~ April 16th, 1020 ME ~
‘7:47pm‘
Blazing desperately wanted to investigate further into his magical potential, but was forced to wait until Twilight awoke to instigate, and dispel any awry spells. Until now, his day had been spent playing Uno with Spike and reading his daily dose of equestrian history. The origins of Equestria were relatable to some Earthen history, but following the unification of the pony tribes, things couldn’t be more different. It turns out that Twilight and her closest friends were literally the latest embodiments of harmony, and each represented their own unique element.
Fluttershy personified (ponyified?) kindness, Applejack represented honesty, Rarity embodied generosity, Rainbow Dash: loyalty, Pinkie Pie: laughter, and Twilight was the element of magic itself.
The things they had accomplished were awe inspiring, from reforming a being of chaos to preventing eternal night. I certainly can’t do that with a traditional 9-5. Finally, after what felt like an eternity (and many hay fries) later, Twilight was awake, and magic training was to be resumed. Fortunately, it was still light enough to work outside, otherwise the night would have ended rather uneventfully.
The lesson of choice for the evening was shield spells; an art that Blazing quickly picked up. However, his magical control and sustaining of the barrier was very poor. He achieved a basic sphere, but trying to increase the radius would result in the strength sputtering and fizzling out.
“That’s great, Blazing! Can you try and change the consistency? Thicker shields are more versatile when defending physical blows, but a thinner flexible shield can handle projectiles better.”
“I’ll try, but my magic feels kinda funny right now. You remember your faucet analogy with mana, right? Well I may not know a lot about magic yet, but I feel like my flow has a plug holding me back. It’s almost like a dam is blocking half of the river.”
“Are you certain? Most unicorns can’t detect magical interference, but what you're describing sounds most concerning. Are you sure you aren’t improperly directing the flow?”
“I don’t know, Princess, but it’s getting worse.”
“That’s the idea.” Twilight’s eyes went green and her speech drawled. The change in her demeanor was clearly not natural.
“Twilight? Twilight, what’s going on? Spike?! Who’s there? Show yourself!”
“If you insist.” A darkened hue passed by Blazing’s hooves, and expanded by the castle wall, where the sunset was casting shadows. Blazing bolted in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, when black crystals erupted from the ground and created a prison engulfing him. “Well great, that’s just great. Who do you think you are? My life’s already in pieces without your help making it worse!”
“The question is, who do you think you are?” The shadowed figure started lurking toward Blazing, its glowing green eyes becoming the prominent attribute. Purple wisps were trailing from the sides of the shadow. As the thing drew closer, the sun fell behind the hill.
“Twilight, go inside and let Spike know there’s no trouble out here, your little friend is just going for a walk.” The darkened creature spoke in a voice that seemed more fitting for a refined noble, but held an ominous tone to it.
“It will be done.”
“You don’t know who you're messing with,” Blazing spat out.
“Neither do you, but don’t worry, I have plans for you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure King Sombra!”
“Ah so you have heard of me! To what do I owe this pleasure? Perhaps you could be a gentlestallion and tell me your name.”
“Twilight defeated you once, and I know your weakness.”
“Let me tell you a secret boy... I don’t have a weakness!”
“My fire magic will cut through your shadows!”
“Or cast more? I was expecting more from you when I heard you took down an Ursa Minor. Perhaps this is cause for disappointment.” The shadow that was King Sombra was now nearly atop the cage, bringing his face close. Blazing attempted to smack him where he assumed the Stallion’s face would be only for his hand to pass straight through.”
“Well, this has been fun, but we better get going before Ponyville shows up. Thanks for hanging out on the edge of town for me! You made things quite easy. Don’t worry, you will give us answers regarding your origins in due time.”
“So you think that’s it... that my magic is suppressed, and you can slip away in the darkness of the night?”
“With ease.” At that Sombra shoved a gag into Blazing’s mouth. The cage began levitating, and Sombra slipped towards White Tail Woods with his prize. Blazing couldn’t stop thinking about the “us” comment. No doubt he didn’t mean to let that slip, but why isn’t he controlling me? When Blazing was reading up on his history earlier, he was fortunate to have passed along the events connected to the crystal empire, and in that found the story of ‘King’ Sombra. Apparently this Stallion had relationship problems... go figure. He also had Power issues, was heartless, destructive, merciless and wicked. He chose to enslave the crystal ponies, and let hatred fuel his dark magic. His ability to prevent the magic of others, and control their behavior was powerful, but it was his ability to manipulate crystal, and shadows that gave him an edge.
All this would usually be cause for panic, but Blazing’s mind was elsewhere. A building pressure was slowly growing behind the dam, where the magic had been blocked off, and it was becoming apparent that Blazing's body was trying to resist the dark Magic’s grasp. He began to beat at the walls of the cage, and buck wildly.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself. I think it’s prime time to take a rest.”
The shadow began to summon black tendril like magic, directing them towards the thrashing unicorn.
“This won’t hurt a bit.”
Blazing was pretty certain based on the book's description that the only counter to this magic fueled by hatred was love and joy. Yet he was still determined to overcome the spell with pure mana and a strong will to purge the darkness. Before the dark magic breached the cage wall, Blazing let out a war cry as golden light shot from his horn ripping the exhaustion spell down the middle. Unlike the Ursa encounter, Blazing was fully aware of his surroundings, and began expanding a shield spell around himself. Strangely, it took on a different color than it had while practicing with Twilight. Rather than glowing gold, it was closer to that of a pure white. The barrier fought with the crystal walls around him, and slowly pushed them apart. During this surprise, Sombra transformed into his physical form to increase his power. He now stood with silver armor, a spiked crown, and his gray coat, which was no longer shrouded.
Blazing, now free, started engulfing the forest floor in fire, which spread quickly, and probably was more destructive than helpful. Despite that, it still surprised Sombra, who hesitated, but only for a moment. He quickly came to his senses and prepared a calculated counterattack.
Sombra began to cast a manipulating mind control spell on Blazing to subdue him despite his hopes to complete the extraction with fewer aftereffects, but nevertheless, the spell had the desired results. Blazing’s magical outburst was dwindling. Sombra sensed rage towards himself from the stallion. This helped fuel his dark magic in overpowering the twerp.
“That’s more like it. Thank you for entertaining my need for a challenge. Violent surprises always spice up my line of work. Your contribution towards our cause will be much appreciated.”
“Ya ain’t taking em anywhere ya scoundrel!”
Applejack emerged from behind a flaming tree and lassoed King Sombra, bringing him towards a diving Rainbow Dash flying at near jet speeds, while Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere, smacking the surprised stallion in the face with a pie. This only enraged Sombra, who responded with a shockwave sending back anypony in the vicinity and began ordering Blazing to light his newest friends ablaze.
It was at that time that Fluttershy, one of the most timid mares in Ponyville, decided to stomp on a rain cloud and unleash a downpour. Rarity, also present, slipped in behind Blazing and levitated him away from the action, much to his frustration. He lost concentration on his spell and failed to fulfill his master’s orders.
Sombra tried to gain control of each of the elements individually but was being hit from so many angles that it was hard to focus on one specific target.
“I see Twilight wasn’t able to join you for the fun this time. You won’t be able to overcome my power with just five of you... Not even all six of the elements would be enough. You won’t be as lucky as last time we met.” With this, King Sombra created a crystalline shield just as Dash was coming in for another swoop, which also served to cut through Applejack’s rope. Dash had to thrust her wings hard to avoid crashing right into the barrier, and Sombra began transforming back into shadow form to show these pests what they deserved for getting in the way a second time.
“Let’s play.”
The green glow in Sombra’s eyes began to turn into dozens of snakes slithering towards the grounded earth ponies, and Flutershy’s stare was proving ineffective at suppressing the magically crafted creatures. Pinkie Pie fired her party cannon at the nearest snake, but it didn’t take long for her to be overwhelmed as it wrapped around her, seeping into her fur and bringing her under the King's control. “Ah reckon Celestia should be here soon with some of her guard, but I ain’t so sure we can keep Sombra at bay for much longer. He’s got more fight, and smarts in em then a whip,” Applejack said to Rainbow as she smashed one of the magical constructs under hoof.
“I’m not sure your honesty is going to help much here either” Rainbow responded, as she dodged a blast from Pinkie Pie’s party cannon.
During all this, Fluttershy was trying to figure out what to do from her aerial position, because she never was a mare to lower herself to using brute force. As she hovered overhead, Sombra unleashed a volley of spiked black crystal at her, that was near impossible to dodge. Although she avoided many, her attempt was futile, as one struck her in the right wing, causing her to plummet and crash, nearly impacting into Applejack.
“Rarity, can you create a beacon of light with your horn so that Sombra’s shadow form has less room to maneuver?!”
“I simply don’t know, Dash. I don’t practice that kind of magic... but I’ll try!” Before Rarity could attempt a light spell, Blazing began glowing a brilliant white, permeating the forest with enough light to bring day into the darkest night.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack was the only one to speak, while everyone else just stared. Sombra’s serpentine constructs melted away, and he had to return to his physical form, for the light was burning through his shadow form. It was unlike anything known to Equestria. Despite all the adrenaline in the air, the scene stopped everyone in their tracks. The royal chariots, and Pegasus guards had also arrived during this bout of confusion, but they were blinded by the light.
The rays focused like a beacon directed right at Sombra, creating a light show in the middle of the dense forest. When the light hit its target, it began wrestling with darkness coming right out of Sombra’s head. His screams filled the air, and the curses he shouted would have ruined any virgin ears. His skin looked as if it was burning away in places from the sheer power behind the blast.
Pinkie decided to take this moment to come back to her senses. “What did I miss?! You have to invite me to the light show!”
Suddenly, Sombra vanished from view, exerting the last of his stamina on a long-range teleport. For most unicorns, that in itself is a taxing endeavor, but given the circumstances, the task could have been five times harder.
The light slowly began to fade, and the forest was left uncomfortably quiet. The only lights were coming from a few stray fires, the royal guard, the moon, and Celestia. The Princess was second to none at taking command of any situation, but even she was silenced upon Sombra’s disappearance.
“If that demon shows himself again, he will be in a world of regret.” Blazing fell on his haunches. “I know what you’re thinking: friendship is the key to harmony... but that guy is a few hundred miles past sane. I think I need trauma therapy.”
‘30 minutes prior‘
When Celestia received an urgent message from her former student at such an odd hour, she was taken by surprise, however her composure remained tact. When it became apparent that Twilight was compromised, and Spike had sent the warning, she was holding in her rage amongst her servants, but wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.
Dispatching a portion of a solar guard unit was an immediate priority. Celestia turned to her nearest bodyguard and said in her royal Canterlot voice, “Stone Wall, inform commander Storm that an apparent threat is in Ponyville. I want his best two platoons to accompany me to investigate, help Twilight, and confront any hostile creatures.”
“At once, Your Majesty”
I have a feeling if Twilight’s eyes are truly green, and she is oblivious to everything, then somepony I hoped wouldn’t show their face again is wreaking havoc. Sombra... if you hurt Twilight, I will deposit you in a Tartarus cell next to Lord Tirek.
Spike knew as soon as Twilight came in that something was amiss. Her demeanor was off, her eyes seemed discolored, and her voice was missing some of its fluctuations. When she told Spike not to worry about Blazing and his magic practice, Spike felt like his ears were blowing smoke (and maybe they were). He wanted to keep an eye on her, but also needed to send a warning to Celestia, to notify her of Twilight’s strange behavior.
“If Blazing did something I’m gonna... ah forget it. I need to send a message to Applejack as well. She would know what to do. Going outside alone could be my own death wish for all I know.”
“Twilight, I think you should take a nap.”
“I don’t need a nap.”
“Well... I’m sorry in advance.” Spike took this moment to grab a loose crystal from the castle wall and banged it over Twilight Sparkle’s head. “I wouldn’t be the best number one assistant if I couldn’t save you from yourself, right? Ok now parchment, and ink... parchment and ink. Here we are.” He labeled the top “urgent” in big letters and began scribbling out a message.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Twilight is possessed. She came in from magic lessons alone, spoke in a monotone, and had a green hue around her eyes. Please send some help. Who knows what’s outside our castle right now, and what kind of magic potential they have. Blazing is either in grave danger or has a lot of explaining to do.
Spike
Just as soon as he sent the message to the Princess via his magical fire, he grabbed another sheet, and wrote a note to Applejack.
Applejack,
Twilight is under someponies spell, and I need you to buck them into tomorrow for me.
Spike
Spike shrugged. “Ah what can I say... I got the message across right?”
White Tail Woods
‘Present’
“Blazing, where is Twilight? Why did Sombra attack? What did ya do?!”
“Hold your horses there Applejack... Actually, just give me a minute... I guess that phrase probably sounds kinda rude.” Blazing took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “I believe Twilight should be safe with Spike, assuming she didn’t do anything to him before I knocked out Sombra’s control. As for who attacked, all I know is that he is collaborating with others, and I was his intended target. As for what I did... let’s just say I lit a candle in a dark room, and light tends to permeate darkness rather quickly.” Blazing scratched the back of his head with his hoof.
“Thank you all for coming to help. I think you slowed him down just enough and, Your Majesty, thank you for your quick response even though the situation has been resolved.”
“You’re quite welcome my little pony. The future is still unclear, but for now I will be posting my top-ranking solar guard members on watch duty around the outskirts of Ponyville. It is deeply disturbing that Sombra has worked up the courage to strike again after losing so badly last time, and even more worrisome that he’s not working alone. I can only imagine what is being conspired. Nevertheless, our senses should be on high alert, and I would appreciate a strong communication network much like today. Speaking of which, I think we have all had enough fun here. Storm, if you would please coordinate your troops into different watch parties, and escort Blazing back to the Twilight's castle for questions you can have the rest of the night off. I will go with the Elements to check on Twilight’s as well as Spike’s safety myself. The sooner we can ensure everyponies okay and get a better understanding of what we’re dealing with the better.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty... it will be done.”
Everyone was sitting around the table in the meeting room where the cutie map stays trying to debrief with warm tea. Blazing and Celestia in particular were having the hardest times relaxing, though Celestia wasn’t showing that outwardly.
“Before I start from the beginning and explain to you my point of view on the last hour, can somebody please explain why this map has Twilight’s cutie mark on it, and is pinpointing our location?”
“If anyone owes you that explanation it’s me...” Twilight began, now thankfully not under the control of Sombra, and showing few side effects from it. “I should have told you sooner, but when I brought you here, I was intending to use a spell designed to help find someone who had never experienced what true friendship looks like. I needed more power for its radius to reach beyond the limits of my mana pool, but it unexpectedly generated a rift that reached well beyond my limits.
What I failed to mention was that, when you arrived, the cutie map indicated that my next mission was to be in Canterlot, right when and where you happened to enter Equestria. This map usually helps the elements of Harmony solve conflicts and leads us to people in need of our services. Whether that be in the form of advice, love, or a helping hoof. The missions are often exclusively large-scale events that could greatly impact peace and harmony in the future.”
“So, am I to assume our friendship was entirely planned by this map? That you bringing me in, and giving me so many things unconditionally was only to fulfill some kind of mission? It was all fake?!“ exclaimed Blazing.
“No! Of course not! You are a special pony, and I’m glad to have met you, but I feel terrible for keeping this from you. A true friend wouldn’t hide things that could affect the other pony in a positive or negative way. I’m sorry Blazing.”
“Ugh... I want to be angry, but we will deal with this later! For now we need to figure out what these conspirators are planning, and why I’m involved.”
“Well put” Celestia began. “Twilight I’m glad you have had a chance to learn this lesson, even if it took poor circumstances to bring this forward. Your wisdom precedes you Blazing. With that out of the way, can you recount the events surrounding your attempted kidnapping? Please try to recall all details you can remember, and Stone Wall, I would like you to take notes and report anything of use to Silver Storm.
Blazing began to recount things exactly as he had seen, with the elements occasionally speaking up to confirm specific details. It wasn’t until he began to explain how he broke free from Sombra’s control that everypony was intently listening, trying to comprehend the brilliant flashes of light they had witnessed.
“When Sombra’s magic reached out to me, and began to manipulate my senses, I could feel his presence in my head. It was like being in a state of lucid dreaming, but also having an out of body experience. As he directed me to cause harm, I felt like I was gaining a true understanding of dark magic in those moments. It was diluting my mana streams, and looked like shadows we’re dancing through me, which was quite a disturbing thing to be aware of. I’m not completely sure how I overpowered him, but the closest thing I got is I diverted his magic into the darkness of the night sky by pulling on his connection to my head and reverse engineering a telekinesis spell to manifest light in my mana pathways to basically smoke out his influence on me. From there I just shifted my control of mana to the very top of my horn, amplified my output to create what I envisioned as a magnifying glass under the sun, and funneled it towards Sombra.”
Everyone in the room was speechless. The strange explanation seemed even too difficult for Twilight to manage.
“So how did you guys find me in the middle of White Tail Woods?”
“Well I reckon it would be a might bit underwhelming compared to that. We just heard ya yelling’ and followed the smoke once ya started to burn the forest down.”
“I would tell you to not burn the little critters of the forest's homes, but, um, we did find you, and got the fire put out, so I guess it worked ok,” Fluttershy half whispered.
“Twilight, I think I’m going to take a personal day tomorrow if you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t mind, but I want to know more about how you became so in tune with your mana pathways! You’ve only had them a little over a week, and you already are... well I don’t even know the full extent of it!”
"When we resume, you can probably teach me some more complex magical lessons, so I’m looking forward to it. Although if we could avoid any life-threatening events along the way, for the sake of my mental health, that would be great."
“Anybody got any ideas on what dreadful individuals Sombra was referring to when he said ‘us’?” Rarity asked.
At this Princess Celestia frowned. “I fear that he could only work with someone else if he felt they were also a formidable opponent; someone who could give him the upper edge. This leads me to believe we should prepare for some of the worst criminals known to planet Equus, if we want to be ahead of the unknown variables that they present.
I pray that, for our sake, Sombra isn’t just the beginning.”