//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - The Deal (Revised) // Story: The Enemy Of My Enemy // by Emo Rainbow //------------------------------// Shatterstar walked through the empty void feeling confused and scared. Where was he? How did he get here? Why couldn't he feel the ground beneath his hooves? All of these questions and more flooded his mind, with not a single answer coming to meet him. He felt a deep pressure surrounding him as if the darkness was trying to crush him but only had enough strength to make him feel uncomfortable. His ears felt like were ringing horribly, and his head felt dizzy and swollen. Shatterstar feared that if he didn't find an exit soon he would pass out, and then he would truly be in trouble. Why would he be in trouble at all? He had completely forgotten why, but he knew deep down that time was of the essence. "Shatter!" A voice called out from the darkness, faintly echoing all around him and leaving it vague as to where it came from. He spun around in confusion as the sensations of sound, coupled with the deep pressure in his eardrums, discombobulated him. "Shatter!" The voice called once more, this time a little louder and a little clearer than before. Shatterstar tried to call back to the voice, but nothing came out when he had attempted, not even a wheeze. Feeling more determined he continued in what he believed was the direction of the voice. He had only taken a few steps before things went completely out of control. "Shatterstar! Shatterstar!" The voice chanted and echoed from all directions, piercing his ears as they grew louder and more violent. He spun around frantically trying to pinpoint his friend's location. He felt a hoof on his shoulder and spun around to see a white stallion with golden eyes frantically shouting at him. "Help me! Please! Don't leave me!" As he said those final words the stallion faded into the void, leaving Shatterstar to pick up the pieces. 'Chivalrous?' Shatterstar attempted to ask, but once again no words came out. It was at this moment that the memories had finally begun to return to him, the ballroom, the chase, and...his death. Shatterstar looked down at his hooves in confusion, the feeling slowly coming back, but just barely. Could this have been the afterlife? If it was, then why had he ended up in such a dark and menacing place? As that last thought entered his mind, he felt it, an overwhelming presence that made his heart sink. "Heh, heh, heh." A deep booming laugh echoed through the darkness and grabbed his attention once more. He felt a soft tingle in his hooves as the void seemingly shifted all around him, coalescing into a smoke-filled cyclone directly in front of him. Shatterstar tried his best to turn and run, but his strength seemed keen on leaving him just as the moment required he use it. Slowly he fell to the intangible ground as his breaths became heavier and much more pained, almost like there was an obstruction in his lungs. The shadowy clouds continued to merge and grow as he tried desperately to lift himself. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, his hooves, his wings, his entire body felt like it was on fire, and that let him know that he was, in fact, still alive, but just barely. The pressure began to fade as the clouds finally took form, creating a long curved incorporeal horn as well as two glowing green eyes with purple wisps of magic on the ends. With the aid of these defining features he could swear he saw a face within the clouds, a face he had hoped to never see again. "It seems as though you're lost. Perhaps I can help?" Shatterstars breaths became more labored, and his heart rate increased as the shadow approached him. "No no, don't answer. I know I can help." His shadow increased in size until he was nearly the size of the entire void itself, making him a large set of eyes staring down at him like he was a bug. "You see, this is my prison. I was used, and then tossed into my own pit for a laugh." His enormous eyes closed in on Shatterstar with a raised eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you suffered a similar fate?" This time Shatterstar didn't attempt to answer and only tried to crawl away from the monstrosity. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Sombra said as he curled his shadows around Shatterstar's legs, pulling him back and forcing him into one spot. "It's rude to crawl out of a conversation with somepony, especially when that pony is only trying to help." The shadow said in an annoyingly smug manner. Shatterstar felt a burst of anger flow through him and with it a flood of strength that helped him not only respond, but fight Sombra's grasp as well. "Help?! I think you've done plenty to 'help' me as it is, or is a thousand years of 'help' not enough these days?!" Shatterstar spat as he somehow managed to break free from the shadows and shakily stand back on his hooves. Sombra froze in place, his shadowy clouds absentmindedly writhing around within his form, and stared at him. Narrowing his eyes, the shadow pony began to shrink until he was at Shatterstar's eye level, stepping towards him until he was only a few paces in front of him. "So you are strong." Sombra closed his eyes as he let out a long drawn-out sigh, and despite not having a mouth or physical body, his shadowy form accompanied his actions with a shrug. "Listen Shatterstar," Sombra began to slowly walk around him as he talked. "This place is a prison that is worse than Tartarus. I know that I've only been here for five years, but in here it feels like... a millennium." Sombra paused for a moment and looked down in a display of what seemed like sorrow, but all it managed to do was get Shatterstar to scoff. Sombra snapped his head towards Shatterstar and continued with a more harsh tone in his voice, almost as if he was offended by Shatterstar's choice of response. "This prison was designed to keep spirits at bay, and without a physical body there is no escape!" He turned towards Shatterstar who was currently panting and swaying back and forth as his strength began to fail. "Poor baby." Shatterstar wheezed out with a chuckle, as blood began to drip from his mouth. As time went on, more and more of Shatterstar's injuries began to return which made Sombra turn extremely frantic. "Listen, there is a way out. You are the way out! If you let me into your body then I can-" Sombra was cut off by Shatterstars roarous laughter that sent him to the ground in a fit of giggles and pain-filled coughs. "That's rich...you need my...help. Haha." Shatterstar felt the pain starting to fade as he laid down and got comfortable in his spot on the ground. Sombra stood over him with narrowed eyes and placed his shadowy hooves on Shatterstars shoulders. "You absolute fool! You can feel it can't you?! You're dying!" The entire void began to rumble as Sombra grew angrier. "I can save you! Let me into your body and I can heal all of your wounds. So long as we are joined...you'll even be immortal!" Sombra pleaded as his only hope for escape slowly died in his hooves, laughing the entire time. Shatterstar gave no response and slowly stopped laughing as he felt the pain slipping away. His breaths slowed down, and the call of sleep reached out to embrace him. There was no need to fight with this monster, no need to give anything up because in death all would know peace. Shatterstar believed that, and he was more than ready to feel it for himself. As Sombras cries echoed in the distance he finally started to fade...that is, until he heard a single word, a name uttered into his ear. "W-w-what...d-did you...say?" Shatterstar said as he looked up at Sombra's bright green eyes. "I said, Chivalrous. Chivalrous Deed? Don't tell me you forgot." Sombra said in a faux offended tone. Shatterstar once again felt some strength reenter his body, but only a small amount compared to last time, only about enough to bat away Sombras shadow hooves. "How...do you know that name?" Shatterstar asked, his anger beginning to resurface faster. Sombra merely shot him a devious look as he threw his head up in glee. "Well, it's easy to see the minds of others when they're trapped in here with me." Sombra said with an exasperated sigh. But in all honesty I didn't even need to try and read yours, what with that little game of hide and seek you put on before I spoke to you." Sombra continued to walk absentmindedly as Shatterstar stared at him in disbelief. "There were others? Trapped here?" Shatterstar asked, not knowing what to expect as an answer. "Of course there were. Ponies who saw something they shouldn't have, ponies who could have blown the whistle on everything." He paused for a moment as several pillars of shadows appeared next to him and changed into the forms of three different crystal ponies, a blue stallion, an orange mare, and a pink unicorn mare. "Everyone of them had something to prove, every one of them had something to lose, every one of them refused my help, and in the end...every one of them died." He stomped on the floor, and each of the created ponies began to move and speak as if he had recorded them perfectly. "I can find my own way out, then I'll show everypony what's really going on in that castle!" The first stallion said triumphantly before he began to thin in a matter of seconds. his muscles shrank, and his bones became more visible until he looked like a walking skeleton with a thin layer of skin around him. Finally, the stallion crumbled into dust and faded back into the void. "I'm dead anyway." Said the orange mare as she slowly just faded away into dust while lying down. "I'll never accept help from you! You're nothing but a liar!" Said the unicorn mare as she fired a spell forward into the darkness. She too crumbled into dust, but not before being hit by an invisible force that left a gaping hole in her chest. Shatterstars eyes widened as he saw the last pony's demise and looked over to Sombra. "Ah yes, Clear Spring. Probably the biggest missed opportunity, unlike the other ones she did earn my respect. I tried to offer her a deal, much like the one I'm offering you," Shatterstar looked away from the shadow pony's gaze and growled to himself. "But in the end, she kept fighting me every step of the way. She was convinced I was the one trapping her here, and she was so sure that annoying me to no end would somehow get me to release her. Believe me, I would have in a heartbeat if it meant it'd get her to shut up, but eventually, I could take no more and finally...dealt with her." "And what is this exactly supposed to prove to me? Aside from the whole vile and ruthless murderer part that I'm sure we're both well aware of at this point?" Shatterstar said sarcastically. Sombra looked at him with some slight amusement and shook his head while letting out a soft chuckle. "Oh, I think you know what I'm trying to prove." Sombra said simply as yet another pillar rose from beneath them, this time taking the form of Chivalrous. "I can see it all, you're anger is leaving you wide open just like the others." He walked over to the pony clone and grabbed its face while facing Shatterstar, then he began moving its mouth like it was a puppet. "Why Shatterstar? Why did you leave me to die?" He said in a mocking high pitched voice that made Shatterstar grit his teeth in anger. His vision became red as he forced himself back up to his hooves one more time. "Well mister Deed, I think it's because he was too stubborn and selfish to try and save you." Sombra answered the puppet before picking it up and walking further away from the slowly approaching pegasus. "You think you can just mock me...and get away with it?" Shatterstar asked as he limped angrily towards the shadowy pony holding his friend up like a toy. "Yeah." Sombra replied without even skipping a beat. Suddenly Shatterstar lunged at the pony, phasing through him while simultaneously tackling the puppet to the ground. The action took Sombra by surprise, stunning him for just a moment before he turned to face the wounded pony. "Don't you dare lecture me on selfishness!" Shatterstar screamed from his spot on the ground as the puppet Chivalrous slowly faded away like all the rest. "Well you do have a point, Sombra said with a much calmer tone. But being an expert on selfish actions myself I can see when another pony has begun to take the same road as I. You just have yet to admit it to yourself." Shatterstar wanted to reply, but he couldn't refute the truth in the words of the demon. The last thing he wanted was to listen to this monster, but he was genuinely disgusted with how close he was to giving up. "You were so willing to die, but where would that leave your friend huh? Do you want to spite me so much that you're willing to toss everything aside just for that? That's pretty darned selfish if you asked me." He said with a satisfied tone in his voice, and despite not having a mouth, he could practically see the grin on the shadow pony's face. Shatterstar looked all around the void and quickly raced through all of his options. He felt the blood pooling out from his body, the warmth leaving him at the same time, and knew that time was running out. Even if he could magically find a way out on his own, he'd die before he could ever reach it. There was always a possibility that he could survive long enough for somepony to find him, but again he'd run into a similar problem of bleeding out long before something like that could ever happen. Finally, Being able to take the pain no longer, he reluctantly looked back to the only real option he had left...Sombra. Shatterstar knew that the last person he should trust was Sombra, but it was either that or be left to die without ever seeing his friend's face again, and without ever finding out what was going on in the colony. He had to get out of here no matter what, and if that meant making a pact with the demon of the north, the shadow king himself Sombra then so be it. However, he was not just going to give his body up willingly. "Listen here monster," Shatterstar said as he rolled onto his back and leaned on his front hooves while looking up at the shadow pony. "I hate you, and you hate me, But dammit we need each other's help. So if you want even one hair on my head then I have a few conditions." Sombra looked genuinely surprised and softly chuckled after hearing those words. "But of course. I mean naturally, we'd both have some conditions to this little agreement." Sombra added. "Woah, Woah, Woah. No one ever asked for your input." Shatterstar said suddenly, an action that made Sombra immediately increase his size and yell. "Don't you even dare! This is a two-way street you little insect! You need me, I need you, and as much as I may hate having to resort to this, I'm sure you're not thrilled about this turn of events either. So let's skip the bartering, as well as the pissing contest, and negotiate some terms of a proper contract!" He said angrily as a cloud of shadows formed into a long piece of paper. As much as Shatterstar hated to admit it, Sombra had a point. He'd have to listen to his demands as well, but he knew that they were both on a time crunch which would certainly make the negotiations more...interesting. "...Fine," Shatterstar muttered, after which Sombra shrunk back down and motioned for him to continue. Shatterstar had to think for a moment before finally bringing his conditions to the table. "I want your help in saving my family, once we do we'll kick the Equestrians out of the colony, you tell me where the crystal heart is," Sombra hummed in contemplation on that one in particular. "And when all is said and done we will not sit on the throne." Shatterstar finished with steely-eyed determination. Sombra sat down and brought his hooves to the area where his mouth should have been. "Okay, first what I like. I'm fine with helping your family, kicking out the Equestrians sounds fine, but I wouldn't mind adding some executions to that one, but I can't very well agree without adding some conditions of my own. What should they be?" Shatterstar gestured for him to wrap it up as he pointed to the pool of blood he was currently laying in. "Right, well first off I need your help in restoring my physical form so that once we're done we can go our separate ways." Shatterstar nodded along with the king. "Okay, that doesn't sound too bad of a deal." Shatterstar conceded as he weighed the pros and cons of Sombra gaining his old body back. "Also I can't relinquish my right to the throne or the crystal heart. Sorry." Shatterstar did a double-take as Sombra threw in that last bit at the end. "You're right? Since when was the all-powerful artifact of love and compassion the right of a malicious demon pony? And you stole the throne from the princess! That doesn't...give you..." Near the end of his rant, Shatterstar started coughing up blood violently and losing most of his breath. "Oh dear that looks really bad indeed. Somepony should probably heal that." Sombra said in a sarcastic tone that made Shatterstar glare at him harshly despite his current predicament. "Well as much as I adore the art of negotiating, it seems as though we're both out of time." Sombra stepped closer and knelt beside the wheezing pegasus. "So what will it be partner?" The look in Sombra's eyes was just as determined and steadfast as Shatterstars. He couldn't tell whether or not he'd seriously let him die there, dooming them both. He thought to himself quickly as his last shred of air began to fade and came to a decision that he knew he'd regret later. "You...get me...the heart...and you'll get your throne." He said through clenched teeth. Sombra hummed thoughtfully, his expression unchanged until he suddenly gave a defeated sigh and stood back up to full height. "Well I guess that's as good as I can get it...for now." Shatterstar knew he'd heard him say something under his breath, but what exactly he had said he couldn't make out. There was no time to ask as Sombra quickly signed the contract with a shadowy quill and floated it over to Shatterstar before realizing a slight problem with that plan. "Oh, right, you're dying. How are we going tooo..." Suddenly he made an ah noise as he came to a solution. Carefully, he lifted Shatterstars bloody hoof and stamped it against the paper, finally sealing them both to the contract. "Perfect! I hope you're ready... partner." Wasting no time, Sombra's shadow form broke down into a formless cloud with only his eyes and horn remaining wholly visible in the darkness. The pressure around Shatterstar returned and all sound was drowned out as the cloud rushed towards him and entered his body forcefully through his mouth. All form of breathing was cut off during the process, and although he was in pain before, this was a new level of excruciating. He tried to scream as he felt his bones shift back into place, the loud crunches and cracks accompanying it making it all the more jarring, and his crossbow hole slowly burning shut as new muscle and skin reformed. He pounded his hoof into the floor and instinctively tried to close his mouth and heave his guts out at the same time, but the abundant shadows continued to force their way into his body. Eventually, the ordeal stopped, leaving him healed but in a great amount of pain. Suddenly Shatterstar felt like he was hovering, and looking down he saw his own body, lying down on a dark and cracked stone floor. His body looked the same, except now there were some new features. His dull red mane was now fiery red and flowed like it was made of water, much like how Sombras had once done. His cream coat, which was once dull and dirty, now glowed vibrantly and nearly lit up the room itself. The most significant addition was the new sharp red horn on his forehead, except instead of being a solid physical object the horn seemed to be partly transparent like it was a ghost. Shatterstar felt a strong pull below him and suddenly his spirit was dragged back into his body. In an instant, he suffered from sensory overload as all of his bodily functions quickly evolved to accommodate the new soul that had entered his body. He took slow and very deliberate breaths as his ears rang and his eyes burned, the senses all screaming in protest from the sudden shocks. Finally, after his breathing had finally steadied itself, he shifted to breathing in through his nostrils but little did he know, that was the worst decision he could've made. "Ugh! What in Tartarus is that smell!" He said while desperately trying to cover his nose, the efforts proving futile as his improved sense of smell amplified the disgusting stench surrounding him. He spun around the darkroom as he felt the squishy sensation of the ground beneath his hooves, the feeling, and smell making him recoil in disgust. All around him were piles upon piles of garbage, from rotten food to medical waste, and even some broken furniture that looked like it was several years old while managing to smell like it was several decades old. "What have they done to my pit?! This is a place of sacrifice, not some trash heap!" Sombra's voice, now ethereal and ghost-like instead of booming and menacing, said from within Shatterstars head. Shatterstar felt startled by the unexpected appearance of the king's voice in his head, but the effort he would have used to freak out about it was currently being used to keep himself from hurling. "Well I guess they figured that a bottomless pit would be a good place to dump all their unwanted items," Shatterstar said with a muffled voice as he tried to step around the mushy garbage. He had made it a few steps around one of the many piles until he stopped and realized what this meant. "They were just going to kill me and dump me in a garbage pit!? Those bastards!" He stomped his hoof into the squishy ground in anger, and as a result felt his stomach trying to heave due to the loss of his only smell protection, however ineffective it may have been. "Don't you do it! Don't you do it, boy!" Sombra said as he too felt Shatterstar lurching forward and about to heave. "I haven't vomited in over a millennium don't you dare ruin-" *Hurk* "Ugh." Sombra could only groan in disgust at the shameful display his new body performed. Wanting nothing more but to escape the wretched smell Shatterstar looked up towards the top of the pit and noticed just how deep they were underground. Looking at the walls he could see the remnants of a destroyed staircase that didn't seem to be in any form of working order anymore, and with a look at his wings, he wondered if he could at all make it back up to the top. "I know what you're thinking, but I can tell you that we absolutely can." "Huh?" Shatterstar asked while attempting to look up at his head, an area where he assumed Sombra was situated. "You're wings aren't as puny and weak as they were before today. You're with me now!" Suddenly Shatterstar felt his wings open without him telling them to, and before he even knew what was happening his wings began to flap mightily, sending him into the air like a rocket. "What are you doing?!" Shatterstar shouted in confusion as his wings continued to flap faster and faster without him controlling them. "Getting us out of this pit. I want my revenge dammit." Sombra replied, flapping their wings so fast that the air resistance was quickly becoming too much to handle. In a matter of seconds, it became almost impossible to move freely at the speed they were going, and soon Shatterstar felt his ears pop, they were going way too fast. "You have literally never had wings before today, you don't know what you're doing. We're going too fast!" He pleaded to the mad king who was still hijacking his wing control. "Nonsense! The faster we fly the faster we get out, simple." Sombra replied ignorantly. "That's not the problem you retard! The faster we go the harder it'll be for us to slow down, and if we can't, then they'll have to be scraping us off of the ceiling!" Shatterstar was through arguing and tried desperately to regain control of his wings. In his mind, he felt a strange tugging sensation as he went back and forth between feeling his wings and his wings going numb. The entire time he was flying erratically in all directions, corkscrewing, and ramming into the walls over and over again as he wrestled for control. "What are you doing? I'm the one in charge here!" "Like hell you are! My body, my rules!" Amid their fighting, they had failed to notice the entrance to the pit fast approaching. With no time to react or slow themselves down, the two minds smashed directly into the crystal ceiling above them, burying themselves several feet into the crystal. Shatterstar closed his eyes as he waited for the pain to come, but slowly he opened his eyes as he realized that he really couldn't feel any pain at all. "Huh, you know what? That didn't hurt as much as I thought. Does your magic give me some sort of pain resistance?" Shatterstar asked curiously. "Uugggggghhh." Sombra groaned in pain as he felt every single piece of crystal-crushing him the moment they had made an impact. "Well, partner...if you want control so bad...you can take it now." Sombra said shakily. "Wait, what do you mea-aaaaaaggggghhh!" Shatterstar's sentence was cut off as he felt pain course throughout his body, from his wings to his head. Nothing felt broken, and he'd certainly felt worse when he was about to die earlier, but this was still a pretty close second, just above getting beaten by the guard, but right below dying. "Well that's good to know, I can feel pain now. Oh joy." Sombra said dryly while shifting around inside Shatterstars head. "Well let's not waste any time, anypony could have heard that impact, there could be guards coming here as we speak!" "Yeah, just...just give me a sec," Shatterstar said as he took a moment to let the pain settle in his nerves. After more urging from the demon in his brain he slowly started dragging his body out of the hole in the ceiling. He crawled closer and closer to the opening and noticed that there was a group of lights shining directly at the hole. He heard some murmurs coming from within the room and slowed his approach, getting as close as he could so that he could hear without being spotted. "What do you think happened?" Somepony said from below. "I don't know, maybe one of the dud gems we tossed in the dumping pit was charged? Maybe it blasted something back up?" "Come on, you know that no gem is that powerful. The only gems that are are faaaar away from here bud." Shatterstar patiently listened to the two conversing and waited for his moment to leave. "What are you waiting for? Get them!" Sombra suggested angrily. "I'd rather not. Better to stay hidden until we find Chivalrous, after that we'll move on to taking out the trash. For now, we better keep ourselves out of sight." He whispered. "Okay, I understand the reasoning for that plan... but, and this is just a suggestion, they won't be able to see us if we cave their heads in right? Shatterstar rolled his eyes as he felt the king trying to influence his thoughts from within. "I'll keep that in mind, but for now I'm going to wait." He replied, unamused by Sombra's suggestion. "Hmph! Fine, just don't be surprised when they run off and get back up." Shatterstar scoffed at the idea. "Yeah right! Equestrian guards are stupid. We'll be fine." He said with a confident smile. "Is it just me or did you hear somepony talking?" Shatterstar's smile and heart dropped the moment he heard that. "Maybe? Wait here, I'm gonna go get some backup." Shatterstar cursed under his breath and quickly made his way to the exit as he heard the hoofsteps on the hard crystal floor. "Honestly, I hope you keep this up. I absolutely love saying I told you so." Growling to himself, Shatterstar forced himself out of the hole in the ceiling and fell several feet down to the throne room floor as tiny crystal shards fell around him. He quickly spread his wings wide in an instinctual intimidation maneuver as he slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes to glare at the shivering equestrian guard. Shatterstar looked past the guard in front of him and looked at the guard closest to the door attempting to leave, who now instead stood completely still with his eyes glued to the dark pegasus. Before any action on his part could be made, Shatterstar felt a hard object come into contact with his face before a distinguishable snap was heard. The guard cried in pain as he fell and gripped his broken hoof, causing the other guard to call out his partner's name and rush at Shatterstar as well. Shatterstar didn't even have to move as the new guard made the same mistake and attempted to perform a leaping kick where he promptly broke his back right leg in the process. The two stallions rolled around on the floor gripping their broken body parts and shouting like it was the end of the world, leaving the pegasus looking down at them in confusion. "What just happened?" "They are both smarter, and much dumber than I thought they'd be. Equestria does pick such winners to join its ranks." Sombra chimed in smugly. With his confusion promptly set aside, Shatterstar went into full panic mode as he heard the loud echoes of the guards traveling out of the busted throne room doors. "Hey! Shut up! Shut up!" Shatterstar pleaded, receiving no coherent response from the guards as he tried desperately to stop their cries. Seeing no other options, Shatterstar raised his hoof and smacked one of the guards in the head, knocking him out immediately and sending his helmet across the large throne room. The guard's head slumped over, and the sudden loss of sound made both Shatterstar and the other guard stop and stare. "Is...is he?" Said the still-conscious guard nervously. Slowly Shatterstar poked the guards' bodies as he struggled to find an answer. "Nice hit, but he's still breathing. Try hitting just a bit harder next time, and maybe you won't have to hit him twice to finish the job." Shatter sighed in relief as he heard Sombras answer and turned to the other guard. "Don't worry, he's alive," He looked back to the unconscious guard and recoiled from the mark he had left on his face. "But just barely." Suddenly, he heard the sounds of struggle as the other guard shakily stood up. "You monster, you won't get away with hurting my friend!" The guard said as he struggled to stand up on only three hooves. Shatterstar looked at him, then looked off to the side where he heard the snickering of Sombra in his mind. "Let me handle this." Before Shatter could even protest, his horn sparked to life and lifted the guard into the air. At the same time, he began tearing up one of the large curtains on the windows and used their pieces to tie up and gag both of the guards effortlessly before dropping him back to the ground. Feeling a little smug, Shatterstar walked over to the scared guard on the ground and looked him in the eye. "I think I just did." He said with a devilish smile that made him feel giddy inside, while at the same time making him feel uncomfortable. Quickly he dropped the smile and shifted back to a more serious expression as he remembered what he was there for. "Hey, you! Tell me where the crystal ponies were taken," He ripped the gag out of the stallion's mouth and roared. "NOW!" The stallion screamed like a little filly as tears began to well up in his eyes. "They're being prepared for transport! You'll find them downstairs in the underground facility, just please don't kill me!" Shatterstar quickly reapplied the gag and smiled at the guard, his sharp teeth unsettling the young stallion. "Thank you kindly!" "The underground facility? Are they tampering with more of my things?!" Sombra asked angrily, the noise-making Shatterstar wince in pain. "Could you stop the shouting already? Jeez, you're like an angry child!" Shatterstar emphasized by smacking the side of his head in frustration. Looking down once more Shatterstar could see the confused look on the guard's face, because as far as he knew Shatterstar was a crazy demon pony who was talking to himself. "Hey! Don't judge me!" He said before smacking the guard across the face, knocking him out effortlessly. "Well, now that that's done I think it's time to spread some oh-so-lovely fear, don't you?" Sombra said excitedly as Shatter made his way to the door. "I already said we weren't going to do that. Chivalrous is our top priority." He peered out into the halls, looking left and right questioningly. "Uhhh... where to?" "Take a right." Sombra said sadly, disappointment evident in his voice. The emotions seeped out of Sombra and into Shatterstar, giving him a bitter taste in his mouth. "Ugh, fine! We can attack, but only if they truly get in our way." Shatterstar said in annoyance. Thankfully it had done the trick, as Sombra's mood improved and cured the depressive feelings in their chest. "Oh I hope they get in our way." He said happily, and Shatter could almost see the smile on his face as he said it. With a shake of his head, Shatterstar sprinted down the hall and followed each of the directions Sombra gave. 'Don't worry buddy. I'll be there soon.' He thought as his pace quickened to that of a blur. He hoped that the Equestrians were ready because once his friend was safe they would have Tartarus to pay.