//------------------------------// // Twenty Six: One Little Spark // Story: Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra // by Randimaxis //------------------------------// ===== Two hours. It had been two hours since Obsidian experienced utter defeat at the hooves of her wicked sister Onyx, and she was now lying in bed in the Fluttershy Suite; the AJ had a huge hole in the floor, and the Rarity had bloodstains on the carpets that would probably never come out. It was lovely and quiet, much like the mare it took its' namesake from. Almost every aspect of the room was nature-themed, with ivy covering the walls and the posts of her bed being actual tree trunks, seeming to grow into the ceiling of the room itself. Her sheets were large, cured leaves sewn together, and they were silken and smooth. Her pillow was a mushroom, but one that was sturdy enough to withstand typical handling. She lay there, under the covers, in a room where it was quiet and peaceful. Her friends had run a gamut of emotions, all about poor Obsidian, but had eventually deigned to put her where she could get some rest, after cleaning her up a bit. Ruby's blood had been ev- Best not to think about that. Across from her, seated in a chair and just watching her silently, was Cupcake Sprinkles. He had refused to leave her side - which Mica had said was not a bad idea. He'd been here ever since, but he hadn't said a single word since crossing the threshold into the Fluttershy Suite. He just sat there, looking at her as if he wanted to hug every last care away. Which was fortunate, since Obsidian didn't feel like talking. In fact, she would quite possibly vomit - either with very unkind yet undeniably true words... or more literally. She had no magic, no strength, and absolutely didn't care about anything... she couldn't even sob; at the first signs of incoming tears she reminded herself harshly that father hated that. It was all so tiresome. Her siblings missed reaching her first, which forced her squarely into the Equestrian camp. Then the Equestrians, including herself, turned out to consist mainly of idiots and failures, and failed to accomplish anything. She couldn't help either side on her own, and still couldn't feel anything - even hate or anger at Onyx, the most stupid schemer ever, that succedeed only because her plans were too addle-brained for anypony to figure out in time! Stupids. There was a gentle knock at the door, and Cupcake got up from his chair (a huge, hollowed-out walnut) to answer it, walking softly. Reaching it, he carefully opened it and looked outside. She could hear Mica's voice from the hallway. "... how is she?" A sigh. "She still hasn't moved." Silence for a moment. "When she wakes up, make sure she eats something." "Mmm-hmmm." "Cup? Are you-" "Not now, Mica. I... I have to get back to her." "Wait." Slight shuffling sounds. "Here; these were Ruby's bags, and I have a feeling she'd want them." A sigh. "I don't think she wants anything, anymore." Another sigh. "Well... if she says or does anything... anything..." "Yeah. I will. Sure." Cup didn't sound very convincing. "Okay. Alright. You... don't you get yourself worked up, Cup - we need you. Both of you." "Thank you Mica I'll take it from here bye." It was all one run-together sentence; he apparently felt just about as miserable as she did. He closed the door before Mica could say another word and went back to his seat, pausing long enough to make a noise of setting down a saddlebag. It went back to being quiet again. About five minutes later, when she finally spoke, Cup jumped a bit in surprise. "It was a bucking accident. A step to one side. A one second quicker teleportation. I was right next to her, and it still took her time to teleport... it doesn't make any bucking sense. I did everything I could to reach her so nothing would happen to her or me, and it still happened. No damned sense! Do you hear that, Cupcake? NONE!" Obsidian growled, pressing her muzzle into pillow as she fought back yet another round of tears. Cupcake sat in the seat, watching his friend grieve over the loss of her sister. "Sometimes... Life doesn't make sense." He wanted to tell her everything would be okay... but even he didn't want to hear those words like that. Still... "You could have done probably a million, billion things differently, and it still might have ended... the way it did. There's no way to really know for sure." He gave a single sniffle; like hers, his eyes had remained puffy since their first tears. "The world we live in really hurts sometimes." He now stood up, and slowly walked his way over to the side of her bed. He knelt down, crouching so they could be eye-to-eye. "That's why we have to help each other to make it. She did that for you, because she loved you. I'm here because... because I love you. And the others, out in the hall? They love you too." His own tears started flowing again, but slowly. "A wise pony once told me 'love is all you need'... granted, he was wrong, but in times like this, he couldn't have been more right. I know it hurts. I know it does." He blinked and swiped a hoof across his eyes. "And if I could die so she could live, I would. In a hoof beat." Then, it... i-it was just a... 'friendly' love... that Cupcake had for her? But... it didn't matter; it was all so stupid. "Stop being stupid, stupid - don't you talk about dying, don't annoy me any further... but if you must sit there, then check those saddlebags; maybe you'll find something that could help your incompetent princess who missed a conspiracy growing near her own castle," Obsidian growled and turned to the other side. Cup sighed. "O... okay. I just wanted to... t-to help. I'm sorry..." He rose and crossed the room, sat down and dragged the saddlebags into his lap. There was the sound of buckles jingling, then cloth moving. A momentary 'hunh' from Cupcake. More shifting. The crackle of paper. And... "Wh-what's..?" There was a jingling sound, like a small chain or a necklace. From where he was sitting, a soft blue light gave a feeble glow. "Oh!" Then a sharp jingle, as if it was dropped onto the grassy floor. "... oh, manure..." Now there was the sound of grass shuffling around. Sighing, she rolled her eyes. "... whaaaat?" Even in her current state, Obsidian couldn't help herself and had to turn around to see what had just happened. Cupcake was on the floor on his knees, waving his forelegs through the grassy carpet. "It... i-it was a necklace of some sort. It glowed and I... dropped it here somewhere..." He continued searching. On the log table next to the walnut chair were the saddlebags, a yellow-covered book, some papers, a hoof mirror and a red and black scarf. ... just wonderful. Obsidian levita-... reached for the papers and book, to check what they were about. She tried to ignore the mirror as much as possible. She idly wondered what would her father say if he caught her wasting valuable training time in a bed? 'FITTING FOR A FAILURE - WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE!' Well, he wouldn't be wrong right now, would he? The book had a bright yellow cover, and had a simply-drawn pony on the front, pointing to the title: Light Magic For Dummies. It seemed to be an instruction manual on how to cast Light Magic spells, and it was apparently made to ensure the subject matter was well understood. The papers, however, were more interesting; they were written in Crystallian, so obviously Cup hadn't bothered to read them... but Obsidian saw them and knew each word at a glance. If I can find the Light Shard, the writing at the top said, maybe I can save our family. What was this? The legends all say the same thing, and even though there are differing opinions on when it will occur, all of them agree on one thing: that it will take an Umbral shard to undo anything these prophecies foretell. The writing was loopy and frilly, but clearly legible to Obsidian; Ruby's hoofwriting. The only way to fill an Umbral shard with Light sounds impossible though - first, it must be emptied, then refilled with Light Magic. It does not say how to do this, nor does it say anything of what will become of such an Umbral shard. But it DOES say that it will be the ONLY way to stop the Umbral army that Onyx is raising. Stupid Ruby. Everything would have worked out just fine if she had the chance to talk with Obsidian, to tell her something other than 'the Umbral Empire is sooooooo wonderful' or that 'Onyx wants to make us a family again', and so on, and so on. Obsidian grumbled slightly as she continued reading. "Cupcake," she said without looking up, "I think I've found something which may be very important; if you could ask Princess Twilight or anypony else in a position of authority to join us, I would be grateful. Maybe Lemon? He was said to be skilled with Light Magic, wasn't he?" Stupid Lemon, stupid princess. Stupid, stupid Obsidian. "It's possible that we could still save this worthless world from the horrid cruelty of my stupid sister." Obviously she wasn't in a good mood... but it didn't mean she couldn't think - even if she could be pretty sour in process. Cupcake stopped searching. "But... the neckla-..." He stopped, then nodded, "y'know what? You're right - this is more important." He stood up and brushed off his knees... then he looked at Obsidian standing there, upright and awake, even if sour, and simply admired her for a moment... then, without warning, he reached over and quickly planted a kiss on her cheek, right before he zipped out the door, leaving it standing open. Obsidian blinked at this strange gesture and rose hoof to her cheek. Interesting... Ruby would surely explain a few things about this phenomenon to her... if she could. The dark, magic-less unicorn mare shook her head and sighed heavily as she started to look for the necklace as well. This thing glowed, right? Maybe... maybe it'll start glowing again? In fact, it was glowing; she could easily see it among the grass. The azure glow was soft and wavery, but it was most certainly visible. The necklace was on a platinum chain, and the blue gem in the center of it was exquisitely beautiful; it looked almost exactly like the one that had been around Onyx's neck, the one that had drained her of her Dark Magic and used to raise the long-dead Umbrals from their dark slumber. It simply sat there, the light blue glow it gave off seeming soothing and comforting. If it looked the same... could it be possible that it worked the same? That it could be used to be filled with Light Magic and... uuuhhh, and used to do something light-centered and goody-goody? Just what could Light Magic do, except for maybe moving things around? Too bad stupid Lemon didn't manage to teach her anything really useful between second and third attempt on her life IN A SINGLE DAY... Maybe her father wasn't exactly the kindest pony around, but at least she knew what to expect with him; strangely enough, she was sort of missing the good old days. At least she found this thing - and insted of waiting for the princess to show up, she decided to read this book about Light Magic. She picked it up, flipped it open and turned back to her bed as she casually scooped up the necklace with zero concern... ... and the gemstone let out a brilliant burst of blue light as soon as she touched it, covering the entire room in the same azure glow and glowing with the brightness of a small star! Obsidian... my sister... I somehow KNEW it had to be you. That was Ruby's voice! I had thought maybe Tourmaline would eventually give in, though I knew Amethyst was a lost cause. But you... I somehow had a feeling it would be you. That's why I kept running into you; I wanted to make sure I was right. The gem pulsed with each word spoken, as if her sister were inside the amulet itself. Obsidian blinked once, then twice. Though Ruby may have been smart, she was pretty sure that 'Looking Glass' would have come up with a better plan than getting stabbed in the back, so she could pass on a necklace to a sister she'd never known. "Ruby..?" she said aloud. Was it some kind of spellbound message? Maybe something about their own abilities as shard-creations? Possibly some manner to learn what the Tartarus was going on? Obsidian, YOU are the Umbral shard we need to end this. I always wondered how it was possible to empty a shard of Dark Magic... but when I saw Onyx drain your power away, I KNEW, in that moment, how it was done. The voice was soft and etheral, and seemed to fill her head - but not headachey-like. With your energy stolen from you, you no longer had any Dark Magic to use... and were now ready to receive the Light that you'll need to defeat her. I had thought we would be able to work this out together... but Fate, it seems, had other plans. No kidding. Regardless, the matter still stands, my sister - you, an Umbral shard who is completely devoid of Darkness, are now in place to fill yourself with Light, and to put an end to our insane sister's plans, once and for all. Well, that part was more or less obvious, though Obsidian wasn't sure if the term 'empty shard' meant 'devoid of magic' or 'utterly dead'; after all, what was more empty than lifeless magic? But there were some things that still cried out for an explanation. "How... how did you put yourself in this necklace? It's obviously you, if you can talk about Onyx's last actions, but... h-how is it possible at all?" She didn't want to stop hearing her voice - damn Onyx and her plans, damn Equestria and damn herself, but she had actually cared about Ruby! What you are hearing isn't truly me... but the LOVE I have for you, Obsidian. This pendant is the opposite of the one Onyx wears; it channels Dark Energy, yes, but it also feeds that energy - and Onyx's power, by proxy - with FEAR. That FEAR is why she's so powerful, and it's that FEAR she's been cultivating from myself - from all of us - for years that has made her powerful. This amulet, however, functions as a beacon of Light Magic, and is fuelled with the exact opposite emotion that fuels hers: LOVE. Only through the power of LOVE can FEAR be countered, and only through LOVE will you be filled with Light. What is here in this amulet is the LOVE I have for you... and if you can gather the LOVE that's around you into you, you will find yourself far more powerful than any Umbral has ever witnessed. Obsidian scowled, gritting her teeth in frustration. Bah, LOVE!? A hollow word, an utterly unnecessary feeling, forcing ponies to act completely out of their minds. How could something so pathetic be able to counter the driving power of FEAR? And it really didn't improve her mood that the voice was just an echo, a shadow of sister Ruby - not Obsidian's sister herself. At least she knew that Onyx wouldn't have to worry about a gathering of emotions towards her; Obsidian held nothing but scorn and spite in her heart towards her... the pathetic, foolish Queen of the Stupids! "It sounds like I'll have to turn to my friends, then, and wait for some sort of magic to happen?" She still wasn't quite accepting it. The glow in the amulet faded ever-so-slightly as Obsidian thought such harsh things about love. Obsidian, you must not only take in the Light, but you must learn to accept it, too. Light will not survive in the Darkness of despair; only the fires of hope and LOVE can cleanse away the shadows that are coming, even as we speak... And do not despair so bitterly, my sister; so long as you carry the Light of my LOVE in your heart, I shall always be with you, forevermore in your heart, in your soul... and I will always LOVE you, no matter how grim things get, how dire the straits, how close the defeat. Though my body has passed on, my LOVE for you will never die. Wear this pendant, and let your friends show you how much their LOVE can do. For you. For Equestria. For all of Equus. Use my notes if you can to decipher what to do. Don't give up, but surge forward with determination, and the truth that you will succeed and conquer the Darkness, not only here in the world... but in your own heart, as well. I love you, sister... and I always will. The amulet's glow faded somewhat, but was still alive enough to put off light. This necklace kept using the 'L' word waaaaaaay too much... but Obsidian still ended up clutching it tightly to her chest as soon as the words stopped, unable to take off her hooves off it for a rather long moment, shedding quiet tears. "... Your... Majesty?" Standing at the doorway was Stalwart Stance, eyes wide and jaw hanging open as she stared at Obsidian. "What... what was that light... and that voice..?" She looked completely taken aback; she had apparently seen much, if not all, of what had just occurred. "My sister, apparently. At least a part of it. A disembodied part... but at the moment, it's good enough." Obsidian perhaps wasn't in the best possible mood in the world, and she wasn't sure how much she cared about Equestria as a whole... but Darkness damn her if she was going to allow Onyx to make a vest out of Stalwart or ignore her sister's pleading. She had to beat Onyx into a twitching, bloody pulp as soon as possible - then have an official vacation. She'd kill for two or three dull, boring days with her father - or better yet, with her friends, doing... uh, friendly things? "I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that I believe we can best Onyx and save Equestria, Stalwart." But still, why did she have to bring up Amethyst - couldn't she lie, and simply state that it was too hard to free her? Wart looked at her for a minute, pondering before her reply. "Your Majesty... do you think I don't know that?" Now, she let a small slip of pride cross her features. "I have every faith and confidence that, together against the storm, we shall persevere and overcome whatever your mad sister has planned. We are not mewling cowards; we are Equestrians! There is no surrender in our vocabulary! There is no doubt in our camp! There is nothing but the upcoming victory to celebrate, and which path to take to reach it!" She proudly strode forward, and took a knee in front of Obsidian. "Your Majesty, there is no force on Equus that can stand in our way; victory is assured. I swear it." "Oh, by Darkness..." Obsidian rolled her eyes. "Stalwart, friends don't have to kneel in front of friends... or, a-at least I think so," especially as she wasn't feeling very royal at the moment. "Let's finish it quickly and have a fun weekend, shall we?" she added as she turned to her papers. Notes, book, pendant... she had a lot of work to do. Ah, but it was research work - the best kind of work, in her opinion. Maybe it'll put her mind at ease, at least a little bit, at least for a short while. As she turned, however... From the moment Wart began speaking, Obsidian had felt a... tingle... in her horn. And what's more, the amulet now began to glow just a bit brighter. Stalwart was seemingly oblivious to this, as she stood and smiled broadly at her friend. "It will be an honor to enjoy a weekend with you, Your Ma-... Lady Obsidian." ... ah, yes, behold the power of friendship. Referring to her in this manner was apparently a very big step for Stalwart. With the guidance of this pendant, maybe things would work out even better than she believed? "What are you doing with your free time, Stalwart? Because I'm not sure what I'd like to do, once this is over - perhaps I would be available for this 'spa' thing that Thunderclap was talking about; after saving the world, I don't think I should be scared any longer just by thought of being touched... oh, and maybe Eloquence could do something different with my mane..." She sat down, took the book up in her mag-... with her hoof... and started to look for any possible useful clues. Maybe Ruby had marked something specific? "In my... f-free time? Well, I... uhm, I train, of course. I have to, if I want even the smallest chance at joining the Royal Guard; my small stature hinders me greatly, so I compensate with accelerated training regimens!" The yellow book wasn't exactly as 'For Dummies' as it had claimed to be; it was actually rather intelligent, yet explained things in a way that was clear, concise and easy to repeat, should she try to. There were notes and highlights, written in Crystalian, that made mention of similar spells & the pages they could be found on, alternate wordings for certain incantations, and even an occasional doodle in the margins - usually of crystals and ponies, but frilly and pretty ponies. With LONG manes. Ruby really liked manes, didn't she? Or, rather, 'does she' - as part of her seemingly lived inside the necklace and... well, it seemed as though Obsidian's life had most certainly gotten quite interesting, as of late. Still... would it be too much to ask the universe for something surprising and good to happen, at least once? "I may not be able to add up to the stature of a standard Royal Guard, yet I swear to you that I am at least three times as capable as any one of them might be, due to my strict training regimen! If Princess Twilight would only let me try, instead of telling me 'no' without even a chance to make a display... she would see I'm Royal Guard material, I am sure of it!" Ruby's notes were not in any visible order, yet each one seemed to be important in some fashion. The Umbrals are far more disconcerting than I thought; they lived in a time where ponies had clawed hooves, and fangs the size of Amethyst's Foci Dagger! Plus, they could see in total darkness, and felt no pain nor fear. Creatures that couldn't feel pain? How were they able to survive at all? Pain was quite useful when it was coming to, well, sensing that something important was struck. Did they torment ponies to feed on their fear, because they weren't able to feel it themselves? "Obsidian?" came the voice of Twilight Sparkle from the hallway. "I came when Cupcake told me you were awake, and he said you had something important to tell me?" Stalwart looked at Obsidian, visibly wondering if anything about the voice should be mentioned. "Yes, princess - I've just looked at Ruby's notes and had a short talk with what was apparently a portion of her spirit within this amulet that was found in her saddlebags. Do you, perchance, read Crystalian? It would most certainly help the process along, if you did..." Twilight Sparkle actually gave a smirk. "I learned to read Crystallian before I was six, because the library said it was a 'dead language'... and, to be fair, at the time it most certainly was." She stepped over to where Obsidian had the books, and looked down at them. Her eyes flew over the words quickly, like a mare who had given herself over to a great deal of reading practice, and she flipped the pages carefully with her magic. "According to this, it says that there is supposedly an army of Umbral undead ponies that can be resurrected and controlled by whomever casts the spell; the counter to this Darkness is a..." her eyes flew across the pages, "... shard of Light, it says. An Umbral shard filled with... um, is that a pony with a really long mane?... a-anyway, it says that this shard of Light is key to changing the way things are going." "Do we know anything about this shard?" Twilight asked aloud, looking a bit frustrated. "Yes, your majesty - my sister really likes long manes," Obsidian confirmed, "and apparently I am suposed to be this shard. Back at the Black Pool, sister Onyx drained me of all my magical power - including my Dark Magic - leaving me unable to use my horn at the moment. However, as sister Ruby concluded, it makes me the perfect vessel for being filled with Light. Then I should be able to counter Miss Tome's control over her hordes, beat her up and..." she stopped. And kill her? Maybe imprison her? Obsidian clearly didn't have any warm feelings towards her pathetic and completely stupid sister. "So, by accident, Onyx created a weapon to counter her own actions. Pretty ironic, methinks. And apparently the key to this Light Magic is obviously friendship." To be more precise, it was supposed to be 'love' but, uh... those two concepts were similar enough, right? Twilight scowled. "We already discussed the fact that 'Miss Tome' wasn't real; what's important now is that we study up every single note Ruby left behind, and see if, somewhere in there, we can locate the things we need to know to win this battle!" "Your Highness! Your Highness!" A mare in Royal Guard armor slung the door open, looking panicked and panting profusely. "Scouts... report that... large army... headed towards... Ponyville..." Twilight gritted her teeth. "No NO NO! We need more time!" She turned to the guardpony. "Thank you, Civil; I'll get right on it. Tell the scouts to monitor closely, but stay out of range! They need to watch, not fight, if they're going to be our eyes." Civil saluted, "Yes, Ma'am!" and headed off in the direction she came from, still panting. "Obsidian," Twilight started, "I have to look out for my subjects in Ponyville - a horde like that will lay the town to waste, and probably kill all the innocents inside. I can't let that happen - so, unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave you inside my palace for the moment. I'll try to get back when I can to check on you, but I'm afraid you'll have to research this without me. I'm sorry; good luck." With that, she promptly teleported away, leaving Obsidian holding the bag... er, book. ... well, manure.