//------------------------------//
// Chapter 39: Standard End of the World Meetings 
// Story: Favorable Alignment 
// by Ice Star 
//------------------------------//


Luna:


For the fifth time, Cadance refolded her wings nervously and looked down at the surface of the table in Pink Sunset's dining hall. Behind her, I watched the clouds move while the ship remained still in the summer skies. Evening light warped the fading blue into a sunset that was indeed pink. I would be needing to raise the moon shortly, but would be able to do that from within the hall of the ship, whether it was traveling on its course or that course was halted, as it was now.

It had been a week since my dream, and I had a couple of similar ones throughout the past few days. All were in the same dark place with no limits, only the manifestations of light were possessing some diversity, each taking the shape of fluttering forms, and masked by their own glow to the point where I could only note that they were all bearing faux insectoid wings of light.

Sombra and I had gone through our week with little surprises. We often discussed all sorts of trivial things between meals and duels, but neither of us could shake the feeling of a looming threat as we neared the Isle. He skipped quite a few meals - and I understood, he had told me that he didn't like watching ponies eat that much - and took a coffee with him to our cabin, where I would find him surrounded by a stack of books he had allowed to spill over our bed, concerned and muttering things about magic. I would join him, quietly watching as he explained what he was reading to me and we would devolve into discussing various spells and techniques that might prove useful in the future.

I didn't tell him that I was far better at magical theory than I looked...

Next to me, as if sensing some distress, Sombra's gaze met mine, yet some shred of his focus still remained on Shining Armor - who was currently looking to his wife with his own look of concern in his blue eyes.

I nodded slightly and brushed Sombra's wither with the tip of the feathers on my left wing, letting him know that if he wished to sit by me he could. I wasn't as bothered as he thought I was. Sombra looked at me for a moment longer, his gaze unwavering. He offered a small nod of his own and returned his attention to Shining Armor, who had been saying something to Cady.

"We're really going to have to go through with this, aren't we Shiny?"

"Cady you said that-"

"The. World. Is. Ending."

"It's not definite," Shining Armor offered weakly. "I mean we've got Princess Luna and uh... her umm... okay, I'll just call him Sombra. Yeah, we've got Sombra too. Do you really think with ponies like them that the world is going to end? C'mon Cady, you've got to be more positive than that, it's not the end of-"

"Yes it is!" Cadance wailed, clapping her forehooves together in one nervous burst.

"Shit," Shining muttered. "I meant it figuratively."

"Shiny, the two of us have been stuck on this ship for months, away from everypony and each day we follow Uncle Sombra's directions, we steer closer to-" She looks down at her shaking forehooves and gulps. "Am I going to die? Or never see my parents again or-"

"Cady," Shining Armor says softly. "The reason that all of us are here right now is so we can make a plan that ensures we won't die."

"Plans don't really work like that," Sombra mutters, but the lack of a reaction from either Cady or Shining Armor tells me that I was the only one who heard him - or at least, had heard him clearly. The attention of Shining and Cadance was immediately drawn to where he sat.

Sombra's irritated gaze was contrasted with his nearly flawless aloof expression, betrayed only by the former. However, I knew better than to dismiss him as apathetic as he came across to the others. For me eyes, so used to examining all the subtleties of Sombra's emotions, the small spark of concern he held for his 'niece' was easy to spot.

Cadance's forehoof made a small gesture in the air - swirling about briefly as if to twirl a curl of her mane, blinking sadly when she felt only empty air. She sighed and taps her forehooves on the table's surface instead, her gaze vacant until she catches me watching her. When I don't blink but continue to stare quietly at her, she stops her tic, nodding as if we had said something.

Slowly, she turns to face Sombra, looking up at him. A few strands of her mane hang in her face and her eyes are certainly not dry, but no tears have been shed yet. "Did I interrupt you?"

Sombra stares at her coolly - and he almost looks bored as well. "No, you didn't."

She nods again. Perhaps Sombra also notes that she looks more than a little light-headed and dizzy with sorrow nagging at her mind, sore and heavy with doubt and a maelstrom of other thoughts, or maybe a steady trickle of some existential dread. Shining Armor takes this uncertain acceptance and the silent exchanges among us as his chance to speak, his voice rising above the silence that Sombra and I would not have dreaded, had it continued.

"Alright then, I think we can get down to business."

"Who died and made you leader?" Sombra asked.

"Nopony died, and I'm just getting things started. As Captain of the royal guard, I'm used to holding meetings and-"

"Get on with it, will you? If I'm going to watch you potentially screw something up, you can't be going off on tangents, now can you?"

Shining Armor's mouth drops into a faint scowl - an expression I have never witnessed on him - and he gives a frustrated sigh before he stands up from his seat. I almost snort at the gesture; it is plain to me that he thinks he can gain leverage over Sombra through what he perceives as a subtlety. Sombra had obviously noticed the other stallion's move, but only raised an eyebrow in a silent inquiry - 'Do you really think that will do anything?'

And Shining did not notice. He continued to speak as though he were a captain whose blue eyes looked in Sombra's direction, but failed to notice his expression that told who the superior of the two was with a single aloof gesture.

"As I was saying-" Shining began, finally able to speak.

"THE END IS NIGH!" Cadance burst out, eyes frantic, a forehoof once again reaching for long locks of a mane that had been cut with fire.

Shining Armor's hoof met his face, his jaw muscles twitching. Sombra merely chuckled and everything began again...



...



Wiping her eye, and swallowing Cady added another crumpled tissue to her humble collection of roughly twelve bunched-up and snot drenched pieces all crumpled together. Each one of them was from the box Sombra had wordlessly offered her when she had begun to weep after her outburst a short while ago. Though her eyes were still wet and puffy and she was unusually quiet, Cady still carried herself... well, like a princess. She may not carry herself as proudly as Sombra, but there was something to admire in the apparent lack of humility I currently observed. Perhaps it was only I alone who saw this. She made 'princess' mean something other than 'royal', even if the meaning she attributed to it was a touch naive, I found there to be a bit of nobility in that youthful notion.

She exchanged a few brief glances with me as Shining Armor spoke on, his forehoof wrapped around her withers, as he was now sitting next to his wife in order to comfort her. She listened intently to her husband's words. They were a review of reasons Shining was surprised Sombra did not crash the airship when he flew it, which was rather off topic and not exactly anything to take note of, but I tried to pay some attention to his words.

However, most of my focus was on Sombra, who unlike Shining Armor was communicating considerably more. The way his jaw was positioned told me that he was gritting his teeth, something he only did when angry or deep in some great and troubling thought. This concern was not betrayed by his stoic expression that bore little reflection of what grim thoughts must be whirling about in his mind, free for him to mull over each one and piece together puzzles only he would know the answers to. Knowing that out of all of us, Sombra is no doubt the most worried of all, I mimic Shining's gesture of consolation using my wing and wrapping it around the cold and distant stallion. His left eye twitches at the suddenness and he sits up straighter, only to sink back into his seat, quietly enjoying the sudden embrace. 

"...And that's all Cady and I know," Shining Armor said. "That something out there - something with dark magic wants to destroy the world. Isn't that right, Princess?"

"Not entirely," I replied evenly. "It really is quite a complicated matter, but you needn't worry about matters involving information on the foe we must face, for Sombra and I have acquired much of what we will need."

"But we really can't just rally a few allied nations and have my sister and the rest of the Element Bearers to use the power of Harmony to destroy this foe that you have mentioned?"

I looked at Shining Armor coolly, folding my wing at my side once more. "Were we able to do that, then it would have happened by now. Since none of those lovely and utterly cheap excuses for solutions have been put in action, then it means they will not be working. Not everything can be solved with the power that Harmony bestows on her select few. As a former Bearer myself, and as one of the two who has knowledge of what will be facing, I can tell you that Harmony shall have no power over what we will be doing."

Shining Armor's expression could not pass as stoic under my careful eye. I saw his disbelief and suppressed want to question as clear as my sister's day skies when they are free of clouds to obscure their usual blue.

"Are you, Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza, prepared to hear what I have to disclose to you about what has been happening in this world and all the machinations that Sombra and i know of that have been leading us to the monster that awaits us? I shall be telling the two of you information that you will find in no distributed book within the borders of the kingdom that you both grew up in. None of this - not a single word I utter - is meant to be told to anypony - nay, any creature at all. What you will be hearing from me is as much as you will need to know. Anything else can be filled in by Sombra."

Sombra gave a purely sarcastic wave in their direction, though he did not look at them for long, as I saw his eyes flash with annoyance at something I was likely to find out.

Shining's jaw clenched and Cady ducked her eyes in thoughtful apprehension before she managed to look up at me and hold my determined and unwavering gaze, if only for a moment.

"I agree," Shining said reluctantly.

"Me too," Cady quietly added.

Sombra snorted at something only he found to be humorous - and likely darkly so - even when Shining Armor attempted to give him a look of something he might have thought would cause Sombra to find his actions to be shameful. I offered to hint in my expression to how pathetic I found the attempt. I couldn't hide the slightest trace of a smile when I saw Shining Armor recoil at Sombra's response - an effortless glowering look that earned a giggle from me when I saw Shining Armor's stunned expression.

Cadance merely blinked and spoke to her husband. "Yup. Always look out for those stares, Shiny."



...



In a gesture of finality, I sipped the glass of water that Sombra had conjured for me while eyeing Shining and Cady's vastly different reactions to the tale I had told them, finally relived to slip into the same state of quiet observation Sombra had been in when I spoke.

Shining Armor had already drained the flask of cheap spirits that he had fetched for himself halfway through my briefing. The parts about the Old World's fall did not rest well with him. Even though I could only tell so much, since I was only able to observe the aftermath as a filly, and if I were to tell anypony the more personal memories of those times, it would be Sombra. No exceptions.

The knowledge of these things: the existence of the Old World, many lost gods, and the 'possibility' (I had not dared to completely burst the bubble of naivete and other things surrounding the both of them, they would have to break the effects of dishonesty on their own) of there being a few more lies lurking below everything.

The confused, muddled look in his eyes aside, Shining Armor didn't look too bad. He had not snapped under what he would sometimes call lies and upheld the oath of secrecy he had sworn, but his gaze was not free of trouble. One of his forehooves was massaging his temple as he let out a shaky exhale.

"This... It's certainly a lot to process, Princess."

I simply nodded and let my gaze rest on Cady. Her reaction was much more contained. Her posture was stiff and frozen, her eyes locked in a bleak existential stare with the wall beyond me. The bright colors of her mane and coat certainly offered a peculiar contrast to her currently dull eyes and dreary demeanor.

"Cadance?" I prompted softly.

She blinked. Slowly.

"What am I doing with my life?"

Her soft, but clear and audible question was followed by the sound of a hoof brought down against the table. While it may have failed to pull her out of her trance-like state, the sound caught my attention and I looked over at Sombra who gave a rather wide smirk - especially considering that he rarely did much of anything like a smile when we weren't on our own. Perhaps Cady was an exception, even if him and Shining weren't exactly friendly with one another.

"That's our Pink One!"

Shining Armor sighed again - this time it was a far more annoyed, far deeper sigh - before he politely excused himself so he could get more to drink.



...



"So we have to defeat an Alicorn?" Shining Armor asked. "An Alicorn who has been corrupted by dark magic and has been hiding away from sight for gods know how long?"

"About as long as I have lived," I told him, my tone carrying none of the weight one would expect it to have with the statement, merely candor.

He looked down at the flask gripped in his magic and took another gulp while Sombra stared at him warily. All around us, stars twinkled past a barrier of glass. Their soft and distant light was soothing to Cadance, who looked drained but calm. Her head was resting on her forehooves, which were folded into a makeshift headrest on the table. The only clue to her being awake other than her half-closed eyes was when she decided to blow a few strands of her colorful mane out of her face and the murmured chirpy one-word answers she gave to Shining Armor when he inquired about her state of being.

"His name is Umbra and he's a demon," Sombra added absently, still lost in thought. His eyes were narrowed as he focused on something that was not present in Pink Sunset, for I doubt he found the wall behind Cadance to be of much interest.

Shining ignored him while I resisted the urge to scowl at his behavior. 

"Sombra is correct."

Shining Armor nodded. "Alrighty then, I think I've certainly got a grip on the situation now... or at least as much as I'm going to."

He shoots me a sheepish smile that would no doubt have most young fillies swooning while he remained blissfully unaware of his supposed 'charm'. I gave him a stare almost as flat as Sombra's and contained my disgust at the gesture. It reminds me of his sister.

"That is good," I offer curtly. "Now as the captain of the Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire, I would like your input."

He replaces the cap on his flask and it disappears with a small burst of magenta light before he turns his attention back to me, using one hoof to prop up his head and tapping the other on the table. Once. Twice.

"Who's going to be the leader?" he asks. "I'm not exactly capable of going up against gods and Alicorns, not even in strategy. Cadance is exhausted. Sombra is crazy-"

"That's exactly why I'm good at planning," Sombra interjected bitterly.

"-and you, Princess Luna, aren't exactly somepony whose skills are known to me. Forgive me if I'm skeptical of you leading such an operation, especially one that is taking place behind your sister's back-"

"Fie! All of this that you speak is ludicrous! Out of everypony on this ship I am the most capable to come up with an attack plan."

I gave him a true scowl this time and waited for his reply with a cold kind of patience that was unlike the warmth my sister would extend to one of our subjects. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cadance stir slightly and Sombra give me a nod of assurance to let me know that he shall allow me full rein over the situation.

Shining Armor remained neutral and his voice was level when he spoke next. "Can I ask why? You are a very important pony-"

Did anypony but Sombra notice me just cringe at his use of 'pony'? After the things Sombra has told me, the things I feel, the things I know, and so much more 'pony' is hardly a fitting description for my sister and I. Were the situation different for him, I wish that it would be mere fact over a complicated and offensive slur - no matter the shred of honesty that lies within the ugliness - to address Sombra as 'demon'. Being called a pony that feels somewhat insulting now...

"-and your magic and skill is unrivaled by any mortal. So is Celestia's. It's fact. Still, I don't know what it is that you are capable of beyond having what I presume is an excellent potential in battle-"

"You haven't the faintest idea to what my skill in battle is! Back before my own banishment at my sister's use of the Elements, all brought about by my own folly, I could replace entire legions in battle in terms of both skill and power! Who do you think it was that was sent as a spy and support to my dearest sister when the first siege was laid upon the Crystal Empire where our armies were sure to fail? It was I!"

I catch a bit of a most endearing smirk beginning to grace Sombra's muzzle, vanishing only when Shining Armor looks in his direction upon hearing a soft chuckle come from the demon. The warmth in his crimson eyes is one only we know and  refuses to dissipate, yet is too strange and private a thing to be noticed by any other.

"It wasn't uncommon for warriors of old to boast about their deeds, Sombra. Since you're from that era, I would think that you'd know that and wouldn't laugh at the princess' words."

"That's not what I was laughing at," Sombra mutters, shooting Shining Armor a scornful look.

"We could vote on a leader," Cady murmured sleepily.

All of us looked at her.

"I vote for the Princess," Shining says quickly. "She is technically the one in charge..."

"I vote for Uncle Sombra," Cadance said just loud enough for us to hear. "He's really smart." She yawned loudly. "I'm pretty sure that he'll not only glare at things until they die from the inside out, but will sacrifice my firstborn foal to a pantheon of shadowy entities beyond all forms of mortal comprehension just to get a single good slice of pizza."

"Only a single good slice? I may be a hobo, but I'm a hobo with standards!"

"You betcha," Cadance repeats, nuzzling herself deeper into her forelegs.

"And, Pink One, I'll also add that your vote - a generous donation to my cause - would be appreciated under different circumstances where I would hypothetically be less of an entitled ass but... eh, I'll take what I can get."

"My vote also goes with Sombra. I find him to be a capable leader when he chooses to be, and none excel at plans at matters of the mind like he does," I say quickly and surely. "With his honesty, pragmatism, eccentricities, and his own peculiar brand of rare charisma, I think he should be the one to lead us to a victory that would be all but assured under his guidance. In all my life, I have never met another soul who has both his love of his knowledge and the caution in knowing what things like power can do to a creature, pony or not."

It occurred to me that everypony was staring at me. Sombra, barely keeping his mouth from falling open with the same shock that I observed so clearly in his eyes and the reluctant droop of his ears. Tired Cadance had lifted her head to watch me, friendly encouragement showing in her eyes and a bright smile that she still managed to make cheerful and beaming in my direction. Even Shining Armor was quiet, his concentration devoted solely to me as I spoke.

"There is never going to be somepony as resilient as Sombra and his mastery of dark magic would aide us all if we paid heed to his words. I can see nothing but victory for somepony who has fought and engaged in many careful pursuits for everything he has ever wanted. Shining Armor and Cady, you may hold some doubt in your minds and hearts over whether Sombra can lead, but I assure you that out of all of us he is the most fit. He knows when to be careful and when to take a gamble, and his pride will not falter. I would call none a better leader than he."

Everypony was deathly quiet. Even the mechanisms of the ship seemed to click to a brief halt at the end of my speech. No matter how much I tried to hear a single sound from them, there was nothing but the sound of my own fluttering heartbeat and soft breathing, silent to all but me.

"I vote for Luna," Sombra said, his voice unusually low. He held my gaze, and even if his did not waver it wasn't as sure as I would expect it to be. "Out of all of us it is her that's the best at leading. She's proud, brave, and has planned many of the events that have brought us all here. Luna has the most qualifications out of any of us, and her spellwork is superb. There isn't anypony else I would listen too."

I think both Sombra and I were surprised that I managed to keep a blush from creeping across my face. After so many centuries of obscurity and being 'Celestia's sister' and nothing more... I finally have a pony who notices me for me.

"We have a tie between you two," Shining Armor said, looking from Sombra to me.

"Luna and I could both lead this operation together," Sombra said immediately after the captain finished speaking.

"Yes, we could do that. I still believe that it is you, Sombra, who should be the one to lead us through this adventure."

Sombra narrowed his eyes, looking rather unconvinced. Silently, I wished that he would feel persuaded enough to take up the leadership I offered him.

His response was to grit his teeth and roll his eyes, then let out a gruff sigh. "Fine."

Before I got a chance to say anything or Shining Armor could protest, Sombra held up a hoof with in an abrupt signal to silence anypony who thought he wasn't finished.

"Regardless of whether we survive this or not, I will be getting something out of this, as my services and plans aren't free. Luna, you're the only one exempt from this. Shimmer Glimmersparkleshinywhinysprinkleglitterbutt and Mac, do you agree?"

"For the greater good?" Shining Armor offered weakly.

Cady blinked tiredly, sitting up and staring at Sombra with an unfocused look in her eye. "Sooo... might this possibly include me offering you my firstborn to you?"

"It isn't exactly out of the question," Sombra responded nonchalantly, shrugging casually.

Her expression didn't change. For once the usually upbeat, extroverted, and emotional Cadance was unreadable, even when she spoke again. "Done deal."