Dark Not Like Him

by The Real Darkness

Surreptitious

“Okay, Twilight is here,” Cadance walked into the study adjacent the throne room along with the alicorn she used to foalsit.

”Eeeeuuuuaaaaaaah,” a chilling screech of terror was heard echoing down the hall, Mittle’s scream.

“What in Equestria was that?!” Twilight whipped her head back before she could finish entering.

“Our ace, our secret weapon,” Cadance smiled and ushered Twilight in.

Luna’s horn lit as she soundproofed the room, “we will not deny he holds some skill of combat to escape the Crystal Empire from Sombra’s army with Cadance and an injured wing,” she sighed, “but he is...touched. More than us and perhaps more than Sombra himself.”

“S-Sombra?! Again?! So that’s why you asked me to bring the girls, too,” Twilight pipped back and forth in the room, “where is he?”

“That’s the issue, we do not know,” Celestia answered, shaking her head free of the horrifying scream, “he’s staying hidden this time as to not be vanquished like before.”

“And we had gotten a report shortly before you arrived that Sombra had taken Manehattan, so now there are two cities he could possibly be in,” Luna continued from her sister.

“Have we tried a scrying spell?” Twilight posed the obvious solution.

Cadance nodded, “it revealed he was in the Empire at first and now it tells us he is in Manehattan, but with a lot of interference. We can’t pinpoint exactly where Sombra is.”

Twilight paused, putting her hoof to her chin, “how did he take Manehattan so quickly?”

“Yaks and griffons...he made an army and now ponies are among them,” Cadance clarified.

Twilight’s gaze fell to the floor, “I have an idea,” Twilight announced, “that secret weapon you were talking about. Is it or she available?” Twilight looked around the room.

“It is indisposed,” Luna answered.

“For one week, then he will be able to help,” Cadance eyed Luna, “some kind of ritual with his beliefs or something,” the truth was a lot darker, but young Twilight didn’t need to know.

“Do you think he could secure the entire Crystal Empire?” Twilight continued, “you indicated he was strong earlier, Cadance.”

“Maybe, Mittle’s very strong and without me to protect he might be able to, why?” Cadance drew closer to the map of Equestria that sat upon the desk while Twilight pointed at it.

“If we march back on Manehattan, me and the girls, we could force him to hide at the Empire where Mittle will track him down for us and expose him.”

“And then you could teleport back there and use the elements on him before Sombra escapes! We admire your thinking, Twilight. Risky as it may be, it might work,” Luna threw her hoof into the air, “I’ll begin ordering the mobilization of our forces so Sombra can not make it farther.”

“We’ll need every mage and unicorn in Equestria to help cast a shield spell of that caliber,” Celestia looked to Twilight and Cadance.

“Got it, I’ll start rounding up ponies, too,” Twilight galloped out of the room, breaking the sound proof barrier of the room.

A scream followed by numerous splats of liquid echoed lightly through the castle halls.

“I’ll go help find unicorns, too,” Cadance nodded.

“No, Cadance, you stay here should something happen so Mittle can still be imposed,” Luna answered before she disappeared in a flash of magic. Celestia teleported away herself.

The only remaining alicorn sighed, Cadance knew that was likely for the best. While she introduced Mittle to them, that made him a responsibility of hers and she’d by lying if she said his behaviors didn’t disturb her. Though she was the only pony to wonder who he was before the present.

---

That week had progressed sluggishly. The one regret Cadance had was hearing his screams every now and then and whatever had snuck in there with him. Today was the day they were opening the door to relieve all the unicorns holding Sombra’s conquest at bay. Today was the day that Mittle was being released.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were all gathered in front of the rusted door to the dungeon. Twilight had insisted so thoroughly to be here just to study whatever creature was there.

“Cadance, what act of his impressed you so much to speak as though he’s our savior in this?” Luna spoke up while the four of them stared at the door.

“His sword cut through armor and enemies better than a heated knife through butter. With his magic or natural abilities, he cleared a horde of Sombra’s army around me in a single second,” Cadance shook her head, remembering the viscera that flew and colored the crystal in a crimson dye that afternoon.

“We see,” Luna whispered out. A creature to rival their power, maybe even Starswirl’s.

Cadance swung the door open with her magic, in that singular moment she saw all she needed to about what Mittle is. Symbols in red blood and black liquid dotted, swirled, painted, and lashed every wall, every floor, every stone in the ceiling of the dungeon. The entryway was covered in them.

For the brief moment that she opened the door, every symbol was aglow with a blue light, out of character for the reds and blacks present. The same as the anomaly on his chest, these symbols were never seen before and geometrically couldn’t bend this way or that and connect just perfectly. Some were even jumbled off the wall, hovering as a three dimensional depiction.

The glow ended when she stepped her hoof inside before it began again when the door slammed shut behind her, on her. Princess Cadance pounded on the rusted metal with desperation she had never felt. She had the certain affirmation that whatever Mittle communed with did this. An absolute conviction that doomsday was in the room with her.

“Celestia! Luna! Open the door!” She screamed, “Twilight, this is not a time for pranks!” It wasn’t even a real accusation, it was a bad attempt at humor to calm her own nerves.

“Cadance, we can’t open it! We-,” Luna’s voice died out, all volume disappearing.

She looked around, her head whipping as the symbols lit with a blue glow again. Eyes floating in the middle of black voids opened. The lashes attached to the top and bottom were undulating black tendrils stained red and dripping with blood.

Cadance could feel something prod and ask before demanding to be let into her mind, like a forceful telepathy spell. It quickly stopped when she heard the patter of footsteps.

“They opened me this time,” that was Mittle’s voice, but it followed with a horrible lisp and creaked like he struggled to speak, “they showed me so much more than anybody else. Terrors that watch us just behind thin reality. Futures that will all be real one day.”

In the haunting cerulean light, the naked human form of Mittle walked up the steps from the depths of the dungeon. Not a single shred of his hide was on him and Cadance watched as his veins and arteries popped out atop and under his visible muscle tissue. His heart was visible, his lungs were heaving, all of his internals were on display and functioning just fine.

Cadance was too paralyzed to move or speak, this wasn’t natural. This was a nightmare in front of her.

“I asked them to let you in to see just for a while,” the flaps of skin dragged from behind Mittle, still attached by a center point on his spine. He held his ivory blade, a singular vertically slit-pupiled, yellow-green eye opened on the wide blade; blinking and watching the two of them, “maybe a mistake. They could mean their ‘while’ and time is a ball of yarn to them. We are the most interesting toys they’ve observed,” he held his right hand up toward Cadance, “I want your mind to be a little tempered against these visions and sights.”

The twist of flesh straightened and righted itself before it became a flat open tarp. The skin entombed him again, tendons and muscles stretching to attach themselves properly all with squelches Cadance would hear whenever a room would fall quiet. In a short moment, Mittle was ‘correct’ again. Cadance could see the mark on his chest twisting once more, but the rest of him was normal. She couldn’t even process the societal taboo of seeing his intimates while the eyes watched.

Black masses in the shapes of humans and ponies appeared, only visible by the void they created against the background of symbols. They watched and stared at Cadance without eyes.

“I will not let them touch you as they have me. We have an agreement. I let them see all of me, all of their favorite toy, and they let me use more of their power as I want to,” Mittle spoke up again while the masters of universes began to disappear, the tendrils lingering in the black masses.

The voids of pony and human shapes were next to leave and then the symbols ceased to glow, the parts written in air to float and create three dimensional anomalous shapes splattered to the floor.

“I wanted you to see, so you would know. Selfish of me, but I take comfort,” Mittle collapsed to his knees as he body pulsed and bloated in sporadic areas, his health returned and he was no longer an emaciated husk from lack of food, “forgive me.”

The door swung open, Celestia and Luna burst in quickly, their hooves disturbing the perfected unknown sigils, “Cadance!” Luna screeched, her horn sparked with massive amounts of magic and a bolt was shot at Mittle who stay collapsed on the floor.

A shield in a baby blue color absorbed the attack, “no, it’s okay. He’s not a threat,” Cadance managed to speak, still struggling to take in all the things she witnessed, “Mittle, are you ready? We have a plan.”

He slowly stood up and all four alicorns present shyed away, turning their eyes to the many symbols on the floor. Cadance levitated his armor and briefs in, cleaned and repaired as best the smiths could figure how to. Mittle put piece after piece on, looking over the pupil that was now closed behind a black void of an eyelid on his ivory sword, “I...am ready.”

“We’re going to push Sombra back to the empire, he’s a black unicorn with a red tipped horn,” Celestia started. Mittle knew him, his leash holder gave him sight enough to know.

“You’ll know him when you see him,” Luna continued while Twilight levitated a small blue gem into his free left hand, “Twilight here,” Luna picked up, noting the youngest’s lack of explaination, “made this as a beacon. Crush it when you have found Sombra and she’ll locate you and end this.”

“That’s little information,” Mittle commented, his eyes darted to each of their faces before he settled on Cadance’s, “but Sombra will be found and taken care of,” he found more words in looking at the one who shared his experiences.

“We need to get you on the train to the Empire then,” Cadance affirmed and turned around, trotting out, “and I’m coming with just in case Sombra hides too well,” a partial truth, she knew Mittle could use her presence to help steel his mind against what she witnessed.

All of their hooves were matted by blood and black bile, save for Cadance’s. The maids would know little nightmares after cleaning it.

“We object, Cadance. We can no-.”

“Sorry, Luna,” Cadance interrupted her, “but if we send Mittle with no guarantee that Sombra won’t hide then we may very well lose him and lose Sombra, too. Twilight and her friends can’t hold out in Manehattan forever either.”