The arrival
The train slowed to a stop, the breaks giving a low screech before stopping at the wooden platform. “Now then careful not to drop anything Spike.” Spike slowly emerged with a stack of luggage, each bag bursting at its seems.
“Twilight!” greeted a stallion, removing his visor to get a better look at his sister.
“Shinning Armor! So good to see you,” Twilight said smiling. He did not smile back, maintaining the neutral expression of a soldier.
“We can talk later, we need to get moving. The King has been very silent as of late.” His magic taking hold of the baggage on Spike’s back.
“Thanks,” Spike panted, slumping to the ground and taking a few deep breaths.
“No problem, we need to get moving. He's even stronger after nightfall.”
“What?” Fluttershy squeaked.
“When's the last time you saw him?” asked Applejack.
“Last night the shadow magic he uses vanished. Even with Cadence's help I couldn’t sense his magic, and he hasn’t appeared since. I'm glad that Cadence finally got some sleep, but I'm worried that he might return at any moment,” he quickly explained before pausing and staring back at Applejack. “Wait, you aren't surprised that King Sombra's here?”
Twilight nervously glanced back and forth, “I will explain later. First we need to get out of here, I don’t want to chance a run in with him out here in the snow.” She was really hoping to move things along as quickly as possible. Confirming her fears, a gigantic gust of black magic swirled behind them from the snow. A massive pair of eyes glared down at the group.
“Run!”
Everypony scattered, abandoning their luggage and galloping away from the creature as quickly as possible. The smoke like substance seeped after them, eyes glowing darkly.
“MINE!” The shadow rumbled after the group as Shinning Armor turned, blasting his magic at the dark mass.
“YOU DARE!” Eyes glaring intensely as it raced toward Shinning armor. Shining Armor charged his magic again, the ghostly form closing in rapidly.
Twilight turned to look at the creature. It wasn't the same as the stallion that had confronted her before. I was less... Coherent.
“RAHHH!” the form bellowed, engulfing her brother.
“Shinning!” she screamed, charging towards the form blasting at it wildly with her own magic. Seeing its real target, the shadow spat out Shining Armor, sending him flying. Twilight halted, watching her brother soar towards the Crystal Empire, before turning again to face the shadow rushing toward her.
Closing her eyes she felt something pass around her as she hit another solid body. Figuring it was her brother, she sighed in relief. Her eyes snapped open, recalling him being launched out of the monster.
Darkness surrounded her.
Twilight tried to bring forth some power, but before anything could be cast, she was blinded by a bright light. Opening her eyes after a brief second of blinding pain, she saw that the darkness around her was gone, leaving only a white, empty expanse. She could see her hooves and the rest of her body but nothing else.
Blinking away some of the pain, she suddenly found herself back in Canterlot Castle.
“Are sure you can handle this?” Twilight found herself looking up at Princess Celestia. After a second of confusion, she tried to respond, but found that she was unable to speak.
“Sure thing! I am your student after all. I think I can handle it,” came a very male voice. Twilight tried to look around for it, but her eyes wouldn't respond either. The voice continued, “Um, just in case though, do you think you can send some letters? Letting them know why I am coming. Maybe I'll bring a few guards just in case.” Her body moved on its own, and she found herself shrinking down a bit.
'Where is that voice coming from?' It sounded incredibly close, and familiar. She couldn't put her hoof on where she'd heard that voice before.
“Of course Prince Sombra.”
'What?'
“If you want, you could bring your father as well. Ever since he relinquished the throne to me, the poor stallion hasn’t been doing much except paint.”
“Father,” the voice sighed. “I would rather not involve the old king, or my sister Princess Platinum. Neither have been the same since the events with Discord.” Twilight felt her body shiver.
“Prince, I would not worry about it, it has been five years. Luna and I are happy to help the kingdom in any way. We feel we can help things along, even if we have to deal with all the paperwork that comes with being in charge.”
“You don’t need to explain it to me. You taught me well, even before my father stepped down from the throne. Part of me wishes you had arrived sooner.”
'What is going on?' Twilight frantically tried to make sense of the series of events. 'Discord? Princess Platinum? This must be-'
“There isn't anything to worry about. Just keep an eye on the Crystal Empire until they come up with a new leader. Return swiftly when your task is complete, as I have one last test for you.” The Princess smiles down at Twilight, the mare felt her heart skip a beat, forgetting the strange circumstances, and she attempts to gather her supplies. She flinches inwardly remembering her inability to move, as well as her own similar set of tasks set out by the Princess.
“Only one? No more lessons?” the male voice asked, snapping her out of her memories. He sounded... Sad. His voice laced with lament, probably at the thought of the finishing of his studies. Twilight could easily relate, thinking about her own sessions with the Princess ending. What would she do? She was shocked to feel a tear go down her cheek, wondering if it was her own, or whatever was controlling her at the moment.
“We shall talk more on it later, just make sure to say goodbye to your older sister. She was none too pleased with your last sudden disappearance,” Twilight felt her head node before trotting away.
'Prince Sombra. Is it possible? But...' Twilight’s mind was trying to comprehend the events as best she could, when her body turned towards a mirror.
Standing in her place was a grey pony with bright green eyes, his black mane was combed back with a light curl at the edge, his tail equally cared for. He looked just like Mad King, only a lot less wild. 'King Sombra!' She must have been experiencing a memory. As she stares at the young King, she blinks, suddenly aware of how cold she is. Opening her eyes, she finds herself no longer in Canterlot, but surrounded by cold snow, with the shadowy creature dissipating away from her.
“Twilly, are you okay? why did you charge him?” Her big brother pulled her to her hooves.
“I was worried about you, and thought-” she glanced up at his face. “Oh my, your horn, it's...” she pointed to his horn. A black crystal like substance was now attached to his horn.
“Buck, its blocking out my magic.” The unicorn cursed as he tried to concentrate on gathering some magic.
“We have no time. We need to get to the barrier, before the King decides it’s time for a second round.” Twilight nodding her head at shadows that were starting to merge back together.
“Why didn’t he block you horn?” Shining pointed out as he started towards the Kingdom. Twilight looked up, noticing that she was crystal free.
Twilight started galloping as well. “Let’s get inside first. But I've got a few things we need to talk about. And maybe a few inconsistencies as well,” Twilight explained, keeping pace with her brother. The two crossed over the glowing barrier into a grassy plan, where Spike and all her friends were waiting for her.
“Twilight!” came six voices, as she was swarmed by everypony. Intense looks of concern on all their faces.
“I am fine. We really need to keep moving,” Twilight said ushering everyone forward.
“You sure sugar cube?” Applejack said, resting a hoof on her friends shoulder.
“Cr-r-yssstalll-” came a sharp howl from outside the barrier.
“Don’t worry, Cadence has her shield up, her love should be able to keep him out for a bit longer still. She’s in the throne room,” Shinning directed the group towards the Crystal Palace.
As everypony started trotting along, Twilight paused for a second and glanced back to the barrier. Outside she saw a pony on the other side looking at her, eyes not glowing with anger or malice. A smirk slipped onto his face as his horn started to glow. Twilight quickly turned to her friends, but as she looked back to where the stallion was, there was no trace of him.
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“So what you are saying is, one moment he's talking and appearing to be a normal pony, and the next he's a huge shadow-beast chasing you down like an animal?” Cadence repeated as Twilight nodded, realizing how strange both her encounters were. Sighing, the pink alicorn closed her eyes as she trudged back to the throne to sit down.
“Are you okay princess?” Fluttershy asked meekly, radiating concern.
“Well she has gotten a bit more sleep thanks to his sudden disappearance, but not nearly enough.” Shinning Armor sighed. “We haven’t even had time to question the crystal ponies.”
“Well, best start asking around. Maybe they could tell us something, like how they kept him out before? Or how they handled similar threats.” Applejack stated resolutely.
“Hmm, it wouldn’t be a bad place to start.” Shining faced Twilight, concern deep in his voice. “Twily are you alright? Normally you would jump at an opportunity to learn something.”
Everypony looked at Twilight. “... I saw something when the smoke engulfed me, I am think Sombra was the Princess’s student at one time,” Twilight admitted as everyone just stared at her.
“Well I suppose it could be possible. There have been many famous, and infamous, ponies that were taught by the Princess. However in recent years she's been taking on less and less.” Rarity quoted, recalling a bit of equestrian history.
“Oh not you to! This group does Not need another egghead,” Dash rolled her eyes at Rarity.
“Egghead?” she questioned, “I will have you know that when looking for inspirations for your dresses I had to do some digging. Where do you think I got inspiration for Twilight's gala dress from? It’s based of off Starswirl the Bearded's cloak.”
“Well uh-” Dash stammered,
“As nice as all this sounds, we've got work to do. Everypony spread out and get some information.” Applejack interjected, derailing her friends before the argument escalated further.
“Try not to be too aggressive. The crystal ponies are still recovering.” Cadence warned as the mane six headed out of the door.
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“Hey Twilight, you okay? You seem a bit off. Is it cause of the test?” Rainbow Dash looked over at the lavender unicorn.
“Test?” Twilight echoed. “...Oh right, the test.” Everyone stopped and stared at her like she had grown another head. “Crap the test!” Shouting as she raced down the hall. The others looked at each other exchanging looks of concern.
“Don’t worry I’ll keep an eye on her. We still need to take care of matter at hoof.” Applejack reminded everypony, starting to follow after Twilight.
“Right! Nopony worry, I've got my night vision goggles,” Pinkie pulled out a pair of tinted goggles.
“I don’t know were she got those,” Rainbow dash face-hoofed, as Pinkie vanished in a puff of confetti. “But what good are they supposed to be in the middle of the day?” Frustration tinting her voice.
“It’s Pinkie Pie don’t question it,” Applejack stated flatly.
The rest of the group scattered, spreading out over the capital to try and find some kind of information.