Private Iceland and his brother Barricade are once again entangled in the machinations of King Sombra.
King Sombra. The lost son of Queen Rabia. The former tyrant of the Crystal Empire. He thought he was the last of his kind. He's been defeated twice, first banished for a thousand years, then shattered by the magic of the Crystal Heart, but he was still not down. He was brought back to life due to previous careful planning and through that process has learned that there is hope for his race.
After laying low to recover his former strength, King Sombra has decided that he will rebuild the empire his mother and late sister ruled. But to do that, he needs ponies, certain ponies. Ponies that can trace their ancestry back to his race.
He needs Private Iceland and Barricade and preferably their family too.
Special disclaimer (Should have been in place from the start, author apologizes: This story features somewhat heavy discussion in parts on bisexuality and features implicated M/M sexual interaction. If those kind of things make you uncomfortable, this is not a story for you.
This story is part of The Equestria Tales series.
Second story in the "Return of the Dark Ponies" story arc.
Third story in "Barricade's redemption" story arc.
Dinky and Tootsie walked into Sugarcube Corner with determination written all over their faces. The two Unicorn fillies stopped at the back of the line to the counter and waited patiently for their turn. It wasn’t a long line, mostly ponies were coming in for some coffee and something quick to bite this early in the morning.
The two fillies never changed their expression the whole time and when the line moved, the foster siblings moved almost synchronized a step or two forward. No one really paid it any mind, most ponies in Ponyville were quite used to their antics. They tended to have their way of playing and it was at least less destructive than when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were still looking for cutie marks.
Finally it was their turn and it was Pinkie Pie who was behind the counter. The pink pony didn’t even bat an eye at the serious looks on the filles, just smiled an impossibly wide smile as she cheerfully greeted them.
“Hi girls, what can I get you today, something that makes your frown go upside down?” The mare giggled.
“We have a serious business proposal for you,” Dinky stated with a no-nonsense tone of voice.
“Oooooh, what is it?” Pinkie asked, immediately intrigued and stretched over the counter, violating probably several biological facts as she did so.
“We need a party thrown,” Tootsie said, speaking just as seriously as her violet-colored sister, causing the mare to gasp as if she was shocked at the revelation.
“A birthday party,” Dinky nodded.
Pinkie blinked for a moment, then suddenly her expression became just as serious as the fillies. She grabbed the girls and pulled them behind the counter, ducking down so that she was out of sight. No one paid this any attention either, everyone was just as used to Pinkie’s antics and there were no customers waiting for service anyway.
“Whose birthday? The closest birthday I know is Bon-Bon’s, but it can’t be that one because Lyra has already booked me for that,” Pinkie whispered and furtively looked around as if she feared someone was listening in on them.
“They don’t live in Ponyville,” Dinky told her and she eased her serious expression bit as she was getting a little tired of frowning. That caused the mare to look even more intrigued.
“It’s her uncle,” Tootsie clarified, then after some hesitation added, “And her dad.”
“Uncle? Oooooh the grumpy gray unicorn who comes here sometimes with your half-sister, Coal. He’s having a birthday? You want me to plan it?” Pinkie started to become excited with each sentence, but then calmed down almost immediately and looked more puzzled. “Oh and your dad? Oh right, they are twins.”
“Yeaaah, uh, you see dad has started to become a little more uh, decent dad - he’s even apologized to mom about how he treated her and what he did later. So Coal wants to throw a little ‘one more chance’ gathering,” Dinky explained and finally grabbed a paper folder from her back and gave it to Pinkie.
“She wants to use the birthday because then at least Uncle Private will be there too and other ponies that can keep dad in line if he turns out not to be sincere,” she added while Pinkie Pie went over the contents of the folder. It was mostly notes on the likes and dislikes of Dinky’s uncle and father.
“What! How can he not like birthday parties?” Pinkie suddenly shouted loud enough to cause those in the bakery to glance over to the counter.
“That would be Uncle Private...yeah Coal warned us that he is not fond of parties or large gatherings either, so no inviting everypony in Ponyville. This is meant strictly for family and a few close friends,” the violet filly mentioned.
Pinkie Pie almost wanted to protest the very idea not to invite everyone she knew to the party, but quickly reined herself in. The mare was actually aware that not everybody liked parties and some liked them smaller while others liked them bigger. She just couldn’t help being excited to throw a party for brand new ponies and she usually tried to make those first ones really memorable and big.
She had actually met Uncle Private a few times, but he had shown an uncanny ability to be able to avoid her when Pinkie tried to talk with him. When asking Dinky’s sister, Coal about it, the filly had mentioned that he had years of experience dodging another mare, so he probably just treated it as the same thing. He was very solitary, liked his alone times and absolutely no hugging.
Yet show him a plate of pancakes and he’s all over those like me over parties. Pinkie chuckled as she recalled how to foil the stallion’s elusiveness - present him with pancakes and he will tolerate your presence for a little while. Pinkie’s aim was, of course, just to gain a new friend and after the debacle she made of herself when Cranky moved to Ponyville, she tried to be more careful how to approach it.
Whether Private considered her a friend at this moment was still up in air, but Pinkie considered it a step in the right direction that the unicorn came over if she offered pancakes.
Alright, so this party needs to be planned accordingly, maybe less attention on Private and more on Dinky’s dad, uh what’s his name, oh there it is, Barricade… oh, it’s Barricade. Pinkie’s hair almost deflated when confirming who the dad was. She looked hesitantly at the two fillies.
“I forgot your dad is Barricade,” she said and now sported a very uncharacteristic frown. “I heard from Applejack that he was turning around now. Is that true?”
“He showed up out of the blue for the summer play we set up,” Tootsie pointed out. Dinky nodded.
“And like I said, he’s been apologizing to just about everypony he’s hurt - even mom,” the violet filly added. Then she noted the unusual sad expression on the mare. “Something wrong?”
“He hasn’t apologized to me,” Pinkie Pie sighed, causing the fillies to cringe as they realized that Barricade had in fact lived in Ponyville for a short while.
“Uh maybe he will at the party?” Dinky suggested though she looked uncertain.
“What did he do?” Tootsie asked and was poked in the side by her sister and given a glare.
“Tootsie, it could be too personal,” her sister whispered sharply.
“No, no it’s alright, he was just a little mean when we first met. I just avoided him after that,” Pinkie said and started to smile again.
“Besides it was nothing compared to what he did to your mom and like you said, maybe he’ll do it at the party. So when do you need it done?” The mare was already in higher spirits again.
“Next weekend, if it’s possible. You have the names of the ponies that should be invited in the folder,” Dinky said and pointed at it.
Pinkie nodded, already scanning every piece of paper in there, her brain already planning how to do this. She blinked, though, when seeing some of the names and looked at the fillies, surprised.
“Wait...Flash Sentry? Shining Armor? Cadance? They know your dad and uncle?” she blinked and then realized that Twilight’s name was on the list as well.
“Yeah, Coal said she met them in the Crystal Empire a while back. Her aunt Dew told us it was very critical that they be present, or at least told that both dad and Uncle Private would be in the same area,” Dinky shrugged, not knowing why and figured Coal’s family had made friends with them in the empire.
Pinkie Pie nodded and figured that had to be it. Having now gone over the list, she assured the fillies that everything would be ready by the weekend. With their job done, the sister rushed out of the bakery, leaving the mare behind who was, soon distracted by more customers arriving to buy treats.
Twilight Sparkle concentrated hard as she continued to go through the books on the table in front of her. After the recent takeover attempt by the changelings, she had become immensely interested in the rock Chrysalis’s throne had been made from. She was now scouring for more possible information on it. Sadly it was very lacking - even Thorax had been unable to say too much about it, just that the changelings had always had it in their kingdom.
The Princess’s main worry was that if there were more of those rocks. She knew a few parties that would be too interested in it as it was clearly a very effective way to nullify even Discord and the celestial sisters.
However, no matter what books she poured through, no more information could be found. The alicorn frowned, wondering if she should take another trip to the library in the castle of the two sisters. There were still a lot of books in there waiting to be read, sorted and catalogued.
Twilight was so distracted by her research she barely noticed that Pinkie Pie came barreling into the castle library. The alicorn yelped when she was suddenly grabbed in a hug by the other mare.
“Pinkie!” Twilight put a hoof over her chest, but she didn’t glare or otherwise scold her friend, knowing this was just one of her many ways to greet those she knew and were familiar enough with her. It hadn’t changed the fact, however, that this had startled her.
“Hi Twilight,” Pinkie greeted cheerfully and let go of the princess. Then out of her mane she produced an envelope. “Here is a party invitation for you.”
“Oh really, I would tell you to just use Spike next time to deliver it, but I have a feeling you would not find that as fun,” Twilight chuckled and took the envelope using her magic. “So who is having a party?”
“Dinky’s uncle and dad. She asked me to throw it. You were on in the invite, and your brother and Cadance and that guard Flash Sentry…” Pinkie started to count and didn’t notice that the alicorn’s eyes bulged out in shock when hearing who the party was for.
Twilight quickly opened the envelope and read the card while her friend continued to count vocally who was invited to the party, but this was just a standard invitation. She put the card on the table and using both front hooves grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders and stared right at her.
“Pinkie, this is very important. Where will the party be held?” she asked in a dead serious tone.
“Oh in Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said. She didn’t look concerned over how serious her friend had suddenly become.
“Can you move it to the castle, or better yet, to the Crystal Empire?” Twilight asked and glanced around, almost as if she was worried that someone was listening in on them.
“Uh, well I suppose we could move it to the castle, but we would have to delay it if we move it to the Crystal Empire and Dinky and Tootsie were very adamant that this be held next weekend,” Pinkie said, it now registering with her how agitated the alicorn looked.
“Right, move the party to the castle. Have you already sent out the invitations to the others?” she asked.
“No, I started with you. Then I was going to mail the ones that need to go to the Crystal Empire, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Trottingham…” Pinkie raised an eyebrow when Twilight used her magic to close her muzzle for a second.
“I will handle the invitations to the Crystal Empire, it is critically important that it is worded right. You mail the other invitations as is,” Twilight said, her voice and tone becoming more and more serious.
“Twilight… what’s going on?” Pinkie Pie could now see that something was not right.
“Remember when I told you girls about the incident in the Crystal Empire a while back? Before the Equestria games?” the alicorn’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Uuhh…” the pink pony’s response told the princess that she did in fact not remember.
Twilight wasn’t surprised, although the incident hadn’t been covered up, it just hadn’t been widely spoken about. It had happened north in the Crystal Empire and since then, aside from a few possible sightings, nothing more had happened. Then Tirek had attacked, Starlight Glimmer next and then there was the changeling take over.
“Pinkie, you don’t remember when I told you girls about King Sombra’s return?” Twilight clarified what she meant.
“Oooooh, right. That,” Pinkie now remembered Twilight telling them about her trip to the Crystal Empire with Spike. “But nothing more has happened after that, at least he hasn’t tried anything.”
“As far as we know. We think King Sombra is still laying low. However, we know two ponies that are of interest to him; Private Iceland and his brother Barricade,” Twilight said and shook her head sadly. “We’ve kept a discreet watch on them. So far nothing has happened - yet.”
“But you’re worried something will happen at the party?” Pinkie blinked as it finally hit her why her friend was so worried.
“Their family knows we are watching them and to have us around if they are going to be gathering together. That’s why my brother and I and even Cadance are on the invite list to the party. We don’t want to take any chances. King Sombra isn’t stupid - he’s clearly interested in ponies like Private Iceland and Barricade. A large gathering of them might just attract his attention enough to finally show himself,” Twilight responded, but caused Pinkie to become confused again.
“Uh what do you mean ‘ponies like them’?” she asked.
“Sorry. Private and Barricade have ancestry with the race of ponies that King Sombra is a member of - dark ponies. So do both their mother and father and all of Barricade’s children, be it Dinky or Coal or any other foal Barricade has,” Twilight said. “That’s what I meant by King Sombra not being stupid. He’ll know just about everypony coming to this party that’s blood related to Barricade and Private will have dark pony ancestry.”
Fillydelphia
“Okay, one more time!” Foxy Stripes declared and shoved forward as hard as she could.
The mostly maroon mare grunted when what she was pushing barely budged. Narrowing her eyes, she used her white right hoof to comb back her navy blue mane and proceeded to headbutt the living front door obstruction. There was a grunt from the stallion she was pushing, but he still didn’t move.
Private Iceland stood firm, both front hooves on the doorframes and his hind hooves dug into floor. The dark gray stallion looked just as determined as the mare behind him.
“Come on, Private, don’t be such a foal about this,” Dew Doe sighed. The blue pegasus with the candy cane-colored mane stood outside, watching the process. Beside her was Foxy’s daughter, Coal. The black filly was rolling her eyes at her uncle.
“I told you we shouldn’t have mentioned this was a birthday party,” she reminded the adults.
“Your nieces are throwing this party. YOU ARE GOING!” Foxy growled and started to really push. She was only slightly smaller than Private, but her strength usually rivaled stallions her size. However, her daughter’s uncle was being especially stubborn right now.
“I’m NOT going to a birthday party!” Private growled and tried to hold even firmer to the doorframe.
“Have you tried asking him?” Dew looked at Coal, who snorted at the suggestion.
“You know he turns immune to cute niece doe eyes when his birthday is brought up,” Coal grunted, though deep down she was in giggles. She always did find it amusing how much Private overreacted when his family tried to throw him any kind of a bash.
Dew Doe rubbed her muzzle as she nodded. Her niece was correct. When Private got to this point of stubbornness, very little could move him. It was one of the rare times even pancakes wouldn’t lure him out.
“I hope nopony is watching, Dew, because this must look so wrong from your perspective,” Foxy said suddenly out of the blue as the mare had grabbed a hold of Private’s barrel with her hooves and was pushing with all her might.
“What the heck are you…” Private started but fell silent when he realized what the pegasus was on about. “FOXY!”
The stallion forgot himself in the indignity. His grip loosened as he attempted to turn a little to glare at the mare. Considering Foxy was still pushing at that moment, he immediately lost it and was thrown out to the front step. The mare was prepared for it and immediately let go, standing now triumphantly in the doorframe.
“And once again, my dirty mind has saved the day.” Foxy Stripes placed a hoof on her chest, puffing it up and put on a pretense smug expression.
“I don’t get it.” Coal tilted her head.
Dew Doe shook her head over her sister and walked over to where Private lay flat on the door steps, grumbling and his eyes glaring back towards the maroon pegasus. His dark blonde mane looked even messier than usual, considering it was seldom tidy at all.
“Private, we made sure it is a small gathering, family and close friends only. Are you telling me you can’t do this for Dinky and Coal?” Dew looked down at the unicorn.
“What if he shows up?” Private muttered and his eyes drifted downwards.
“Who, Barricade? Well, it’s for him too,” Foxy shrugged.
“Uh no, Foxy, he means a certain back-from-the-dead-king,” Dew Doe clarified. Her sister grinned sheepishly in response. The blue mare looked down at Private.
“And that is why Princess Twilight arranged for the party to be at her castle. There will also be other security precautions,” she explained to him and reached out to gently caress Private on the head. “He won’t get you. We won’t allow it.”
“Don’t think of it as a birthday party, Uncle Private. Think of it as ‘let’s give dad one more chance’… uh gathering,” Coal offered. She smiled innocently when her uncle gave her an unimpressed glance.
“Ugh, fine,” the unicorn finally relented and started to rise. Dew Doe stepped back as he did. He gave the adult mares one final glare. “But I’m going under protest.”
“That’s good enough. Now one more thing,” Dew Doe said with a nod and stepped closer again.
Private arched his brow, not quite understanding what the blue pegasus meant. Then he noticed the brush that was suddenly in her hoof. His face fell. He looked at the grinning face of the mare.
“Oh no,” he whispered looking alarmed. Then in a flash he bolted with Dew flying hot on his heels.
“Now why didn’t we just do that? He always runs when Dew shows up with a brush,” Foxy sighed and shook her head in dismay.
“Well, they are running in the direction of the train station, at least,” her daughter pointed out, barely able to hold in the giggles. The brushie chase was a time-honored tradition in the house.
“Yeah, let’s make sure Private hops on the right train. He might try to get on the Vanhoover train to get as far away as possible,” Foxy muttered. After making sure the house was locked, she and Coal trotted off after them. They both giggled when hearing a loud indignant shout.
“GET THAT THING AWAY FROM MEEEE!!!!”
End chapter 1
Chapter 2. Just a little nervous to go back there.
Twilight opened the doors to her castle and was greeted by Rainbow Dash who had knocked just few moments earlier. The princess quickly stepped out as she cheerfully greeted her friend, who did likewise.
“So what’s the haps?” The rainbow pegasus inquired curiously.
“Well, if you recall the meeting yesterday, Dinky and her sisters are throwing a birthday party here in the castle for their dad and uncle. Like I you told yesterday, this family may or may not be under the scrutiny of an old foe,” Twilight explained, occasionally glancing around.
Rainbow Dash nodded. Yesterday Twilight had summoned all her friends that consisted of the Elements of Harmony and told them about Dinky’s extended family, the party and who was definitely not on the guest list.
“Pinkie and I will be present at the party, Applejack and Rarity will be in Ponyville keeping an eye on things there, Fluttershy is going to be monitoring the edge of Everfree Forest since she lives so close to it. I need you to be on patrol in the sky around the castle,” the alicorn then told her friend.
“Can do that easily enough, but I have to say, you are really nervous about this,” Rainbow noted the uneasiness in her friend.
“I can’t help it. King Sombra has been utterly silent since he was brought back to life. Aside from unconfirmed sightings here and there...nothing. I was really nervous when Barricade suddenly showed up in Ponyville to see Dinky and Tootsie’s summer play because his brother was there as well. Thankfully nothing happened, but it was just the kind of opportunity Sombra would need,” Twilight said with a small sigh.
“Now the entire family will be here. I’m pretty sure King Sombra knows about them considering how long he occupied Private Iceland’s head. I just have this nagging feeling that Sombra will show up. This is an opportunity he just can’t miss.”
“Don’t sweat it, Twilight. I’ll keep an eye on things up there. You and Pinkie just keep the party going,” Rainbow Dash assured the alicorn, patted her on the back before shooting skywards. Twilight soon saw her standing watch on a cloud high up in the air.
“Just remember, if he shows up, don’t engage him alone. Go get me!” Twilight called and rolled her eyes when seeing the dismissive wave from her friend.
When Twilight looked down, she saw Dinky, Tootsie and Derpy approaching the castle. The princess smiled and shoved her nervousness to the side. She stepped down from the front porch and walked over to meet them.
“Hey, Derpy, girls. Are you here to help Pinkie and Spike prepare?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m not sure who will arrive first. Dew and Foxy said they would probably struggle a little to get Private out here - I have no idea about Barricade. Mirage Rock and Hard Shovel did forewarn that they might be delayed,” the gray pegasus explained to her.
“Uncle Private, doesn’t like birthday parties,” Dinky explained when Twilight looked confused that Dew and Foxy would struggle to get Private here. “At least that’s what Coal told us.”
“I see. Well go right in. I’m just going to go into town for a little bit. I’ll be right back. Pinkie and Spike are in the map room. I did ask Starlight to attend the party...you think that’s okay?” Twilight asked, realizing she probably should have asked about that much sooner.
“Sure, it’s only one additional pony,” Derpy nodded then herded her daughters into the castle.
Barricade stared out of the window lost in thought. The dark gray unicorn was feeling strange and empty. Outside the window were the other apartment buildings on the street. Hoofington was already starting to look better since actual efforts were being made to cleanup and repair.
The stallion didn’t really see it at the moment. His thoughts were in the past, his mind kept going back to when he went to Ponyville with Cara and Barbell at the prodding of Applejack and apologized to everyone; his daughters, their mothers, Private and a whole lot of others. Yet despite the apologies, he wasn’t really sure much had changed.
He could see the reservation in Foxy and Derpy, the indifference in Dew. Dinky and Coal though, they had looked stunned, stunned that their father had actually showed up for something they were doing. He remembered hugging them and they saying, “Alright, one more time.”
Now they were throwing him and his brother Private a birthday party. In Ponyville of all places. He had some reservation about that idea, but didn’t have the heart to disappoint the girls. He didn’t want to disappoint them anymore. Barricade just wished there was some sign that this trip would be worth it.
“Barri?” someone addressed him. This shook him out of his thoughts and he looked over to the entrance of his living room. His mother, Mirage Rock stood there. The bluish gray unicorn mare was smiling at him. Barricade had to admit he felt it was weird. She hadn’t smiled like that towards him for years.
“Yeah, what is it, mom?” he asked and turned around.
“It’s time to go or we’ll miss the train. Your father has already gone downstairs. Cara is getting ready,” she told him.
Oh boy, Barricade swallowed something, then gave a half-hearted smirk before nodding. “Coming.”
Barricade wasn’t sure what to think of the fact that his parents had come here to accompany him and Cara to Ponyville. The stallion wondered if they had been sent to ensure he did in fact come. As he left the living room with his mother, he spotted his oldest daughter Cara from the bedrooms.
“Did you remember the packages?” he asked the young pegasus.
“Yeah. They’re in my bag,” the dark grayish brown filly nodded and patted the saddlebag hanging on her side.
“Barbell, we’re leaving,” Barricade then called. From the kitchen came a grayish opal earth mare.
“Alright then. Have fun. Don’t cause any trouble,” Barbell teased with a smirk.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Barricade snorted, but did grin at her.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Mirage asked.
“I would, but dad is sick and with Barricade going, I need to watch over the gym, so Blue can stay with him. Don’t worry about me, Mirage.” Barbell waved a hoof dismissively.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well, I do hope he gets better,” the older mare said sympathetically. Barbell nodded her thanks. The two unicorns and one pegasus filly then left the apartment after saying goodbye.
Mirage and Barricade had to walk down to the ground floor, but Cara zipped down using her wings. She met her grandfather, Hard Shovel standing outside. The older unicorn glanced over when the filly arrived.
“They are coming, grandpa,” Cara announced and adjusted the bag.
“That’s good. We aren’t late, but better to arrive too early than too late,” the dark tangeloish gray stallion said with a chuckle. He reached to pat his granddaughter on the head. “You’ve grown so much since we last saw you.”
“Wish it were more. Ponies still think I’m twelve,” the filly grumbled. She was in her teens now and even with a cutie mark - a screwdriver and a wrench forming an X on her flank, she could still pass as a pre-teen filly.
“Don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up.” Her grandfather smiled, then looked over to the doorway as Barricade and Mirage came through it. He noted that his son looked absent-minded. “Are you alright, Barricade?”
“What? Oh sure, just uh… lost in thought,” Barricade responded to his father, not really wanting to elaborate further.
“Hope you don’t mind that we came to accompany you to the party,” Hard Shovel said as the four ponies started walking down the street. “Your mother and I just were so curious to see how much had changed since we heard you came unexpectedly to Ponyville to see your daughters’ summer play they were performing.”
“Yeah, sure it’s okay,” his son simply responded with a nod. He glanced at his parents - they three were the only ones walking right now. Cara had taken to the air and was flying above them. “You heard what happened?”
“Admittingly only the abridged version, don’t worry about the details, son, you’ll tell us when you’re ready,” his father said. Mirage nodded in agreement with her husband. “We’re just glad you are doing the right thing now.”
Yeah, Barricade thought, only nodding in response.
“Private is recovering well from the possession ordeal. Dew Doe told us he’s even stopped having nightmares and eyeing the shadows fearfully,” Mirage informed him.
“Good.” Barricade recalled his brother looking more like his normal self when they met in Ponyville. Hopefully it will stay that way.
“Barricade, are you sure you’re all right?” His mother looked at him more critically.
“Just a little nervous to go back there,” her son responded with a shrug.
Mirage looked at Hard Shovel, who shared her concerned expression. It hadn’t really gone past them that their more talkative son was being unusually silent and short-answered, however, they both let it be for now.
Well, at least we are all meeting together as a family, the old mare thought, smiling a little. It’s been so long since that’s happened.
“We’re heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!” Foxy Stripes announced loudly as she, Dew, Coal and Private entered Twilight’s castle. They were greeted by Spike.
“Hey guys. Twilight is still out, but Pinkie is preparing the party in the map room. Derpy and her daughters are there, too,” the dragon told them. His arms were full of dishes. “Just follow me.”
“Ooh we’re the first.” Coal jumped up and down and then trotted after Spike, followed by her mother, aunt and uncle.
“Yeah, despite certain stubborn parties,” Foxy chuckled and just grinned when Private gave her a glare. His mane and tail were neatly brushed for once - Dew had caught up with him before they had gotten to the train station.
“Here, Spike, let me help you with that,” a light purple unicorn appeared from a side entrance. Using her magic, she picked up some of the dishes that the dragon was holding.
“Thanks, oh right. Starlight Glimmer, those are Dew Doe, Foxy Stripes, her daughter Coal and one half of the twins we are holding the party for, Private uuh Icefrost?” The dragon gestured to the newly arrived.
“Private Iceland. Just call me Private,” the unicorn stallion grunted.
“Nice to meet you and happy birthday,” Starlight greeted. She arched her brow a little when just receiving a grunt in response.
“Private doesn’t talk much. That’s his version of ‘thanks’,” Dew Doe quickly explained. Foxy grinned and Coal giggled.
“Starlight is going to help Twilight to keep an eye on things during the party,” Spike explained as the group continued to walk towards the entrance of the map room.
“Right, say no more.” Dew Doe quickly nodded. She glanced at Private and could notice faint signs on his body language that he had been a little uncomfortable about the unfortunate reminder for the need of security.
They entered the map room and could see the preparations were in full swing. Derpy was up in the air, fastening balloons. There was big banner that said, “Happy Birthday Private and Barricade.” Dinky and Tootsie were running around putting up streamers, but the fillies stopped when seeing the newly arrived. They immediately charged for them.
“Coal!” Dinky shouted as she barreled towards her half-sister and the two clamped in a hug, Tootsie joined the hugging as well.
“Sisters!” Coal laughed, even if Tootsie was only Dinky’s foster sister, the three girls regarded each other as siblings.
“Hi!” Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared in front of everyone and before Dew, Foxy or Coal could even register it, the pink pony had crowned each of them with party hats. She stopped short, however, when faced with Private, who was already taking two steps backwards.
“Wanna hat, Private?” Pinkie smiled wide and slowly offered a hat to him. Private eyed it for a moment as if it was a ticking bomb, but then he spotted his nieces who were all watching and waiting with eager smiles. Sighing in surrender, the unicorn accepted the hat.
“Happy Birthday!” Pinkie Pie then congratulated him and had to restrain herself from hugging the stallion, remembering that he was not one for hugs. She then rushed off to continue preparing everything.
“Happy Birthday, Uncle Private,” Dinky moved over to hug him - that one he readily accepted without any complaints...family and close friends were the only exception to the no-hugging rule.
Private did find himself alone though with the fillies. Dew and Foxy had flown off to greet Derpy, who had waved to them earlier. Starlight and Spike had already continued to assist Pinkie, though by the looks of things, there wasn’t much left to do.
“Uncle Private, do you know if dad will come?” Dinky asked. There was a mild hint of worry in her face.
“Yes, he will.” Private didn’t even hesitate to answer this. He remembered when Barricade so unexpectedly showed up in Ponyville and started to apologize once confronted. He knew his brother well and knew when he meant it. Barricade had meant each and every word, even if the mares had been somewhat skeptical.
Private, however, for the first time in a long while, was certain about his twin. That had been the Barricade he had once known so long ago, the one the others had never really truly met. That was the Barricade who had stuck by him during his ordeal when possessed by King Sombra.
“Dinky,” he then said and lowered his head a little to look the filly straight in the eyes. “He’s changed. He is going to be a real dad now.”
“Real dad? You can’t be talking about me, Private,” a voice addressed them from behind. Looking over revealed Barricade, Cara, Mirage Rock, Hard Shovel and Twilight. His twin brother was smirking.
“Dad!” Coal and Dinky actually cried out in excitement - they just couldn’t help it. For the first time ever, Barricade had come when invited. They rushed over to hug him.
“Hey, my little princesses.” Their dad returned the hugs.
“Time Turner told me that the Manehattan train was coming, so I went there to wait to see if he came on that one since I knew Barricade didn’t know his way to the castle, then again it towers over rest of Ponyville, so it is kind of obvious where it is,” Twilight said as she watched the reunion. Mirage and Hard Shovel were also greeting their youngest granddaughters, even Tootsie, who was feeling a little left out since Barricade wasn’t her father.
Private just nodded as he turned around. He hugged his mother and father before he was suddenly glomped by Cara. For the first time this day, he smiled when greeted by his oldest niece.
“You’re getting too big. Stop growing,” he teased when they let go of each other.
“Never!” the teen shouted, giving her uncle a glare. Private chuckled at the response.
The usually grumpy unicorn glanced back when hearing soft thuds. Derpy, Foxy and Dew Doe had landed behind him. All three of them were watching Barricade with some reservation. Pinkie Pie appeared as well, looking oddly serious as she observed the newly arrived twin brother.
“Hello Barricade,” she greeted. Slowly she produced a party hat and offered it. “Want a hat?”
“Uh, thanks, Pinkie Pie wasn’t it?” Barricade looked a little more nervous now as he noticed the three pegasi mares and the earth pony. He accepted the hat.
“Yes,” the party planner nodded. She looked like she was waiting.
“Uh dad, we told Pinkie that you would maybe apologize to her at the party,” Dinky informed him with an innocent grin.
“Apologize?” Barricade looked at his daughter then at Pinkie, it took a moment for his dusty memory to kick in. “Oh right… when I came here the first time. I was uh, less than receptive to your welcome, wasn’t I?”
“You told me to get lost and called me mean names,” Pinkie reminded him. “And you ruined a perfectly good welcome cake.”
“Then I’m sorry. I was a jerk - a huge one. I was… not in a really… no, I had no excuse. I was angry and took it out on ponies who didn’t deserve it,” the stallion apologized, shaking his head.
“All’s forgiven!” Pinkie Pie brightened up in an instant. She almost went to hug Barricade when remembering the no-hugging rule for his brother. Staying on the safe side, she just held out her legs. “Hugs?”
“Uh sure?” Barricade blinked at the sudden change in attitude and was promptly grabbed in a hug. He thanked his gym training for not being crushed by the earth mare.
Twilight chuckled while watching this scene unfold. She had been mildly worried when Pinkie had acted so serious suddenly and wondered if the party was going south, simply because Barricade had clearly angered many ponies in the past. However, all was good and soon her pink friend was bouncing off to finish the decorations.
The princess then glanced over where the pegasi mares stood and noted that all three of them looked surprised that Barricade had apologized. She couldn’t help but notice that Derpy didn’t look all too happy that her daughter’s father had actually shown up. Foxy looked skeptical and Dew had gone to greet Mirage and Hard Shovel and seemed to be doing her best now to just forget that Barricade was there.
Can’t blame them I suppose, hopefully though we can all remain civil. Barricade is clearly trying by the looks of it. Let’s hope it continues, she thought and looked over to the stallion who was motioning for Cara to come over.
“I want to start it here, but from now on any presents I have for you. I will be delivering in person,” Barricade addressed Dinky and Coal. He opened the saddlebag that Cara still had on and fished three packages out. “And I didn’t forget Tootsie. She’s maybe not my daughter, but she is your sister, Dinky.”
The young fillies blinked when all three of them were each given a present. They quickly tore through the wrapping to find identical boxes, opening them revealed small tiaras. Coal, Dinky and Tootsie gasped before grabbing them up and placing them on their heads.
“Hey wait a minute,” Tootsie blinked as the awe over the present was over. She eyed Barricade. “It’s your birthday, you’re the one who is supposed to get the presents.”
“Well okay then, I’ll just take these back then and return them.” Barricade smirked and seemed ready to grab all three tiaras away with his magic.
“NOOOO!” both Dinky and Coal shouted and covered their new headwear with their hooves.
“Thanks dad,” they then said when nothing happened, as did Tootsie.
“Excuse me a moment,” Twilight could hear a knock at the front door and departed the map room.
Barricade was soon dragged off by his youngest daughters plus Tootsie. Cara followed, wanting to see what they were up to now. Private in the meantime turned to the pegasi mares.
“I know it is difficult to believe,” he said. “and we are not asking you to just suddenly like him.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Derpy said before flying back up to finish her part in the decoration. Foxy followed the gray pegasus to help.
Private sighed and looked at his parents, who were smiling now more solemnly. This had gone better than they had hoped - it could have been a lot worse. Then the unicorn noticed Dew Doe who was standing by him.
“He really hurt Derpy with that false claim and then scaring her and the rest of us a while back. I don’t think she is ready to forgive him,” she told them.
“We understand, Dew. We are not asking them to just forgive and forget,” Mirage said and walked closer, followed by her husband.
“Let’s just go and enjoy the party. It should be starting soon,” Hard Shovel suggested. The four of them nodded and walked closer to the table.
Twilight opened the front doors of the castle, wondering who was knocking. Outside stood Flash Sentry. The sergeant bowed when the princess opened the doors fully.
“Oh, Flash Sentry, I take it that since only you are here, my brother and Cadance are not coming?” the alicorn asked, feeling mildly dejected. She had rather hoped they would have been able to make it and beef up the security even more.
“They send their regards, Your Highness,” Flash Sentry said and produced a letter from his saddlebag and gave it to her. “They were just too busy to come, but they did send me.”
“Please, call me Twilight,” the princess said and allowed the guard to enter the castle. She had never really took to being addressed by titles and she considered Flash a friend, so saw no need for formalities. She took a moment to look over the letter, but it was just a note from Cadance, expressing her regret for not being able to make it.
Once Flash was inside, Twilight closed the doors and turned to the orange pegasus. There were a few things they needed to go over before going to the map room where the party was.
“Flash, have there been any more sightings?” she asked, carefully glancing towards the door leading to the party. Thankfully the door was closed and no sign of anyone trying to peek out.
“Not for a while,” Flash Sentry said and produced a folder out of the saddlebag and gave it to her. “The yaks rescued a few mountain goats driven mad with fear. The goats spoke of dark evil shadows, but it was all very vague. Since then, everything has been silent in the north.”
Twilight frowned as she opened the folder with her magic and went through the papers in it. It really didn’t tell her anything she didn’t know already. Several vague sightings all over, especially in northern Equestria. Various creatures found driven mad with fear, and sometimes plain dead from heart attacks, suspected to have been induced from something that scared them really badly.
The princess had noted one thing about these sightings, though - the majority of them had happened in the north. She suspected that’s where Sombra had mainly been hiding, but any search parties Princess Celestia sent found nothing and they could only go so far north before encountering mountain goat territory and they were even more territorial than the yaks.
Then there was the distant nation of Artica, home of mountain ponies who downright hated Equestria and it was too dangerous for any Equestrian pony to venture there. If King Sombra was hiding around these areas, he had picked a perfect place to lay low.
“Well, it’s the same here in the south. The last possible sighting was weeks ago. We found some zebras who came fleeing from the west, speaking vaguely about some dark terror, but were too scared to speak any more of it,” Twilight sighed. She did not like it how silent King Sombra had become and they still hadn’t found him.
“You think he’s planning something?” Flash wondered. He had noticed how nervous the princess looked.
“I can’t shake the feeling. Even if the sightings were vague and sometimes even unconfirmed, they were regular enough that we suspected King Sombra was on the move, or at least had to venture out of his hole to fuel his dark magic,” she said and started to slowly walk towards the map room with Flash Sentry following.
“But everything going totally silent - that makes me more and more worried that for whatever he’s planning, he’s ready. The question is, when will he strike? Considering his interest in Private Iceland and Barricade, this party would be a perfect opportunity for him to attempt to snatch them,” the princess continued and stopped when they were in front of the door. She turned to face the sergeant.
“Flash, this is supposed to be a happy occasion. This is not just a birthday party, it’s a family gathering that hasn’t happened in years. Barricade is clearly trying to make amends, even brought presents for his daughters. So our job is to make sure it continues to be exactly that. Keep your eyes and ears sharp, but be discreet, don’t draw too much attention to it that you are here for security,” she instructed him.
Flash Sentry nodded that he understood and saluted. Twilight resumed her smile and opened the door. The two ponies walked in to join the party that was now in process. Pinkie Pie had already put on music and some of the ponies were already enjoying some of the food.
Coal broke away for a moment from her sisters to go greet the newly arrived pegasus, remembering him from the Crystal Empire. Flash Sentry was himself glad to meet the filly again and returned the hug from her.
Although looking dark and foreboding, the edge of the Everfree Forest looked very peaceful. Even so, the yellow pegasus that was trotting nearby didn’t venture too close to it. She was content on staying on the meadow that wasn’t too far away from her cottage. Behind her hopped a white bunny.
“Don’t go too close, Angel Bunny. We are only supposed to keep an eye on the forest, not go into it,” Fluttershy cautioned the rabbit who rolled his eyes. This was probably the third time she had warned him. She just couldn’t help it, knowing too well how independent and willful her pet was.
Fluttershy was also using the opportunity to check on some of her animal friends living around. Her saddlebags were loaded with treats she wanted to give them. She had already given a local squirrel family some acorns and was now heading to a nearby creek where she knew of some moles.
The pegasus was still a little worried. Twilight had really stressed to her how important it was that she kept an eye on the forest. It was a good place to go unnoticed at the outer edges of Ponyville. Fluttershy really hoped though nothing would come - she could still remember that big, scary shadow-like smoke when the pegasus and her friends had first gone to the Crystal Empire.
“Oh hello there, little friend.” Fluttershy smiled when a sparrow started fluttering in front her. It chirped a little in a greeting. The pegasus reached into her bag and brought out a good scoop of seeds and put it on the ground. The bird landed and started to happily peck at it.
“Now don’t eat too fast or you’ll get a tummy ache,” she warned gently.
Angel Bunny sighed as he watched Fluttershy continue to talk with the bird. He was bored, wanted to run and play, but the rabbit had a feeling he better stick with the pegasus. He started to look impatiently around, wondering if they would be at this all day. Suddenly out of the ground in front him erupted a gopher. It started to squeak excitedly at him, looking alarmed. The rabbit gasped and immediately jumped over to Flutteshy and started pulling at her tail.
“Angel, it’s not polite to interrupt like that.” Fluttershy turned her head to look at the rabbit who was pointing at the gopher. The pegasus turned around when hearing the squeaks from the underground animal. “What? Please, sir, speak a little slower.”
The gopher took a moment to calm himself down before resuming his squeaks, but now slightly slower, all the while he pointed in a direction further away on the meadow.
“Oh my, how many?” Fluttershy asked alarmed, her eyes opened wider. “Oh dear, can you show me?”
The gopher pulled himself out of the hole and started running, the pegasus grabbed Angel and took to the air to follow the animal. She cringed a little when seeing their direction would take them even closer to Everfree, but her assistance was needed and she could never turn a blind eye to an animal in need.
Oh dear, Fluttershy didn’t like it when the gopher ran straight into the forest. Taking a deep breath she plunged in after him. Thankfully they didn’t go too far. They almost immediately got into a clearing and what she saw made her gasp in horror.
Strewn around were many animals in varying state of distress. Some looked seriously ill while others were wounded. A beaver looked like he had been in a big fight, a racoon was throwing up, a crow had both wings broken, to name a few.
“Oh goodness, what happened?” Fluttershy asked as she landed. The mare put Angel down and went straight to a snake that looked like something had tried cutting it. The pegasus cringed when all the animals started to chatter at once, making it impossible for even her to figure out who was saying what.
“Please, please, not all at once,” she pleaded as she looked disheartened at all the injured and sick animals. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Oh my, what could have done all this?”
While Fluttershy started tending to the animals, after ordering Angel to run to her cottage for her med-kit, she failed to notice a pair of red eyes staring at her from the shadows. Slowly a wicked grin formed under them.
“Yes, Fluttershy. Show them your gentle, tender care,” a dark voice whispered and slowly the eyes and the grin faded away.
“Apple Bloom, keep an eye on the stand, Ah have to go to the little filly’s room,” Applejack called to her sister who was standing nearby, trying to entice ponies to buy apples from their stand.
“Sure thing, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said and quickly jumped behind the stand.
Applejack trotted away and to the back of a few houses where she knew the outhouses in this area were kept. So far she hadn’t seen anything suspicious. She noticed Rainbow Dash up in the clouds close to the castle, but the rainbow pegasus had shown no sign of trouble.
The farm pony quickly entered the nearest outhouse and went about her business. She hadn’t been there long though when there was a knock.
“It’s occupied,” she called. “Plenty of others nearby.”
Hearing nothing else, Applejack paid it no more mind. Although she was supposed to keep an eye out for trouble, part of her mind was more on farming business. She knew they had to plow a new field soon and they needed to plant few more apple trees. There was another knock on the door.
“Oh, come on, they can’t all be occupied,” she called. She noted that something big was in front of the outhouse from what little she could see through the hole on the door.
“Fine, fine I’m almost done,” she grunted and rose up. The mare put a hoof on the door to open it, but it refused to budge.
What the? Applejack tried to push hard, but nothing happened. “Hey, you out there, the door is stuck. Can ya help me?”
Applejack started when an eye was suddenly pressed up against the hole on the door. It was red, intent, the pupil was slit and there was a green glow surrounding it.
“What in tarnation?” the farm-pony whispered, shrinking back as she could in the cramped enclosed space. Then she noticed black smoke pouring in. There was soft yet dark, cruel laughter from the outside.
Before Applejack could think of crying out for help the smoke filled up the entire outhouse. When it cleared the orange earth pony was encased in dark crystal that then vanished in a puff of smoke. The now empty outhouse opened, but nothing was outside. Nobody noticed a sliver of shadow sliding away, a faint echo of cruel laughter coming from it.
Rarity was busy. Although she had promised Twilight to keep an eye out for trouble, the fashionista had dresses she needed to finish for clients. She did make a point though to occasionally look out the windows in her work room, but so far everything looked peaceful and quiet.
“Hmm, this needs something,” she mused to herself as the unicorn looked over the blue dress she was working on.
“Oh, of course, silly me. I forgot she wanted some purple ribbons.” Rarity turned her head to one of her many supply chests and pulled out a purple ribbon roll. She went immediately to work adding them in appropriate places.
Now, if I could just get the hemline to look just right, she was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice that all her windows were darkening.
“Oh, now where did I put the gems… is it just me or is it getting dark in here?” Rarity looked up, finally noticing that the light in the room was much dimmer. Then it was completely dark in the room.
Rarity frowned and enabled a light spell on her horn. She didn’t like this one bit. It didn’t feel natural. Then the unicorn noticed that the blackness seemed to be moving, like dark smoke, but she didn’t smell anything.
“What’s going on?” she whispered, getting a little scared. The light spell barely illuminated her and the mannequin that held up the dress she was working on. She yelped and jumped back when the featureless pony head suddenly turned towards her.
The unicorn froze when the mannequin suddenly sprouted red, evil looking eyes, staring right at her. The muzzle sprouted a sinister toothy grin. Rarity’s screamed, but it was quickly cut short as she was enveloped by black smoke for a moment. When it disappeared, the pony was encased in dark crystal.
“My, my, you are a pretty one,” the mannequin whispered with a dark voice as it observed the crystal encased fashionista. “I’m almost tempted to keep you. You just had to have this striking white coat. What is it about white coats that thrill me so? Alas, maybe one day, but not today,” it said and fell silent.
The darkness in the room cleared, the windows brightened and the mannequin had returned to normal, but the crystal holding Rarity was gone.
Rainbow Dash was getting bored. So far she had just stayed on the same cloud, overlooking the castle and the rest of Ponyville below. So far nothing seemed to be happening. Ponies were going around their business and all was silent around the castle.
Ugh, I bet nothing is going to happen, the rainbow pony thought and lay down on the cloud, dangling her hind legs down from it.
Wonder if I can zip down to the snack stand to get something to eat, she thought and glanced down towards the town. She could see the market in the distance. It would only take her a few seconds considering the speed she could fly at.
“Arrg, I almost wish something would happen.” The pegasus rolled to her back, slightly envious that there was a party in the castle she couldn’t join. “I better get a cake out of this.”
As she continued to lay on her back, staring upwards, she noticed a dark speck higher up. Rainbow tilted her head as she focused on it. The thing was moving towards Ponyville but always maintained the same altitude.
Is that a storm cloud? Rainbow Dash rolled back to her legs and rose up, always keeping an eye on the speck. There aren’t any storms scheduled today.
Deciding this was worth investigating, the pegasus took off in a flash. It didn’t take her long to reach the mysterious speck. As the mare got closer, she could see that this was indeed a stray storm cloud.
“Oh this won’t do. Today is supposed to be sunny,” Rainbow Dash grunted and increased her speed, intending to pulverize the cloud with her hooves.
The pegasus sailed through the air, aiming for the cloud. Then just as she was about to smack into it, the cloud zipped away. Rainbow Dash halted in mid-air, blinking in surprise. The storm cloud had slowed down again, but was further away.
“Hey!” Rainbow shouted and rushed towards it again, but the moment she got too close the cloud took off.
Rainbow Dash growled and resumed chasing the cloud, all her focus now intent on this unwelcome intrusion into her airspace. To her frustration, every time she got close the cloud increased speed, always keeping just ahead of her.
“Oh come on!” she shouted and continued to race after it.
As Rainbow Dash chased the cloud, she was being watched from below on the ground. Red eyes observed the pony as she zipped across the sky. A toothy grin formed on a dark gray muzzle.
“That should keep you busy,” a dark voice whispered, the eyes then moved towards the castle. A cruel chuckle emerged from the muzzle. “And now for the main event.”
Barricade looked up from his drink. Starlight Glimmer was standing there with him at the buffet table. The stallion glanced her over for a brief second before sipping from his glass.
“That’s what my parents named me,” he muttered, eyeing towards the map table where the rest were still gathered around.
“I’m Starlight Glimmer,” the mare introduced herself. “I’m sorry if I’m being noisy, but I couldn’t help but notice you aren’t very comfortable.”
Barricade continued to drink. He looked back at the table. Private, surprisingly enough, was talking with the others. That was a sign enough for the unicorn that his brother was relaxed. The girls were talking with Cara. She did seem to have hit it off well with her sisters and Tootsie.
The unicorn had left the table earlier under the pretense of refilling his drink. In reality he just wanted to avoid talking for a little bit. He didn’t really feel like celebrating and wasn’t really sure if he was even welcome. His daughters made things a little bit easier, but the rest he wasn’t as certain about.
“I’m on probation,” he finally said and looked back at Starlight. “The alternate name for this birthday party is, ‘let’s see if Barricade is real about changing his ways.’”
Starlight arched her brow. There wasn’t bitterness in his tone. It sounded more like someone empty of hope. There was a feeling from him that was rather familiar to the mare.
“I understand that you’re not the most popular member of the family,” she mentioned, recalling Twilight giving her a brief overview of the birthday boys.
“Well that’s progress - I’ve been upgraded to not the most popular,” Barricade chuckled weakly before sighing. “Yeah, I did some things that alienated me from them. Bad things.”
“Welcome to the club.” The mare chuckled when seeing the look she received from the stallion.
“I did some bad things myself. I enslaved and brainwashed an entire village and then I tried to destroy everything using time travel. I’m actually amazed that Twilight still decided to befriend me and not have me be cellmates with Tirek in Tartarus,” she explained, then looked almost casually at the stunned unicorn in front of her. “What did you do?”
“I ah… stole from my parents and sold to an amoral archaeologist, mistreated several mares, one of whom I am still in love with, though I don’t know if she is aware, and then built up a crime gang in Hoofington Manehattan before having my senses punched into me by an evil unicorn possessing my brother,” Barricade slowly counted up some of his misdeeds. “You win by the way.”
Starlight couldn’t help but giggle a little at the reaction. Granted her schemes had been on the more grander scale than Barricade’s crimes.
“Well I wasn’t competing for the title of the worst villain. Besides, I’m just grateful for the chance Twilight gave me. I take it you don’t feel like you’ve been given a chance?” She lowered her voice a little with the last sentence.
“I don’t know, I’m just so used to messing things up. I guess I’m afraid I’ll mess this up somehow too,” Barricade sighed and sipped from his drink.
“Alright everypony, it’s time for the song!!”
Barricade whirled around. Pinkie Pie had suddenly jumped on top of the map table, she was standing on her hind legs and her forelegs were spread out. He heard Starlight giggle at the pink pony’s antics, but the stallion was holding back a groan. His brother Private didn’t look much better.
Oh boy, here it comes, Barricade braced himself for the cheesy birthday song to be sung. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, but just as she was about to sing, the room was suddenly filled with a dark, cruel-sounding laughter.
“Ah, a song is required for these occasions? Well I must admit, I am not much of a singer, but I will give it a go,” a dark voice said.
“That voice,” both Barricade and Private whispered.
“Happy birthday to you!” The dark voice started. Private was starting to sink in his seat, Barricade just stared forward like he was in a trance.
“Happy birthday to you!” the voice continued. Starlight waved a hoof in front of Barricade, then glanced at Twilight who was giving her the same worried look.
“Happy birthday, dear Private and Barricade!” The voice was reaching the end of the song. Everyone save for the unicorn twins were now trying to see where it was coming from.
“Happy birthday, to you!” There was an explosion of black smoke that threw Pinkie Pie off the table. She slammed on the hard floor. When she rose up, she could see everyone was staring in shock at the large dark gray unicorn with a black mane and tail, his horn red and curved like a blade, that now stood where she had been standing a second ago.
“Sombra!” Twilight sprung to her feet. Flash immediately flew to her side and Starlight rushed over. The unicorn mare and alicorn fired up their horns and the pegasus guard got prepared for anything.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle.” King Sombra mock bowed before grinning down at the battle-ready ponies. “I do hope I wasn’t too out of tune.”
“Eh, it was not bad,” Pinkie Pie remarked, but a stern glance from her alicorn friend reminded her that now was not time for jokes. She grinned innocently. “Shutting up.”
“Spike, Pinkie, Flash, get everypony out of here!” Twilight ordered.
“Oh, I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” Sombra claimed and suddenly jumped backwards so that he landed right in front of the only door.
“What do you want, Sombra?” Twilight asked, carefully walking around the table along with Starlight. Flash, Pinkie and Spike were busy trying to gather the party guests away from the door since Sombra was in the way. They had some difficulties with Private and Barricade who were both just frozen as they stared at the former king.
“That would be telling.” Sombra just chuckled at the question, waving one hoof dismissively.
“I don’t understand. Weren’t the others keeping an eye out for trouble?” Starlight whispered to Twilight. “Also, why are we not just attacking?”
“I’m warning you, Sombra, my friends probably saw you and have already alerted Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, frowning when Sombra started laughing.
“Oh right, you mean these friends?” he asked. Suddenly in a flash of his magic, a petrified Applejack and Rarity appeared in the room, still encased in their crystal prison.
“Fluttershy, let’s see now, oh right, she got a little distracted with some animal friends who just so desperately needed her kind and gentle attention,” the king continued, grinning a shark-like grin. “And Rainbow Dash, as loyal as she is, so easily distracted by a stray storm cloud that isn’t supposed to be there. She has such a pride in her work to maintain the weather.
“I’m afraid your friends haven’t alerted anypony.” King Sombra looked at Twilight with a ‘matter of fact’ expression.
“Alright, you want a fight, I know how to fight you! Starlight, the spell I taught you, now!” Twilight ordered and started to fire a love spell right at Sombra. Starlight did so as well.
For a brief moment King Sombra looked troubled as the two magic energies barreled towards him. Yet the unicorn stood still. There was blinding flash of light as the two spells seemed to make an impact.
Twilight’s triumphant feeling didn’t last long. When the flash was over, Sombra still stood here and around him was a reddish tinted energy field and his horn was glowing red.
“W-wha what?” the princess gasped in shock.
“Normal magic,” King Sombra said and gestured to his red glowing horn. Then he waved towards them with a hoof. “The love spell only works on me in my dark magic, smoke form.”
Suddenly there was a huge buildup of magic energy in his horn and an energy blast shot from it, striking both Starlight and Twilight at the same time. It had happened so quickly that neither mare had the chance to put up any defenses. They were thrown back and crashed into the wall.
“It’s my dark magic, Twilight Sparkle, that is weak to love and light, because it is fueled by the powers of hate and fear. However, I am no slouch in using normal magic either,” King Sombra laughed as he started to strut towards where the mares lay groaning on the floor.
Suddenly there was a pink mass called Pinkie Pie right in front of his face. The mare was glaring at the king.
“Hey you meanie, get out of here. This party wasn’t meant for…” the mare’s speech was cut short when her entire body was encased in crystal and she fell clanging to the floor.
“Did she seriously get into my face where my still active horn is, where I had a direct line of fire at her?” Sombra eyed the crystal-encased Pinkie. Then he glanced at Flash Sentry who stood in front of the guests, wing spread, ready for battle.
Sombra snorted, then he whipped his head towards where Twilight was still disoriented on the floor. His horn changed color, glowing now green and purple. A strain of dark magic energy blasted from it and landed right on Twilight’s horn. The alicorn cried out and when it was over, there were black crystals producing from it.
The king then quickly switched back to his normal magic and just about managed to put up his shield when another barrage of spells were being shot at him. Starlight had managed to catch her second wind and was firing from her horn.
“Spirited, aren’t you?” Sombra chuckled. He quickly summoned a huge scythe - the handle was made of dark crystals and the blade seemed to be made of a pure, clear one.
Starlight blinked when the large unicorn suddenly came running at her swinging the weapon. The mare barely had enough time to summon up a big energy sword to block the blow. Then she was unexpectedly in full-out weapon’s battle instead of magically dueling. Sombra was surprisingly quick and agile for his size, swinging his weapon expertly.
The mare could not get any attack in. She was constantly on the defense from the flurry of blows from Sombra. Finally, a strike from the scythe was just too hard - her energy sword shattered and the mare was struck in the head. Fortunately, it had been at such an angle that it was only the top of the handle and not the blade itself, but the force was enough to knock her out.
Sombra looked back. Flash was trying to covertly guide the others to the door, thinking the king was distracted in his battle with Starlight. Spike had rushed to Twilight’s side and was trying to help her stand up. The king smirked, transformed into his smoke and shadow form and sailed over to the door where he landed and resumed his unicorn shape, blocking the path.
“Going somewhere?” he asked with a smirk. Flash growled, spread his wings and rushed for Sombra. The unicorn yawned, fired up his horn and his red magic aura caught the guard’s wings, stopping him in midair.
King Sombra didn’t say anything, just stared at the struggling guard with a mocking smirk. Then in front of the group of ponies, he slammed Flash to the ground, then used his magic to break both his wings, causing the pegasus to cry out in pain.
Slowly the dark unicorn glanced over where Twilight had risen, her legs still wobbly and being supported by the baby dragon. The alicorn was desperately trying to shoot magic, but the dark crystals on her horn blocked it.
“I could kill you, Twilight Sparkle. Your friends as well,” he said softly, causing the alicorn look up at him with a scowl on her face.
Sombra turned his attention to the group, his eyes landed on Private, who was trying desperately to hide with his parents. The king smiled and turned his head back to the princess.
“I really should - frankly it would probably be very dumb of me not to. However, I am not here to kill anypony. I’m not here for Equestria. Right now I am not interested in Equestria, you or the other princesses. In fact, I’ll let you live…” Sombra stopped and shot an evil stare at Spike who quickly ducked behind Twilight. “And your dragon as well.
“Just leave me alone. What I’m about to do has nothing to do with Equestria,” Sombra looked back at the party group just in time to get an indigo-colored magic blast in the face.
King Sombra growled and stepped back. Barricade had broken out of the group, fury in his eyes. The smaller unicorn roared in rage and charged for the larger one, his horn glowing as he shot more energy at Sombra.
“Barricade.” Sombra sighed in disappointment and started to deflect the shots with his own magic. When the pony in question got too close, the king slapped him hard with one hoof, sending him flying back to the covering ponies. The fillies and his parents cried out his name and rushed over to him. “Will you ever learn, you are no match to me?”
Barricade growled and rose up with the help of his father. Hard Shovel was however too late to restrain him as his son bellowed again in rage and charged once more for Sombra.
“Barricade!” Mirage cried out and cringed when her son was sent back by another slap from Sombra.
“This is getting repetitive,” Sombra snorted when Barricade came at him for the third time. Suddenly the dark unicorn rose as he changed into his smoke form. He immediately entangled the enraged pony with shadowy tendrils, then he filled the room with his shadow and smoke.
“Sombra!” Twilight finally found energy to shout. Nothing happened, and when she could see again, the king was gone, but to her horror, so were Private, Barricade, their parents and Barricade’s daughters - all three of them.
“Coal!” Foxy cried when seeing that her daughter gone.
“Oh no, Private! Cara! Mirage! Hard Shovel!” Dew also realized what had just happened.
“Dinky!” Derpy was in tears as she grabbed Tootsie tightly in a hug.
Oh no, it finally sunk in for Twilight what had just happened.
He took them. He took them all.
Rainbow Dash snorted in frustration as she continued to chase the elusive storm cloud. It kept getting out of the way just as she was catching up. Suddenly it hit her what could be the cause of this weird cloud.
“Discord! If this is one of your stupid pranks, I don’t have time for this. I have to get back to watching for trouble at Twilight’s castle!” she shouted.
“Oh, I am hurt, Dashie, you think I would distract you from such an important task?” A cheerful voice sounded around her. On a white cloud appeared the mismatch spirit of chaos. He was holding a fishing pole and swung it to throw the line. It caught the storm cloud and Discord started reeling it in.
“It definitely looks like one of your things,” Rainbow grunted and folded her front legs, glaring at the spirit.
“A boring old storm cloud? I can do better than that,” Discord grunted. Once he had fully reeled in the storm cloud, he grabbed a tuft of it with his eagle claws and sampled it. His mismatch eyes bulged out and he quickly spit out the bite he had taken.
“Oh my, no, no, no, that’s dark magic, not me,” he said and started to wipe his tongue with both paw and claw. Then he quite literally pulled out his tongue, a wash basin appeared floating in the air and the spirit began washing his tongue from it. “Oh, is this going to leave a nasty aftertaste.”
“What are you talking about, dark magic?” Rainbow Dash asked with a frown.
“If I were you, I would pay attention to a different kind of cloud coming out of Twilight’s castle,” Discord said without looking up from his work.
He popped his tongue in just as Rainbow Dash turned around to see the huge column of black smoke pouring of the castle. They both could hear cries from it, cries of ponies. The cloud of smoke then started heading off at great speed.
“Would it kill him to add a little color?” Discord muttered and shook his head in disappointment.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t listening - it had finally clicked with her what was happening. With an angry shout, the pegasus raced off after the cloud.
“Ugh, dark magic. It’s so difficult to get rid of,” Discord grumbled. He started prodding and poking the storm cloud, but nothing happened. Then the spirit attempted the tried and true method of just snapping his claws. The cloud exploded and the blast from it sent him sailing over the horizon.
Rainbow Dash meanwhile was hot on the tail of the dark smoke which she had correctly guessed was King Sombra. She hadn’t gone unnoticed, though, by the dark unicorn.
Hm, she is an element of harmony, Sombra thought. He adjusted speed, but could see that Dash was having no trouble keeping up with him even if she couldn’t overtake him.
Probably shouldn’t risk letting her see where I’m going. The king maintained speed for a little while, then started to slow it a little by little, making the pegasus think she was catching up. He smiled when hearing Dash shout:
“Hah! Now I got you!”
Sombra suddenly came to a dead stop. Rainbow Dash was now too close to stop without going straight into his smoke form. The pegasus realized that a little too late, as she tried to halt she went straight in. The moment she did, the king entangled her with his tendrils.
“Hey! Let me go!” Rainbow Dash struggled mightily, but the tendrils simply adjusted to hold her tighter. Soon she was all wrapped up and the smoke form of King Sombra continued onwards.
Discord teleported into the map room of Twilight’s castle with paw and claw on his hips. He couldn’t really help but cringe slightly at the scene before him. Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were encased in crystal, Twilight was trying to reassure three upset pegasi mares, plus one unicorn filly and Spike was assisting Flash Sentry whose wings hung limp on his sides. Starlight Glimmer still lay unconscious on the floor but a pillow had been placed under her head.
“My, my what a mess,” the draconequus shook his head. Twilight whirled around when hearing his voice.
“Discord. What are you… wait, since you were here, why didn’t you help!” she shouted angrily, tears in her eyes.
“Tsk, tsk, I recall telling you and the others that I’m not coming anywhere close to King Party Pooper.” The spirit shrugged while walking closer to Applejack’s crystal prison. He produced a chisel and a hammer out of thin air and started chipping away at it.
“Discord, he’s abducted seven ponies,” Twilight growled and started to approach the chaos spirit.
“Eight, Rainbow Dash rather foolishly chased after King Smoky,” Discord corrected her as he continued to chip away the crystal on Applejack.
“What!?” the alicorn shouted in shock and horror. “Why didn’t you stop her!”
“Because I got nearly blown all the way to Abyssinia when I tried to get rid of that dark magic storm cloud King I-only-know-three-colors put up to distract Dashie. This is what happens when my chaos magic interacts with his dark magic, things just go boom,” the spirit told the princess. He finally managed to free Applejack’s head. The farm-pony gasped for air.
“What the hay happened?” she asked, then blinked when noticing that the rest of her body was still encased in crystal.
“King Sombra attacked, Applejack. He distracted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and then imprisoned you, Rarity and Pinkie Pie in those crystals. He’s taken Private, Barricade and their family, Rainbow went after him, but she might have been captured since she’s not back yet,” Twilight said sadly and walked over to her.
“Oh when I get mah hooves on that good for nothin… can’t ya hurry this up?” Applejack glared at Discord who was still working on freeing her.
“Sure, if you don’t mind exploding,” he said with a smirk, causing both Twilight and Applejack to widen their eyes in shock.
“Listen ladies, I have to do this carefully I’m afraid. As I told Twilight, if I actively use my chaos magic on this crystal that was created by dark magic, things will explode,” he said waving one clawed finger before resuming his work.
Twilight sighed and hung her head. She didn’t want to admit it, but Discord was right. She looked regretfully at the three pegasi mares who were huddled together with Tootsie. Then she finally turned to Spike who was helping Flash sitting down by the table. The guard was cringing in pain.
“Spike, get a message to Princess Celestia and then help Flash to the hospital, I’ll…” she halted and glanced at Starlight Glimmer. “I’ll help Starlight.”
“Hold still please.” Suddenly Discord was in front of her, wielding the hammer and chisel. Before the princess could protest, the spirit was already in the process of chipping off all the black crystals on the horn. She noticed Applejack was completely free now and rushing over to Pinkie and Rarity’s crystals.
Starlight groaned as she came to, for a moment the mare felt groggy, but soon the memories of the fight returned and she quickly sat up. For the first time the unicorn saw that she was in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around her head, in another one was Flash Sentry, both his wings in a cast. Between the two beds sat Twilight and Princess Celestia.
“Please tell me this was all just a bad dream,” Starlight pleaded and cringed when both princesses shook their heads.
“I’m sorry, Starlight. I’m glad you’re okay. For a moment I wasn’t sure if Sombra had killed you or not when he finally struck you with that scythe,” Twilight said and smiled weakly.
“Well, this is one way to get extended time off from the guards,” Flash grunted, eyeing his broken wings.
“Where are the others?” Starlight asked, glancing around but seeing no other pony in the room.
“My sister is taking care of the mares. They’re at Derpy’s house. I managed to convince Discord to continue keeping an eye on Ponyville for the time being. Well, I should say Fluttershy and I managed to convince him,” Celestia answered and rose up. Although she spoke kindly, her expression was serious.
“The rest of our friends are waiting for us. The doctor didn’t want a crowd in here,” Twilight said and sighed heavily. “I should have convinced Pinkie to move the party to the Crystal Empire.”
“What is done is done. There is no use griping about that. Now do you understand though what I meant when I said that when Sombra has time to think he becomes far more dangerous?” Celestia turned to her former student, gently patting her on the back.
“That’s putting it mildly. I think the only reason he didn’t kill us is because he just wasn’t interested in killing us. He was utterly prepared for all of us,” Twilight looked up at the Sun Princess.
“You don’t think the whole time he’s been laying low, he’s just been studying all of us, has he?” Starlight frowned. This idea came mostly to her since she had done it herself back when she was still feeling vengeful towards Twilight and her friends.
“I would not be surprised. Sombra never does anything until he’s prepared for it. He hates improvising or taking chances. He must have simply distracted Fluttershy to keep her from any kind of harm, knowing she is a good friend of Discord’s. Discord would not do anything unless Fluttershy was in clear danger,” Celestia agreed, recalling that Discord had not helped Starlight, Trixie and Thorax against the changelings until he had heard that Fluttershy had been taken as well.
“Then he simply imprisoned Rarity and Applejack. He probably figured it would attract attention if he did the same with Rainbow since she was up in the skies and simply distracted her as well.” Twilight frowned as she thought the attack over.
“Then he didn’t use any dark magic while you and I were shooting that love magic at him, not until he had disabled you,” Starlight said then frowned. “But why did he attack me with physical force?”
“Because you have no training in it,” Flash mentioned, causing Starlight to glare at him.
“No seriously, you put up a good fight, but you were obviously not trained to fight with a weapon. Sombra probably saw that you could delay him in a lengthy magic duel, so the quicker way to deal with you was to fight you physically with a weapon,” the pegasus pointed out. The unicorn grumbled, but had to concede that he was right.
“And me, once all the magic users were out, he had no problem with me,” the guard sighed.
“He said what he was doing has nothing to do with Equestria, that he’s not interested in it at all. I find that hard to believe, especially since he took Rainbow Dash,” Twilight grunted.
“It is best to take his words with a grain of salt. Recall how he kept up the façade that he was still a spirit even when he was already living.” Celestia nodded.
The Sun Princess sighed a little. She had hoped that because Sombra had laid so low for long that he had simply given up, seen how strong Equestria was now with the Crystal Empire in full operation, four Princesses and six Elements of Harmony. It was possible that Chrysalis’s second attack told him otherwise, that there were still cracks he could slip through.
Why are you so interested in those ponies? Granted some of their distant ancestors’ hail from the empire your mother and sister ruled, but it is long gone. These ponies have no ties to it anymore, she thought and glanced out the window.
“So, what do we do now?” Starlight wondered, Twilight looked at her with a determined expression.
“We are going to find where King Sombra has taken them, free them and hopefully deal with Sombra once and for all,” the purple alicorn stated and turned to Celestia, who was still staring out the window.
“It will not be easy. Wherever he is hiding it is probably very remote and well-protected by now. Do not forget the traps you encountered in the Crystal Empire. They alone should tell you how security-minded Sombra is,” the Sun Princess said as she turned back to the ponies.
Twilight shuddered a little when remembering the traps. Heck, she had been stuck at the first one almost immediately and would probably have remained stuck if Spike’s calls hadn’t woken her up.
“Alright, but how do we find somepony we have so far been unable to find at all?” Starlight wondered.
Now Twilight took a moment to think it over. Sombra had definitely been elusive ever since his resurrection. They had only ever found the aftermath of his sightings, but never any hard evidence where he might be located.
“Maybe Discord can help us find him. He may not want to directly do anything about King Sombra, but he might be able to show us on the map at the castle where he is. Discord is sensitive to magic and might be able to show us where there is a buildup of dark magic,” she finally suggested.
“It is worth a shot. At full power, King Sombra’s dark magic is very corruptive. There should be traces of it somewhere,” Celestia nodded.
“Right, Starlight, you continue to rest here along with Flash Sentry. Our friends and I will go and locate Sombra.” Twilight turned to Starlight who grumbled a little but then nodded.
The two patients watched as Twilight and Celestia left the hospital room. Starlight glanced at the pegasus who had slumped back down in his bed. He flinched a little when accidentally disturbing one of his wings before settling down.
“So what do you know about King Sombra?” she asked.
“Not much. Just that he used to rule the Crystal Empire before the sisters banished him and then when he returned along with it and was killed by the Crystal Heart, though I was a bit involved when he resurrected.” Flash turned his head a little to look at her.
“All right then, since we seem to have plenty of time, how did that all happen?” Starlight asked. She was pretty sure that happened well before she met Twilight and her friends since otherwise she would know more about it.
Flash shrugged and proceeded to tell her about the Shadow King’s unexpected return. How he had possessed Private Iceland and abducted his brother Barricade in the process, then forced everyone to chase them to the Crystal Mountains where they had a final confrontation with him. Starlight listened with interest to the story.
“And now he’s back. Jeez, took him long enough,” the mare muttered after the pegasus was finished, gingerly touching the bandage on her head.
“Are you all right?” Flash asked. He could sense a little bitterness in her tone.
“I don’t know. Something about this doesn’t feel right. I mean, why did he let us all live? He had us on the ropes, he knocked me out effortlessly, took out Twilight and our friends, he could even take care of Discord. Then he just up and leaves when he has what he wants,” Starlight grunted. “Don’t tell me that this super planner didn’t take it into account that Twilight would mount a rescue effort.”
Flash Sentry arched his brow when Starlight’s eyes suddenly widened as if a sudden realization hit her. She activated her horn as if she was going to use her magic, but suddenly felt a sharp pain and the magic dissipated.
“Ow… ow that hurt…” she rubbed her head, gritting her teeth.
“Well you have a concussion no doubt after that strike. I may not a unicorn, but I know magic takes concentration,” the pegasus pointed out. “What were you trying to do?”
“Transport to the castle,” Starlight said as she threw her blanket off and climbed out of the bed. “Have to talk with Twilight!”
“Why?” Flash asked, confused.
The mare had already made her way to the door, she looked back at the guard, looking worried and at the same time flinching in pain.
“I think King Sombra did take it into account that Twilight will try and rescue his prisoners,” she said as she stumbled out of the hospital room.
Luna observed the glum atmosphere in Derpy’s living room with a concerned frown. Carrot Top was sitting beside Derpy with one leg gently around her friend. Tootsie was with Time Turner, holding tightly in her little legs Dinky’s favorite doll. The filly was sniffling, but trying not to cry.
On another couch were the pegasi sisters, Dew Doe and Foxy Stripes. They were holding each other, the blue one with a sad expression and the maroon one was still crying.
For a moment the Moon Princess was cursing her duties for keeping her busy. She should have been there knowing that a major enemy was on the prowl and might target this gathering. She was certain that the king wouldn’t have dared showing himself if she or her sister had been present.
“He just took everypony?” Time Turner finally broke the silence, looking at Luna. He was still digesting the whole thing.
“Yes,” Luna confirmed and shook her head. “I wish I could have been there. But fear not, Twilight and her friends are no doubt already preparing to rescue them all and they will succeed.”
“Months of therapy just down the drain. Did you see Private? He couldn’t even move, he just stared at that monster,” Dew whispered, hugging her sister tighter.
“My poor little baby, why did he have to take her!” Derpy cried, grabbing onto Carrot and started crying bitterly. Time Turner cringed, he wanted to go over to his marefriend, but decided to allow Carrot Top to handle it while he was taking care of Tootsie who leaned on him, still trying not to cry.
Luna sighed, she recalled visiting Dinky’s dream once. The filly had been having a nightmare related to her father. The princess had dispelled it and reassured the girl, but that had been a while ago, recently Luna had noted that all dreams relevant to her father had been positive.
Another thing the Moon Princess had noticed was that so far no one had brought Dinky’s father up. Private had been mentioned, his parents, Dinky’s sisters Coal and Cara as well, but there hadn’t even been a passing reference to Barricade. However, she didn’t feel it was something she should bring up. The ponies were all upset and this wasn’t the right time.
There was a knock on the front door, but barely anyone noticed it. Luna rose up and assured them that she would answer it and left the living room. When she opened the front door, she was greeted by sight of her sister.
“Twilight and her friends are going to be using the map table in her castle to try and locate where King Sombra fled with his captives. I am going to be assisting as I can before we have to return to Canterlot, but I did wish to see how things are going here,” Celestia explained when seeing her sister.
Luna glanced back, stepped out to the front porch and closed the door behind her. She mostly just wished to give the grieving ponies some privacy while the royal siblings discussed matters.
“Well, they are upset still, but at least they have friends to comfort them. Do you require any help at the castle?” Luna wondered, feeling really like a third wheel inside the house.
“No, I don’t think even I will be much help there. They’ll need Discord to try and locate any abnormal amounts of dark magic,” Celestia glanced in the direction where Twilight’s castle towered over the town. Then she rubbed her muzzle with a hoof and returned her attention to Luna. “If you think you have done all you can do here, could you take over for Discord keeping an eye on Ponyville while we do this?”
“Certainly, sister, you can count on me.” Luna nodded sharply. She definitely did feel she had done all she could. At least the last thing she could do was tell the ponies inside the house that a rescue plan was beginning to form.
“Good, I’ll see you when we are done,” the Sun Princess smiled and nodded. She turned around and prepared to fly away, but was then addressed by Luna.
“He hasn’t changed much has he?” Luna said with solemn smile. She inwardly cringed when seeing the regretful expression her sister gave her when Celestia turned her head to look back at her.
“No… No he hasn’t,” Celestia responded quietly before taking off to fly over to Twilight’s castle.
Not everypony can or wants to be reformed, sister, Luna thought, shaking her head, watching her sister fly away before going back into the house to inform the ponies of Twilight’s plan.
The ponies were tossed inside a small hollow. Out of the ground rose black crystals that formed bars in front of the entrance, locking them all in. Barricade was the first to rise with a growl and immediately reared in a kick, but the crystals turned out to be unnaturally hard. The stallion cried out in pain as his hooves struck them.
“Barricade!” Mirage was quickly by her son’s side. Barricade was groaning over his now sore hind hooves. The black crystals showed no sign of having been struck at all. Everyone looked up at the dark chuckle coming from the outside.
“Careful Barricade, wouldn’t want you to break your legs,” King Sombra said mockingly as he regarded his prisoners.
Two of the fillies were cowering near their grandfather, Hard Shovel was staring at the king nervously, Cara had rushed over to Barricade along with her grandmother, but the teen did give the dark unicorn a stinging glare. Sombra merely chuckled at it, then his attention was brought to the muffled sound next to him. He glanced down to the rocky floor where Rainbow Dash was still struggling fiercely against her shadowy bonds.
“I would dispose of you, but you alone without your other five friends are not much of a threat to me,” King Sombra said as he levitated her up using his normal magic. The rainbow pegasus just glared in response. The king smirked. “And this is a wonderful opportunity to study one of the elements of harmony. I heard how you disposed of Tirek without even carrying the gems, but since then you have never used that power again. I do wonder why.”
Then a whimper interrupted him. Sombra looked to his other side where Private stood, shivering, eyes staring at the ground and desperately trying to hold down his frightened whimpers.
“Wait, Private is still outside?” Barricade looked up and only now did the prisoners notice that the usually silent twin was not in the cell with them.
“Privy!” Mirage gasped, scrambled to her legs and rushed to the bars.
“Privy? She calls you Privy?” King Sombra couldn’t hold back the chortles when hearing Mirage’s nickname for her son. In the process, Rainbow was dropped back unceremoniously to the ground.
“Why. Are. They. Here!?” Private finally looked up as he spoke through his clenched teeth.
“Well, I do wish to further study your bloodline’s connection to my race,” Sombra explained as he gestured to the cell. “So it will useful to have several ponies that can trace their ancestry to dark ponies.”
Sombra then leaned in a little closer until his muzzle was right next to Private’s ear. “Plus I believe you would be more compliant if your family is near,” he whispered, grinning when seeing the pony freeze.
Private found it difficult to breathe. It hadn’t even occurred to him that his family was here to keep him in line. He shivered when feeling Sombra’s tail stroke up against him from the other side, like a slithering, shadowy tendril. The king still had his muzzle right next to his ear.
“You do want your family to be safe, right?” the dark voice murmured.
The unicorn looked away, towards the cell. He stared at the ponies in there with a frightened expression. His mother stared worriedly back, his father looked no better, Barricade was sneering at Sombra and the fillies looked a bit confused.
“Please… don’t harm them…” Private whispered, flinching when a steel-clad hoof touched his cheek and began caressing it.
“That, my little comfort colt, will depend on you,” King Sombra murmured softly and grinned when Private flattened his ears. There came a loud indignant snort from the cell.
“My son is nopony’s comfort colt! You leave him alone, you monster!” Mirage Rock shouted and was just about to strike the bars herself. Fortunately, Barricade jumped up and dragged his mother away, remembering too well how much striking the black crystals would hurt.
“Your Majesty!” Hard Shovel suddenly rose up. He got strange looks from just about everyone except King Sombra, probably for addressing the dark king like that. But the old stallion ignored the looks and walked closer to the bars.
“A comforter’s service is attained voluntarily and without threat! Even you can’t ignore the laws set by the first queen and by her decree all dark ponies must follow even after her days,” he said with determination in his voice and face, challenging Sombra with his expression to dispute it.
King Sombra tilted his head and dropped his hoof back to the ground. He regarded the old stallion in the cell with a curious expression, before walking closer, never taking his eyes of Hard Shovel, who somehow managed to muster up just enough courage to stare right back.
“Private said you and your wife were experts in dark ponies, but he failed to mention that your knowledge even reached to Queen Odio, the first queen of the Dark Pony Empire and the laws of conduct,” the dark king remarked, now with a mild hint of interest in his eyes.
“My wife and I have studied our distant ancestors almost all our lives. We even first met in an official gathering of the descendants of the refugees who came to Equestria so long ago,” Shovel responded. “And we’ve even studied you.”
“Oh really now,” Sombra chuckled and sat down. “And what can you tell me that everypony else hasn’t already told me about myself?”
“There is very little that you respect, but there is one thing you do respect and care deeply about,” Hard Shovel said. “Your people.”
The old stallion had everybody’s attention now, even Rainbow Dash who looked utterly confused about what the archeologist was on about. King Sombra arched his brow at this statement but remained silent, clearly wanting Hard to elaborate.
“You detest the crystal ponies, considering them inferior weaklings. You have a grudging respect for Equestrians. You couldn’t care less about other races in Equestria, except one. Dark ponies, their customs and their laws. You are even right now wearing a male version of the royal attire of the rightful ruler of the Dark Pony Empire. This gear or versions of it was worn by your sister the last queen, your mother and all previous rulers right down to Queen Odio,” Hard Shovel continued, then he glanced towards Private. “And I’m positive that even you will not break their customs. If you want my son to serve you personally using dark pony customs, his service must be voluntary.”
“You’re forgetting something, Mr. Hard Shovel,” King Sombra chuckled and a grin started to form on his muzzle. His horn lit up and his magic aura enveloped Private who was dragged whimpering over to him. The dark king then proceeded to poke the unicorn on the temple. “I’ve been inside here. I know all about your son, his fears, his hates, his desires, his fantasies.”
Hard Shovel frowned slightly in confusion, then he noticed that Private hadn’t just frozen, he was practically petrified when hearing Sombra say that last bit. Mirage looked at her son in concern. She really wanted to be holding him in her arms and comforting him.
“Tell me, Hard Shovel, would you defend your son so well if, you knew his deepest and most carefully hidden secret?” Sombra said in a soft voice, grinning ear to ear as he detected the panic rising in Private.
“Why wouldn’t I defend him even if I knew his secrets?” Hard Shovel snorted, clearly insulted by the very notion that he wouldn’t defend his own child.
“Oh really now, are you sure, so absolutely sure? I know things he is so desperate to keep you from knowing,” the king continued. Private struggled against the magic field he was in but a spell of silence was on it so all others could see was that the unicorn was really panicking and nothing but fear shone in his eyes. “It is in fact one of his deepest, darkest fears, you know.”
“Oh no, don’t you dare!” Barricade stood up. He had clearly realized what the dark pony was up to. “This is something Private should be telling them when he’s READY!”
“Ready for what?” Mirage looked at Barricade confused, her more brazen son cringing as he realized his gaffe. This would mean his parents would want to know now.
“I would defend my son, no matter what!” Hard Shovel declared, once again mustering courage to stare Sombra right in the face.
“Even if your son is what you hate?” King Sombra asked and had to restrain himself from cackling when feeling the intense fear coming from Private and seeing the utter confusion come over the old stallion.
“Sombra! I’m warning you!” Barricade growled and was tempted to hammer his hoof on the bars, but the painful lesson about that earlier was still high enough in his mind to halt him.
“What are you talking about?” Mirage snorted. “We love our sons.”
“Even if, what was the modern term again, Barricade? Even if he is bisexual?” The dark king was now grinning maliciously, reveling in the hatred coming from Barricade and the fear coming from Private, who was now curled up in a ball and refusing to look at anything.
“What?” Hard Shovel blinked and looked at Mirage Rock, who was just as baffled by this claim.
“What was it that you said once, ‘It just bothers me to see all those colt cuddlers and filly foolers snuggling each other all over town. We don’t need the boys exposed to this!’ Wasn’t that how you put it once?” King Sombra’s grin turned wider when seeing the old stallion flinch. He clearly recognized those words. His wife cringed.
The magic field surrounding Private disappeared, with sound now escaping from the unicorn. Others could hear his frightened sobs. Feeling that he was free to move, Private jumped up and rushed further into the caverns in a panicked gallop.
“How did you know… what I said?” Hard Shovel whispered.
“Like I told you, I’ve been insider your son’s head. When he was very young, he overheard you, it stuck in his memory, festering there and as he became more aware of his dual nature, it began to turn into a fear. A very deep fear of you and how you would react if you ever knew that he fancies stallions just as much as he fancies mares,” King Sombra explained, resuming the soft voice, his grin changed into a smirk.
“Then you conveniently left out that Mirage slapped me for saying that.” The old stallion’s eyes narrowed. “And told me I had damn better never talk like that again near our sons.”
“Ah intriguing. Too bad Private isn’t here to hear it,” Sombra glanced at the spot where Private had previously been. Then he sighed slightly. “I suppose I better go look for him. These caverns are deep.”
With that, portion of the bars reopened, Rainbow Dash was tossed into the already cramped cell. The crystals rematerialized and the tendrils binding the rainbow pegasus disappeared.
“Why you good for nothing…” Rainbow would probably have tried to ram herself into the bars if Barricade hadn’t lived up to his name and blocked her.
“Hurts, very much. Trust me!” the stallion warned and shook one of his still slightly stinging back hooves.
The pegasus took a deep breath to calm down and nodded, realizing he was right. The mare and Barricade then looked at the old couple. Hard Shovel looked ashamed now and Mirage was hugging the youngest fillies and comforting them. Dinky and Coal were utterly confused, having no clue what was going on.
“Barricade,” Hard Shovel whispered, slowly the old stallion looked over to his son. “Is it true?”
“What, that Private is bi? Well I suppose,” Barricade responded, arching his brow when his father shook his head.
“No I mean… is it true that Private is afraid of me? Because of… that?” the archeologist asked.
“Afraid of you both actually,” Barricade grunted and cringed when realizing he had said that out loud. His parents looked at him with a horrified expression.
“Why is Uncle Private afraid of grandma and grandpa?” Coal asked confused.
“Hey Cara, how about we take the fillies here to one corner and entertain them there,” Rainbow suddenly said. In a blur she had already grabbed Dinky and Coal and pushed them and Cara as far away from Barricade and his parents as possible. The pegasus realized that the unicorn stallion had some explaining to do and the fillies needed to be distracted.
“He’s afraid of us both?” Mirage whispered, still in shock, as Barricade led her and Hard Shovel to the other end of the little cell.
“Look, mom, I don’t know all the details here, but when that bastard possessed Private, he told me that Private’s deepest fear was your possible reaction to hearing that he swings both ways,” Barricade said and sighed. “Seriously, it left him catatonic in the hospital. He seems to fear how you would react to this.”
“Why would he be afraid? We love him, we love you both, despite some of your less-than-stellar behaviors,” Mirage protested and was on verge of tears now. Hard Shovel put a leg around her for comfort.
“It’s my fault. Private overheard me saying those stupid words,” the old stallion muttered.
Sombra found Private Iceland in a cave the dark king used for storage. It was full of crates and boxes he had accumulated during the period he had been laying low keeping a subtle watch on things. The unicorn was trying his best to cover behind the biggest one, but his muffled sobs betrayed his location.
The king didn’t say a word, just walked closer and looked behind it and watched the crying pony with a critical expression. It didn’t take Private long to realize that he wasn’t alone and he glanced back. Sombra was mildly impressed that the unicorn sneered.
“Your bastard!” Private screamed and shuffled away the best he could and then turned so he was facing his captor. “Why did you tell them!?”
The unicorn dropped back down and started sobbing again, covering his face with his front legs. King Sombra rolled his eyes and shook his head at the question.
“You would almost think my powers were fueled with fear and hate, oh wait,” King Sombra started in a mock casual tone before it changed to dry and the dark king gave the sobbing unicorn a very unimpressed glare. “They are.”
“I hate you!” Private whimpered and curled up, trying his best to ignore him, flinching when hearing the metal hoof steps come closer.
“Fine by me, just keep in mind, you family stays safe depending on how you behave,” Sombra reminded him. His prisoner trembled and looked up. Finally Private rose to his feet.
“Why me?” the unicorn whispered and dared himself to look up at the king.
Ugh, not this again, the king thought. Then decided to play along for now. “What exactly do you mean, Private?”
“You said it yourself. I’m a nopony. I’m nothing, I’m worthless. The most exciting times in my life are when my nieces have birthdays. I can barely cast proper magic with that sorry excuse of a horn, the only advanced spell I know is an archeological spell that dad taught me and I can barely do it. Yes, one of my ancestors was a dark pony who married a long time ago to an equestrian. That’s about it. Surely you could select someone far better to torment like this!” Private rambled, his gaze shifting downwards again. “Surely you would have more entertainment focusing on your enemies, one of the representatives of the elements, the princesses. They are the ones that are important, they have all the magic power!”
“And they were all about to lose,” King Sombra said with a snort, causing Private to look up with a frown.
“Cadance’s shield was failing, the Crystal Heart was secured in a trap that even prevented teleportation. At best all the Elements of Harmony could do was banish me. Celestia didn’t even bother having them sent with the bearers. Celestia and Luna didn’t even come to prevent my return. I was winning just by sitting outside and waiting for some of the most powerful and important ponies to utterly fail in their task,” the dark unicorn snarled, his eyes twitching a little. “The most insignificant member of their company, the one most often overlooked, the one most would just ignore, laugh and mock, he took the crystal heart and brought it out so that Cadance could be flung at it and catch it.”
“My victory was thwarted by the most insignificant little speck of that group, the one most vulnerable to danger - a mere child! Here is the thing, Private, you pay attention to the powerful ones, you watch those who are important, you make plans for those who are worth something and they have it all in common that they will do everything in their power to stop you. They are very predictable,” King Sombra walked closer and loomed now over Private, his intent red eyes peering at the smaller unicorn.
“But the insignificant ones, the worthless ones, you can never tell what they will do. Some will run like the cowards that they are, but some will actually muster up enough courage to make some sort of a difference. They are unpredictable and I can tell you Private, that I am not going to make that mistake again, to ignore those who might on the surface be nothing.”
“That still hasn’t really answered my question,” Private snorted, having calmed down a little while listening to the king rant. “Why me?”
“Because you belong to me!” King Sombra snapped, causing Private to shrink back a little. “Try it, try saying I’m not your king!”
“What?” the unicorn blinked in confusion. “You’re no…”
Private’s mouth clamped shut. The unicorn blinked, even the thought of saying Sombra was not his king quickly vanished. Again and again he tried but nothing came out. The dark stallion began laughing mockingly.
“Tell me, are your parent’s familiar with the dark ponies’ oath to Queen Odio?” Sombra asked and stepped even closer.
“Oath?” Private blinked confused.
“Their oath to dutifully serve the queen and her line unquestionably, through life and death? The first dark ponies who formed the old empire made this oath and even bound it to their descendants. Even thousands of years later no dark pony could consciously or subconsciously refute the royal line,” the king continued to explain.
“It’s quite diluted by now since you are not a full-blooded dark pony - the most you can do is simply be unable to refute my kingship over you. Back in the day, a dark pony would simply be unable to disobey a direct order from a member of the royal line.” Sombra sighed and shook his head in dismay.
Private could barely believe it. He tried a few more times, but was just as unable to. He cringed when an iron clad hoof touched his muzzle.
“But that aside, we have been through this, Private. I laid my claim on you way back when you were a colt and prepared you to be the vessel for my spirit. There are no deeper reasons behind it. I own you and I either punish you or reward you depending on your behavior,” Sombra snorted, moving the hoof to be under the unicorn’s muzzle and lifted his head so he was forced to look at him.
“However, I recognize the need to ‘train’ you so to speak. You are still resistant and still hold onto that delusional belief that you might be free of me, you still believe in your heroes and that they will come to save you.” Sombra snorted and dropped the hoof down to the floor.
The king turned and started to walk away, leaving Private who hung his head and sighed. As Sombra was walking towards the entrance, he glanced around at all the boxes and crates. The dark pony stopped and glanced back at where his prisoner still stood.
“Since you are here, you can start taking inventory of everything. I have to admit I haven’t bothered too much sorting things in here,” he ordered.
“Excuse me?” Private peeked from behind the crate he was standing by, looking at the king now utterly confused.
“You are my servant. Now get to work!” Sombra snarled before stomping out of the cave muttering something about slow witted idiots.
“Really, Twilight and Celestia, I thought said wasn’t going anywhere near King No-Personality,” Discord grumbled as he entered the map room along with the princesses and the remaining four of Twilight’s friends.
The room hadn’t been cleaned up yet, the banner still hung above the map table, and the decorations were still all over the place and the remaining food still waited to be eaten by party guests who were now either captive or elsewhere.
“Now, now Discord, nopony said you had to go anywhere,” Fluttershy reminded her friend, flying up so she was at his eye level. “You just need to help us pinpoint where he could possibly be and you don’t even have to leave the castle to do it.”
Twilight let her friend continue to convince the spirit while she cleared everything off the table with her magic. She then activated it so it would show Equestria and the edges of the lands bordering it.
“Hey, you alright there, Twi?” Applejack asked, placing a hoof on the princess. She had noticed her friend looked rather grim.
“No, I’m not alright, Applejack. First the changelings, now King Sombra, right in my own home,” Twilight whispered, eyes fixed on the map. “He took ponies I had promised to keep safe. I failed them.”
“Do not dwell on what he did, Twilight.” Celestia stepped up beside her former student. “Let’s concentrate on what we can do about it.”
“The princess is right, Twilight, what’s done is done. Let’s find that rotten vermin and bust those ponies out of there,” the farm pony agreed, patting Twilight on the back.
“So how are we going to do it?” Rarity asked as she approached the table.
“We are going to locate concentrated sources of dark magic with Discord’s help. That’s where King Sombra most likely is,” Celestia explained as she glanced over to Discord and Fluttershy. They were coming over, the timid pegasus having finally convinced the spirit.
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it,” he groaned and cracked his knuckles, staring at the map rather disinterested. Discord snapped his fingers and everyone’s attention was on the map. For a moment nothing happened, causing the spirit to arch his brow. Then suddenly right above the small image of Twilight’s castle on the map, there appeared a black, crystal-like flame.
“What?” Twilight’s jaw dropped in shock. Then more of the black flames began sprouting all over the map. “I don’t understand…”
“Oh, that show off,” Discord grunted as he glared at the flames. “He’s set up dark magic signals all over the place and even put one right here in the castle.”
“Dark magic signals?” Everyone, except Celestia, who was still looking at the map, looked at Discord confused.
“Here let me get the one he put in the castle,” Discord stretched his lion arm impossibly long and it disappeared into the ceiling. When he pulled it back he was holding a black crystal that seemed to have a burning flame inside of it. Discord rather quickly put it on a chair. “I better not interact too much with it. I do not fancy another trip to Abyssinia.”
“So this crystal emits dark magic that makes it look like there is dark magic around?” Twilight picked up the crystal in her magic to examine it closer.
“There does seem to be a very strong concentration of dark magic here further up north…” Celestia looked up, her eyes grew wide when seeing the crystal in Twilight’s magic. “TWILIGHT! PUT THAT DOWN!”
Twilight didn’t hear the Sun Princess in time. Suddenly the flame intensified as the crystal interacted with her magic. There was sudden burst of energy that threw everyone, even Discord all around the room. Unlike the others, the spirit had been knocked out and lay still.
As the ponies slowly recovered and looked up, the crystal was floating by itself, the flame inside of it had turned green and blue as it broke out and engulfed it. The crystal was now the center and inside of it red, intent eyes began to form, a cruel laughter echoing through the room.
“Well, well, I shouldn’t be so surprised,” the dark voice of King Sombra addressed the still disoriented ponies. “Seems the little princess didn’t heed my warning after all. Trying to mount a rescue mission and found one of my little surprises in the process.”
“Sombra!” Twilight growled as she slowly tried to rise up, but she was feeling strangely weak. Was there some sort of a spell in that blast?
“I told you to just leave me alone. What I am doing has nothing to do with Equestria. I can’t have you come here to disrupt what I’m trying to do,” Sombra snorted. The flames began to grow larger from the crystal. “Looks like I am just going to have to put you on a timeout.”
“Sombra!” This time it was Celestia who had snapped at the king. She had managed to rise up a little, frowning hard at the crystal. She was greeted with silence at first as it slowly turned around so the red eyes could see where she was in the room.
“Celestia… you just had to be there as well…” Sombra sighed, sounding disappointed. “I was hoping to spare you this. But what I am doing is too important. Thank Twilight for me for living in such a nice crystal castle, not protected by that insufferable heart.”
Oh no, Celestia gasped, realizing what the king was about to do, but she was still too weak from the strange blast to do anything.
The eyes disappeared from the crystal and the flames went out. It fell, clanging to the ground, but almost instantly began sinking into the floor. Black, vein-like lines immediately began spreading at great speed from that point, reaching the walls and started climbing up them like groping vines.
“Quick! We must get out before…” Celestia tried to stand up, but stumbled and fell down again. The other ponies weren’t faring much better and Discord was out for the count.
The entire interior of the room began turning black, dark crystals began forming over the windows and the entrance, blocking everything.
“What’s going on?” Twilight gasped as the whole room looked more like a cave made out of dark crystals. She tried to send a blast of magic at them but the energy just dissipated on the walls.
“He’s corrupting the crystal structure of the castle,” Celestia’s words hit her like a sledgehammer. “We’re trapped.”
Princess Luna took to the air after leaving the house and informing the ponies inside that the rescue operation was commencing. The alicorn was going fly over the town while watching for any potential sign of trouble.
She didn’t expect it to take too long. The map had already proven invaluable in pointing out problems to Twilight and her friends. Using Discord to locate Sombra would probably only take a moment or so. The princess half-expected everypony to come pouring out of the castle very soon.
As her flight took her over the hospital, the alicorn spotted Starlight Glimmer stumbling out of it with Nurse Redheart right behind her, calling after her in protest. Luna arched her brow and started to descent towards the two ponies.
“I’m aware I’m still hurt, but I got to go the castle,” Starlight snapped as she continued to unsteadily make her way down the road.
“You are barely in any condition to stand, let alone go anywhere!” Redheart pointed out as she chased after the stubborn unicorn.
“What is going on here?” Luna landed right in Starlight’s path, keeping her wings spread as she blocked the path.
“Princess Luna, there is not time to explain. I have to talk with Twilight,” Starlight said, silently cursing that she couldn’t concentrate enough to use her teleport spell.
“You should be in your hospital bed, Starlight Glimmer. You received a savage blow from King Sombra,” the princess pointed out, glancing at the bandage wrapped around the unicorn’s head.
“That’s what I was trying to tell her,” Nurse Redheart grumbled. She had finally caught up with the patient now that she had been halted.
Starlight groaned in frustration, then took a moment to calm herself down. Clearly she was going to need to explain why she was in such a hurry.
“Princess Luna, think about it. Why did King Sombra not incapacitate us more? Yes, he broke Flash Sentry’s wings, he knocked me out, but why didn’t he just kill us? He had us all at his mercy, he could even prevent Discord from being able to do anything in time,” the unicorn told the Lunar Princess.
Luna scowled as she thought this over. Yes, this was strangely uncharacteristic of the Shadow King. The Sombra she remembered never left anything to chance - he even had contingencies for Discord.
“He isn’t stupid. Not with how super-prepared he was for all of us. Surely he must know that Twilight will go and rescue his prisoners even if he told her to just leave him alone after ransacking her own home for them and attacking her friends,” Starlight continued, constantly glancing towards Twilight’s castle as she did.
“No, Sombra is not stupid…” Luna gasped and looked back at the castle. “He knows they will try.”
Starlight was about to sigh in relief when suddenly a dark blue magic aura grabbed her up and she was whisked away as Princess Luna took to the air, dragging the unicorn with her. On the ground, Nurse Redheart groaned, turned around and walked back to the hospital, hoping the princess would at least bring her patient back once she was done.
“We must get to the castle quickly! I will teleport us to the map room,” Luna explained to Starlight, who was still recovering from the sudden takeoff.
The teleportation didn’t happen. The Princess screeched to a halt in midair as her eyes opened wide in shock. Starlight didn’t need to wonder long what had caused the sudden stop, her jaw dropped as she now had a clear view of the castle.
The entire structure was turning black. Dark crystals were beginning to fill up or cover any openings, shadow-like tendrils were starting to spread out from it on the ground like dark roots.
“What’s happening to Twilight’s Castle!” Starlight gasped. She had never seen anything like this before.
“King Sombra has cursed the castle!” Luna quickly shook off her surprise and activated her teleport. But instead of going into the castle, both the Princess and the unicorn appeared outside of it, slamming into the wall and fell groaning to the ground.
“Ow… I’ve had enough knocks today,” Starlight moaned and rubbed her twice now tender head.
“Oh, no, no, no.” Luna was quicker to recover, jumping back to her legs and started blasting at the dark walls with her magic, but the energy just dissipated on the black crystals now producing out of them.
“What’s going on? Magic doesn’t work on these?” Starlight asked as she slowly stumbled to her legs. She didn’t notice a shadowy tendril approaching her on the ground.
“LOOK OUT!” The princess however did spot it and quickly grabbed the unicorn away with her magic and threw here further away from the ground around the castle before quickly taking to the air as tendrils had begun to approach her as well.
“Seriously. My head can’t take any more of this!” the unicorn groaned where she now lay on her back. She slowly looked up and witnessed the Lunar Princess continuing to barrage the castle with her magic to no avail.
Starlight slowly got back to her legs. She really wanted to help, but then noticed the root-like tendrils spreading away from the castle. One had reached one of the nearby buildings. Suddenly in matter of seconds it was engulfed in the same dark crystals. Another tendril reached a pony and it was suddenly encased in a crystal.
“The curse is spreading!” Luna gasped in alarm, having seen the same thing happening. Then she looked at Starlight who was staring at the events in horror.
“Run Starlight. Get out of Ponyville! I must try and contain the curse!” the Lunar Princess shouted and started to build up magic in her horn.
Starlight looked up at the princess as Luna engulfed the castle and herself in a shimmering blue shield. The barrier then began spreading to the houses that had already been turned into crystal.
“RUN!” Luna’s eyes were glowing white and she activated her royal voice to sound even louder.
That broke the unicorn out of her stupor. Quickly she began running away both from the spreading shadow tendrils that kept changing houses and ponies into crystal and Luna’s barrier that tried overtaking their spread.
This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. Starlight thought, she was feeling light-headed after all the knocks and wasn’t sure if she could actually run far enough to escape. Other ponies were also starting to run in panic after noticing what was happening.
Starlight cringed in pain as there was stinging in her head, reminding her that she was still injured. She stumbled and fell down. The mare looked back and her eyes opened wide, a shadow tendril was just about to reach her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable crystal imprisonment.
Something grabbed her and she was suddenly airborne. Starlight slowly opened her eyes and blinked when seeing maroon legs wrapped around her. Looking back she saw it was Foxy Stripes who was carrying her. Beside them in the air was Dew Doe. The two Pegasi were beelining out of Ponyville.
“T-thanks,” Starlight could only whisper in relief.
“Think nothing of it. We stepped outside to see what the commotion was all about, saw houses and ponies turning into spooky crystals, then Derpy’s house turned into a crystal trapping Derpy and her family inside and we figured this was as good time to observe Ponyville from a very safe distance,” Foxy told her with a nervous grin, glancing back for a moment and cringing. “Very, very safe distance. How does Saddle Arabia sound to you?”
“I don’t suppose you can tell us what is going on?” Dew Doe asked, looking Starlight who was right now really hoping Foxy Stripes was strong enough to carry her to safety.
“King Sombra anticipated a rescue. He cursed the castle and I assume trapped Twilight and our friends inside of it. Now the curse is spreading. Luna is trying to contain it. If the barrier overtakes the spread, we should be safe,” the unicorn told them.
Dew Doe took a short moment to stop and look back properly. They had just reached the outskirts of Ponyville and the magical force field did seem to be catching up with the groping shadow tendrils. The pegsus gulped and rushed after her sister and Starlight, hoping the unicorn was correct.
Finally the barrier enveloped the last house just before it turned into a crystal and the shadow tendrils were halted and pushed into the barrier, trying to break through it but failing. The pegasi sisters landed and Foxy let go of Starlight. The three ponies approached the barrier.
“Okay, so it wasn’t enough for him to steal my daughter, her uncle and the others, but he decided to change Ponyville into a second Tartarus?” Foxy snorted, stomping a hoof on the ground.
Starlight didn’t respond, she was looking at Princess Luna who was gliding towards the edge of the forcefield. The alicorn’s eyes were still glowing and her horn still radiated magic.
“Princess Luna?” Starlight whispered. She did not like the looks of this.
“Starlight Glimmer. I must maintain the barrier to prevent the curse from spreading. It’s taking everything I got without my sister’s help,” Luna addressed the unicorn. She didn’t land, but hovered above ground which was now turning into crystal as well.
“What should I do?” the unicorn asked, cringing at the sight of the town.
“You must find King Sombra. He alone can stop this curse. Find him, rescue those who he captured. Twilight and the others, even Discord and my sister are trapped inside the castle and can’t get out,” the princess explained to her.
“But…but…” Starlight tried to protest. “We don’t even know where he is and I’m barely in any condition…”
“Before the castle was fully converted, my sister managed to send me a message. They did see a build up of dark magic somewhere in the north. Princess Cadance is in Canterlot, perhaps she can help.” Luna interrupted her and gave her a solemn smile. “Go, hurry. I cannot hold this curse back for too long.”
Starlight sighed, glanced at the pegasi sisters before turning around and started to run off. Foxy looked at Dew, then Luna before glancing back at the departing unicorn. The maroon pegasus frowned before taking off after her.
“Hey! Wait up! We got wings! We can fly you there!” she called after Starlight.
“Wait! Foxy! What are you doing?” Dew blinked as she realized what her sister was doing and rushed after her.
“Volunteering us for a rescue mission!” Foxy declared as she and her sister disappeared
Luna watched them all go before she flew back towards the castle, sighing deeply and in her mind wishing Starlight the best of luck.
Barricade sighed, the rage he had felt towards Sombra was subsiding. What he didn’t really want to admit was that it had been more fueled by panic than anger. The thought of being captured again by the king had just freaked him out. Somehow he had managed to convert the panic into rage, but the stallion deep down was struggling to hold it together.
I have to be strong, can’t lose it now, he thought over and over again, banishing the temptation of curling up in a corner into the furthest reaches of his mind.
The stallion left the corner his parents were huddled in and walked over to where Rainbow Dash had the fillies. He was mildly surprised when both Coal and Dinky rushed over to him and clung to him. The stallion sat down so he could hug them both with his forelegs.
“I’m sorry, princesses. Sorry you had to get mixed up in this,” he whispered to them. Barricade glanced over when Cara stepped up beside him and leaned on him. She looked angry.
“So, you’re the big bad Barricade, huh?” the raspy voice of Rainbow Dash addressed him. The stallion glanced up. He managed to produce a smirk, while the whole time he really just wanted to cry.
“I suppose I am,” he said and shook his head. “Heard all the bad stories, have you?”
“Some of them. Did of course see you when you arrived for the party, but I was on a lookout up in the clouds. Applejack told us though that you were changing,” the rainbow mare told him and sat down. Right now there wasn’t much to do but talk.
“He is. He came to our summer play.” Dinky turned a little to look at Dash. “He’s never come to any play before. He wasn’t even invited.”
“And he came to the birthday party and this time we invited him.” Coal looked up.
“Dad can be nice. He just sometimes forgets to be,” Cara remarked and grinned when given a mock glare by her father.
“From the mouths of babes, huh? Look, I was bad, yes, and treated other ponies rotten. However, I’ve come to realize that is no way to live. I need to change… if only for the girls,” He then looked at Rainbow Dash, hugging Coal and Dinky a little closer.
Rainbow Dash nodded. She could clearly see that his daughters wanted to believe he was changing. Judging from his actions so far, it was obvious that Barricade cared about his family, even his brother. She had not been impressed by the stories she had heard about him, but then Applejack told them about what happened in Manehattan.
Dash had to admit that she wasn’t the most forgiving pony. If anyone could hold a grudge it was her. Right now though, she couldn’t really see any benefits from holding Barricade’s past dangling over him. If they were going to escape, they needed help and right now he was the prime candidate for assistance.
Wonder if we could squeeze Cara through the bars? She is thin and if she could get out, she has the best chance to quickly get away due to her wings. Dash thought and glanced at the bars. They were not super tight together, but she could already see that not even a small foal could get through. Well, hang that idea.
A shadow fell on the prisoners in the cave. Looking up revealed that King Sombra had returned. Mirage and Hard Shovel stood up but didn’t otherwise dare to move. Dash jumped to her feet, Barricade, battling a sudden panic building up in him, narrowed his eyes. He shuffled his youngest daughters over to Cara before standing, mustering enough willpower to glare daggers at the king.
“You will no doubt be happy to know that Private has calmed down, whether he wishes to come here again is another matter,” Sombra told them with a smile. He got no response, just glares or frightened stares.
“And here I thought, Private was the silent one of the family. No matter.” The dark king shrugged and lit up his horn. Suddenly Barricade was enveloped by black smoke and disappeared for a brief second, only to reappear outside.
“Barri!” Mirage gasped when seeing that her son had been taken outside.
“I’m not going to comment on that one,” Sombra muttered, as he used his magic to produce a chain and a heavy metal collar that got fastened to Barricade’s neck. The stallion grunted and tried to struggle for a second before settling down and just continued to glare at Sombra.
“Sombra, why don’t you face me, you coward!” Rainbow Dash snapped, flaring her wings, seeming ready to ram into the bars.
“Oh yes, a pegasus versus a powerful unicorn. I do wonder who would win? You should ask that what’s-his-name guard back at Twilight’s castle,” Sombra mocked then smirked. The bars of the cave disappeared. In a flash Dash was out, barreling towards the king.
The other prisoners flinched when there was a smack and Rainbow Dash came flying back into the cell, crashing hard with the stone wall. Sombra hadn’t even used his magic, he had simply punched her with a hoof. The bars went up again.
“Ow,” was all Rainbow Dash could really say as she nursed her sore head. Hard Shovel was soon by her side and helped her get back up.
“Come along, Barricade,” Sombra started to walk away, pulling at the chain and dragging Barricade away.
“Where are you taking him?” Mirage rushed over to the bars. Reaching out with one hoof. “Please leave my sons alone!”
“Please,” she whispered and sunk down to the ground. She barely noticed Cara coming over to her to give her a hug.
Barricade didn’t really bother to struggle against the chain. He knew Sombra was stronger than him and would just drag him across the ground if he tried. They didn’t walk for too long. They were soon in a cave that seemed to have been refurbished into a lab.
There were two long tables with various equipment on them that he couldn’t make head or tails of. A large book rested on a wooden podium. There were shelves full of books and scrolls.
I so don’t want to be here alone with him, Barricade thought, but continued to sport a brave face. He wasn’t going to give Sombra even an ounce of satisfaction of knowing that he was in fact right now scared to death.
“So, Barricade, I’ve been hearing that you’re changing your tune. No more crime boss life for you,” Sombra addressed him as he used his magic to fasten the chain end to the floor.
“You should know. It was you wasn’t it? Controlling that pegasus in Manehattan, warning us what was happening to Cara,” Barricade grunted, he tried the chain but only confirmed he was stuck for the time being. Shit! Shit! Shit! No, no time to panic. Have to be strong.
“Very clever of you, yes, it was me,” the king chuckled and walked over to the book on the podium.
“Why?” Barricade asked. The conversation was at least helping him to marginally remain calm.
“Whatever do you mean?” Sombra looked up from the book, a coy smirk on his muzzle.
“Why did you help us back there? Why in Tartarus did you care what was happening?” his prisoner asked.
“I couldn’t let some two-bit thug get away with harming you or your daughter, now could I?” Sombra chuckled at the unimpressed expression that came on Barricade. “It is simple Barricade. Caballeron had every intention of harming your children or even going for your brother to make you cooperate.”
“You and your brother belong to me and I don’t take kindly to others messing around with what belongs to me.” Sombra’s cheerful attitude dropped, he scowled and his voice got darker.
“We do not belong to you!” Barricade snapped, straining now against the chain as he leaned forward to glare at the dark pony.
“Oh, but you do, Barricade. I claimed your brother when I first pulled him back in time and made him my vessel. You I claimed when I possessed your brother and made you my sentry,” Sombra growled and stepped closer, the cave got darker and the king looked much taller and menacing.
“You and your brother have the strongest link to the dark ponies because your parents are both descendants. Two different lineages have crossed in you two.” King Sombra now loomed over Barricade whose stance faltered, the defiance vanished and his fear became more visible as he worried what was going to happen.
“I intend to let the dark ponies rise again. The key is in those of you who descended from the refugees of the destruction of the Empire. I’ve already examined the lineages of the others - no one has as strong link to them as you two. You already exemplify a lot of dark pony traits. That dark gray coat is no mere coincidence, you even have the temper of a dark earth stallion. You have the rage - I have awakened it in you. Like it or not Barricade, you and your brother are the closest to being pure dark ponies than any currently living pony except me.” Sombra stepped back, the cave got slightly brighter again and he seemed to recede a bit in size though he was still much taller than his prisoner.
“You’re mad,” Barricade whispered. He slowly rose up and backed slightly away. Sombra just snorted and returned to the book.
“Even your brother shows traits. His reclusiveness isn’t that dissimilar to the dark pegasi. They always tended to keep to themselves.” The king started to go through the book.
“Private is a recluse because he is scared shitless that ponies won’t accept him. He keeps ponies at arm’s length because he’s afraid of rejection. You don’t think I don’t know my brother? Nopony knows my brother better than me,” Barricade snapped, once again converting his rising panic into rage.
“Private and I used to be close, really close. I was the only one he would tell his feelings to. He even admitted to me that he was in love with Dew Doe back when I was dating Foxy, but he was just too scared he would ruin their friendship if he admitted it. The only new thing I know about him is that he’s bi, but I don’t think he started to reach that conclusion until after we got estranged,” he continued, not really caring that Sombra didn’t seem to be listening to him.
“Lots of ponies have tempers like me. As for our coat, have you looked at Celestia’s royal guards? They practically come only in two colors - white and dark gray.” Barricade sat down when seeing that the king seemed to be paying no attention to him.
“I never should have gotten involved with Caballeron… I should have just swallowed my pride… I would still be with Foxy…” he sighed and dropped his head. The pony really had to struggle to keep the sobs away.
“Yes, you certainly have done some damage in your idiotic ambitions.” Sombra glanced over with a mocking chuckle. “She still hates you, doesn’t she? Your grand apology didn’t amount to much did it?”
Barricade didn’t respond, just kept staring at the ground. There was a clank of metal as Sombra approached again.
“Do you really think they will give you a second chance even after that, considering all the idiotic things you have done? Didn’t your parents come and fetch you for that birthday party, to make sure you did come? Doesn’t seem like they trusted you,” the king mocked.
Still silence from the prisoner. Barricade was inwardly cringing. He had been wondering about that. Then he thought back to the party, sure the girls greeted him happily enough, but Derpy didn’t look too thrilled that he had shown up. Foxy had looked downright suspicious and Dew Doe had plain ignored him.
Was I really welcome there? he thought. Do they really believe that I’m trying to change? Have I burned the bridges too much?
“I don’t think they are ever going to give you a second chance,” King Sombra said, his horn lit up and Barricade was enveloped in magic energy.
“What…. AAH!” Barricade cried out when pain started going through him. He struggled to rise to his hooves, but the magic aura kept him in place. He cried out again, louder.
“No! Stop! PLEASE!”
“Why does he need so many blankets?” Private wondered and marked down the contents in the crate he was inspecting. He had found a clipboard, some paper and a pencil to write with. Reluctantly the unicorn had then started to do the task ordered of him, take inventory of this supply cave. At least it kept his mind off things.
I suppose it can get chilly during the nights, he shrugged and struggled to use his magic to move the crate to the ones he had already gone through. My magic is not being blocked, why does it barely work?
Private looked around, he had managed to go through most of the stuff inside the cave. Only a few boxes were left, checking them revealed dry food. He put that in the corner he had stored all the other dry food he had found.
Something is not right; these cave walls look odd. The unicorn frowned and put away the clipboard. He still didn’t really want to leave the cave, so instead he trotted over to one wall and started looking closer at the rock.
He didn’t really bother using magic in here and by looks of it, he isn’t storing something super important here, aside from the food. Private touched the wall. He felt something odd and tingly from it.
Great, I need to test something. He steeled himself and trotted out of the cave. He tried doing a simple light spell. His horn lit up with no problem. The unicorn glanced back to the cave and entered it, already he struggled with keeping the light going.
There is something in the wall that dampens magic, it doesn’t quite block it, but dampens it. Private frowned, racking his brain for any mineral that could do that. He groaned in frustration and lamented that he had failed basic magic back in school.
“Well I suppose then all I need to do is wait until Sombra comes back in here and knock him out since he will probably struggle with his magic in here too,” he mused, then looked at his out-of-shape body. “Yeah, no that’s not happening.”
Private started to consider more options when his ears picked up a sound. The stallion looked towards the cave entrance. He could definitely hear a cry. Private frowned and peeked out of the cave, there was a louder cry of pain.
Barricade. The unicorn gasped and hurried out. Since he wasn’t sure where to go, Private just followed the sound. He finally found the lab and froze when seeing what was happening.
Sombra stood in front of Barricade, who was still chained to the floor, and was blasting him with some sort of magic. His brother was crying out in pain and beginning to struggle to stand up.
“No! Stop!” Private called and attempted to rush in, but was stopped by a forcefield from entering the cave. He started to hammer on it with his hooves. “What are you doing to him!?”
“Doing some examinations of him, Private,” Sombra explained, never looking up from his work.
“You said you wouldn’t harm them!” Private cried and continued to beat on the forcefield.
“No, I said they would be safe. It was you who wanted no harm,” the king corrected him. “Your brother is safe. He will not die, however the examination process is a little painful. That can’t be helped.”
“Examine me then, leave him alone!” the smaller unicorn demanded.
“Oh I will examine you as well, Private, very closely.” King Sombra looked up and smirked, but Private was just too distraught right now to really pay attention how he said it. “But I need to compare data, so I need to examine your brother first.”
Finally, the king let up. The magic stopped and Barricade crumbled to the ground, groaning and sobbing in pain. The forcefield disappeared and Private rushed to his brother’s side.
“Barricade told me that you and he were close once. Is that true?” Sombra asked as he watched his prisoner cradle the other one with his front legs.
“I… yes. Once, before he turned full jerk on us, stole from our parents, treated my friends badly. Not even Dew can read me as well as Barricade can. I didn’t care when you told Barricade I was bisexual back when you possessed me. If we still had been close, I would have told him. Because I know he would never have told anypony.” Private looked up to glare at Sombra.
“You long to be close with him again, don’t you?” The dark unicorn ignored the glare and tilted his head as he observed the brothers.
“More than anything,” Private whispered and hugged his disoriented brother.
King Sombra was rather impressed by how stable Private behaved. Considering earlier, the king had half expected the pony to be still a nervous wreck.
“Take him back to the cell. No wait, I’ll make a new one nearby. Put him in that one. The bars will rise once you’re out of it,” he ordered.
Private froze for a moment. Going back to the cell area meant he would have to face his parents. Then he looked at Barricade who still could barely move from the examination Sombra had subjected him to.
I am so not ready… but what can I do? He rose up and helped Barricade to rise, letting him lean on him.
Slowly the brothers walked out of the cave. As they continued, Private noticed that the torches on the walls were dim in some places but brighter in others. It dawned on him that Sombra was showing him the way since the last time he had been in the cell area he had just run out in blind panic.
How considerate. Private snorted, but kept walking. Barricade didn’t say a word, there just escaped an occasional sob. He really did a number on you.
After a short while, Private started to hear soft noises, realizing it were voices speaking as quietly as they could. He hesitated, realizing they were approaching where the cell was. Taking a deep breath, he guided his brother into the cavern.
“Private!”
“Barricade!”
“Dad!”
Private ignored the voices for now. He saw the new hollow Sombra talked about. Knowing better than to disobey, he guided his brother to it. He could hear them asking what he was doing, but the unicorn was too nervous right now to respond. He got to the new cell and allowed his brother to lie down there. As soon as he backed out, crystal bars rose up to close it.
“Private, why did you put him there?” Slowly he turned to look at the other cell. Everyone was right at the bars and looking out.
I can do this. I can do this. Private chanted in his mind, slowly and with much effort he approached the other cell. Just think about something positive… think about Dew Doe… right Dew… chasing me with a brush or making a surprise pancake breakfast.
“Privy.” As soon as he was by the other cell, he could feel his mother reach out with a hoof to touch his cheek.
“Private. I don’t care what that monster has told you. We don’t hate you. You are who you are and we love you,” Hard Shovel said as he also reached through the bars to touch his son with a hoof.
“Yes… I did say those things once, I am so sorry you heard me say that. Your mother slapped me for it, told me to never say something so hateful ever again,” the old stallion continued. “I was intolerant in the past, I know. It took me a while to get over it, but I have. I would welcome any relationship you have, no matter who it is.”
Private looked at him, then at his mother. They were both smiling at him, no hateful words, nothing. Just love, understanding and probably concern over their current situation.
“Please don’t let that monster use your fears against you again,” Mirage said.
“That’s very difficult, he is rather good at dragging them up,” Private remarked then sighed. “But yes… it was a stupid fear. I knew you wouldn’t hate me… it just stuck so hard…”
“I’m just sorry that my words caused it. How is your brother? What was done to him?” Hard Shovel tried to see over to the other cell, but it was difficult.
“Sombra said he was examining him, then told me to put him in another cell. He is weak at the moment. This took a lot out of him,” his son explained, then he glanced back as if he was worried.
“Dad, is it really true about comfort colts?” Private whispered. Mirage and Hard Shovel looked at each other before returning their attention back to their son.
“Yes, I’m afraid it is. Has he tried anything?” Hard Shovel asked carefully.
“He keeps hinting at it, but no he hasn’t really tried anything.” Private bit his lip for a moment before looking back at them. “He isn’t wrong, dad, he’s been inside my head. He knows everything about me. All my wants and desires.”
“Private, what are you saying?” Mirage arched her brow. “You’re not actually telling me you like the hinting.”
“I think I do. Mom, dad… err…” Private fell silent and looked at the fillies who were also close by and clearly listening.
Rainbow Dash quickly realized Private was about to say something really personal to his parents. She quickly grabbed Dinky and Coal and pulled them further into the cell. Cara also caught on and quickly tried to go as far in as possible.
“Okay, here goes.” Private took a deep breath and leaned really close to the bar in front of his parents.
“I love Dew Doe. Any other mares I completely ignore. She knows me, understands me and just is in all ways incredible,” he whispered so low that Mirage and Hard had to strain their ears to hear him.
“But when it comes to stallions. I’ve found that I’m more attracted to the strong, aggressive type. I have fantasized relationships with Commander Hurricane, King Horsenidas of the Spartacorns… and the lost son of Queen Rabia. My brain keeps yelling at me, ‘the lost son of Queen Rabia is hitting on you, in real life.’ It makes me shiver all over.”
Private sighed and hung his head, there were no words from his parents yet. It didn’t worry him right now, he just needed advice and they were the ones he usually went to for it. “He’s a horrible, brutal, monster, yet every time he hints at something, my heart skips a beat and I am scared I will give in, because my biggest fantasy is playing out in real life.”
Mirage looked at Hard Shovel who was thinking. The old mare then reached out through the bars to put a hoof gently on Private’s head.
“Privy, you are scared and confused. It’s alright, it’s alright to have these feelings,” she said gently and caressed his mane.
“Private, no matter what happens, we won’t think any lesser of you. I know this is hard and he isn’t probably making it any easier for you. But you must be strong, if we are going to get through this,” Hard Shovel chimed in.
Private raised his head to look at them, he was frowning in thought. Then a soft sob came from the other cell, then a frightened whimper causing him to glance over.
When I was possessed, Barricade stuck by me, he was so strong, never gave in to Sombra, he even dove and tackled him when he was controlling my body and was going to attack that mare at the inn. Dad has a point. I must be strong, for them, for Barricade, he thought and turned his head back to his parents.
“I will,” he whispered and nodded. It was going to be really hard, but the unicorn was now determined to do for Barricade what his brother had done for him.
“Hey, Private.” Rainbow Dash appeared by the bars now.
“Since he’s letting you run loose I think we can turn that into our advantage. Have you seen any way out yet?” she asked. Private shook his head.
“Keep your eyes open for anything. With Barricade now isolated, I am going to need you to help us bust out of here,” the rainbow mare said.
Private raised an eyebrow for a second but nodded. Then he noticed that his mother’s eyes had opened wide. The stallion glanced back and stiffened a bit when seeing Sombra enter the cavern.
“Private, I told you to take your brother to his new cell, not chat it up with the others,” the king said sternly.
“Uh… well you didn’t tell me not to,” Private said and quickly turned around, hoping he hadn’t caused trouble for those in the cell. Sombra arched his brow at the response.
“Don’t try to be clever with me, Private,” the king grunted. His magic activated and a collar of magic appeared around Private’s neck and dragged him away from the cells. “I told you already, your family’s safety depends on your behavior.”
“Sorry,” the smaller unicorn whispered, glancing carefully back to the cell. His parents were glaring at Sombra but otherwise said nothing.
“Come along, I have other jobs for you to do,” Sombra snorted and released Private from his magic grip, but now pushed his prisoner out of the cavern with a leg.
Foxy landed on the road and with a concerned frown approached the groaning pony who lay flat on the ground. Starlight hadn’t gone really far after running away from Luna’s barrier that now enveloped almost entire Ponyville, dropping down still well within sight of it.
“Are you all right?” Foxy asked, receiving a frustrated neigh in response. They were soon joined by Dew Doe who had quickly caught up.
“I just forgot my head has been knocked around three times already today, my friends are trapped in a cursed castle and now I have to go again and deal with somepony who is really dangerous to solve the issue,” Starlight moaned and started to rise up with the help of the two pegasi.
“That is a pretty bad bulge on your head, you really should be in bed,” Dew Doe remarked as she gently felt Starlight’s bandage with a hoof.
“Well that isn’t exactly an option right now, my bed is probably cursed too right now,” Starlight snapped and batted Dew’s hoof away.
“Sorry, I just like helping ponies, I didn’t mean to fuzz over you like that, Dew cringed and looked down.
“Dew has an automatic nurse mode,” Foxy chuckled weakly.
Starlight took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to dispel the frustration of the current situation away. Considering what had just happened in Ponyville, she needed all the help she could get and right now the two pegasi were her most current option.
“No it’s alright, you are right, I should be in bed, I was in fact in the hospital,” she started explaining, then told the sisters how she had realized that Sombra would be prepared for a rescue mission by Twilight and tried to get to the castle with Luna’s help. Unfortunately, they were too late.
“Okay, so what do we do now?” Foxy wondered, Dew opened her mouth as if to protest but then glancing at Starlight’s bandaged head shut it again.
“Luna said there was massive dark magic somewhere north, we need more help to figure out where to go…” the unicorn frowned as she thought over what little information they did have. “She said Princess Cadance was in Canterlot, we need to warn her what has happened, with Luna, Twilight and Celestia trapped in Ponyville she is our best option to go to for further advice.”
“I could probably teleport us there but it would take a lot out of me plus I right now am having trouble using my magic with this concussion,” Starlight smiled weakly and rubbed her head.
“Yeah, please use your magic sparingly for the next few days,” Dew Doe advised with a concerned expression. Starlight gave her a confused look.
“Foxy wasn’t kidding about that nurse mode,” the unicorn then said with a chuckle. The mare in question was now grinning with a real ‘told ya’ expression.
“I am certified, though no longer practicing. I switched to psychiatry and Foxy and I actually work for the parole office in Fillydelphia, I mostly help troubled ponies newly out of jail, but I have been considering opening up my own practice lately,” the blue pegasus smiled and shrugged a little.
Starlight nodded and started considering their options for travel. They needed to get to Canterlot but even if it was the closest city to Ponyville it was still a fair trot. On hoof that is, the unicorn glanced at the wings on the pegasi.
“Wait, do you think you can carry me to Canterlot?” she looked at Foxy when remembering how easily the pegasus had in fact carried her.
“Canterlot is close by, especially on wing,” Dew said as she glanced towards the distant mountains where Canterlot Castle was clearly visible.
Foxy turned her head too look towards the mountains, she narrowed her eyes as she carefully considered, rubbing her muzzle thoughtfully. Dew shook her head rolling her eyes, Starlight looked at her curiously.
“FOR COAL!” Foxy Stripes suddenly shouted, spread her wings and jumped into the air, Quickly then she grabbed Starlight and tossed her onto her back and flew off towards Canterlot with Dew quickly following.
“Is she always like this?” Starlight cried as she desperately clung onto Foxy, wrapping her front legs around her neck.
“Pretty much,” was all Dew could offer in response, though deep down she knew her sister was mostly doing it this time to conceal her own worries and fears over her abducted daughter.
Maybe flying wasn’t such a good idea, Starlight thought as she felt another headache coming through. How in Equestria can I do anything in this condition.
“So, what is it that you do?” she decided to try and keep her mind off it by conversing with her ride.
“I’m pretty much in the same profession as Dew, though I only took psychiatry, but my focus was more often on foals but Dew and I like working together so we were often assigned jobs together,” the maroon mare responded.
“Wow, I don’t suppose the two of you have psychoanalyzed Sombra have you?” Starlight made a weak joke.
“Considering we never met the creep until today at the castle, I would say at first glance he’s a classic case of a pony with a sadistic personality disorder and shows clear signs of obsessive desire for power and control,” Dew chimed in causing the unicorn to look at her unsure.
“Are you pulling my leg or were you being serious?” she asked, when Dew smiled it became clear she hadn’t been too serious.
“I would need a full session with him, not that I would want to, before I could give any conclusive diagnosis. Ponies can show all kind of signs that the uninitiated might think were signs of some mental disorder, but are in fact just personality quirks or even just a one time thing brought on by the situation at hoof,” the pegasus explained.
“So how are the two of you holding up, I mean… this can’t be easy on either of you,” Starlight then asked, wondering how much they were keeping in right now. Not surprisingly both pegasi sighed a bit and got sadder.
“To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind crawling to bed and curl up in a ball and just cry. But that isn’t going to bring back my daughter and our friends back,” Foxy responded first, they then both looked at Dew Doe who seemed to have been lost in thought.
“I just want them back and I never turn down ponies that need help,” she finally said after a bit of silence.
Starlight nodded and decided to try and change the subject. However, her mind was still on recent events, plus her condition wasn’t exactly helping either with thinking too much. She wasn’t much better than Foxy, she just wanted to crawl back into bed.
In the end she decided to just use what little concentration she did have to hold on as Foxy carried her towards Canterlot. Dew would sometimes periodically move closer to examine the unicorn’s head, Starlight relented to it, realizing by now that the blue pegasus was herself trying to keep her mind off things.
“Oh wow, look at all the trains and ponies at the station,” Foxy remarked as they started their flyover over the city and came closer to the train station. But as the ponies began heading towards the castle their flight path was blocked by Princess Cadance accompanied by two pegasi guards.
“Starlight, good you are here, Foxy, Dew, please follow me,” the alicorn requested and immediately headed towards Canterlot castle.
“Wait, she knows you two?” Starlight blinked, the way the princess had addressed the sisters seemed to indicate so.
“We did stay at her castle when Private was possessed by Sombra and they were looking for him,” Foxy explained briefly as she followed the princess.
Cadance brought them to the highest balcony of the castle where she landed along with her guards. Foxy and Dew soon followed and the sisters helped Starlight climb off the maroon pony’s back.
“Princess Cadance…” Starlight started but the princess simply raised her hoof. Clearly intending to explain already before questions rained over her.
“We’ve had our own contingency plans in place in case King Sombra struck again. The moment Celestia and Luna heard of the attack, I was summoned here to watch over things just in case. Then Luna sent me a message to stop all trains going to Ponyville and made me aware that you would most likely head here first, or at least look out for you in case you didn’t. I was actually heading off to search for you when the three of you arrived,” Cadance told them. “Put perhaps you could fill me in on the details, Luna couldn’t tell me much as she was already under considerable strain or so she told me through her magic.”
Starlight nodded and started to tell exactly what happened in Ponyville, from King Sombra’s attack to when Twilight’s entire castle began sprouting dark crystals and converting its surroundings and any pony unlucky enough to be in the way and didn’t run fast enough.
“And now Luna’s stuck there stopping the curse from spreading,” she finished, the whole time the princess had listened with a concerned expression.
“Send out ponies to the surrounding areas of Ponyville and look for anypony who might have escaped before Luna sealed the town, try and have them come to Canterlot,” Cadance ordered the guards who saluted and flew off.
“I take it wasn’t part of your contingency that entire Ponyville would be encased in Crystal, trapping three of the four Princesses and the others?” Starlight wondered and wasn’t surprised the alicorn shook her head.
“But in hindsight we should have, we’ve witnessed Sombra’s layers of traps before, well Twilight has,” Cadance sighed and gestured for the three ponies to follow her inside.
“So how do we begin looking for him?” the unicorn asked as they entered the tower the balcony was on. Cadance found herself a seat and gestured to the mares to do the same.
“We have had suspicions that he’s somewhere in the north for a while now, if Celestia is right and there is a strong concentration of dark magic there, then that’s probably where he is. The problem is, we think he’s well beyond Yakyakistan which is too close the mountain goats for any of us to go there. Don’t forget that the yaks have only in the recent years reopened their borders to us,” the princess explained. “Mountain goat territory is still very much closed and then there is Artica.”
“Artica?” Foxy asked, her sister looked just as unsure.
“The land of the mountain ponies, they are very hostile to Equestrian ponies, though they haven’t bothered us in a long time and with the yaks now on our side that isn’t likely to change. But if Sombra is anywhere close to there, he is in a very good spot to hide,” Cadance told them.
“I don’t think we have much choice, do you think the yaks could offer some assistance?” Starlight wondered with a thoughtful expression.
“Perhaps they can, the most recent possible sighting was when they told us they had rescued some mountain goats driven mad by fear…” Cadance nodded but then looked at the unicorn’s bandaged head. “But do you think you are up for the trip?”
“Again, don’t think we have much choice, you are needed here, you probably even need to go and help Luna preventing the curse from spreading. I’ll be fine… I’ll rest aboard the train and I’ll probably be better once we finally arrive up north,” Starlight assured her.
“Foxy and I will go with her. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Dew Doe chimed in, her sister nodding furiously.
Cadance frowned, clearly not quite liking the idea but had to concede that Starlight had a point. As much as the princess wanted to rush back north and start hunting Sombra down, she was needed here in the south with all the other princesses trapped in Ponyville. Not to mention, Starlight had already proven herself once quite capable of dealing with a crisis like this.
“I’ll have guards get you saddlebags with supplies and escort you to the train station. You’ll use my personal train to get to the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor can give you directions from there to Yakyakistan,” the princess said and rose from her seat and so did Starlight and the pegasi sisters.
Barbell groaned in frustration as she stared at the schedule table for the trains. All routes to Ponyville were cancelled. She was stuck in Canterlot, the next train to Manehattan wouldn’t be for another hour and had in fact been delayed due to the schedule mess with Ponyville.
“What’s going on?” the earth pony grumbled. Her train from Manehatten to Ponyville had been rerouted to Canterlot without any explanation. The mare first thought she would have to just hop on another one to go to Ponyville, but looking at the schedule dashed that hope.
“Can you believe this?” she grunted and looked at another mare that was standing next to her, also viewing the schedule. “Why would they cancel all the trains?”
The other mare and earth pony as well, gray with purplish hair and wearing a blue grayish frock, didn’t respond. For a moment she just stared neutrally at the schedule before looking around at all the ponies at the train station, many who were being just as inconvenienced as them by all the cancellations.
“Were you going to Ponyville as well?” Barbell asked, not really minding that her question hadn’t been answered. It had been rhetorical.
“Yes,” the pony responded in a dry deadpan tone.
“Just our luck huh, stuck in the capital,” the opal pony snorted and shook her head, she started to glance around, to see if anything was happening that would explain the situation.
“Ladies and gentecolts!” a voice suddenly announced from the speakers.
“As you may have noticed all trains to Ponyville have been cancelled. We have just been informed that there has been an incident in the town and it is not safe to travel there. If you live in Ponyville, we have information for guest houses and hotels at the ticket counter, if you know somepony in Canterlot, we would advise asking them if they can house you for the time being. Other trains will resume traveling to other locations within two hours.”
“What?” Barbell gasped in shock, the other mare though still looking stoic and neutral slightly raised one eyebrow, but then she looked away staring into the distance.
“Oh no, Barricade, what’s going on? What happened?” Barbell started to look frantically around as if trying to find someone, anyone who could answer her questions.
“Come with me,” the other mare said, still speaking in the same monotone voice, she started to walk towards the platforms, specifically heading to one that had a rather stylized crystal like train by it.
“Huh?” Barbell looked at the pony confused, but seeing she couldn’t do much else followed her. As they approached the platform, the mare saw Princess Cadance, a couple of guards and three other ponies standing close the to train. The earth mare frowned, she recognized the two pegasi in that group.
“And when you get north, ask Shining for a map of the northern regions. We should have them in the library.” The two mares heard Cadance say to the three ponies.
“Starlight,” the monotone mare addressed the group, not raising her voice one iota, but it caused the unicorn to snap her head towards her.
“Maud. Oh thank goodness,” Starlight rushed over to the gray earth mare and gave her a hug. “You escaped Ponyville?”
“No. I was already here in Canterlot. What happened in Ponyville?” Maud asked, not returning the hug, but Starlight could almost detect a hint of concern in her otherwise deadpan voice.
“I’m so sorry,” Starlight sighed deeply. “Sombra attacked Ponyville, Pinkie and the others are trapped in Twilight’s castle. I’m heading off north to go look for him, we think he might be there somewhere beyond Yakyakistan.”
“Is Pinkie all right?” Maud asked, her friend could almost swear there was even more concern in her voice.
“I don’t know, this is why I must hurry to go north, it’s our only real lead to find him. He abducted eight ponies, including Rainbow Dash,” Starlight explained, somewhat reluctantly not wanting to distress her friend over her sister. It was then the unicorn noticed Barbell, but the opal mare was glaring past her, straight at Foxy Stripes who was doing the same. Dew Doe looked more awkward.
“You know her?” Starlight glanced at the pegasi mares.
“I’m Barbell. I’m Barricade’s marefriend,” Barbell responded before the pegasi could.
“I take it you were on your way to Ponyville to join the… uh party?” now the unicorn cringed and didn’t feel much better when the earth pony slowly nodded. “Then you probably don’t want to know that Barricade was one of the ponies abducted…”
“He was what?!” Barbell stopped glaring at Foxy and instead turned a shocked expression towards Starlight.
Starlight glanced at Cadance who gave her a sympathetic smile, then the Princess stepped forward and took over explaining exactly what happened to the two newly arrived mares. Barbell’s jaw slowly descended towards the ground, Maud’s expression barely changed, but Starlight had a feeling that deep down her friend was worried.
“Starlight, I’m coming with you,” Maud suddenly declared. Starlight looked at her sharply and almost wanted to protest, but then considered that her friend did have a stake in this plus had abilities that could well come in handy. Right now, she could use all the help she could get.
She then looked at Barbell who was rubbing her forehead, like she just couldn’t believe what was happening right now. Starlight glanced back at the pegasi sisters, Foxy was still glaring at the opal mare, Dew Doe just shrugged, clearly not ready to offer any advice.
“Look, uh Barbell was it? I can see you have some stake in this, if you wish to come as well, I won’t stop you, all help is appreciated,” she offered, secretly wishing she had time to contact Trixie and grab her along as well. But her showpony friend was west in Applewood and wasn’t expected back for quite a while.
Barbell eyed her for a moment before glancing back at Foxy, who first now looked away. Dew Doe suddenly found her hooves rather interesting. The earth pony returned her attention to Starlight.
“Since Barricade got himself in another mess, I’ll come to go get him out of it, but I’m only doing it for him and Cara,” she snorted, giving Foxy another glare.
“Fine, come along, see if I care. I’m going to get my daughter Coal back, her sister Dinky and my friend Private and Hard Shovel and Mirage Rock,” Foxy snapped, Dew Doe put a restraining hoof on her chest but her sister didn’t go forward.
Oooh boy, I hope this will not be Trixie and Discord all over again, Starlight closed her eyes and rubbed her temple tiredly, the bad blood between the two mares could clearly be observed from orbit.
“Good luck,” Cadance whispered to Starlight with an awkward grin, not envying the unicorn right now.
“Oh I can almost say I’m used to this,” Starlight sighed and looked at Maud who was the only one who made no comment and just continued to watch with the same stoic neutral expression.
“Alright everypony, let’s go,” Starlight then declared and gestured to the train waiting for them. First in were the Pegasi sisters, though Foxy shot Barbell one last glare before boarding. Next went Barbell and Maud.
Starlight started to board the train, but stopped midway and glanced back at Cadance who was still giving her the same sympathetic smile. The unicorn, chuckled nervously before fully entering and the door closed behind her.
Oh, this is going to be a long trip north, Starlight thought as she entered the coach and found Barbell sitting on one side and the Pegasi sisters far on the other side. Only Maud had not yet found her seat and seemed to be waiting expectantly for Starlight, apparently wishing to sit next to her.
“You can still change your mind and jump out,” Starlight said half joking half-serious to Maud who still didn’t change her expression, but there was a slight gleam of amusement in her eyes.
Sombra growled in frustration and stepped away from the book on the podium. He was frustrated. So far his findings had turned up nothing of use. He had by now examined both Private and Barricade magically, found traces of their dark pony ancestry, but it was so muddled now with cross-breeding between other pony races over the long years since their dark pony ancestors had first arrived in Equestria.
There must be some way to do it, he thought and turned so his back faced the podium. He saw that Private was slowly rising, newly recovered from the same examination the king had subjected his brother to.
“Go to the supply cave and get some of the food and give it to the prisoners. There is a water well in another cave close to it so you can bring water to them,” he ordered. Private didn’t even look at him, just slowly turned around to head out of the lab.
I was going to examine his parents and the children as well, but I have a feeling the results would be just the same, Sombra walked over to the bookcase and pulled out an old book with his magic.
I can reshape the landscape around me with my presence alone, I can pull ponies back in time with the right spells, I have even cheated death.You would think recreating my own race using descendants would be a simple matter. The dark pony opened the book, it listed a wide array of transformation spells.
It’s there, I can feel it. When I’m around Private or Barricade, I feel the familiarity, the feeling that another dark pony is near me. Yet I know they are not true dark ponies, with those cutie marks and not even a sliver of dark magic in them. Sombra closed the book and tossed it back in the case. None of the spells had listed what he needed.
“I’m not ready to give up,” he muttered and picked another spell book and went through it. “I could of course just use a shape changing spell, but that wouldn’t make them true dark ponies, it would just be an illusion. They would still be Equestrians underneath it all.”
Hoofsteps caught his attention, glancing to the cave entrance he saw that Private had returned. The prisoner didn’t say anything, just halted when noticing that the king was looking at him.
“Has your brother recovered from the examination?” Sombra simply asked, he didn’t even react to the glare Private gave him.
“Not really, but he accepted the food and water,” Private grunted. He hadn’t dared staying for too long with his family, recalling what happened last time.
Why does he remind me so much of Timido, not just the basic appearance but his general behavior. Granted, Timido spoke to me with more respect and was more shy, Sombra thought as he continued to observe Private.
“What do you want with us? Aside from the ‘you own me’ bit, you went through a lot of trouble catching us in one place,” Private dared himself to ask.
“As I told your brother, I intend to recreate the dark pony race,” Sombra responded, inwardly chuckling when seeing his prisoner’s surprised expression, Clearly the smaller unicorn hadn’t expected a straightforward answer.
“I believe the key to it is you and your brother. Through your parents, two different lineages come together. Of all the other dark pony descendants, you two show the strongest dark pony traits.” Sombra put the book on the shelf and turned fully towards Private who was now contemplating the answer he had just received.
Unlike his brother, Private wasn’t as closed to the idea and actually found it mildly intriguing. He recalled the king musing about this back during the possession ordeal. The unicorn wondered if this was something possible by someone as powerful as Sombra, especially since he wasn’t shy of using more unconventional methods and experiments.
I hate to admit it, but if somepony could pull it off, it would be him, he thought, then noticed the king was approaching him.
“I take it my parents and nieces are next up for examination?” Private asked, cringing a little at the thought of seeing the girls and his parents being subjected to that invasive magic scan.
“I considered it, but after examining both you and your brother, I have reached the conclusion that it would be a waste of time. They would probably just show similar results. All I have really confirmed is that you are in fact descendants of dark ponies, so you don’t need to worry about them too much, unless…” King Sombra let the sentence hang, knowing that his prisoner would catch on.
“Yeah, yeah, unless I behave,” Private grunted and half expected to be petted by the dark unicorn. Sombra, however, kept his hooves to himself, but did now stand awfully close.
“I’m going to retire to my chamber for a little while, don’t touch anything here, save for the books, feel free to read them if you so wish or go talk with your family if you must,” the king simply said and started to walk past him.
What? I’m not going to be dragged there too? Private was mildly surprised by this development, then a black tail gently slapped him in the face.
“If you want to, I can do that,” Sombra responded to his thoughts with a coy smile, halting on his way out of the cave.
“NO!” Private shouted, mentally cursing that he forgot that the bigger pony could enter his mind whenever he wished.
“Ah well,” the king chuckled and departed the cave.
“Ugh… seriously,” Private muttered and watched the dark pony leave. Then he entered the lab fully and started to look around. He went to the big book on the podium and took a peek at it, however it was written in the script of King Sombra’s race. The unicorn knew his parents could read it, but he had never studied his distant ancestors as closely as they had.
I don’t think it is a good idea to take it to them. Sombra will probably know and that will probably count as misbehavior. Private thus ignored the book and trotted to the bookshelves.
Maybe I should go talk with them since I was given a free pass. He carefully picked an old book and browsed through it, it was full of magic theory that made him go cross-eyed. I just remembered why I failed magic class in school.
Private put the book away, wondering if he should bother with another. His interest lay in history and for some reason the pony couldn’t picture a lot of these volumes contained any of that.
Rainbow Dash wants me to help figure a way out, maybe I should explore the caverns a little before going back to the cells. He glanced towards the cave entrance. Then the unicorn frowned, now that he thought about it, why were they in caves? Surely King Sombra could have found something more suitable.
Figuring this was worth investigating, Private trotted out of the cave. He noted that all the torches were lit so there was no trouble navigating around. Now that the pony was getting calmer, he took better note of details. The tunnel he was in was clearly old and dug a long time ago.
By now Private knew his way to the supply cave and the cell caves. The tunnel near the cells led to a dead end so he headed in the direction of the other one. The unicorn frowned as he continued down the tunnel, he passed the supply cave and the one with the well. He was starting to wonder where Sombra’s chamber was, so far there was no sign of another cavern.
Suddenly the tunnel stopped, at the end there was a simple wooden door. Private arched his brow and used his magic to open it, wondering if he was now entering Sombra’s bedroom. Thankfully in his mind, no cavern with a bed appeared, simply stone steps leading upwards in a spiral.
Well, here goes nothing. The unicorn took a deep breath and started to walk upwards. He wasn’t sure how long he had walked, but at the top the pony was presented with another door. Opening it lead him into a huge stone room.
Private frowned, there was something hauntingly familiar about it. It looked a bit like an ancient dining room, there was a big long table in the middle and around were chairs and other furniture in various state of disrepair.
On the wall at the far end of the room was a single door that was closed. The side walls had windows and sickly yellow light poured in through them. The back wall had two doors, one Private had stepped through and a second one further to the right of him.
Private didn’t like the looks of this place, everything was bathed in a sickly yellow glow from the light outside. Then he noticed that on the walls were black crystals. They didn’t look like they belonged, more like the walls were infected with them and they were slowly spreading, some had even reached down to the floor and black, vein-like lines were slithering across the floor.
Why does this place look so familiar? He wondered and tentatively walked further in, avoiding the black lines on the floor.
The unicorn made his way to the furthest door and carefully opened it. He blinked when seeing outside, snow-peaked mountains greeted him in the distance, looking down was a straight drop. The door led straight off the edge of a cliff. The strangest thing of all was how sickly dark yellow the sky was.
What is this place? He wondered and closed the door again and backed away. It’s like it’s being slowly corrupted.
“Enjoying the view?”
The voice froze Private for a second before the unicorn dared himself to slowly look back. King Sombra stood right there, looking at him with a grave expression. Private gulped and turned around.
“Not really,” he whispered, shifting nervously and wondering if he had made a grave error coming up here. “Why do I feel like I’ve been here before?”
“Oh right, shortly after you left the hospital in the Crystal Empire, my spell that was supposed to alert me of it, didn’t work right. Instead it brought you here, for a short moment, I sent you back, but suppressed your memories of it, just so you wouldn’t accidentally blab,” the king explained.
Private’s eyes opened wider as suddenly the memories came flooding back. He had been here before, but it didn’t look like this. It had just looked like an old abandoned fort. The unicorn glanced back at Sombra. “So why does it look like this now?”
“A side effect of my dark magic, I do have a lot of it and it can start to creep out into the environment. I’m a very bad pony to have hanging around for too long,” the king started to smile evilly. “I can actually change the whole thing much faster, but I just haven’t really decided yet if this is where I’m going to stay. So, in the meantime, the fort and the mountain it is on is being slowly corrupted by my magic.”
“The mountain goats call this area now the Mountains of Fear. That is an apt description, wouldn’t you say?” the king chuckled and started to approach Private who took a step back. He was starting to get scared. Sure he always figured the king was evil, he did possess him after all and even killed ponies during that, but that he was that bad that the very environment changed to reflect it?
“H-how long until it affects living things?” Private whispered, now seriously worrying about his family and Rainbow Dash. If Sombra’s magic could affect the landscape, how could it affect others?
“Ask Twilight Sparkle about the Crystal Ponies when they first returned,” Sombra said, his horn activated purple and green and a crystal slab rose out of the floor to prevent Private going further back.
“I read about it, they looked like they were in a permanent state of depression… oh sweet Celestia.” Private gulped as he realized he couldn’t retreat and now Sombra was right in front of him.
“W-wait, why are the caverns not corrupted like this?” his voice was barely audible now.
“There are some minerals down there that dampen magic, not everywhere but in few spots here and there, enough to slow it down. The supply cave and the one with the water well are loaded with them, but not the lab and the prison,” the king explained as he leaned closer to the frightened unicorn.
Oh crap, he knows about that, well duh, he’s probably explored everything thoroughly already. Private closed his eyes, fearing the worst. Nothing happened, carefully he opened them again, Sombra still stood there, looming over him.
“Since you found your way up here, go back down to the supply cave and get me some food. My chamber is through the second door,” the dark pony told him, stepped back and turned around, leaving his confused prisoner behind as he disappeared through the door Private hadn’t opened yet.
He enjoys it too much messing with me. Private took a moment to calm down, then he hurried back down to the caverns.
Sombra’s chamber looked to have been an old armory once. There were some old-looking armors scattered around, but it looked like it had fitted a much smaller being than even a pony. The king had constructed a bed made out of crystal at the very end of it. From somewhere he had scavenged a mattress to fit it and blankets.
The king had also constructed a table from crystals close to the bed, but recycled an old wardrobe and made some repairs to it, as the old wood was embedded with crystals clearly to keep it standing and functional.
The king lay on the bed, thinking. Still mulling over how to proceed with his plan. Sombra didn’t like to admit it, but he was starting to wonder if he had abducted the family prematurely.
Maybe I need to conduct some experiments on them with dark magic. I remember when I fused some of my essence into Private back when he was a colt, that the small part of him that was dark pony seemed to embrace it. It’s still in there. He slowly rubbed his muzzle.
“Enter,” he simply said when there was a soft, hesitant knock on the door. It opened and Private peeked in, holding a bag that no doubt contained the food he had told him to get.
“Bring it to the table,” the king ordered, motioning to the furniture with a hoof.
Sombra watched as Private hesitantly got closer and put the bag on top of the table. Then his prisoner glanced around, stopping short when noticing the armor. The king could almost hear the wheels turning inside his head as the smaller unicorn was trying to identify them.
“Mountain goat armor,” he answered the unasked question. Private looked at him with an arched brow.
“This can’t be the entire fort, only two rooms and then steps down to the caverns,” Private said confused. “We don’t know that much about the mountain goats, but we know they build bigger than this.”
“It was probably meant to be bigger, the caverns hint at an early stage of expansion. For some reason, they never finished it.” Sombra shrugged and grabbed the bag with his magic. He floated it over and opened it, after examining the contents, the large unicorn started eating from it. After a moment he noticed that Private hadn’t left yet, was in fact still staring at him.
“Was this fort empty when you moved in?” his prisoner asked, uncertain. Sure the fort looked old and the rotten furniture and abandoned armor made it look like that, but that didn’t mean this place wasn’t occasionally used.
“It was empty when I moved in, yes,” the king nodded. “But my presence didn’t go entirely unnoticed. The goats did eventually send a team to investigate rumors that somepony was living in the fort.”
“W-what happened to the team?” Private whispered, not really sure why he had asked, fearing he knew what the answer was.
“Well, there is a reason why the mountain goats call this area the Mountains of Fear now,” Sombra smirked, enjoying seeing his prisoner pale up. Then he really couldn’t resist. “Now unless you plan to entertain me in some way, I would strongly suggest you return back to the caverns.”
The king barely could hold back the laughter when Private gave a panicked yelp and was gone out of the room in flash. That boy is just too much fun to toy around with.
Sombra returned his attention to the food. Granted it was not exactly a meal fit for a king, but after the spectacle he made when capturing his prisoners, he knew better than to go out and get something better. Now was a time to lay really low and not draw too much attention to himself. The fort was far enough from Equestria as far as he was concerned that search parties would miss it, but an excursion to get a finer meal might possibly leave clues right to it.
After finishing from the bag, Sombra tossed it to the table. He glanced around, missing his room back in the Crystal Empire, but lavish decorations would have to wait. The king felt it was just a waste of magic to change things now, especially since he wasn’t really sure if he would be living here permanently.
Though, I wouldn’t mind some company tonight. I could hypnotize him… but no, his father is right, such service must be obtained willingly. He may be a half-breed, but he is still a dark pony underneath it all. I’m not touching that element bearer, I have standards. Sombra tilted his head as he remembered Rainbow Dash. He had quite honestly completely forgotten about her until now.
I could study her connection to the elements, take my mind of the project for a little while, he considered and nodded. The king rose from the bed and left the room, heading back down to the caverns.
It was a rather awkward atmosphere in the train as it continued onwards towards the Crystal Empire. Barbell sat at one end, staring out the window with one hoof under her cheek and a heavy frown on her face. The pegasi sisters sat in the other, Foxy also staring out the window while Dew Doe looked deep in thought.
Around the middle sat Starlight and Maud, the unicorn occasionally glanced between the two ends of the coach with a concerned expression. She had to admit this wasn’t the ideal rescue team to go after King Sombra, but right now she couldn’t be choosy. Her main concern was the obvious tension between Barbell and the sisters.
“So, uh what were you doing in Canterlot?” Starlight finally turned her attention to Maud. She was still wondering how to handle these three ponies, but figured she should at least talk with her friend first now that they had some small amount of spare time.
“I was looking for some rock polish for Boulder,” the earth pony responded and from her chest pocket pulled out her pet rock. “Rarity recommended a shop - said she always ordered gem polish from there.”
“Well, Rarity knows her shops,” Starlight said and sighed as she remembered that the fashionista was right now trapped in a cursed castle. Maud inclined her head in a slight nod.
“Don’t worry, Maud. We’ll stop Sombra and help Pinkie and the rest,” the unicorn then added. “Guess I can say I have the experience now.”
“I know,” Maud said, then she pulled out of another pocket a glass bottle and a rag. She wet the rag with the contents of the bottle and started rubbing it on Boulder.
Starlight watched her for a little while before glancing towards Barbell who still hadn’t changed her position. The unicorn turned her head to the back of the coach where the pegasi were.
Well I guess I can’t hold it off any longer. If we are going to do this, we need to work as a team, she thought and dropped down from her seat and walked over to where Barbell sat.
“Hi,” she addressed the opal earth mare. Barbell only shifted her eyes a little to glance at her.
“I’m sorry you missed the party,” Starlight climbed onto the seat opposite her. The unicorn cleared her throat as she realized that had probably not been the best choice of words. “I mean, I’m sorry about everything that happened. We had security measures. What we didn’t know was that Sombra was prepared for them.
“So, you’re Barricade’s marefriend? I did manage to talk with him a little. He seemed nice.” Starlight arched her brow when Barbell snorted and then looked at her with an amused smirk.
“You sure you were talking with Barricade then?” Barbell asked, eyeing the unicorn like she was sizing the mare up.
“Well, I was just trying to be polite. I don’t think we were expecting you. He didn’t say you were coming,” Starlight said, recalling that the party was supposed to be small, much to Pinkie’s dismay.
“I wasn’t initially coming. I had to run the gym since Barricade was in Ponyville,” Barbell explained and shrugged. She glanced towards the back of the train where the pegasi were. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about Barricade going there, alone with Cara, meeting all these ponies he’s been a jerk to in the past.” Barbell snorted and looked out the window again for a moment before turning back to Starlight. She looked rather solemn now.
“Barricade isn’t well right now - sure, he puts on a front. He’s always been a stubborn idiot like that, but I’m the one that wakes up every time he has these nightmares, watches him in the living room, staring blankly into the distance like he’s being haunted by some dark memories. Those ponies don’t care about that,” Barbell nodded sharply towards the pegasi. “Doubt anypony cares.”
“So, Goldie and Thunder Cloud, who also work in the gym, told me to take a hike, they would take care of the gym. Told me to go to Ponyville and be there with him like I should have done in the first place,” she resumed starting out the window.
Starlight frowned as she considered what Barbell had just told her. She had herself noticed that Barricade seemed rather alone at the party, isolated even. Then the pony recalled her talk with him, how he called the party by an alternate title. How he had felt he'd been invited to see if he was serious about changing his ways.
“Barbell, we are going to get him out of there, I promise. This is not the first time I’ve done something like this and I do not intend it to be the last,” the unicorn said and smiled reassuringly. Then she became a little more serious. “But we in here, we are all on the same team in this. We need all to work together. I’ve already had a small taste of what King Sombra is capable of and let me tell you, right now I rather be going face-to-face against Queen Chrysalis again.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be civil,” Barbell assured her without looking at the unicorn.
Starlight regarded the earth pony unsure, but figured this was the best she could do at the moment. Barbell didn’t seem too receptive right now for a talk. She dropped down from the seat and started towards the other end, but saw that Dew Doe was already approaching her.
“Hey, we need to talk,” the blue pegasus said and smiled a little.
“Oh, I was coming over to do exactly that,” Starlight said. When Dew Doe smiled uneasily, she couldn’t help but raise one brow.
“Ah, I mean in private.” Dew glanced back at where her sister still sat staring out the window.
“Well, I guess we can do that. Let’s go to an empty car then,” Starlight said and started walking back the way she came with the pegasus following. They were soon in another train car and got seated in front of each other.
“Okay first things first, you probably noticed how Foxy and Barbell reacted towards one another,” Dew Doe started grinning nervously.
“Well it was not hard to guess they aren’t friends,” Starlight said somewhat sarcastically, then hoofed her face. “Sorry, that slipped out.”
“No, no, you’re not wrong there,” the pegasus quickly assured her. “You see, Foxy is jealous.”
“What?” Starlight blinked, not quite expecting to hear that. Dew Doe sighed deeply as she eyed skywards, wondering how to put this in words.
“Foxy… she’s had rotten luck with stallions. The majority of those who dated her were just using her to get to me, thinking I would apparently be swept off my hooves or would even contemplate cheating on my own sister,” she began explaining. “Barricade, as much of a jerk as he is, he’s the only stallion who dated Foxy just to be with Foxy. He never made fun of her, he never used her, he actually genuinely wanted to be with her and deep down, Foxy still cares a little bit about Barricade. There is still this one spot in her heart that feels for him. She will never admit it, but it’s there, very hidden and buried.”
Dew Doe shook her head and started to fiddle a bit with the feathers on one of her wings. “The problem was that back then, he was just so possessive and jealous, and a rotten coltfriend in other ways.
“We don’t really know Barbell that much. We just know that she and Barricade were old friends and at some point the two of them hooked up. I don’t know the story behind that, but anyway, it’s clear that Barbell loves and cares about Barricade and Barricade loves and cares about her. Barbell, from what I’ve heard, has been a great mother to Cara, whose desperately needed a mother figure since her own mother dumped her at an orphanage when she was just an infant. Foxy is seeing in Barbell what she could have had with Barricade and it drives her nuts,” the pegasus finished, grinning nervously when Starlight proceeded to hoof her face again.
“And I just put those two in the same team together… swell,” Starlight groaned as she dragged her hoof across her face in frustration.
“You didn’t know and Barbell has every right to help as she can, just as much as we do,” Dew reassured her. “But I figured it was important you were aware of this, seeing that you’re the team leader and all.”
“I do appreciate it,” Starlight nodded. It certainly explained Foxy’s behavior at the station. Barbell was resentful because she thought the others just didn’t care.
“By the way, I should warn you about my friend Maud.” Starlight realized they might not be prepared for how Maud talked and responded to things. Dew Doe tilted her head.
“What about her?” the pegasi asked curiously.
“Well, she might come off as a bit ‘off’ to you,” Starlight felt rather bad talking about her friend like that, but she also figured she needed to prepare the others for the fact that Maud might come off as strange to them.
“You mean she has difficulties expressing emotions like other ponies and may have quirks that might come as obsessive to them?” Dew asked and was now smiling knowingly at Starlight who was blinking in surprise.
“Have you forgotten what my job is? In most cases, I would need to evaluate a pony myself, but I was watching her at the station and already a few alarm bells were ringing in my head, but your, ah ‘warning’, has confirmed it. And don’t worry, Foxy and I won’t treat her any differently than any other pony. We’ve helped ponies like her before.” The pegasus chuckled at the stunned expression on the unicorn.
“Are you sure you haven’t psychoanalyzed Sombra just by watching him?” Starlight couldn’t help but ask. Both mares burst into laughter. “Sorry, I mean, I have to admit being a little protective of Maud. We just kind of clicked and I’ve seen how other ponies treat her and I thought if I warned you, you would at least be prepared.”
“No, no, you don’t have to explain, I’ve seen it before. Sweet Celestia, I could tell you stories about parents who have asked if there are cures for their foals who have similar behavior patterns,” Dew shuddered at the thought. Starlight cringed when hearing that.
“Well, that settles that then. How about we return to the others,” the unicorn suggested. Dew Doe nodded and the two mares returned to the previous train car.
Barbell and Foxy were still in their seats, staring at the passing scenery through the window. Maud was still polishing Boulder as Starlight and Dew approached her seat.
“Mind if I join you two? I was actually going to move over here when you went over to talk with Barbell,” Dew asked, glancing at her sister for a moment.
“I don’t mind. Do you Maud?” Starlight asked as she returned to her seat.
“No,” Maud responded without looking up from her work. With permission granted, Starlight scooted over so Dew could sit next to her.
“Hi, I’m Dew Doe. The other pegasus is my sister, Foxy Stripes,” Dew introduced herself to the earth pony.
“I’m Maud,” Maud responded without stopping her work.
“Nice to meet you. I’m sorry if my sister and I made the wrong impression at the train station. Are you and Barbell friends?” the pegasus wondered.
“No,” the other pony simply stated.
Despite Dew’s assurance, Starlight couldn’t help worrying how the pegasus would react. To her and those who knew Maud, this was quite normal. Other ponies would often be expecting something more to be said, perhaps elaboration on why the two ponies were together at the station.
Much to the unicorn’s relief, Dew simply nodded and was still smiling. Then the pegasus looked at Starlight, focusing most of her attention on the bandage wrapped around her head.
“How are you holding up? Any headache?” she asked.
“I’m going to have to get used to this nurse mode,” Starlight chuckled, patting her bandage gingerly for a moment. Dew giggled at the response. “It’s actually not so bad right now. Probably because I’m not fleeing for my life from a crystal curse, or flying.”
“Cadance did provide me with some medicine at the castle, so just let me know if you think you need it,” Dew told her. Starlight blinked for a moment as she took this information in.
“You really like helping ponies,” the unicorn said and now first glanced at Dew’s cutie mark - a red heart with two golden thunderbolts shooting out of it.
“I do,” Dew Doe grinned innocently. “Can’t really help it. I couldn’t even make up my mind how I wanted to help them, I started with nursing and then tried counselling and in the end I wound up in social work, right now helping out at the parole office in Fillydelphia.”
“Excuse me.” Dew and Starlight looked over when they were addressed. Maud only momentarily glanced up before resuming her work. Barbell had moved herself to the seat behind them and was looking at the ponies from there.
“I’m bored out of my mind. What’s the plan here exactly?” the opal earth pony asked, staring skeptically at Starlight Glimmer.
“Right, of course. Well, first we’re going to the Crystal Empire. It’s the furthest north the train goes. Then we need to get a map of the northern areas from Shining Armor, Cadance’s husband. Then we are going to Yakyakistan to follow up on the only real lead we have on where King Sombra is,” Starlight explained to Barbell.
“I have another question.” Barbell raised her hoof, acting almost as if she was in class at school.
“Uh, ask away,” the unicorn was wondering if the mare was acting like this because, as she had said, was bored.
“Who’s King Sombra?” Barbell asked, causing Dew Doe to blink in surprise.
“Wait, you don’t know who King Sombra is?” the pegasus sounded astonished. Barbell looked at her unimpressed.
“No. should I?” the earth pony wondered.
“King Sombra, the pony who wrecked the birthday party in Ponyville? Abducted Private, Barricade and their family...the one we are going after?” Dew Doe wasn’t sure what to think.
“Yes, yes, I got that. He’s the guy who took Barricade. But why? Who is he? And why did he abduct Barricade and the rest?” Barbell sighed in frustration.
“King Sombra is the pony who possessed Private in the Crystal Empire. Surely you knew that Barricade went to the Crystal Empire when that happened. Sombra abducted him during that event as well… wait…” Dew Doe stopped. “You didn’t know what happened back then?”
“No. Barricade always refused to talk about what happened there, always just clammed up shut. He still has nightmares about it, keeps zoning out. Why, do you care?” the earth pony snorted, then arched her brow when Dew Doe started going pale.
“Uh, Dew Doe?” Starlight looked worriedly at the pegasus. She had previously been worried that the discussion was getting heated, but now Dew had fallen silent as if something had struck her.
“The day before he came to the girl’s summer play, he had a huge meltdown, screaming how he had been made helpless, couldn’t help his brother and…” Barbell fell silent when Dew Doe suddenly took to the air and rushed out of the coach and over to the next train car, looking like she was in panic.
Foxy, who had been watching the exchange from her seat, frowned before rising and followed her sister.
“What’s with her?” Barbell looked at Starlight, confused.
Foxy found her sister curled up in a corner in the furthest car of the train. The blue pegasus wasn’t crying, but she was clearly upset, having her front legs and wings wrapped around herself, her ears bent so low they nearly disappeared into her lush, candy cane striped mane.
“Alright, asking if you are okay would be ridiculous,” Foxy stated and sat down next to her. “So what’s up?”
“Oh nothing, just realized I had a pony right in front of me who was practically screaming for help and I didn’t help him. In fact, I tried my hardest to ignore him.” Dew slowly turned her head towards the maroon pony, eyes twitching and her whole body shuddering. “I ignored somepony who desperately needed help.”
“Ooooh boy.” Foxy glanced up for a moment. She knew her sister well. This was a case of Dew having an, ‘I didn’t help a pony’ panic attack. She was known for this reaction amongst those that knew her well. She put a leg around the smaller mare. “Tell me. I didn’t hear all the discussion over there.”
“Barbell didn’t know anything about the possession incident. Barricade hadn’t told her. She said he’d been having nightmares, zoning out. He’d had a meltdown before the day he suddenly appeared and apologized to the girls, to you and Derpy, to his brother… he hasn’t been getting help… Foxy, he wasn’t being a stupid idiot when he charged Sombra at the castle. That rage… I should have seen it… it was post traumatic stress disorder. He was in panic, his mind just wanted the cause of his panic gone and his brain just went with the simplest solution - try to attack it, hope it would drive it away,” Dew Doe started to ramble, she untangled her legs from herself and covered her face with her front hooves.
Foxy blinked, then gasped and used her free leg to grab her own mouth. As she thought back to the party and the later attack, the mare started to cringe as more things she had herself noticed started to come together.
“I was going to say that in our defense, Barricade has been a jerk to us for so long that we could be forgiven for being suspicious of his turnaround and keeping a respectable distance from him, but for some reason, that’s just making me feel worse,” she said and sighed.
“I mean, he came to the party. That alone was a huge sign. Coal was getting letters from him almost weekly and she was actually excited to get them. Private has gone to visit him. Private hardly ever travels unless it’s job-related or to visit his parents. He added his brother to those rare, once-in-a-blue-moon travels.” Foxy groaned and now fully hugged her sister with both legs. “Now I’m feeling rotten.”
“You want to know something worse?” Dew whispered and hugged her sister back.
“No, but tell me anyway,” the maroon pegasus grunted.
“A few weeks ago, Private told me he was worried about Barricade… I didn’t really listen,” the blue one’s voice was barely audible. Foxy held back a groan when hearing that.
“Hey, is everything alright?” the voice of Starlight Glimmer broke in. The unicorn had just arrived after having been looking for them and saw the two pegasi sisters huddled together, clinging to one another.
“Behold, two certified therapists who utterly ignored a pony in desperate need of therapy,” Foxy raised one leg high in the air and grinned rather unconvincingly.
Dew untangled herself from her sister and took a moment to calm herself down. Then she raised her head to see where Starlight was watching both of them with a concerned frown. The pegasus tried to smile, but it was very weak and nervous.
“Sorry to fly off like that… as I told you, I like helping ponies and realizing I had been ignoring somepony that really did need help…” Dew Doe dropped her head to stare at the ground. “I panicked. All our focus went to Private and the ordeal he went through from the possession. We didn’t even consider how the whole thing affected his brother, who was there too.”
“Well, I did notice Barricade seemed rather isolated during the party. He called it the, ‘let’s see if Barricade is real about changing his ways’ party. He also said he was on probation,” Starlight mentioned, then winced when seeing the horrified expressions come over the mare’s faces. “Sorry… I’m not making you feel any better, am I?”
“No, no,” Dew shook her head and seemed to regain some composure. “We needed to hear that. We allowed our bias against Barricade to cloud or judgement. We didn’t give him a fair chance.”
“Usually we would say we had given him plenty of chances in the past, but back then even Private was suspicious. Now he wasn’t - that alone should have at least given us pause to reconsider our stance,” Foxy grunted and rose up to stand. “Seriously, we are not in our A-game right now.”
“Well to be fair, this hasn’t exactly been the relaxing day we’d initially planned,” Dew Doe pointed out.
“So are you two feeling better?” Starlight wondered, quite willing to give the sisters more alone time if they needed it. The train wouldn’t be in the Crystal Empire for several more hours.
“Are we feeling better?” Foxy looked at Dew.
“Probably not, but it’s no use moping. What done is done. We’ll do damage control when we get everpony away from that smoky creep,” Dew Doe grunted, then she noticed that Starlight was staring at them a little confused. “Something wrong?”
“I don’t want to sound rude, but you two seemed to bounce back really quickly,” the unicorn pointed out. “Just moments ago you looked like you were about ready to crawl under a rock and refuse to come out.”
“It’s her fault,” Dew stated and pointed Foxy, who faked a shocked gasp.
“Whaaat? Moi?” the maroon pony, acted as if she was aghast at the accusation. Then she dropped pretense and grinned wide and showed her flank. Three small suns adorned it. “She’s not wrong, I bounce back quickly and infect her and try to infect those around me. I drive those gloomy clouds away and let the sun shine in.”
“You may have noticed that even if she was feeling just as bad as me, she kept speaking in a rather non-serious manner,” the blue pegasus mock glared at her sister. “It’s sometimes almost impossible to have good funk with her around.”
“Hey, everypony knows, I’m the funky sister,” Foxy sat down so she could cross her legs, closing her eyes and turning her head upwards.
Dew eyed Starlight, who was by now trying to contain her giggles. The blue pegasus had a ‘this is what I live with’ expression.
“To be fair, I’m just naturally silly. The suns appeared when I realized I could use it to help those who needed a little sunshine in their lives,” Foxy confessed and returned her attention to the unicorn.
“That actually reminds me a little of Pinkie Pie,” Starlight noted with a smile.
“That’s what she said,” Foxy grinned, then put on a dead serious expression, though it was easy to see that she wasn’t being that serious. “She then gave me an ‘Assistant spreader of laughter through Equestria’ certificate.”
“Fillydelphia chapter,” she then added after a moment.
“That sounds like Pinkie alright. Well, if you two are feeling better, want to come back?” Starlight smiled and nodded her head towards the exit of the train car.
“We’ll be there in a moment. I want to talk with Foxy a little bit more first,” Dew Doe told her. The unicorn nodded and left the pegasi sisters be for now. When Starlight was gone, Dew looked at Foxy.
“So how are you really holding up?” she asked.
“The hopeful mental picture of Coal driving King Sombra crazy by singing the song that never ends is what’s keeping me going right now,” the maroon pony sighed a little. “You?”
“I’ll just keep busy making sure Starlight doesn’t overdo it, what with having that bump on her head and all,” Dew answered and started to fiddle with parts of her mane.
“That bad huh?” Foxy smiled knowingly.
“I’m this close to contacting you-know-who,” the blue pegasus hissed and then quickly eyed around as if she worried someone was listening.
“I know what you mean, but you remember what he said. He can’t get involved in things like this,” her sister groaned.
“He told us that one day we would face a serious threat he couldn’t help us with. It just clicked after the attack why he didn’t come to the party. This was it, this was the threat, probably also why he wasn’t involved when Private was possessed,” Dew Doe shook her head in dismay. Foxy just nodded in agreement.
The pegasi sisters fell silent and for a moment just sat there, staring forward as the contemplated today’s events. Then they looked at each other, smiled solemnly, then headed back to the car Starlight and the others were in.
Rainbow Dash landed hard on the wall as she was violently thrown into a new cell, isolated from the biggest one that contained most of the prisoners. The pegasus sunk to the ground with a groan, barely noticing when the crystal bars went up to lock her in.
“Well that was a big waste of time!” King Sombra growled as he glared at the disoriented pony. “I should have just encased you in crystal like I did with your other three friends and left you back in that pathetic little village you call home!”
“W-what were you hoping to find?” Private very carefully asked. He was standing nearby, feeling really sorry for Rainbow, having had to watch helplessly as Sombra subjected her to a very grueling magical examination. To her credit she never cried out in pain, kept struggling against it and even managed to launch some insults at the king.
Private jumped a little when Sombra snapped his head around to glare down at him. The king looked more annoyed than angry, but it didn’t change the fact that his expression was very unsettling.
“She is still an element of harmony, even if she doesn’t wield the gem anymore since they gave it back to the tree. They overpowered Tirek without the use of the gems. There should have been something there that indicates how that happened - instead there is nothing. In all aspects, she’s just another pegasus…” King Sombra stopped ranting and blinked as if something suddenly dawned on him. He looked back at the cell. Rainbow Dash was slowly rising, glaring back at him.
“In fact, why haven’t you and your friends just turned on those powers time and time again to deal with threats? You used them to both de-power Tirek and send him back to Tartarus…” the dark unicorn slowly started to smile. “It was a one-time thing! You weren’t actually doing anything. It was the tree! It was using you and your connection to it to repair the damage Tirek did.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything, just continued to glare at King Sombra. She didn’t even know if he was right or not. Magical theories just made her head spin, having suffered through some of them while listening to Twilight Sparkle ramble on about them. However, she did know he was right in one aspect. That strange power they had used to defeat Tirek had never come to them again.
They had been summoned to various places by the map sure, but never again had they just turned on some awesome elemental powers to defeat any dangerous foe since. Rainbow was a little disappointed in that. In her mind it would be awesome to be able to just turn it on whenever she wished. Right now she could use them to wipe that smile off the king’s face.
Sombra didn’t seem to be in a mood to gloat, despite his sudden realization. He just gave one last chuckle and turned away, giving Private a sharp order to leave the cavern. The smaller unicorn obeyed, though not before giving Rainbow a regretful look. Once Private was gone, the king walked over to the cave where Barricade was.
Rainbow Dash struggled to remain standing, wanting to show more defiance. She watched as Sombra took Barricade out of his cell, use his magic to put a collar with a chain linked to it on him and then drag his prisoner out of the cell cavern. Barricade looked like he was in pain, but didn’t otherwise struggle and let the dark unicorn lead him out. Finally now did Dash sank back to her rump, muffling a groan as she did.
“Rainbow Dash! Are you alright?” she heard Dinky call from the cell the filly was in.
Rainbow leaned forward to look out. She just about could make out where the bigger cell was. The fillies were by the bars, looking towards her. So were Mirage and Hard. They looked worried, sad, concerned and everywhere in-between.
“Got any aspirin over there?” Dash tried to weakly joke, producing a smirk. That at least got the fillies to giggle. Even Cara smiled a little.
“What was he doing to you?” Mirage asked.
“Blasted me with some crazy magic. Made me drink something that both stank and tasted awful before blasting me again. The only good part is he kept getting more and more frustrated with each test he did,” the pegasus replied. “I’m okay though, just sore. Dunno what he was talking about with all this element connection.”
“I don’t think he’s really that interested in you. It’s us he wants… your status as the bearer of element of loyalty was probably just a curiosity to him,” Hard was speaking now.
“How can you be so sure? He did snatch me as well, after all,” Rainbow grunted and decided it would be best to lay down for now. She stretched her sore legs and wings as she did.
“Like I said, you’re probably just a moderate curiosity. My wife and I have been studying Sombra’s journal that was found while our boys were his captives, back when Private was possessed. That’s how I know his deep respect for the Dark Ponies. There were pages after pages on how much he missed the empire, even grudgingly admitting missing doing magical experiments with his mother. He really longed for the company of other dark ponies. I think he still yearns for them,” Hard Shovel told her.
Rainbow Dash raised her head a bit at that info. “But you guys are only descendants. You’re not actually dark ponies,” Dash said, arching her eyebrow.
“That’s probably close enough for him right now,” Mirage spoke up with a heavy sigh.
“Look, we’re gonna get out of here, even if we don’t manage to bust out, I’m sure Twilight and the rest are working on finding us. It will be okay,” Rainbow Dash tried to assure them when hearing how dejected the older mare sounded.
Sombra growled as he watched Private take Barricade out of the lab, having just ordered the unicorn to take his twin back to the cell. Barricade was weakly moaning in pain after the latest series of experiments being done on him.
Another dead end, the king growled and turned to the book on the podium. With his magic, he picked up a quill and began writing.
“Barricade didn’t respond much to small infusions of dark magic. He did have a common reaction - screaming as if he were burning. The traces of dark pony ancestry within him did welcome the dark magic, but it didn’t linger very long. I considered infusing my essence into him like I did with his brother a long time ago, but I have serious doubts it will make any difference.”
“I really dislike grasping around like that in the dark, but this kind of procedure has never been done before. Granted I don’t have all the necessary equipment to do more proper experiments, however even these rudimentary ones should have revealed something by now.” Sombra shook his head in dismay.
“I do wonder if something is back in the Dark Pony Empire that could help. Even if it was destroyed, I know mother had plenty of hidden vaults only accessible to those of her bloodline. She did have many tomes of ancient magic.” He frowned as he considered this.
“Perhaps something to consider for later. For now I’m going to concentrate on the twins. The fillies are too young. I fear they wouldn’t survive this treatment and the same goes to the two older ones due to their advanced years. Best just to keep them as prisoners to ensure Private’s behavior. As for that element bearer, she will be a useful hostage just in case Twilight Sparkle somehow manages to evade my traps.” Sombra didn’t even glance up when hearing hoofsteps, knowing already it was Private, who didn’t dare do anything else but return straight away.
“Have a seat, I’ll be with you in a moment,” he simply said and continued to scribble in the book. The king heard a grunt, then some shuffling as the pony did as he was told.
“Did you know dark ponies can sense one another in a way?” Sombra asked while his focus was still on the book.
“Yes,” Private simply replied.
“I paid no attention to it when we first met. After all I wasn’t expecting to meet another one, but as we spent more time together when I possessed you, I realized that when we first met, I did feel something familiar about you. That was probably why I tested your ancestry back then far more than the color of your coat, albeit it did make me curious.” Now he did look at Private, who was sitting close to the entrance. His prisoner didn’t say a word, just slowly nodded.
“I really like you, Private. You’re so quiet,” Sombra chuckled and turned away from the book. He motioned for the unicorn to come over. Private sighed, rose up and walked over to the king.
“You know you are descendant of dark ponies, but do you know the names of your ancestors?” King Sombra asked.
“We’ve only barely connected the family tree on mom’s side. We are still struggling with dad’s side. The family records are spottier there,” Private answered him. “Mom’s distant ancestor was a dark pony mare who married an Equestrian. We don’t know her proper dark pony name, but she was called Feather Fall.”
Sombra frowned hard as he heard the name. It was definitely not a dark pony name, however the name Pluma, which meant feather, had existed amongst dark pony pegasi. Dark ponies only carried one name, not two like often happened with Equestrian ponies.
“So she was a dark pony. Do you know who her parents were?” he wondered.
“Only their Equestrian names,” Private told him. He hid a chuckle when seeing Sombra’s expression, it was like the king was insulted that they had changed their names.
“Look, the story goes that the refugees were so grateful to the Celestial sisters for granting them a home, that they changed their names to sound more Equestrian. Whether that’s a true account, you’ll need to ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, if they even remember that bit,” the smaller unicorn explained. “Anyway, Feather Fall’s parents were Timid Shadow and Winged Diva.”
Private wasn’t sure what to think when King Sombra’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. Everything fell silent as the larger pony just kept staring at him, almost as if he had grown a second head.
“It… it can’t be,” Sombra whispered. Then he suddenly rushed over to the bookshelf and started tossing books away as he searched.
Um, what is going on? Private wondered and just watched as Sombra continued to look for something in the bookshelf.
Finally the king held an old-looking book and was browsing quickly through it. Sombra didn’t even bother walking back, morphed for a brief moment into his shadow form and transported right back in front of Private, where he assumed his pony body again.
“If this spell works, I can see who your ancestor is. I didn’t bother much with it since that’s not what I’m after, but I need to confirm something,” King Sombra said and activated his dark magic.
Before Private could even protest, Sombra enveloped him in dark magic aura and spoke something in a language he wasn’t familiar with. The only word he recognized was Odio and he wondered if this was a reference to the first queen. Suddenly a faint image of a pony materialized beside him. It was a tall pegasus mare with a similarly dark gray coat, but her mane and tail were black with silvery highlights.
“No that must be Feather Fall. If she had been born in the empire, her name would probably be Pluma, which means feather,” King Sombra grunted. He still maintained the dark magic aura around Private. He spoke the words again and the mare began to dissolve.
Well that is kinda cool, I got to see what my great, great in the nth degree grandmare looked like. Private had to admit to being impressed. He didn’t know there existed a spell that could show ponies their ancestors.
Another image formed, another pegasus mare. Her mane and tail were black. Private looked at Sombra who had fallen silent, staring at the image in a state of disbelief.
“That’s Ala… her name means wing… I arranged… confound it you ludicrous random spell, show me the father!” the king growled and started the spell again.
Once again the image dissolved and was replaced by another pony. This time an earth stallion appeared. Dark gray, but his mane and tail were dark blonde. Private tilted his head...if the pony had had blue eyes, quite a bit lighter blonde mane and dark brown hooves, he sort of looked like him and Barricade, minus the horn.
“Timido,” Sombra whispered softly, staring at the image in shock.
Timido… wait… hold on… I’m Timido’s descendant? Private blinked then slowly looked at the king who was still staring at the image.
“He did survive! He was in Equestria when the empire fell. Oh, thank the First Queen!” Sombra muttered. The dark magic was deactivated, the aura and the image disappeared.
He really cared about Timido. Private wasn’t sure what to think about this, but had a feeling he better remain silent about it. As fascinating as this had all been, the unicorn hadn’t forgotten he and his family were prisoners and this brief reprieve from the king’s experiments wouldn’t last very long.
King Sombra said nothing more to Private, instead he just pushed past the unicorn and left the cave. Private frowned slightly and approached the entrance to peek out. From the distance he spotted Sombra heading in the direction that would take him up to the fort.
Since he hadn’t really been given any orders, the unicorn decided to head back to the prison cavern. He really wanted to check on Barricade who so far had done very little except either be experimented on or was left recovering in his own cell, unable to really talk much with anyone.
When Private arrived in the cavern with the cells, he did notice almost everyone looking towards him, but the unicorn ignored it for now. His attention was on the cell his brother was in. Barricade was laying down on the side, his head resting on the hard floor, his back towards the bars.
Private started to approach the cell, knowing the others were watching him, probably wondering what was going on now. The unicorn felt a little sick when hearing the soft moan of pain coming from his twin, knowing there was little he could do to help ease it.
“Barricade?” he addressed his brother and lay down next to the cell. There was no response, just heavy breathing.
I really wish I had your ways with words, Private sighed and reached inside to put a hoof on his brother.
“How is your brother?” he could hear call from the other cell.
“In pain,” Private responded, he was starting to wonder if Sombra was being more intentionally harmful when experimenting on Barricade. So far Private could mostly shake it off when he had been subjected to the king’s experiments, but his brother, the one pony he expected to be able to shake things off easily, was looking much worse.
Or is Sombra taking it easy on me? Private started to caress his brother’s mane.
“No… No… NO!” suddenly Barricade screamed and started to struggle violently.
“Barricade! Calm down, it’s okay,” Private pulled back his hoof just as his twin sprang up, eyes wide open with fear. Barricade hugged the back wall of the cell, trembling and breathing heavily before sinking back down. Slowly he looked towards his brother. His eyes didn’t really focus and just seemed to stare into the distance.
“Oh… hi bro,” Barricade whispered and looked away, his eyes still wide open and fearful. It was as if he was still half asleep and unable to fully wake up.
“You know… I love… love her…” he whispered and looked towards the ground, fixating on his front hooves.
“Who?” Private asked gently. Barricade was now too far into the cell, so he couldn’t reach him.
“Foxy… she’s… she’s funny… she takes no crap… from anypony… not even me…” Barricade choked as if holding back tears. “I tried to hit… hit her… you… stopped me… you… you did good that day… you stopped me… I can’t… can’t believe… I tried to… hit her…”
Private said nothing, just let his brother ramble on. His brother was referring to something long ago when he and Foxy had been dating. Back then, Barricade had been possessive and jealous and tried to control her, but Foxy was having none of it. Then they had an argument and in a fit of rage, Barricade had raised his hoof to strike her, but Private who had secretly been listening, stopped it and threw his brother out of the house. After that the two were no longer dating. It had been the start of the brothers drifting apart and becoming estranged.
Barricade continued to ramble on, but didn’t seem to be focusing on one topic, kept going back and forth, counting up his various misdeeds, kept praising his brother for the times Private had stopped him.
Private frowned as he continued to observe his brother. This no longer looked like the pony who had stuck by him back when he was possessed. The pony who kept defying Sombra no matter what the king seemed to throw at him...the rock the unicorn had used to keep himself from going insane while having the spirit of an evil king stuck inside his head.
Slowly, Barricade’s ramblings started to die down and he seemed to be drifting back into uneasy sleep. Private rose up, giving his twin one concerned glance before going to the cell where his parents and nieces were still held.
“Cara,” he addressed the young pegasus. “Did your dad ever get any treatment after coming back from the Crystal Empire?”
Private actually felt like his gut had been punched when Cara shook her head. Mirage and Hard Shovel frowned in concerned, while Coal and Dinky could only listen, not really understanding what the older ponies were talking about.
“Mom, dad, I’m no expert, this is Dew Doe and Foxy’s territory… but I think Barricade is having post-traumatic stress disorder and has been ever since Sombra first appeared at the party…” Private glanced at his parents. Mirage gasped and put a hoof over her mouth, Hard Shovel cringed as he put a leg around his wife to comfort her.
“Not that I’m feeling much better,” the unicorn looked back at the cave entrance. “But at least… I can use the various tricks Dew taught me, try and focus on other things and stuff like that…”
Private omitted to mention that some of the tricks he used were not appropriate to mention in front of very young company. It mostly involved a certain blue pegasus. Speaking of that mare, he wondered if he could convince her to help his brother if they ever got out of their current mess.
“I better go. I’m probably stretching the limits of what I can do,” Private realized that right now he had no idea where Sombra was and he’d rather not have the king come looking for him while he was talking with his family.
“Be careful,” Mirage told him as her son started to walk away.
Private did stop at Rainbow’s cell and looked in. The pegasus was laying on her back looking really, really bored.
“I haven’t found out much, just that there is a tunnel that leads up to a fort and that there are two caves that dampen magic a little. Sorry,” he quickly told her before leaving the prison cavern, not noticing that this had caused the pegasus to frown a bit in thought.
The lab was still empty, so Private headed to the tunnel where the storage and water well caves were. As he entered, he stopped short when seeing Sombra come through the door at the far end.
“Ah, Private, I’ve had a few ideas on how to proceed with my project. Go to the lab, I’ll meet you there, I’m going to fetch your brother,” the king addressed the unicorn when seeing him.
Oh no. Private froze, racing through his mind was the image of his brother in his cell, frazzled, trembling, eyes unfocused and fearful, rambling on and on, sometimes moaning in pain.
I… I must stop this somehow… I have to delay… but how… Private felt ill. He did not want his brother to go through another experiment, not after seeing what he had of Barricade in the cell.
“I… I…” the unicorn stammered, the king halted his approach and regarded him with a raised brow.
“I’ve given in!” his prisoner suddenly shouted and rushed towards him, stopping mere inches away. “I mean… you always said I would give in eventually. Have my fantasies come true… I have given in… I want it… really… show me?”
King Sombra’s brow rose higher. Private was desperately trying to smile but it came more out as a half-skewed, crazy grin. The smaller unicorn was sweating and nervous and desperately trying not to tremble.
“Oh really now,” Sombra remarked unimpressed and started to circle his prisoner, regarding him critically. “Just like that, you suddenly want to give in, fulfill your most deeply hidden fantasy?”
“Y-yes?” Private really did not want to do this, but he was desperate. Right now this distraction was the only thing he could think of to keep his brother away from further pain.
“Hmm…” the dark pony narrowed his eyes as he stopped beside Private. He used his tail to gently sweep against the smaller unicorn.
“Oh, you think I don’t know what you are doing, Timi… Private,” King Sombra quickly corrected himself, but never really lost composure. He put a hoof under Private’s muzzle and forced him to look up at him. The king smirked at the uneasiness coming from his prisoner.
“Trying to distract and delay me? Hmm?” Sombra chuckled.
Private’s heart sank thinking he would now be forced to watch his brother once again be horribly experimented on. Then there was a voice deep inside of him, a voice the unicorn had tried so very hard to ignore for a long time, that was mildly disappointed Sombra hadn’t taken the bait for other reasons.
“Then again…” the king let go of Private’s muzzle and started tapping his own. Sombra dropped his hoof to the floor and now regarded the smaller unicorn with a more friendly smile. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind a little distraction.”
Private blinked. Sombra’s tail was still gently brushing against him. That long-ignored voice deep in the back of his head was actually giddy, but right now the unicorn was desperately trying not to freak out. Had this worked? Was he just testing him? He stiffened when feeling a muzzle right next to his ear, breathing softly into it.
“Shall we retire to my chamber, my little comfort colt?” King Sombra whispered slyly, snaking a leg around Private.
There were hundred of different responses the smaller unicorn wanted to use to answer this. None of them came out. The vision of Barricade huddled in his cell, kept coming up and Private’s determination to protect his brother started to grow strong again. Knowing there would be no turning back from this, Private glanced at Sombra.
“Yeah… sure,” he smiled weakly and didn’t resist when King Sombra began leading him towards the door that lead up to the fort.
Princess Cadance descended from her flight as she came closer to Ponyville. Following her were a few pegasi guards which she soon dispatched to look for anyone who had escaped the curse, but had not been found by previous search parties.
She approached the huge energy shield that enveloped most of the town. Inside - every house, every street, from lamppost to carriage were encased in dark crystals. Cadance observed sadly the crystallized forms of the towns ponies that hadn’t escaped and were caught as they had fled.
“Luna?” she called. She saw no sign of the princess, but since the shield was still up, it was safe to assume she was still active.
“What are you doing here?” Luna appeared from behind Twilight’s castle, her eyes still glowing with power and still keeping herself afloat, careful not to touch the crystallized ground. The Lunar Princess flew over to where her niece was at the edge of her barrier.
“I came to see if I could help. My love and light magic has been effective against Sombra’s magic before,” Cadance explained and landed on the ground, frowning in worry as she observed Luna. The midnight blue alicorn was looking weary.
“Has Starlight gone to seek our enemy?” Luna asked.
“Yes, she’s headed north with four others. They should be arriving in the Crystal Empire in a few hours,” Cadance confirmed and for a moment glanced at the ground. She arched her brow, something didn’t match the description given to her by Starlight and the pegasi sister. There were no shadowy tendrils anymore trying to break through.
“Good. With my sister and the others trapped inside the castle and the curse on Ponyville, we are not in a good position… what are you looking at?” Luna had started talking but then noticed that the younger princess was scrutinizing the ground she was floating over.
“Based on what Starlight told me, I was expecting to see Sombra’s curse still trying to break free of your barrier, but there is nothing,” Cadance pointed towards the crystals.
Luna looked down for a moment, then turned so she could gaze over what she could see off the town. The princess glanced back at her niece, then much to Cadance’s shock, allowed herself to drop down to the crystal ground.
Cadance gasped and half expected her aunt to be immediately engulfed in crystal. She activated her magic and was prepared to immediately try anything to help her. Nothing happened, the two alicorns looked at each other with the same confused expression.
“I-I don’t understand.” Luna tapped on the ground. Then with a frown she turned off her horn and the energy shield slowly disappeared. Cadance was once again ready to immediately ready to use her own magic, this time to put up her own shield.
“The curse has stopped spreading. I was so busy maintaining the shield, I didn’t notice,” the Lunar Princess walked over to Cadance and turned, staring at the crystal-encased town, unsure.
“Let me try something,” Cadance said and for a brief moment looked around. Seeing a crystal encased pony, she changed the spell in her horn and sent a wave of love and light magic at it.
The crystals shattered and a mare emerged, gasping for air as she crumbled to the ground. Luna and Cadance immediately rushed over to assist her. The pony had a pink and dark blue mane and a cream-colored coat. On her flank were three pieces of wrapped candy.
“It’s alright, you are okay. Just breathe,” Cadance instructed the mare gently as the pony recovered from her imprisonment.
“What happened? Everything was turning to crystals…” the mare said, trembling like a leaf. Then she noticed who she was currently surrounded by. “Uh… your highnesses…”
“No need for formalities right now. You are safe. Princess Cadance has freed you from the spreading curse,” Luna told her, being as gentle in her tone as her niece was. Then she frowned a little. The mare looked familiar. “Wait a minute...Special Agent Sweetie Drops? Is that you?”
“Um…” Sweetie Drops fell silent, not quite expecting to be addressed by the title she had to abandon so long ago. “It’s kind of Bon-Bon now.”
“Oh right, my apologies. A lot has been going on. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here. However it is fortuitous that we have you here. Cadance has just demonstrated that the ponies can be freed from their cursed entrapment. We need a pony who does well under pressure to gather those that are freed into one place,” Luna explained and once again took in the whole of crystal Ponyville. “It might take a while.”
“And will not be easy. I already could feel it took a lot of magic just to free her and the curse looks much more concentrated the closer it comes to Twilight’s castle,” the Love Princess said while helping Bon-Bon to stand up.
Luna shifted her gaze towards the castle and already could feel that the dark magic was, as Cadance had said, much more potent and concentrated there. She sighed, having seen her niece free the pony, she had almost on instinct wanted to start at the castle.
“Easy or no, what I don’t understand is how it’s possible at all. Sombra knows of your love and light magic. Why would he make it possible to free them at all? Why has the curse stopped spreading?” Luna shook her head, then returned her attention to Bon-Bon, who was glancing nervously around. Then her eyes opened wide in realization. “Starlight won’t be able to get Sombra to stop any curse because there is no curse to stop!”
“She is also going there to free those Sombra captured. I also instructed her to try and send a magic message once they find his location before confronting him, just in case. We need to get to work,” Cadance reached to gently place a hoof on the older pony’s back.
“Yes… of course. The sooner we free everyone, the sooner we will have proper backup for Starlight and the others,” Luna nodded and took to the air along with her niece. “Agent… I mean Bon-Bon, be ready, we’ll start here at the edges and work our way inwards towards the castle.”
“What was I supposed to do again?” Bon-Bon called, looking very unsure and not quite certain that she was ready for anything.
“Gather those we free so they are not in the way and are safe in one location. If anything were to happen, we will be in a better position to protect them.” Luna shouted before she targeted the closest building with her magic.
The two alicorns set to work, blasting at the crystals with their magic. Bon-Bon ran around gathering any pony that was freed in the process. She chose to guide them just outside the town where the crystals had stopped spreading, figuring that was the safest place. The earth mare’s job did get easier with each one freed, as she could recruit help from those ponies who felt they could assist once they recovered from their crystal prison.
However, the work didn’t get easier for the princesses. As Cadance had feared, it took a lot of magic for every building and every pony they freed. As they inched closer towards the castle, it took even more and was that much harder. After doing this for roughly an hour, the alicorns dropped down to the ground, exhausted.
“Ponyville is bigger than I thought,” Cadance wheezed and glanced around.
“We will do this - even if we have to work all night at it,” Luna said with determination.
“You don’t think he did this just to delay us, do you?” the Love Princess looked at her aunt, frowning a bit. Luna gave her an uncertain look.
“He did say what he was doing had nothing to do with Equestria, according to Twilight that is,” the Lunar Princess mused thoughtfully. She turned to see where all the freed ponies were gathered. “So far, nopony looks injured, just shaken and afraid but, so far none has died.”
“But, nevertheless, he did strike at us and that cannot go unanswered,” she then said and slowly began flying again. “Come, the break is over.”
The princesses resumed their work. There was no sign of the curse restarting, so Luna allowed ponies to take shelter in houses that had been freed at the edges for the approaching night. Organizing that got easier once Mayor Mare was freed from her crystal prison and she immediately took over organizing the freed ponies, but with Bon-Bon as her right-hoof mare.
At one point Luna did have to take a long break, with Celestia trapped inside the castle, it was up to the Lunar Princess to both lower the sun and raise the moon to make way for nightfall. This took considerable effort, especially after spending hours removing the crystal curse and Luna was so exhausted after it that Cadance sent her to the newly freed town hall to rest bit. They still hadn’t reached any of the hotels and other living areas were by now full of ponies whose houses hadn’t been freed yet.
Cadance finally had to stop herself when it was close to midnight - she was absolutely beat. The pegasi guards had long since returned from their search and they escorted the princess to the town hall to rest.
This is taking forever, we’ve haven’t even removed a quarter of this blasted curse, she thought and took one last tired glance over Ponyville before entering town hall.
Luna stoically walked across the floor in what looked like the throne room at Canterlot Castle. The princess knew she wasn’t in the castle, she apparently was in someone else’s dream. When she had gone to town hall, the alicorn had gotten the idea to more easily communicate with the ponies still trapped inside the castle, so she did what she usually did during the night - dream walk.
“Sister,” she addressed the white alicorn standing and observing one of the many decorative windows in the throne room. This one in particular was the one depicting the victory over King Sombra when the Crystal Empire had returned from its own curse.
“Luna,” Celestia turned her head and smiled. “I had a feeling you would try and reach me this way.”
“How are you and the others doing?” the smaller princess asked, frowning in concern. Her sister sighed as she turned to face her.
“I managed to convince them to just go to sleep for now. We are trapped, but otherwise alright, surprisingly enough. The map room has been basically converted into a large crystal cavern with no escape. Once the concussion spell Sombra blasted us with wore off, we did try and do something, but the crystals just kept regenerating, too quickly for Twilight and me to make any proper escape route,” Celestia explained. “How are things on the outside?”
“The curse spread across Ponyville, but I managed to contain it before it spread further. However, it appears the curse has ceased and Cadance and I have started removing it. It is slow work - the closer to the castle we go, the harder it is to remove the crystals,” Luna told her. “I also sent Starlight to go search for Sombra. Cadance confirmed she has company with her.”
Celestia rubbed her muzzle as she thought this information over. This certainly was strange. It was almost like Sombra had no intention to harm them, this was starting to look more and more like a delay.
“If the curse has stopped spreading…” the Sun Princess dropped her hoof down and looked at Luna. “You and Cadance continue to free Ponyville. When Twilight and I wake up, I’ll see about making another go at freeing the castle from the inside.”
“What about Discord? Is he not also trapped with you?” Luna asked when remembering the chaos spirit.
“He actually can’t risk using his chaos powers surrounded as he is by dark magic, least he causes an explosion that will take out the castle and all of Ponyville with it. He will not risk harm to Fluttershy or a lesser extent, us,” Celestia explained, but then smiled a little. “But he and Pinkie Pie are doing an admirable job of keeping the morale up.”
Luna nodded. At least this confirmed that her sister and those in the castle were not in any immediate danger. That did put her mind at ease. Her worry over Celestia and the others had been affecting her focus and right now she needed all of it to more properly channel her magic to remove the curse.
“Before you go, could you locate Twilight’s dream? I am a little worried about her and though she’s assured me she is fine in the waking world, I am not very convinced. I believe she is more affected by this attack than she likes to admit,” Celestia then said.
“That was actually my intended next stop, I just wished to see you first,” Luna said and began to ascend into the air. The sisters smiled at each other. “A duty or not, you can’t blame your little sister for putting you first on the checklist.”
“I suppose I can’t. Now go.” The Solar Princess nodded and watched as her sister vanished from her dream. The window in the meantime had changed form. It now showed Sombra’s grinning head leering over all four princesses.
“You are not going to win,” Celestia said without even glancing at it.
The first thing Luna heard was a cruel echoing laughter, then as she materialized, the alicorn found herself at the top of the crystal tower in the Crystal Empire as it was slowly being corrupted by dark crystals. Outside the sky was a dark, sickly yellow and in the distance she could see dark clouds slowly approaching. In the center of the tower, big black crystal slabs surrounded the center. From within it she heard softs sobs.
Luna approached the slabs and looked inbetween the spaces. Sitting in the middle was Twilight, but the young princess didn’t have wings, she was a unicorn again.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Luna addressed her. Twilight looked up quickly and gasped when seeing her. Tears were streaming down her purple cheeks.
“Princess Luna…” she whispered, then her eyes opened wide in shock when the Lunar Princess simply walked straight through the slabs as if they weren’t even there. “No wait. Don’t come in here, you’ll be trapped!”
“This is only a dream, Twilight,” Luna assured her, then she raised her head and her horn began to glow. A blast of magic issued from it, blinding Twilight for a moment. When she could see again, all the dark crystals were gone and the tower looked normal again. “But an apt one. Recent events are weighing heavily on you, are they not?”
Twilight looked down, her tears were still trickling down to the floor. Luna walked closer and gently reached with her hoof to lift the purple mare’s head so she would look at the princess.
“I failed. I had Pinkie move the party to the castle… he still could get them… then he trapped me in my own home… I…” Twilight sobbed and closed her eyes tight. Luna silently reached with her wings to wipe the tears off the younger pony.
“This reminds you of when you almost lost last time, does it not?” the Lunar Princess asked gently and lowered her hoof. A small whimper escaped the Twilight’s lips before she nodded.
“If Spike hadn’t been there…if he hadn’t insisted on coming with me…I would not have been able to get the Crystal Heart to Cadance. He would have won!” she cried and resisted the urge to drop down to the floor and cover her face in her legs.
“Twilight, I know it is difficult to feel so weak and powerless,” Luna raised her hoof again to place it on her own chest. “It is not a pleasant feeling.”
“W-what do you mean?” Twilight whispered. She knew of Luna’s many regrets, but had a feeling that wasn’t what she was talking about.
“As you know, I was jealous of my sister… that jealousy was my own and it was unfounded, however, that was enough for Sombra. He… got into my head back when Celestia and I were still just trying to talk him into letting go of the Crystal Empire. With just the right words and casual small talk, he built on my jealousy, the feeling of being weaker and less powerful than my sister. He inflamed my jealousy even as Celestia and I finally just banished Sombra into ice, but by then the damage was done,” the Lunar Princess sighed and regarded their surroundings. They could see the Crystal Empire in its full glory, with the shining houses and streets.
“When the empire vanished before our very eyes, it strengthened my feelings of being weak, pathetic, not powerful enough to save it from Sombra’s curse,” Luna looked at Twilight again. “And though you and your friends saved me from my own jealousy, I’m afraid Sombra’s vile words still had some effects. I still felt weak and pathetic. When the empire returned, I just wanted to rush over there to help protect it.”
“I didn’t see it at the time, but Celestia in her wisdom sent you and your friends instead of allowing me to go. She knew I would not be an asset. I would only be going there to prove myself. I would have been so eager, so insistent on charging straight for Sombra that I would probably have risked the entire plan, which was to protect the Crystal Empire first and foremost,” she continued. “Celestia knew that Sombra still had a hold on my mind, that he could easily enter it again and just fuel my feelings and force me to take some rash action that would play into his game.”
“How did you get over it?” Twilight asked, having listened entranced to Luna’s explanation. Her tears had slowly vanished as she got more invested in it. The young princess tilted her head when Luna chuckled softly.
“Do you not remember? You and your friends - nay, the entirety of Ponyville - did not just help me get over my regrets for my actions as Nightmare Moon when I was punishing myself with the tantabus. You all made me realize that even if one feels weak and powerless, We have others to draw strength from,” Luna told her, offering her a hoof. Twilight took it and rose. “Sombra draws his strength by preying on your fears and hatreds. But you Twilight, you get your strength from a different, stronger source - your friendship. You helped me realize that’s where I needed to overcome my own feelings of weakness.”
“Thank you, Luna,” Twilight sighed a little, but was now smiling. “I guess in my anger at Sombra for attacking us so brutally and then trapping me and my friends in my own castle, I lost sight of that.”
“It is easy to lose sight of it when your very home is attacked, but let me now give some good news,” Luna nodded and then proceeded to tell her what she and Cadance had been doing and then about Starlight.
“Starlight escaped? Oh, you have no idea what a relief it is to hear that!” Twilight exclaimed and let out a breath of relief. Then she blinked. “But she is going after Sombra? I… wasn’t…”
“I have been assured she has good support with her. Believe in your pupil, just like Celestia believes in you,” Luna quickly told her when seeing that the younger princess seemed to be about to have panic attack. Thankfully, Twilight quickly calmed down.
“Yes, yes of course. She can do this. She was even worse off when facing Queen Chrysalis. Yes, she can do this,” Twilight nodded, then noticed that Luna was beginning to ascend. “You’re leaving?”
“I have other nightmares and bad dreams to take care of before I must return to the waking world and continue assisting Cadance. When you wake up, talk with Celestia, she worries about you,” the Lunar Princess told her before fully vanishing, leaving Twilight behind in her dream.
Private was frowning hard as he thought about the last night’s events. His distraction had kind of worked, even if Sombra saw right through what he had been trying to do. The stallion wondered though if it had made any difference. The king would no doubt continue with the experiments on Barricade and Private couldn’t do this every time to prevent it.
Wow, kind of thought I would feel sadder over this, he mused. He kept saying I would give in eventually. It scared me to death that I would.
The unicorn felt more reflective than anything else and he wondered if it was because his parents had reassured him. Or maybe because doing this had kept his brother away from the painful magic, if only for a little while.
Did I do the right thing? Have I opened a can of worms now that can’t be closed? Private sighed and rested his head on his front legs. He grunted when the body next to him moved and pushed into him.
Private lifted his head and stared for a moment at Sombra who was still sleeping. Biting his lip, the smaller unicorn carefully slipped down the bed. Tiptoeing towards the entrance, he slipped out of the bedroom.
The unicorn made his way to the cavern with the cells. Barricade was fast asleep in his cell, so were the rest. Private, looked between the cells. With a sigh, he approached the slightly bigger one.
“Mom,” he whispered. She was sleeping right next to the bars. Carefully he reached in to shake her.
“Hmm? Oh, Private,” Mirage looked up and smiled a little, but frowned when seeing the expression on her son. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“Mom… I… don’t know what to think right now,” Private whispered and lay down next to the bars. His mother reached out to touch one of his hooves. “He kept experimenting on Barricade. I couldn’t bear it, hearing him being tortured like that.”
“Did I do the right thing?” the unicorn looked at her.
“What did you do?” she asked. Mirage had noticed that Barricade hadn’t been taken for a while out of his cell before she had fallen asleep.
Private sighed. This was very new for him to admit what he was feeling or confess anything. However, silence just wasn’t doing him any good.
“He was going to go get him. I didn’t want it to happen, I… just sprang over to him and… told him I was ready, I had given in. I just couldn’t think of anything else to do to stop him,” he whispered and looked down again. “He saw right through me, he knew what I was doing. Knew I was just trying to distract and delay him.”
Mirage didn’t say anything, she knew her son needed his time to say things. She was very glad though that he was finally speaking out. It was often so hard to get him to tell them what was wrong. Instead she just patiently waited until he had finished.
“B-but then he said that he didn’t mind a little distraction. He was testing me, I just know it, but I knew whatever delay I could provide would spare Barricade from more torture, if only for few more hours. So I just steeled myself, allowed him to take me to where he sleeps…” Private fell silent.
“Did he hurt you?” Mirage asked. She hated it that her son had been put into this kind of situation. She sighed in relief when Private shook his head.
“No. That surprised me actually. He was kind and gentle… I actually enjoyed it. I… am not feeling ashamed for this, but I don’t know if I did the right thing. I may have opened a door I can’t close,” her son whispered. He was very confused.
“Oh my poor baby,” the mare sighed. She reached further out to touch his cheek with her hoof. “You were just trying to help your brother. You were desperate.”
“I was.. I…” Private fell silent and glanced towards the cell where Barricade slept.
“Mom, I must confess something,” he turned his head back to the mare who just nodded to him to continue.
“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted it. When I realized that I was interested in stallions just as much as I was interested in mares, I fantasized a lot about Commander Hurricane, King Horsneidas, The… eh… the lost son of Queen Rabia. Sometimes, two of them, sometimes all three, sometimes with Dew Doe…” Private started to blush a bit as he confessed his most deeply hidden secret. Mirage showed so far no change in expression and continued to listen.
“That interest did not go away when I learned who the lost son was… it got dampened a little because at the time I was possessed by him… but later, after all that was done… I sometimes still wondered… what if… sometimes even wishing he was good or reformed so I could justify this…” Private slowly glanced back towards the entrance of the cavern. There was nobody there. He then swiftly looked at every single sleeping pony he could see to make sure they were still all sleeping.
“Mom. I’m in love with him. Just as much as I’m in love with Dew Doe,” he finally sped out and planted his face right on top of this forelegs.
Mirage blinked as she slowly took in this confession from her son. She had expected to hear anything other than this! She reached out again and started caressing her son’s mane. Then she started to hum softly a song she had often sung to her boys when they were foals. Eventually her son raised his head again and she pulled back her hoof.
“Y-your not going to say I’m crazy?” he asked, looking unsure.
“Private, I know you never come to any conclusions without a lot of thought. I believe you when you say that you love him and I’ve always known you love Dew Doe, no, that one has been painfully obvious for the past ten years,” Mirage smiled gently. “What I want to know is, how did you come to that conclusion?”
“I don’t love the sadistic jerk who possessed me and tortured my brother, but I’ve seen traces of the pony he used to be - a curious, studious pony, just interested in how things work. Yesterday, he used a spell to see who my - our - ancestors were. It’s Timido, his last servant before he left the Dark Pony Empire. I saw genuine relief and care when he learned that Timido escaped the destruction of the Empire. That’s the pony I wouldn’t mind being with… but I doubt now it will ever happen. It’s all overshadowed by the pony Sombra is now,” Private sighed and shook his head. “I’m not even going to kid myself that it’s possible to bring that pony back.”
“You’ve always been painfully realistic, Private,” Hard’s said from behind them, causing Private to freeze. Mirage only turned her head to look where her husband was rising up a bit where he lay. The old stallion was smiling.
“How much did you hear?” Private grumbled. He took another glance at the others to see if they had all been listening as well, but so far the fillies still looked to be sleeping and so was Rainbow in her cell.
“Most of it, but you were talking to your mother and I didn’t want to interrupt,” Hard Shovel confessed.
Private just nodded, but said nothing more. His parents hid their chuckles, they knew him well enough that he had been a little annoyed by this and that meant he went silent. It was actually a good sign that he hadn’t risen up and stomped off. That usually indicated Private didn’t mind it too much, but he had clearly hoped nobody else was listening.
Suddenly Private’s shadow enlarged, went under him and the unicorn started sinking into it. He cringed as he realized that Sombra was clearly summoning him. He looked at his startled parents.
“I guess I’ve stayed here for too long,” he whispered but didn’t bother struggling, knowing it would be pointless.
“Be safe,” Mirage managed to say before her son was fully engulfed by the shadow and disappeared. The mare sighed and leaned on her husband who had scooted over. “My poor baby.”
Sombra watched with a neutral expression as Private rose out of his shadow right beside him on the bed. The smaller unicorn took a moment to look at himself as if to confirm that he was all there before hesitantly glancing at the king.
“I just… uh, went to talk with my mother.” Private couldn’t help but wonder if he was in trouble or had caused enough trouble to affect the other prisoners.
“You had a good talk with her?” Sombra asked, never changing his expression as he continued to observe him.
“Uh… yes,” Private arched his brow, not quite expecting that question. He was further confused when the king lowered his head towards him and began kissing and nuzzling his neck.
Private decided right now he best just be silent and allow the affectionate gesture to continue. Right now Sombra was not tormenting him or his family and the wrong word choice might just change that in an instant. He actually preferred the king focus on him instead of his family, or Rainbow for the matter.
Sombra did stop after a little while and raised his head again. He still sported that unreadable neutral expression. Private had to admit he was really curious what the dark unicorn was thinking right now.
“So… uh now that I’ve given in. Now what?” he decided to ask. First now did the king smirk and let out a soft chuckle.
“You haven’t given in at all. You were just distracting me to protect your brother,” Sombra murmured. “However, I will confess I wasn’t expecting you to be that brave. You didn’t strike me as being this proactive. Aren’t you still longing secretly for that blue mare? Too scared to confess your feelings to her because you worry things will end up like happened with your brother and her sister?”
Private had no response to that. At least the king had confirmed his own suspicion that the dark pony hadn’t been fooled at all yesterday.
“So dad used a slightly different word, he said ‘comforter’, not a comfort colt. What is the actual Dark Pony word for this… occupation?” Private asked, figuring he might as well ask more about this new job he had been saddled with.
“If I must be honest with you, I’ve just been using it because I find your reactions to it rather humorous,” Sombra confessed with a chuckle. “The actual word we Dark Ponies used is far more correctly translated as ‘companion’. The Saddle Arabians corrupted it and Equestrians actually started using it as well since it was widely misunderstood what this title and the duties it entailed were all about.”
“You see, the Saddle Arabians tried and succeeded in painting this as nothing better than a sex slavery. What it really was all about was an outreach by the Royal family to help the more unfortunate citizens of the Empire, giving them chances at better occupations later in life by being temporary companions to a member of the royal family. Eventually other noble families in Dark Pony society followed suit, as well as those simply with wealth and strong status,” he continued to explain. “Was intercourse involved? Yes, but back then it wasn’t considered a big deal, just a more intimate form of recreation.”
“Frankly, I’m mystified why it has become such a taboo subject these days,” the king grunted and shook his head.
“Times change,” Private quietly remarked. A snort came from Sombra that almost sounded like an agreement.
“So… uh you really think you can recreate the Dark Ponies?” he wondered, hoping these discussions would serve as a better form of distraction from further experiments on his brother.
“I haven’t given up just yet. It can’t be a coincidence that you and your brother got these dark gray coats - not with how your parents are colored. Also, I have noticed from viewing other descendants that they are far darker colored than most regular Equestrians,” Sombra said and rubbed his muzzle thoughtfully.
“Is it that very conclusive? Most ponies come in a rather vide variety of colors and some are dark-colored even if they aren’t Dark Pony descendants,” Private pointed out.
“You have a point there,” the king muttered and rolled his eyes. “I’m almost tempted to ask if there is a color you Equestrians don’t come in.”
“And those marks.” Sombra moved a little so he could glance better at Private’s book. “I mean seriously, why would you develop an image that shows your talent? Destiny? I’ve heard so many reasons for it, I stopped looking into it.”
“And to confound it all, those marks don’t even always clearly indicate it. I mean your brother has a brick wall and somehow that means he is good at community building. When I was spying on Ponyville, I heard that the local school teacher has a flower cutie mark, but that somehow means she wants to see her student’s bloom instead of gardening.” The dark pony looked at Private as if he was expecting some form of explanation. All Private could really do was shrug.
“Ugh, let’s talk about something else, this gives me a headache,” King Sombra grunted and rubbed his forehead.
Well, at least he just wants to talk, Private dared to think, though hoping that the king wasn’t listening in. “You still intend to conquer Equestria?”
To his surprise, Sombra didn’t really answer, instead grumbled something almost inaudible and looked irritated. Private wondered if he should press for an answer, because he had half-expected the king to immediately go into a speech on how he was planning it eventually.
“I’ll only say that my current goals do not include the conquest of Equestria,” the dark unicorn finally said. “I was not lying when I told Princess Twilight that right now, what I’m doing, has nothing to do with them. I even made it a point by not killing anyone, I did immobilize them, but that was all.”
“You didn’t want to risk harming Princess Celestia again,” Private stated, remembering back when the king had the perfect opportunity to cave in three-fourth of Equestria’s rulers, but didn’t because he couldn’t bring himself to harm Celestia.
“Private, I really like you better when you are quiet,” Sombra growled and glared at the unicorn who immediately slammed his mouth shut.
I can do quiet, Private cringed a little. He was running out of ideas on what to discuss anyway.
“Go to the storage cave and get me some food,” the king ordered. He still sounded irritated.
Private didn’t need to be told twice, having figured already he had depleted the apparent good mood his captor had been in. The smaller unicorn quickly climbed out of the bed and hurried out of the chamber making his way down to the caverns.
You know, all in all, I rather be at home being chased by Dew Doe and her brush, he thought as he entered the storage and started to going through the crates that had food in them.
As the unicorn quickly grabbed some food into a bag, he frowned a little as he felt something was amiss. He looked around but saw nothing unusual. He wasn’t bothering with his magic in this cave since it dampened it. Then Private looked at himself, staring at his chest for a good minute.
I’m not… nervous… scared? Well a little. We are still captive and he will continue experimenting on me and Barricade. Worried? Of course… but… I… Private shook his head, not feeling this was important. He finished putting the food in a bag, grabbed it in his mouth and then trotted out of the cave.
Once outside he switched holding the bag with his magic and went straight back up to the fort and returned to bed chamber. Sombra was now sitting on the floor by the bed, next to the side table. Private hesitated for a moment when having the king in view again.
“Will you bring the food here already!” Sombra snapped when seeing that Private had stopped on his approach.
Coming! Private let out a grunt and continued to walk over and put the bag on the table. The bigger unicorn looked at him and arched his brow.
“Something wrong?” Private asked when seeing that he was being regarded by the king.
“It remains to be seen,” Sombra muttered, sporting a thoughtful expression. “You can go back to the caverns, take some food to the others.”
Private didn’t need to be told twice, he immediately went straight back to the exit and re-entered the main hall. As he was closing the door to the bed chamber, it suddenly hit him.
I’m not nervous about what he’ll do with me. The unicorn blinked as it suddenly hit him. Before he had always been on his guard around the king, ready for yet another innuendo from him, a hint here or there. That feeling was gone. Sure, he had felt resentment as he entered the chamber, but that resentment was because he was a prisoner and so were his family and Rainbow Dash.
Oh wow, I had forgotten how it was to not feel like that. He walked to the entrance to the caverns and began heading down the stairs.
It can’t be because I finally… slept with him… no that’s not it… was it because I talked with mom? Ugh, I need Dew or Foxy to explain this… I just - oh never mind. I’ll bother with it later. If there will be a later. Better get the others their food, Private thought as he returned to the storage cave.
On the snowy path up the mountains that eventually led to Yakyakistan - the land of the big and proud yaks - three ponies trudged along. Above them flew the two pegasi sisters. It had been several hours since the group left the Crystal Empire after receiving both advice and more supplies, mostly in the form of warm clothing to combat against the cold.
Starlight envied the pegasi for being able to avoid going through the snow, though that wasn’t the main reason the two were up there. Shining Armor had warned them that the path towards Yakyakistan could be dangerous, so the sisters were their main lookout for spotting any trouble.
They had spent the night in the Crystal Empire since they had arrived late in the evening. It was also to give Starlight a chance to recover a little. When she woke up the next morning, the unicorn felt a bit better and even dropped the bandage. The bump was mostly hidden by her mane anyway and her head wasn’t bleeding.
Sunburst recovered a map of the northern region for them from the library. He also gave Starlight some written research he had himself made on King Sombra. She had been half-tempted to ask her oldest friend to come along, but he had to keep an eye on Flurry Heart since Shining Armor was too busy running the Crystal Empire in Cadance’s absence.
“How far is it again?” Foxy lowered down a little, looking at the three ponies on the path.
“Let’s see now,” Starlight grabbed the map out of her saddle-bag. She struggled a little to use her magic to levitate it, but wasn’t having nearly as much trouble as yesterday. While she examined it, Dew watched her like a hawk.
“It’s still pretty far, but we are more than halfway there,” she told the maroon pony and put the map back in the bag.
“Pinkie told me once there were yeti living around the path to Yakyakistan,” Maud spoke up. Barbell and Starlight looked at her.
“Huh? Is it dangerous?” the unicorn wondered. She had never seen a yeti before. Then again, she had never been this far north.
“We’re about to find out,” Maud simply said. Just at that moment there was a loud roar.
Starlight blinked and realized why Maud had so suddenly brought up the fact about the yeti. Sure enough, the pegasi landed next to them and pointed further up the path. Both looked terrified.
“There is something up there. Something large,” Foxy shouted. She and Dew hadn’t heard Maud’s remark.
The ponies all stopped in their tracks. From behind a bend on the road came a large white, ape-like creature. The yeti roared threateningly at them and blocked their path further. Starlight fired up her horn on instinct, but cringed when feeling that using even this little magic still hurt her head.
“Get behind me! Maybe I can scare it off,” the unicorn said and stepped forward, ignoring the rising headache.
The yeti roared again and started towards them. Starlight immediately fired off a beam of magic, aiming at the ground right in front of the creature. The yeti jumped back a little, but this only seemed to annoy it even further. Snarling and baring its teeth, it began approaching again.
“Don’t make me…” Starlight stomped a hoof, but then felt lightheaded and her magic fizzled out. She stumbled, but was caught by Foxy and Dew.
“I have an idea,” Maud said - the only one who looked unfazed by what was happening. Starlight was at this point groaning and trying to remain standing, propped up by the sisters who were eyeing the approaching creature worriedly.
“Care to share?” Barbell asked. She looked about ready to just charge.
“We need to get behind it,” Maud said and before anyone could protest, she was already running straight for the yeti.
“Maud!” Starlight groaned instead of crying as she had intended to do.
“What is she doing?” Dew asked in shock. Foxy’s only respond was her jaw dropping.
Barbell, to her credit had only momentarily hesitated when hearing what Maud said, before immediately racing after her. The two earth ponies dashed towards the creature, who looked briefly stunned that they were initiating the attack. Then it roared again and raised one of its hands and attempted to swipe at the charging ponies.
The mares ducked and dodged the yeti as it swung its fists at them. They narrowly managed to get behind it from the sides, since the great bulk of the creature took up most of the path. The yeti snarled in frustration and immediately began turning around.
“Barbell, kick down, NOW!” Maud said and did actually raise her voice with a slight hint of urgency. Both earth ponies raised both their hind legs and kicked down at the path just as the yeti loomed over them, raising both its hands.
The ground shook, the snow and rock underneath the yeti began giving way and sliding down the cliff edge. The creature barely managed to register that it was in fact now sliding down with the mini-avalanche the ponies had created. It started clawing wildly in all directions, trying to get any kind of hold, but was too late and falling too fast. The yeti went down with the loose snow and rock, screaming.
“Woah! That’s one way to do it.” Barbell pumped one leg into the air.
“Maud, Barbell,” Starlight called as she was carried over by both Dew Doe and Foxy. She had recovered a little. She sighed in relief to see that both mares looked all right. She was put safely down on the other side of the large dent that was now on the path.
“Uh, is it gone?” Foxy peeked over the cliff edge and so did the rest of the five ponies. They saw falling snow and rocks, but just barely made out the yeti as it had managed to grab onto the mountainside much further down.
“It can’t climb up again, can it?” Dew asked worriedly.
The yeti wasn’t making any attempts to climb, it clung to the hold it had and seemed to be waiting for the debris to go past it. Once that had happened, it glanced around and appeared to be considering its options. Then it started to slide down the cliff wall towards the ground.
“Doesn’t look like it will bother. Probably safer to go down than try going up,” Barbell remarked.
“Right. So how about we continue before it decides to find a way up and come at us again,” Dew Doe suggested. She gave Starlight a light poke. “And you, no advanced magic.”
“Yes nurse,” Starlight chuckled. She looked at the earth ponies. “Good job you two.”
“Yeah, Maud has a good head on her. I was just going to try to kick the damn thing instead of the ground. How did you know that would work?” Barbell looked at Maud.
“The path was thick with snow and ice,” Maud simply responded. She didn’t need to add that with the shared earth pony strength, they had also loosened some of the rocks underneath.
“And I think we see the results with the application of the right amount of force.” Starlight glanced at the dent in the path.
Barbell shrugged, satisfied with the explanation and the mares resumed their journey. They eventually left the mountain path and were now climbing up snow-covered hills. Only Foxy was now in the air as Dew insisted on walking beside Starlight. The unicorn had a sneaking suspicion the blue pegasus wanted to ensure she didn’t strain herself with magic again.
There had been no signs of the yeti again, so the mares figured it was safe to say that it hadn’t made any attempt to follow them. It was probably still at the bottom of the cliff where they had left it.
“You alright?” Starlight glanced at Dew, who had begun to grumble a bit. She really had to restrain herself from giggling. The snow on their path was deeper now and the pegasus was half buried in it. The unicorn and the earth ponies were tall enough so the snow only reached their undersides, but it was even more evident now that Dew was the smallest in the group.
“Peachy,” Dew grunted and finally used her wings to take to the air, giving up walking in the deep snow. She didn’t ascend very high, hovering just above the ground.
“I saw something in the distance.” Foxy landed in front of the group. She was tall enough that the snow only reached above her knees.
“What did you see?” Starlight wondered, worrying for a moment that it was something dangerous. The yeti was still fresh on her, mind even if it had happened hours ago by now.
“Looked like two big, wooden yaks,” the maroon pegasus reported.
“Oh thank, Celestia. That’s Yakyakistan. The gates have two big wooden statues of yaks carved on them.” The unicorn felt relieved hearing that. This meant one part of their journey was almost over.
The mares continued to either trudge or fly onwards. Soon even those on the ground could see the distant silhouettes of two large statues, then the walls of Yakyakistan and the gate became visible. Foxy landed to walk with the rest. She tired more easily flying than most pegasi due to her size. Dew also landed to walk when seeing that the snow was not as deep as they got closer.
Starlight was grateful that the journey so far had been mostly uneventful, aside from the brief yeti encounter. Barbell had been mostly civil, as she had promised. Foxy continued to ignore her and so far there had been no problems in the group.
Of course they hadn’t had that much of a chance to fully interact. In the Crystal Empire, they had been busy just getting prepared for the long trek to Yakyakistan. The unicorn hoped it would remain that way..
As the ponies got closer to the gate, they saw a large yak milling about close it. Judging from the piles of wood next to her, the yak was bringing it to the village and was unloading. She turned from her work when spotting the ponies.
“Small ponies. Welcome to Yakyakistan. What bring ponies here?” she addressed them.
“Hello, I’m Starlight Glimmer. We need to speak with Prince Rutherford, if it’s possible. We have a situation down south in Equestria and he might be the only one right now that can help,” Starlight addressed the yak.
“Ponies come to yaks for help?” the yak sounded surprised, but then shrugged and pointed towards the gate which was slightly ajar. “Prince in village, Lana sure Prince can help ponies.”
“Thank you,” Starlight said. Foxy and Barbell, being the biggest ponies, went straight for the gate to open it more so everybody could get in. The mares did glare at each other, before Foxy simply backed off and let the earth pony open the gate.
Oh boy. This brief interaction hadn’t escaped Starlight. Thankfully, no words were exchanged. She glanced at Dew who just smiled sympathetically.
“I’ll try and keep Foxy under control,” the blue pegasus whispered to her.
“But who will keep Barbell under control?” Starlight wondered. Barbell was the only one who had no connection to anyone in the group, even if she had worked well with Maud while facing the Yeti.
Barbell finished opening the gate and the ponies trotted into the village. Yaks all around them turned to look at them, some with indifference, others with mild surprise. It was clear that ponies coming to visit was unusual. They didn’t need to look for Prince Rutherford, though. The yak prince was already out and about and when spotting the ponies, immediately went over to them.
“Ponies, welcome to Yakyakistan,” he greeted them in a loud bellowing voice. “What bring you here!?”
“Prince Rutherford, My name is Starlight Glimmer. I’m a friend of Pinkie Pie, and this is her sister, Maud,” Starlight Glimmer greeted the prince. She also introduced Barbell and the pegasi sisters. “We are having some problems down in Equestria and we need your help.”
Rutherford lifted the hairy bangs covering his eyes a bit to look more closely at the unicorn and the rest, as if he was unsure if what he heard her right.
“Me listening. Explain trouble,” he then said. Other yaks were gathering around them, curious about what was going on.
Starlight took a deep breath and then started telling the prince everything; Sombra’s attack and how he had cursed the castle, trapping Twilight and the others in it. When she finished, the ponies realized they had drawn a really large crowd of yaks, all eagerly listening.
“Honorary yak in trouble?” Prince Rutherford snorted, clearly angered that his friend, Pinkie Pie, had been attacked.
“Yes. I understand that you rescued some mountain goats who were driven mad with fear. These goats might be our only lead to where King Sombra is,” Starlight told him.
“Yes, we rescue goats who were wandering the snow. Almost eaten by yeti. Mad with fear. Unlike yaks who are not afraid of anything. Spoke of Mountains of Fear,” Rutherford told them and started to turn around. “You come.”
The mares glanced at each other, but then followed the prince. The other yaks stepped aside to make way for them. Rutherford took them further into the village towards a hut. Starlight frowned in concern, she could hear muffled bleating.
When the ponies entered the hut, they cringed at what they saw. On three straw beds lay three short and sturdy looking goats with spiraling horns. They were bleating and screaming, pure terror was in their eyes. A yak was tending to them, but there wasn’t much she could do except try to make them comfortable.
“These goats we rescue. We send word to mountain goat territory, but mountain goats more reclusive than even yaks,” Prince Rutherford explained as he again turned to the ponies.
“Oh those poor things.” Dew flew over to one of the beds and started to try and talk calmly to the goat on it. Foxy went to another bed and tried to do the same thing as her sister.
“Mountains of Fear...do you know what that is, Prince Rutherford?” Starlight peeled her eyes away from the sight and looked at the yak prince.
“No, never heard of it. Silly name. How can mountains fear?” The prince shrugged.
“These goats are seriously messed up,” Barbell muttered. She and Maud stayed at the entrance. It was clear they couldn’t do much right now.
Starlight frowned. This was not how she had hoped it would go. The goats spoke of a place the yaks hadn’t heard of and were right now incapable of giving directions. It was then she realized the bleating had quieted down. She looked over. Dew was still calmly talking with one goat, gently caressing him on the head. Foxy had gone to the next bed and was in the process of calming down the goat on that one. The first one she had gone to was now no longer screaming, but still looked fearful.
“Oh right…” Starlight realized the two sisters had simply dropped into a work routine. This was clearly something they had worked with before. She was amazed how quickly they had managed to calm them down. Then again the yaks probably didn’t know how.
“Wow, winged ponies good.” This hadn’t escaped Rutherford either as he glanced around the hut. The nurse yak was also looking impressed.
“We are both therapists.” Dew turned away from the bed, smiling at the prince. “I have managed to calm Rock Hard here down a little, but he will still need time to fully get his thoughts together.”
“Mine are doing better now as well, but they have a ways to go still,” Foxy said. She was about to go back to the others, but the goat grabbed for her wing.
“P-please, nice pony no go… not want fear again…” the goat stammered and was shaking badly.
“No, no, it’s alright. I won’t go.” Foxy immediately turned back to the bed. When her wing was free, she used it to drape it around the frightened goat.
“Perhaps we should step outside and let Dew and Foxy work their therapist magic on the goats,” Starlight suggested. Prince Rutherford glanced at the nurse yak who nodded sharply.
“Me agree. Maybe goats soon able to talk,” he said and headed out of the hut followed by the unicorn and the earth ponies.
“Ponies free to walk around village. If need to stay the night, we will prepare bed. Me need to go and attend yak matters,” the prince said as soon as he and the three mares were outside the hut.
“Thank you, Prince Rutherford,” Starlight acknowledged. She turned to Maud and Barbell when the yak leader walked away.
“Hopefully Dew and Foxy can get something from the goats. We’re lucky the other mountain goats haven’t come to collect them yet,” she said and pulled out the map and started to scrutinize it. “Nothing here about Mountains of Fear.”
“They are certainly eager to help those goats,” Barbell muttered, glancing disdainfully towards the hut.
Starlight held her tongue, this was not the time to argue. Barbell was at least not showing outright hostility. She glanced at Maud who offered no comment.
“Maud, are you familiar with these mountains?” Starlight asked her friend and showed her the map. She pointed at a mountain range that was clearly marked as the southern borders of mountain goat territory.
“No,” Maud simply responded.
The unicorn sighed, it was a longshot. Her friend had travelled far when studying rocks, so she had wondered if the earth mare had gone this far north. She glanced at the hut when seeing that Dew was emerging from it.
“Well the good news is, we’ve managed to calm the goats down to more manageable levels,” the pegasus reported and shook her sadly. “But they have far to go before they are fully recovered. However, Rock Hard has agreed to talk with us after resting more for a bit.”
“Well that’s good. Hopefully he can tell us about these Mountains of Fear,” Starlight said, then she noticed they were still a pegasus short. “Where is Foxy?”
“Aw, the poor kid. I’m afraid Pebble is the worst off. She’s clinging to Foxy like a security blanket. I don’t think we’ll be prying her off anytime soon,” Dew glanced back at the hut.
“Well we’ll leave you and Foxy to it then. Let us know when we can talk to them,” Starlight said. Dew Doe nodded and returned inside the hut.
“Looks like all we can do now is wait. I need to rest anyway. I’m still feeling a little dizzy after the encounter with the yeti.” The unicorn turned back to the earth ponies. Barbell shrugged, Maud tilted her head but otherwise said nothing. The three mares headed into the village to look for a place to rest.
Inside the medical hut, Dew Doe and Foxy were busy tending to the goats along with the nurse yak. Rock Hard had finally managed to go to sleep. He was the oldest of the goats, his thick fur appeared to have been snow white in his youth, but was turning grayish in parts. Pebble was the youngest and still curled up close to Foxy who had laid down in the bed, holding one wing protectively over her. Although her horns were almost in a spiral, the maroon pegasus had found out the goat was actually in her late teens.
Dew Doe was now assisting the first goat Foxy had attended to. Her name was Granite.Like Pebble, her fur was brownish-colored. Through gentle coaxing Granite revealed she was Pebble’s mother and Rock Hard was her father and thus the kid’s grandfather.
The pegasi didn’t bother asking what had happened. Though finally calm, the goats were still clearly unstable and dragging up those memories was far too painful for them, so the sisters just concentrated on keeping them calm.
“I have a little filly myself. Her name is Coal. She’s my precious little mischief,” Foxy told Pebble who was listening attentively.
“This is a song I used to sing for her when she was feeling a little scared,” she said and started to sing softly a tune:
Sweet little filly, do not cry. Momma’s gonna sing you a lullaby. Do not fear the scary noise. Focus instead on my voice.
Outside soon the sun will shine. Celestia will make things all fine. Luna, she will guard your dreams. Protect you with her mighty beams.
Soon you will fall fast asleep. After you counted all the sheep. And when you wake up the next day. You will see that you are all okay.
When Foxy stopped singing, she noticed that Pebble had fallen fast asleep. The pony smiled, carefully unwrapped her wing and climbed out of the bed. She then draped a blanket carefully over the kid.
The pegasus turned around and saw that both Dew and Granite were looking at her. The goat looked grateful, while her sister had a knowing smile on her muzzle.
“You and children. I still have no idea how you do it,” Dew chuckled softly.
“Just the usual Foxy charm.” Foxy grinned and walked over to the bed. “So how is our patient here doing?”
“Much better. Thank you for helping my daughter. I was unable to do anything…” Granite said but then seemed to be on verge of another panic. Dew immediately spoke gently to her and helped her calm down again.
“Think nothing of it. You don’t need to say anything more.” Foxy also stepped in to calm the goat down. When Granite was breathing normally again, she nodded and just tried to relax. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep, like Pebble. I have a feeling you really need it.”
The mares stuck by goat until she finally drifted off to sleep. The sisters then turned their attention to the nurse yak who was approaching them, having been staying at Rock Hard’s bed.
“Ponies, old goat wishes to speak with you,” the nurse said and gestured to him.
The sister’s looked at each other unsure, but then walked over to the bed with the old goat. He was awake again, looked calm outwardly, except there was a tinge of fear in his eyes.
“I can see that the kindness of ponies is not just a tall tale,” Rock Hard said when he saw the mares arrive at his side. “I apologize if I sound curt. We mountain goats have not had much dealing with your kind. We have never felt we needed to know you.”
“It’s alright, I’m just glad we could help. You should rest, these can’t have been pleasant times for you,” Dew told him gently.
“No… I must speak before it is too late… I can feel it. I’m weak… I am just lucky you… brought me to my senses… before my heart finally gave away… I’m old,” Rock Hard sighed, then shuddered when a painful memory came to him. “Much too old for this…”
Dew looked at Foxy concerned. Then, since she really didn’t have any proper equipment, the blue pegasus gently laid her ear on Rock Hard’s chest floor to listen to his heartbeat. The pegasus gasped and raised her head again.
“His heartbeat is really weak. We probably arrived here in the nick of time,” she whispered to Foxy whose eyes bulged out in shock.
“Are my daughter and granddaughter asleep?” Rock Hard whispered weakly.
“Yes, they are,” Foxy responded and just to confirm it, glanced the other two beds.
“Then let me tell you of the demon we saw. Not even the mountain ponies of Artica were as cruel as he was.” The old goat raised his head a little. “Never before… have I seen such cruel eyes, red and green… evil smoke pouring out of them… We were sent to check on an old mountain base we had not finished construction of and had to abandon. There our group found the demon… in the Mountains of Fear. My granddaughter, only a cadet for the mountain guard. We thought it was only going to be routine check.”
Dew frowned, she was tempted to ask the old goat to relax and that he didn’t need to say any more or work himself up, but Rock Hard seemed determined to tell his tale, despite his weakened state and painful memories.
“The three of us escaped with our lives, but barely our sanity… the demon feasted on our fears… tossed us around like ragdolls. I heard the others scream as they plummeted to their deaths. We were lucky to escape… and soon only two will have truly survived the demon…” Rock Hard rested his head on the pillow again and stared vacantly up to the ceiling.
“Our once proud… Tall Mountains… now corrupted… now they are Mountains of Fear… for there fear dwells, the demon who drinks fear dwells there…” the old goat closed his eyes. “What he eats… I dare not think…”
Rock Hard fell silent. Dew, Foxy and the nurse yak who had come over to listen as well, continued to watch him as the old goat seemed to drift into sleep, but it wasn’t. Slowly his breathing stopped and he became completely still.
Dew choked and held a hoof to her mouth. Foxy wrapped a wing around her sister, her eyes were tearing up. The nurse yak took down her cap and held it to her chest.
After delivering the food, Private spent some time talking to his parents and the fillies. It was mostly just an attempt to reassure them, though he wasn’t quite sure how he could promise anything. Barricade and Rainbow hadn’t woken up yet, so the unicorn had just left the food within reach outside their cells.
Reluctantly he left the prison cavern. It was a new day and no doubt time for some more experiments. Private shuddered at the thought of seeing his brother subjected to them once again. He had a feeling very little would distract their captor now, doubting very much that the last one would work again.
Private made his way slowly to the lab cave, as the pony did, he first now noticed that the tunnel continued past it. He had never really paid much attention to it before, since so far most of the more important locations were in the other direction.
Curious, the stallion walked past the lab and was about to step further into the tunnel when a sharp voice addressed him.
“Get in here, Private!”
Private flinched and quickly turned around. He entered the lab and saw Sombra sitting by the podium his journal rested on. The king was glaring at him, the dark pony’s horn was active with his normal red magic and just above the pages of the book levitated a quill.
“Sit down,” Sombra ordered and waited until Private had complied before returning to the journal and resumed writing in it.
The smaller unicorn held back a sigh. He wasn’t sure if the dark pony had called him in because he wasn’t allowed to go past the lab in that direction, or if another round of experiments were about to begin and for once it would start with him.
“What does your last name mean?” Sombra glanced at Private after a minute.
“It’s a shortening of two words into one from an old griffin name for the frozen north,” Private responded. “Mom and dad felt that three names would be a bit much, so instead of Private Ice-Lands, they changed it to Private Iceland.”
“And why the first name? You’re clearly not in the royal guards.”The king’s brow rose a little.
Private really did not want to answer this one, as much as he loved his parents, he really did not care for why he had been named this. He made a face and looked down at the ground.
“I… was their little private ice-lands because they were studying ancient griffin culture at the time Barricade and I were born,” he finally muttered. To his surprise there was no mocking laughter, Private glanced up with some reluctance. Sombra was still staring at him.
“I see what you meant when you said your parents were eccentric back when I possessed you,” the dark unicorn commented. “And Barricade?”
“Let’s just say they sometimes joke he was barring my way when we were being born and leave it at that,” Private grunted and grumbled when hearing a chuckle from the king.
“I shouldn’t talk, mother always called me, her Little Shadow.” Sombra shook his head and returned to the journal.
Private raised himself fully up at hearing that. He couldn’t recall Sombra speaking much about his mother, aside from ranting about what she had planned for him back during the whole possession incident.
“So uh… is it a bad idea to ask about Queen Rabia?” Private asked quite ready to be given the mother of all death glares and told to be quiet. The scribbling of the journal stopped, Sombra didn’t turn his head but his eyes shifted slightly to glance at him.
“That depends, what do you have in mind?” Sombra’s voice lowered quite a bit, and his eyes did flash green for a second. Private gulped, it was very clear that the subject of the king’s mother was a precarious one.
“What was she like?” Private hesitantly formed the most innocent sounding question he could think of.
There was silence, very deep silence. Sombra returned his eyes towards the journal, but still said nothing. Private tilted his head when he noticed that the magic aura around the quill was slightly shaking.
“She was complicated,” the king grunted after a while and the shaking halted. The dark pony resumed writing in the journal.
Private decided not to risk any further questions. Instead he lay down on the floor, crossing his front legs and was really just waiting at this point. He was curious about the tunnel that went in the other direction. The unicorn had noticed at first glance that it didn’t have those torches to lit it up, hence why he had missed it before.
However, that had to wait. Right now he was clearly supposed to be at Sombra’s beck and call. It was doubtful he would get a chance to check it out anytime soon.
“You will be happy to know no doubt, that your distraction worked. It gave me more time to consider the ideas I had before you stopped me. I came to the conclusion they would not yield any results,” Sombra addressed him without looking up from his writing.
Private considered asking what those ideas were, but quickly decided that he really did not want to know. No doubt whatever they were, they would have caused Barricade more pain and he was happy to know that his brother was spared whatever they were going to be.
“Go to the cells. A large enough gap will open on the big one, bring me the fillies,” King Sombra suddenly said.
Private sprang to his feet, looking shocked and horrified at hearing this. Then he felt angry and somehow summoned enough courage to glare at his captor.
“You said you weren’t going to experiment on them!” he snapped. Private was so angry he didn’t even flinch when Sombra slowly turned his head to look at him, his eyes very narrow.
“You can go get them, or I will and I will not be gentle about it!” the king snapped coldly.
“Whatever you’re planning to do. Do it to me! Leave them alone!” Private shouted and stomped a hoof hard on the ground, his horn sparking a bit of magic.
A shadowy tendril suddenly emerged and wrapped itself around Private and the unicorn was forcefully dragged closer to Sombra, who sneered down at his prisoner.
“I think you are forgetting something, Private,” King Sombra growled, his eyes turned green and purple smoke began emerging from the corners. He locked his eyes with Private’s whose own sneer started to falter.
“You are not in control here. You obey me. Your family only stays safe depending on your behavior!” the dark pony continued as he continued to dig into Private’s mind. His prisoner was beginning to tremble and his own eyes were beginning to glow green.
“Please… don’t… don’t hurt them…” Private whispered, tears were starting to form and slowly trickling down his cheeks.
King Sombra narrowed his eyes, but as the Private’s nieces were high on his prisoner’s mind, memories related to them started to surface more readily. The king paused when seeing Private using his magic to help Cara fly. In another, the unicorn pretending to sleep on the floor as a baby Coal waddled closer to him, then quickly grabbed her and tickled her. Yet another was of Private buying ice cream for Dinky, Coal and Tootsie Flute when taking Coal to visit them in Ponyville.
The dark unicorn paused as he watched how Private interacted with the fillies, playing with them, taking care of them, even teaching them. He released his hold on the unicorn who crumbled to the ground, holding back sobs but still crying.
“You were like a father to them.” Sombra’s eyes turned to normal, he looked unsure.
“To Cara, before she moved in with her dad and Coal too… why do you care?” Private whispered, looking down at the floor.
“I was the one who practically raised my sister, Ira,” the king responded and stepped back a little. He looked a bit uncomfortable, his own memories had started to surface, memories of the past. “She looked at me more as father than a brother…”
Private slowly looked up at his captor. Sombra snorted and turned away, muttering something the smaller unicorn couldn’t hear.
“I’m willing to stay… if you let the others go,” Private said and looked down again. “Do what you want with me, but…”
“That’s not going to happen, Private,” Sombra snorted and turned around again to face him. “You are in no position to make any deals. Don’t get any ideas, just because I let you roam around free and keep them in a cell. I haven’t bothered blocking your magic because I know how pathetic it is.”
“Now, let’s try this again, with you remembering the simple fact that you serve me right now and you will follow my orders.” The king narrowed his eyes. “You can either do it willingly, or I can be more forceful.”
“What do you suddenly want with them?” Private asked, not really caring right now that Sombra might choose to harm him again, at least it would be him who was being hurt.
“This new found confidence of yours is starting to become annoying,” King Sombra growled, but then his expression changed to a frown and he seemed to be considering something. His visage eased a little and became more neutral. “I wish to confirm something. I promise that no harm will come to them.”
“I don’t really believe you,” Private muttered and started to rise up, using one hoof to dry his tears. “But if I go get them, I can at least prepare them for meeting you.”
“Just go get them,” Sombra groaned and used shadow tendrils to shove Private out of the lab.
Private stumbled a bit once the tendrils had practically thrown him out, but he quickly found his footing and with great reluctance headed to the cell cavern. He was starting to wonder if he could just tell the girls to run and hope they would find an alternate way out of here.
The unicorn was dragging his hooves when he entered the cavern and approached the biggest cell. His parents and fillies quickly gathered at the crystal bars, wondering why Private looked like he had been asked to murder.
As Sombra had said, a bar went down which gave enough space for the fillies to fit through. Private shuddered before he gave all three girls a sign to come out. Cara looked at her sisters confused, but then stepped outside, followed by Dinky and Coal.
“What...what is going?” Mirage asked, realizing too late that the girls were gone outside the cell She was almost ready to try and reach out to grab them back inside.
“I’m so sorry…” Private whimpered. “King Sombra wants to see them.”
“W-what?” his mother gasped, Hard Shovel put a leg around her. They both stared worried at their son.
“Girls, I don’t know what he wants. I wish I could say it’s going to be okay but… with him, I can’t,” Private addressed the fillies, he felt tears welling up in his eyes again. Then he walked closer and pulled all three of them into a tight hug.
“I’m scared, Uncle Private,” Coal whispered, not liking the idea one bit of going to meet the king.
“What does he want with us?” Dinky asked, not feeling much better than her sister.
“I really don’t know. I tried to stop him, but I can only do so much,” Private told them and reluctantly let them go.
“Let’s get this over with, I was getting bored sitting in that cell anyway,” Cara declared. She started to flap her wings and took off the ground. Private sighed and started to walk towards the entrance, the unicorn fillies followed very closely behind him.
“Psst, Cara!” Rainbow Dash addressed the pegasus filly, who looked over. The mare gestured for her to come and was quite impressed at the speed the young pony did so.
“If you think you can, try and buzz quickly as you can out of here. Private said there was a fort. There must be way out of here from there...you think you can do it?” Rainbow asked the filly quietly and smirked when seeing the confident grin coming on Cara.
“I’d like to see him try and stop me,” Cara whispered before she quickly buzzed after her uncle and sisters.
King Sombra was writing once again in his journal when Private finally returned with the fillies in tow. Cara had stopped flying and stood on her uncle’s back. The pegasus was the only one who looked confident and calm, glaring daggers at the dark unicorn when she saw him. The unicorn fillies did their best to huddle out of sight behind Private.
“I’ve brought the girls,” Private muttered and made no move to step away from the younger ones.
“So I see.” Sombra put down the quill, stepped back from the podium and turned to face them. He regarded the four ponies with a neutral expression
“I probably should have clarified. I only meant the two younger ones. I figured the young lady on your back would have preferred to be regarded as a mare,” he said, regarding Cara who looked mildly surprised at being referred to as practically an adult. Due to her size, ponies still confused her for much a younger foal than the teen was.
“Hey, where my sisters go, I go!” Cara snorted. For a brief moment the teen forgot where she was standing and stomped a hoof down. Private’s eyes bulged out at the sharp pain in his back, but managed to keep in the yelp.
“Ooops, sorry, Uncle Private.” The pegasus grinned sheepishly when she realized what she had struck.
“It’s okay…” Private whispered, gritting his teeth and tried to ignore the sore spot. The unicorns behind him giggled a little, before remembering where they were and quickly became quiet again.
“You are your father’s daughter, I can see,” Sombra chuckled and walked over to the table. Using his magic he cleared some space on it. He blinked when Cara suddenly flew over and landed on it. She was now mere inches from his face, still glaring at him.
“Cara!” Private whispered sharply, fearing the worst.
“What do you want with my sisters!” Cara snorted, ignoring her uncle.
“I was going to make a few inquiries.” Sombra took a step back, not showing how amused he actually was by the filly’s attitude. “I suppose we can start with you, since you are clearly volunteering.”
“Proceed.” Cara narrowed her eyes and sat down to make a point that she wasn’t going anywhere. Although small for her age, she was big enough that there wouldn’t be space for her sisters, unless Sombra cleared more room on the table.
“Is she always like this?” Dinky whispered, both impressed and a little alarmed by Cara’s behavior.
“You do know who she lives with, right?” Coal whispered back.
“Girls.” Private looked back at them with a stern look. The fillies grinned innocently, their fear had been somewhat alleviated thanks to their sister’s bravado.
“Have you met other descendants of dark ponies that are not in your family?” Sombra meanwhile had started questioning Cara.
“Only once, back when I still lived with grandpa and grandma.” Cara shrugged.
“Did you feel any familiarity with them?” Sombra wondered.
“No,” the filly answered. Sombra frowned a little and rubbed his muzzle as he seemed to be considering something.
“Now, think, with me standing here in front of you. Ignore for a moment the resentment and the hate you feel, which I am perfectly aware that you feel right now. Do you feel anything else?” the king asked.
Cara looked at him confused, then she glanced at Private. Her uncle looked surprised at the line of questions being directed at the filly. When he noticed her niece, he quickly shook it off.
“Remember the dark pony subconscious connection your grandparents told you about? He’s asking about that,” Private explained to her, eyeing Sombra unsure. He couldn’t say he had been expecting this.
“Oh that.” Cara understood now, then gave Sombra an unimpressed glare. “Why didn’t you just say so.”
Sombra snorted in amusement and a wry grin came on his muzzle. The pegasus closed her eyes for a moment and looked to be concentrating. Her eyes flew wide open almost a second later.
“Woah it’s strong now!” she remarked. “I always had to really, really think about it to actually feel it with dad, Uncle Private, grandma and grandpa.”
“Well, you’ve never met a pure Dark Pony before,” Sombra said and nodded. “Well that confirms that. Even if you are even more mixed than your father, you have it.”
“I take it you want the other girls to do it as well?” Private asked, still a bit bewildered that so far everything was rather innocent and Sombra really was just asking questions. When the king nodded, the unicorn glanced at the younger filles. “Coal, since Dinky has never done it before, help her feel the connection.”
“Okay,” Coal nodded and looked at Dinky. “You have to close your eyes and really just not think about anything and ignore everything else you are feeling.”
“Huh, easier said than done,” Dinky muttered. The two fillies then closed their eyes and did the same as Cara had done. They both quickly opened their eyes in surprise. “I don’t like feeling that!”
“It’s really strong now,” Coal gasped and they both looked at Private. “Uh… I think we felt it.”
“Interesting.” Sombra walked away from the table to stand in front of Private and the two girls. “Private, do you have to do this to feel the connection?”
“With other descendants, yes…” Private hesitated not really wanting to say the next bit. “You, not so much.”
“So your connection is stronger when faced with a pure Dark Pony.” The king smiled and walked over to the podium and started writing.
“Wait, you can feel it without doing the whole close your eyes bit?” Coal whispered to Private.
“Sombra and I have a longer history together than I would prefer,” Private grunted, but what he said caught Sombra’s attention.
“Ah, I’m so foolish. Of course, the essence I put into you, that’s why you feel it!” the Dark Pony stopped writing and hoofed his face.
“What’s he talking about?” Cara flew off the table and landed next to Private who had fallen silent, internally groaning when Sombra had to mention that bit.
“About that… ugh… essence… what exactly did you have me drink all those years ago?” Private grumbled. He really hated the word choice, but so far he never really had the nerve to ask. But Cara was old enough to have ideas of her own and he now wanted this clear.
“Well if you really want the technicalities, I put some of my blood and magic in the potion I had you drink,” Sombra responded. He was using his magic to erase some of his writings.
“Ewww, you drank his blood?” Cara made face and so did her sisters.
“It’s not like I had much choice,” Private muttered though secretly feeling better. His mind had gone to completely different places and he was glad to be able to reel it back out of there.
“You seriously didn’t think I had a colt drink…” Sombra looked over at Private and he seemed rather disgusted. “Please Private, even I have standards. Take the fillies back to their cells, I’ve learned what I need,” the king ordered and returned to the podium.
Private held back a sigh of relief and headed out of the cave with the girls. This had been more painless than he ever expected.
“So, that was it? He just wanted to ask us about that Dark Pony feeling?” Coal asked, unsure.
“Seems so,” Private responded, as they reached the entrance to the cavern, Cara stopped and looked at the tunnel that led to the fort.
“Where does that tunnel go?” she asked innocently.
“Hmmm?” Private halted and glanced at his niece for a moment. “Oh, that tunnel leads to where the supply cave and a cave with a water well is. There is also a door at the end that leads up to a fort.”
The unicorn then started to usher Coal and Dinky into the cell cavern, he was about to turn to Cara to do the same with her but she was gone. His eyes bulged out in terror.
“Cara? CARA!” he shouted and darted off into the tunnel, just missing the filly going through the door at the end.
“No, no, no, what are you doing!?” he called and raced after her, but wasn’t sure if he would catch Cara in time. She was pretty swift on her wings. He climbed up the winding stairs and gasped when seeing Cara at the other end of the fort heading straight out of one of the windows high up on the wall.
“Cara wait!” he cried, but was too late. The filly was gone.
Oh crud, oh crud, oh crud. Private rushed to the furthest door and opened it to look outside.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Private. I’m gonna get help!” Cara yelled as she was already pretty far away, flying as fast as she could towards the mountain tops.
Private could only stare after the filly. He didn’t notice Coal and Dinky, who had followed and were now on either side of him. The fillies stared out into the open space outside the fort, both looking as stunned as he was.
“Is there a problem?” A dark voice shocked all three of them back to reality. Turning around revealed Sombra standing right behind them, his expression showed no outward emotion as he regarded the three frightened ponies before him.
“Uh…” Private activated his magic and used it to slam the door shut. “That depends how you look at it?”
“Hmmm, let me guess. That brave little pegasus filly, an almost spitting image of her own father in terms of attitude, found out where to leave the fort and escaped,” the king said calmly. “In rather short time, which means, she must have been told about the fort and quickly realized that had the way out.”
“Ooooh, he’s good,” Coal remarked, earning a glare from both Private and Dinky. She grinned sheepishly in response.
“Sombra… she’s just a kid, she has no idea where she is. The weather out there is freezing. It’s clear we are high up in the mountains, she’s going to get herself killed. I hate to ask this, but can you get her?” Private pleaded.
“I was going to anyway,” Sombra retorted. “But you closed the door.”
Private really had no response to that. Silently he opened the door again. He closed his eyes when large column of black smoke passed through him and the girls, but was quickly gone through the entrance. The unicorn opened his eyes again and glanced back, watching a large column of black smoke speeding away from the fort.
“You think he’ll get her?” Coal asked as she and Dinky peeked back outside.
“Part of me hopes so… part of me hopes not and that she does find help,” their uncle muttered and shook his head.
“His heart just finally gave way. He was probably on the brink when we arrived,” Dew Doe quietly explained to Starlight and the earth ponies. The five mares had gathered in a hut Prince Rutherford had assigned to them to rest in.
“The yaks said it’s been several days since they rescued them, but there is no telling for how long they had been wandering the snowy wilds, driven mad with fear as they were. I dare not even ask Granite how long it’s been. Her mind is very fragile right now and she needs peace and just time be with her daughter,” the blue pegasus continued. “I mean, she just lost her father on top of it all.”
“Rock Hard did manage to tell us one thing, these mountains of fears were called 'Tall Mountains',” Foxy added, looking glum. She had not enjoyed breaking the news of the old goat’s passing to his fragile daughter and granddaughter.
Starlight nodded and took out the map. Already she saw marked on the map a range of mountains at the borders of yak and mountain goat territory called Tall Mountains. She noticed they formed the westernmost part of the larger mountain range that the ponies had named the Crystal Mountains.
“If he is there, he’s been surprisingly close yet just far enough to escape our search parties,” Starlight mused as she fully considered this new information. “When Sombra possessed Private Iceland, Flash Sentry told me that they encountered them in Sombra’s Maw. He then fled and most of the rumors we had of his sightings were in the north. Look at where Vanhoover is - it’s almost directly south of Tall Mountains.”
Starlight frowned and studied the map closer. “The zebras that Twilight told me about came from the west. The goats have pretty much confirmed where he is. He has to be in the Tall Mountains. From there he can go to the western lands without us noticing. It all makes sense now. He’s close enough to still be able to spy on us, but still far enough away to avoid any of our search parties.”
“I guess you two would not advise asking the remaining two any further details?” The unicorn returned her attention to the pegasi sisters. Not surprisingly both Dew and Foxy shook their heads.
“Pebble was just a fresh cadet on what was supposed to be a routine checkup mission. She’s just barely survived living through a nightmare and her mother isn’t doing much better,” Foxy explained. “I don’t think their minds can handle being reminded about what happened to them.”
“Foxy is right. We were lucky to get them calmed down this much and we still lost Rock Hard. The goats have given us all they can,” Dew Doe concurred.
The pegasi left the hut, wanting to do a final check up on the goats. Starlight took another look at the map. She considered going to Prince Rutherford to get some details how to get to Tall Mountains. A snort from Barbell caught her attention.
“Seriously, they are fine with helping them. Goats they barely just met. But oh, it’s fine to ignore Barricade,” Barbell muttered. The mare was already halfway towards the hut’s entrance.
“Barbell,” Starlight addressed her, but the earth mare ignored her and stormed out of the hut.
“I will go talk with her.” Maud unexpectedly volunteered and before the unicorn could even say anything, she was already heading out.
“Ookay… I’ll just sit here then and plan our next move,” Starlight glanced around at the now empty hut. She sighed and returned to the map. Well at least they are not directly fighting.
Maud found Barbell in a corner of the village. The opal mare was growling and smashing logs that were piled right next to her. The gray pony didn’t show anything outwardly but she was wondering if the yaks minded this was happening. She did look at a nearby one who was also watching. He seemed to realize what the pony was thinking.
“Pony angry. Me say when yak angry, yak smash. She ask for something to smash, so me give logs to smash. Very therapeutic,” he explained before walked away, satisfied with a job well done.
Maud had to admit there was a certain logic to that. Barbell was venting her frustration without directly harming anyone and at least the yaks had been happy to provide it.
“I don’t want to talk,” Barbell growled, having become aware of Maud close by.
The gray pony wasn’t too surprised to hear that. However, she had three sisters and one happened to be a bit of a hothead and Maud had long since learned how most hotheads worked, so she just sat down and continued to watch.
“I mean, what’s there to talk about anyway?” Barbell snorted and started to kick away some of the broken logs to make room for fresh ones.
“Doesn’t Barricade deserve it anyway? He’s the bad brother, the one who keeps causing trouble. So what if he went on his own to the Crystal Empire to help his brother, see if he was alright. Then both get tortured by that bastard,” she continued to ramble and smashed a log.
“And it’s Private who gets all the love and support. Barricade? Oh, he can just slink back to Manehattan and rot there for all they care. It’s fine if he gets nightmares and meltdowns and zones out at a moment’s notice,” the mare snarled and now jumped on the entire pile of the remaining logs, obliterating them with her hooves.
Maud said nothing through the entire tirade, just calmly watched as Barbell trounced the entire log pile until there was little left but splinters. When it was over the opal pony was staring at her, stubbornly fighting back tears.
“He is a jerk, but he is my jerk and now he is back with that bastard and our daughter, too. But do they care? I doubt they even blinked over them being taken. Probably just cried that their precious Private was taken.” Barbell looked away, one tear did manage to break free down her cheek.
“You care,” Maud simply stated. “Why does it matter if they don’t?”
Barbell blinked and for a moment all the anger seemed to vanish from her face. She looked at Maud who still sported her completely unreadable expression. The opal pony sat down and frowned.
“I…” she started but didn’t really find any words to say right now.
“I guess I’m jealous. I… saw Barricade sometimes just zone out, like he was trapped in some bad memory. He would wake up screaming in terror…I just never knew what to do…I wanted to help him but…just didn’t know how,” Barbell sighed. “I guess I just hoped it would just all go away, it would roll over him like every other time something bad happened. He would eventually shrug it off. He’s always bounced back before. This time he didn’t.”
“Barricade and I...we just clicked. Even back when we were just friends. We would snark and jibe, but we also respected each other. Yes, he is a jerk, but I’m not much better. I always hated that ponies thought he had brainwashed me, that I was some poor dimwitted bimbo he had ensnared. No, I’m just the only one who could handle him. If he gave me crap, I paid back in full. We understood one another.” Barbell lowered herself down to lay on the ground, crossing her front legs and stared down.
“He completes you?” Maud asked and now did tilt her head slightly.
“That’s it…I…” Barbell lifted her head and pointed at Maud, but then froze as it dawned on the mare what she had been doing. She narrowed her eyes. “I thought I said I didn’t want to talk.”
“I…ah…HOW?” Barbell rose up, staring at Maud utterly confused. “You barely said a word. I..what?”
“I have a sister not unlike you,” Maud stated, still showing nothing outwardly. Inwardly she was smirking at how well this had worked.
“That explains that then,” Barbell grunted and started glancing around at the destroyed wood all around her.
“Fine then,” the opal pony plopped back to the ground, crossing her legs again. “I’m bothered that Barricade was never offered the help he needed. Yet I still can’t really blame them because Barricade was horrible towards them and they do have a good reason to not really want to help him. It’s driving me nuts.”
Not that far away from Yakyakistan, but still within the territory belonging to the mountain goats, a young teenage filly desperately continued to fly down the mountain path she had located. Cara was tiring, this had been a little more difficult than she had anticipated and so far she had seen no sign of civilization anywhere.
Got to keep going, got to get help, for dad, Uncle Private, my sisters, grandma and grandpa and Rainbow Dash. She landed on the path, breathing heavily. The snow was deep. When she tried to walk through it she fell and nearly got completely buried.
Ugh, this sounded so much easier in my head, she grumbled and spat out snow and shook it off her head. She rose up again and stubbornly tried to wade through.
Cara never showed it outwardly, had to retain her reputation as a tough girl after all, but she had really been excited to meet Rainbow Dash. One of the best fliers in the Wonderbolts today. The filly considered herself a fan of the flying team. Barricade had taken her to a few shows.
She had no ambition to join. Her interests lay far more in mechanics and working on machines. The teen was hoping to enter an engineering school soon. Cara had received her cutie mark when she managed to disassemble and reassemble one of the workout machines at her father’s gym. Barricade had not been very amused when she took it apart and ordered her to put it back together. Her father then watched stunned when she did exactly that. One flash later her wrench and screwdriver appeared on the filly’s flank.
But to get the opportunity to help Rainbow Dash? That was probably the brightest spot in an otherwise abysmal last few days for the filly.
“Stupid snow! You would think a pegasus could just walk on it like clouds,” Cara grunted as she continued to struggle onward.
I Will get help. I’ll show everypony that I’m grown up now, that I’m not just little filly anymore. Hey, that stupid Sombra thought so. She stopped for a moment, wondering if she should rest a bit so she could fly instead of bothering with walking through the snow.
Cara sniffed, she missed snarking with her dad and Barbell, bothering the rest of the gang. For a brief moment she wished Blue, Barbell’s brother, would show up. He was big and strong and could carry her down the path.
“I want to go home,” she sighed and lay down fully on the snow, resisting any urge to whimper. Then a sound caught her attention and a shadow fell on her. The filly glanced up.
Uh oh. Cara’s eyes opened wide. A large yeti was looming over her, growling and eyeing her hungrily.
The creature tried to grab her, but the filly found a sudden burst of energy and flew swiftly into the air. The yeti snarled and started to chase her. Cara couldn’t fly too high right now, she was too tired for that, but right now the teen used whatever reserves left in her to be just out of reach.
“Oh, frick! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!” Cara cried as she swerved around in the air, avoiding the yeti as he made attempts to snatch her from the air.
Unfortunately, the teen was just too tired from the long flight from the fort and her attempts to trudge through the snow. She accidentally dropped down a bit and that was enough for the creature to slam a hand into her, causing the filly to lose control of her flight and plummet right down to the ground. She plunged headfirst into the snow.
I’m so dead. Dad… Barbell…anypony. Cara struggled to free herself, expecting to be grabbed at any second. Just as she managed to lift her head, she heard a painful yelp.
Cara looked up and blinked at the sight. King Sombra was standing in front of her and impaled on his horn was the yeti, wailing in pain. The large unicorn flicked his head, tossing the creature off, who crashed hard on the ground, now with a gaping, bleeding hole on its side.
Screeching loudly, the yeti stumbled back to its legs and began backing off. It bared its teeth at Sombra, but otherwise didn’t try and attack, just continued to scamper away, one hand nursing the wound.
“Pathetic,” Sombra snorted, then glanced back at Cara who was staring back at him, still half-buried in the snow.
“I’m not thanking you,” Cara grunted and frowned, the fright over the yeti having passed. She broke free from the snow and stood up, staring defiantly at the king.
“So much like your father.” Sombra chuckled, still finding Cara’s attitude to be quite amusing. “You remind me quite a bit of him, before I broke him.”
“So, I take it you are taking me back?” Cara grunted, she felt a sharp pain on her side. Glancing at it, she grimaced when seeing she was bleeding a little. The yeti had managed to scratch her, just barely missing her wing.
Sombra didn’t answer her, instead he picked her up using his magic and held her closer so he could examine the wound. It wasn’t too bad, but had it hit the wing it would probably have broken it, given how young Cara was. He switched to his dark magic and used it to seal up the wound. The filly yelped because the process stung quite a bit.
“Here, let me show you something,” Sombra then said as he dropped her from the magic hold right back to the snow. Then he started walking towards a ridge. Cara sputtered, glared at the king before looking at her side again. The wound was sealed, but not fully healed. The teen had a feeling too much stress would reopen it.
Then with great reluctance she started following, using his tracks to stay out of the deepest snow, she was still too tired to fly. When they reached the top of the ridge, Sombra stepped aside so she could see.
Cara stepped up beside him and her brow rose when seeing down a mountain slope and further away was a village surrounded by a wall, two big wooden statues of yaks guarding the gate.
“So close. If the yeti hadn’t interrupted, I may just have missed you escaping to the yaks,” Sombra remarked as he observed the village himself.
“Oh, come on,” Cara groaned and sat down, feeling very defeated right now.
“You are not going to punish Uncle Private, are you?” she wondered and looked at Sombra. She raised an eyebrow, the king was still staring at the village, a heavy scowl on his face.
“It can’t be,” he growled softly to himself. Then he transformed into shadow form and slunk down the mountain towards the village at great speed.
Cara looked around confused. For a brief moment she had seen Sombra going down, but then he just vanished. The filly rose up, wondering if this was her chance to make a break for the village.
However, she didn’t get the chance. Sombra rematerialized right beside her, still scowling hard, the king looked very unhappy.
“So close, so soon? How did she escape when I activated…” he trailed off and his eyes narrowed. The king glanced down at Cara. “I almost feel like thanking you. Had you not escaped and brought me here, I wouldn’t have been aware that unwanted visitors were already so close to me.”
“You’re not welcome,” Cara snorted. She yelped when Sombra picked her up using his magic and held her at his eye level.
“You know what? I think I’m just going to reward you for this unwitting assistance. It will leave one filly less for Private to whine about at me, begging I don’t harm them,” Sombra said with a smirk and promptly tossed her towards the village. The filly landed on the slope and started sliding down.
“Feel free to tell them that I await their arrival,” he called after her, before dissolving into his smoke form and disappeared.
Private had taken Dinky and Coal back down to the cell cavern, but since Sombra was away, no opening opened, so he couldn’t return them them their cells. Not that he minded. The unicorn didn’t relish the idea of locking his nieces up again.
So at first they had gone to Mirage and Hard Shovel to reassure the old ponies that the fillies were okay and nothing bad had happened to them. Then he had to break the news about Cara’s escape, claiming she was going to get help. That of course lead to the reveal that Rainbow Dash had suggested to the teenager she try and escape.
It was one thing for Private to confront his brother when he messed up, or work up the nerve to defy Sombra. When learning this, Private gave Rainbow a deadly glare, but she was an unknown element to him in many ways and confrontations were not one of his strong points, especially if he didn’t know the pony very well.
Resisting the urge to stomp off in rage like he usually would in such situations he just slumped down in front of his parents’ cell. He didn’t want to leave Dinky and Coal alone since they were still outside of the cells.
“Is he okay?” Rainbow asked from her cell after confessing about telling Cara to try and escape and seeing the anger come over Private. She hadn’t expected the unicorn to just lay down and stare silently on the ground. There was no response. Hard and Mirage did give her a ‘not right now’ kind of glare, they themselves not too happy that Cara had done this. Barricade was still completely oblivious in his cell. He still hadn’t woken up yet.
“They are all a little mad right now.” Dinky finally approached Rainbow’s cell, followed by Coal.
“Ugh… Okay, I know it was not a good idea to ask a kid to try and escape, but we had to try something and she had the best opportunity,” Dash grunted. She had actually developed some second thoughts about this shortly after Private had left the caverns with the fillies earlier.
“Oh don’t worry. We aren’t mad. Cara would probably have tried anyway,” Coal said and shrugged. “She is a bit like dad...does things without really thinking about it too much.”
“Cara does all kind of crazy things sometimes. Heck, Uncle Private once told me that when she first tried to fly, she dove off our grandparent’s balcony,” the black filly added. Dinky looked at her, shocked.
“I suppose that’s one way to do it,” the violet unicorn filly exclaimed. Having only met Cara once or twice by now, she was still learning about her oldest biological sister.
“Well, it is kind of what they do in flight school to get the foals trying their wings properly the first time,” Rainbow Dash pointed out with a small grin. “There is usually a cloud below to catch them.”
“Unicorn! I am so glad I am unicorn,” Dinky declared, looking absolutely bewildered. Coal shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, those random magic bursts that accidentally change your favorite toy into something completely else sure are fun,” Coal remarked, earning an unimpressed glare from her sister.
“So how is your dad doing? Haven’t heard a peep from him yet,” Rainbow Dash asked and tried to see towards Barricade’s cell.
“Uh, that’s a good question.” Coal turned so she could see the cell. Then she simply trotted over and looked inside. Dinky decided to stay with Rainbow Dash for now.
“Dad?” Coal addressed her father, who lay slumped down on his side.
“Huh… what?” Slowly Barricade raised his head and slowly rose to lay on his stomach. He turned his head to look outside, looking weary. There seemed to be little life left in his eyes. “Oh, hey Princess.”
“Are you okay?” Coal asked. She’s never seen her father like this.
“Oh I’m fine… just… tired.” Barricade tried to chuckle, it came out really weakly.
“Dad. You promised. No more lying,” Coal said and lay down in front of the cell. She gave the stallion a hard look.
“Yeah… you’re… you’re right.” Barricade looked down. “I’m sorry… just don’t want to worry you. We have to be strong.
“How is your uncle?” he then asked, prompting Coal to glance where to Private was still steaming.
“Um… he’s a bit mad right now,” the filly told him. Barricade raised his head again dropping his brow in a frown.
“Why…why is he mad?” he wondered. More life was returning to his eyes, as if hearing about his brother had triggered something inside his mind.
“Cara escaped and it was kind of Rainbow Dash who told her to try,” Coal explained with a nervous grin and returned her attention to Barricade.
The stallion blinked and for a moment said nothing. The filly thought he was going to get angry as well. To her surprise, Barricade started chuckling.
“Oh your sister is going to put me in an early grave,” Barricade said and never dropped the smile. Then he managed to call. “Hey Rainbow Dash!”
“Yeah?” came the wary voice of Rainbow Dash. The cells were close enough that she had heard Coal confess to Cara’s escape.
“Twenty bits she makes it,” Barricade said, causing Dinky, Coal and even Private and his parents to look surprised.
Rainbow was momentarily stunned to hear Barricade wager if Cara would make good on her escape. It washed over quickly. This told her that at least this particular pony was on board with what had happened.
“Thirty she not just make it, but brings the entire cavalry to kick Sombra’s rump,” she countered and smirked when hearing weak laughter come from Barricade’s cell.
“Oh, a real player, huh? Alright, I’ll take it.” Barricade made an effort to rise up and walk closer to the bars so he could see out. Coal and Dinky were grinning wide. This sounded more like their dad.
“Are you serious?” Private rose up and stomped over to Barricade’s cell, glaring at his brother. “Are you actually wagering about your daughter’s foolhardy escape attempt?”
“Oh, hey bro. Figured that would get you talking.” Barricade never lost his smile as he turned his attention to Private.
“Wait, what?” his brother blinked, having not expected this response at all.
“Oh Private, I know you too well.” Barricade sat down. He still looked weary, but seemed far more with it now. “When Coal said you were mad at Rainbow because of what Cara did, I knew you would just be steaming in a corner instead of saying anything. Had to get you properly riled up, and I’m the only one who can rile you up so you actually speak.”
“Cara is just a kid! We are somewhere up in the mountains. Even if she can fly, there is no telling if she can find her way back. The mountains are loaded with snow and it’s freezing out there!” Private growled and pushed Coal aside so he could fully face his brother.
“Rainbow, I’m changing it to forty bits,” Barricade simply called, never taking his eyes off his brother.
“Uh, you’re on?” Rainbow responded, more unsure now. This looked more like Barricade trying to rile up his brother at this point.
“WILL YOU STOP IT!” Private screamed having had enough of this, thinking his brother was not taking things seriously enough. “Seriously? You think King Sombra will let her get far anyway? Have you seen how fast he travels in that smoke form of his? He knows this bloody terrain better than her. She would never have even gone if I hadn’t told Rainbow Dash about the fort so she could tell Cara about it!”
Private clamped his mouth shut, the anger subsided a little and he looked down. In front him, behind the bars, Barricade weakly chuckled.
“So, you’re actually blaming yourself, not her,” his brother said, smiling more knowingly now. “Bro, this is Cara we are talking about. I can barely keep control over her. She would have tried at the first opportunity, knowing about any fort or not.”
Private just groaned and slumped back down to the ground. His brother wasn’t wrong. He was more mad at himself than Rainbow Dash. It was also true that Cara was pretty stubborn and would probably have tried taking off at the first chance available.
“So uh, what was it? Forty?” Barricade looked at Rainbow. He was smiling a bit more normally and more life had returned to his eyes.
“Uh, I guess?” Rainbow said, still a little confused over what had just happened. Private did look calmer and more contemplative now. Mirage and Hard were smiling and shaking their heads. Even the fillies were giggling at how expertly Barricade had defused things.
“Well, since the show is over,” a dark voice addressed them out of the blue. “How about fifty that I just tossed her to the yaks, inviting your rescue party to come right into a trap I’m planning for them.”
All the prisoners froze and slowly turned their attention to the entrance. There stood King Sombra with a devilish smirk on his muzzle. Before they could say anything, two cells opened and shadow tendrils pushed Coal into Barricade’s cell and Dinky into Rainbow’s as the fillies were the closest to those ones. The bars slammed back into place when the girls were through. Then a tendril wrapped tightly around Private, who yelped when he was yanked over to the king.
“Now, if you will excuse me. I am going to have a word with my servant here before I make my trap ready,” Sombra growled and dragged Private after him out of the cavern, ignoring the shouts of protest from the other prisoners.
Private whimpered as he stared straight down at the very, very long drop and the unseen ground below him. He was held up by Sombra’s magic, upside down so he had a full view of the distance that was to the ground from the entrance of the fort.
“Quite a drop, isn’t it, Private,” Sombra growled coldly. “Don’t worry, I’m not tossing you out. I still have plenty of plans for you.
“I just figured you would appreciate the view before I tossed your parents down it.” He pulled the unicorn back inside and violently tossed him towards a wall.
“No… no please…” Private stammered where he lay now in heap on the ground. He was picked up again by magic and pulled closer to be face-to-face with the king.
“They are old, probably don’t have many years left in them. Certainly not under my care,” Sombra snorted, sneering so hard that his fangs were clearly visible. Private could really only whimper at the sight of all these teeth right in front of his face.
“I warned you, Private. Your family’s safety depended on your behavior!” the king snarled. “Oh just give my enemy the layout of my lair, tell her exactly where the exit is. You know what that is called in my service? Treason!”
The dark unicorn dropped his prisoner from his magic grip, allowing Private to drop hard to the ground. Then the king stomped one hoof down hard, very close to the unicorn’s head. Private flinched. Cracks had formed on the stone floor.
“Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just go down there, fetch them and give them a very unscheduled flight lesson,” Sombra snapped. “Starting with your dear mother.”
“Mom is Timido’s descendant. You think he would be happy that you killed his great great great great great… etc. granddaughter?” Private quickly covered his head with his front legs, fearful he would get stomped on by the ironclad hooves in front of him.
Silence greeted him. Slowly Private dared himself to look up. King Sombra was still glaring down at him, the sneer was still on his face, however, he didn’t move. The unicorn realized he was supposed to go on.
“A-and I don’t think you would have gone through all this trouble to get us, just to kill us,” he dared himself to say and held his breath, fearing the worst.
“No, you are right. I didn’t take them just to so casually kill them,” Sombra growled low and took a step back. “Fine, I will forget this transgression this time, only because it did in fact work in my favor. It alerted me that enemies are closing in and I need to prepare for them,” the king finally relented, but his eyes narrowed to slits.
“But I am no longer giving you free range. You will not go back to the tunnels below unless in my company. In fact, you are confined to this fort. Now get in there before I forget this mercy I just bestowed upon you.” Sombra raised a leg sharply to point a hoof towards his chamber.
Private gulped and slowly rose up, then he quickly slinked to the bed chamber, feeling strangely like he had just been sent to his room without supper by his parents. Sombra watched as he closed the door, before the king went to the one that led down to the tunnels.
Sombra made his way back to the prison cavern. He was received with many glares, but he ignored them as he walked to the middle of it, giving all the prisoners a clear view of him.
“Well I hope you enjoyed Private’s company so far, because that was the last time I am allowing him to see any of you,” the king growled low, glaring at each and every cell.
Dinky hid behind Rainbow Dash, who stared right back at the king with a defiant scowl. Mirage was sobbing and was held by her husband, who did give their captor a withering look. Barricade managed to work up the courage to give the Dark Pony a stinging glare.
“What did you do to him, you bastard?” Barricade growled and was so tempted to hammer a hoof on the bars, only holding back because he still remembered how much it hurt. The stallion kept Coal behind him, the filly looked glum.
“Don’t worry, Barricade. He’s still amongst the living and mostly unharmed. A bit banged up I suppose after hitting that wall. He is just confined to the fort now,” Sombra eyed him. Barricade found he couldn’t meet the stare and looked down, slightly trembling as he fought to keep it together.
“Now if you will excuse me, I need to prepare for our visitors,” the king the snorted, stomping out of the cavern, turning to head to the lab.
Hard Shovel watched the king leave, still holding his crying wife. The old stallion could do little else except comfort the upset mare. He could hear Rainbow Dash talking encouragingly to Dinky, also overhearing Barricade speaking gently with Coal, who was sobbing.
He wanted to tell Mirage that everything was going to be alright, that their boys would be fine and things would start looking up. Hard just wasn’t sure right now if she wanted to hear it. They way things were looking so far, it just didn’t seem likely that any of them would be fine.
I am surprised he hasn’t done anything with us, he thought. So far we’re the only prisoners who haven’t been taken out of their cells.
“Mir, remember when we took the boys to Horseshoe Bay, they were what, two or three, wasn’t it?” he said, deciding the best thing he could do now as just to calm his wife down.
“They were two,” Mirage whispered after a little while and sniffed, still clinging to her husband.
“Yeah, Barricade was running all over the place and Private hid under you...he was so scared of the seagulls at first, always thought they were going to eat him,” Hard continued to reminisce, figuring remembering happier times might help his wife calm down. He smiled when hearing her chuckle weakly, then tried not to laugh when hearing Barricade groan.
“Coal, you will not repeat this story to anypony!” he heard his son grunt. He knew what would be coming up soon enough.
“He was always so shy and timid, never liked strangers coming close to him,” Mirage sighed, referring to Private.
“Yeah, meanwhile I had my hooves full keeping up with Barricade. He was getting into everything. Then he got onto the dock and managed to find a hole in it. He tried to go through it and got stuck halfway,” Hard Shovel kept going with the tale. There was another groan from Barricade’s cell, then a giggle from his granddaughters from two different cells.
“Not the first time he did something like that,” Mirage shook her head and then smiled. “And he didn’t even cry, just roared in rage that he couldn’t get through. How dare that hole being too small for him!”
“I was about to go and get him out of there, when I suddenly hear an alarmed squeak from underneath you and then ‘Noo Barri bein’ eatin’ and Private came rushing over, shouting ‘Ah git ya, Barri’ and grabbed his brother’s tail in his mouth and started pulling with all his might,” Hard was chuckling now at the memory and even Mirage was softly giggling.
“Barricade was shouting, ‘Piat, staph pull mah tail’ and wiggled as he could to free himself. Private still with his brother’s tail in his mouth, going ‘Ah save yah Barri’ and ‘staph eatin’ mah brutha.’ I really wish we had remembered to take our camera with us,” Hard finished and he could hear that the fillies were having giggle fits, there was grumbling from his son and even Rainbow Dash could be heard laughing.
Hard looked at his wife. She was still smiling, though there were tears in her eyes. He lowered a little to nuzzle her head.
“Our boys were always getting themselves into trouble, weren’t they?” he asked gently. His wife nodded, her smile turning more solemn.
“I just wish that horrible monster would leave them alone,” she whispered, the story over the reality of their situation washing over her again.
“I know, me too,” Hard hugged her a little tighter. “But we have been in tight situations before. Remember when you threw that vase at Caballeron’s head?”
“He deserved far worse after what he did to you, leaving you stranded with a broken leg in the middle of a desert!” Mirage snorted and scowled. “If Daring hadn’t found you…”
“She and Private did, I’m here to prove that,” Hard chuckled, then looked up when hearing a surprised whinny coming from Rainbow Dash.
“W-wait you two know Daring Do and Caballeron?” the rainbow pegasus asked stunned. Arching her brow when hearing the old couple chuckle.
“Everypony in the archeological field knows Daring Do,” Hard Shovel explained with a smile. Then it dropped a bit and he snorted. “And had a run in with Caballeron.”
“We could tell you many stories that never went into her books,” he said, then added. “At a more appropriate time.”
“You’re on,” Rainbow grinned, then glanced at Dinky who was dumbfounded.
“Wait… Daring Do is real?” the unicorn filly blinked in surprise.
“When we get out of here, sweetie, we’ll take you to meet her, if you want,” Hard Shovel offered, Mirage had by now parted from him as the mare was feeling better.
“Can I come too? It’s been a while since we last met!” Rainbow Dash asked with an eager grin. The old couple chuckled before nodding.
Hard turned back to his wife. He put a hoof on her back and she looked at him.
“We will get through this Mir. We and our boys and our granddaughters...Rainbow Dash too,” he said, knowing well that his wife wasn’t so worried about herself, but everybody else in the cell cavern.
“I hope your right,” she whispered and leaned over to give her husband a small kiss on the cheek.
Private sighed as he curled up in the furthest corner of the bedchamber. He was worried he had really messed up and it was just a question of time before something terrible was done to his family.
He did his best to ignore the bed, the idea that he might be forced to share it with the king revolted him now. After the demonstration earlier, it was very clear that whoever Sombra used to be, that pony was long gone.
“Psst. Private!”
Private raised his head, he could have sworn he heard a voice addressing him. Then he blinked when seeing a flickering image of a pony, he couldn’t quite make out who it was. The shape suggested an earth pony.
“Uh hello?” he slowly rose up and approached the image.
“Sorry, can’t make it clearer. King Sombra will detect the magic otherwise. I’m actually breaching protocol by reaching you right now. The Council of Time Ponies has declared we sit this one out,” the pony addressed him, there was a hint of anger in the tone of his voice.
“D-Doctor Whooves?” Private blinked when it finally dawned on him who it was. A very old friend, someone he was not really supposed to tell anyone he knew.
“Yes Private, it’s me. I’m really sorry I can’t be of much more help. I was tasked by Princess Celestia to locate King Sombra before the council declared him a no go. He’s already messed around with time magic before, back when he pulled you back in time when you were a colt. Using scrolls of old time magic that were stolen from us a long time ago. Possibly by him. They do not want to risk him gaining access to a pure time pony and extract our more proper time magic,” Whooves said, his image flickered again.
“You can’t do anything?” Private asked pleadingly. “I mean, he has Coal, Dinky, my parents, Rainbow Dash and Barricade. It’s a torture here.”
“I am so sorry, Private. I have wanted to help you as far back as when you were possessed, but this is your journey and I can’t cross it with you,” Whooves told him, his image became a little clearer and the unicorn could make out a sympathetic smile.
“There is one thing I can do though, remember the memories I locked away in your mind?” the time pony then said.
“Wait… you did what?” Private blinked, he had no recollection of such an event.
“Oh right, you wouldn’t remember that. Okay, I told you once that some of the time traveling memories you had needed to be locked away. I wasn’t entirely honest why we had to do that.” Whooves sounded mildly embarrassed now. “Private, this is going to sound really strange to you. But you have met King Sombra, before he was King Sombra.”
Private tilted his head, looking utterly confused. Doctor Whooves fell silent for a little while, looking like he wasn’t sure how to continue, his image flickered again.
“I was ordered to lock those memories away by the council. We knew you would encounter King Sombra again, we knew you had met him before as a colt and they did not want to risk you reminding him that the two of you had met before in his furthest past. He is dangerously sharp, he would immediately realize you had access to time magic, much more stable time magic than he used,” Whooves began speaking again.
“Wait… if I met him… why doesn’t he remember meeting me?” Private was getting a headache, however, it wasn’t an unusual feeling when talking with his old friend. Especially when time travel was involved.
“Well he was just a prince in the Dark Pony court back then. He met hundreds of dignitaries from all over, he wouldn’t remember one encounter with some Equestrian tourist, it happened so long ago,” Whooves explained with a chuckle.
“Okay… so how will this help me?” the unicorn asked, still very confused.
“Say ‘Coda Umbra’,” Whooves simply said.
“Why should I say Coda Umbra…” Private started to frown but then froze as memories started to flood through him. For a moment he could only stand and stare vacantly as events he had long forgotten swept through his mind like a tsunami.
The Dark Pony Empire, over a thousand years ago.
“Look, just stay close and we’ll be fine,” Doctor Whooves said as he, Private Iceland and Dew Doe entered the marketplace. It was full of Dark Ponies. Most had the same dark gray coat and black mane and tail, though some did have browner manes or even slightly golden.
“I still can’t believe you brought us smack down in middle of the Dark Pony Empire,” Private whispered sharply to the pony who looked like a brown earth pony, but was in fact a time pony. He eyed the ponies around them, most were moderately tall compared to them.
“I wasn’t trying to,” the time pony muttered sheepishly. “Still it is a good opportunity as any other, can you tell what period of the Empire we’re in?”
“Oh, this is definitely Queen Rabia’s reign,” Private said and pointed at nearby banners that had dark insignias in the shape of a unicorn’s head with a curved horn. “That’s her royal banner with her insignia on it.”
“Any idea when in her reign, she did rule for a very long time,” Doctor Whooves wondered as he kept glancing around, like he was looking for something.
“I didn’t study Dark Pony history as thoroughly as my parents, but judging by how things look.” Private covertly glanced around, fortunately nobody was paying too much attention to them. “This is late in her reign.”
“Hmm, I’m going to investigate the energy I detected earlier. I want you two to try and determine when exactly we are,” Doctor Whooves said and before the two ponies could protest, he was off.
“And he leaves us alone yet again,” Dew Doe sighed and eyed around. “I swear we need to put a tether on that pony.”
Private just nodded, he really couldn’t complain. This gave him the opportunity to look more closely at the Dark Ponies, his own distant ancestors, and all the things in the market. He was so engrossed in looking at everything that he didn’t notice a commotion further off in the market.
Dew glanced over when hearing the voices, she raised an eyebrow when seeing armored ponies walk into the square. With them walked a tall dark gray unicorn mare wearing a crown and regal armor and cape. The pegasus reached for Private and shook him to get his attention.
“Private, who is that? Is that who I think it is?” she asked, she wasn’t sure if she needed to be worried or not.
“Hm, wha?” Private looked over and blinked when seeing the entourage. His jaw dropped in awe “Oh wow… that’s Queen Rabia.”
The queen held her head high and looked quite dignified. She kind of reminded them of a more sterner looking Celestia, just without any wings. It was then Private realized that he and Dew Doe stood a bit out, especially the pegasus with her blue coat and candy cane colored mane, then there were their cutie marks. They couldn’t look more foreign than that.
Queen Rabia was in fact looking over the bowing populace as she walked along the market with her armed escort. Private held his breath when her eyes landed on him and Dew Doe and didn’t leave. The tall mare halted her walk immediately and a frown formed on her face.
Oh crap, Dew Doe noticed this as well and her eyes opened wider when the queen turned and started to head right towards them. Whooves had often lectured them that they really should stay away as much as possible from historically significant figures. That didn’t always work though.
“What do we do, what do we do?” she whispered to Private who was right now too awestruck to respond.
They were very soon surrounded by the guards and standing before them was Queen Rabia, the mare looked down at them with a critical expression.
“You two, you are Equestrians are you not?” Rabia asked sharply. Although looking quite stern, it was hard to really gauge was the queen could possibly be thinking.
“Um… yes your majesty,” Dew Doe smiled nervously and did bow, so did Private.
“And what,” Queen Rabia started to circle them, only carrying that critical expression as she examined them. “Brings two of Celestia and Luna’s subjects to my realm?”
As she moved, the two smaller ponies noticed another mare who had been obscured from view by the queen. She was smaller than Rabia but taller than them, she wore regal clothing as well. This one looked at them more curiously, but Private also noticed a striking resemblance to the queen.
This must be Princess Ira… the last queen, Private was really struggling with his giddiness right now.
“We are just visiting, we travel a lot,” Dew Doe answered the queen. Fortunately, she remembered Private telling her once that Dark Ponies were matriarchal society so it wouldn’t sound or look odd that she spoke with the queen while Private remained silent.
“Equestrians rarely if ever travel this far, aside from the occasional merchant.” Queen Rabia narrowed her eyes on the pegasus mare who flinched a little. It was if the queen could see right into her soul. But then the tall mare’s featured eased a bit. “However, you are here, so I cannot deny it and my empire has no quarrel with your kingdom.”
“What are your names?” she then asked, her voice softening a little. She gave Private a brief glance, a small smile crossed her lips. The unicorn wasn’t sure but he could have sworn the tall mare was liking what she was seeing.
“I am Dew Doe and this is my friend Private Iceland,” Dew gestured to Private who was really relieved that he was good at hiding his true emotions. Underneath his neutral expression, he was grinning like an idiot.
“Indeed, as you have no doubt guessed, I am Queen Rabia, the ruler of this realm. My daughter, Princess Ira.” the queen gestured to the mare Private had already guessed the identity of. Unlike her much more formal mother, Ira smiled and waved a little.
“Now since Equestrians are such rare visitors and I would hate to think that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna hear I don’t treat guests to my realm kindly, I must insist you come with us to the palace, we would be glad to have you there as our guests,” Queen Rabia stated with a nod. It hadn’t escaped the traveling ponies how she put emphasis on the title princess, when referring to their rulers.
Dew Doe glanced at Private, unsure what to say or do. On one hand Doctor Whooves had told them to find out when in Queen Rabia’s reign they were. On the other, they sort of were missing one friend since he was out looking at the energy he had detected. They couldn’t really reveal him without having to explain him.
This wouldn’t be the first time they were guests at a royal palace without the Doctor being there with them. She thought back when they were stuck in Spartacornia and King Horsenidas had hosted them. The king had been surprisingly hospitable, considering that the Spartacorns had a reputation of detesting non-earth ponies.
“I guess we accept then,” Dew Doe said with a smile. Private somehow managed to show no expression but internally he was squealing in joy. He had realized that if Queen Rabia was still alive and Ira still just a princess, the lost son had to still be there.
“Good, that’s settled then, one more thing though. I am aware that you are probably not aware of all our customs, but I must insist that in the palace the two of you keep a separate room and only be escorted by someone of your own gender. In the palace, unmarried stallions are not allowed to mingle with unmarried mares unless the mare is looking for courtship,” Queen Rabia instructed them.
“Oh that’s quite fine, we’ll respect your customs. I take it then that Private and I will be staying in separate wings?” Dew Doe asked and nodded when Queen Rabia confirmed she was correct. Private made no protest, this was Dark Pony culture after all, plus this meant an even higher chance that he would meet the lost son.
“Have no fear, your friend will have good company. My son will no doubt be glad to attend to him, I give you over to Ira,” Queen Rabia said and gestured for her daughter to come closer. Dew Doe glanced at Private when hearing the Dark Pony mention her son. She arched her brow. Although not showing anything outwardly, she could tell from his eyes that the unicorn was practically exploding from joy.
Huh, wonder who the son is that’s making Private so excited, she thought.
“Hello, it is nice to meet you.” Princess Ira suddenly stood before Dew Doe, all smiles and then grabbed the mare in a hug. “I’ve always wanted to meet an Equestrian.”
Dew Doe grimaced slightly, the princess was really strong. She did her best to return the hug. The two of them were then escorted out of the market place by Rabia’s entourage and towards the palace.
Private had to admit feeling a little ignored. Rabia had only addressed Dew Doe and Ira and didn’t even look at him as the Princess began chatting it up with the pegasus. He was though sure that no ill was meant, it was just their culture. He was a stallion and they had a different place in Dark Pony society. He looked at the guards. They remained stoic and emotionless as any other royal guard he had seen.
He wondered if Queen Rabia was truly being generous or if she was playing some sort of a political game. The Queen had been notorious for playing her cards close and never truly showing what she was up to. His parents had told him that Rabia definitely knew when to appear kind and generous and when to appear strict and brutal.
Private looked up when hearing Ira mention the palace to Dew Doe. His excitement rose more when seeing how close the large structure was. They were already almost at the gates and they were opening.
I’m meeting the lost son of Queen Rabia!!!! He almost squeed out loud when seeing the large unicorn stallion appear before the entourage. He was wearing a blue cape and had simpler version of Rabia’s armor.
“This was a short walk, mother,” the unicorn stallion addressed the queen as the group arrived at the gate.
“We encountered a curiosity that cut the walk short. We have Equestrian guests, Sombra,” Queen Rabia addressed her son and gestured to the two ponies.
Sombra only gave Dew Doe a brief glance and a nod before his gaze fixed on Private who was really battling the urge to prance around in joy. The Prince did not stop staring at him, in fact he was smiling.
Eeee, he is so handsome. Private wasn’t really sure anymore how he still managed to keep his normal neutral expression.
“I trust, Sombra, that it will be no trouble for you to attend to the stallion? Your sister will be attending the mare,” Rabia told her son.
“Oh, it is no trouble at all, mother,” Sombra said and immediately walked over to Private.
Dew could do little but be pulled away by Ira, who was quite eager to start showing the mare around. Queen Rabia and the guards also departed into the palace, leaving Private alone with the prince.
Okay calm down...just keep calm. Keep it professional. I’m only observing history, okay mildly participating in it. But… lost son of Queen Rabia! Private slowly looked up at the prince, not sure what to make of the warm look he was receiving.
“What is your name?” Prince Sombra inquired and placed a hoof on Private’s back.
He’s touching me. I’ve never been so okay with being touched in my life. Private thought before he quietly repeated his name to the prince.
“Interesting name,” Sombra murmured and chuckled a bit. He gently caressed Private’s back before taking his hoof off and turned towards the palace. “Come now, Private, let me show you around.”
Private followed the prince inside, trying not to skip as he did. Sombra was a good guide and Private was equally impressed to see the royal palace in such pristine condition. The only thing that put some damper on it was that he never saw Dew Doe. The prince seemed to stay clear of certain areas of the castle at times, only going there if some time had passed.
“It is our lot in life. We stallions must not be in the way of the mares as they conduct business. We go either before them to protect the land or come after them,” Sombra had simply told him when Private inquired about this, confirming that the prince was indeed actively avoiding the mares. The only females Private saw were servants or soldiers.
The day passed and before Private knew it he found himself eating dinner in Sombra’s private parlor with the prince. They were waited on by a young, dark pegasus stallion that the prince referred to as his aid, after some hesitation. The pegasus had a black mane and tail like most dark ponies, but there were silver streaks in his hair.
Private wondered about the aid, who dutifully brought them their meals and filled their drinks. The young Dark Pony would sometimes give the prince a warm smile as he served him.
“I will be entertaining my guest for the remainder of the day, you are dismissed for today, Duro,” Sombra addressed his aid in the end.
“Of course, my prince,” the pegasus bowed his head. Private could have sworn he saw a hint of disappointment in Duro before the Dark Pony left them to dine in peace.
“Mother rarely dines with us anymore. usually I would be sharing my meals with Ira, but she is attending to your friend,” Sombra then turned his full attention to Private as they continued to eat.
Private nodded, but found it difficult to concentrate on his food. He still just couldn’t get over the fact that he was eating dinner with the lost son of Queen Rabia. Now he only needed to meet Commander Hurricane and his life would be complete.
The only real complaint he had right now was that the drinks were all alcoholic. Of course sodas wouldn’t be invented for a long time and he somehow doubted they served simple juice to the royalty for dinner.
Suddenly a hoof touched his mane and started to gently caress it. Private blinked and glanced at Prince Sombra, who had reached towards him with his hoof and smiled apologetically.
“Please forgive my forwardness, but I’ve seldom seen a mane in this shade of gold,” he said, but didn’t withdraw his hoof. “I’ve heard you Equestrians are quite a bit more colorful than us Dark Ponies.”
“Um yeah…” Private muttered, not really showing he was quite enjoying this. Sombra kept snaking his hoof around in his mane, clearly fascinated by it.
“Fascinating,” Sombra murmured, his hoof traced the mane towards the cheek and for a moment he caressed it as well. “Yet your coat could be taken from any Dark Pony. Remove the mark on your flank and you would fit right in.”
I’m never washing this cheek again... or my mane. Private thought, then he realized that though giddy and happy on the inside, he was still as usual sporting his neutral bored expression. Sombra pulled his hoof back.
“I’m making you uncomfortable. I apologize, I should not be so forward with guests,” the prince said and resumed eating.
Noooo. No. No. NO. Keep doing it. I don’t mind. Aaaarg curse my antisocial face and my inability to socialize!! Private so really wanted to protest outloud, but just couldn’t find the right words to assure the prince who looked very ashamed now.
“It’s… uh alright,” Private tried his best, but it his dry tone didn’t really make it sound like he had pictured it in his mind. If anything it just confirmed what the prince clearly thought. Sighing he resumed his meal as well.
Modern times.
Private shook his head to try and stem the tidal wave of memories. It was just so much flashing through his eyes. When they finally passed, he looked at Whooves utterly baffled and bewildered.
“Wait… I met him… wait Dew was there, too…” Private whispered as his brain slowly tried to make sense of all this new yet still old information that had been locked away from him.
“Her memories are locked as well. This was our last proper time trip together. I didn’t want them to find another excuse to force your memories to be locked,” Whooves explained to him with a deep sigh, his image began fading. “I have to go now. This is all I could do. The rest is up to you.”
Private said nothing as his friend vanished completely. He was still processing this confusing turn of events. Then his eyes bulged out as something suddenly occurred to him.
“He DOES remember me!” Private scowled and ran out of the bedchamber.
Sombra turned his head sharply from the journal he was writing in when hearing hoof steps. In the entrance appeared Private Iceland, looking livid. The king frowned, wondering what this was all about it.
“You remember me, don’t you!” Private claimed, pointing an accusing hoof at Sombra.
“What are you blathering about, Private. Furthermore, didn’t I tell you to stay up in the fort?” Sombra growled and rose up from the podium.
“Don’t play this game with me. We’ve met before, before you possessed me!” Private snapped and took a step closer.
“Yes I know, I abducted you when you were a colt for seven days,” Sombra snorted, but arched his brow when his prisoner did the same.
“Not that time, you met me before that, in the Empire, when you were still a prince,” the unicorn snorted, still thinking this was all just a sick game being played on him by the king.
“I have no idea… wait…” Sombra blinked as some very old and dusty memories did began to surface. Slowly his jaw descended. “It can’t be… I always thought you looked familiar... but that was because I abducted you back when you were a colt.”
“Y-you really didn’t remember that?” Private’s anger was subsiding. It started being replaced by panic as he realized he was practically defying the unicorn, who could at any time do serious harm to his family if he misbehaved.
“It was over a thousand years ago. You realize how jumbled my memories are after having been banished to ice and then blown up by that infernal heart?” Sombra grunted and rubbed his forehead tiredly. “I’m still trying to get some of them in order. Why do you think I keep confusing you for Timido?
“I did not just confess that.” The king hoofed his face. But then his eyes flew wide open, his hoof dropped down and he stared at Private as suspicion began crawling all over him. “Wait a minute, why is this suddenly occurring to you now?”
Oh… crud, Private suddenly realized his error, Whooves had told him that there were reasons his memories of this had been locked away.
“How did you go back in time to visit the Dark Pony Empire? How come you never showed any indication of remembering that?!” Sombra started to approach with quite a menacing stare.
“I had locked memories…” Private took a step back, grinning nervously, actually wishing he could go back in time right now and stop himself from running down to confront the king.
“Yes, I saw the locks back when I was in your head. You don’t have the power to do such memory locks. Are you telling me they just became undone, just like that?” the king continued to approach.
“Okay fine, my old history professor in my university turned out to be a time pony and he sometimes took me and my friends back in time to view historical events!” Private blurted out, knowing too well it would be pointless to lie or try any type of concealment of what he knew. Sombra could still enter his mind at any time.
“Time Ponies? Those pompous, arrogant morons?” King Sombra’s anger vanished in a blink of an eye and he actually was laughing. “Are you telling me that one of them suffered the indignity to be teaching you? ‘Normal ponies’ they consider beneath them?”
“Well this one was kind of… different,” Private pointed out, wondering if he should be relieved over the mood change. “He was the one who locked the memories of meeting you because they knew I would meet you again.”
Private blinked when the Dark Pony threw his head back and roared in laughter. That was not even close to the reaction he was expecting. He glanced around and realized he was currently in the tunnel, having backed out of the lab when the king was approaching.
“Oh, oh let me guess. They were afraid I would learn of them and their precious time magic. Oh, those self-important dimwits. ‘Keepers of Time’, more like ‘we know time travel, so we are better than you’ idiots,” King Sombra chortled and was shaking his head.
“Wait… so you don’t want to learn time magic?” his prisoner frowned, even more confused than he thought possible.
“I am not touching that manure ever again. I learned that lesson when pulling ponies back in time. I had to use a lot of my dark magic just to stabilize the spell, it nearly drained me. I prefer moving forward than messing with time. That’s just a can of worms I’m keeping firmly closed,” Sombra snorted in disgust. Then he eased his features and looked at Private again.
“Well this is a wrinkle, I’m starting to remember meeting a rather strange set of Equestrian tourists - a rather unusual sight back then. I showed you around the palace, didn’t I? We dined together,” the king chuckled, smiling now at the memories.
“What happened to you? You were so nice and wholesome… I was actually excited to meet you,” Private asked and looked sadder.
“What happened? The Saddle Arabians happened,” King Sombra frowned hard and turned away. “They always painted us Dark Ponies as monsters. Fine, they wanted us to be monsters. I became one.”
“I wanted power and to make my own decisions, not live under the iron hooves of my mother. So, I over indulged in my dark magic until it grew stronger, too strong in fact. It nearly consumed my body,” the king returned the to podium and sat down.
“Then… I heard the Saddle Arabians finally invaded. Mother was dead, my sister was queen, inexperienced and not really fit to rule… They overwhelmed the empire, slaughtered most, scattered the rest. When news of it broke to me I hurried back, but I was too late, so I turned my wrath on them. I became the monster they feared. I slaughtered their king, made him suffer as he had made my sister suffer. Then I took my sister’s body. I don’t know if it ever was found, but I buried it underneath the Crystal Empire.”
Private hesitantly entered the lab again. Sombra hadn’t resumed writing, he just stared down at the journal. The unicorn stopped when the king glared at him. “I suggest you head back up to the fort, Private,” he grunted.
That’s not a bad idea, Private backed away and left the lab, hurrying back up to the fort and returned to the bedchamber.
Why unlocking my memories now? What has it accomplished? This doesn’t change anything, does it? he thought and returned to the corner he had been in before Whooves had appeared before him.
Except confirming what Whooves told us a long time ago. Most time ponies wouldn’t give us Equestrians the time of the day. They didn’t lock these memories for my benefit, they did it thinking they were protecting themselves from Sombra. Turns out Sombra couldn’t care less about them, he snorted.
Heck, they keep stopping Whooves from helping, time and time again, especially when he could be at his most useful. Granted he couldn’t sweep in here and save the day, but he could still do a lot to help. Private lay down and leaned on the wall.
Wait a minute. The unicorn raised his head as something occurred to him. Now that he recalled, often when bringing up the past one way or another, Sombra seemed to back off. When he reminded Sombra that his mother was also Timido’s descendant, he had allowed him to continue to talk. When seeing how Private had been like a father to his nieces, it reminded Sombra how much he had been like a father to his own sister and suddenly assured Private he wouldn’t harm the girls. Just now earlier, when confronting him with the unlocked memories, Sombra hadn’t even punished him for disobeying his orders to remain up in the fort. Just told him to go back up there.
Does he miss the Dark Pony Empire so much that mentions of it calm him down? he wondered. The experiments had stopped momentarily when Sombra learned Timido was Private’s ancestor. And dad is right, his regal gear is the male version of the ruling Dark Pony monarch.
“Private?”
Private looked up. Sombra had entered the chamber and was watching him quizzically. The dark unicorn gestured to the bed.
“There is a perfectly good bed over there. Why are you lying on the floor in the corner?” the king asked, sounding mildly confused.
“I… uh… didn’t know it was an option?” Private offered, though the real reason was because he didn’t really want to lay on it, knowing the king used it as well.
“Oh don’t be ridiculous,” Sombra grunted, grabbed the unicorn up with his magic, pulled him over to the bed and dropped him on top of it. “I’m not currently using it.”
“So how much trouble am I in for… disobeying?” Private asked, wondering if the king had come upstairs to finally discipline him.
“You’re not,” Sombra simply stated as he walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. Inside were stacks of books, the dark unicorn started to go through them, looking for a specific one.
Huh, perhaps I am onto something with with the past memories. Private thought and lay his head on top of his front legs. Was that why Whooves unlocked them finally? So I had something to distract… heck even calm him down? No, it doesn’t calm him down that much, just kind of delays him a little.
“You still haven’t told me how those memories got unlocked,” the king said while still going through the stacks.
“Uh… there is a code word that unlocks them. I said it,” Private simply told him. It wasn’t a lie, he just omitted the fact that Whooves had been here earlier to tell him that.
“And what prompted you to suddenly say those words?” Sombra finally closed the wardrobe. In his magic he held a very old looking book. He turned towards the bed.
“I don’t know,” Private muttered, also not quite a lie, he hadn’t really known why Whooves had wanted him to say them. “Maybe figured something in them would help me.”
“Hmm, well I suppose that makes sense. You were probably feeling desperate.” King Sombra nodded and walked closer to the bed. He seemed satisfied enough with that explanation, though Private wasn’t sure. For all he knew, his captor was just humoring him for now.
“What’s that book for?” Private glanced at the book.
“Hmm? This? Oh, just something that might help me with ideas for the trap I’m setting up,” Sombra smirked and pattet the book with a hoof. “I’m expecting them to be here within a day or so.”
Crap, forgot about that, Private cringed slightly. “So… uh, what happens tonight?”
“Whatever do you mean?” the king asked. He was already looking through the book.
“You know, tonight, when you go to sleep,” Private sighed. He wasn’t so much worried as opposed to more, not relishing another night with the king. It was clear to him why had been confined to the bedchamber.
“I go to sleep,” Sombra glanced from the book. Then he seemed to realize. “Oh right. I’m not really in the mood. Don’t worry, your rump is safe.”
“But I’m still supposed to also use the bed?” Private looked up, uncertain and confused.
“Well if you want to sleep on the floor, I won’t stop you,” the king muttered. He was now examining the book very closely. “The floor is hard. Your back might suffer for it.”
Should I tell him I’m used to napping on the floor at home in front of the fireplace? Private dropped his head back down. Then again, I do have a rug for it.
“So, if I’m now grounded to the fort, do I no longer fetch food and water?” he asked when that suddenly occurred to him. He recalled he was supposed to be a servant, after all.
“You do have a point there. Fine, I will just block access to the prison cavern when I send you down to get food,” Sombra sighed, then he climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Private and continued to read the book. “Now be quiet. I’m concentrating.”
Fine, Private grumbled and turned how he lay so his back was towards the king.
Private started from a sound sleep, he was mildly surprised he had in fact fallen asleep. The unicorn could still feel King Sombra’s body pressed up against his back and wondered how long he had been unexpectedly napping. He raised his head and saw that Sombra was at that moment in the process of dropping the book down on the nightstand.
“Well that was waste of time,” the king grunted in disappointment. Clearly the book hadn’t been as much of an assistance as he had hoped. “Guess I’m just doing it the old-fashioned way.”
The king shifted his body a little so he could see where Private lay. He smirked slightly when seeing the smaller unicorn was awake again. Private just kept his usual neutral expression.
“You know, speaking of those good old days, back then, I really did want to show you more intimate hospitality. I was getting a little tired of my then current companion,” he told him, his smirk turned into a warm smile.
“Well… back then the feeling was mutual…” Private muttered and looked away. “By the way, you can’t freak me out with that anymore.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed you are more - how should I put it, more at peace? Hmm, pity. I kind of enjoyed your little freak-outs,” Sombra leaned his head down and started to nuzzle at the unicorn’s mane. “That delicious fear - it was invigorating.”
“You were not that good,” Private snorted, shuddering a little when recalling the groping hooves and muzzle all over him last night. Now that a little time had passed, he was beginning to regret allowing the king to have his way with him. Yet he still felt it was well worth it to spare his brother from further experimentation.
Still Private didn’t move his head away from the invading muzzle this time, either. He still felt that as long as Sombra’s attention was on him, his family would be left alone. The unicorn would endure it. He just tried to picture it being Prince Sombra instead of the king.
“And what do you have to compare it with? I do believe I’m your first,” the king chuckled and kept nuzzling him, moving the muzzle to the neck. Private just grumbled, having no answer to that.
“I thought you weren’t in the mood,” Private finally just said, slightly worried and too aware that he was completely at the mercy of the king.
“Well I’m not going to mount you, but I’m feeling like enjoying my companion a little,” Sombra murmured softly. “Not every action has to end in intercourse.”
No, I suppose not. Oh well, if he wants to cuddle, at least he isn’t torturing Barricade or the others, Private sighed. He felt a leg go around him and pull him closer to the king.
“Are you this inexperienced with relationships, Private? You should realize sometimes it is just about enjoying each other’s company,” Sombra said and continued to kiss and nuzzle his neck.
“I would feel much better about this if I wasn’t a prisoner,” Private muttered, not really feeling like talking right now. He just wanted to brave this out in silence.
“You don’t have to be,” the king raised his head to whispered into his ear. “Just submit. Give in. Accept it. I can even provide you the blue mare that you have craved for so long.”
“You leave Dew Doe out of this,” Private hissed and his ears went flat. He shivered when hearing the cruel laughter echo in his ears.
“Why? Because you know I would probably enjoy her too?” Sombra grinned. He could feel building hatred within his prisoner.
“Don’t. You. Dare!” Private growled and slightly turned his head to glare at the grinning gaze of the pony next to him. “Look… do with me what you want, but you leave HER alone!”
“My, my, you really do care about her,” the king grinned wider. He noticed though that Private wasn’t really struggling in his grip. He had though quickly realized what he needed to do to really get that hate out. The Dark Pony almost licked his lips in anticipation. “She is a very beautiful mare. So small, delicate and tender.”
“You touch her, I will KILL YOU!” Private suddenly tore himself away, rising to stand on the mattress of the bed and glared daggers at the king. The anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The unicorn was dumbfounded he actually had the nerve to do this.
King Sombra didn’t look surprised at all, if anything he looked more like he had just finished eating, smacking his lips.
“Mmm, that was very good hate. I didn’t know you had it in you,” Sombra smiled smugly, licking his lips and acting more like he was complimenting a chef at a restaurant for the fine meal he just had. “Much more… primal.”
“You... sick… bast...” Private trailed off as he couldn’t believe it and sat down. “So since you can’t freak me out the other way, you are going to do this instead?”
“Hate is my meat, fear is my wine,” the king stated and lifted his front leg that was closest to the unicorn. There was still hunger in his eyes. “Now, come here, I’m not done with you.”
Private grimaced, not really relishing being embraced by the Dark Pony again. With heavy reluctance, he crawled back over, shuddering when Sombra’s leg was laid over him again and he was once again pressed up against the much bigger body. He felt a little sick when the hoof gently caressed his side.
Will the voice that’s enjoying this please be quiet. Private cringed when feeling the muzzle of the king on his neck again as it started once more to nuzzle and kiss him.
The unicorn wasn’t really sure for how long this cuddle session lasted, but for the rest of it. King Sombra didn’t do much else except hold him close and nuzzle at him. No more words were exchanged and Private was somewhat grateful for that. He did wonder though if those past reawakened memories had played a part in Sombra’s mood.
Maybe he misses doing this with Timido, he thought and felt slightly relieved when the nuzzling and kissing finally stopped. Sombra didn’t let him go though, instead laying his head on top of his.
“You know, shortly after you left the court along with your friend, mother replaced my then companion with Timido. I recall being surprised at the mild resemblance. Huh, maybe mother saw how I missed you and found a colt who resembled you,” Sombra mused, then chuckled. “If she only knew, she hoofed your ancestor to me.”
“Perhaps,” Private muttered, really wanting to be alone right now. He was starting to get the usual feeling when he was all ponied out like he called it, when he really craved solitude, to be away from other ponies. “Wait, you missed me?”
“Oh, you have no idea, I really enjoyed your company. You were the first foreigner I met who didn’t have any reservations about us, weren’t on your guard. You seemed to enjoy your time with us,” Sombra told him. He lifted the leg around Private to gently caress him on the cheek.
“I did,” Private confessed, closing his eyes and worried again that the king was now suddenly in the mood for more.
“And now we’re back together again. What an odd twist of fate,” the king murmured and lifted his head and dropped his hoof down to the mattress..
Cruel fate is how I would put it, the smaller unicorn thought, relieved that Sombra had moved his head off him.
“Well this is all well and good and amusing,” Sombra then claimed. He removed his leg from the unicorn and started to rise from the bed. “But I do have a trap to set up.”
Oh thank Celestia. Private sighed in relief. Maybe that meant he would be allowed to be alone. Then he realized what he actually was being thankful for. Wait, setting the trap is bad.
“You know, I might just be in the mood for some more fun once I’m done setting up the trap,” Sombra said and bent over the bed, grabbing Private’s muzzle in a deep kiss. When they parted, he was staring at Private with desire in his eyes. “I had forgotten how much Timido excited me!”
Private couldn’t really respond, still dazed at the kiss and whimpering. When he came to his senses and remembered the trap, it was way too late to do or say anything. Sombra had already left the bed and departed the chamber. Groaning, the unicorn lay his head on his forelegs, hoping that maybe the rescue party could evade the trap.
Then he grimaced, not looking forward at all to it when the king would return from his work setting it up.
Starlight put down the map when seeing Maud and Barbell return to the hut. Foxy and Dew Doe had by now arrived and the yaks had brought the ponies some food and put it on a center table.
“Hey, uh feeling better?” the unicorn asked, remembering how the opal pony had stomped out a little earlier.
“Yeah, sure,” Barbell shrugged and walked over to the table of food and picked some out for herself.
“Uh, Barbell,” Dew addressed her hesitantly. The earth pony eyed her as she was sitting down, but said nothing. Starlight suddenly got very busy with the map again.
“Look, I’m sorry we didn’t offer Barricade the help he needed. Yes, we focused more on Private and… overlooked that Barricade needed help as well,” the blue pegasus said, then she elbowed her sister who grumbled before eyeing the earth pony.
“Yeah… we should have known he needed therapy as well,” Foxy mumbled. She sighed when getting a glare from Dew Doe. “Sorry.”
“What’s with the sudden apologies?” Barbell arched her brow, taking a bite out of one of the hay cakes she had. She glanced at Starlight when the unicorn cleared her throat.
“I may have mentioned to them that you stomped out and why you stomped out and...oh hey, that reminds me, I need to talk with Prince Rutherford.” Starlight said quickly, put the map down and darted out of the hut. Three of the ponies watched this rushed exist, mildly confused.
“We are all in this together. King Sombra took ponies we all love and care about and he’s especially tortured two all three of us deeply care about. I understand that you are angry at us for ignoring Barricade’s needs. You don’t have to accept our apology, but I want to assure you that this time, we will help him,” Dew Doe continued.
Barbell turned back to her as she considered the pegasus’s words, chewing slowly on her food. Foxy looked more like she rather join Starlight in fleeing outside, but remained, knowing too well this had to be done.
“You promise you will help him?” Barbell finally asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Yes,” Dew nodded. “I know it looked pretty unfair that we were so ready to help three strangers while we ignored Cara’s father.”
“It was,” Barbell snorted but then looked down as she thought this over. “Fine, if you help him, I will accept your apology.”
Dew Doe simply nodded, then glanced at her sister who grimaced like she was a little filly being told to eat the last piece of food that she hated. The blue pegasus just raised her brow slightly.
“Okay good. It’s fine,” Foxy growled and folded her legs in a huff.
“What’s your problem?” Barbell snorted, though deep down finding this rather amusing to watch.
Foxy looked at Dew Doe pleadingly, but her sister was unmoved, knowing all her younger sibling’s tricks. The blue pegasus just gave a sharp nod.
“Okay, okay. I’m jealous of you because you get to be with Barricade and he doesn’t treat you like trash,” Foxy confessed loudly and huffed again.
The sister’s looked at Barbell in surprise when the opal mare started laughing. It took a moment for the earth pony to regain composure. She nearly choked on her cake and had to beat on her chest to make sure it did go down. Then after drying the laughter tears from her eyes, she glanced at Foxy with a smirk.
“Seriously? That’s what’s bugging you? Look, I just give Barricade the same amount of shit he gives me. He tries anything, I pay him back. I have no secret method. I can be just as much of a jerk and he can be,” Barbell grinned wide. “Besides, we are in an open relationship, when I get tired of him, I toss him over to Goldie. When she gets tired of him, she tosses him back to me. If you want in again, I won’t stop you. Might save us the trouble if both Goldie and I get tired of him.”
Foxy’s jaw nearly scraped the floor. Dew Doe was just as stunned at this revelation. She did though slowly reach out to close her sister’s mouth with a hoof. Barbell was in stitches again at seeing their reaction.
“Yeaaah, no, that’s not happening,” Foxy muttered and decided to get busy with eating.
“Eh, suit yourself,” Barbell just shrugged. Then she looked at Dew Doe. “I take it our team leader wanted us to do this to avoid a dramatic conflict from flaring up in the middle of the rescue operation?”
“Uh kinda. She has done this before and yeah.” Dew confirmed with a nod. All eyes now went to Maud who had just been calmly eating in one corner of the hut, not even commenting on the event. The mares shrugged and turned to the food.
The pegasi and Barbell jumped a bit when Starlight suddenly burst into the hut. Held in her magic was Cara, tightly wrapped in a blanket to warm her up.
“Good news/bad news!” the unicorn shouted, but was interrupted by an even louder cry.
“CARA!” Barbell jumped to her hooves and raced over.
“BARBELL!!” Cara tore off the blanket and leaped for the earth pony as soon as she was let go from the magic aura. The teen and the mare hugged each other tight.
“Cara?” Dew Doe rose up and so did Foxy. “Where did she come from?”
“That’s the good news/bad news,” Starlight said, looking with a smile at the reunion right next to her before becoming serious again. “She escaped Sombra’s hideout. That’s the good news.”
“And the bad?” Dew slowly looked at the unicorn. So did Foxy and Maud. Starlight chuckled nervously.
“Sombra knows we’re coming,” she told them, not very surprised to see the sisters horrified reaction.
Explanations were put on hold though as the mares focused on Cara, who despite the burst of energy to hug her step-mother, was still feeling cold, tired and hungry. Dew Doe used the medical supplies given to her by Cadance to more properly wrap up the wound on the teenager’s side so there was less risk of it reopening. Barbell then wrapped the blanket around her again to warm her up. Then she was given a generous portion of the food on the table and allowed to eat and relax a bit.
The filly then told them what she had experienced in Sombra’s captivity and how she had escaped thanks to a tip from Rainbow Dash. The teen sounded especially proud to have been able to do what the rainbow pegasus had asked her to do.
Then of course came the part with the yeti, explaining her wound and how Sombra had been the one to save her. The most surprising part of all of course, was that Sombra had not only sealed up her wound, but then pretty much tossed her towards Yakyakistan with the message that he would be waiting for the rescue party.
“Before he did that, he did turn into his creepy smoke form and went towards the village, but he vanished. Then he reappeared next to me and well, threw me down the slope,” Cara finished and leaned on Barbell, feeling content, full and warm.
“He must have seen one of us from that vantage point and went to investigate closer, so he knows who to expect even.” Starlight sunk her brow in a frown as she considered this information. “It’s clear we’ll be walking right into a trap.”
“Cara, do you remember where that fort is?” Barbell asked the filly.
“Somewhere… uh northwest I think. You can’t miss it - the sky above it is yellow and glowy,” Cara answered, freeing one hoof from the blanket to vaguely wave in one direction.
“Well that should make it easier to find,” Foxy shrugged. “Just look for a yellow glow in the sky.”
Starlight nodded in agreement. Though vague, the directions did confirm what the goat Rock Hard had said.
“What do we do with Cara, though? Leave her here with the yaks? Ask them if they can take her to the Crystal Empire?” Barbell asked, Cara scrunched her face, but it was as if the earth pony could read her mind. She looked at her sternly. “Don’t even think about it, young lady. You are staying behind, safe.”
“You have done what you could, Cara, now we’ll go get the rest.” Dew Doe smiled at the filly, who sighed in resignation. Knowing too well the adults were right, she had done what she was supposed to do.
“She should be safe with the yaks, but if they could take her to the Crystal Empire, she could deliver a message for us to Shining Armor, who can further relay it to Cadance,” Starlight said and then patter her horn. “Frankly I don’t think I’m quite ready yet to send a magic message like I promised her.”
“Yeah, speaking of that, you are our only unicorn. What is the plan when we eventually face King Sombra?” Barbell asked with a skeptical expression.
“I was kind of hoping I had recovered enough when we reached there.” Starlight felt for the bump on her head. It had receded a little bit. She looked at Cara, who was curling up next to the opal pony. “Cara, how long were you flying?”
“I dunno,” Cara yawned wide. “Quite a while I think…”
Starlight rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully while Barbell carried the now sleeping teenager to one of the beds and carefully put her there. She then sat down right next to it, keeping one hoof on the filly.
“It might take us another day to reach it. We will be going slower since three of us are on hoof.” The unicorn once again pulled up the map, looked at it for a second before putting it away. “I should be mostly recovered by then and Twilight did teach me a few spells that should be helpful against Sombra.”
“I guess we are heading off then?” Foxy asked.
“The sooner the better. Best not hold off for too long - not with what Cara has told us Sombra is doing.” Starlight nodded. Nobody really argued.
Starlight headed outside to arrange with Prince Rutherford to either keep Cara safe in the village or take her back to the Crystal Empire. The rest of the mares started packing and preparing their gear. The unicorn returned a little later with the word from the yak prince. He would happy to take the filly south to the Crystal Empire as soon as she had rested.
The mares thus decided to wait a little while longer so Cara would be awake and could say goodbye to Barbell. Dew Doe and Foxy used the opportunity to go to Granite and Pebble to say goodbye to them. The two goats were still grieving the loss of Rock Hard, but were grateful to be able to see the pegasi off.
Granite even gave them some tips how to traverse the mountains they would be tackling and told them not to worry about other mountain goats. They rarely travelled this far south anymore and probably doubly so considering who was squatting in that abandoned fort. They were though somewhat alarmed to learn that that was exactly were the ponies were heading. Dew Doe had to explain to them that their friends and family were being kept there and they had to rescue them.
“Well, if I can’t convince you otherwise. I can tell you this, there is a secret entrance where the path ends before it turns into the cliff the fort is on,” Granite told the sisters. “It can be opened by pushing specific rock in three places, but I don’t know if the demon knows about it.”
“Thank you. That is certainly helpful,” Dew Doe thanked her and gave the goat one last goodbye hug. She then left the medical hut with Foxy, who did have to peel a very reluctant Pebble off her, having to promise the young kid that she would try and visit if that was even permissible.
After a few hours of preparation, Cara finally did wake up. The yaks were already getting ready with a party of their own to take her down to the Crystal Empire. After a semi-tearful farewell, both Barbell and Cara tried to pretend not to be crying. The mares stood at the gate of the yak village, watching as the teenager was carried off by the yaks. They were themselves packed and ready and once Cara’s party was gone from sight, they headed for the slope the filly had come down from.
It didn’t take them too long to reach the ridge where Sombra had spied on the village. Very shortly after that, they found the battle ground where the yeti had been bested by the king. From there they discovered the path the filly had landed on and started traveling on it.
The mares did find the yeti. Its wound was not fully healed and the moment it put eyes on Starlight and her unicorn horn, it yelped and scampered as quickly as it possibly could away.
“I guess the yeti learned the hard way that unicorn horns can be used for something else other than just magic,” Starlight remarked as the mares watched the creature flee. Nobody complained. This did save them from having another yeti fight.
As they travelled, the mares soon realized that they probably couldn’t fully follow Cara’s route. She had flown for most of it and only came to the path when she was at her last strength. Thankfully, Dew and Foxy could use some of Granite’s tips to navigate in addition of using Starlight’s map, thus they could mostly keep northwest.
Eventually they didn’t really require the map though, in the distance they could see the sky was turning a strange shade of sickly yellow. The ponies steeled themselves, realizing they were closing in on their goal.
Starlight knew however that they wouldn’t get there today. The daylight was already failing and Granite had warned the sisters from traversing the mountains during the night. There was just one problem - there was no proper shelter so far on the path.
The mares continued, hoping to find a cave or something that they could rest during the night, but nothing appeared. In the end, Maud located a suitable spot on the mountain wall and started digging one for them. Barbell joined in to make the work faster. Finally Starlight risked using her magic to enlarge the cave even more so all five could fit in more comfortably.
Inside the cave the ponies pulled out the blankets they had brought in the saddlebags and prepared to rest on suitable spots on the ground. Starlight and Maud made a fireplace that was lit by the unicorn’s magic.
“I think I’ve come up with a plan,” Starlight said once all five ponies were gathered mostly around the fire and covered themselves with their blankets. The four other mares all listened attentively.
“Of the five of us, I do stand the best chance against Sombra. So I think it would be best that any direct confrontation should be done by me,” the unicorn continued and glanced at each of them, sporting a serious frown. “Flash Sentry can tell you how well a non-unicorn will fare in a physical fight against him.”
“What happened to him?” Barbell asked and was told quite simply about the guard’s broken wings. The earth pony quickly nodded in full agreement with this first portion of the plan.
“Cara told us that the fort appears to be built straight on a cliff face. The only obvious entrance can only be reached by flying or teleportation, however,” Starlight pointed the pegasi. “The goats told them about a secret entrance that can be reached on hoof.”
“I think the best plan we really have is that I try and teleport into the fort, but the four of you go for the secret entrance. I will draw out Sombra and distract him while you sneak in from the backdoor, so to speak, locate the prisoners and free them,” the unicorn finished.
“You think you can do it in your condition?” Dew wondered looking very concerned.
“I will just have to try. It will probably hurt my head, but hopefully I can distract him long enough for you to get at the prisoners. Also, since Cara is probably in the Crystal Empire now, a message should be heading to Cadance about Sombra’s location. Hopefully they can send some extra help in time,” Starlight told her in a determined tone.
“Alright, I’m sold.” Barbell nodded and Maud did as well. The pegasi sisters, especially Dew, seemed most hesitant before both agreed to the plan.
“Good. Now let’s try and get some rest. It will be the final leg tomorrow and… then it’s King Sombra,” Starlight sighed and lay down on the makeshift blanket pillow she had made. The other mares began doing the same and soon they were all fast asleep.
When Starlight woke up the next morning, the unicorn felt better. The small, lingering headache was gone. That gave her some hope as she started to rise. She saw that most of the other mares were already up. Only Foxy still snored away and was well and truly tangled up in her blankets.
“Morning,” Dew greeted her. She sat on top of her blankets, eating a little of the food they had brought.
“Morning,” Starlight responded, but couldn’t help but stare at Foxy. “Shouldn’t we wake her up?”
“In a minute, just wanted to eat a little first,” Dew Doe chuckled and finished up her food. Then she flew out of the cave.
Starlight scratched her head unsure before taking note of the others. Maud was holding her pet rock as she ate and Barbell was further inside doing pushups. Dew Doe return with her front legs full of snow.
“What are you doing?” the unicorn blinked.
“A little karma for last winter,” the blue pegasus grinned wickedly and positioned herself right above her sister. Then she promptly dumped her entire load of snow right on top of the sleeping pony beneath her.
“ACK!” Foxy shouted, sputtered and struggled to get out of the tangled blankets. The maroon pegasus then glared up at her sister.
“I told you I would get you back when you least expected it,” Dew giggled, darting away when the bigger pegasus managed to untangle herself and immediately shot up after her.
“Oookay, I suppose sisters must be sisters.” Starlight shrugged, at least everyone was in good humor despite knowing what awaited them.
“I’ll get you for this, Dew Doe!” Foxy cried as she flew in circles around the cave after the blue pegasus.
“Hey, you are the one who dumped all those ice cubes on me last winter,” Dew reminded her.
“That’s beside the point!” the maroon pony declared.
“Alright you two. That’s enough.” Starlight rose up and used her magic to stop both pegasi in the air, although she was smiling. “We have a mission to complete.”
“Yes, hear that? We have a mission to do. No time for some silly shenanigans,” Dew said and folded her legs, grinning wide.
“Says the pony who just finished dumping snow on me,” Foxy grumbled. When she was let go from the magic the pegasus landed and was given some food to eat.
“Older sister privileges.” Dew landed as well and just smiled at the stink-eye given to her by her sister.
“Eat up everypony, if you haven’t already. I want us up and ready soon,” Starlight declared. As amusing as the sisters were being, it didn’t change the fact that they were on the very last leg of a very dangerous journey and soon it would become really dangerous.
The unicorn was almost wishing they were only facing yeti right now.
The fort on the distant cliff face looked very unwelcoming. Dark crystals had begun extruding out of the stone walls like infected pimples. Black vein-like lines were slowly creeping down the cliff wall. From them more crystals had begun forming here and there.
The air above was dark, sickly yellow, giving the whole atmosphere around it a very foreboding feeling. It was as if nature itself was warning that something evil and sinister currently resided here.
The five mares stood and stared at the fort with a mixture of horror and disgust. They were starting to get the idea why the goats now referred to this area as the Mountains of Fear.
“Sooo,” Foxy said. “That’s uh… nice… if you are into creepy.”
“This is it girls, the goats said that at the end of this path there should be a hidden passage.” Starlight was really not liking the looks of this. “I’ll take the more direct route.”
“Be careful,” Dew told her and with some reluctance began following Barbell and Foxy up the path. Maud lingered behind for a moment.
“You can do it, Starlight,” she said and put a hoof on Starlight’s back before finally following the rest.
I will give them a head start, take a moment to steel myself and then go, Starlight thought. She measured the distance with her eyes, it was not the furthest she had teleported before. She in fact could probably use her magic to just float herself over there, but right now the mare would rather not risk her magic failing and her plummet to her doom, especially since the pegasi were now gone to find the secret passage.
Starlight took a deep breath and activated her magic. She prepared a teleportation spell, but still waited a little, wanting to give the other mares time to locate the other entrance. When the unicorn figured she had waited long enough, the unicorn activated the spell and disappeared in a blue flash.
Starlight landed with a thud as she materialized somewhere. Shaking her head, the unicorn rose up and frowned when she tried to look around. Nothing but pitch blackness greeted her eyes. The unicorn didn’t understand - she was certain from the outside there were windows and it wasn’t night outside, just that sickly yellow glow.
“What is going on here?” she turned around but still saw nothing, not even a sign of a door.
A dark chuckle caused her to whirl around. She activated her horn, ready for a fight. Despite the light from her magic energy, nothing around her illuminated. It was still just all dark.
“Starlight Glimmer,” a voice addressed her. “The pupil of the Princess of Friendship. A friend to a neurotic changeling, a failed magic entertainer, a childish spirit of chaos and a pony who shows about the same emotional range as a rock.”
“Hey!” Starlight snapped and glared around. “Show yourself and don’t talk about my friends like that.”
The only response she got was a cruel chuckle. Something was moving around her, but was not visible. The unicorn attempted to fire random magic bursts around, but they hit nothing and just disappeared.
“Yes, I suppose those are accomplishments. It must fill you with pride to befriend such pathetic beings,” the voice continued.
“I am proud of my friends!” Starlight snorted, looking around and trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. Then it hit her who this was and the unicorn scowled. “Show yourself Sombra, I know it’s you.”
“Oh, what a clever girl. I can see why Twilight took you on,” Sombra chuckled, but still remained unseen.
“Speaking of pathetic, you were a busy little pony before Twilight took you in,” he continued, smiling when seeing a faint sign of hesitation come over the unicorn.
“I don’t know what you are up to, but it won’t work. We’re here to stop you!” Starlight declared.
“We? I don’t see anypony else in here,” the king said and chuckled darkly.
Starlight cringed slightly, realizing she probably shouldn’t have said that and give her friends away. The unicorn then felt strange; her forelock felt smaller suddenly. She reached up with a hoof and gasped. It had been cut. Suddenly a large crystal sprouted up in front of her, its surface was so polished that the unicorn could see herself in it.
Oh no. The unicorn gasped. She had the same mane cut and when she ruled her village. She spotted her flank; it had the equal sign cutie mark. She quickly glanced at it and there it was.
“So afraid to be abandoned, so afraid to be alone. So, you forced others to be your friends, playing by your rules. Equality, hah! What a spiel you spun to convince yourself you were doing the right thing. Just because your friend got his cutie mark first,” Sombra laughed cruelly as he observed Starlight panic over how she looked.
“No. I changed; I learned my lesson. That’s not me anymore!” Starlight protested. Remembering she had faked the equal sign, she tried to brush it off. It didn’t go away.
“And then when Twilight and her friends ruined that little safety bubble you had created, you were so filled with rage you tried to ruin her life by changing time,” the king continued to speak. Starlight was now just staring at the image of herself on the crystal, tears welling in her eyes.
“This is your fear isn’t it? To turn back into that pony who enslaved ponies to force them to be your friends, who attempted to destroy the very fabric of time and space because a group of friends stopped you, all because your friend got his cutie mark first,” Sombra whispered standing now right behind her. His image could be faintly seen on the crystal now.
Starlight closed her eyes hard; she wiped the tears away with a hoof before whirling around. She opened them again to scowl hard at the king, her horn glowing again with magic energy.
“Yes, I am afraid of that. What’s your point! I use that fear to make sure I don’t change into that horrible pony again!” she snapped and shot from her horn. The blast was deflected by a shield made by Sombra’s own magic.
There was no response. Sombra simply began backing away with a mocking smirk and he faded into the blackness again. Starlight snarled and fired again as she raced forward, blasting magic shots wildly.
“Get back here! I’m not here to play games!” the unicorn shouted and glared around.
The blackness disappeared and she was now in a stone room. Dark crystals were embedded into the walls and black, tendril-like lines were stretched across the floor. Starlight gasped in horror - scattered around the room were her traveling companions, lying on the floor looking like they had been badly scorched by magic blasts.
“No! What did you do?” Starlight whispered as she ran over to Maud. For a brief moment, the gray earth pony looked at her weakly, before her eyes rolled back and she stopped breathing.
“Me? I wasn’t the one shooting magic around blindly,” Sombra whispered, again from somewhere unseen.
Starlight felt a cold dread come over her. She sat down by Maud’s body and cradled it in her front legs. Tears started to form in her eyes and she hugged her friend, crying into her scorched fur.
“Loyalty can blind, honesty can really hurt, kindness can make you weak, laughter can be cruel, generosity can be used to cheat you,” Sombra spoke as he materialized in front of the two ponies, grinning evilly.
“And friendship,” the king started to laugh. “Oh, I don’t think I need to tell you how that can be twisted.”
“I didn’t mean to… I’m so sorry… I was trying to shoot him,” Starlight still cried as she clung to the dead body of her friend.
Wait… this isn’t right… I didn’t teleport them here… a tiny voice started to emerge inside her head.
The unicorn looked up, staring at the king in front of her.
“This isn’t… real,” Starlight shouted and dropped Maud’s body. She closed her eyes tightly and put both hooves on her temple. “THIS ISN’T REAL!”
Starlight screamed as she broke from under the spell. When she opened her eyes, she was inside the fort, but no bodies were anywhere. The unicorn was standing between two crystal pillars who pulsated with dark magic. Starlight gasped and quickly jumped away from them before they could ensnare her again.
“Impressive,” the dark voice of King Sombra addressed her yet again. “Not many can break free from that spell. Most it drives mad… wait a minute.”
Sombra materialized on the other end of the hall. He frowned as he regarded the scowling unicorn and the rest of the room. “You’re alone?”
“Yeah, that was the crucial detail I needed,” Starlight snapped and shot out a beam of magic at Sombra. She was so far not feeling any pain in her head and that was a very good sign.
“I doubt you came to face me alone,” Sombra sneered and blocked the magic shot with his own magic. He narrowed his eyes. “Where are your friends?”
“Your battle is with me,” the unicorn declared. She summoned an energy sword and charged.
“Oh please,” Sombra rolled his eyes, but did summon his scythe to block the incoming blow from the sword. “I think we’ve done this dance before, unless your ambition is to become a tricorn.”
Starlight didn’t respond. Instead, she tried another swing with her sword which was easily blocked by Sombra. Then she had to be on the defensive from a flurry of blows from him. The unicorn didn’t intend to fight like this the whole time, but right now this would do until she had to change her distraction strategy.
“Where are your friends?” Sombra asked again with a growl and struck hard at the energy sword. It shattered, but this time Starlight ducked out of the way and shot with her horn. The king was forced to back away and put up a shield.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Starlight smirked and conjured up her own shield that barely held against a beam from the king. Yikes.
Down in the dark tunnels, four mares slowly made their way onwards. They did have a little trouble locating the secret entrance. However, Maud could detect where the wall had been the thinnest and pointed out three rocks that looked like any other, but to her were out of place. Maud, Barbell and Foxy, being the strongest of the four, pushed them and an opening on the wall was revealed.
Now they were in a long twisting tunnel - a very dark one. The ponies probably would have wished they hadn’t let the unicorn go alone if Maud hadn’t produced a lamp from her saddlebag.
They came to many intersections on their way, but Maud pointed out that some tunnels looked more carefully crafted and hewn and not rough cut. That had to mean those ones would eventually lead to the fort.
They were not disappointed. After a while they did finally see faint glimmer of light and suddenly stepped into a torch-lit tunnel. One wall had an entrance to a cave that had been repurposed as a lab. No one was in it, so the mares continued onward. Then they heard voices.
Three mares gasped and began hurrying forward. The tunnel continued, but to their left was an entrance to a large cavern. Inside were three cells locked off with crystal bars.
“MOM! AUNT DEW!” Coal shouted when seeing her mother and aunt come flying into the cavern.
“Coal!” Foxy rushed over to the cell Barricade and Coal were in, closely followed by Barbell who was shouting the stallion’s name.
“Oh, Mirage, Hard, are you alright?” Dew Doe decided to rush over to where the old ponies were.
“We managed,” Mirage said and tried her best to hug the pegasus between the bars.
“Woah, the cavalry's here,” Rainbow Dash commented from her cell. Then she saw Maud enter. “Maud, over here!”
“Maud, where is Twilight and the rest?” Rainbow asked when the earth pony trotted over. She was a little confused not to see her five friends bursting in to the rescue.
“They are trapped in Ponyville,” Maud told her simply. “We came with Starlight.”
“Trapped? Oh, just wait until I get my hooves on that…” Rainbow growled then eyed her prison. “Can you get us out of here? Oh by the way, don’t strike the bars, it really hurts. Just ask Barricade.”
The stallion in question was currently hugging the wall of his cell as Barbell’s joy had changed into rage.
“You just come over here so I can wring your neck for making me worry like that!” the mare growled as she tried to reach him through the bars.
“You know what? I think I’m fine inside here. No need to free me,” Barricade half-joked but was wondering if he wouldn’t be better off remaining in the cell.
Foxy in the meantime was hugging her daughter and parts of the bars tightly.
“Oh, my beautiful little mischief, I could just squeeze you! We are going to get you out of here,” the mare said and kissed her daughter many times where she could reach her between the bars.
“I’ll get them out alright,” Barbell turned around and prepared to kick.
“Don’t kick the bars. They hurt!” Barricade shouted in alarm just in time. His marefriend glanced back at him, then looked at the entrance of the cell. She began kicking that instead, making it bigger. Maud was doing pretty much the same over at Rainbow and Dinky’s cell.
Soon Foxy could much more properly hug her daughter tightly, who returned it just as much. Barricade was dragged out by Barbell, who did embrace him instead of pummeling him as she had threatened. Maud in the meantime had freed Rainbow and Dinky and was now turning her attention to the cell with the old ponies.
“Alright, where is Sombra? I got two hooves I want to smack his face with!” Rainbow Dash was in the air kicking and punching with her hooves.
“Since he isn’t here, he must be up in the fort. Starlight was going to distract him while we got you out of here,” Dew told her as she helped Mirage and Hard Shovel out of their now much wider cell opening. The pegasus then looked at each cell and then frantically around. “Where is Private?”
“Oh right. That bastard confined him to the fort after Cara escaped,” Barricade growled. He was mostly recovered from the experimental magic torture, so he was more with it. It helped also that he was free and saw that his daughters were too. He was starting again to turn his panic into anger. He broke free from Barbell and charged for the entrance to the cavern.
“Come on, Rainbow, let’s go kick that smokey dipshit!” he growled, but was blocked from going further by the rainbow pegasus who landed in front of him.
“Wait, I have better idea,” Rainbow said, holding one hoof up to stop the galloping stallion who just about managed to halt his charge.
“Private told me there were two caves that dampen magic, one with a water well and one with the food supplies. If we could lure him back down here, get him into one of those caves and then the earth ponies kick the entrance of those caves,” she said glancing behind her at the entrance.
“That would cause the entrance to collapse and trap him where can’t use his magic.” Barricade grinned, liking that idea. He glanced back at the other ponies. “Hey Barbell, you think you can cause a cave-in?”
“Sure, if Maud helps me,” Barbell nodded. The grey earth pony also nodded slightly in agreement.
“Great, you two,” Rainbow Dash pointed at Dew and Foxy. “You get the older ponies and the fillies out of here. The rest of you, come with me.”
“What about Private?” Dew asked, looking really worried and nervous.
“Don’t worry, Dew. We’ll get him,” Barricade assured her before rushing out after Rainbow Dash, closely followed by Barbell and Maud.
Private gulped as he carefully opened the door a crack and saw what was happening in the main hall. Sombra was still fighting Starlight, who kept switching tactics as to how she fought him. Sometimes she would use magic beams, sometimes just be on the defensive and then she would try the energy sword again. She didn’t seem to be trying to win, just prolong the battle long as possible.
Should I do something? he thought, not sure if he should risk it. He might just do more harm than good.
She can’t be the only one that’s here. He cringed when seeing Starlight’s shield shatter and the mare was flung back. She did recover quickly, but was starting to look tired.
“You are tiring, Starlight Glimmer. One last chance. Where are the others?” King Sombra growled and sent a row of crystals that violently burst out of the ground towards her. The mare just barely managed to jump out of the way.
“With any luck they…” Starlight stopped. Private couldn’t see what she was looking at in surprise. Suddenly an indigo-colored magic burst struck Sombra in the head. Then there was a rainbow-colored blur as something struck the dark unicorn.
“Hey bozo, time for some payback!” Rainbow Dash declared and struck a pose in the air with both hooves on her sides.
“What?!” King Sombra looked a little disoriented but not damaged. He glared at Rainbow, then to his side. “Barricade!? Oh… I see. Your friends were freeing them!”
“Starlight, quick, we have a plan, we need to get him down into the tunnels,” Rainbow Dash called and zipped down to try and give Sombra another blow. This time though the dark unicorn ducked out of the way. He didn’t get a time to do much else. He was struck from two sides by different colored magic blasts - one indigo and the other blue.
Sombra roared in anger. Private saw Starlight run out of sight and Sombra went after her. He wasn’t sure what to do, open the door and follow? Stay where he was and wait this out? Someone else made the decision for him. The door was bathed in an indigo-colored aura and yanked open. In the doorway stood Barricade.
“Private!” he shouted and quickly reached with one leg to grab his brother in a tight hug. Private was more than happy to return it.
“W-what is going on?” Private asked, stunned to see his brother free.
“The rescue arrived,” Barricade smiled and was shaking now. The anger had subsided and he was on the verge of giving in to his panic again. “We have a plan; we are luring him into one of the caves that dampen magic to trap him in there.”
“That’s insane,” Private whispered, patting his brother on the back to try and calm him down.
“Insane enough to maybe work. Come on!” Barricade chuckled weakly and the brothers let go. They left the bedchamber and rushed through the other door and down the spiraling staircase.
The moment they arrived in the tunnel, they froze when hearing a very angry roar. They saw Rainbow fly quickly out of the water well cave and just at that moment Barbell and Maud jumped out of it too, having been hiding in it just by the entrance. The two earth ponies then gave the edges a mighty kick, causing the rock to loosen and come crashing down, blocking the opening. Starlight quickly used her magic to tear out more chunks of rock from the ground and further block it.
“Oh yeah! It worked. Take that Sombreo!” Rainbow Dash cackled and landed on the ground.
“See? Insane enough to work,” Barricade told his brother then rushed over to Barbell. “Good work, babe!”
“Hey, I didn’t do it alone,” Barbell chuckled and nudged Maud.
Private was about to say something, but a roar and very might thump on the rocks shook everybody back to reality. Sombra may have been trapped, but he wasn’t a small unicorn and there was the slight possibility he would eventually break free.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Starlight ordered and pointed down the tunnel. “Barbell, Maud, lead the way since you know where the other entrance is.”
“Come Private, let’s blow this popsicle stand,” Barricade shouted to his brother and the five ponies rushed down the tunnel.
The ponies had barely reached the adjacent tunnel leading down to the lab cave and eventually to the secret entrance, when there was a mighty explosion behind them. They all stopped dead in their tracks and slowly looked back.
Through the dust and debris came King Sombra, eyes narrow and glowing green and red, his horn sparkling with purple and green energy. Barricade and Private were frozen solid at the sight.
“The minerals only dampen magic, not block it,” Sombra hissed. “ And can be overwhelmed by my dark magic.”
“Oookay, everypony RUN!” Starlight shouted and started down the tunnel.
“You two, snap out of it!” Rainbow Dash quickly slapped Barricade and Private to wake them up from their terror. Then she screamed loudly. “RUN FOR IT!!”
Thankfully that was enough. All five ponies made a mad dash down the tunnel. They heard an unearthly roar behind them and the tunnel was already filling up with black smoke chasing them.
Starlight briefly turned her head to fire a magic beam at the ceiling to cause a cave in behind them, hoping it would at least slow the enraged king down.
“I told you it was an insane idea!” Private shouted in panic.
“Save the ‘told you so’ until we are home free!” Barricade snapped, but he was in no better state than his brother.
“Just run you two!” Starlight snapped and tried another cave in, but she was now starting to feel a headache coming on. The beam was very weak and only caused a bit of dust to trickle down.
When they entered the unlit tunnels, Starlight just barely had enough concentration to use a light spell to show the way they were running. The unicorn brothers were in too much panic to think of doing it. The smoke kept on coming closer, tendrils began shooting out to try and grab them.
By some miracle they did manage to reach the secret entrance which was still wide open. It was a narrow escape, Private, who was the last being the least fit of all, barely got out before the smoke came pouring out after them.
The ponies quickly picked themselves up and hurried down the path. Already on it further ahead, were the pegasi sisters along with the fillies and the older ponies.
“Run, just run!” Starlight shouted when seeing them. The black smoke had finished coming out and congregated into a massive black cloud. It sprouted green and red eyes with purple mist streaming from the corners. It proceeded to immediately chase the fleeing ponies.
Private was once again last, already tired from the previous running and just simply way out of shape. He tried to think of anything else other than the black cloud coming closer and closer from behind him. He looked back and gasped when seeing shadowy tendrils heading straight for him.
“Private!” Dew Doe had noticed that her friend was lagging and immediately turned back and dove into the way of the shadow tendrils.
“Dew Doe!” Private shouted when the tendrils wrapped around the pegasus and pulled her closer to the cloud.
Dew Doe grunted and struggled mightily against the tendrils as she tried to break free. She shuddered when feeling that one was gently caressing her mane. As the mare got closer to the shadow and smoke, Sombra’s head began forming on it as he grinned maliciously at the pegasus.
“Oh my, what a tasty little treat I caught,” he chuckled cruelly and pulled her even closer to him. “I must say, you look even more beautiful in person. Private has an exquisite taste in mares.”
“Let me go you, creepy creep!” Dew Doe snarled and tried to hit the face with a hoof. It just passed through. “Get your tentacles off of me!”
“Feisty, aren’t you,” Sombra crooned and moved in closer. He opened his mouth and proceeded to give her cheek and parts of her mane a lick with his tongue. Dew Doe closed her eyes and made a face. She felt sick at the attention she was currently getting from the king. “I may just have found a newfound appreciation for candy canes.”
To the mare’s relief, Sombra’s attention was soon diverted when bluish-colored energy beams shot through his smoke form. Looking down they both saw Private standing on the path. The unicorn looked livid and was madly shooting magic with his horn at the smoke.
“LET HER GO, YOU BASTARD!!” Private screamed and continued to fire.
Sombra chuckled. Though quite the valiant effort by the unicorn, his magic was just too weak. The blasts shot harmlessly through the king. The other ponies were returning when noticing what was happening.
“Now that I have your attention!” he addressed them, dangling Dew Doe upside down with one shadow tendril, while using another to still caress her mane. The pegasus kept batting at them to try and remove them, but her hooves just kept going through. “Either my prisoners return, or I take this sweet little consolation prize instead.”
King Sombra then let out a cruel, malicious laughter that echoed through the mountains, reveling in the shock and horror from the ponies staring at him from below.
End chapter 22
Chapter 23. I can’t believe the bastard is winning.
“I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!!” Private screamed and prepared to shoot more energy blasts. He was tackled down by Barricade since this brother seemed ready to jump around in rage and risk falling off the path.
“Bro, calm down. We’ll get her away from him!” he whispered sharply, holding his wildly struggling brother down. Thankfully, Barricade was still the stronger of the two and had no trouble holding the livid stallion to the snowy ground.
“Sombra! Let her go!” Rainbow Dash shouted and was just about ready to barrel into the smoke, but she had learned her lesson from last time when she did that.
“I will,” Sombra looked at Rainbow Dash. “Just as soon as my prisoners return to my lair.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Starlight growled. She tried to ignore her rising headache. She fired up her horn, but a sting in her head fizzled her magic out. Oh no.
This hadn’t escaped Sombra’s attention and he laughed mightily. “What’s the matter Starlight Glimmer. All out? Shouldn’t have been fighting a magic duel with that nasty bump on your head.”
The ponies looked at each other worried. Starlight couldn’t use her magic, Barricade was currently busy preventing his brother from trying anything foolish in his rage and Rainbow Dash needed the rest of her friends for the Elements of Harmony.
“I can’t believe the bastard is winning!” Barbell stomped a hoof to the ground.
“I’m waiting. I can be satisfied with this lovely looking mare,” King Sombra looked at Dew Doe and smiled, his eyes glittering with greed. She glared right back at him and had folded her front legs since she couldn’t get rid of the tendrils. “She is so sweet looking; I could just eat her all up.”
He moved his head in and seemed prepared to give her another lick, but a powerful light blue blast of magic struck him in the head. The king roared in pain and his grip on Dew Doe loosened. The pegasus wasn’t prepared for this sudden release and started to plummet to the ground.
Rainbow Dash immediately flashed off in a blur and caught Dew so she could correct her own flight. The two pegasi then quickly flew back to the path.
“What!?” Sombra snarled and looked up. His eyes opened wide in shock. Flying high above them were Princess Celestia, Cadance, Luna and Twilight Sparkle. It had been Cadance who had fired the first shot.
“Sombra! Ponyville has been freed from your curse and Discord was kind enough to teleport us right here where you are!” Celestia bellowed so loud it created a gust of wind that blew Sombra back a bit.
“Whoo hoo!” Rainbow Dash hooted when seeing who had just arrived.
King Sombra roared in rage and immediately shot out tendrils towards the princesses. All four of them immediately separated and started shooting at them with their powerful magic, dissipating the shadows immediately.
However, it had just been a diversion. Other tendrils were heading straight for two particular ponies. Private was in the process of racing towards Dew Doe when a tentacle snatched him up and another grabbed Barricade and they were both pulled into the air.
“No! Private!” Dew Doe cried, having been just about to grab the unicorn in a tight hug.
“Barricade!” Barbell shouted, stomping a hoof on the ground, giving Sombra a nasty glare.
“Let them go, Sombra!” Twilight demanded. She already saw there were enough pegasi around to catch the unicorns if he took that demand too literally.
“I think not! Since I can’t have all my prisoners, I shall settle with them,” Sombra snarled and shot powerful shots of dark magic straight at the friendship princess. Cadance dove in the way and put up her love shield that easily dissipated the energy.
It was enough delay for the king. He immediately activated a spell and with the unicorn twins, he disappeared in a teleportation spell.
“NO!” Twilight shouted when seeing what had happened.
“Don’t worry Twilight. It’s just a short reprieve. Discord assured me he would be tracking Sombra. We will know where he goes soon enough,” Celestia said and was looking furious. “Let’s get those other ponies away from here in the meantime.”
Barricade and Private were dropped unceremoniously on the ground as King Sombra finally released them from his hold and reformed into his pony body in front of them. Private groaned and slowly looked up. They were in what looked like the old ruins of a town, close to a series of jagged gray brownish mountains to the north, to the south a desert stretched into the distance.
Sombra looked solemnly over the ruins before glancing towards the crumbling remains of a large building to the west. He let out a deep sigh as memories of a different time were playing out in his mind.
“Ugh… where are we?” Barricade groaned as he was recovering from having his head slammed to the ground.
“We… we are in what used to the be the Dark Pony Empire,” Private whispered, recognizing the remains of the capital. He eyed the building to the west that Sombra was still staring at, recognizing the royal palace - or what was left of it.
“Soo… wait, isn’t that like all the way near Saddle Arabia?” Barricade finally looked up and let out an even louder groan. “Oh, come on, we were being rescued! The princesses had arrived!”
“Why are we here?” Private glared at Sombra, who still hadn’t said a word. The unicorn hadn’t quite forgiven him for how he had treated Dew Doe.
“Does it matter? He probably has more fun torture in mind for me and…” Barricade still lay on the ground, then he glanced at his brother. “And… what did he do with you anyway?”
“I’m… I’m his servant,” Private muttered, eyeing his brother, not really wanting to indulge further details to him.
“Don’t you mean slave?” The unicorn on the ground snorted avoiding looking at Sombra and shuddered a little.
“That probably isn’t far off either,” Private muttered and offered a hoof. Barricade arched his brow, but took it and allowed his brother to help him stand up.
Private returned his attention to Sombra, who still appeared to be lost in thought. His brother still avoided directly looking at the king. The Dark Pony stared almost entranced towards the ruins of his former home. Ignoring the warm wind blowing in from the desert and blew his cape around.
“I told you to leave Dew Doe out of this!” he addressed the king, not caring if he would be punished. He was still quite angry.
“These streets used to be filled with life. Merchants selling their wares, ponies going about their business, foals playing amongst the buildings,” Sombra muttered like he hadn’t heard his prisoner, his eyes and mouth twitching.
“All gone, in one fell swoop. Scattered, destroyed. Just because they couldn’t accept that we broke off, just because we were different. Everypony slaughtered as they fled - stallions, mares, foals, wherever they tried to hide. Children watching their parents being murdered as they tried to protect them, before being themselves butchered,” the king sneered. “Then they paraded the broken, violated body of the queen around the streets, as if some great victory had been achieved.”
“Sombra, I’m talking to you…” Private started to sneer, but then he caught on something the king had said. “What do you mean broke off?”
He jumped a little when Sombra snapped his head to glare down at him.
“You don’t know? Well here is a secret the Saddle Arabians refuse to admit to. Dark Ponies are just off-shoots of them. We were Saddle Arabians, just ones more attuned to dark magic. But we were hounded and persecuted simply because we were slightly different than the ‘correct’ versions of them. Then the first queen, Odio gathered us together and we moved north. Suddenly we were traitors as well because we refused to conform and ‘correct’ ourselves and ‘change for the better’, like they so nicely put it,” Sombra snorted and started to walk towards the ruins of the palace.
“I always did wonder why he was so tall.” Private looked at Barricade. “I just realized, he’s the same size as a Saddle Arabian unicorn.”
“I will just take you word for it,” Barricade muttered, still doing his best not to look at the king. He was really uncomfortable.
“Will you two come along!” Sombra snapped, causing the twins to start a bit before quickly following the king.
“So, why are we here?” Private asked again when he caught up with Sombra. Since he couldn’t seem to address the Dew Doe issue, he might as well find out why they had come to this place.
“You’ll see,” was the only response the dark unicorn gave as they came closer to the palace.
They passed what were once the gates and were soon in what had at one time been the courtyard. Sombra glanced around and frowned at signs that indicated excavation, though they didn’t look that recent. He looked at Private, not really needing to say the question on his mind.
“Archeologists have been here several times. Mom and dad are the ones who thoroughly examined the royal palace,” the unicorn quickly explained. “The uh… crown jewels of your mother are in the Saddle Arabian capital now.”
“I may have to correct that,” Sombra snorted and continued onward.
“If it makes you feel better, the Saddle Arabians really, deeply regret what their ancestors did. They call the destruction of the Empire their Greatest Shame. They allow us descendants to visit the sights of the old empire. Mom and dad were given special permission to excavate here. Not even Daring Do was permitted to touch these sites,” Private quickly said, not liking the sound of what the king had just said.
“These Saddle Arabians tortured, raped and murdered my sister!” Sombra snarled at Private who backed up so quickly he bumped into his brother who fell to his haunches.
“Nothing they say or do will let me forgive them that!” the king’s eyes began glowing green and purple smoke began pouring out of them.
“Bro, now would be a good time to remember that you are the quiet one,” Barricade whispered, looking just as terrified as his brother.
“Yeah… uh sorry,” Private gulped.
Thankfully to the twins, the king turned away and resumed walking. His eyes turned normal red again and the purple smoke vanished.
The twins remained silent as they followed Sombra. It was difficult for the untrained eye to see where they were going. Crumbled walls and broken columns didn’t really tell much where exactly in the palace they were. However, Private could, with his restored memories, recognize how things used to look. He soon realized they were headed directly to where the throne room had once been. Sombra navigated the palace as if it was still fully standing and he had never left it in the first place.
“See those slabs? That’s the remains of the steps that led up to the throne,” Private whispered to his brother as they entered a wide area.
“Fascinating,” Barricade said dryly, never having shared his family’s passion for archeology.
Sombra stepped up to where throne had once sat. For a moment he stood there in silence before turning around to face the brothers. They still stood close to the entrance. The king didn’t change his expression as he activated the dark magic in him.
The ground started to shake and with a rumble an opening began forming right in front of the throne. Private’s jaw dropped and then the unicorn rushed to this newly form hole in the ground before his brother could stop him. Stairs led down into the darkness.
“Where did this come from? Mom and dad scoured this room for weeks and found no sign of hidden chambers,” Private exclaimed. The unicorn was so surprised that all anger and resentment had vanished. Now his brain was just reeling at the possibilities at what was down there. He grabbed a nearby rock and threw it down. Several seconds passed before he heard a distant thud.
“There are chambers here only accessible to my bloodline, dark magic isn’t enough. It has to be performed by a blood member of the royal family,” Sombra explained and stepped down the stone slabs. He arched his brow when Private lit up his horn and darted down the stairs.
“Private!” Barricade protested and froze when realizing he was alone with the king.
“Well what are you waiting for?” Sombra looked at the remaining twin and gestured to the hole.
Barricade gulped, but lit up his own horn and quickly went down the stairs. Sombra followed and used his magic to close the hole behind them. They continued down the stairs and found Private at the bottom in a small chamber. The unicorn was looking eagerly around. There were ancient runes carved on the walls.
“I know history is your thing, bro, but please don’t leave me alone like that,” Barricade whispered sharply once he was next to his brother.
“Sorry, new chamber. Look at these runes! Old dark pony script. Mom would have a field day here translating them.” Private seemed to have completely forgotten that he was currently a prisoner and not on an archeological dig.
“Our mother? Who just recently was a prisoner of that guy?” Barricade grunted and saw he wasn’t quite getting through. His brother was just too excited right now at all this history in front of him.
Sombra walked past the twins, chuckling a bit at Private’s enthusiasm. He used his dark magic again and some of the runes began glowing. Then slowly a doorway formed that from a glance seemed to lead to a small library. The king was mildly taken aback when hearing a squee and saw a rush of gray and blonde as Private dove into the doorway.
“Throw pancakes in there and I think you just gave Private his heaven,” Barricade grunted, hoofing his face.
“Well, I knew his passion was in history but… I’m at loss of words,” Sombra actually sounded stunned at his prisoner’s reaction.
The two entered the chamber and saw Private rushing around, looking at every bookshelf, being careful not to touch anything. He briefly examined things before turning to the next. There was a reclining couch in one corner of this smaller room and a side table with old golden wine goblets resting on top. At the opposite corner was a large standing mirror, but the surface was completely black.
“What is this place?” Barricade dared to ask since his brother was clearly too busy forgetting their current situation.
“My mother’s private study,” Sombra responded and walked over to the couch, regarding it for a moment before turning to the bookshelves. “She used to study powerful magic here.”
“Private, PRIVATE!” Barricade tried to get his brother’s attention. Finally, the other twin stopped running around and turned towards him. “Could you focus? Have you forgotten we are not exactly here on our own free will?”
“Sorry,” Private grinned nervously when seeing his brother glaring at him.
King Sombra just chuckled and walked over to one of the bookshelves. He started to examine the books himself, picking them up to briefly go through them. Private in the meantime sat down, feelingly mildly embarrassed to have lost himself in the moment of seeing an ancient study in such pristine condition.
“Okay, private study. Why?” Private looked at Sombra.
“I’m hoping that mother left something that could help me recreate the Dark Ponies,” King Sombra said. “I had toyed with the idea of going here, but hadn’t planned to just yet. The Princesses have forced my hoof.”
“Are you still going on about that crap?” Barricade snorted, but was ignored. The unicorn gave his brother one last glare to make sure he was behaving himself before walking over to the mirror. He stood in front of it and tilted his head slightly in wonder. He saw no reflection on the otherwise polished surface. Only darkness greeted him.
“So, what’s with the mirror,” he asked and raised a hoof to touch it.
Sombra looked over and frowned, Barricade was inches from touching the mirror when the unicorn suddenly jumped back. An image was forming on the surface. The king threw the book he was holding back to the shelf and approached.
“What the…” Barricade stopped talking as the image became clearer. It was a tall, Dark Pony unicorn - a mare wearing royal garb not too dissimilar to the ones Sombra wore. She looked sternly forward.
“Mother,” Sombra whispered quietly. Private leaned forward where he sat so he could see the mirror as well.
“That’s your mom, huh… wait what the heck?” Barricade stepped further back when the image of the late Queen Rabia suddenly looked down right at him, then she turned her gaze towards Sombra, who looked just as startled as his prisoner.
All three ponies looked up when all around them there was a soft, yet cold-sounding laughter. They all returned their attention to the mirror. The image of Queen Rabia was smiling as her gaze was fixed on Sombra.
“Ah, so my prodigal son returns,” the voice said. The lips of the image moved to match it perfectly. It dawned on the three stallions that it was in fact the mirror reflection that was talking.
“What? What is this?” Sombra for once looked utterly baffled. The queen threw her head back as she laughed mockingly.
“My son, you think you are the only one who can cheat death? Wasn’t it I who taught you that death is merely an inconvenient delay in a world so full of magic?” she returned her attention to Sombra. Suddenly her horn lit up and she began emerging from the mirror.
Sombra started to back away. He looked absolutely shocked. Private rose to his feet, glancing worried at his brother who hadn’t moved. When she fully emerged from the mirror, Rabia was standing right in front of Barricade due to her size.
“Hello there, handsome,” Queen Rabia smiled down at Barricade and raised one hoof to gently touch under his muzzle and lift his head. “Aren’t you a ravishing specimen?”
Barricade was not sure how to respond to that. It sounded like a compliment, but knowing this was Sombra’s mother, he wasn’t sure he wanted that kind of flattery from her. To his relief, Rabia dropped her hoof and returned her attention to her son. Sombra still seemed unable to say anything, just stared in bewilderment at what was happening in front of him. Rabia’s expression turned sterner.
“Is this any way to present yourself to your mother,” she snorted. That seemed to snap Sombra out of his stunned stupor and he sneered.
“You are supposed to be dead,” he snarled.
“Oh please.” Rabia rolled her eyes and took a step closer. At that her son backed up a step. She looked at Sombra, thoroughly unimpressed. “It was I who taught you how to tether your spirit to a magical anchor, taught you how your dark magic could be used to eventually reconstruct a new body. Everything you know, you got from me.”
“Not everything,” Sombra growled and backed up again.
“How to increase your dark magic? Me,” Rabia continued going forward. Suddenly her horn began bending and became as red and knife-like as her son’s. “Mind control using dark magic? Me. Crystal structures using dark magic? ME!”
“Will you be quiet!” Sombra shouted and a burst of dark magic shot out of his horn, aimed at his mother.
Private and Barricade watched stunned as Rabia used her own magic to simply dispel the shot. Sombra snarled and continued to back away. He was now in the doorway of the study.
“You. Do not. Order me!” Rabia’s scowled and from her horn came a powerful blast of dark magic. Her son put up a shield, but the blast tore through it and struck him, sending him flying out of the study with a cry.
“Oh Sombra. I may have taught you everything you know. But I certainly didn’t teach you everything I know,” the queen claimed as she herself departed the study.
The twins looked at each other, unsure what to do. Private then eyed the mirror. The surface was all cracked and broken, but it was reflective now instead of pitch black.
“What just happened?” Barricade asked, glancing at the mirror as well.
“I… uh…” Private slowly turned his head back towards his brother. “I think we may have accidentally brought back the most powerful queen to ever rule the Dark Pony Empire? The mare who raised Sombra.”
“Oh, is that all?” his brother blinked. “So, should we just head over to Tartarus and free Tirek while we are at it? Because this feels like we practically did that.”
“You may not be wrong,” Private grimaced and hurried to the entrance of the study. Sombra and Rabia were nowhere to be seen, but the hole at the top was open again.
Private hesitated. He could hear magic being thrown around up there. It was clear Sombra and Rabia were battling it out. The unicorn steeled himself and started up the stairs. Barricade was right behind him. When the brothers reached the top they carefully peeked out and their eyes opened wide at the sight.
Dark magic blasts were going everywhere as Sombra tried in vain to barrage his mother in turn. Rabia stood still and calmly deflected or dispelled every single shot. Her son looked enraged as he rushed around in his smoke form, blasting at the queen. Sometimes he tried summoning sharp crystals to skewer her, but Rabia just produced a shield that shot outwards and destroyed them.
“Hmm, smoke and shadow form. I will admit, you have improved on our shadow-walking abilities,” Rabia stated as she deflected another shot from her son.
“So, who do we root for? The guy who keeps tormenting us or the mare who seems to be owning him?” Barricade asked, feeling a little vindicated seeing Sombra unable to do anything.
“When I’m done with you, I will head over to Saddle Arabia and I shall do to them what they did to my daughter and my subjects. Not a single pony will be allowed to survive,” the queen said so casually it was like she was planning a summer vacation.
“Oookay, not on the team with the mad, evil queen,” Barricade gulped when hearing Rabia’s plans. Private just shook his head. At least Barricade was sounding more like himself.
“Ugh, I tire of this,” Queen Rabia muttered. She suddenly shot out a powerful blast of magic. It struck Sombra, tearing him out of his smoke form and right back into his pony body. The king roared in pain as he crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
“Tsk, tsk, my poor, misguided son,” Rabia clucked her tongue and casually strolled over to where Sombra lay stunned and disoriented from the fall. “Typical stallion. So emotional, so out of control in his rage.”
“Uh, should I add sexist?” Barricade arched his brow. Private hoofed his face before he started climbing fully out of the hole. His brother blinked when seeing that. “Wait, what are you doing?”
“Your majesty?” Private addressed the queen, who was gently caressing Sombra’s mane with a hoof. First her eyes merely shifted to glance at him, before she turned her head.
“Remember me? I visited your court once,” the unicorn slowly approached, not really sure why he was doing this.
“Hmm, you do look rather familiar,” Rabia stepped away from Sombra, who raised his head, staring at Private with an uncertain expression.
“I was with my friend Dew Doe. Your daughter showed her around and your son showed me around,” Private explained and halted when feeling he was close enough.
“Oh indeed. You rather unexpectedly arrived in my land,” Rabia murmured as she walked closer and began circling the unicorn. “How is it that you live? It’s been over a millennia, hasn’t it?”
“I travelled back in time with a third friend,” Private explained, keeping an eye on the queen as she went around him.
“Indeed, and who has such powerful magic?” Rabia arched her brow. “I heard rumors that Starswirl the Bearded created a time magic spell, but I somehow doubt you used that.”
“My friend is a time pony,” Private told her. He eyed Sombra who was slowly trying to rise.
“Oh, just a moment.” Rabia also noticed. She swiftly walked over to Sombra and struck him hard with a hoof. The king slumped back to the ground, groaning in pain. “Stay down. I’m busy right now.”
Private swallowed nervously as the queen returned her attention to him. It was rather strange to see Sombra in this kind of situation.
“Now where were we? Ah yes, time pony. I have never heard of a ‘time pony’,” Rabia mused and stopped right in front of Private. She looked at him and smiled warmly. Using one hoof she gently put it under his muzzle to raise his head. “Please tell me more.”
“They are the keepers of time; they take form of normal Equestrian ponies, but always have hourglass cutie-marks. They tend to be reclusive and bit isolationist, though they do work for Celestia,” Private told her, feeling more nervous to be this close to the queen than ever with King Sombra.
“Well that is unfortunate. My powers have not grown enough to challenge the Princess of the Sun,” Rabia sighed and lowered her hoof a bit, then she smirked and raised it higher to tap her own muzzle. “Then again…”
“Private, duck!” Sombra suddenly yelled. He had managed to rise to his hooves. Private yelped as he saw a huge dark magic blast heading their way. He quickly did as he was told just as it struck Rabia hard and sent her flying across the former throne room. She crashed into a ruined wall which crumbled even further all around her.
“You insolent, ungrateful whelp!” Rabia snarled as she rose up from the debris. Her own eyes were now glowing red and green, purple smoke poured from them.
“Oh, that really hurt, mother,” Sombra snorted sarcastically and rose up again in his smoke form.
Rabia growled and shot a beam of magic at him. This time however, Sombra parted his form so it missed. Yet he didn’t retaliate. Instead he shot out two tendrils of shadow that grabbed Private and Barricade and yanked them closer to him, then he turned and sped away as quickly as he could.
“Come back here! You are not running away from me again, Sombra!” Rabia roared and dark magic began building up all around her as she continued to scream in rage. Shadows congregated and began surrounding her and the queen began dissolving into it.
“Okay, when you said your mother was complicated, I didn’t think you meant that!” Private shouted as he and Barricade flew over the desert, firmly held by Sombra’s shadow tendrils.
Sombra said nothing, he seemed to be concentrating on just getting out of there fast as possible. Private looked down at Barricade who faced the direction they were fleeing from. His brother looked pale.
“Barricade? Are you alright?” Private asked, worried that his brother was having a panic attack. His twin said nothing, just pointed with his hoof.
Private twisted around the best he could so he could look behind himself. His eyes grew wider and wider. The entire horizon behind them was filled with dark, shadow-like smoke that was following and gaining on them.
“Must go faster. MUST GO FASTER!” Private cried, realizing what that was.
“I… I don’t think I can,” Sombra finally spoke. The twins glanced at each other skeptically before turning to the smoke that held them. Their captor sounded afraid.
“Is… is…he…. Wait, you’re afraid?” Private just couldn’t believe it.
“Believe me, Private. When you really get to know my mother, you would not be so surprised,” the king whispered.
“She is gaining on us,” Barricade shouted out in alarm. He hated to admit it, but he preferred Sombra’s company right now.
“GAH!” Sombra suddenly screamed. Two yellow beams had struck his shadow form. He lost concentration and dropped back into his pony body and fell to the sand below.
Private and Barricade, however, were caught in dark blue, transparent magic bubbles and gently floated down. The twins weren’t sure if they were dreaming...descending from the air were Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight.
“Okay, that works too,” Barricade whispered, watching as all four Princesses landed in front of the groaning form of King Sombra, looking at him angrily.
“You fools!” Sombra looked up slowly. “I’m not the shadow you should be shooting at!!!”
The four Princesses looked up and balked at seeing the mass of huge, shadow-like smoke heading towards them. Luna, who was the one holding the twins in her magic, quickly set them down behind the alicorns.
“What is this?” the lunar princess asked, confused.
“This… would be… my mother,” Sombra groaned and slumped back down. The blasts from Celestia had really taken a lot out of him, not to mention his previous battle with the queen. Weakly he glanced back at the incoming mass of darkness.
As it got closer, it finally halted and for a second remained still right in front of the four princesses and King Sombra. Then slowly Queen Rabia’s head formed. It was larger and much more monstrous than Sombra’s had been.
“Queen Rabia? Alive? How can it be?” Luna looked at her sister, who was staring gravely at the huge shadow form in front of them.
“We may have… uh had something to do with that,” Private spoke up. Three of the princesses looked at him.
“Not on purpose,” Barricade quickly added. “Well there was this black mirror and well she appeared in it and… yeah…”
Everybody’s attention was brought back to Rabia when she laughed softly. Celestia and Luna stepped forward, past where Sombra still lay. Cadance and Twilight remained where they were. The younger princesses gave the king a firm glare as if to tell him to remain down.
“Queen Rabia, we are only here for the ponies your son abducted and tormented. We have no quarrel with you,” Celestia calmly said. Her sister nodded in agreement.
“That is true,” Rabia responded, her voice was unearthly and echoed all around them. “I am currently chasing him; I have no interest in your subjects.”
While the celestial sister spoke with Rabia, Twilight turned to Private and Barricade while Cadance stood guard over Sombra, who made no attempt to move.
“I am really sorry how your birthday party went and that I couldn’t keep you safe in my castle,” the purple alicorn addressed the twins. “But we are going to transport you back now. You’re safe.”
“Yeah about that,” Barricade had never once taken his eyes of the massive shadow in front of them. “That missy plans to attack Saddle Arabia when she’s done with her son.”
“Wait what?” Twilight gasped and immediately galloped back to when Private nodded to confirm what his brother said.
“Celestia wait,” the young princess shouted. “The twins said she’s going to attack Saddle Arabia!”
“Oooh.” Rabia eyed the twins with an almost motherly disappointment. “Spoilsports.”
“Queen Rabia, we cannot allow you to do that.” Celestia’s stance changed immediately. She frowned and spread her wings, as did Luna, Cadance and Twilight.
The shadows began to recede, as did the disembodied head of the Dark Pony Queen. Soon Rabia was back in her pony body, looking mildly disappointed.
“Well, as I told your subject, Princess Celestia, I am not ready to challenge you or your sister,” the queen said before smirking. “But I will be soon.”
Without warning, there was a flash of light that blinded everybody. When they could see again, Queen Rabia was gone. The princesses looked quickly around, but saw no sign of her. Then a groan from the ground diverted their attention there. Sombra still lay beneath them, having no energy to make his escape.
“Oh sure, leave me behind. Love you too, mother,” Sombra muttered and then eyed the four pairs of stern eyes glaring down at him. “Well, what are you waiting for? I have no strength left after fighting my mother and a blast from you, Celestia. Do what you must.”
“You have a lot to answer for, Sombra,” Celestia said. There was a hint of fury in her voice. “And I have given you plenty of opportunities to stand down. Why now?”
Sombra groaned and slowly began to rise, but his legs were shaky. Cadance frowned, activated her magic and cast a spell. Chains formed on the king’s legs and a manacle also went around his horn that blocked his magic.
“He’s afraid of his mother,” Private spoke up. For once he didn’t even flinch at the glare he got from the king. The unicorn felt it was a nice payback for Dew Doe.
“Private,” Sombra growled. “Of all the times to forget that you are supposed to be the quiet twin.”
“Is your mother really the reason you are giving up so easily?” Luna sounded skeptical.
Sombra sighed in frustration, gave Private another stink-eye before glaring at the Lunar Princess. “Let’s just say that right now I feel safer encased in stone, sent to Tartarus or blown up again by the Crystal Heart,” he muttered and now looked away.
Three of the alicorns looked at Princess Celestia, who was frowning as she considered this. Then she nodded and turned to Luna.
“Take him to Tartarus for now, but only for now. Rabia’s plans worry me. I’m hesitant to admit it, but we may need Sombra’s knowledge of her,” she declared. Her sister nodded and grabbed Sombra’s chains with her magic before teleporting away with him.
Celestia and the two remaining princesses turned to the unicorn twins who could do little but watch the events unfold.
“Well, I am relieved neither of you are going to the hospital this time around,” Celestia addressed them with a gentle smile. “We are taking you back to Twilight’s castle, where your family awaits.”
“Oh okay, so we are finally free of him?” Barricade chuckled nervously. “Then I can finally do this.”
The alicorns watched in surprise as Barricade dropped to the ground as he passed out. Private smiled nervously and gently patted his unconscious brother.
“This has been really trying for him,” he said.
“I’m sure it was,” Twilight smiled in understanding. “Let’s get the two of you out of here.”
Celestia activated her magic and teleported all five ponies out of the desert, leaving nothing behind but the wind and the sand.
Tirek grunted in his cage, bored out of his skull. There wasn’t much to do when stuck in the most secure prison in Equestria. Occasionally Cerberus would walk by on his usual patrol, but that was about the only thing that mitigated the tedium a bit.
So, when a portal opened close to his cage, the centaur looked up curiously, wondering what was suddenly happening. He arched his brow when seeing Princess Luna step through, pulling a new prisoner in who was soon caged right next to him. This one though had shackles on his legs and a manacle on his horn.
“King Sombra? You are alive?” Tirek inquired when seeing the Dark Pony sitting stoically in the cage now in front of him.
“Lord Tirek.” Sombra looked at him and nodded. “You are looking… frail.”
“We’ll see how you’ll look after spending some time in here,” the centaur retorted and sat down. He narrowed his eyes as he regarded the pony. “Why would they even bother sending you to Tartarus?”
“I did list them alternatives. They chose this one. Apparently they believe I could be an asset against my mother,” King Sombra rolled his eyes. He eyed the centaur who looked momentarily shocked.
“Wait, your mother? Queen Rabia is alive as well?” Tirek didn’t quite like the sound of that. “The Queen of Rage and Wrath is back?”
“So it would seem and no, they did not imprison her,” Sombra shrugged and looked away sighing slightly.
“They didn’t…” the centaur frowned and grabbed the bars of his cage and looked around. “Suddenly staying in Tartarus doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.”
“Personally, I would have preferred oblivion,” the king muttered and lay down in his cage.
Well that’s that, burned out by my own mother, dragged in chains to Tartarus. Sombra stared at his shackles. It was a foolish errand anyway. It wasn’t working… I just couldn’t accept it. I just wanted it so badly, the king laid his head on top of his legs. The Dark Ponies are truly gone. Only their Equestrian descendants remain. Well, aside from me. Sombra frowned and then scowled as he remembered his mother. Oh and her, I suppose.
Damnation, I miss Private already, the king grunted and closed his eyes, trying to rest for now.
Dew Doe knocked on the door before opening it and peeking in. Private lay on the bed and seemed to be deep in thought. He didn’t even glance towards her and that told the mare he had probably not even noticed the knock.
They were all at Twilight’s castle, were a great reunion had been held. Pinkie threw both a ‘Welcome back from that horrible King Sombra’ party and a ‘Sorry how the birthday party went’ party. Dinky could hardly let go of Derpy the entire time and the gray pegasus hadn’t been much better. Foxy was the same with Coal and Cara was practically glued to Barricade.
Twilight then offered the family to stay the night at her castle before they headed home in the morning. Everybody was worn out after the last few days, especially the unicorn brothers. The princess had looked slightly relieved that they had accepted, like she had worried they would refuse because of what happened last time in it.
Now it was the morning the next day and Dew Doe had a real urge to check on Private and see how he was.
“Hi?” she fully entered the guest room, right now Private was unusually unreadable to her. Normally the mare could at the very least get some hints of his mood from the stallion’s body language.
“Hey,” Private responded. He looked up at her.
“How are you?” Dew came closer to the bed and sat down. She hadn’t really had a chance really to speak to him since he and Barricade had been rescued, so much had been going on yesterday.
“Eh,” the stallion grunted and shrugged.
Dew Doe arched her brow, this sounded like Private. But more like him after arriving home from work, not after having spent time captured by King Sombra.
“If you wish to talk,” Dew offered.
“How are you?” Private looked at Dew Doe. “I mean… after what he did…”
“Oh please, he just goes on a long list of leery stallions who have tried that with me,” Dew Doe shook her head with a smile. Then shuddered a little when remembering the licking of her cheek. “Although, he is by far the creepiest.”
“I hated seeing him handle you like that,” the unicorn sighed sadly. “I told him to leave you alone.”
“Private, I seriously doubt you could order him to do anything,” the mare told him reassuringly and reached to gently pat him on one hoof.
“I love you,” Private said out of the blue, still watching the mare who hadn’t quite caught on.
“Yes and I… what?” Dew blinked, oh she was always aware that Private cared about her, just like any other friend. However, it was the way the stallion had said it.
“I love you, Dew Doe. More than anything, more than history, more than pancakes…” the stallion sighed and looked down. “I’ve… just always been too afraid…”
“Mee…meee…. meeee…” Dew Doe was utterly unable to say anything, only squeaking escaped her lips. This had just been too sudden for her brain to fully take in right now.
“And seeing him handle you like that… it made me realize… just how much…I...” Private looked up, his brow rose at seeing that Dew Doe still couldn’t form a coherent word. Suddenly she fell back to the floor with a thud and lay there on her back, all legs and wings twitching.
The door to the room swung open and Foxy Stripes stood there along with Coal, the mare looked down at her incoherent sister. The maroon pony looked at Private who was staring at Dew unsure.
“What happened?” Foxy asked confused. Coal went over to her aunt and poked her with a hoof.
“I said I loved her.” Private shrugged, still not sure if he should be worried or amused. It wasn’t too unusual for Dew to react a little oddly to things that excited her.
“You what?” the maroon pegasus blinked then eyed her sister once more. “I think you broke her.”
Suddenly Dew Doe sprang up with a squee and tackled the stallion off the bed and they crashed to the floor on the other side of it and out of sight.
“Uh, what just happened?” Coal asked confused and looked at her mother. “We came here to say that breakfast was ready…”
“Ookay, nothing here for young fillies, out, out, out.” Foxy quickly grabbed her daughter and ushered the confused filly out of the room.
On the other side of the bed, nothing serious was really happening. But Dew was hugging Private tightly. The unicorn returned it, liking this embrace much better.
“Okay sorry… I lost myself there a little,” Dew giggled and let go of the stallion. “I kind of had accepted this might never happen.”
“Well it has.” Private shrugged and they both sat up. Dew was blushing a little and nervously banged her front hooves together.
“Also, I really should have been evaluating your, uh, mental health after all what happened, not squeaking like a silly filly. So seriously, how are you?” the mare asked.
Private frowned and considered what he should say. Right now, he was glad to be finally away from King Sombra, especially with the knowledge that the king was locked up in Tartarus. Yet he couldn’t help but feel a little regret, but it was brushed aside. Private was painfully aware that the king would never be again the prince he used to be.
“I’m conflicted,” Private said and looked at Dew Doe. “But how about I tell you about it during a more official therapy session?”
“That’s fine. You say it at your own pace.” The pegasus patted him gently on the back, trying to keep all the internal screaming of joy safely buried inside for now.
“There is just one one thing though, say ‘Coda Umbra.’” The stallion eyed her after having a moment of thought.
“Coda Umbra? Why…” Dew’s eyes bulged out when suddenly her mind was flooded with memories. For a moment she just sat there dead still staring forward before she slowly looked at Private. “Okay... I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill Doctor Whooves!”
“You’re telling me those super important to-be-locked-away-memories are of us meeting King Sombra back in the Dark Pony Empire!?!” the pegasus then cried in frustration.
“Don’t blame Whooves. The Time Pony Council forced him to do it. He broke protocol to contact me to help unlock them,” Private told her gently. Her knew Dew wasn’t being serious about the killing, but did know that despite a usually forgiving nature, Dew Doe really could hold a grudge.
“Those pompous featherbrains! This could have been really helpful for your therapy!” Dew Doe growled and started banging her head on the mattress of the bed. “I swear I’m going to kill them all!!”
“Save some for me,” Private joked and chuckled when Dew covered her face in the mattress to scream in more frustration.
“Ugh, I’m glad we were done with all that time pony nonsense years ago,” the pegasus grunted after she raised her head.
“You and me both,” Private rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement.
Barricade lay on the bed just trying not to think of anything. He was finally calm, no magic torture, no having to be in the presence of King Sombra. Nothing, just him and the bed underneath him. Next to him Barbell still slept, snoring softly.
Ugh, I swear, I can’t get back to the normality of Manehattan soon enough, he thought and rubbed his face with one hoof.
Man, it was crazy to see Private get this angry. He’s never been this livid, not even against me, Barricade closed his eyes and grunted when he did start thinking about the past several days. He really does love Dew Doe. Like the rest of us have always known. Good for him. She’s a good mare, good head on her shoulders. Should keep him out of trouble.
“Oh come on, brain, I don’t want to think.” Barricade tapped a hoof on his temple, accidentally bumping his leg into Barbell.
“Huh, wha?” The mare looked up.
Barricade hoofed his face feeling mildly embarrassed, then he turned to face her.
“Sorry, babe. Didn’t mean to wake you up,” he said and leaned over to kiss her. “It’s morning. Cara went to get breakfast. I wanted to wait for you.”
“Oh, it’s morning? Barbell murmured and returned the kiss. “Wow, so it’s finally over, huh?”
“Looks like it. Look, I’m sorry I never told you what happened… I just…” Barricade fell silent and sighed deeply; he was given a light slap on the head.
“You were being a stubborn idiot, as usual,” Barbell chuckled and gave him another kiss. “But you are getting some help now.”
“Oh joy, throwing me to the head doctor huh? What unlucky SOB is going to get to dig into my brain?” the stallion chortled. Considering some of the issues he’s had, he could just picture any shrink running away, screaming in terror.
“Dew Doe and Foxy have already agreed to help you,” she told him.
This caused Barricade to rise in the bed a little as he stared at her unsure. Never in a million years had he expected to hear that the pegasi sisters were going to help him!
“Wait? They are going to help me? Why would they give me the time of the day?” he asked, astonished.
“Because they are sorry. Sorry that they ignored you and only focused on your brother,” Barbell explained to him with a smirk.
“Private needed far more help than me. I can’t blame them for not helping me. I was horrible to Foxy and I was horrible to them all,” he claimed and had a half a mind to protest this idea. Barbell sat up in the bed properly and Barricade did the same.
“And now they are giving you another chance. Let them help you since they are now willing,” the mare said sternly. Her lover sighed and looked away for a moment.
“Okay fine,” he relented and turned back to her. “Since you asked so nicely.”
Barbell chuckled and the couple kissed again. When they parted, Barricade took a glance around the guest room they had been given. It didn’t look too shabby, but then again, they were in a castle.
“So, breakfast?” he asked and started to climb out of the bed.
“Yeah, I could use some grub,” Barbell nodded and slipped down to the floor herself.
The couple started to walk towards the bedroom door, side-by-side. Before Barricade opened it with his magic, he took another look at Barbell.
“Wanna get married?” he asked. The mare looked at him skeptically.
“You wanna get married?” she asked, unsure.
“I asked first,” Barricade chuckled and ducked a hoof aimed at his face for the lame joke.
“Yeah let’s get married. Need to get a chain around you somehow to keep you out of trouble,” Barbell grunted though a smile did cross her lips.
“That chain has been around my neck since we first shared a bed,” Barricade joshed and ran out to flee another hoof aimed at him. “Always with the tough love, babe!”
“Oh come back here, you prick!” Barbell snapped and chased after him.
Starlight Glimmer sat in the map room and was face to face with all four princesses. The unicorn was a little nervous. This debriefing had been put on hold until the next morning to allow the returning ponies to reunite and just get a chance to finally relax after their harrowing experience.
“You did very well, Starlight, even if that bump on your head did cause you some problems,” Twilight Sparkle smiled at her student.
“Yeah well, I at least still had some magic to use this time around,” Starlight chuckled. She reached to rub the bump on her head that was now almost gone. “Though honestly, I’d rather wait a while longer before having to face another old enemy of yours.”
“Let’s hope that comes true,” Celestia agreed with a nod. “King Sombra is locked away for now in Tartarus and his magic sealed within his horn.”
“So uh, how did you get rid of the curse? I didn’t even get a chance to do anything about that myself,” Starlight wondered. In fact, the curse had never come up in the first place. She had been so busy just focusing on distracting Sombra.
“The curse stopped spreading after a while, so Cadance and I could actually begin removing it using our own magic, Celestia and Twilight then did the same from within the castle. It was long and tiring work,” Luna explained and looked at Cadence, who nodded.
“We busted out just in time to receive a message from the Crystal Empire about your situation. Discord thankfully was this time much more agreeable to offer a little more direct help. He had not enjoyed being confined like that and seeing the risk it put Fluttershy and the rest of us in,” Twilight then picked up from where Luna left.
“He teleported us directly to where King Sombra was and then kept tabs on him in case he escaped us again, which is why we could immediately catch up with him as he had gone all the way to the old Dark Pony Empire which is north of Saddle Arabia,” the friendship princess finished.
“Yikes. It would have taken weeks to get there otherwise,” Starlight cringed at the thought.
“Indeed,” Celestia and frowned heavily. “Much could have been averted if we could have located Sombra sooner.”
“Yes, tis true,” Luna scowled hard. Starlight looked at the Celestial Princesses confused and looked at Twilight hoping for some explanation.
“I will let Twilight tell you about it a little later, Starlight. Right now we four need to attend to a matter. You may go,” Celestia looked at the unicorn, who arched her brow but then shrugged. This had been a shorter debriefing than she imagined, but she couldn’t complain. Starlight dropped out of the chair and trotted out of the map room.
“Seal the door Luna,” Celestia told her sister who nodded and used her magic to put a magical seal on the map room door.
Celestia frowned hard as she used her own magic to fire a small beam of it on the map table. It seemed to dissipate on it at first, but then swirling energy began to emerge and rose up to form a portal, through it, distorted silhouettes of ponies sitting at a table could be seen. All four princesses now had very serious expressions.
“These are the Princesses of Equestria, addressing the Time Pony Council,” Celestia addressed them.
“Greetings princesses, how may we serve,” a distorted voice greeted them.
“Apparently, you haven’t.” Celestia’s frown changed into a scowl. “I understand that you forbade my agent to locate King Sombra when he was finally making some process.”
“We had to…” the voices started but fell silent when the Sun Princess raised a hoof.
“I do not want to hear it. I have respected your desire for secrecy for a long time and I understand your concern to not want to expose others to your time magic. However, what you did has now directly threatened the security of Saddle Arabia and by proxy Equestria since we are now allied with them,” she said. There was hint of fury in her voice again.
“Had you allowed the agent to locate King Sombra, we could have dealt with him sooner. But because of your actions he could strike and strike hard and the end results were unleashing an old enemy of Saddle Arabia. An old and very dangerous enemy,” Luna snapped, allowing her anger to be heard far clearer than her sister.
“Queen Rabia is back,” Celestia said gravely. “Let that sink in. The most powerful queen of the Dark Pony Empire has been allowed to return. The mare who raised and molded King Sombra. The Queen of Rage and Wrath.
“I also understand that you had two of my subjects forcibly undergo a memory lock - memories that could have very well helped them deal with King Sombra. I didn’t think I had to say it, but I will say it now. I forbid this procedure to be done on my subjects!” Celestia actually snapped now, and there was fire in her eyes. Still no word came from the silhouettes.
“I take it by your silence that you understand how grave and serious this matter is,” Cadance spoke up. “We can only hope now that nothing bad will come of this. But I would advise that you carefully reconsider some of your policies.”
“Do you have anything to say for yourselves,” Twilight now spoke up. She was still new at this and had only been recently initiated into having to deal with these ponies, but she was downright furious and the only one who really and truly showed it. She took this whole thing rather personally after what had happened.
“We… apologize. We misjudged the severity of the matter,” finally the distorted voice spoke.
“We accept your apology and hope we can continue to work together in a more cooperative spirit,” Celestia nodded and used her magic to close the connection.
The Sun Princess didn’t even flinch when hearing Twilight’s hoof slam on the table. She wasn’t feeling much different, however. Celestia knew that of the four of them, the last few days had badly affected her former student the most, so she chose to continue to remain calm and allow Twilight to vent.
“I can’t believe those arrogant jerks!” she hissed, her wings raised in agitation. The princess was breathing heavily. “King Sombra attacked my friends in our own town. Abducted an entire family from my own castle that I had promised to keep safe. None of it would have happened if they had just allowed us to find him sooner!”
“Welcome to the headache of dealing with the time ponies, Twilight,” Cadance offered her a sympathetic smile. She was rather grateful to never had to deal too much with these mysterious keepers of time.
“Ugh.” Twilight slammed her face on top of the table, wishing there was a manual to properly understand how all of this worked. Her sister-in-law left her chair and walked over; she then gave the frustrated young princess a much-needed hug.
“Luna and I must depart for Canterlot. We need to warn the Saddle Arabians about Rabia. You tend to your guests, Twilight, and see that they get safely back to their homes,” Celestia said and rose from her chair, as did her sister.
“What about King Sombra? Do you think he will be of any help regarding her?” Twilight wondered as she parted from Cadance’s embrace.
“I don’t know. Maybe. At least he’s contained,” Celestia sighed. The Celestial sisters then said goodbye, Luna dispelled the magic lock on the door and they departed via teleportation.
“Come on, let’s go see the family before they have to leave,” Cadance said and ushered Twilight towards the door. “Oh by the way, I heard Private finally confessed his love to Dew Doe.”
“Really?” Twilight blinked and then smiled. Since the family’s security had been a rather top priority with King Sombra on the loose after Private’s possession ordeal, she had become a little acquainted with the strange reluctance the two ponies had to confess their love. “About time.”
“I know,” her sister-in-law agreed as they walked through the open doorway. Cadance herself had been rather interested in this whole matter ever since the possession incident, but she knew better than to push it since there was no doubt they loved each other, so the Love Princess had just observed them without interfering.
“Oh and Barricade? He proposed to this marefriend.” Cadance then added, causing Twilight to grin, feeling much better that her castle was the grounds for this much-needed positivity for the family she had promised to keep safe.
The ruins of the ancient capital of the Dark Pony Empire were still relentlessly heated by the desert sun. Warm winds continued to erode what had once been tall buildings and blow-in sand from the desert, which would in time rebury them if this site was not visited occasionally by descendants of the Dark Ponies who always cleaned up the worst.
Walking through the ancient streets was a lone unicorn mare wearing regal silver armor and on her back a flowing cape. Currently she was the only living soul venturing through what had once been a bustling city. Her expression was stern and her mouth a thin line on her muzzle.
The unicorn kept walking, unaffected by the heat and the sand blowing all around her. She walked a deliberate path further and further into the ruins until she reached a wide, open area. It had once been the town square. At the center was a large square base that had clearly once carried a statue. Old, faded engravings on it simply said, “Our Queen. Rabia. The 20th queen of the Dark Pony Empire.”
The mare walked closer and touched the engravings with her armored hoof. Then she saw other faded engravings in a different script, more hastily done, an attempt to vandalize the base. Slowly a sinister smile crossed her lips as she read it.
Beware the Queen of Rage and Wrath.
It was the beginning of a poem, a short poem sung nervously by her enemies during her reign. Rabia turned away from the base and started to walk away.
For deadly are her many ploys.
The dark unicorn departed the old town square, making her way to the ruins of her old palace. The poem still going through her mind.
And little pity is in her heart. As she continued on, her eyes began glowing green and red, purple mist rose from the corners. The shadows began congregating all around her.
As her rage consumes and wrath destroys.
A soft sinister laughter escaped her lips as she disintegrated into her shadow form, rising higher and higher until it enveloped the entire city and continued towards the palace. Then as she descended upon her former abode, a terrifying, rage-filled roar came from the mare. It travelled far over the desert and echoes of it could be heard all the way down south in Saddle Arabia.
