“WE’RE HERE!” Flurry Heart finally yelled with excitement.
They arrived at their destination, an archway made of blooming flowers… or at least, it looked like it was at first sight. The cloaked figure leaned in closer for inspection and realized it wasn’t flora at all; it was rock, crystals to be specific, carved and shaped to resemble one.
“Come on, grandpa Gar! There’s a lot of space in there!” She hurried inside.
As he passed through the archway, he saw more of the unique and marvelous designs. The crystals simulating the actual plat life to such nearly uncanny resemblance… nobody could’ve carved something so intricate with hooves alone. No, it must’ve been magic. Whoever was the architect must have been very powerful and skilled in its ways. But he didn’t come here to admire the marvelous handiwork; he needed to find a quiet spot that would be isolated from anyone's sight, someplace where nobody would be able to see it unless it was directly looked for.
The filly trotted on and then stopped, as she looked back and saw the elder’s rear end sticking out from one of the bushes. “Grandpa Gar, it’s this way.”
He pulled his head out and turned in her direction, hurrying his step. She led him through the maze of high bushes until a field finally opened before them.
He was mesmerized for a brief moment. If the archway at the beginning was a premonition, then the garden before him was unlike anything he’d ever seen. Crystals of all colors, shapes, and sizes were molded into floral imitation, decorating every corner he could see. For a city to stood on the border of the frozen wasteland, it seemed that the Empire was in constant bloom.
“Isn’t it pretty, Grandpa Gar?” Flurry Heart asked him.
The ram paused for a moment before answering. “Well… that’s one way of putting it. Someone very powerful must’ve done all this.”
“Granny Misty did it,” she explained. “Mama said she had no place to go, so she stayed and made a pretty rock garden.”
“Granny Misty, you say?” he pondered. “Curious…”
Before he could inquire further, however, his pet hatsadiling jumped off his back and began to walk about, garnering the alicorn’s attention and reminding her why they got here.
“Grandpa Gar, show me more pets you got!” she requested.
“More you say?” the cloaked figure smiled. “I have so many I wouldn’t even know where to start. So, how about we play a game, little girl?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” the filly jumped with excitement.
The elder chuckled. “Here’s how we’re gonna play it: think of two, or if possible, three animals that come to your mind, and then we’ll see how far it gets, okay?
She was unsure where he was going with this, but she still chose to play along. “Okay… errrr… bear… tiger… and, errr…” She couldn’t quite think of another animal at a top of her head until she spotted the long-nosed avian and she immediately blurted it out. ”Elephant!”
He raised his hoof and stroke his beard for a moment, letting out a loud humming sound. “How about… a baku?”
As he uttered the word, a light flashed for a moment under his cloak and it suddenly began to move. The covers parted and a strange creature came lumbering out: it had a head of an elephant, a body of a bear, and the legs of a tiger. At first, Flurry Heart staggered backwards in fright at the sight of it, but then the beast stopped in its tracks and just simply fell over, stretching out its legs and yawning, before curling up its trunk and letting out a loud snoring sound.
“Hmm…” the elder grumbled, “perhaps this may not have been the best choice. This one mostly just sleeps.”
The filly slowly approached the creature and poked it with her hoof, it didn’t react. Then she prodded it once and it let out a grunting sound. She kept prodding it and it kept making more sounds and she started to giggle to the response. Then hatsadiling leaped on top of it and started rapidly hopping on its belly. The beast finally woke up, quickly rising on its feet, getting the avian hybrid to hop away sideways as it lumbered after it. But the baku didn’t make five steps forwards before it collapsed again and curled up its trunk, falling asleep. And it kept repeating several times over.
“He’s a big sleepy baby,” the alicorn princess laughed as she watched the events play out, then turned her attention back to the elder. “Show me another one!”
“Alright, let’s play the game again, same as the last time. Name me the animals,” he requested.
Flurry Heart went into thought again. “Errr… a pig… a weasel and… errr… snake?”
The elder stroke his bear once more. “I think I know that one. Ramidreju.”
The inside of his cloak flashed again, and a small green head of a pig poked out.
The filly approached and bent down closer to it. “Awww, it’s cute!”
Before she could react, the creature dashed right between her legs, its green fur brushing her right under the belly, and she squealed. That’s when she realized it was long… really long, it took a few seconds before the weasel-snake-pig hybrid completely crawled out. When it finally passed the filly turned and ran after it. Despite being so long it was moving incredibly fast. She managed to catch up to it, but then it stopped and began to twist and turn right between and the sides of her legs, and it took her a great deal of effort to finally wrap her hooves around it, but even when she did, it managed to quickly wriggle out and then wrapping around her belly.
“Slinky tickles!” she squealed again.
In the distance meanwhile, a shape wandered through the crystal garden, admiring the beautiful surroundings, and the sudden high-pitched noise finally got her attention. She looked around the corner of a tall hedge and spotted the daughter of the Crystal Princess, playing with a strange, long, and agile green creature, chasing after it over a large fuzzy sleeping elephant beast, with a strange bird running after them. The creatures that the child was playing with, she’s not seen anything like them before. And the cloaked figure that sat nearby, she didn’t recognize it either. Her curiosity got piqued, she needed to investigate.
“One more, Grandpa Gar!” she happily yelled in a pile of hybrid animals. ”A rabbit, a cat, and a-“ She wouldn’t be able to properly say the word marmot, as the ramidreju slid all over her face. “-ot!”
“A rabbit, a cat, and a goat?” the elder tried to recall what she meant. “Ah yes… sigbin.”
The inside of the cloak flashed once again and then, as if a draft blew out from under it, it parted for a moment. The little filly managed to climb out of the pile of beasts and trotted over to him, eagerly waiting for the newcomer to come out and play, however after a prolonged silence, nothing happened.
“Where is it, Grandpa Gar?” she asked.
He chuckled. “It’s already here, little girl. It’s just invisible.”
The little filly frowned at him, not believing his words. “Come on Grandpa Gar, if you can’t do it you don’t have to lie to me.”
Suddenly, a clap echoed behind her. She quickly turned to see where it came from, yet there was nobody there.
“You heard that, didn’t you?” he questioned. “That was the critter just now. The clapping sound is coming from his ears.”
Another clap followed, and she turned to face it, yet again there was nobody in sight. The clap happened again, but this time she was facing its direction, so she knew where it came from. The filly slowly moved in its direction and then heard gentle footsteps moving from, and she leaped at it, only to land on her belly, hearing the scurrying sound as it moved to the side, over to where the other creatures lay in the pile. And just then, the weasel-pig-snake hybrid turned about, its nose twitching. At the moment’s notice, it leaped and coiled like a serpent around something that wasn’t there. Then the shrilling sound erupted and a form materialized in ramidreju’s grasp. A short creature, with a head of a goat, the long ears of a rabbit, and a body of a feline. It screeched and tried to desperately break from the grip. Suddenly, the avian creature jumped on top of the green serpent-like beast and began striking it with its claws. And soon enough, the tiger-elephant hybrid rose, slowly lumbering up to them and wrapped its trunk around them.
At this point, it became apparent to Flurry Heart that they weren’t playing at all, they were fighting, literally trying to hurt each other.
“Please stop!” she begged, but her words fell on deaf ears and they kept getting more aggressive. “Please stop fighting!” The little filly was on the verge of tears with the sight on display, when all of a sudden, the cloaked figure went past her and stopped in front of her.
“ENOUGH!” he yelled, his grizzled voice echoing around. In the split moment, the beasts immediately dropped grips from each other and cowered in fear, huddling together in a pile. “PLAY. NICE,” the elder said in a stern tone, and the hybrids whimpered in response.
He sighed, turning his head to the filly that stood slightly behind him, and he saw what he expected; there was a noticeable look of fear on Flurry Heart’s face since she’s clearly never seen this side of him before.
“You have to forgive me, little girl,” the elder apologized, “but some creatures simply do not play nice unless I let them know they’re supposed to.” He stepped to the side, stretching out one of his hooves in the direction of the beasts. “Don’t worry, they know better now.”
She hesitated for a moment, then slowly traipsed over to the side of the hybrid animals who were still cowering in fear. The filly reached out at the sigbin with one of her hooves and it winced until she finally touched it and gently rubbed the side of its cheeks. It let out a gentle whimper.
“Shhhh, it’s okay,” she coddled it and slowly pulled it into an embrace, gently snuggling it.
Flurry Heart then looked at the other three beasts that were still huddling together in fear and reached out for them, waving her hoof. One by one, slowly but surely, the hybrids approached her; the baku snuggled against her, then laid down by her side, ramidreju head touched her hooves to be rubbed, then slowly coiled around her, leaving just enough room for her to move, and lastly, the hatsadiling hopped over the other two beasts and then nuzzled against the filly’s cheeks, and the little girl laughed.
“Well…” the ram said, as he observed the development, “I did not expect the situation to deescalate this quickly…”
“You would be surprised how easily creatures melt in her embrace.”
His attention was grabbed. There was somebody else present, watching the whole thing play out. He slowly turned his head to the right, the direction from which the voice came. A unicorn mare stood by, her horn curved, her purple fur and teal flowing mane were greying, the age lines on her body clearly visible, as well as her old torn clothes. She looked unlike any other unicorn he’s encountered so far.
“Granny Misty!” Flurry Heart yelled as she spotted her.
Through the Frozen North, the group of ponies ran, with a duo limping in the back. That voice of agony that was echoing, accompanied by the arching lightning bolts was their target. Whoever that was needed their help, and they were not about to fail. Little did they know, the truth was far from what it seemed at the distance, to the eyes that weren’t observing the situation at hand.
Agonizing cries echoed all around. The construct was slowly backpedaling in an attempt to avoid the crystal’s wrath as bolts of lightning flew about, striking at the barely rejuvenated shape of the umbrum king.
“Mother… I…” Sombra tried to speak, only for another bolt of lightning to strike him, causing him to scream in pain.
“You had one job, Sombra… ONE!!!” the shrilling voice echoed from the crystal. “You were to release your kin that have been imprisoned under the Crystal Empire by the first Crystal Princess! That’s the ONLY thing you had to do, and you failed!”
“Please, Mother, I tried to…” he made excuses, “but the two princesses… I was unable to find the location before they came to banish me… I don’t know where they’re locked away…”
“Is that why you decided to just give up?!” she scolded him. “You thought to yourself, ”oh, why bother trying to free your own family when you can just rule the whole world by yourself.” That’s how it was, wasn’t it?”
The smoke with a face froze. “But… but how did you…”
“I peered into your memory, wicked child, and saw your thoughts! When you returned for the second time you didn’t even bother to look for the prison!”
Sombra struggled to speak as bolts of lightning kept pelting him. “Mother… please…! I… I couldn't… I… I knew the amount of time I held the Crystal Empire wouldn’t be enough to try and look for them… I had to push the events along to destroy the source of power of the Elements of Harmony-“
“You should’ve bid your time!” the voice scorned him. “You should’ve allied with the Father of Monsters and work with him for your own benefit. But in your pride, in your desire to be THE KING of Monsters, and not be outmatched by one whose power was already greater than your own, you actively chose to upstage him, to prove to him you were capable of doing it on your own. And in the end, when in your hubris you thought you had already won, you were defeated by the very ponies you thought you had just de-powered!” The voice paused for a moment, returning to its normal tone, and then just as quickly rising back to where it was a moment ago. “You have failed, Sombra. You’ve failed your own kin. But worst of all… you’ve failed YOUR MOTHER!!!”
The lightning continued to spring from the crystal to punish the disobedient umbrum, and the cloaked construct had no desire to get caught between the two. Unfortunately, walking backwards caused him to inevitably trip and fall on his backside and into the deep snow. Perhaps it was best if he just sat this one out. As he watched the castigation in progress, he noticed something moving from the corner of his eye. The construct quickly started to push huge piles of snow onto himself as to look more obscure.
“What are you doing?” the weaselly vapor next to him asked.
“We’ve got company!” he quickly answered.
Doubt turned, trying to spot whatever the Scourgelord was referring to… and it did. First, it was three figures; one of them was a purple unicorn with a broken horn, the one next to her, a smaller teal unicorn that it encountered yesterday. And the one in front…
“WHAT?!” it exclaimed. Soon much larger group joined as well, each and every one of them was familiar to the slithery vapor. “What are they doing here?!”
The construct was already buried under the pile of snow, only his teal eyes could be seen. “What’s the matter?”
“Why are they here?” Doubt wondered out loud. “Apart from the Broodmother and the Shaper, we’re the only ones who knew where to go! How did they manage to track us here?! It doesn’t make sense!”
The construct didn’t answer. Covered under the curtain of snow, his head slowly moved to not arouse suspicion, focusing on the group of newcomers.
“They’re going to interfere in our plans! Scourgelord, stop them!” the weaselly vapor commanded.
There was no response for a few seconds before a resounding answer came from him. “No.”
It gave him an angry look. “What did you just say?”
Flurry Heart laughed as she ran about, her new creature friends chasing after her, or at least three out of four did, as the other one was slowly pacing after them. They’ve been playing tag and she managed to dodge them for a while before she got tagged, and then the chase turned to another until it eventually came down to the baku being the one to chase others, but due to its slow nature he never would’ve had the chance to catching anyone, so the filly let herself get tagged on purpose.
As the child and the critters ran about, the hooded figure sat down by the side of a hedge, along with the elderly unicorn mare, observing the scenery.
“Would you believe that only three years ago she was an absolute flurry of emotions?” Mistmane commented. “She would quickly lose all control of her temper if things didn’t go her way, or was upset. And with the magic she possesses as an alicorn, things would turn for the worse. And now with her father away, she’s been very moody.” She turned to face the hooded figure. “I thank you for taking time to keep her spirit up and reliving her of any turmoil, Gar. These creatures though, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like them before. Did you happen to have anything to do with the way they look?”
“Well…” he responded, “let’s just say I have a particular way with magical creatures. Then again, you yourself aren’t a stranger to magic, are you?”
She giggled. “Being a unicorn is that obvious, is it?”
“Well yes,” he elaborated further, “but also the fact that I’ve rarely seen any other pony with flowing manes like that, not unless they carried a great concentration of magic in them.” He looked about his surroundings. “You’re the architect of this place, aren’t you?”
“Oh my, you’re perceptive. But yes,” the elder mare confirmed, “this is the place I’ve been working on. It may be hard for you to believe, but I’ve been away from the world for a long time. Apart from the friends, with whom I’ve shared my absence, my family, my home, and everything I’ve ever known is gone, and I’ve no place to return to where my craft could fit in this modern time. Princess Cadence on the other hand saw my potential and offered me a job and a place. It’s not much but…” She halted herself for a moment. “Oh, but look at me talking as if I live in an unfulfilling life. My apologies, I don’t expect you to understand.”
“No, the feeling is quite mutual,” the ram responded, Mistmane giving him a somewhat surprised look. “I too have been away for a really… really long time. I have no home or place to return to. And the world I grew up in… has been long since gone.”
“Oh… I’m so sorry.”
A humph escaped his mouth. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I will see my world again someday… all that requires is a right time and place.” The old sheep looked to his side and realized the old mare was staring at him, unsure what he meant. “Sorry… my daydreams tend to slip out in my old age. Now, you said earlier you work here, this crystal garden? All of it, your doing?”
She nodded. “It took a while to get used to. I was normally able to deal with plant life, but working with crystals is something that was new to me. I did miss at times chatting with flowers as I did back in the day.”
“You can talk to plants?” he looked at her with suspicion under his hood.
“In a way, nature has its own way of speaking,” the mare giggled. “But I learned that sometimes you need to help something take the shape of beauty that wasn’t there initially. It opened a new perspective to me I didn’t know before. I had always believed that anypony and anything had inner beauty, and I always wanted to help bring it out, but that was only for the things I already knew. Yet shaping stone to resemble organic matter is something that taught me to look even further, to see and help bring out the beauty in things I didn’t think about before.” She stretched out her hoof and trailing it across the garden. “And lo and behold, the end result. Beauty truly is in EVERYTHING.”
There was a moment of silence, but then chuckles escaped the hooded figure.
“Have I said something amusing?” Mistmane wondered.
“Oh no,” he answered. “I just can’t believe it took me this long to realize you’ve been pulling the wool over my eyes…” His head turned to face her. “…young lady.”
“There’s no deceit, I assure you, Gar. Anypony who’s ever heard the legend of Mistmane already knows the story of the young, beautiful mare who had given up her beauty, becoming wizen and old, in order to rejuvenate the land and her friend-“
“I’ve never heard of the tale before,” he intervened. “I’m not speaking of that.”
“Oh?” she looked confusingly at the grizzled figure. “What do you speak of then, Gar? What gave it away that I’m not what I seem?”
He grinned. “You look old, but your inside betrays you. You believe that everything in the world has a beauty, a good that can be brought out, as long as one believes it can be accomplished, to show them, help them bring that good out. That is an optimistic look that only somebody young can carry because unlike the old, truly old, they are not carrying decades of experiences on their backs, they are not burdened by horrible truths and knowledge... somebody who has not experienced the darkest and the worst the world has to offer.”
Silence fell again, but this time it lasted. A look of suspicion appeared on her face. This was the first time she’s heard him talk in a cryptic manner like this, even she couldn’t decipher what he was going for.
“Gar,” Mistmane asked. “How heavy is your burden?”
The ram raised his head to the open sky. The old mare could sense there was something on the edge of his tongue. She patiently waited, but just as he opened his mouth to speak…
“Grandfather Gar!” a yell traveled in the distance.
The hooded figure turned in its direction, yellow light flashing under his hood for a moment before he finally spoke out. “Ah, I believe that’s my call.” He stood up once again, stretched out his limbs with a cracking sound. “This has been a most enlightening conversation, but alas, it’s my time to depart… as is theirs.” He tapped the ground with his hoof.
As the hoof stomp echoed, the beasts that were playing with Flurry Hearts stopped in their tracks, turned around, and ran to their owner, leaping into the flapping opening of the cloak, disappearing in a flash.
The filly stopped soon after and watched in disappointment as her playmates left. “No!” she cried, before running to the old ram. “Grandpa Gar, don’t go! I wanna play some more.”
“I’m sorry, child,” he told her, “but every fun must come to an end. My niece is waiting for me.”
The alicorn rose on her hind legs, pressing her frontal ones against grandfather’s chest, making huge begging eyes. “You’ll come back again, won’t you?”
He chuckled. “Of course I will, little girl. You’ve not seen the last of me, I promise.” He then looked at Mistmane. “I trust you will escort her home… young lady?”
Flurry Heart crook her head in confusion. She wasn’t privy to the conversation the two elders had while she was dashing about, playing with the creatures. Then she felt a hoof on her and saw that it was Mistmane.
“Don’t worry. I’ll escort her back,” she answered.
“Good,” he responded. “Because there seems to have been a commotion on the street earlier with the guards. We wouldn’t want that something happens to the child of the Crystal Princess if there’s a threat coming from outside the Empire.”
“A commotion?” the old mare wondered. “I don’t recall seeing anything.”
“It did happen, Grandma Misty!” the little filly spoke. “A lot of guards ran down the street, even pegasus did!”
“Grandfather Gar!” the voice called in the distance again.
The cloaked ram turned his head before finally decided to give parting words. “Granddaughter’s becoming impatient. I will not keep you two any longer. Until we meet again.” He nodded and traipsed around the corner of the hedge, towards the garden’s exit, leaving the two ponies alone.
“Grandpa Gar’s really nice, Grandma Misty,” the alicorn said. “I hope he comes back soon so we can play again.”
“I’m sure he will, Flurry Heart,” the elder smiled.
She was unsure about him, however. What was he about to say before they were interrupted? What kind of burden was the old goat claiming to carry? She wouldn’t have time to ponder that for long, as another voice came for the other side of the garden.
“Miss Mistmane?” the stallion called.
She turned to face him. “Oh, you’re the young man from yesterday. I assume you came to ask if the present is ready yet?”
A white unicorn with a green mane and a pink streak in it, trotted through the hedge maze made of crystals, seemingly perspiring, unsure where to go. She needed to find him, hopeful that the sheep didn’t blow their cover.
“Grandfather Ga-!” she yelled, only for the being in question to pop up in front of her from around the corner.
“No need to make such a ruckus, will you?” he grumbled.
She jumped. “For the love of… can you not do that?”
“Never you mind,” Grogar dismissed her request. “Was the operation successful?”
“Yes, but this was cutting it a little close, don’t you think?” Gusty asked. “If you hadn’t shut it down when you did, our cover would’ve been blown.”
But he paid no attention to her concerns. “And the rest? Are they-?”
“Already hiding amongst the populace now,” the mare answered. “When do we execute the next operation?”
“Tonight.”
“Wait… tonight already?!” she was shocked by his quick response. “Why so early?”
“There are… factors that have just introduced themselves into the setting. We cannot risk going about in the daylight anymore, or going near any greenery now that I know they have ears.”
She gave him a confused look. “Come again?”
“This garden’s architect can hear things from nature. Prolonging the plans any further will risk potentially exposing us, we’ll need to accelerate.”
“So, how do we proceed?” Gusty asked.
“Back at the house, dear,” he said as they walked through the garden’s archway.
Twilight still ran in the deep snow, the heavy snowfall didn’t deter her. The agonizing screams became ever more constant in the distance. She had to stop it and save whoever was suffering. The rest of the group was right on her tail, with Tempest Shadow and Glitter Drops by her side, the rest of the group close by them, while Rainbow Dash and Zecora were still lagging behind. But they were almost there, the screams kept growing louder, as they climbed a tall hill, and then…
The heavy storm ceased. In stark contrast to the blizzard outside, this place was almost peaceful with the light snowfall.
“What in the…? This can’t be right,” Twilight said.
The rest of the Council finally caught up as they came through the veil of heavy snow. Their reactions were pretty much the same.
“Whoa, how’s this possible?” they said almost collectively.
The sound of a zipper followed as the fanny pack around Fluttershy’s neck opened, and the draconequus poked his head out. “Well… if we were looking for something abnormal out in the Frozen North, I think we may have just found it.”
“At least we got a short reprieve from the blizzard out there,” Rarity said, as she took off her big poofy hat, caked in snow, her mane cascading down, trying to shake the article of clothing clean.
Applejack traipsed further in the snow, following the deep footprints all the way to where the alicorn and the two unicorn trackers were. “The footprints in the snow here seem awfully fresh, Twilight. I reckon they’re very recent. It’s likely close by.”
“Maybe whoever is making that lightshow can tell us more,” Pinkie Pie wondered.
“Lightshow?” Tempest looked at her confusingly, but she would soon receive the answer as he could see flickering light from the corner of her eye.
They all saw giant bolts of lightning shooting out of an object in the distance, the light source glistening off its surface. The lightning then arched and directed itself at a figure before it, but they couldn’t make out what it was. It struck! And the too familiar cry followed. That was the origin of the agonizing scream.
Twilight leaped and dashed towards it, followed by the rest of the group, except for the shy pegasus. “Twilight, wait! Rainbow Dash and Zecora aren’t here yet!”
“We can’t wait for them!” the alicorn exclaimed. “Somepony needs our help!”
The shy one looked back into the veil of snow. She didn’t want to just leave the rest of the group.
“We can trust those two to be able to get here on their own, Fluttershy,” a familiar voice came from around her neck. “But Twilight’s right, somepony else needs our assistance far more urgently.”
She was reluctant, but Discord was right. Looking back into the blizzard one last time, she dashed after the rest of the group.
A few moments passed since as the Element of Kindness disappeared, and just then, two figures came lumbering out of the heavy storm, leaning on one another. “Phew, finally,” the blue pegasus said, pulling the shawl off her face. She would not get a reprieve, however, because the moment she wiped her brow, she realized that the gang was already galloping in the distance towards a lighting arch. “You guys, wait up!” she yelled and tried to trot to them as quickly as possible. Her grey companion didn’t even have a chance to respond, as her position compelled her to move side by side with her, and together they marched as fast as they could at their own pace after them.
The Princess of Friendship ran as quickly as her hooves could. Whoever was suffering needed rescuing, and she was not about to let this continue any further. However, even as she thought that, as she got closer to the destination, her movement began to slow down until it inevitably stopped, same as did the rest of the Council of Friendship and company, as they beheld the scene in full.
A red crystal cluster stood out in the middle of a frozen wasteland, lightning shooting out at a mass of shadow before it, causing it to scream in pain.
“What in tarnation is going on here…?” the country pony wondered.
The lashing of lightning suddenly ceased, giving the punished shadow a moment of reprieve, while a feminine voice spoke. “Well now, what is this? A thousand years had passed since the last living creature came this way, and now all of a sudden there are visitors coming…”
The gang turned about in confusion. “Who… who said that just now?” Glitter Drops questioned.
“What’s the matter, ponies?” it spoke again. “Have you never seen a talking crystal before?”
With those words, their attention focused on the red cluster before them. Twilight stepped before the rest of the group.
“Excuse me… errr… miss?” she tried to address the voice. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle. My friends and I are looking for a construct made of rocks that seemed to have come this way and for somepony, or something, called “the Mother of Fear”. You wouldn’t happen to have seen or know anything about that do you?”
“Twilight… Sparkle…?” a voice came from the mass of shadow in front of the red crystal.
In the brief moment, a single bolt of lightning shot out from the cluster, quickly silencing the speaker, causing the alicorn princess to flinch in fear.
“Mother of Fear, you say?” the voice from the crystal spoke, followed by a laugh. “That’s something I’ve not heard before. It’s a fitting title I suppose. After all… I have spawned creatures of unspeakable terror into the world… including the failure before you. Come Sombra, aren’t you going to meet your old friends?”
“SOMBRA?!” the gang yelped unanimously.
The shadow shifted, its face finally turning to face them. There was no mistake. The shadowy mane, the ashen fur, the red-green glowing eyes, and a red horn sticking out from the forehead; it was him.
“How… how is it possible?” Discord commented.
“The Magic of Friendship reduced him to dust,” the fashionista added. “How is he back?”
A pair of fangs appeared on the umbrum king’s expression. “Of course it did… I’ve not forgotten what all of you did to me. You are all the source of my torment!”
“We’re at fault?” the party planner came to the front. “We’re not the ones who tried to take over Equestria by mind-controlling everypony, and then have them bake a black licorice fruitcake with green frosting!”
A roar escaped him. “I was a fool… I should’ve trapped you all forever in your worst nightmares from which you would’ve never woken up when I had the chance...”
The alicorn princess drew herself to her full height, standing adamant, as the rest of the council came to her side, looking down on the punished umbrum. “Even if you tried that now Sombra, you would’ve failed. No matter how powerful your fear is, the power of Friendship will be stronger than it. Try and do that to us now, and the end result will be the same as the last time.”
He couldn’t even respond. In his weakened state, the shadow pony could barely move, and if he tried, he would risk incurring his mother’s wrath. In his shadowy form, he simply sat there and took the humiliation from opponents he couldn’t fight.
A cackle followed, originating from the crystal; at first, it was feminine, but then it slowly mutated into downright disturbing. “Oh… is that a fact, Twilight Sparkle? Sombra!” At the sound of the voice, the fallen king turned to face his mother, with a look of fear in his eyes. “I’m feeling generous, well enough to consider giving you a second chance. Tell me, child, would you like to have revenge on them?”
His eyes grew at the sound of those words, ones he didn’t expect to hear from her. “Yes…” he said and a wicked smile curled upon his face.
As soon as that word was spoken, lightning shot from the crystal again. At first, it seemed to the Council of Friendship that he was being punished again, based on the scream that followed, but soon it turned out it was the opposite. The umbrum king’s shadowy form began to twist and turn until it became solid, resembling a familiar shape, accompanied by a crown, an armor, and a red royal cloak.
“This is your last chance to redeem yourself, Sombra,” the voice in the crystal spoke. “Do not waste it!”
“Yes, mother,” he answered.
The King of Monsters was alive and well once more, standing before the leaders of Equestria, so at the moment’s notice, Twilight gave the command. “Everypony, together!”
The Elements of Harmony came together and prepared themselves, waited, and then… nothing happened.
“Emmm… guys,” Spike replied. “I think we’re one pony short.”
That’s when they realized that Rainbow Dash was not present. She was still somewhere in the back and in their haste, they all forgot. They would not get the time to react, however, as King Sombra’s eyes began to glow, and he shot magic from his horn at the ground. Suddenly, a cluster of black rocks began to sprout out, quickly approaching the group. It didn’t try to impale them, instead, it began to rapidly grow between each of the participants, completely isolating them from one another. Tempest Shadow saw the clusters approaching, and in the heat of the moment, she kicked Glitter Drops away before she could be blocked in as well.
“Fizzy!” the teal unicorn cried out, running back to the wall, banging her hooves against it. “Fizzy, say something!”
“Never you mind me, Dropsy. Just get out of here!” her muffled voice came through the rock.
Inside her cell, Twilight looked about. The quarters were just so close, and she couldn’t see anybody else inside with her, not even Spike. She tried to use magic, teleporting herself out of the cell, right in front of the umbrum king, only for an unseen force to drag her right back in through the solid rock.
“Nice try, but I fear your magic is useless here, “Princess of Friendship”,” he boasted.
Just then, two last remaining participants of the expedition, the blue pegasus, and the zebra, were approaching, seeing the events play out before them, they quickened their steps in hopes that they would be able to help.
“You’re just delaying the inevitable, Sombra!” the alicorn yelled through the stone cell. “The moment Rainbow Dash comes, your plan will fail.”
“No…” the feminine voice spoke, garnering Sombra’s attention, so loud it was the princess could hear it beyond the rock, as did everybody else present. “None of you will see your friends or anyone else ever again. We stand above the ruins of ancient kingdoms, who in their hubris saw themselves as masters of this world, a world, which Hatred itself made sure would be cursed, as long as your kind persists. Sombra! Take them below, and show them what lies… at the Heart of Fear.”
The umbrum king grinned. He turned into smoke and expanded, surrounding the rocky cells behind which the Council of Friendship and Tempest were locked.
Suddenly, the ground quaked, there was a cracking sound all around. The area with the rock prison began to collapse. When Rainbow Dash and Zecora saw it happen, they simply tossed caution to the wind and rushed as fast as they could. Glitter Drops quickly ran away as she saw the ground collapsing, but at the proximity, she saw there was no way for her to outrun it. She lost her footing under her hooves and was about to fall into the chasm that opened beneath her, only to be grabbed by the two late participants at the last moment. They too would not be still for long, as the ground began to collapse under them as well.
“Glitter Drops, go back to the Crystal Empire and tell Cadence what happened!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
She then fully exerted herself and tossed the teal unicorn to the side and back on solid ground, just as the one they were standing on collapsed, and both mares fell into the dark chasm below, following the stone prison that King Sombra took down.
The little unicorn was all alone now in the Frozen North, shaking in horror by what she just witnessed. She’s just watched her best friend, as well as the Princess of Friendship and her friends, falling to their doom, and there was no way to stop it. A cold chill suddenly settled into her, and she ran away.
Silence finally fell on the scene again. A gentle breeze blew, leaving the “Mother of Fear” all alone before the giant gaping hole… or at least, that’s how it seemed before the obsidian construct rose from the pile of snow under which he buried himself in order to hide.
“Well… that just happened,” he commented.