dais right in the middle.
 
“The Crystal Heart, the source of their protection from both the elements and enemies alike,” the Doctor told them with a solemn smile before changing it to a more cheerful one as he took them to one of the four entrances to the tower.
 
“Please tell Princess Amore that the Doctor is here,” he addressed the guards who both looked at him mildly confused. Then one relented to head inside with the announcement.
 
“Doctor, this friend of yours, it’s the…Princess?” Swift Mane whispered, shocked.
 
“Very old friend,” the Doctor chuckled, causing the pegasus to glance unsure at Trinity who did the same.
 
Soon enough the guard came back and nodded to his fellow guard to let them in. The Doctor happily trotted into the tower with his confused friends in tow. The crystal pony escorted them up many stairs and halls before they eventually came to a throne room.
 
On the throne sat a tall unicorn mare with the same crystalline coat as the ponies outside. She was a pale vermilion in color and her mane was a gradient of raspberry to cobalt blue. The Princess didn’t wear a crown, but instead a golden heart was on her forehead under the horn, held up by a blue band. She carried a similar golden heart on her chest and on each of the four bands that went around her legs.
 
“Doctor? Is that really you?” Princess Amore said with an exciting tone in her voice.. She rose up from her throne and quickly trotted over to the three newly arrived ponies.
 
“Princess Amore,” the Doctor and his two friends bowed. “And yes, it is me.”
 
“But, you’re a unicorn now, what happened?” the Princess asked curiously as she dropped all formalities and gave the time pony a hug. “I will say, blue coat does suit you.”
 
“Tall cliff, I’m leaving it at that,” the Doctor said and blushed with embarrassment and coughed. Then he gestured to his friends. “My current companions, Swift Mane and Trinity.”
 
“It’s nice to meet you. Welcome to the Crystal Empire.” Princess Amore turned to them and smiled warmly.
 
“It’s good to be here,” Trinity was the first one to find her voice, still a bit awestruck at being in the presence of a Princess.
 
“So!” A sharp voice caused everyone to look towards the entrance to the throne room. “My ears did not deceive me. The Doctor has arrived!”
 
Into the throne room walked a surprisingly tall pegasus, tall as Princess Amore, sky blue in color. He was wearing black armor accented with gold and on the chest was a golden lightning bolt. His helmet was similarly colored with a tall, black plume. His tail was black, indicating that the plume was possibly just his mane. If Trinity had been awestruck, it was nothing compared to Swift Mane, whose jaw scraped the floor.
 
“Commander Hurricane, wait you’re still alive?” The Doctor was maybe not as stunned as his two friends at the sight of the legendary pegasus, but he was definitely surprised.
 
“What? You didn’t expect this old warhorse to be still kicking?” Hurricane laughed loudly as he walked closer to the group. “Or to be in service of the most beautiful Princess to ever grace these lands?”
 
Now the Doctor was about as surprised as his friends. Commander Hurricane proceeded to grab for one of Amore’s hooves, lift it and give it a gentle kiss, before dropping it.
 
“Oh you old flatterer.” The Princess just smiled at the affection given her.
 
“Well pardon my surprise, Commander, it’s just that I happen to know we are past the point when the founders of Equestria are well… uh dead,” the Doctor said trying to sound as tactful about it as possible. This only caused Hurricane to laugh again.
 
“Yes, you would be right, sadly it is so. Chancellor Puddinghead, Princess Platinum, Smart Cookie and Private Pansy have sadly passed on. However, things went a little differently for me, though I have heard rumors that Clover the Clever is still kicking,” the Commander said once he had regained his composure.
 
The old pegasus was clearly going to start telling his story, when the wail of a baby interrupted them. Princess Amore gasped and immediately ran over to the throne and to a cradle that was close to it. The others could only watch as the unicorn cooed as she lifted up a small pink baby foal from it. It didn’t have a horn, but they could see tiny wings just before Amore wrapped the baby in a blanket.
 
“Ah, that would be our most precious jewel.” Commander Hurricane smiled wide as he watched Princess Amore return to them, holding the baby gently in her magic aura.
 
“Wait, wait, wait, you and Princess Amore… um… wow, that’s I…” the Doctor frowned suddenly. Why don’t I remember that?
 
“Didn’t think that I of all pegasi would marry a unicorn, huh?” Hurricane chuckled. “No, that Hurricane is dead and buried. Her birth is further proof of that.”
 
“Everypony, meet Mi Amore Cadenza,” Princess Amore said as she presented the little filly to them. The baby had calmed down in her mother’s care, but was awake and babbled happily.
 
“Oh she’s adorable.” Trinity went closer and was surprised when Amore instructed her to sit so she could hold the child.
 
“Well I don’t know what to say, except congratulations, ” the Doctor said, though deep inside his mind something was bothering him. He was a little troubled not knowing about this.
 
“Very kind of you, Doctor, this is indeed a magical time to live in. Little Cadenza will be the first pegasi Princess,” Commander Hurricane remarked, smiling as he watched Trinity cuddle his daughter.
 
“It is a magical time indeed, Commander,” a voice addressed them all.
 
The Doctor turned his head to look at the newly arrived pony. It was a unicorn, wearing a dark cloak. His mane was black, his coat dark gray and the horn curved up and was crimson red. He smiled politely, revealing the slight tips of fangs in his mouth.
 
“Oh Doctor, this is our Royal Crystaller, he oversaw Cadenza’s Crystalling a few days ago. You should have been there; it was a wonderful ceremony.” Princess Amore gestured to the newly arrived pony.
 
“I do not believe I have heard of you before, Doctor, yet the Princess seems familiar with you,” the Royal Crystaller said, looking at the time pony intently.
 
“The Doctor is an old friend, he just comes and goes as he pleases. These are his friends, Swift Mane and Trinity.” Amore gestured to the other ponies.
 
The Doctor glanced at Commander Hurricane who had become unusually silent when the Crystaller arrived. The old pegasus’s eyes had narrowed and he glared at the dark colored pony, it was clear that the commander did not like him one bit.
 
“I’m sorry, we didn’t catch your name,” the Doctor addressed the strange unicorn.
 
“Well that’s no surprise, it was not spoken. Call me Umbra, a humble servant of the Crystal Princess,” the Crystaller said and put a hoof on his chest as he gave Amore a short but courteous bow.
 
Umbra, huh? The time pony just nodded, accepting this answer for now.
 

***

 
The Crystal Empire – Sombra’s reign.
 
Umbra, the Doctor snorted. What a thinly disguised way to hide your true name.
 
The time pony glanced back and cringed when seeing he was still being followed. He pressed on, found another corridor to duck into, then found a flight of steps to go down. This did delay his pursuers as they couldn’t go after him all at once. He used the opportunity to disappear down a hallway and then immediately turned to enter another one, giving him a precious head start.
 
His thoughts though kept going back to the past. When this castle had been a happier place.
 

***

 
The Crystal Empire, before Sombra’s reign.
 
“You have been unusually quiet, Doctor,” Trinity noted. The Doctor sat by the window the tower’s guest room, staring outside.
 
“Something is not right, Trinity,” the time pony said and looked at the mare. “I just can’t put my hoof on what it is. It’s probably staring at me right in the face. I just can’t see it.”
 
“Okay, Commander Hurricane’s story adds up in parts. I remember it now. After he retired his position to his son, he did start traveling in Equestria and ended up in the Crystal Empire. There he had a magical accident that nearly drained the life out of him. Only the magic of the Crystal Heart and Princess Amore’s magic saved him. This gave him unusual longevity for a pegasus, maintained by the Crystal Heart and if he strays too far away from it, he dies. What I don’t remember is him and Amore marrying and having a foal.” The Doctor frowned and looked back out the window. “And this Umbra, is bothering me. He’s a dark pony.”
 
“A what?” Trinity had never heard that term before used to describe someone.
 
“Dark pony. They are extinct in your time. In this time, very few are left. In fact, even now they should be all gone,” the time pony explained to her. “Unless the legends of the Lost Son of Queen Rabia are true.”
 
“Queen Rabia?” Now the mare had no idea what the Doctor was talking about.
 
“The second to last Queen of the dark pony Empire. Very powerful, very morally ambiguous. You don’t want to be on her bad side, if she ever had a good side to begin with.” The Doctor shook his head. “Anyway, legends say she had a son who disappeared from her court, never to be heard from again. It was said he could almost rival his mother in power.”
 
“And you think this Umbra is it?” Trinity asked.
 
“Trinity, Umbra is a Saddle Arabian word for dark ponies. He hasn’t actually told us his real name,” the Doctor snorted.
 
They were interrupted when Swift Mane entered the room, followed by Commander Hurricane. The Doctor rose from the window, wondering why the old pegasus had come. His green friend had been invited by the legend to go on a short fly around the Empire. He had wanted to stretch his wings with another pegasus as it had been a while.
 
“Enjoy your flight?” Trinity asked and chuckled when seeing the ecstatic look on her friend.
 
“Nopony at home is ever going to believe that I just flew with Commander Hurricane,” Swift Mane wheezed. He was a bit out of breath, not being military trained like the commander.
 
“For a civilian, he flew well. If I was younger and still in command of the Pegasi Tribes, I would make a fine soldier out of him,” Hurricane said with a loud laugh, patting Swift hard on the back.
 
“They do call him Swift Mane for a reason,” the Doctor chuckled. “Forgive me for pointing this out, commander, but I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t seem to like the Royal Crystaller.”
 
“You’re not wrong, Doctor.” Hurricane’s voice lowered and his eyes narrowed. He gave them all a signal to gather around in a close circle and the old pegasus made sure the door was closed.
 
“You know I’m an old horse, Doctor. I’ve been around for a long time. I know a dark pony when I see one, especially since they are all supposed to be gone. I’ve heard the legends of the Lost Son and I think we are hosting the Demon Queen’s spawn in our house,” Hurricane said and glanced around as if he was suspicious of spies.
 
“But Amore, she has always been compassionate and saw no reason to deny him entry here, he speaks well and has a silver tongue that I fear may have blinded her. She even dismissed my concerns when she appointed him the Royal Crystaller,” he continued and sighed.
 
“What does he do when he’s not attending to his duties?” the Doctor wondered.
 
“He spends a lot of his time in the royal library. The librarian says he’s frightening, often speaking to himself in a strange language and says his eyes sometimes glow green. The servants did at one time complain that he treats them like dirt,” Hurricane explained to him. “Amore spoke to him about his attitude towards the servant and he apologized for it, but they do not trust him.”
 
The Doctor nodded as he considered this information. He could only wonder what Umbra was seeking in the library. The time pony wondered if he should also question Amore and hear her side of things.
 
“Commander Hurricane, I promise you. I will get to the bottom of this and if Umbra is truly untrustworthy, I will reveal him,” he told the old pegasus who nodded his thanks.
 

***

 
The Crystal Empire – Sombra’s reign.
 
Well I didn’t keep that promise did I? Well we found out… just too late, the Doctor sighed and shook his head sadly.
 
Suddenly the time pony realized that he was heading straight towards a dead end. The past had distracted him so much he hadn’t paid full attention to where the corridors led. The Doctor halted and turned around. Maybe there was still time to take another turn.
 
The Doctor hurried forward, hoping he wasn’t too late, but as the pony neared the intersection he could hear hurried hoofsteps and the clank of armor. The time pony stopped and quickly backed away just as his three friends and the guards came into the corridor.
 
Oh I am in trouble now, he thought as the pony continued to go backwards. He looked at the trio and judged that at the moment there was no getting through to them. Sombra had them under tight control. Then his gaze moved towards the guards and caught something that caused him to pause.
 
The Doctor hid a smile and stopped walking. In the thong of guards, he had spotted something the others hadn’t, but he made sure not to look at it so as as not to draw attention.
 
“All right, I surrender,” he declared.
 
“Chain him up. The King wants him thrown down in the dungeons again. Put him in a more secure cell. His Majesty will deal with him tomorrow,” Private ordered the guards. “And remove that crystal off his head.”
 
Oh Private, I know you don’t want to be saying this. Don’t worry, I’ll get you all out of this, the Doctor thought as he gave his friends a solemn look. They barely gave him an indifferent glance now that he was in custody.
 
Two guards approached him with chains and began tying him up. The Doctor tried not to chuckle to himself, most of the other guards were dispersing now that he had been caught and secured. Even Private, Foxy and Dew were leaving. All had looked up as if they were being summoned and they were soon out of the corridor.
 
“Let’s wait before doing anything until we are heading towards the dungeon,” he whispered to the smaller guard that was chaining him up. The mare looked up at the time pony, the golden-colored muzzle produced a coy little smirk.
 



 
Private, Foxy and Dew were heading towards the throne room after hearing the summons of King Sombra in their heads. They walked in a single line, Private first, Foxy last and Dew in the middle.
 
“And so the Doctor falls and his friends now all serve me,” the voice of the tyrant echoed through their heads. The mind-controlled ponies didn’t show any outward reaction and just continued to walk on.
 
“Very good job. Private Iceland, why don’t you retire for the night?  You may take Dew Doe with you. She is yours,” King Sombra addressed Private who halted his walk, causing the rest of the line to stop. The unicorn looked at the mare in question and smiled.
 
“Dew Doe, you have done well. You may spend your time with Private,” Sombra then spoke to Dew Doe who gasped and smiled.
 
Private found that he was now free to move of his own volition. He didn’t waste much time. The unicorn reached down and gave Dew Doe a lustful kiss on the muzzle. She returned it just as eagerly.
 
“Come with me,” he then said and began walking in the direction that led to the guest chambers. There was no hesitation from the blue mare. She immediately hurried after him.
 
That left Foxy, who waited further instructions, yet she was a little uneasy. What if the king had forgotten her? Hadn’t she done her part? She gulped and was no longer sure what to do as the mare hadn’t been told to resume her walk to the throne room.
 
“Oh Foxy, I haven’t forgotten you,” King Sombra said in a gentle tone, easing the worries of the mare. "Come to me. The entrance to my chamber is by the throne room."
 
“Yes my lord,” Foxy whispered and hurried onward.
 
It didn’t take her long to reach the throne room. She spotted the open and inviting doorway further inside. The mare hesitated for a moment before hurrying towards it. She peeked inside and gasped at seeing the table that was laid out with food. Candles were the only illumination and standing nearby was King Sombra, waiting.
 
“Come in, Foxy Stripes. We will dine before retiring for the night.” The king smiled and beckoned to the mare to come closer.
 
Foxy smiled and entered the chamber. The moment she was fully inside, the door closed by Sombra’s magic. The king then picked something up from the table and floated it over to the mare. It was a flower made of crystals. For a moment he presented it before Foxy who stared transfixed at the beautiful yet fragile looking plant. Then the king carefully put it behind her right ear, fastening it there.
 
“Thanks, it’s beautiful,” Foxy whispered and blushed a little.
 
“A small token of appreciation for such a lovely mare that grants me the honor of her company,” King Sombra said as he gestured for her to sit down, holding out the seat for her.
 
I will enjoy you tonight, dear Foxy and later I will enjoy your sister, the Dark King thought as he found his own seat close to where Foxy sat. Perhaps once I have dealt with the threat of the Princesses, I shall enjoy you both at the same time.
 
End Chapter 14
> Chapter 15. Past regrets.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15

The Doctor walked silently between the two guards who were leading him back to the dungeon. He noted that the smaller guard carried the crystal piece he had kept on his head, but also had his vest on his back. That was one of the many details the time pony had noticed when he had been cornered on the upper levels, why others hadn’t noticed it he couldn’t tell but it told him everything he needed.

Finally, they were in the long corridor that would lead to the dungeon. The Doctor knew it was now or never, right now only two guards were present and he was pretty sure one of them was on his side.

“Hey can I borrow this?” he asked and using his mouth grabbed for the plumes on the taller guard’s helmet, successfully pulling it off. This happened so fast that before the surprised crystal pony could react an armored hoof hit him square in the jaw, knocking him out.

“Thank you.” The Doctor grinned and dropped the helmet from his mouth.

“Think nothing of it, partner,” Apple Core responded and shook her hoof. “I’m just thankful that these guys are so brainless that they can’t see past my armor.”

“That is a downside of mind control, it can dull the mind so it doesn’t really notice as well when things are out of place,” the time pony said and grabbed the crystal piece from the mare and put it back on his head, he sighed in relief when the dull feeling in his mind vanished.

“Yeah I’ve noticed, they haven’t even questioned it if I’m a guard or not,” Apple Core said as she began removing the chains from the Doctor.

“Yes indeed, by the way how did you come about your fantastic disguise? I love it,” the brown pony inquired, he used the opportunity once his feet were properly freed to grab his vest from Apple Core’s back and put it on. He immediately began checking his pockets, grinning when seeing all his gadgets and devices still in place.

“Uh, it’s thanks to one of your friends. I was still stuck in the dungeon when I ran into her, Foxy I think her name was,” the mare explained to him while using the chains to tie up the unconscious guard. She then told him how she had met Foxy and their encounter with King Sombra.

The Doctor sighed as he listened. Even with his mind clear now, he had to admit that Sombra had him on the run. It didn’t matter how many gadgets and gizmos he had, the Dark King had the darkest magic on his side and that was not easily thwarted except with magical means, the Doctor hated to admit it but magic was the one area he still often struggled with.

You clever bastard, you started with Private because you immediately noticed that he was the key to the mares, they are such close friends and if he was under your iron hooves they would be that much easier to bend to your will. Then you kept me far enough away that I couldn’t do anything until it was too late. You were playing with us the whole time; we were just amusing toys in your hooves. The time pony shook his head sadly.

“So now what? Your friends didn’t look too friendly,” Apple Core wondered.

“What happened to you after Foxy left with Sombra?” the Doctor asked, wanting to divert his thoughts for a little while longer.

“Well I did as Sombra told me, dragged the idiots Foxy knocked out into a cell, then went up to the castle proper and tried to find my way out. However, one of the guards, probably a sergeant or something suddenly started barking orders at me and before I knew it I was standing guard in the hallway, then we all got orders to gather around and chase you, that’s about it,” the mare told him and shrugged a bit.

“My friends are probably right now with King Sombra and even if you still have the silver coin that won’t do much, it only works so much and won’t withstand a full blast of his magic. I can’t help my friends, except by somehow contacting the Princesses. We need to get in contact with them! Do you know what time it is?” The Doctor looked at Apple Core intently.

“Late evening, probably close to midnight,” the mare said with a confused frown.

“Do you know if Princess Luna has started dream walking?” the stallion then asked.

“Dream what now?” Now Apple Core was even more confused.

“Later in life, Princess Luna will actively start dream walking, guarding the dreams of ponies. I just can’t quite remember when she first started experimenting with it but I think she did during this time period. However, to contact her via those means, one of us needs to go to sleep and well time ponies don’t sleep much,” the Doctor explained to her.

“W-wait so you want me to go to sleep? At the off chance that Princess Luna might come to my dreams?” Apple Core wasn’t sure what to make out of this, this sounded absolutely ridiculous to her. Then again the Doctor used a silver coin to escape his cell and free her.

“Easy right? We just need to find somewhere more comfortable, you go to sleep, hope Luna becomes aware of you and give her a message,” he said with a wide smile.

“I really should just call you crazy and leave it at that, but you’ve so far somehow managed to be right. Alright while we find a good place to do this, probably not best to do it in the hallway, can you tell me why King Sombra hates you so much?” Apple Core wondered as they started walking towards the dungeon, dragging the unconscious guard with them.

“Well… that happened a while ago,” The Doctor said and frowned.


***


The Crystal Empire, before Sombra’s reign.

“You wanted to talk with me, Doctor?” Princess Amore smiled as she entered the guest chamber. Only the Doctor was there, he had sent his friends to keep a lookout on Umbra’s movements.

“Yes, Amore,” the time pony said, daring to drop titles now that they were alone. “I want to ask about Umbra.”

“Our Crystaller? Alright,” Amore arched an eyebrow and got seated by the corner table with her old friend.

The Doctor watched her body language carefully. Since he was currently in a unicorn body he also had higher senses of magic so he kept an eye out for that too. So far Amore behaved completely normal, there were no obvious telltale signs of spells on her. Then again she was a powerful unicorn in her own right, it would be difficult for anyone to cast any kind of mind control on the Princess.

“How did you come about his service?” the Doctor asked curiously, figuring that was the best way to start.

“He came here a few weeks ago, requested an audience and once he had it asked if he could access the royal library. He told us that he was a student of magic and travelled the world to learn more of it. I know he can be rough around the edges but he is really sweet once you get to know him,” Amore started telling him. She poured herself some tea that had already been served earlier to the room.

“He showed real skill with magic and seemed quite taken and interested in crystal pony magic, especially the Crystal Heart. When little Cadenza was born I saw no reason not to appoint him as the Royal Crystaller. He was already starting to surpass me in knowledge of the magic. He could actually read some of the books in the library that are written in ancient tongues that have dropped out of use.” The Princess stopped then for a moment to sip her cup.

The Doctor frowned as he considered this information. It was clear on the way Amore spoke that she trusted Umbra. There was one thing though that bothered him and he needed to verify it before jumping to any conclusions.

“How did he react to the Crystal Heart?” he asked and drank his own tea.

“Well at first he was uncomfortable in its presence but he never complained much, it was probably because of all the dark magic that’s built up within him,” Amore responded causing the time pony to almost spit his mouthful of tea out.

“Wait, you know he has dark magic?” he asked confused.

“Oh, Doctor it’s obvious he is a dark pony. A whole herd of them arrived down south in Equestria a few months ago, refugees after the Saddle Arabians destroyed their Empire. It wasn’t that surprising that one would also come to our doors,” the princess chuckled at the stunned expression that was on her friend.

“I figured he was from the royal court of the late Queen Ira. He definitely behaved as someone used to one. I’ve just not questioned him much about it as I figured it must still be painful for him. I mean his entire race has pretty much been wiped out just because their neighbors couldn’t stand their nature.” Princess Amore shook her head with an expression of disgust. “I’ve ordered all ties to Saddle Arabia to be cut for the time being. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have done so. Can you imagine it Doctor? Killing all these ponies just because they were different?”

I wonder if that was another reason she allowed him to be the Royal Crystaller, show the rest of the world that the dark ponies were accepted, the Doctor thought. He really couldn’t fault Princess Amore for her opinion. Even he considered the destruction of the dark pony Empire an atrocity that should never have happened.

“I noticed Commander Hurricane doesn’t like him much,” the Doctor mentioned, earning a bemused look from the Princess.

“Ah, did he put you up to this?” she asked and chuckled slightly.

“Look Doctor, Hurricane is a good stallion, but he is old-fashioned and he remembers time when… well prejudice was more acceptable. I think it’s just an old habit of his that is refusing to go down. He tries, bless his heart, but sometimes he tends to judge ponies based on the negatives and ignores the positives,” she explained to him.

The time pony wasn’t so sure if he shared that sentiment. Hurricane had sounded genuinely concerned. It was though clear that Amore’s mind was made up regarding Umbra. He had a feeling that right now he would be wasting his time trying to convince her otherwise.


***


The Crystal Empire, Sombra’s reign.

“Uh is this coming anywhere close to why Sombra hates you specifically?” Apple Core interrupted, she and the Doctor were now in the guard room just before you entered the dungeon proper. They had just finished putting the guard in a cell.

“I’m giving you context,” the Doctor grunted. “I had promised Hurricane to get to the bottom of this, but first I needed to hear how Princess Amore felt.”

The time pony found a corner to sit in and Apple Core found a seat next to him. The stallion sighed, knowing he had to condense the tale since time was not a luxury right now, especially since he didn’t have access to the TARDIS.

“After I talked with Amore, I went to try and talk with Umbra, get a feel for him as well, see if my gut was right. However, I couldn’t find him, I found Trinity and Swift Mane though, but they told me that they lost sight of him. He had just vanished,” he told her.

Suddenly the Doctor fell silent, deeply silent. Apple Core tilted her head a little and wondered what was wrong, she saw the faraway look on the time pony and concluded he must have reached a particularly painful memory.

“He knew, Apple Core.” Finally, he spoke up and looked gravely at the mare.

“He knew what my friends and I were doing. He hadn’t hypnotized Amore, no, he had hypnotized the entire castle staff - even the soldiers. They were his eyes and ears,” the Doctor whispered, a single tear crawled down his cheek. “We had arrived too late. All we did was accelerate his rise to power.”

“Wait what?” Apple Core frowned, not quite sure how to take that revelation.


***


The Crystal Empire, before Sombra’s reign.

“Hurry!” The Doctor shouted as he ran after the hall, fast on his heels where Trinity and Swift Mane.

“What is going on, Doctor?” Trinity shouted.

Earlier they had been in the royal library, the Doctor had questioned the librarian who didn’t say much. Then they had seen some of the books Umbra had read, Trinity and Swift Mane couldn’t make heads or tails out of them, but the time pony had seen something in them that made him gasp in surprise. Then he had bolted for the exit, though he did stop to look at the librarian again, his eyes opening wider and his expression changed into one of horror.

Then the time pony just ran, heading to the throne room, giving no explanation except telling his two friends to hurry.

“Oh no, no, no, no!” The Doctor lamented as they finally arrived and stopped immediately. Trinity and Swift Mane came right behind him and what they saw made their blood freeze.

Umbra stood over the still body of Princess Amore who lay slumped on the floor in her own pool of blood. In her throat was a knife and the mare’s eyes were wide open but dead, the surprise at the horrible treachery frozen in them.

“NO!” The Doctor shouted and then glared daggers at Umbra. “What have you done!”

“Taken a step to secure my future throne, Doctor,” the dark pony said chuckling darkly, his eyes were glowing green and purple mist was sprouting from the corner of his eyes.

“Why!?” The time pony snapped and took a step closer, grinding his teeth. “Is this really the legacy you want, Prince Sombra?”

“Prince Sombra?” Swift Mane looked at Trinity, who looked just as confused.

“Oh, figured it out have you? That I’m Prince Sombra, son of Queen Rabia,” the dark unicorn laughed, then he threw off his cloak, smoke shrouded his entire body for a moment and now he was wearing a red cape, steel breastplate, hoof guards and a steel crown. “Though when I’m done here, I will be King Sombra. Has a much nicer ring to it.”

“Not if I can help it,” the Doctor growled, then he froze when hearing the wail of a child. Cadenza was still in her cradle by the throne.

Sombra actually looked back for a moment when the foal made its presence known. The Prince smiled and looked back at the trio in front of him. Then his eyes drifted to the guards that were arriving in the throne room.

“Guards, arrest him. He just murdered…” The Doctor had noticed them too but his words froze on his lips when seeing the green and red color in their eyes.

“I’m afraid they only obey me now, Doctor,” Sombra said with a dry chuckle. Suddenly his horn fired up and a magic blast was sent right towards them. It wasn’t quite aimed at the Doctor, it was actually aimed at Swift Mane and Trinity.

“NO!” The time pony dove for his friends and pushed them out of the way, receiving the full blast of the magic. He screamed for a second before falling to the ground, his entire body badly scorched.

“Doctor!” Trinity and Swift Mane shouted and rushed to the body of their friend.

“Oh and you can’t help it, wait, I probably should have said that before I killed him. Ah well.” King Sombra shook his head and chuckled at his own joke. He then observed the two ponies as they cradled the time pony. “Aw, do not feel bad, you’ll join him soon. Guards, take care of them.”

Trinity looked up and jumped to her feet. She grit her teeth, quite prepared to fight the guards if she had to. Swift Mane also rose up, frowning he glanced at Sombra, contemplating if he should risk charging the unicorn.

The battle never happened, suddenly something hit one of the guards, sending him flying at the rest and threw the whole group to a wall. Then with a slam Commander Hurricane, dressed in his full battle armor, landed between the two time travelers and Sombra.

“Ah, I was wondering when you would receive my message, becoming a little slow in your old age,” the dark pony mocked the legendary pegasus.

“When I’m done with you, you will regret ever setting a hoof in here!” Commander Hurricane snarled, spreading his wings and prepared to charge the unicorn.

“That I’ve heard before,” Sombra snorted and swiftly sent a blast of magic at the pegasus.

Commander Hurricane avoided it easily by leaping into air. Using his powerful wings, he flew higher, thankful for the ample amount of space the throne room gave, even for a pegasus his size. Then he dove for the dark pony.

“You’re about to find out why they call me Commander HURRICANE!” the legend roared as he came closer, preparing to pummel his hooves into the other stallion.

Sombra waited until the last minute before his horn lit up and the floor started shaking. Suddenly the Prince rose up on a huge column made of dark crystal. This had happened so quickly that Hurricane barely had time to change his flight path to avoid collision. Then he was forced to dodge more magic blasts.

“Swift Mane, Trinity. Get Cadenza out of here!” Hurricane shouted as he started to circle the crystal column, eyeing for an opening at Sombra.

“Oh no you don’t. I have plans for the little Princess!” Sombra growled and aimed a blast towards where the two ponies were. He stopped short when seeing what was happening on the ground. “What?”

Trinity and Swift Mane jumped back when the Doctor’s body suddenly began glowing. The light spread out all over him for a brief moment and then flashed outwards. The battle stopped, everyone stared at the stallion that now lay unconscious on the ground. No longer a blue unicorn, he was now an earth pony with light brown coat and dark brown mane and tail.

“Doctor?” Trinity blinked. Swift Mane was quicker to realize what had happened.

“He regenerated, Trinity. He’s still alive!” he said, then looked up when hearing an angry growl.

“How is this possible!” Sombra snarled and leaped off the crystal. He landed on ground level, glaring at the trio. “This is no Equestrian. What in Tartarus are you!?”

Sombra couldn’t get further, Hurricane used the distraction to sweep down and landed a hard hit on the unicorn, sending the dark pony across the throne room. The pegasus then swiftly flew to the cradle and grabbed the still crying foal up. The old legend took one last regretful look at Princess Amore before flying to Trinity and Swift Mane who were trying to pick up the Doctor.

“Take Cadenza out of here, now!” Hurricane ordered, giving his daughter over to Swift Mane while Trinity held up the time pony who was coming too, but didn’t sound quite right, almost like he was drugged up.

“What about you, sir?” Swift Mane asked, looking at the big pegasus, worried.

“I’ll keep Sombra busy,” the old stallion growled and glared over where Sombra was picking himself up from the ground.

“Swift Mane, come on, we need to get to the TARDIS!” Trinity said and started to drag the Doctor with her out. Her pegasus friend sighed, cradled the upset foal in his legs as he took off into the air and flew after the mare and the time pony.

“No!” Prince Sombra shouted when seeing them escape with the princess, but his attempt to follow was stopped when Hurricane landed in front of him with a sneer.


***


The Crystal Empire, Sombra’s reign.

“Keep in mind that those last few bits might not be entirely accurate as I am going by what Trinity and Swift Mane told me, I was still recovering from regeneration trauma at the time,” the Doctor pointed out.

“What is it that you realized before going to the throne room?” Apple Core wondered, she wanted to question the whole regeneration thing, but at this point she decided to just accept it. The guy was there to tell the tale and King Sombra certainly did hate him enough to have met him before.

“King Sombra is from a matriarchal society, his thinking was more on the line of securing the throne through the female line. He had discovered that crystal pony traditions allow their rulers to be betrothed to another royalty very young,” the time pony explained to her.

“He probably figured that neither Amore or Commander Hurricane would agree to wed their daughter to him while she was so young and could not give her own consent, so if he took them out of the way, Princess Cadenza would be the ruler. As the Royal Crystaller he would be her main caregiver and advisor. He could then easily convince others that they could marry when she was of age and even forge consent from the deceased parents.” The Doctor shook his head in dismay.

“However we ruined that by taking Cadenza away, so he had to take the throne in a more old fashioned, ‘I’m the most powerful around, so you better listen to me’ kind of way,” he finished.

“Uh, what about the little Princess? What happened to her?” Apple Core asked.

“She is in good hooves right now and will eventually be given over to The Royal Sisters in Equestria,” The Doctor said. “I really can’t say much more, because it is related to knowledge of the future that I can’t give.”

“And Commander Hurricane?” the mare wasn’t really sure why she asked that, it was pretty obvious what had happened to him.

“Sombra and he battled it out, but Sombra won. Hurricane’s life was already draining away since Princess Amore was dead, remember that it was her magic that was keeping him alive. He put up a good fight, sadly it wasn’t enough,” the Doctor sighed.

“Well… I guess I can see why Sombra hates you now,” Apple Core said and laid down on the floor. “Guess I should try and go to sleep and see if I can contact Princess Luna.”

“Wait, try and remember this message. Tell them that Private, Dew and Foxy have fallen into the web of King Sombra, the Elements of Harmony should work. Use them against him, time is short for he is aware of you and is planning counter measures,” the time pony told her.

“Will do, I would ask for a bedtime story, but after that other story, I think I’ll just get nightmares if I hear another one,” the mare chuckled and lay fully down.

The Doctor didn’t respond, just smiled at the joke. He hoped this would work because right now he couldn’t see any other way. King Sombra’s magic was too powerful and they needed even more powerful magic to combat it. The Elements had defeated Discord, so it was a fair bet that they could deal with the Shadow King as well.

End chapter 15
> Chapter 16. Foxy Stripe's sacrifice.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16

When Foxy woke up she was surprised to find herself in control. Her body responded to her own mind, absent of the constant presence that told her what to say and do. The mare was confused - yesterday was a bit of a blur, she recalled being down in the dungeons... then meeting Apple Core before meeting King Sombra. Then things started to get vaguer.

She looked down at the pillow and raised an eyebrow. It was made of silk. Then the mare glanced at the bed frame and immediately noticed that this wasn’t the bed in the guest chambers. This one was carved out of black crystal.

Foxy slowly started to glance around the room she was in. It was dimly lit, but she could see decorations, tapestries and paintings on the walls. There were two closets - big ones made from similar crystal and the bed, a dining table was near the wall but anything on it had been cleared a while ago. A nightstand next to her side of the bed had a flower made out of crystal.

That’s when she heard the steady breathing and that something moved next to her on the bed. Foxy’s froze and the color in her face drained. She slowly turned her head and cringed when seeing who was sharing the bed with her. King Sombra was still asleep, looking for once relaxed and peaceful.

I… I didn’t… oh no… Foxy started to shake and felt ill. She desperately tried not to make any sound as she curled up, grabbing the pillow and hugging it tight with her front legs. The mare still didn’t know why she was free from the mind control, but had a feeling it was only temporary, much like with Private.

Okay… Okay Foxy girl, calm down… deep breaths… deep breaths… it was only meaningless sex… one time thing… the Doctor will get us out of here…and… and haha I can brag that I slept with a tyrannical overlord… yay, go Foxy… she thought while trying to calm down, not wanting to wake up the pony beside her. The mare had a nasty feeling she wouldn’t enjoy that very much.

Oh why do I always get the bastards… Tornado… Barricade… and now that guy? Well to be fair, mind control was used this time… but is it any different than when the other jerks used and manipulated me? Okay no… no, remember what mom said, don’t dwell on it, dwelling on it only makes it worse. Foxy froze again when hearing snorting and coughing from King Sombra, something had clearly bothered the dark pony in his slumber, but then he fell silent again. He had not woken up.

Okay so I had sex with the king… no big deal… I can live with that… the mare started to calm down a little. Heck, it’s like thousand years ago from my time… it’s not like anypony is going to hear about it. The gossip mongers won’t have anything.

But what if I get pregnant. How will I explain that? Did protections even exist in this time? For a brief moment Foxy went numb at the thought but then she shook her head, feeling the notion was ridiculous. “Honestly, it was one time, what are the odds? My estreus cycle hasn’t even started yet… wait, what month is it… oh crap why am I saying this aloud?”

Foxy slapped a hoof over her mouth when she realized that instead of thinking the mare was now talking. She cringed when hearing a rumbling growl come from behind her and then clear movement of a pony rising up beside her.

“What is that noise? Oh, it is morning already?” King Sombra grunted as he glanced at the window.

The mare just lay completely still, not really wanting to turn around, desperately hoping that maybe the king had forgotten her. That was of course a rather weak hope as Sombra was already turning around in the bed. She flinched when feeling a big muzzle descend down on her neck and start nuzzling at it.

“I see you’re awake,” he murmured and lifted his head to look directly at Foxy, chuckling silently to himself when sensing the fear and apprehension from her.

“Um… y-yes,” Foxy whispered and reluctantly turned to face him. “A bit more than I expected.”

“That is because I wanted to wake up seeing that face,” Sombra said and leaned in closer, grinning wider. “Seeing your desperation, your fear, your disgust.”

“You’re demented,” Foxy grunted and frowned when seeing the king just smirking at that response. Suddenly a surge of anger came over her. “No wait, demented? You’re pathetic, at least the other leery jerks had to make some effort to manipulate me, you just poof mind control to get what you want,” she snapped and suddenly found some courage to glare at the king. To her surprise, Sombra just tilted his head with a curious expression on his face.

“Well, go on, don’t stop there,” he said. “You probably want to add that I’m probably very insecure, would have trouble getting any mare to come with me willingly, probably have small equipment and am thus compensating by enslaving everypony so no mare really can say no to me.”

“Or maybe I’m such a sad soul that can never have love and thus force others to buck and bow before me to make up for it.” King Sombra stopped when seeing Foxy’s confused expression. “You’re surprised I’m not roaring in anger at your attempt at insulting me? Oh dear me, Foxy.” Sombra leaned down so he was muzzle to muzzle with her. “Being insulted would mean your opinion mattered to me.”

“I’m drawn to power, Foxy, not praise, nor do I seek it,” the king said and lay partly down on his side of the bed. “Hate or fear me, it matters not. I will draw power from both. Besides, as I told you yesterday, I’ve heard worse from my slaves.”

Foxy rose up a little, staring at the king. She had to admit, that hadn’t quite been the expected reaction. Usually the stallions she had dated in the past would have at least shown some sign that they were upset she wasn’t praising them to high heaven for the night.

“Sooo, you’re telling me that, what, you’re immune to insults?” she asked, sounding skeptical.

“Insults are just words, meant to hurt, and granted for the weak minded they might hurt. I’ll even give you that, if I viewed you as my peer and equal and valued your thoughts. I would probably not be happy if you gave your rather scathing opinion of me.” Sombra shrugged and yawned, he was still feeling a little tired.

“So I was just a cheap one night stand to thrill you, only to be thrown away?” Foxy snorted and slumped back down. She turned so her back faced the king.

“Oh no, you’re my concubine now, Foxy Stripes. You’ll be serving me for many nights,” the dark pony chuckled, causing the mare to cringe at the thought.

What did I say? Special privileges… Foxy thought and tensed when feeling a leg snake around her. Then she felt Sombra’s muzzle at the back of her neck. “What about my friends?” she asked, desperately hoping this was just morning cuddle and the king wasn’t preparing for another round with her.

“I will admit, I had hoped to play around more with your sister - slowly have her crumble, force her to come crawling to me, begging for you and Private’s mercy,” Sombra said and hugged the mare closer to him with his front legs.

“But recent events forced my hooves to speed things up. She will serve me, just as you will. As for Private, well I do need a new Majordomo, the last one had a rather unfortunate accident. He’ll probably do.” The king spoke so casually, as if it were just some boring old news. Foxy, however, was visibly grimacing at the thought of both her and Dew Doe servicing him.

“And the Doctor?” She almost didn’t want to hear the answer to that.

There was no response yet, she just felt the front legs around her ease their hold a little. Then Sombra gave low growling chuckle. Suddenly the mare was turned around to face the king, who was grinning devilishly.

Foxy wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but she certainly didn’t like the look on the dark pony’s face. There was nothing but malice in his eyes and the grin just kept getting wider. It was almost as if Sombra was currently picturing what he was going to do to the Doctor.

“I’m considering a spell I’ve heard of. You see, you dip the victim in boiling acid enchanted with darkest magic. The flesh will be melted off, but the bones will remain, still alive, still screaming in agony, the spirit stuck in them, unable to do anything but wail and scream. I would like to see the Doctor try and regenerate from that,” Sombra finally spoke, but did so in a low whisper and there was disturbing glee in it.

“Then I think I’ll add those bones to my throne and every day listen to the beautiful music that will be the Doctor’s screams of pain and agony. Every day he’ll have to watch you and your sister pleasure me, every day he’ll have to see Private serve me without question and all he can do is scream!”

Foxy’s jaw had gone down at the vivid description from the king, her face paled up and all she could really do right now was stare in utter horror at Sombra. The dark pony smiled and hugged the mare closer to him. He lifted one hoof and started to gently caress the frightened pegasus on the cheek.

“You know, Foxy, your sister is stunning to look at, but you have a certain beauty to you as well. If I didn’t have her already, I think I could well settle with just you,” he murmured and kissed her on the forehead before finally letting her go.

Without saying much more, King Sombra climbed out of the bed and using his magic, conjured up his attire. Since it was morning it was finally time to deal with the Doctor once and for all, then focus on the defenses for the eventual attack of the Princesses. He considered putting Foxy back under full control again, but decided save it for later. Right now he wanted to savor the fear coming from the mare. Instead, he made sure the windows couldn’t be opened except by magic and then intended to simply lock her in his chamber until he was done.

I should probably check on Private and Dew Doe on my way down, he thought while heading to the exit.

“Wait.” A meek voice spoke up from behind him.

Sombra halted and glanced back. Foxy wasn’t facing him, still lay on the bed with the back turned towards the king, but it had been her voice. Slowly though her head turned so she could look at him. The mare was crying, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“You asked me once if I would beg for the mercy of one of your slaves,” the mare whispered as she tried to hold back her sobs. “I did. I begged for his mercy and you showed mercy.”

The king listened though he was unmoved by the mare’s current state. He had seen it thousands of times on his slaves, yet he was curious to see where she was going with this.

“Please… do with me what you want, use me for whatever you wish, keep me, lock me up, I don’t care. But please, I beg you, let my sister and our friends go. Let the Doctor just go, have him promise to never return here lest you kill me or something, just allow them to leave. The TARDIS will take them not just to a different place, but a different time as well. Please,” Foxy begged as she turned around, climbed down from the bed and assumed a bowed, groveling position in front of the king.

“But I already own you, Foxy. You’re already mine. Why should I consider this offer?” King Sombra asked. He half expected the mare to flinch and not be prepared to answer. To his surprise she actually looked at him, tears still brimming in her eyes.

“You want the Doctor to suffer? He will suffer far more knowing there is a friend he can’t save then by just sitting and watching us serve you. He will endure the pain of your magic, he will probably consider us at least relatively safe. But knowing that he can’t do anything, that he failed my daughter to bring me back home safe and sound? That will torture him,” she whispered her response.

For a split second King Sombra was actually stunned. Though he could argue that it wasn’t exactly smart of him to let loose an enemy, the notion that this would torment The Doctor more than what he had initially planned was really appealing to him.

The king could also sense no trickery in Foxy’s mind - this was as honest as it got. She genuinely believed that this would be a far greater torture than his more traditional one.

“You know, Amber offered me a similar deal,” he pointed out.

“Then you will have two mares who answer to your every whim without protest,” Foxy said and sniffed. She was still in a bowing position and was staring at the floor again.

“Hmm, true, plus mind control is a rather artificial way of doing things. It makes things so casual,” Sombra started to rub his muzzle thoughtfully. The more he thought about this, the more amusing the idea became to him. Foxy had been the one traveler who had not wanted to be on the trip. She had been talked into it by the others, especially Dew and probably even the Doctor. He had to concede that it would probably wreck them all that the one pony who hadn’t wanted to go, would not return.

Foxy’s various antics around his castle had also been rather amusing. He had quite enjoyed the game of timing his entries so that he would always be right behind her as she said something about him. Of his four prisoners, she had definitely been the most fun to play around with.

However, it still carries the risk that the Doctor will return for her… oh this is tempting, you are a devious negotiator, Foxy Stripes, he thought as he debated what to do.

“You know what? Fine. I’ll accept your offer,” he finally decided and walked closer to Foxy. He figured that if the Doctor did still return, he would still be prepared for him.

Sombra used his magic to pull Foxy back to her legs, then placed a hoof under her chin and had her look up at him. There were still tears in her eyes, the dark pony could smell the delicious fear. He bent his head down and their muzzles met in a deep kiss, the king satisfied to feel no resistance and that she returned it with no protest.

“There is just one more thing,” he said with a smug smile when they parted. Suddenly his eyes began glowing and they locked with Foxy.

“You agree that if I free your sister and your friends, that I own you, body and soul. You do what I bid. No questions asked. You belong to me - now and forever. You will not raise a hoof against me and you will not betray me under the pain of torture and death. You still agree to all of this?” he spoke in her mind. Foxy’s eyes were now also glowing, smoke pouring from both.

“Yes, yes I do,” Foxy whimpered, feeling very afraid. Suddenly she felt a pressure in her mind.

“Then let this unbreakable deal be sealed. I will free your friends and once they are gone, you are mine!” King Sombra stepped back, eyes of both ponies turning normal.

“W-what was that?” Foxy whispered startled.

“The same thing I did to Private - a Crystal Deal spell. A bit more simpler version, though, since I didn’t have to trick you into it,” King Sombra said and lifted a hoof to caress the mare’s cheek.

“Now then, I suppose I should see to setting your sister and your friends free to fulfill my end of the deal,” the king chuckled and dropped his leg back down.

Foxy felt numb and barely responded now to Sombra. She had just panicked at hearing the horrific description of what the king was going to do to the Doctor, plus the thought of her sister and Private in eternal servitude. The mare just knew she had to do something, so in a moment of desperation she had tried this. It had worked.

“Can I at least say goodbye to them?” she finally asked as the king was heading back towards the entrance of the room.

“Careful now, Foxy. My mercy is limited,” Sombra said and glanced back. Then he considered what a spectacle it would be when the others would learn of the deal she just made with him.

“Very well, but we’ll make it brief,” he said before leaving the room.

The mare heard the door to room lock, it was clear she was not meant to go anywhere. She glanced at the windows, but figured they were probably secured as well. With a whimper she lay down on floor and curled up there in a ball, using her own wings as blankets to wrap around herself.

“I’m sorry, Coal,” Foxy sniffled. “Looks like mommy will miss your birthday.”

I will miss all your birthdays, she thought and felt fresh tears break through.

I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… please don’t hate me for this… I will always remember you… my beautiful little mischief… I know Dew Doe will take good care of you. Foxy didn’t resist the tears, burying her face between her front legs as they flowed freely.

End Chapter 16


> Chapter 17. Leaving the frozen north.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 17
 
When Dew Doe woke up, she was pretty much convinced she was dreaming. As her blurry, sleepy vision became clearer, it was greeted by the sleeping form of Private Iceland. The dark gray unicorn was still sound asleep, snoring and drooling into the pillow. The pegasus rose up slightly as she admired the view with a slight giggle.
 
I’m going to hate waking up...that is just too adorable, she thought and scooted closer. Carefully the mare reached up with a hoof, wanting to touch the tip of the stallion’s muzzle. I could just snuggle that face all day if he would let me.
 
Her hoof stopped just inches away from touching Private. Dew frowned and started to look around. This was the guest chamber that the stallion had been assigned to. The pegasus pulled her hoof back and examined it for a second.
 
I’m not dreaming. Dew Doe looked down at her chest and started poking at it hard with her hoof. She stopped when feeling sore after few seconds. Then finally the memories of last night washed over her.
 
Dew’s eyes opened wider as the realization dawned on her. She looked at Private again who still hadn’t woken up. The mare could well imagine what his reaction would be. Dew cringed. This was going to be awkward. On the plus side, a long time fantasy of hers had come true. On the negative side, it had been induced by mind control.
 
Speaking of which, why am I in control? What is the bastard up to now? Dew looked around, almost fearing that Sombra was somewhere lurking and watching. Oh no, Foxy and the Doctor!
 
Right, calm down, look on the bright side. At least it wasn’t Sombra. Private is probably going to panic, so somepony needs to be the calm one in this. Hey, maybe Private won’t even remember this and I can just pretend this all just happened in my… Dew Doe tensed up when seeing that Private was stirring and held down her breath.
 
Private yawned wide, making various more grunting noises before his eyes blinked open. Slowly he rose up in the bed, squinting his eyes as he looked around. He muttered something before his eyes landed on Dew Doe. His eyes opened wider and wider, dashing the mare’s hopes that he didn’t remember last night.
 
“Okay, Private. Don’t panic,” Dew Doe spoke in the calm soothing voice she would often use on the troubled foals she met during her social service work. Private was tensing up and his mouth and eyes were twitching.
 
“Look, yes we did have sex…” the mare fell silent when Private screamed and fell backwards and tumbled right out of bed, tangled in the blanket. Dew cringed and crawled quickly over to the edge and peeked over. At least the stallion had stopped screaming and was rubbing his sore head which he had bumped against the crystal floor. “Are you okay?”
 
Private didn’t respond. After taking the moment to nurse his sore spot, the stallion quickly began rising up and untangling himself from the blanket. Dew watched, not sure what really to say next, accidentally letting slip: “If it’s any consolation, you were very good.”
 
The unicorn stopped his work and looked at the mare. He didn’t look very calm; Dew was pretty sure he was very much on verge of another panic attack. She grinned innocently, hoping her little flub wouldn’t set him off again.
 
“Private, I don’t think any lesser of you. We were under mind control and if it had to be anypony, I would rather it be you than King Sombra,” she said, noting that Private did seem to calm down a little when she noted the mind control. Then she assumed a more serious expression. “But we really need to delay this discussion. We need to find out what happened to Foxy and the Doctor.”
 
Mentioning those two names did seem to bring Private back into focus. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while finishing untangling himself. Then he nodded, realizing that they had bigger things to worry about.
 
Dew jumped off the bed and started towards the entrance. Private followed, though the mare did note that he was actively not looking at her. “But you were still very good,” she said causing the stallion to actually give her a glare. The mare couldn’t help but giggle. Leave it to Private Iceland to actually be indignant over that kind of compliment.
 
The giggle died in her throat when the door to the room opened and into the entrance stepped King Sombra. The two ponies immediately froze in their spots, wondering and dreading what the Dark King wanted with them.
 
“Ah good, the two of you are already awake,” he said with a nod. “Report to the throne room in ten minutes. I suggest that you not be late.”
 
With that the king turned around and left. Dew looked at Private who was just as confused.
 
“We better check on Foxy,” the mare said and rushed over to the entrance. Both ponies peeked out, but Sombra was already gone. Since the coast was relatively clear, with only guards around, Dew and Private hurried over to the chamber assigned to the mares.
 
Dew swung the door open and ran inside, stopping short when seeing only Emerald. The crystal pony was busy cleaning the room and looked over when the pegasus and the unicorn barreled inside.
 
“Emerald, where is Foxy?” Dew asked in alarm when seeing no sign of her sister.
 
“I-I don’t know, miss. I assumed both of you were already up when I came here to clean,” the servant said and bowed her head.
 
“If Sombra wants us in the throne room, she must be there,” Private noted. Dew Doe nodded and the two immediately ran back out of the room, leaving a confused and somewhat bewildered Emerald behind.
 



 
Apple Core yawned as she finally woke up. Glancing around, the mare saw she was still in the room before the dungeon. Nearby the Doctor sat and was working on a small device. The earth pony sat up, stretching her sore limbs.
 
“How did it go?” he asked without even looking up from his work.
 
“I am not sure partner; I think I saw her. I heard her voice calling my name. I saw the faint outline of an alicorn. I shouted your message, but whether it got through I couldn’t say,” the mare said and sighed.
 
“Hmm, she must still be practicing dreamwalking. Hopefully she caught your message. We’re running out of time and options,” the Doctor said.
 
“And what if she didn’t?” Apple Core wondered.
 
“I don’t know,” the time pony shook his head.
 
They were both startled when the door to the room swung open and before they could even think about standing up, King Sombra entered with three guards marching in after him. The dark unicorn stopped short and glanced in their direction. His brow went up, then he put a hoof tiredly on his face.
 
“Why do I even bother trying to put him there!” he growled mostly to himself.
 
“I’m starting to think that spending the night here was not our brightest idea,” Apple Core whispered to the time pony as the guards began approaching them.
 
“Yeah, well, they can’t all be winners,” the Doctor whispered back. He arched his brow when the king told his guards to halt.
 
“So not just the Doctor but the spy as well. This just remarkable - wait a minute.” King Sombra fell silent as he examined Apple Core who was still in the armor but without her helmet. “You are the guard I saw with Foxy Stripes.”
 
“I think he just realized you fooled him,” the Doctor whispered and cringed.
 
Red magic aura suddenly enveloped the mare and the armor disintegrated. Apple Core braced herself, expecting to be torn asunder, but to her surprise the magic disappeared. Instead the aura was now around the Doctor, which destroyed his makeshift crystal helmet.
 
“You two are very fortunate that I am bound by a deal right now, or I would gladly be dragging both of you to my torture chamber!” Sombra growled. “I figure Foxy must view the spy as a friend!”
 
What? The Doctor frowned when hearing this, but then seemed to realize. Oh no… Foxy didn’t make a deal with him did she?

The time pony didn’t really get a chance to think further on this. Smoke was sprouting from Sombra’s body, forming tendrils that grabbed both him and Apple Core. Then the king extended his shadow to the guards and suddenly everyone was transported to the throne room. At that same moment, Dew Doe and Private came running in in their search for Foxy.
 
“Doctor!” Dew Doe rushed over to the time pony and grabbed him in a hug, Private rushed over as well, but kept eyeing out for Foxy Stripes. Apple Core glanced at the two warily, but could see no sign of their previous hostility from yesterday.
 
Then much to everybody’s surprise, Amber Waves materialized right in front of them, along with Emerald, Rubinstein and an older Crystal Mare. Now all eyes went to King Sombra who was muttering to himself and actually tapping his hooves lightly on the floor like he was counting.
 
“No, I do believe those are all the ones she’s interacted with,” he grunted before looking at confused group of ponies before him.
 
“W-what is going on?” Amber asked bewildered, barely noticing when Rubinstein and Emerald blinked as if waking up from a bad dream, spotted her and grabbed her in a tight hug. The old mare joined in as well.
 
“Wait she didn’t interact with Amber. Better not take any chances. She did interact with her family,” Sombra ignored the group and kept talking to himself.
 
“Doctor… what is going on?” Apple Core glanced at the Doctor who was frowning.
 
“He is covering his bases,” the time pony responded. “He’s made a Crystal Deal with Foxy Stripes.”
 
“What?” Dew and Private looked at him, shocked and startled.
 
“Perceptive of you, Doctor. I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less,” King Sombra grunted as he turned his head to a door further in the throne room. He used his magic to open it. “You can come out now!”
 
All eyes went to the chamber door. It took a little while, but eventually Foxy Stripes hesitantly walked out. Her head hung down and she had clearly been crying. Dew Doe let go of the Doctor and rushed over to her sister, Private following right behind her.
 
“Is everything alright? What happened, what did he do to you?” the blue pegasus began asking as she grabbed her sister in a tight hug.
 
“She has negotiated your release.” It was King Sombra who answered. Everyone but Foxy looked at him. “She asked me to release her sister and their friends. In turn, she is mine.”
 
“Foxy, no!” the Doctor gasped when hearing this. Apple Core’s jaw dropped and the crystal ponies in front of them looked just as surprised.
 
“What? No, Foxy, why would you do that!?” Dew grabbed Foxy in a tighter hug, not wanting to let go. The maroon pony just hung her head lower, but didn’t say a word.
 
“You have a minute to say your goodbyes, then you are leaving this castle,” King Sombra declared and just chuckled at the glares he was receiving. “Private and Amber, I release you from our deal, Dew Doe and the rest of you, I release you from my service. Doctor and the spy, you are also free to go.”
 
“You monster! I’m not leaving my sister here with you!” Dew Doe shouted and held even tighter onto Foxy.
 
“Sombra, I can’t allow you to do this!” the Doctor growled and stepped closer.
 
“Oh Doctor, don’t you realize? It’s already done. My releasing all of you seals the deal. Foxy is mine no matter what you attempt to do,” the king laughed.
 
“She has a daughter; you can’t just tear her away from her daughter!” Dew Doe screamed, wanting so much to fly over and beat that smug grin off the dark pony. Private was glaring as well, but he knew he could do even less against the king. The collars disappeared off him, Dew Doe and Amber.
 
“Your minute is up,” Sombra said casually.
 
“Please… take care of her… I’m sorry,” Foxy Stripes finally whispered and looked at her sister and Private. “I’m sorry…”
 
“No, Foxy,” Dew Doe suddenly realized that she was fading away from the room. King Sombra was transporting everyone but Foxy out of the castle. “NO!”
 
The whole group appeared outside, near the tower. Dew Doe fell back as she was no longer holding onto Foxy. The pegasus cried and rose up, intending to fly right back. Private barely managed to grab a hold on her, as he had noticed that there were more heavily armed guards around than usual.
 
“No, we can’t leave her in there!” Dew Doe cried and tried to break free.
 
“We have no choice Dew Doe! But we aren’t abandoning her. We just need to go to the Princesses and get them to help us,” the Doctor said as he walked over. He put a hoof on the pegasus’s back. “I promise we will get her out of there.”
 
Dew Doe sniffed and looked at the time pony, then she started crying and buried her head in Private’s chest. The unicorn hugged her, but said nothing, not feeling any words would really comfort the mare right now.
 
Apple Core in the meantime spoke with the crystal ponies that had just been released. Amber and her family then quickly disappeared towards the city and the earth mare walked over to the others.
 
“Uh, the crystal ponies are going to stay in the Empire. They feel they can’t abandon the friends they have here,” she reported.
 
“Very well, but we need to get moving,” the Doctor said, then his eyes opened wide when spotting the TARDIS nearby. Wow he really is letting us go. Oh Foxy, you brave fool. Don’t worry, we are coming for you as well.
 
“Alright, Sombra might just have given us the edge without realizing it. Everybody onboard,” the time pony ordered and rushed over to the ship.
 
Private had to support Dew Doe who was still crying, occasionally glancing towards the dark tower looming over them. Apple Core came last, hesitating when seeing the three ponies go into what looked like a blue box with strange letters on them.
 
“How in Tartarus will it help going in…” Apple Core’s words died in her mouth when seeing the interior.
 
“No time to explain, we need to hurry to the Princesses!” the Doctor said and pulled the mare inside and closed the door.
 
Without further word, the Doctor rushed over to the consoles, allowing Private to comfort Dew Doe in one corner. Apple Core followed him, looking around wide-eyed and slack jawed. The time pony was in such a rush that he didn’t even enjoy the moment of someone being bewildered by the fact that his ship was bigger on the inside.
 
“Alright I think I…” the Doctor fell silent as he looked at one of the screens.
 
“What, what’s wrong?” Appel Core asked.
 
“The memory lock,” the time pony whispered, still staring at the screen.
 
“The what now?” the mare frowned in confusion.
 
“The reason why I decided to go out and investigate. The reason I… it isn’t a memory lock, it’s a time lock.” The Doctor froze and suddenly began working on the consoles like mad.
 
“Doctor, what is going on?” Apple Core demanded to know, getting a little tired of the lack of answers right now.
 
“You know the legend of Tambelon?” the Doctor asked as he worked.
 
“Yeah sure, the demon kingdom vanished after Lord Grogar was defeated in battle,” Apple Core shrugged.
 
“The Dark Pony Empire was in loose contact with Tambelon before it vanished. King Sombra is from the royal court of the Empire. He would know the legend as well and I think he is a little inspired by it,” the time pony looked up at Apple Core. “This time lock is inactive, upon activation, it will envelope the entire Crystal Empire - freeze it out of time and space. I thought this was a memory lock at first because it seemed to conceal data about this date, but no, it’s a time lock. It just acts like a memory lock.”
 
“What in the hay are you talking about?” Apple Core asked, not really understanding a thing.
 
“King Sombra has been capturing time ponies like me, torturing them and learning their skills and capabilities. That’s how he could put up the spell that dulls my mind. That’s how he’s prepared to vanish the entire Crystal Empire if he’s defeated,” The Doctor froze as the realization hit him. “We have to go to the Princesses and hope they haven’t gotten our message. They can’t use the Elements of Harmony!”
 
“What?” Apple Core couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but before she could protest any further the Tardis suddenly lifted up roughly, throwing everybody around.
 
“What the…” The Doctor barely managed to hold onto the consoles. He quickly pushed a button that activated a screen that showed him the outside. The time pony blinked when seeing King Sombra standing outside, his horn glowing, using his magic to lift the TARDIS up.
 
“Hold on! I think he’s going to throw us!” The Doctor shouted when seeing Sombra change into smoke and shadow while still holding the TARDIS in his magic, rising higher and higher up from the ground. Then with a mighty shove, the Dark King threw the ship away, sending it flying out of the city.
 
There was little the passengers could do. Private had barely managed to grab a hold onto a nearby railing with his magic and clutched Dew Doe with his legs. Apple Core had been thrown off the control center and landed on a wall and was stuck there while the TARDIS was in free fall.
 
“Brace for impact!” the Doctor shouted just as the TARDIS landed harshly on the ground, sending snow and frozen dirt all over the place and sending the ponies flying around the interior.
 
The Doctor climbed back up to the control center and hit a button that righted the ship. Apple Core landed with a thud on the floor and Private and Dew untangled from each other as the unicorn had lost his previous grip.
 
“Right… guess Sombra was in hurry to get rid of us,” the Doctor said. Glancing at the screen he could still see outside and saw that they were still within view of the Crystal Empire.
 
“What were you saying about the Crystal Empire vanishing?” Dew Doe asked, still looking worried and concerned.
 
“I think King Sombra has been preparing for the possibility of defeat. The time lock will make the entire empire vanish if he… oh no…” the Doctor’s eyes opened wide when he saw two flying shapes fly swiftly towards the city.
 
“No, no, no, no, no!” He ran to the door and jumped outside with the others following him. “That was the Princesses. We’re too late!”
 
“What?” Dew and Private shouted as they came up behind him, followed by Apple Core.
 
The Doctor didn’t respond; he was watching the city in the distance. Already they could see a battle commencing. Smoke rose up from the city, no doubt King Sombra. They could see large black crystal columns rise in quick succession as if trying to strike something.
 
Two flickers of light indicated where flying combatants battled the smoke and the crystal pillars. Magic shot from them, striking the darkness. More crystals rose as the battle raged on, nearly hitting what the distant audience could only assume were the Princesses.
 
No, the time pony felt numb when suddenly seeing lights gather together and were suddenly enveloped by a big ball of light. From it sprouted a rainbow that shot right through everything King Sombra was throwing at the Princesses. The beam struck something on a crystal pillar and the ponies could hear a distant howl of rage.
 
Something was thrown into the distance and again the eerie howling could be heard. The Doctor and the others had to avert their eyes the split second after as suddenly the entire city was bathed in bright light. When they could see again the empire was gone.
 
“W-wh…wha…. Foxy…?” Dew shook as she stared towards where the large crystal city had once stood.
 
“I’m sorry…” the Doctor whispered and lowered his head.
 
“What happened?” Apple Core walked few steps forward. “Where is the city?”
 
“Gone…” The Doctor almost choked on his own words. “Gone…possibly forever, it’s been locked away from both time and space.”
 
“No! NO! FOXY!” Dew screamed and collapsed to the ground in a crying heap. Private sat down next to her and gathered her up with his forelegs. The stallion was crying as well.
 
Damn you Sombra! The Doctor thought and grit his teeth, his heart aching when hearing the cries behind him.
 
Apple Core watched the grieving ponies, feeling a little lost and confused. Then she heard the telltale sound of wings flapping and looked up. Her eyes widened when seeing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna come in for a landing.
 
“Apple Core!” Celestia said with much relief, but it was short-lived as she looked at the other ponies. “Doctor?”
 
“What is the matter?” Luna asked as she approached. “Wait, where is Foxy Stripes?”
 
The Princesses frowned when the Doctor simply pointed towards where the Crystal Empire had been. They glanced back and cringed when realizing what he meant.
 
“We had intended to ask you about that. Luna got your message when she managed to contact Apple Core in her dream,” Celestia told him. “We saw your vehicle right itself up and assumed all of you were safe, so we went immediately to battle King Sombra.”
 
“Your message was that the Elements of Harmony would work. Was it not so?” Luna wondered.
 
“It was… it was,” the Doctor whispered and started to dry his tearstained cheeks. “But…”
 
The Doctor fell silent again for a moment, then started to recount what had happened - the deal Foxy Stripes had made and how it had set the rest free, then when he was back in the TARDIS how he had learned what defeating Sombra would mean.
 
“I was going to head you off at the pass, warn you… but…” the time pony couldn’t continue and hung his head.
 
Luna cringed and looked at her sister, who shared her expression. Then the Princesses walked over to where Private and Dew Doe still sat and cried.
 
“Please forgive us. We didn’t know,” Luna said as she draped her wing over the two smaller ponies. Then she drew them both in a hug. Celestia bowed her head in front of them, knowing there was little she could say to make up for the tragedy that had just happened.
 
“She had a daughter, didn’t she?” Celestia whispered gently, reaching with a hoof to dry some of Dew’s tears.
 
“Yes,” Dew Doe whispered. “She has a birthday soon.”
 
“Then please, when the Doctor takes you to your proper time, bring her to me and Luna. We will be waiting,” Celestia said and smiled gently.
 
The Doctor looked back at those words and was suddenly glad that his friends proper time was after Luna had returned from her own exile. He knew he couldn’t say anything about that, however. Time had to flow as it would.
 
“Then I better bring them back home,” he said and turned around. The time pony looked at his friends, feeling heartbroken for his failure. Luna was helping them go into the TARDIS with Celestia watching. Then he looked at Apple Core.
 
“Well this is goodbye. See told you, you aren’t worthless,” he said and allowed himself to smile a little.
 
“I guess so. Look I’m sorry about Foxy. She was obviously a decent sort,” Apple Core said and smiled back. She then walked over to him and gave him a hug.
 
“She was, she really was,” the Doctor whispered as he returned the gesture. Once they parted, he started towards his ship.
 
“Doctor?” He looked over at Celestia, who looked more serious now.
 
“Perhaps it’s better if they don’t travel anymore,” she suggested. Luna was walking out at that time and nodded when hearing what her sister said.
 
“They were already retired, your Highness. This was just supposed to be one last time before it was official,” the Doctor said. “But don’t worry, this will be the last time.”
 
Celestia and Luna nodded and watched the time pony enter the TARDIS. Soon after the door closed, it started to make a strange humming sound and began vanishing and appearing at the same time before it was gone completely.
 
“Your Highnesses?” Apple Core approached the two Princesses. “Who were those ponies?”
 
“Just old friends, Apple Core,” Celestia said and walked over to the mare. She reached with her wing to hug her agent. “Come, let’s take you home. Your family misses you.”
 
Luna took one last glance towards where the Empire used to be before Celestia activated a teleportation spell that would take them back to Equestria. The Moon Princess sighed sadly and a single tear crawled down her cheek before she, her sister and the agent were gone in a flash of light.
 
The northern waste was empty again, ruled only by the snow. Though some say an added sound now haunts the mountains further off, an enraged howl of something evil and sinister. Something that waits for its chance to return.
 
The End