//------------------------------// // The Changing of the Guard // Story: Leap of Faith // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer had only just placed the cup of hot chocolate to her lips when her phone began to vibrate and ring in her coat pocket. Sighing, she put the drink down and fished her mobile device out, looking at the screen. It was Morning Blade’s number. “Give me a sec, Fluttershy,” she told her pink haired friend, who was watching her from the other corner of the bed. “Morning! How’s everything. Did you accomplish your mission?” “Everything’s fine, Sunset,” the Assassin said on the other end. “I got a little careless, but Frigid’s patching me up, so I’ll be fine too. Mahogany Wood’s dead. Now, the next part is what scares me. When can you come back to the bureau? We have some things we want to discuss with you.” “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Sunset said. “Excellent. We’ll see you soon.” Then the line clicked off and Sunset stowed her phone back in her pocket. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” Sunset told her friend. “We’ll have to hang out another time.” “It’s okay, Sunset,” her shy friend acknowledged. “All this is more important than hanging out. Besides, I’ve had good company for the last two days.” Sunset looked down at her cup and downed its contents, smiling internally as her insides were warmed up by the drink. “Well, thanks for having me, Fluttershy.” “No, thank you for staying,” Fluttershy got up and followed her friend all the way out the front door. “Be careful, Sunset.” Sunset wrapped her scarf around her neck. “I will. See you, Fluttershy! Thank your parents for me, oh, and tell your brother to clean up his room. It really is a mess.” Sunset waved to her friend and started off on a light jog through the snow. The winds had died down, but it was still pretty cold. It wasn’t long before Sunset found herself standing outside the Assassin bureau, looking around the area with her new eagle vision before knocking on the door, to make sure the coast was clear. She heard the bolts and locks rattling before, to her surprise, Frigid Night threw the door open and beckoned for her to enter. “Where’s Morning?” Sunset asked him as the male Assassin resealed the door. “She’s inside. I just finished stitching her up. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.” Sunset quickly ran in, spotting the female Assassin sitting up on a couch. She didn’t have her shirt and coat on, allowing Sunset to see the red stains on her skin, along with two stitched up wounds, one on her collarbone and the other on her side; it was pretty gruesome to Sunset. For once, Morning’s hair wasn’t tied into a braid. It hung behind her, reaching just below her shoulders. Sunset didn’t remember it to be so short. “Hey, Sunset,” Morning Blade greeted. “Have a good time off?” “Sure did,” she sat beside the Assassin and placed a hand on her arm. “You okay? You don’t look too good. And aren’t you cold like this?” “I’ll live,” Morning managed a smile. “We’re Assassins. Getting injuries is normal. And cold? Yeah, it’s a little cold, but we’re not done. I’ve still got to bandage up my wounds, you know, just in case.” Morning reached for the roll of bandages, but Frigid Night returned, taking it from her hands. “No you don’t. Leave it to me,” he told her. “It’s my fault you weren’t prepared to face Crescent Wing properly, so it’s my duty to patch you up.” It was nice to see Frigid helping Morning out. Sunset didn’t think he had it in him, at least not anymore from what she’d heard about his past. Sunset sat there and listened to the Assassins’ mission as Frigid wound the bandages around Morning’s waist. It sounded alright at first, but when they got to explaining to her Mahogany Wood’s dying words, Sunset’s face began to change, first from one of confusion, then to one of complete shock. “No no no, I should’ve seen it sooner!” she ran to her room and returned with her book and a pen. “Of course he plans to return to Equestria! He’s going to try to finish what he started! I’ve got to warn Princess Twilight!” “You do that,” Morning said. “We’ll just finish up here.” “I just can’t believe that the vice principal got away,” Frigid muttered. Morning and Sunset looked to him with curious looks, before the female Assassin spoke. “I told you, she’s not hostile. We can trust her.” “I don’t know...” Frigid didn’t sound terribly convinced. “Now hold still, Morning. Just a bit more…” He finished up with her side, then started on her collarbone, looping the linen around Morning’s body before tying it off around her shoulders. In the meantime, Sunset had flipped open her book to an empty page and wrote to Twilight, her words full of warning as she scribbled them down. Her friends in Equestria had to know of this and Sunset hoped Twilight wasn’t currently too busy to read her message. Sunset closed her journal, her message delivered. “So, what now?” “Well, with Mahogany dead, that means the entire inner circle of Templars is no more. All that’s left are the little underlings and the Grand Master.” “I’m not sure how we can stop him,” Sunset slammed a fist on her book cover. “The portal is normally closed as long as Twilight has the book with her. But I trust Sombra knows something about that too, otherwise he would’ve already tried to walk right through the statue long ago. I think he might’ve found a way to force the portal open from this side.” “Maybe it has something to do with the auditorium,” Morning suggested as she tested moving her shoulder. “I mean, I don’t know much about magic, but could something like that be used to open the portal?” “I don’t know,” Sunset shook her head. “But I’m hoping Twilight can figure it out. As for us, we have to find out, Morning. We need to see what we can do to stop him.” “We can destroy the auditorium,” Morning shrugged and began putting her shirt back on. “Keila suggested that when she was still here. I mean, if we break it, they can’t use it, right?” “I doubt it’ll be that easy,” Sunset said grimly. “Police patrols are sure to have increased around here after what you did to Mahogany, and the place where he died is sure to be swarming with police by now. And with all that’s been going on, with the explosions and crumbling buildings and everything, I’m sure there’ll be added security all over the place. We wouldn’t be able to get close any time soon. Besides, magical constructs are usually only vulnerable to magic.” “Then what do you suggest we do?” Frigid folded his arms and leaned back. “I don’t see any other alternatives.” “We could wait for a reply from Princess Twilight,” Sunset said. “She’ll know what to do.” Frigid looked like he was about to say something, then he shut his mouth and walked back to his computer. “Well, fine. But that means we’re playing the waiting game,” Morning Blade buttoned up her red shirt. “And you know what they say about the waiting game.” “What?” “Everyone loses.” the female Assassin ended with a humorless smile. Grand Master Sombra stood at Mahogany Wood’s office window, looking out at the streets, eyeing the different humans as they traveled from place to place, some of them rushing, others taking their time. They all had their winter gear wrapped around themselves, using it to warm themselves from the snow and the cold winds. Sombra had never known the cold. Even as a young colt, it had never bothered him and it certainly didn’t as a stallion. Perhaps umbrum were just immune to it, seeing as they were all just beings of shadow. It had been a few years since he’d arrived in this world, but yet, it still seemed so foreign to him. The humans and their ways were so different from the ponies that he was used to yet also similar. He shook his head. This was not the world he belonged in. Sombra hated to admit it, but he missed home. The shimmering crystal buildings, the frozen wastes just beyond the borders, and the only friend he had. If it was anything he knew for certain, it was that times change. A knock at the door took the Grand Master’s attention away from the wandering humans outside as he glided over to the door in a wave of shadows. With a shadowy tendril, he opened the door, looking down at the surprised face of one of his attendants. “What?” Sombra bellowed, the Apple shining brightly within his shadows. “It’s Chairman Mahogany, sir,” the attendant said. “What about him?” “He-He’s dead, sir.” Sombra seemed to step back into his shadows, but then rose higher as his shadows spread across the room. “He’s dead, is he… Well, he proved useful in his time alive. His services are no longer required. The auditorium is almost done.” Though, he did question how the chairman was killed, after he had enchanted the cloak and everything. The orb’s power prevented injuries. Unless the chairman was a complete incompetent, there wasn’t any reason for him to have died already. Sombra looked through his orb, glancing through the eyes of one of the construction workers he had dominated with the artifact’s power. All four walls had been built, and the doors were already being carried into place, but in the end, it didn’t matter. The building didn’t need to be fully built for him to use it. Police were about the area, questioning her workers, likely about the event that had just occurred. They were a hinderance to his plans, but nothing a little mind control couldn’t solve. When the time came, he would see to their departure. “How did he die?” Sombra asked idly, already having a shrewd idea how. “We think it was Assassins, sir. They ambushed the chairman’s convoy and did him in.” “Is that so?” It made sense. Assassins were trained killers. He doubt anyone else would’ve lived long enough against his dark crystal swords to be able to disrobe Mahogany Wood and eliminate him. “You humans… Can you be any more pathetic? How can I trust any of you to do my work if your chairman cannot even defend himself when he is practically invincible?” “S-sir?” “Perhaps it is time to dispense with the pleasantries. Useless, all of you.” He lifted the Apple higher, pulsing a wave of energy out around him, then turned around to face the expanse of the chairman’s room. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but slowly, the shadows on the edges of the room began to grow, becoming darker and sharper with every passing moment. Then, out of each shadow climbed an entity of black crystal, vaguely humanoid, but made of glittering black facets. “Behold my new army,” Sombra raised his hands and welcomed his crystal golems as they approached him. “No more will I waste my time with your weak race. It is time to do what I came to do. You think your world would do your bidding? I care not for this world.” “Ummm…” the Templar attendant cleared his throat. “What should we do, Grand Master Sombra?” Sombra laughed, a dark and chilling laugh. “You can die. I do not need you Templars any longer. Goodbye.” Floating back, Sombra watched as his crystal constructs stalked towards the man, their crystalline arms raised, ready to do their master’s bidding. The Templar tried to run, but Sombra shot out a smokey tentacle and pulled him back in before shutting the door, holding him up by a leg as the constructs closed in. To the attendant’s dismay and to Sombra’s approval, each golem’s fingers were sharp and pointed, like the edge of a blade. One by one, they thrust their hands into the poor attendant, each stab causing a scream of pain. Soon, the man hung limply in the tendril’s grasp, before Sombra released him, dropping his dead body on the floor. Without having to say anything, one of the constructs moved over, picking up the body before lifting it over a shoulder. Sombra liked these minions. They would never question him, and all he had to do was simply will them to kill everyone in the building, and they would do his bidding. He had no more use for humans. His crystal golems would take care of everything else from here, the Assassins included. After killing Mahogany, they were surely holding out at some secret headquarters in Canterlot. If he was fast enough, perhaps he could still catch them before they went anywhere else. “You Assassins will not stop me,” Sombra expanded his shadows across the room, even picking up the chairman’s piano in his shadowy grasp. “Beware, Equestria. King Sombra is coming back, and nopony is going to stop me. Not Celestia, not Luna, and certainly not Twilight Sparkle. What the king wants, the king receives. Long live the king!”