//------------------------------// // Sombra's Majesty Pt. 1 // Story: KONO DIO DA: Wrath of Sombra // by DIO Brando //------------------------------// A fist from The World tore down the towering doors of Sombra's little hideout. DIO was angry. It was only a matter of time, he knew, before he would reunite with the ones he had spent so much time with. Only a matter of time before he could give Sombra a fate worse than Funny Valentine's. As he traveled through the dark halls of the mountain-embedded structure, he happened across an empty room, bar one. A single equine, laying down on the ground. She was bruised, but breathing. "So, you're the one who threatens the everlasting reign of our magnificent king," she said quietly, "the vampire with the ability to stop time." DIO smirked. "You know the power of The World, but what will it benefit you?" he said pridefully, "I can dispose of you in seconds. Tell me where Sombra is." "Gone," she said, turning around to reveal her fangs, "he anticipated your arrival and is heading for Canterlot at this very moment to use his stand to subjugate the living!" DIO frowned. It was rather inconvenient for Sombra to have done that, after all the effort DIO went through to track Sombra and kill him. Though, noticing Phoenix's fangs, he was confused as to how a vampire would come to exist in Equestria. Was there a stone mask lying around somewhere? "How did you become a vampire?" he asked. Phoenix laughed. "The same way you did," she said, "the stone mask that came from your world, but King Sombra allowed me to use his blood to do it, and his magic flows through me!" DIO began to wonder if his followers sounded this much like lunatics as well, but rather than consider the shame of his low standards, he decided instead to walk towards Phoenix with The World revealed. He intended to kill her, and refused to stop time in order to do so. Her horn began to light, but DIO simply chuckled. "What can magic do in stopped time?" he asked with pride. DIO felt an odd sensation as her horn flashed quickly with a bright light. "Nothing," she said, before she began to stand up, wounds healing, and with a smile, "but you have to be able to stop time first." "Za Warudo!" DIO said. He looked around, his Stand was nowhere to be seen. DIO shot a glare towards Phoenix, "what have you done?!" "You're so obsessed with stand power, with stopping time, with pretty clothes and silly words," Phoenix said, as her eyes began to glow, "have you forgotten what beauty lies within being a vampire?!" Two beams of vampiric essence erupted from her eyes with a force even DIO hadn't seen before from such an ability. He moved quickly out of the way, but not before a hole was blasted into his shoulder. With a grunt of pain, he snarled, staring down Phoenix who was now standing on her hind legs with her mane flowing freely as if it were in water. In the back of his mind, however, DIO shared the sentiment of what she was saying. He had long forgotten what it meant to be a vampire, as his Stand Ability was far stronger than his vampirism alone. He knew regardless that even without a stand, his opponent would be a guaranteed victory—but not a simple one. Something stuck out to DIO, however, something that almost gave him a sense of disgust. A sense of disgust not from her, but from her condition. She was powerful, but after that eruption of essence which pierced his skin and ripped through a wall behind him, she seemed to be shaking as if she were weakened. She kept up the flowing mane for a moment, but it began to fall slowly as she lost strength. She had just healed from visible hoof-shaped bruises. DIO began to realize something was wrong. "You haven't drank, have you?" DIO asked, noting the look of her face as he now noticed being subtly but prematurely wrinkled around the eyes and mouth. Her coat was thinner than usual, but only thin enough for a vampire like himself to notice, and through the coat he could see tight and leathery skin resulting from her lack of drinking, "I assume Sombra must have imposed some kind of rules on you to prevent or limit your drinking." "What is it to you?" she asked, dropping her confident tone for a moment. DIO shook his head. "What it is to me doesn't matter," he replied, "but what it isn't is a fair fight. Here." DIO walked up to Phoenix, causing her to wince back for a moment in confusion at DIO's absolute fearlessness before confusedly looking at his wrist that was being held out to her. "I don't. . .think I understand. . ." she muttered. "Drink," DIO said, "my blood will allow you your maximum strength, then we can have a fair fight." This idea was foreign to her, was DIO not her enemy? If he noted her weakness, why wouldn't he exploit it? Was he not angry at what they did to the ones he loved? She had too many questions to answer, so instead she bit down onto his wrist and drank. The taste of it was greater to her than what she could have ever imagined, sweet like wine, intoxicating, like molten pleasure. Though she hadn't had much, if any, she knew somehow that no blood would ever taste like this. As she lifted up her head and stepped back, she felt her complexion return to normal, and continue further into perhaps the closest to a perfect appearance she would ever be. She faced DIO. "Why did you do that?" she asked suddenly with great confusion, "why not exploit your enemy's weakness?" "You're not my enemy," DIO said, "merely a pawn of my enemy. You are a vampire—the only one I have met from this world, in honesty. We may be on opposing sides, but I can't help but to determine you are still one of my kind above that. If I must kill you, then at least I will do so with some dignity." "If. . ?" Phoenix questioned further, "what do you mean, if?" "We have no master but ourselves," DIO said, "no mortal has the right to tell a vampire what to do. Does the lamb instruct the lion? Or does the mouse tell the viper where it must slither?" He knelt down to Phoenix, looking her in the eyes as he continued. "We are not prey, we are predators. In a world where our prey thinks and feels for itself, there are ways we can manage the natural order without trespassing natural morality. So why fight for a creature like Sombra?" Phoenix thought for a moment, sitting on her hinds and looking down. "But. . .why would I betray King Sombra. . ?" she said quietly, "he gave me everything!" "Including those bruises?" DIO said softly. Phoenix held her foreleg for a moment, closing her eyes as she turned her head. "That. . .that was just. . .stress. . ." she said, "he loves me. . ." "He needs you. So he can be successful," DIO pointed out, "but you don't need him. Look at what you were able to accomplish, the strategy, the planning, the intelligence. You took down a massive piece of the equestrian economy, managed to turn the hearts of thousands without taking a single life. Do you think Sombra did that? No, it was you. Once everything has been taken over, though, what will he think he needs you for?" "I. . .I don't. . .know. . ." "There is nothing to know, because he will throw you away as a liability," DIO said roughly, "do not fall for it. You might have saved him, you might have done bad things for him, but it will mean nothing to him." Phoenix's eyes began to water. She closed them tightly, clenching her teeth with a mix of confusion, sadness, and rage. "Wh-what have I—" she stopped as she felt arms wrapped around her. Her first response was fear, but these arms were warmer than the cold embrace of the King she followed. She couldn't help but to weep into DIO's shoulder; he was the first ever to show compassion to her. Something she didn't have to rationalize or compromise with to interpret it as kindness, just raw empathy. "What is your real name?" DIO asked quietly. Phoenix sniffled a bit, regaining her composure. "Aurora Nightsky." "What a lovely name," DIO said with a smile, "I can return you to a safe place in Canterlot. I will assure you are not prosecuted." A dark feeling suddenly shrouded the two of them as a chuckle echoed through the walls of the structure, along with loud, slow hoofsteps. "You will have to get there first," the voice rang out. Aurora winced from the sound, covering her face as the black equine they heard walked into the large room. DIO turned back to him. There was no mistaking it, that was King Sombra. DIO stood up, and in the spirit of an old foe turned friend, he spoke four simple words. "You've pissed me off." "We're nearly there," Fluttershy said as the Canterlot gates came into view. Spike and Jonathan had been relatively silent the way there, especially Spike, who was wondering why or even how Fluttershy had undergone such a drastic change in behavior. Guards lined up at the gate and prepared their weapons before seeing that the Timberwolf was being led by none other than the Element of Kindness. As they approached, a guard trotted up to her. "Fluttershy, is everything alright?" he asked. Fluttershy simply looked at him with half-lidded and unamused eyes. "You're a soldier, make an assessment," she said. The soldier was taken aback by the comment, but shook his head regardless and took a look. "Stalker-54's remnants, and Rainbow Dash, they need medical," he said, "and you've tamed a Timberwolf." Fluttershy smiled. "What is your name, soldier?" she asked. The stallion turned back to the other guards who simply shrugged. "Uh, Lieutenant Faithful Shield, ma'am," he said. Fluttershy turned towards the gate. "Okay then, Mr. Shield, if you would kindly escort us to the palace and have your friends ensure the little ponies of their safety," she kindly requested, Faith, seeing that she was with the Ambassador and had tamed a timberwolf figured it was in his best interest to follow her orders. As they walked through the gates, a few equines got out of the way but with more confusion than fear. Faith turned to Fluttershy. "I've heard remarkable stories about the elements," he started, before Fluttershy quickly responded. "I've read them," she said, "they're a bit exaggerated, all things considered." "How do you mean?" he asked. She shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she assured him, though he detected something odd about her dismissal, "everything has it's time. Speaking of time, I'd like to know how much time it would take to get some backup for my dear friend DIO. He's probably facing Sombra alone right now." "Ah—uh. . ." he paused for a moment to think, being one among many who feared Sombra, "well it would take around thirteen hours to assemble a battalion and—" "Too long," Fluttershy interrupted, "I'll just go there myself." "But, you can't just go there alone, you'll—" Fluttershy suddenly turned to him, their muzzles nearly touching as a frightening stare came from her eyes. "I'll what?" she said quietly, but sternly, "go on, tell me what I'll do. Mis-ter Shield. Give an assessment." "I'm sorry! Uh, ma'am. . ." he said quickly, "I made an assumption based on the stories which were clearly exaggerated." "You're not entirely wrong, things just change over time," she said, turning forward again, "you're a good soldier, Mr. Shield, but when things get tough, don't forget to be a good person, too." "I'll hold onto that, ma'am. Thank you," Faith replied, Fluttershy glanced towards him. "You can call me Fluttershy, I'm no superior," she said with a smile. He chuckled nervously. "You sure know how to act like one," he said, warranting a bit of a smirk from Flutters. "Probably Iron Will's fault." Meanwhile, Spike and Jonathan were absolutely silent up to this point before exchanging looks. Spike let out a sigh, continuing to walk as they arrived closer to the Princesses' keep.