//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Rise of an Arch-Nemesis: Hail the Tambelon Empire // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// In the Age of Tambelon After the night had made its way for the day, the colt walked down the stairs to the kitchen where his mother was preparing breakfast for herself and her son. The colt had a look of sadness and concern on his face as he gazed at his mother's back as she worked on breakfast. "Mother... are you okay?" he asked. His mother turned to face him with a bruised cheek and a black left eye so swollen that her eye swelled shut. She was dressed in her usual attire, but it looked more torn and stretched than usual. She tried to smile through cracked teeth. "I'm fine, dear. Mother's just feeling a bit tired," his mother lied. That lie was so obvious, even for a seven-year old. He slammed his hooves on the table in anger. Not for his mother, but for the one who hurt her whenever he felt like it. He looked at his mother with the fires of hatred in his amber eyes. "Why, Mother?! Why do you lie for him?! Why do you let that smug bastard hurt you so much?!" he cried. His mother stood there with a shocked and hurt expression on her face. She had seen her son and tended to him after Brickbit's thugs beat him up from time to time, but this was the first time her son had voiced any protest about it. The weight of her son's pain and concern for her made her legs shake and her eyes tear up. She sped to her son and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm so sorry, son. I'm so sorry. I promise, this won't continue forever. Someday, you and me will leave this place and move to a new village. Once I earn enough money, we can go," Mother said. The colt held his mother closely while she stroked his hair. He cried into her shoulder. A combination of pain and anger swirled in his chest in a tornado of emotion. His mother let go of him and looked at him with a stern expression. "I love you, son, but I can't look over the fact that you said 'bastard'. You're grounded for one day. You can't go play with your friends, today after school. You come straight home," Mother said. The colt was so happy to see his mother acting like a mother that he couldn't bring himself to protest. Instead, he ate breakfast with his mother and finally left for school. As he left, he saw Brickbit talking with one of his thugs. It would have been an understatement to say that the colt deeply despised Brickbit. It wasn't just his mother and himself he hurt, but others in their village. Not bothering to look at the brute, the colt walked away from him as fast as he could. As the colt walked through the village to get to school, he came across a meat shop that supplied the Imperial garrison with food. He noticed one of the butchers walking out of the shop and placed one of the larger knives on the counter to tend to something else. The colt stared at the large knife for a minute before an idea entered his mind. A dark idea. A dark and hopefully good idea. Making sure the butcher didn't see him, the colt ran to the knife and grabbed it. He put it in his school bag as fast as he could before running off in the direction of the schoolhouse. "Don't worry, Mother. If that bastard tries to hurt you again, I'll make sure he never does again," the colt promised to his mother. He'll do everything to protect his mother. And anything. The Crystal Empire Things in the Crystal Empire had descended into chaos very quickly. Not even an hour had passed and things seemed to get worse and worse. But things were also becoming extremely mysterious. Twilight and the other world leaders had been taken to another location near the stadium to try to figure out what was going on while the Pillars and the rest of her friends tried to calm everybody down. "Okay, what the Tartarus is going on around here?!" Prince Rutherford asked. "Your guess is as good as mine, Prince Rutherford," Twilight replied. "All I know is that Dragon Lord Ember has been assassinated, the Crystal Palace was set on fire, and Spike was incredibly injured in pursuit of the perpetrator". "Wait a minute! Your Dragon warrior was unable to apprehend the criminal that killed the Dragon Lord?!" Queen Novo demanded. "Hold on, Queen Novo! From what Rainbow Dash said, the Dragon that did this was well-trained in combat. He was able to land a blow on the criminal before he was magically teleported away. It wasn't Spike's fault," Thorax said. Suddenly, the doors opened to reveal Thorax's brother Pharynx walking in with a clipboard in his hoof. He was placed in charge of the investigation into the recent events. Thorax gave his older brother a weary smile. "Welcome, Pharynx. What were able to find?" Thorax asked. "Well, Ember's body was immediately taken to the medical examiner to determine what exactly killed her. It may take a while to find out what," Pharynx said. "What about the Palace being set on fire?" Grandpa Gruff asked. "The fire was caused by Dragon fire, but it was fused with some bizarre magical energy. It was unlike anything we've ever seen before," Pharynx said. "But, Rainbow and the Dragons were able to save Princess Flurry Heart and the other staff before the fire got too out of control. No casualties". Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief at the news. Next, Queen Novo spoke up. "And what of Spike and the Dragon that murdered Ember?" she asked. "Spike suffered many broken bones, a bad concussion, massive internal bleeding, and a punctured lung during the confrontation with the perpetrator," Pharynx replied. "Sadly, the criminal was able to teleport away from the scene using a magic artifact. But we were able to get a description of the criminal before Spike was put under for emergency surgery". "Well, that gives us something to go on, at least," Grandpa said. "Do we have any idea or evidence to indicate a motive?" Twilight asked. "Any evidence that could've been taken was destroyed in the fire. As for an idea, I couldn't begin to guess. I personally doubt it was a power move, though," Pharynx said. "Did Spike say anything?" Queen Novo asked. "We weren't able to ask him before he was put under. We'll have to ask him when he wakes up," Pharynx replied. This was so limiting. They didn't have much information to go on, the assassin got away, and their primary witness was undergoing surgery. Hopefully, her friends and the Pillars were having an easier time than her. ... In the Streets of the Citadel The Pillars and the Elements were busy escorting the citizens to safe places due to the fire. Thankfully, the fire was under control thanks to the Pegasi, Griffons, Hippogriffs, Changelings, and Dragons. While they were helping the citizens, Starswirl walked away from the scene to think. Once he was far enough away, he sat down on a barrel in an alleyway. He cast his mind to thoughts about the recent assassination. He tried to think about who could've done this. How could this have happened? Who could've been able to do this? he thought to himself. This assassination wasn't random, though. The killer knew exactly what they were doing and who they were targeting. Sadly, the evidence was destroyed in the fire that consumed the Palace. The killer fled the scene, evaded capture, and managed to defeat a trained warrior like Spike. The killer also used a strange weapon to kill someone from a long distance with great precision and effectiveness. Nothing about this made any sense. It doesn't seem like the killer was trying to become Dragon Lord through killing Ember. If he did, he would've used poison and tried to take the Bloodstone Scepter, Starswirl thought. Besides, Ember left the Scepter back in the Dragonlands under heavy guard. This feels more like this assassin was tasked with killing Ember. Without meaning to, his mind cast back to the Cloaked Pony from his dreams. The visage of the ancient beast he and his friends killed centuries ago. But there's no way he could still be alive. But... even if he somehow was, this assassination didn't fit his MO. He needed more information. I'll have to do some investigating before I do anything else, Starswirl thought. He stood back up and walked back to rejoin his friends with the task at hoof. Canterlot- Later that Night Prince Blueblood grunted with effort in order to navigate the sewers beneath the city. These sewers were connected to the ancient caverns beneath the Castle. It was in one large chamber that he was told by the Spymaster to meet with him. He stood alone in the dark chamber with only the light of his horn to see. "I'm happy to see that you were able to find your way here, Prince Blueblood," the voice of the Spymaster said from behind the prince. Sure enough, the Spymaster's rodent face was there to greet his vision when the prince turned around. The creature stood there smiling through his cloaked face. Prince Blueblood sighed. "Well, I followed your instructions and came down to these dour catacombs. Where is the Dark Lord we serve?" Blueblood demanded. "You are about to see," the Spymaster said. The Spymaster pulled off his black ring and created a red portal with it. From the portal came three figures. Blueblood's eyes widened as he recognized the figures. It was Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. It was the very criminals he helped free. But there was something different about them. Something... darker. It was as if they were mutated by some dark and terrible power. They all looked at Blueblood with either hatred or boredom. "This is our contact? He looks weak," Cozy Glow said. "Regardless, our master ordered us to remain with him until he's ready to fully enact his plan," Chrysalis said. "You now serve the Dark Prince? Forgive me, but I thought you lot weren't the types to submit to anyone," Blueblood said. The three villains all cringed in fear and hugged themselves. It was like a natural reaction to pain. Even Tirek was shaking in his boots. If the tank of a Centaur could be driven to follow someone out of fear, then the master was a terrifying creature indeed. Still, the Dark Lord was nowhere to be seen. "Where is our master?" Blueblood asked. "Behind us," Cozy Glow replied. From the portal shot out a large dark shape. It clung to the walls and ceiling, slithering around the nooks and crannies like a giant black snake. Finally, Blueblood sensed the shape landing behind him. The air temperature around Blueblood began to rapidly drop until Blueblood could see his own breath. Apart from the cold, a wave of fear washed over Blueblood so intensely that he dropped to his knees and struggled to breath. "W-w-welcome t-to Canterlot, m-my lord," Blueblood stammered. A cold and dark voice echoed behind him. "Thank you for your diligent commitment to the Tambelon Empire, Herr Blueblood. Aren't you going to look at your master?" Slowly, Blueblood looked behind him to see the glowing red orbs that were his master's eyes. Those eyes filled him with even more fear. After gazing into Lord Eclipse's eyes for a few seconds, he fainted in fear. Lord Eclipse turned his hooded head towards his subordinate's, who all bowed in his presence. "You three carry him back to his mansion. Spymaster, continue your monitoring of the city. I want to know anything and everything that will help us," Lord Shadow ordered. "I will tour the city by myself. I have work to do". This city will never be the same again once Lord Shadow Eclipse was finished with the inhabitants.