Chapter 3
As the sisters led their honor guard out of the Crystal Empire and back to Equestria, the weather had lightened considerably. The two sisters flew alongside each other, chatting away.
“That was certainly a pleasant visit!” Celestia remarked.
“Yes, King Cadenza knows how to welcome guests” Luna added distantly.
“Not that you saw any of that; you were off in that dusty tower again, along with Lord Sombra” Celestia teased.
“We discussed magical theory!” Luna replied defensively “And nothing we did was any worse a wrongdoing then thou hath herself transgressed!”
“What dost thou mean?” Celestia asked, also slipping back into the traditional tongue.
“We had seen with our own eyes how thine eyes linger on the King’s… Backside…”
“TIS A LIE! Such an offense would be unbecoming of a princess! King Cadenza rests happily married, with a daughter born of his loins!”
“Yes, but we suspect thy fascination with Luzra’s loins has little to do with Cadance…”
Celestia burned red with embarrassment, but she found she had no retort.
“Still,” Celestia managed to say a short while later “We would wish thee to be careful around Sombra. We do not trust him; he is a dark stallion, and we suspect he is a jealous one as well.”
“Tis quite the accusation, sister! Hast thou any proof to warrant such mistrust? We have visited with him many times before, and seen nothing to illustrate him as any kind of threat.”
“Perhaps, but he is always sequestered in that dark tower of his, alone and prying into the magicks whether they be light or dark…”
“Darkness is subjective, Celestia…” Luna’s tone had turned cold.
“There are some things which are not to be toyed with, little sister! Sombra pays no heed to the dangers he poses to those around him! He has a mind of metal!”
“Perhaps if some-!”
“ENOUGH!” Celestia interrupted, “I would speak no more of that stallion. Whether he be a lord or not, he is still unworthy of our trust.”
Luna burned inside. Her sister had decided for her that Sombra was untrustworthy, and would hear nothing Luna would say. Celestia used to do this often before their ascension, being the older sibling, but now the circumstances were different. A whole nation was balanced and dependent upon their unity, and her sister was acting as an all-knowing idol!
But Luna swallowed her ire. She would discuss it with her more back in Canterlot.
They spent the rest of the trip back in silence.
Long, uncomfortable silence.
***
A small group of Crystal Ponies had gathered around a table in one of the Crystal Palace’s many dining rooms. But there was neither food nor drinks on the table, and though the hour had grown late indeed, little more than a few candles illuminated the scene, casting the ponies into an eerie light. There was no chatter, the ponies waited quietly in their seats as one-by-one they all arrived. They were a small group, eight in total. There were ponies from all strata of life in the Empire: business ponies, royal advisors, scholars, and even a few Crystal Guards. But these ponies all had a common goal that brought them all together, despite their vastly different positions.
Treason.
Once everypony had been seated, there was a brief minute of stillness before the candles seemed to snuff themselves out, throwing the assembly into darkness. Just as the group started to whisper uncomfortably, the candles came back on, but with magical energy, bathing them all in green light. And in the light, a pair of ponies had appeared who were not there before.
One was a well built, serious pony with a short mane, light green sparkling coat, and clad in Crystal Guard armor sans helmet.
He was Commander Citrine.
The other one was Lord Sombra.
“Good evening, gentlecolts,” Sombra intoned softly “You’ll all be pleased to know the plan is proceeding exactly along my estimates. I don’t feel the need to remind you all of your parts in this, since you all know them. I’d instead like to take this time to remind you that not all of us are here at this table: there are others of us throughout the Empire. And that if anything were to compromise what we’ve worked for, the others will find the one who undermined us. And that pony will pay. Severely.”
The table was dead silent. If there were any questions in anypony’s mind of betrayal, they had certainly been expelled.
“Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to inform you all that this will be our last meeting. The plan is finalized. In exactly one week, everything in the Empire will change.”
“Change for the better!” Citrine interjected.
Sombra knew where this was going and he allowed his subordinate to continue. Citrine did like his speeches, despite being a pony of so few words.
“For too long we’ve cowered in the North!” Citrine went on “The ponies to the south could not handle these lands, and so they abandoned us to the cold! But the cold tempered us! Made us stronger! And it’s time we made those dogs to the south see our true power!”
Some of the ponies gave brief cheers of approval, but Sombra remained silent.
Citrine was not only useful, but easy to manipulate. He was driven by his national pride, his patriotism to his Empire which had remained stagnant for centuries. Ponies like him flocked to ponies like Sombra, always looking for a charismatic leader to kill and die for to show their commitment.
The others here were all different, of course. They all had their reasons for betraying their monarch: anger, pride, money, cowardice. But they were merely pieces in Sombra’s game; for his reason was something more.
More than fear.
Or greed.
Or patriotism.
Vanity.
Justice.
Love.
Revenge.
Right.
Wrong.
His reason was, in Sombra’s opinion, the only thing in the universe that truly mattered:
It was about power.