//------------------------------// // Nightfall // Story: A Family Matter. // by Thait //------------------------------// 'thoughts' {Mental Speak} 0000000000 In a dark statue filled room deep in Canterlot mountain a loud crack sounded. 0000000000 1030 years ago. Two shadows dashed through the underbrush streaking past trees and bushes, the lead pony had his head ducked down with his eyes squinted mostly shut to protect them from the lashing branches around him as he broke a path for the pony following him. Moments later they burst from the edge of the forest and out into the bright sunlight at the edge of a river. Said river cascaded down into a huge waterfall that plummeted so far below as to be impossible to see the bottom in the mists it created at its base. To any looking these were not normal unicorns, the curved horn and sharp fangs would have indicated to those who were looking that the two bore a much more impressive heritage than any average unicorn pony. The female bore a black star as her cutie mark and males flank was stamped with a golden shield. "And of course sompony put a giant waterfall right here." The male pony stamped a forehoof in anger which elicited laughter from the female. "Well they couldn't know we needed to escape through here, we can lodge a complaint with somepony later Sombra." She smiled as she looked up the river towards the mountains they had left a day ago. "lodging complaints requires work and you know how I feel about that." Sombra managed a weary smile before a great shadow swept over them gaining an angered glare towards it. "I'm starting to think that princess Luna doesn't like us Midnight." "Did you figure that out when she torched our home, and I use that term lightly considering it was a cave, or when she had her Cutter start blasting the mountain where we were?" Midnight frowned at the dragon wheeling about above them. "We need to move." "Leave it to me." Sombra's horn glowed a dark red and with a thundering crack the cliff underneath them began to tilt dangerously outward. "What are you doing!" Midnight's eyes widened as the ground underneath them stopped its forward tilt, and then dropped straight down. Her panicked scream was cut off as she was pancaked into the dirt as the ground glowed and its descent slowed to a crawl. Scrambling to her hooves she stalked over to her brother, who was getting a good laugh at her expense and smacked him in the head. Before he could react to her justified attack a giant dragon swept down from above to land on the edge of the now sheared off cliff. Giant claws slicing into stone with the same ease she could have swept a hoof through air while watching their descent with mild interest before tossing it's head back and letting out a loud roar that would obviously draw attention. "Coward, not even willing to try and engage us himself, to scared he might get hurt." Sombra looked down noting they had gone at least a third of the way down the falls. Looking back up he watched as a large airship swept down past the dragon and began to lower itself down the falls to catch up to them. The red and gold markings showed it to be a Nova Guard Cutter, which likely meant that the princess was no longer actively involved in the hunt for them. "We won't make it down in time." Midnight looked fearfully to the cutter as it continued to move downwards, in several more seconds it would be on them. "We'll make it." Sombra looked to the ship as it came level with them, noting the arcanist squads that were lined at the rail. "They're going to try and overwhelm us with sheer power this time." Midnight didn't need any explanation of what she was meant to do, she'd been doing it for years now anyway, and summoned a massive shield of crimson between their little chunk of ground and the Cutter. Moments later her shield was put to the test by fireballs, lightning bolts, acid attacks and even a few nullification beams that carved great rents into the crimson energy and forced her to work to repair them quickly. "If you are going to do something I suggest you do it soon." She looked to her brother noting his bowed head and soft mumbles. "What are you..." She barely restrained a curse as Sombra summoned a black aura around his horn and began to speak loud enough to be heard. "My years given freely, my blood given freely." Spinning shards of dark magic appeared on either side of the unicorn before slicing lightly into him drawing a small amount of blood. "To summon he who spoke the oath, who gave his life to aid our cause." Sombra lifted his head looking out at the Cutter with green glowing eyes. "Aid me now as you have before, this I ask." The last was spoken softly but it would carry impact to any pony who knew of the magic just used. "What are you thinking!" Midnight shot a glare at her brother, who now looked almost exhausted. "That spell takes time Sombra, years of your life you won't get back!" "Maybe, but it'll be worth it." He looked up at the sky above as the two dragons working scouting duty for the Cutter launched themselves from the cliff and began a slow circling descent. "Let them learn who the true master of the skies is." The words had barely left his mouth when a giant shadow swept over the area, followed by a roar so loud it made the other two dragons above begin to look about in a panic. {GET AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN!} The mental shout blasted through the minds of all in the small area, causing even Sombra and Midnight to flinch as well. Seconds later a thundering boom sounded through the skies as lightning flashed and a dragon bearing a charred stump where its head should have been plummeted past the descending Cutter. The second dragon tried to gain a greater chance of survival by banking away from the cliff which was probably the worst thing it could have done as a giant black dragon impacted it in the back and then curled claws around the base of the smaller dragons wings and pulled. The ponies on the Cutter were desperately trying to turn the Cutters main magical cannons towards the enemy above but it was a futile gesture, the ship was far too slow. The second dragon, now bearing only stumps where its wings should have been was slammed bodily into the Cutter, and that attack was followed by the giant black dragon above opening his mouth and releasing a lightning bolt that carved through every magical shield the Cutter had and blew the ship into shrapnel. This attack was swiftly followed up by a wave of fire that washed over the now falling wreckage and frying any who had survived. Massive wings shifted the air as the black dragon lowered itself to the level of the descending piece of earth. Taking the chunk of ground in giant claws the beast flew down to the ground below and set the two unicorns down. "Father!" Midnight rushed forward to rest herself against one of the creatures massive legs. She stepped back as light began to suffuse the scales of the dragon and it shrank down into the form of a pony, though bearing a curved horn and fangs, as well as a pair of dragon wings more than twice the size any pegasus would have. He stepped forward giving Midnight and affectionate nuzzle before turning to Sombra. "That was foolish." "I didn't have a choice." The unicorn sat down with a sigh as exhaustion tugged at his body, he looked up into the concerned eyes of his father. "An entire Cutter, we aren't like you father. We don't have your strength." "Strength alone gets one nowhere. It is useful until you run into an opponent who can use it against you." The dragon in pony form turned to look at the base of the waterfall. "Do not cast that spell again." "If we are attacked..." Sombra's words were cut off by the anger in his father's gaze as he spun around. "Do you know what that spell does to your body! You lose years of your life Sombra, you may be my son but you are not a dragon. I will not answer another summons from you." He turned to look at the waterfall again. "I will not contribute to my own child's death." He bowed his head "My time is over son, I fell. If I could I would take you both under my wings and protect you for the rest of your lives, I would seek the ancient truths and find a way to help you and your mother." He turned to look at the two of them sternly. "Listen to me well. A corruption burns in Celestia, I know not its purpose or where it began but I felt it in the end." "Are you trying to say her actions are not her own?" There was disbelief in Sombra's tone but all it elicited from the dragon was a frown. "Something...has happened. I was there to see the fall of Discord, and to see the fool sky kings fall. And a dozen other times she strode the battlefield beside us." Turning he looked at his children. "But when I saw her last." His eyes narrowed and his wings shifted uncomfortably. "Something is there, a light that burns deep within her. I know not whether it controls her or just influences her actions, before my fall there was talk among the Sky Guard that she had begun to neglect her sister." He glanced down at his hooves as they began to pale and fade away. "My time is up." He again sent a glare to Sombra "I do not want to be summoned by you again son, protect your sister and find some way to do what I could not. Find a way to fix this." It was some time before the two began to move once again, heading ever away from their old and now destroyed home. "Teach me." Midnight trotted forward to walk beside her brother. "Teach you what? You already know nearly all the spells I do." A look told him that wasn't what she wanted to learn. "He said he didn't want you calling him again, he said nothing about me." Midnights devious smile brought laughter from Sombra. "Very well, but this is a spell that you will use only at the most dire of times, father isn't going to allow us to summon him again after that." He looked at the dark forest around them and frowned while his mind focused on his father's words concerning Celestia. 'A light? She's the princess of the sun there is nothing that could ever control...unless...The harmony stone?' 0000000000 Stone clattered to the ground as a hoof stamped in anger, muscles bunched as a body strained to break free. 00000000 Ponyville Hospital, Moments before Trixie engages Nova Guard. "Ma'am we're supposed to wait for Strong Heart's squad." Stalker crouched near the corner of the hospital building, keeping an eye out for both possible enemies and their slow to arrive Arcanist squad. "I'm not wasting any more time waiting for Strong Heart to get his flank in gear and be here when he was supposed to. He was the wrong pick for this mission." Bulwark had just known that the irritating stallion would screw up his part of the plan, she had figured it out the instant that he had tried to talk to the targets. She should have been put in charge of this mission, not an idiot who wasted valuable time, and surprise, on trying to talk ponies into surrendering. It was bad enough that her squad didn't get to see much combat, but to send them on a simple retrieval mission was adding insult to injury. 'Maybe I should put in for a transfer, a trip out to the frontier would have some action.' "We're going in." She ignored her seconds complaint and slipped around the corner to dart to the front doors. Nudging them open she frowned as she found no ponies on duty in the reception area. Even a hospital in such a small town would have a twenty-four hour receptionist for cases that came in late at night. "I don't like this ma'am." Stalker moved slowly into the reception area and looked to the doors leading into the rest of the hospital. "My instincts are saying this is a trap." "You think?" Bulwark shook her head and looked to the doors. "Let's move. Our target is in the mental ward. Meadow, you and Storm guard the front of the hospital." She moved through the doors and headed deeper into the hospital. The lack of nurses and doctors was starting to get to her when she saw the door to the mental ward ahead. Slipping silently into the mental ward Bulwark frowned as she noted that many of the doors looked to have been opened and the rooms cleared out. 'Do they seriously think they can escape the Nova Guard? Or that they can take us by surprise? Hearing voices ahead of her she picked up speed to reach the corner of the hallway and peeked around. Two nurses and one doctor where helping a stallion she recognized from pictures as Pokey Pierce secure an unconscious mare across his back. By the looks of her the unconscious mare was their target. The hallway was cluttered by trays and other small carts that had been placed strategically to slow down any attack. Not that that would help any, the hallway ended in a solid wall and the only way out was back the direction she and her squad had come from. She stepped out into the hallway getting the attention of the unicorns. "You will stand down immediately and hand over the mare Screw Loose." She smiled coldly "Or you could resist, it doesn't really matter to me as the outcome will be the same either way." "I'm afraid that neither of those options will work for us Bulwark." Doctor Stable turned to the Nova Guard. "Scalpel? Well I suppose that explains what hole you found to hide in." Bulwark tensed as she looked at the doctor. "The royal guard always wondered where you ran off to." She gestured for several of her troops to begin moving in. "It's Stable now." Doctor Stable glanced at the soldiers moved slowly down the hallway, checking every place for possible danger. "And I truly doubt the Royal Guard cared that I left. The princess herself granted my leave, in fact I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. I owe her a great debt." He nodded as if coming to a decision. "But I owe nothing to the Nova Guard. Quite frankly you are a bunch of thugs that are desperately trying to fill the hooves of the Praetorian Guard. You have all their equipment and training but none of their honor." Stable looked to Pokey who nodded and stepped up beside him. "One last thing Bulwark...I never liked you." Power winked into existence on his horn and dull green glow shimmered into existence under multiple carts along the hallway. "Emerald mines! Get back!" Bulwark tried to turn but suddenly came face to face with the entire doorway next to her glowing green as well. 'Ponyfeathers. It was the last thing she got to think before her world dissolved into flame. 0000000 With a pained yelp Twilight impacted the hard floor of her bedroom as the library shuddered and shook from an unknown source. Scrambling to her hooves she rushed to the nearest window and stared out at the town noting ponies scrambling out into the streets as another ground shaking shockwave passed through. "What's goin on?" Spike stumbled from his bed and stared around. "I don't know Spike but I think there's fire." Levitating the small dragon onto her back she rushed outside and towards the town square. "The hospitals on fire!" Spike pointed to the burning building and Twilight was about to turn to head that way when the ground under her bucked and sent her tumbling. "Twilight!" Rarity rushed over even as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash arrived as well. "What the hay's going on?" Rainbow Dash zipped around the others before looking towards the hospital. "Rainbow Dash, get the weather patrol and scavenge up some clouds to put that fire out! Rarity, you and Pinkie Pie see if you can help with any injured." Before she could say more the ground bucked underneath them and a rain of green lightning bolts came down in a street some distance from her. "I'm going to find out what's going on over there." 00000000 The cart exploded as black lightning smashed through it gouging a trench into the hard packed earth below. It was quickly followed by jagged waves of black energy that tore the street to shreds in an attempt to hit the Nova Guard arcanists as they dodged and teleported out of the danger zone. Trixie was doing a fairly good job of tracking the frantically dodging ponies with her attacks while they were getting in a few good shots themselves. The street ahead of her was littered with the remains of black crystal shields that had been punched through by lightning, fire, nullification spells and many more. The sky darkened as thick clouds began to form before releasing a barrage of green lightning that struck shields hastily erected by several of the guards. Trixie created another shield and dashed for an alley to seek cover from the retaliatory kinetic pulses that tore her shield to pieces and nearly sent her flying along with debris from the street. Skidding into the alley Trixie couldn't help but send a silent thanks to Chief Thunderhooves and his herd for getting her back in shape before her trip into the mountains. Not to mention the elemental magic link she now had that was keeping her from collapsing where she stood in pain from the overamped magic she was currently wielding. She had learned a lot from many of the old journals of the family and how to wield dark magic was in more than one of them. 'Except nopony told me how much it would HURT!' It felt like liquid fire running through her veins and only the elemental magic she was constantly dragging into herself was keeping her upright. And that was a short boost itself since one could not use elemental magic on a whim, it was the reason the bison hadn't steamrolled Appleloosa when they had their short little disagreement. Using elemental magic was almost as much a last resort as dark magic was, but in this she believed she really didn't have much of a choice. The thoughts had just barely finished going through her head when the corner of the building she was hiding behind was blown apart by a kinetic burst that buried chunks of wood in the building across from her. "Trixie is starting to think they don't like her." She smirked as she began to focus on several more spells to use. Ever since the Alicorn Amulet fiasco she had found her head stuffed with spells that she had never known before, the problem was that many were beyond her power level, even her amped up power level wasn't good enough for a great many. Which she supposed actually proved a hypothesis the family had had for several decades, not that any of it would do anypony any good if she got caught. Galloping down the alleyway she found herself heading deeper into the town, more towards the towns school. In her mind this was a good thing as it was a place she didn't have to worry about anypony being nearby so nopony would get hurt. Skidding out into the open she concentrated on another spell and watched as the ground buckled upwards and black crystal claws tore through the earth to latch onto the ground and drag her creations free. The wolf like creatures bore a shimmering green sphere deep within them that was their power core and their eyes glowed the same green as Trixie's own. Leaving them to guard the outside of the building Trixie headed into the school. Strong heart slowed as they approached the end of the buildings and looked out into an open area where the town's school rested. His orders were to take Trixie alive and as undamaged as possible, it was an order that he was starting to question his ability to complete. He had personally tested Trixie's potential power pool when he had first met her and had noted in a report to Canterlot that he could tell that her pathways were likely equal to that of a low level arcanist. To a trained eye, and the right testing spell, her power ran through her like a small river of gleaming purple that snaked its way from one pathway node to the next. Or at least that was what it had been when he had last seen her years ago. What his spell had shown him now was a raging river that was overflowing its banks, bleeding out from straining pathways into the rest of her body and burning everything as it went. To fix this she was dragging in large amounts of ambient elemental magic to try and keep from burning herself out to the point where she would be lucky to be able to levitate a fork. Worse was the dark streaks of black that were beginning to pollute the beautiful river of Trixie's magic. Peeking out into the open area near the Ponyville school Strong Heart could see nearly a dozen dark crystal wolves that were pacing slowly through the schoolyard while always staying near the schools front doors, which had been blasted inwards and were now a gaping black opening leading into the school. He knew that in a normal combat situation the squad would attempt to disrupt the delicate balance of magics Trixie had built up in her body thereby creating a backblast through her pathways. Such an act would cripple the unicorn in both magic and body if not also in mind. Strong Heart had to admit that even if his orders had allowed for such action he doubted he could have brought himself to do so to a mare that was simply defending her family. "Sir, if we hit the summons with a nullification it should disperse them easily enough." Firelight had crept up next to her captain and was looking at their enemies. "Yes it would, it would also require us to be out in the open and put us in the way of whatever attack Trixie has thought up." Bright Eyes had always been good at pointing out the obvious. "We need to at least try something!" Firelight looked to Strong Heart. "Unless you're going to give us permission to start using Rune casting?" Silence filled the air for a moment as Strong Heart slowly went over every option they had before coming to a decision he knew was going to get him in trouble later. "Squad, under authorization of section 5 you are allowed the full use of Rune casting." Strong Heart looked sadly at the building he was sure Trixie was in. "We're moving fast so pay attention to every other ponies spells, the last thing we need is another screw-up like in Fillydelphia last year." He turned to the others. "Bright Eyes, you're on shield duty. Firelight, I want you to stick near me and keep an eye on the school for whatever she's going to throw at us. The rest of you are on trash detail, keep them off us." A second later the squad burst from cover, rushing towards the school with a glowing shell of green protecting them from any spell that could be tossed from the school itself. Nullification beams lashed out from the shield to strike the crystal wolves and where each beam struck a wolf released a howl as the bonds of magic that held it together failed and it faded away. Strong Heart and Firelight broke for the school and had nearly made it to the doors when power flared and waves of black energy surged out the doorway to slam into the green shield. "To much boss! I can't keep it solid when it's so stretched!" Bright Eyes was straining to keep his shield up and covering the entire squad even as they began to split apart and put additional strain on his casting. "Then pull it in!" Strong Heart nodded to Firelight who erected her own shield around them just in time to take the brunt of another black wave that slammed into it. "What the heck does she think she's doing?" Firelight watched almost casually as another black wave of power dissipated harmlessly on her shield. "Whatever that spell is it's not very powerful." "It doesn't have to be powerful, drop your shield for a second and it will be the last thing you ever do, at least without the help of the princesses to restore you." He watched as another wave of power washed outwards and grimaced. "I never expected her to go this far." They had nearly reached the entrance when a crystal wolf nearly twice the size of the ones outside the door launched itself from the darkness within the school and impacted the shield with enough force to shatter it. Strong Heart threw himself to the side to avoid the wolf even as Firelight flung it backwards with her magic. So surprised were they by the attack that Firelight didn't get her shield back up when the next wave of power rushed outwards, she managed to see it just before it impacted. "Firelight!" Strong Heart didn't hesitate an instant and simply obliterated the giant wolf with a lightning bolt that left it nothing more than smoking chunks of crystal. Rushing to his subordinate he stopped before her to stare, he had always been told of what would happen with that particular dark magic spell but had never truly seen it himself. Firelight was now nothing more than a black crystal statue, partially reared back in surprise and still bearing a look of fear on her face. Hearing a sound behind him he spun around to glare at the blue unicorn as she stepped from the darkness of the school. "Trixie! You..." "Don't tell Trixie that you are suddenly full of compassion for those frozen in their own bodies. If you were you wouldn't be doing what you are." Looking out into the schoolyard she watched as her summoned creations kept the other arcanists busy. "It is just you and Trixie now." "Is that what you want? Do you want to kill me?" Strong Heart knew that anything he said wasn't likely to persuade Trixie of anything. "It won't fix things." "No, but it would make Trixie feel better." The mare took a step forward and Strong Heart could see the minor unnatural twitches in her body. He knew that soon she would either have to let go of the conflicting magics she was using or cause damage to her body. "Listen to yourself, when did you take pleasure in killing? You're letting the dark magic control you." He knew he had only a few moments of opening left before Trixie might push herself to far and either cause damage to her body or damage to her mind. "Trixie..." And Trixie hesitated as her mind dredged up warnings from Chief Thunderhooves, warnings were he told her not to overuse either her elemental powers or the dark magics she had been training with around him. The old bison had known the dark power she had begun to tap and been rightfully afraid of it. "No...Trixie doesn't need to worry, she is strong enough." She looked up to see Strong Heart summoning a rune circle in front of him. "She is stronger than all of you!" "No Trixie, you're not." Strong Heart looked sadly at the mare. "I'm sorry about this" The circle shone with a bright glow before a golden beam punched outwards towards Trixie, who had erected three black crystal shields between herself and Strong Heart by that time. The beam sliced through all three as if they were made of nothing but air and slammed Trixie back into the school with a crash. As Trixie's steady supply of power failed to continue giving them life the last of the wolves crumbled apart into tiny shards. "Stay down Trixie, I don't want to have to hurt you." Trixie stared up at the ceiling of the school and began to, for the first time, contemplate fleeing the battle and just meeting up with her brother and their mother in the Everfree. Wincing in pain she struggled back to her hooves and tried to drag more dark magic forward only to get a few fitful black sparks from her horn and a bone deep weariness that nearly dropped her to the floor. The lines across her body were back to being black and no amount of trying changed that, in fact even trying made her nearly lose her lunch as she stumbled to the doorway to see Strong Heart standing near his trapped soldier. He had been joined by the rest of his squad and all were now facing her as she struggled to stay standing. "Tr-trixie will n-not give up." She managed to bring out a small dim purple glow around her horn but all it did was add to her weariness and she looked up to see Strong Heart charging another blast rune. Before she could even try anything another golden beam rushed towards her and she flinched back clenching her eyes shut against the incoming pain. A second later a dull boom sounded and in the absence of injury she cracked an eye open to find herself staring at a wall of purple that the golden beam raged against. Looking wearily to the right Trixie found a certain lavender unicorn trotting into the schoolyard with her horn glowing brightly. "Sparkle." "That is ENOUGH!" Twilight Sparkle sent a glare towards the Nova Guard. "What do you think you're doing?" She couldn't help but look worriedly to Trixie, who looked like she was barely able to stay on her hooves. "This is an issue that doesn't concern you miss Sparkle. Miss Lulamoon is wanted by the crown for actions against the Crystal Empire." Strong Heart kept a close eye on Trixie who wasn't exactly looking to well. Trixie would have to admit surprise at the tone Twilight was using in addressing the Nova Guard, she sounded almost disgusted with them. Not that that was interesting enough to keep her from spending most of her attention on trying to figure a way to escape. It was obvious that she had seriously underestimated the Nova Guard arcanists and that the only reason she was still standing was that they were obviously trying to capture her instead of simply defeat her, even low level arcanists were deadly when allowed to cut loose. Which meant she needed to find a way to get out of the area before the guards took her into custody. Twilight might delay them for a few moments but even if she had the desire to interfere, and Trixie doubted that would happen after she saw the damage Trixie had done, she wouldn't be able to stop them as the Nova Guard operated by royal decree. Deciding that the doorframe holding her up was probably not a good image for the Great and Powerful Trixie to put forward she tried to step forward only to have her forelegs buckle under her weight sending her collapsing to the wood flooring. "Oh my gosh, Trixie are you okay!" Twilight was about to take a step forward when a small gem bounced onto the ground between Trixie and everypony else. "Down!" Strong Heart was already turning away when a brilliant flash blinded those still looking. "I've got you." The voice spoke gently in Trixie's ear as legs closed around her barrel and lifted her from the ground taking her into the air. "Derpy?" Trixie winced as her body was jerked about as the pegasus flew higher and angled towards the Everfree. "Muffin said I should check on you." She gave a stern look to the blue unicorn. "You shouldn't have stayed behind, you need to think of your family." "Trixie was..." Growing silent for a moment Trixie contemplated the words and then let out a sigh as the cold wind blew her mane around "Trixie is sorry. You are right Derpy, Trixie just forgot it for a moment." "Don't worry, you're safe now." Derpy swept down through the air to stay just above the treetops of the Everfree. "No, Trixie doubts she's going to be safe for quite some time." But she could make sure her mother was. 000000000 Her mind rode the edge of fire and ice, clinging to the razor edge of sanity with every ounce of strength that she could muster, trying to ignore the sweet seductive call of the whispers in her own mind, the whispers that wanted her to rejoin them, to fall again. 'Can...not...fall...you promised, you swore, you would be here, you would save me...you...promised!' {BROTHER! SOMBRA!} 00000000 Canterlot Luna looked to the night sky smiling as she set to work making sure all was as it was meant to be. Even as she worked though she felt that something was wrong, something was off of where it was meant to be. Her eyes scanning the night she froze as the red star from the nights before shimmered into existence. At first she waited several minutes to see if the voice would return but as the time passed and nothing came of it she began to examine the star as best she could while being unable to influence it. It was nearly a full thirty minutes after it appeared when the voice spoke again. {We do not listen.} For some reason Luna thought the voice sounded strained. {We will not be used again.} "Who are you?" Luna frowned as she reached out with her power to try and find the source of this intrusion. {You know us.} "We do not." She froze as she felt a presence behind her. {You know our name.} Luna turned slowly and found herself nearly muzzle to muzzle with another alicorn. An alicorn with a coat of black and a mane of the night sky. An alicorn with teal catlike eyes and a set of fangs. {You know our name.} The black alicorn smirked at the panicked expression on Luna's face. "TIA!" The scream of panic was followed by the entire top of the Lunar tower vanishing in a massive explosion. Celestia jerked awake at her sisters scream and without hesitation teleported herself to her own balcony. From there she could see the remains of the Lunar Tower as a sphere of moonlight hovered over the crumbling mass below. Even as she watched beams from the sphere seemed to almost gently caress the stone below only for said stone to melt away into vapor as the power of the princess of the night lashed out at everything around her. Celestia wasted no time in leaping from her balcony and flying above the tower to get a better vantage point in spell casting. She summoned a shield and used it to surround the sphere below, wincing at the feel of power so opposite her own tearing at the shield and attempting to breach through the energy. Diving through the shield and into the light below Celestia felt the power her sister had placed within the destructive spell and could only marvel at her desire to use such might within the palace itself. "TIA!" The scream was closer now and Celestia pushed past moonlight that scorched her fur and dove into the heart of the light to find her sister lying upon a slab of rock and trying to bury her head under her forehooves. "I'm here Lulu." Gathering her sister into a hug Celestia held her until the light began to fade and the rubble began to settle into the bottom of the shield sphere. "Lulu what is wrong?" "She's here! I saw her!" The darker alicorn pushed tighter into Celestia's embrace. "Saw who?" Celestia asked the question but feared she knew the answer already. "Nightmare." The words were spoken with fear and Luna buried her head under one of Celestia's wings mumbling to herself so low that Celestia could barely hear her sister speaking of not being a 'bad pony' and wanting the darkness to go. For a second Celestia felt something twitch in her, an old feeling, a feeling of something being wrong. The feeling left as quickly as it arrived and she brushed the memory aside to focus on helping Luna. 00000000 She was an island in her own mind. A ship on a sea of madness. The power reached upwards trying to claw her back down but she bore the blood of dragons in her veins and would not give in, not yet anyway, not when she had something yet to do. As the last of the stone shattered free she took a struggling step forward, then another, and another. Even as she moved she could feel the power of the spells struggling to stop her, each step was accompanied by flakes of stone falling free as the spell attempted to restore itself. If she stopped for even a moment stone would began forming on her legs again. Had she the strength she would have summoned father and let his vengeance fall upon those who imprisoned her. 'But is it the right enemy? Was father right? Is Celestia just another pawn in this game? And if she is, is victory even possible against one who can control an alicorn?' The thoughts flickered through her mind and she realized she had stopped moving, her legs were already once again encased in stone and it was clawing its way upwards. She knew she couldn't escape, that it was a failed effort to even try. But there was one thing she could try to do. And so she gathered her power, all of the might she could wield in one giant conflagration of might. Her horn shone with crimson and black energy in a corona of power that would have been painful to even look at. {SOMBRA! I NEED YOU!} She released all of her power to back up that mental shout, throwing out everything she could in one last ditch attempt to reach a brother she couldn't even feel anymore. Stone closed around her chest and began to claw its way up her neck and no answer had come. She could feel tears beginning to flow as she realized she was alone, a feeling she hadn't felt in her entire life. Her father and mother had been there for both her and Sombra when they had been little, and when their father had died and their mother was taken she had always had Sombra to rely on. And now she was alone. As the stone reached her head her eyes widened as a soft whisper touched her mind. {Sister?} The whisper grew in strength as if the mind speaking was waking from a deep sleep. {Midnight! I'm coming! I will find you!} When seen again the statue of Midnight Lulamoon now bore a smile of hope upon its face. 00000000 Tartarus Pain...It was what he remembered first. A blazing white light that had cut to his very soul, a light that had tore through every dark thought and feeling that had filled him and then burned them out. That light had tore through him with a power he had never felt before, greater than the combined might of the celestial princesses...it had felt both destructive and protective at the same time, a cleansing light that burned the darkness from his soul. Crimson eyes opened slowly to stare dully at the rock walls around him. 'A prison?' He wouldn't have been surprised considering the number of small time dungeons he and Midnight had ended up being tossed into. The one after the tavern brawl where Midnight had beat up an entire table of Diamond Dog miners had been quite hilarious. With a pained groan the stallion slowly began to stand as chains rattled and jangled. It wasn't until he was fully upright that he could feel the weight of the collar around his neck. Rolling his eyes first one way and then another he was able to get a good look at what was being used to hold him. He had to admit that he was impressed by the sheer size of the chains that came from the walls to attach to the collar he was wearing. "I don't know where I am but do they think this can hold me?" He reached for his magic and suddenly found himself back on the floor with his head feeling like a Diamond Dog had just hit it with a war hammer. A shaking hoof slowly rose to prod at his horn and found only the shattered stump of it remaining. It was a unicorns worst nightmare, the breaking of their horn. He knew that Equestria reserved such punishment only for the worst offenders, the kind of unicorns that used their power to rape or kill. It was harder for other nations, the crystal empire ponies didn't have unicorns but still had those able to use magic, as did the Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs, and Griffons. Only among the ponies was it so easy to cripple ones magic, at least for normal unicorns. 'But I am no normal unicorn. His father was a dragon, and as such he had a deeper connection and power pool than most unicorns did. Forcing himself to his hooves he again reached for his magic, though this time he was braced for the head splitting pain that spiked through his brain. Crimson energy crackled fitfully around the shattered stump of Sombra's horn as he struggled to focus his magic through the heavily damaged part of his body. In the end crimson energy lashed out and tore the collar apart sending chunks of it to the floor as the chains crashed down. Letting out a shuddering sigh he released his magic and the agonizing pain in his skull began to fade. A quick look around the room showed it to be nothing but a rock cave with the chains in it and a single doorway that bore a dim shimmering within it, like a heat wave in middle of summer. Striding to the doorway and its shimmer he slowly lifted a forehoof and touched it, only to have his hoof pass right through with no resistance. Stepping outwards Sombra found himself on a ice covered rocky shelf overlooking a vast plain of ice and snow that stretched as far as he could see, though far in the distance he could make out what looked to be a dead forest of some kind. "I wouldn't try it pony." The voice rasped from behind him and Sombra spun about reaching reflexively for his magic which caused a pained wince. He found himself facing a gaping hole in the rock that was an opening into another room, this one bore a creature unlike any he had ever seen before but he could practically feel the demonic energy rippling from it. "Do not be afraid, we're all prisoners here." The creature chuckled darkly as it lounged back on the rock behind it. "I am prisoner to nopony." Sombra drew himself up trying to ignore the biting cold that blew across the rocky shelf. Looking upwards he found himself staring at a cliff that extended up into the clouds, dotted with holes all over. "The prison cells...for this level anyway." The creature yawned. "I'd suggest you stay put, heading out into there is a waste of your energy." "Where am I?" He had a inkling but he wanted to know for sure, he recieved laughter in response. "Tartarus of course." The creature managed to answer after its mirth had died down. "Where else did you think you were little pony." Sombra let the 'little pony' statement pass and looked out again at the snowy expanse below. "How does one escape Tartarus." This brought even louder laughter from the creature and this time it was joined by beings from many of the nearby cells. "One doesn't escape Tartarus, you are here to stay pony." The creature showed sharp teeth in a smirk. "Unless you think you can cross the plains, of course you'd have to travel the other levels above to escape. And once you reached the top you would have to pass Cerberus and the pony guards who are also there." The creatures mirth vanished as Sombra turned to the plains and began to concentrate again, lighting a fitful glow around his horn once more. The grey stallion felt the thick clothing appear around him as the hood of the cloak settled over his broken horn, he pulled up the scarf that was part of the outfit and tucked it around to cover most of his face leaving only his eyes visible. "Don't be a fool pony, there are guards out there. And I'm not talking about mortals." The creature leaned forward. "No one has ever escaped Tartarus...ever." He watched the as the pony stamped newly armored hooves. "Maybe not, but I do not do this for me. I have somepony to save." Sombra turned and leapt down to the next shelf below and from there began to work his way down from one shelf to the next on his way towards the plains below. 000000000 Pokey's Classified Info. Rainbow Dash: Element of Loyalty Birthplace: Cloudsdale Education: Cloudsdale Flight School. Cloudsdale public school. Typhoon Combat Academy. Power Level: High. While many pegasi are capable of passing the sound barrier only Rainbow Dash is known for the ability to exceed it at such speeds that a sonic rainboom is created. While she has never used this move in combat she is perfectly capable of doing so. Ranked in top ten in close combat techniques. Parents: Spectrum and Dark Skies. Currently working as Weather Operations Lead in cloud city of Stratus. Stratus is currently in position near the fortress city of Iron Horn and working weather control duty for the Minotaur city-states. Addendum to parents: Look it's my favorite title again, 'weather operations leads'. Just like the last two these ponies have Nova Guard written all over them. These two are top notch Pokey, I'm talking cream of the crop '75 ways to kill you with the feathers on my wing' type ponies. I'm sure you remember that little coup attempt in Bull Rush? Well let's just say that the leaders of that coup got on the bad side of these two, said leaders were found so badly beaten they had trouble identifying them. Siblings: None. Though it appears she is mentoring a young filly named Scootaloo. Report on interference: They found Breaker this morning, or what was left of him anyway. I don't know who the heck you've pissed off Pokey but these aren't some soldiers or even elites. I'm getting wing deep in trouble out here doing your dirty work for you. So I've decided to do a little preemptive defense work as well, I've called in the twins. If Lock and Key can't keep me from getting offed by whoever is doing this nopony can. Already told them you'd cover their expenses.