//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: “Master of Puppets” 
// Story: Dark Days of the Unforgiven 
// by HeatseekerX51 
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	Chapter 4


	“Master of Puppets”

 
Canterlot Palace

Twilight roamed the royal halls with a face of concern. When she told Æclypse that nopony knew she’d stowed the amulet here in Canterlot, she’d hadn’t quite been telling the truth. In fact, she was now on course to find the one pony she did relate its location. She just hoped the conversation wouldn’t go into… awkward places. Dinner time was approaching, and she figured that would be a good time to broach the subject.
What she was less content with, was how she’d left things off with Æclypse. Or Wanderlust, whatever he felt like being today. She understood his frustration, his lashing out in the moment, but that didn’t mean she cared to be on the receiving end of it. They would take the night to let heads cool down and meet at the train station in the morning and figure out what to do from there.
After he’d left, she scoured her room for any sign of tampering or theft, only to find the dust undisturbed and no other item molested. With the box seemingly unsullied, she was baffled as to how the amulet had been removed without leaving behind some kind of trace. Unfortunately, instead of eliminating the object of her suspicion, these factors only served to bring them into greater prominence.
The sides of the walkway were open to the cool evening breeze, the sun on its long descent into the western horizon to bid Canterlot goodnight. Twilight, her mind absorbed in a tumult of thoughts and worries was just re-entering the castle interior when she nearly collided into a brass chestplate.
“Whoa!” A welcome voice exclaimed, “We just keep bumping into each other, don’t we?” Flash Sentry smiled, his hoof out on her shoulder to help steady her.
“Flash! Hey!” Without a thought, Twilight reached out and hugged him. “You don’t know how relieved I am to see you.”
His brows arched. “Wh… Really?”
She froze for a second before her body jolted, “I mean- I was- I just, had a lot on my mind.”
Flash gave her a comforting smile and joined to her side. “What’s going on?”
As they entered the interior halls, Twilight bit her lip, “It’s a little hard to explain: Something wasn’t quite the way I thought it was going to be, and now I’m not so sure of certain things I thought I was.”
Flash nodded. “You’re right, that is hard to understand.”
She had a low chuckle, realizing what she’d actually said. “Sorry. To be honest, I’d rather think about something else for right now. Please distract me, Flash.”
His heart fluttered for a moment for some answer to her request. But what? As they walked, his nearer wing slowly unfurled and stretched over her back, laying down gently. 
Her skin twitched at the unexpected touch and she felt a small gasp draw in her nose, but she warmed to it in the next moment. 
Flash felt her move a bit closer. 
“So, what’s up with you for the evening?” He asked.
“Dinner with Princess Celestia, then packing for an early train back to Ponyville. You?”
“Same.”
That got an earnest laugh out of her. 
“I’ve got a meeting with a colleague in a little bit to discuss… security matters, then a quick bite to eat before my shift begins.”
They carried on in awkward silence for a few moments, catching a raised look from a stationary guard as they passed.
“You… wanna hang out later?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah!” Flash exclaimed with more excitement than he intended. Both turned their faces away, cheeks flush.
“I mean sure, yeah, that’d be cool.” He clarified with artificial nonchalance.
From somewhere behind, a pony snickered.
“How about we meet by the fountain?” She suggested.
“Which one?”
Twilight giggled, “The one in the courtyard where you played the guitar for me.”
“Oh, thaaaat one, okay.”
The couple stopped at an intersection where they came to face each other, irrepressible warm smiles forming.
Flash’s eyes darted down before meeting hers again, “So uh, see you later then?”
With her mouth curled an eyes gleaming, Twilight nodded. Whereas most normal conversations would end here with the parties going their separate ways, the young alicorn and the Pegasus remained in place, absorbed in one another.


That was until a cough ruptured their enchantment.
“Good evening, Princess Twilight,” Apostle said as he bowed his head. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
He appraised them both coolly as the flustered pair sorted themselves into a more respectable composure.
Twilight choked back her emotion, “No no, Apostle, we were just…” She turned to Flash, searching for an explanation in his face.
Which he supplied for her: “-Just discussing some of the recent goings-on in Canterlot.”
An amused grin threatened to parse Apostle’s implacable façade, only reaching a half-formed state. “Of course, a Princess should be kept well apprised of capitol affairs.” His gaze shifted to Flash, and he reached out with a hoof. “I don’t believe we’re acquainted; Apostle, aide-de-camp to Her Nocturnal Majesty Princess Luna.”
“Flash Sentry, Royal Guard.” Flash half-chuckled, gesturing to his armor.
“Well met, sir.” Regarding the Pegasus with a polite but closed smile, Apostle returned to Twilight. “Your Grace, I was just double-checking your attendance for dinner tonight. Princess Luna is quite eager to enjoy your conversation this evening.”
The inquiry served to put Twilight at ease, and she answered with a practiced air of formality: “You may tell Princess Luna that I will be there, and I will be delighted to enjoy her conversation this evening.”
“Excellent. In that case, I shall leave you two to your… discussions.” After an exchange of nods, the dark unicorn carried on his way. 
Flash kept an eye on him as he departed, “Does he give you the same odd vibe he gives me?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight mulled indecisively. “Everypony’s a little weird sometimes. I’m sure we’ll get used to him.”




A Long… Time Ago…

Icy wind bore aloft frozen crystals at keen enough speed to sting the faces of the troop of unicorn stallions marching through the snow of the mountain slopes. The sky howled in its primordial fury; the roof of the world a dark and terrible vista. It was evening, and the frigid wrath of the north would soon be amplified by nightfall.
“This way!” Shouted the one at the head of the pack, a red cloak wrapped about his neck and head beating violently against his armor as he turned towards his comrades. The others were hearty in their own right, trudging at a steady pace through knee-high snowbanks and protected by thick overcoats and scarves.
The slope up which they ascended was a white stalagmite reaching into the sky, its pinnacle bare on one side. Ahead of them yawned an opening, a cave at the mountain’s bellybutton that promised shelter to the battered ponies from the storm’s flagellation.
His cloak beating about him, the leader reached the mouth of the cave and waited for the others to catch up, ushering them in as they did one by one. As the final one passed by, he gave the world a suspicious glare with a cunning green eye before taking refuge in the cavern himself.
A good ways in, and the stout unicorns threw back their hoods and shook themselves free of the snow accumulated on their clothes, their horns illuminating the space around them. Their faces were a mixture of hardened veterans and hale youth, all bore a shrewd glint in their eyes as their breaths froze midair. One of them unfurled a saddle pack and spilled a collection of firewood into a loose pile while others dislodged stones to make a circle.
With a few sparks they ignited a fire, and many shivers of relief filled the cave as they crowded around.
“We are assailed on all fronts!” The leader of this troop declared hungrily as his face came into the orange glow, his visage dazzling with a mad delight. “Even the gods see fit to test our strength!”
“Might then the gods of drink and hearth make good sport of us, my Prince?” One of them suggested with a wry grin.
“No, Hrithgar.” The leader uncovered his head to reveal a lush mane of raven black and handsome features in grey fur. “I don’t think they’ll bother with us tonight. Let us try to find some comfort while we can and see if the storm is sated by morning.”


Travel packs were laid down and bedrolls laid out where the stallions found suitable, small talk and humor among them giving the otherwise dreadful accommodations a semblance of normalcy. The heat from the fire slowly overtook the chill within the confines of the cave as they made camp, driving back the cold from their respite.
While most of their bedding materials were simple woolen linens, those of the prince were of much finer dyed threads, with visibly less wear to them.
“I see you’ve brought a little bit of the castle along with you, Sombra.”
The oldest of the group approached the prince, his coat a fair white with greying mane, his features that of a stallion a generation senior.
“Forgive me my indulgence, Iambic, but what good does a prince’s privilege serve him if he does not exercise it from time to time?”
The younger prince of Thule smirked. “Besides, I think it prudent to maintain a certain presence among the Thanes. I represent not just my own station but my father and my brother’s, and should carry myself as such.”
“Fair enough.” Iambic Pentameter admitted with a small nod. “I recall your father liked to keep a token of your mother with him out on patrol; usually a kerchief or a scarf that carried her aroma. He would bear it under his cloaks to preserve the scent.”
The story seemed to amuse Sombra. “He does have his sentimental moments now and again.”
“Still, it might do to appear a bit more relatable to your Thanes. They are the ones freezing their flanks off for your mission.”
“And do I not freeze with them?” Sombra asked, posing the question with a raised brow. “Is the welfare of these Thanes not my responsibility to bear? I hardly think a few sheets of cloth is such an offense for them to begrudge me, Iambic.”
Another thought seemed to press itself upon the mind of the senior unicorn, but he dismissed it in favor of another.
“So how does your vision look now?”
Stuffing the remains of his pack’s contents in the bag to create a pillow, Sombra drew a breath and roved a glance over the interior of the cavern.
“All is in accord thusfar. A series of defensive posts in the Crystal Mountains will go a long way towards improving our defensive logistics. This whole rock can be transformed into a viable position to station soldiers and supplies.”
“And the circle?”
The question prompted an excited inhalation, Sombra’s green irises flaring. “Yes! I have been working on that!” His magic reaching into a side pocket of his pack, he drew out a protective cloth satchel, and from that drew out a tome. He flipped to a page.
“Based on my understanding of Vortigern’s conjuration formulations, I should be able to create an arcane gateway between any two positions by means of teleportation circles. We’ll be able to move ponies and equipment almost instantaneously from point to point. This will also give Thule the means to expand and reinforce its borders with unprecedented ease. The whole untamed north of this continent will be under our banner.”
Pentameter’s chest swelled and fell, pondering the implications of such a power. A rise of laughter from a group of Thanes near the fire temporarily drew their attention. The Prince and the veteran sat down, a candle produced from Sombra’s satchel provided a light for their conversation.
“It’s an ambitious undertaking… though it may not be received well by our neighbors.” Iambic considered aloud. “The federated yak tribes may find our expansion distressing given our history. We may run into disputes with Pegastopolis concerning aerial territory. The Earth Ponies may decry the curtailing of their own agricultural expansions. There’s also the matter of how the Crystal Empire would react to this… boldness.”
“They might…” Sombra let the implication hang. The corner of his mouth curled wickedly, and his emeralds gleamed. “But what will they do about it?” 
“Will the Yaks rattle their horns for war while they quarrel with one another for what meager sustenance their lands provide? The Pegasai might leverage their mastery of the weather, but do we not possess ourselves the means to manipulate the firmament? Our command of transmutation magic has advanced considerably since the elder days. 
The Earth Ponies might withhold their trade in food and craft goods… but will the average frugal and practically minded Earth Pony be willing to abstain our trade for so long out of some abstract principle? Resist the potential of participating with an expanding economy? And will the Crystal Ponies bemoan the primacy of their Empire as excluding the rise of ours? What justification will they offer to deny Thule an equal state?
Will any of them go groveling to the alicorns in the midlands? Pleading the tyranny of Thule? If we expand and proliferate our power to such a degree so as to arouse such… reactions from our neighbors… What will they do?”
“Indeed…” Sombra fixed him with a confident stare, the shadows cast over his face heightening the cunning glint in his eyes. “What can they do?”


It was a grandiose vision, one that rivaled great unicorns of the past like brothers Hengist and Horsa, Thalamar the Great, and the prince’s own inspiration: Vortigern the Black. Certainly his brother, Prince Æclypse, poised to assume the throne had his own visionary designs concerning overseas trade agreements and opening new seaports.
As far as Iambic could tell, there were historic times ahead for the unicorn kingdom.


It was sometime in the night, as Sombra wrestled with his blanket that he awoke with a gasp of frustration. His corner of the cavern was cold, and his snout was caked with the ice crystals of his breath. Crinkling his nose, he glanced about and saw that while the fire was reduced in its volume, the others all appeared content and sleeping soundly. With an irritated snort, he tore himself from his bed to stand, and wrapped himself in his cloak.
Sensitive to let his Thanes get their rest, he skirted the camp site with a dim illumination from his horn. Chastised as he was by his mentor Iambic Pentameter not to pace, it was a behavior that helped him to focus his thoughts when he was feeling restless.
The cold was miserable, he didn’t enjoy shivering. The ground was hard and rutted, he didn’t enjoy the aches in his back. But if enduring this relative privation would earn him the esteem and honor he sought, suffer it he would. Not every pony can slay a dragon as his brother had done.
Then his ear flickered to a faint sound. His face snapped to a black void to the rear of the cavern, well beyond the scope of the firelight. He approached it, and found the shadow extending before him as an avenue deeper into the mountain. Standing at the threshold he considered the temptation to investigate, ears twitching, sawing his bottom lip between his teeth. A look back to his company to see them unmoved, and he continued into the darkness.


I don’t know how such a shaft could have been bored by natural causes, perhaps it wasn’t, but I must have followed that tunnel for quite some distance for I lost track of time. The cold of the receiving cavern became a null sensation the farther I went, or perhaps I simply lost track of that as well. What it was that lured me on I could not articulate precisely, but I was enchanted by this… calling, as it were, beckoning me onward.
It must have been when I neared the end that I began to hear the voices. It was nothing intelligible you understand, they spoke in a disarray of whispers, a confusion of speech that came and went like breath in a lung. They bid me follow… closer… closer…
At end I arrived at a new chamber, and I saw all around me growths of black crystals jutting at every angle from the floor, walls, and ceiling. The light of my horn diffused and reflected across their surfaces brought much of the space into view. Like standing in the maw of some giant creature surrounded by its obsidian fangs. There the voices were strongest, but still in their damned impenetrable mutterings.


“Speak if you can!” He challenged to the echoes. “What are you?”


As if forming from the stolen air of countless breasts, I received back but one coherent phrase: ‘All hail Sombra! That shalt be king hereafter!... after… after… after…’
Incensed by the proclamation, I demanded more. “Stay, you imperfect speakers! By order of birth I know I am prince of Thule, no more than to be prince. Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence, or why within this bosom of shards you call to me for such a prophetic vow! Speak! I charge you!”


And speak they did. They began to tell me things.
They spake of histories lost, magics unknown, of power without restraint. Power such as no mortal pony has ever wielded before. But there would be a cost, a sacrifice such as no mortal pony has ever paid before. I cannot say clearly at what point I was resolved to step across that line, but you might say that first night was when my hoof lifted from the ground.
That was when I began to listen… to Those That Whisper.


The storm had passed by the time the rest of the troop awoke, ambient light drifting in from the outside. Among groans and coughs they set themselves to refreshing the fire and snacking on what rations they brought with them.
Iambic Pentameter drew his first deep breath of the morning as he opened his eyes. He saw the others likewise in the process of preparing for the day and taking turns at the mouth of the cave for relief. 
When he looked to Sombra, he found the Prince sitting up in his bedding, wrapped in his cloak and facing away from the group. He listened for a few moments, and perceived what sounded like a low incessant muttering. What was being said could not be deciphered.
“Did you sleep well, my Prince?” Iambic asked, curious what it might provoke.
Sombra jolted with a sharp nasal-gasp, snapping his head to the left but keeping his face hidden. “What?”
“It’s morning.” The veteran unicorn noted, removing his blanket. “How long have you been up?”
Sombra pointed his head in the direction of the entrance, as if noticing the sunlight for the first time. “Hard to say… I have been occupied by my own thoughts.”
“So it seems.” Iambic began wrapping up his bedding. “Something that troubles you?”
The prince exhaled, centering his face toward his hooves. “I believe we will have to seek a different location. I don’t think this cave will serve our needs.”
“Really? You were quite fine with it last night.”
“I have concluded otherwise.” Sombra spat, almost a snarl. “We shall disregard this peak, and make do with another.”
Pentameter paused in his work, fixing his gaze on the back of the prince who still did not face him.
“You are unusually short this morning.” He said in a firmer tone, a light reminder for the prince as to whom he was speaking. “Perhaps your temperament will be more at ease with some breakfast.”
Possibly realizing his transgression, Sombra stirred from his bed and gathered his clothes about him. Now he finally gave his face to his father’s comrade with a plain stoicism. “Of course, Iambic. I find myself… out of sorts this morning.”
The whites of Sombra’s eyes were bloodshot, his façade trying to conceal a weariness weighing on him like a yoke.
His sympathy getting the better of him, Iambic Pentameter put his things down, sighed, and stepped in to lay a hoof around the Prince’s neck.
“You bear much weight on your shoulders; your family’s legacy, Æclypse’s rising prominence.”
Sombra shifted a fatigued glance to his senior.
Iambic continued: “It can be hard for one in your position to find their place in the order of things, to gain renown outside the association of your family. I know you don’t like to entertain the gossip-mongers but you are building a formidable reputation of your own.”
Sombra began to speak, but bit back the words.
“You know your brother supports you; he will not hear an unkind thing spoken of you in his presence. And our good king your father is proud of you, though he might not proclaim it from the throne. I have known him long enough to see it in the way he looks at you. You have a great ambition all your own and the force of will to see it through.”
For a few beats Sombra looked up to his mentor, considering his words. Finally, the prince’s frame sank with an exhale, shedding the invisible yoke and letting his head rest on Iambic’s shoulder. 
“Your words are more kind than I deserve, Iambic. I fear that without your clear-headed guidance my petty inclinations may take the better of my judgement, and I be lost to baleful imaginations best not dwelt upon.”
“Then dwell on kinder things.” Iambic held him at leg’s length and raised his face. “They are abundant if you haven’t noticed.”
Sombra sucked a breath through his teeth to voice an unflattering truth. “I do have habit of… overlooking certain things.”
The elder stallion took on a comforting smirk. “I know of one thing your mother would have you take more notice of…”
Sombra cocked his head, not grasping the implication. Then his face widened in realization.
“Kelda?! That confounding vixen?” The prince turned away and began repacking his things. “With every flick of her mane and blink of her eyes she unseats me! She and I cannot exist in the same room without her hooks ensnaring my mind and tangling my nerves like burs in a mane!”
Iambic clicked his tongue. “How torturous.”
“It’s insufferable!” 


A short time later, when Sombra was replenished with food and water, he was still tired but much more amenable. As his troop of Thanes gathered to empty the cavern into the crisp, clear morning, he spared a final glance towards the back with a beam of light from his magic. Though he searched for the tunnel, he found nothing but rock wall. 
 
I made sure to mark the location of the cavern on my map, for I would return to it many times in the months to come. And of course, I kept it a secret. For the most part.




Canterlot.
After nightfall.


Apostle had an array of scrolls levitating in place as he strolled through the hall, mumbling while he determined which tasks he could manage himself and which would need to be presented to Princess Luna. The alicorns were at dinner, which gave him time to sort.
“Florist schematics… weather clearances… possum clothing?... oh yes.”
It was when he passed through an intersection that something caught in the corner of his vision that made him retract a step. There were two things about what he saw at the opposite end of the short hall that made him stop and swivel an ear, using the parchments to obscure his face. The first, was that of the two ponies engaged in a muted but friendly conversation, one of them was the guard Flash Sentry who he’d met earlier.
The other was a comely thestral mare who spoke and interacted with him in what anypony would describe as flirtatious. Curious, as Apostle glanced between the sheets, was that Flash appeared to allow this behavior to go unchallenged. While the romantic drama of two young ponies was hardly his interest, the fact that this one may very well involve Princess Twilight Sparkle showed the potential of being… useful to him.
The conversation continued for a minute or two longer as he observed, the mare having a coquettish laugh before bouncing a hoof off his chest and departing. Flash, evidently self-satisfied, jaunted along on his own way.
Allowing the scrolls to furl, he pondered what he’d just seen until a palace guard approached him, presenting with a small, wax-sealed note.
“Counsel, a letter for you.”
Apostle regarded the message and took it. “From whom?”
“They did not say.”
The guard remained while Apostle glanced over the note.
“Thank you.” Apostle said after a few awkward seconds.
Once alone, he cracked the seal and removed the slip of paper inside the folds, reading it quickly. Its contents roused a scowl from the unicorn.
“Can they go a single night without having to fret and complain?”
He stuffed the items in his cloak with a huff and carried on.




 
Elsewhere…

Dinner with the princesses seemed to lack some of its typical liveliness for Twilight. Celestia occupied her normal seat in the middle of the long table, Twilight three paces to her left as they each enjoyed a bowl of soup.
Celestia, while polite and glad to see her, was sparse on the small-talk. Luna was running late, which left the two to fill the gaps of silence with tight smiles and darting glances. There was a tenseness from the solar alicorn, which wound itself like a spring as the minutes ticked by. That something was off tonight was plain to Sparkle, but without knowing what it might be, she didn’t have a comfortable avenue to broach the matter. The importance of the missing amulet seemed to diminish in her mind. 
“Twilight,” Celestia said, letting her soup spoon rattle into the bowl. “There’s something we have to discuss.”
“Oh, thank the stars!” Twilight exclaimed with all the breath she’d been holding back. “I’ve been dying over here!”
Celestia rubbed the side of her face with a hoof, letting a small chuckle wriggle though her anxiety. “It was that obvious, was it?”
Using magic to drag her chair behind her, Twilight brought it right next to her teacher’s side. “Princess Celestia, whatever is going on, I am here to help you.”
With a tight smile, Celestia put a wing over her, “Thank you, dear. That does mean a lot to me.”
“So what’s wrong?”
The words to express her thoughts roiled like a thunderhead, and Celestia took a moment to order her articulation. “I can’t exactly put my hoof on it, but I have good reason to believe that something very dark may be rising in Equestria.”
Twilight swallowed. “Like… like what?”
Celestia thought. “I’m not sure. But I fear it may have something to do with the Nightmare.”
Ears flattened against purple fur as Twilight’s heart gripped. “The Nightmare? But… I thought we destroyed it with the Elements of Harmony!”
“Unfortunately, that’s not as clear as we’d like it to be.” Drawing a breath to sooth her nerves, Celestia explained: “The entity that we know as the Nightmare is not something any of us truly understand. Luna thinks it may be a type of ‘tantabus’, something that manifests as a concentration of negative emotions. It’s not a living thing, but it does have a will of its own. From what we do know, it attached itself to Luna when…”
Celestia gulped. “…That night. Whether the Nightmare is a unique entity, or one of a species, or something we haven’t imagined… we just don’t know. But… last night, myself, Luna, and even Cadence sensed… something. That was what her message was about. That was why I asked how you’d slept.”
Twilight tried to grasp the scope of she was being told. “And you’re sure it’s the Nightmare?”
“My visions aren’t a science, Twilight.” Celestia stared down into the bowl of her soup, into her reflection. “Even I don’t always understand what it’s trying to tell me. But I saw terrible things in my dream, and my intuition does recognize the way it makes me feel.”
She turned to Twilight with earnest eyes: “I believe in my heart that the Nightmare has returned, somewhere, somehow.”


“That is my conclusion as well.” Striding into the room from her usual side entrance, Princess Luna waved off her thestral escort before continuing. "My time spent in bondage to the entity has bequeathed to me a particular insight.”
Taking her seat, Luna uncovered her bowl and contemplated the dish. “I sensed a powerful surge of dark magic in the night, its flavor was… familiar to me.”
Neither Celestia nor Twilight were inclined to press the nature of Luna’s intimacy with the Nightmare.
“Soooo… What should we do?” Sparkle asked. 
The elder alicorns exchanged a glance and let a long breath pass.
Luna snorted. “The most dangerous foe one can face is the kind you understand the least. It is unpredictable. Without more information, all we can do is fan our search for clues and hope to locate the entity before it does too much damage or becomes too powerful.”
“Twilight,” Celestia took her student’s face in a hoof. “We don’t know if this thing has attached itself to somepony or is running loose, or what. And unless we want to remove the Elements from the Tree of Harmony, we may not have the means to defeat something like this head-on. I don’t want you and your friends putting yourselves in harm’s way. Leave this to us.”
Sparkle’s face widened and she began sputtering, “But-! Uh-! We can-!”
Celestia raised a hoof to quell her protests. “Twilight, you are not to share this information with your friends, with Spike, or anypony else. You are not to take actions on your own to locate or confront the Nightmare. That…” 
The words that came next came uncomfortably, choking their way up her swanish neck. “That is my command.”
Even Luna raised an eyebrow to the sound of her sister issuing a direct command to her prized protégé.
Twilight, for her part, was speechless. 




Later That Night…

The doors to the secret chamber were thrust apart as the hooded Apostle stormed into the room. The many members of the Restoration Project already in their seats, their overlapping conversations were brought to a stark halt upon his arrival. All concealed eyes affixed to him.
“I don’t have all night.” Apostle stated bluntly. “What is it we need to address?”
Heretic burst from his seat with such violence the chair was toppled, “WHAT DO YOU THINK WE NEED TO ADDRESS, YOU BLUNDERING NECROMANCER!?”
Apostle read the room, and replied carefully, “I see that you are upset, Heretic, but I’m afraid you have me at a loss. I’m not sure what you were expecting to result from the ritual.” He slid into his seat on the opposite end from Legacy. “We accomplished precisely what we intended to do.”
“I think we got a bit more than that!” Heretic seethed from under his hood.
Heritor blew a calming breath, “We need to re-assess the plan.” She said. “I think… I think we are in over our heads.”
Legacy, the de facto leader of the assembly remained still in his chair, with those closest to him all waiting to see how the discussion would go.
Apostle ruminated with a hoof to his lips for several moments, thinking over how to bring them back. He would have to massage this situation very carefully. 
“The end result may not be… exactly what we planned, but we have achieved our goal: we have an ally who will depose the alicorns and restore the unicorn to our rightful place of prominence.”
Legacy tilted his head to the left, “Juris, care to offer any educated speculation?”
Juris, with a foreleg of light brown leaned forward on the grand table, “We have a verbal agreement with the… Master… and the problem as I see it, is that the stability of our arrangement is at the whim of this… thing. The council has no mechanism of enforcement against him to protect our interests, nothing to bind him into fulfilling his end of this surreptitious contract.”
As Apostle listened, he noticed that his exhalation was becoming visible. 
“If what Apostle has told us is true of the Master’s terms,” Equivocate now picked up the conversation in his dreary tone. “Then it certainly sounds like he has aims of his own that may or may not include us. Our only point of mutual interest seems to be the removal of the alicorns. Beyond that… his true intentions and motivations may or may not include us.”
Apostle thought, and recalled a curious moment from his encounter.
“There may be one thing we can negotiate with.” He said.
Grace gestured with a bent hoof, “Pray tell.”
Taking a deliberate moment to draw a breath, Apostle reclined in his seat. “Does the name ‘Thule’ ring a bell for any of you?”
A few of necks straightened at the mention. 
“I should hope so,” Legacy said, preparing to speak as a teacher might before a class, rising from his seat and moving to the antique painting of the unicorns elevating the sun. “It’s a part of unicorn history that has become all but forgotten to us.”
Worthy rose from her place and joined him, “Ancient Thule is the father of the unicorn tribe, long before the Great Winter of the Windigos and the ordeal of Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever. The kingdom she was the princess of, was the Kingdom of Thule. The last knowledge of it we have is that it fell into obscurity after a scandal so profound, its population abandoned it to never speak of their shame again. Our group only retains this little knowledge from generation to generation due to our… internal predispositions.”
By the reactions among the table, not every attendant was fully aware of this information.
“Why do you ask, Apostle?” said Legacy.
A new and vast conception of events now began to manifest in the mind of the ambitious warlock.
“When he was… investigating my memories, he was quite unsettled to learn that I had no knowledge of this ‘Thule’. Quite unsettled if I may say so. He referred to it with: ‘my kingdom, my kindred’ before I left him.”
A series of glances were traded among the council, Legacy, Worthy, Grace, and Heretic becoming very still.
“We’ve never known the details of Sombra’s origin.” Heritor began, her voice betraying how staggered she was. “Is it possible he was a genuine Thulian unicorn?”
“If that’s true…” began Estate, jeweled bracelets clinking on her purple foreleg. “Our arrangement with him may not just be an alliance of interest, we may in fact be in allegiance to him.”
“Allegiance?” Heretic balked. “You think I might owe fealty to that… THING? I am of legitimate royal descent, documented from Princess Platinum herself! If anything, he owes me his allegiance!”
Apostle’s eyes diverted to the upper corners. “You are free to sort the matter out with him if you’d like, but I might suggest a more respectful tone if you do.”
The challenge seemed to rebuke the prideful Heretic, who reclined his posture as he looked around the room.
“I might just do that.” He boasted flatly. “Next we meet, I shall have to educate this creature on just who has the rightful claim here, and we shall see who ‘The Master’ really is.”
The light in the room dimmed, and again Apostle saw his breath turn white. This time, his eyes widened to the realization.


“Indeeeed….” A cold voice from nowhere answered. “I am eager to learn.”


As before, the sound of creaking coincided with a surge of the room’s shadows. Then like a stormwind blowing open a door, the darkness streamed towards a single spot, coalescing at the base of the painting of the unicorns and forcing Legacy and Worthy to stumble backwards.
A crimson light preceded the emergence of the dreadful iron helm of the Master, his eyes of burning emerald and red fuming with dark magic. The great crimson cloak ragged with char and ash billowed about his intangible shoulders and absorbed the rest of the shadow-mass underneath itself, whereupon the sabaton-plated legs strode forth.





The Restoration Project members froze in place, not via some magical hold but out of sheer terror as they stared up to the towering wraith. An extended inhale from underneath the cruel helm brought the Master to a functional height in the chamber, the lights in the room returning to their luminosity.
“So… It seems you have some hesitancies regarding our covenant? And there is a… hierarchical matter to be resolved?”
His slit pupils fell over Heretic, who withered under their inspection. “Or have I misheard you?”
Heretic retreated until he came against the backrest of the adjacent chair.
“As it happens…” Returning his attention to the body, the Master set his posture upright. “The one answer may settle the other.”
“You there…” An armored hoof was raised in the direction of Heritor. “By what name may I address you?”
She slowly gulped, afraid to make any sudden movement. “Heritor.”
“Heritor… A curious moniker, but you have grasped correctly. I am a son of Thule, norðeweard trêowful.”
With this admission the room began to stir to the sound of the ancient tongue.
“Apostle, likewise, has taken my measure: to learn that Thule has faded from history fills me with an anguish that I cannot put into words, mîn feorth gnorian.”
The last words carried an undertone of pain, accented by a hoof clutched to his chest.
“Though I am known to you by the title that conquered the Crystal Empire, I will give you now the name of my birth, as bestowed by my father and kissed by my mother, mîn trumnes ægðand brêostsefa.”
The Master stepped forward and planted his left hoof on the table, “I am the son of King Rubicon Ultima and Queen Eras Carolania, brother to Prince Æclypse the Valiant heir to the throne of our father. I, ẞombra Ultima, Prince of Þhule.”
Though the Project members said nothing, there did arise in them a growing confidence that they would not be struck down in the next second, and they gathered around the table.
“Or at least… I was...” Looking over his hoof, the former prince lowered his volume. “Before the alicorns destroyed my body and imprisoned me in darkness and ice, neither alive nor dead. Now this power, this ‘Nightmare’ entity provides the tissue with which I may take corporeal form. I wonder which is the greater part?”
“You have your mind, at least.” Legacy dared to say. “The Nightmare may provide the vehicle, but is it not Sombra at the reigns?”
As the Master shifted his gaze to regard him, the slit pupil widened. “Perhaps a new name will do then, if I am neither wholly one nor the other?”
“Well…” Worthy began delicately. “You did conquer the Crystal Empire, which, I think, would entitle you to retain the title of ‘King’ at least.”
Grace turned to Heretic and gave him a light jostle in the shoulder, “It would appear your claim to preeminence has been… superseded.” She mocked, chuckling. Heretic fixed her with a fleeting look, then set his chair upright and sat down.
“Then I will adopt a name that embodies my new state.” Dark ethers roiled from the eyes of the Master. “Though the world may hear only of ‘The Master’, I shall take the title ‘King Nightmare’.”
In contrast to their initial reaction, the majority of the members now indulged their interest.
“Terrifying and appropriate,” Estate observed. “A king to replace a princess.”
“And one of true royal blood,” Legacy said, his voice swelling with pride. Coming alongside King Nightmare, he raised a hoof to the others. “Though we did not realize it, fate has delivered to us the perfect instrument of the Restoration Project. One who has the resolve, the power, and the noble right to champion our endeavor!”


Much to Apostle’s subtle surprise, hooves began clapping on the table to signal their approbations.
I’ve really done it haven’t I?


King Nightmare brought his face to Legacy, “You, you are the one who began to speak so fondly of Thule… How might I know you?”
“You may call me Legacy, as we all here have taken pseudonyms to protect our identities in this enterprise. In time I will introduce you to the rest of us.”
Nightmare purred, “You must indeed. And I believe I should know this one,” He turned to Heretic. “You who are a descendant of our heroic Princess, hí nama beón écelice gesǽlig.”
“Heretic.” The cloaked stallion offered without self-importance and mild confusion.
“An even more intriguing choice. And I believe that brings me to the primary concern that was raised among you, that of my own motivations.” 
Looking around the table and letting the atmosphere breathe, King Nightmare filled his chest and began speaking ceremoniously: “It has always been my driving purpose to serve my kingdom, to bring glory and pride to Thule and its unicorns. That is the sole purpose for which I was bred and educated. And every action I have ever taken, no matter how ruthless or how cruel, was for the greater good… of my kindred. And now, here before you, I find my kindred again. Here in this chamber, I find sons and daughters of Thule ready to honor its legacy once more.”
“You wonder why I would hold my own interest to yours and I tell you it is because restoring the natural privilege of the unicorn is to restore the glory and honor of mighty Thule upon the face of the world once more. No longer will you kneel and bow to usurpers and the unworthy. No longer will you be forced to live the lie of equality with the Pegasus and the Earth Pony!”
Spirits at the table were rising, Apostle could feel it like a tide taking them up. A force of sheer will too powerful to oppose.
“I, last heir to the throne of Thule, conqueror of the Crystal Empire shall lead you back into the halls of your forefathers. The progeny of Thule will raise their horns once more in pride, and the ancestral nobility that is your birthright.”
While the others applauded, Legacy stepped over to two of the male members and spoke softly between them, whereupon they walked to an adjacent room. After that, he rejoined King Nightmare and cleared his throat.
“Great Master, in our preparation for your arrival we have secured some items of interest to serve you in whatever capacity you deem useful.”
Legacy gestured to the returning stallions who between them, carried a small platform upon which sat an ornate, dark-stained box. Flatter than it was tall, the top of it bore the engraving of two unicorns meeting over a throne in gold inlay. King Nightmare appraised the box with curiosity.
Heretic glanced back to Apostle, the two exchanging clenched jaws of uncertainty.
Legacy continued: “Presented to you,” Using his magic to open the lid, he unveiled three scrolls bound with blue ribbons and arranged horizontally one atop another.
“These scrolls were, shall we say, ‘liberated’ from the library of Starswirl the Bearded by our esteemed member Heretic. Each of them contains a… unique gift.”
King Nightmare took them up in his crimson magic, and one by one untied the ribbons and examined the contents. 
Upon reading the first one, there was aroused a curious hum. “I had no idea…”
Upon reading the second, his helm tilted, “Unexpected….”
Upon reading the third, the green sclera of his eyes expanded in surprise. “Be ðæt gods!”
“I take it these items are to your satisfaction then?” Legacy inquired.
King Nightmare met him with delighted eyes. “Exceeded, and more, my good stallion. To impart the significance of these, I shall name them in turn: This first one, I shall call ‘Terror’. The second, shall be ‘Mayhem’. This the third…” He took another few moments to behold it. “Forwyrd, this I shall call ‘Destruction’.”
The second and third scrolls he recoiled and set the ribbons back about them. “With these instruments at our disposal, shall we undermine the rule of the alicorns. First, by sowing fear among the populace to strike at their sense of security. Then, unleash turmoil to diminish the Princesses’ ability to maintain the peace. Finally, destruction to consume the strength of their greatest protectors, and when they are weakened, that is when we will make our move. We will push the alicorns aside to provide the safety, security, and leadership that so many will be crying out for.”
“Pardon, Great Master,” Heritor spoke up. “There remains another factor you may wish to address that could threaten your, admittedly, grand design.”
“And what would that be, my dear Heritor?”
“Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony.” The name of the princess was given with a hard grit.
King Nightmare drew a long breath, searching his mind for the reference. “Oh yes, Apostle provided me some passing knowledge of their existence.”
Apostle clenched his teeth.
“Then you must know that they have overcome some of the greatest threats Equestria has ever known: Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis-twice, Lord Tirek.” Heritor paused to emphasize her point. “Your plan must account for a way to deal with them.”
The Master thought for a moment, regarding the mare. “Of course, it must. This, I presume, is something to which you have dedicated thought?”
“Considerable” Heritor agreed.
“Then we must be in council on the matter.” There was something in his tone that might have belied a smile. He put the scrolls Mayhem and Destruction back into the box but kept Terror aloft, pondering as he gazed at it.
“There is a question… that I would put to the assembled and have their mind.”
Legacy shrugged, “You need only ask.”
“Tell me, heralds of a Thule reborn: would you agree that Celestia has sat for quite long enough on her lofty, fraudulent throne?”
“AYE!” The group roused, stamping their hooves on the table. Apostle likewise beat his hoof against the wood, sans the zest of the others.
Plumes of dark magic surged from the corners of King Nightmare’s eyes at their answer.
“Then if the mind of the assembled be as one, and my mind consider the same…” The scroll floated directly before him, unfurled. The crimson peak of his helm radiating.
“Then let us begin.”