//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: A (Not-So) Somber Encounter // Story: Past, Present, and Future // by Bpkyle777 //------------------------------// Tia just stared at me in shock. The cabin remained silent for a few moments before Trixie asked a very important question. “Who?” “The Prince?” Smith asked, confused. “Didn’t he disappear a couple weeks before we went to the Everfree Jungle? And besides, he’s a unicorn. He couldn’t have lived this long… unless he came through with us,” he speculated. I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Did you know he became a king?” Smith looked almost as shocked as Tia. “WHAT?!” he yelled. “How did that creepy jerk end up a king?” “Wait, wait, wait!” Trixie butted in. “Trixi-, I’m lost. I’ve not once heard of anypony, king, prince, or otherwise, named Sombra.” I looked at her. “And there is a good reason for that. You know of Celestia, the princess of the sun,” I motioned the Tia, who was no longer staring at me and appeared to be deep in thought. “And her metaphorical opposite, Luna, the princess of the moon, right?” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Of course! Trixie is no moron.” I glared at her for a moment before she realized her mistake. “Oh, I-I’m sorry.” “And then there is the princess of love as well.” I continued. She nodded. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” “Right. And what’s the opposite of love?” I asked. Trixie put a hoof to her chin in thought. “…hate?” “Yes,” I nodded. “Sombra is-, well was, the prince of hate.” “Good enough reason to be kept out of the history books, I assume?” Smith guessed. I nodded again. “Especially in a world where Love and Friendship are their own powerful types of magic.” “Hold on. ‘Friendship’ isn’t one of the types of magic,” Trixie said. Oops! Tia came out of her wonderings to stare at me in shock again. I slipped up! It’s not a thing yet. Shouldn’t have spoiled it! Uh, what to do, what to do… “O-oh! Right. Silly me,” I laughed nervously. “My mistake. You are sharp, Miss Lulamoon.” She blushed a little. “But my point still stands about the power of love, though.” Trixie looked like she was about to question me some more when I cut her off. “Anyways, as for what happened to Sombra 3000 years ago, I’m not sure. But about 1000 years ago, he-, well I’ll let Tia explain what happened.” We all looked at her. “Hmm? Oh, the Crystal Empire.” She looked a little reluctant to talk about it. “Not many ponies know of the Crystal Empire. Even my knowledge of it is fairly limited, but it contains a powerful magic. Strong enough to spread to the far corners of Equestria if left unchecked.” Tia took a deep breath before continuing. “A little over a thousand years ago, Sombra reappeared, his heart consumed by pure darkness, and he managed to take over the Crystal Empire, pronouncing himself King and enslaving its denizens.” Trixie gasped. Smith remained mostly unfazed, however. Probably because he’s more accustomed that sort of thing than Trixie. “The darkness within him infected the Empire’s magic,” Tia continued, “causing its evil to start spreading to the rest of Equestria. My sister and I sensed the danger in time and together, with the power of the Elements of Harmony, we overthrew him, turning him to shadow and banishing him to the Frozen North, where we thought he would remain forever.” Tia frowned and looked down. “However, recent events have seemed to prove otherwise.” I wrapped a foreleg around Tia to comfort her. Trixie was absorbing everything. “Hph,” Smith crossed his forelegs. “I knew that guy was no good.” I rolled my eyes. “You just didn’t like him because he had a thing for Luna.” “He was hitting on her even after Luna and I were publicly dating!” I snorted and returned to trying to make Tia feel better. “It’s not your fault, you know. No prison lasts forever. Hay, even the gates of Tartarus wear after a while.” Tia shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just… if he’s responsible, not only for the storm, but for sending both you and Smith ahead in time, then his magic must be much more powerful than my sister or I realized.” I rubbed the back of my head and looked away sheepishly. “Well…” Tia turned and raised a brow at me. “Zack? Is there something you’re not telling us?” I bit my lip and looked around to see everypony looking at me. “Yeah, what makes you so sure that this is him anyways?” Smith asked. I looked away nervously. “U-uh, well, you see… “I really hope this works,” I said to myself as my horn charged cyan. I weaved the spell as I read it from my notes in front of me. Last attempt left me blind for hours! I hope my new calculations and this fallback thread works. After finishing the spell’s assembly, I closed my eyes and pushed it forward to cast it. Then suddenly… Nothing… My horn stopped glowing and I slowly looked around. “Well that was a bus-” I was interrupted by a bright flash of light and some kind of boom, and then everything went silent. Did… did it work? After a few moments, my eyes readjusted and I saw smoke swirling everywhere. Guess not… Wait, smoke?! I quickly opened a nearby window to help clear the air so I could inspect the damages I had caused this time. Once the smoke thinned out I looked around to survey the mess. Books were scattered everywhere in my study. There were piles just lying around on the floor and all over my desk. So, no damage then? Everything seems the same. I laughed to myself and started clearing the area around my personal notebook on the desk when I smelled something. “What smells burnt?” I looked around for a moment before scratching my head with a hoof. I instantly felt pain in my hoof and yanked it away. When I looked up I noticed the tip of my hair on fire. Oh, that must be it. … Hold on… I suddenly let out the least manly scream imaginable and ran around my study to find something to put it out. I grabbed the cushion I had been sitting on and rapidly hit my head with it. Once I was sure the fire was out, I looked in the mirror I had set up on the wall nearby. My mane was frazzled, and was probably burnt, but you couldn’t tell since it was naturally black. I had what appeared to be soot all over my face and upper torso. “I think I should go get cleaned up.” I turned to leave my study when I slipped on something and hit my head on the bookshelf nearby. -------------------- “Alright, take three.” I double checked my calculations in my notebook as I straightened the icepack on my head. “Everything seems to be in order.” I took a deep breath. “Let’s try this again.” I sat the icepack down next to me and weaved the spell together. After I ensured I had it right, I released it, and all my senses suddenly left me. Everything became dark. I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my hooves or smell the breeze from my still open window. For a few moments I felt like I couldn’t breath, but my mind told me that I was, in fact, still breathing just fine. After the initial panic subsided, I looked around me. Well, ‘me’ was a relative term at this point, as I had noticed that I could no longer see myself when I looked down. All I could see was a face full of cyan and black. I willed myself forward and the color vanished, leaving a black void and a few random specks in the distance. I turned around and saw a cyan pony shape standing exactly where I just was, head down like he was asleep on his hooves. Sweet, it worked! I can explore the magical spectrum! I attempted to circle myself, but navigation as a free-floating consciousness was surprisingly difficult. Once I got ‘flying’ down pat, I looked around and saw various other lights glowing. Some were moving around, others were static. Those would probably be the guards. After some searching, I saw a large group of colors gathered in a rectangle in the distance. I willed myself towards it and soon noticed two very vibrant lights at the back, one a bright gold in color and the other a midnight blue. Those must be Tia and Luna. I guess they’re at a meeting. Turning, I saw various pony shapes, most of them Unicorns, and about half of those Unicorns had some sort of beam connecting their horns to auras around the objects they were holding in front of them. Interesting. So there is a direct link between a unicorn and what they cast magic on. I wonder… I looked at Luna to see her sip from a small cup shaped aura and I smirked. I summoned my magic to me, noticing a cyan beam connecting my body to where my consciousness was currently floating. I lashed out at the small line between the cup and Luna and it immediately severed. The cup shape vanished, but I could tell by Luna’s and the nearby ponies’ reactions that the cup must have fallen and spilled everywhere. Haha! That was for the kumquat prank! The unicorn closest to Luna backed away quickly and looked like she was yelling before storming out of the room. “So that was your doing?” Tia asked me. “You know Luna blamed herself for making Ms. Cutter quit the council.” “Oh! So that’s why I never saw Ms. Cutter again,” I said. “I thought nopony in the council liked her anyways?” “Well, that’s not completely true,” Smith interjected. “Remember Mr. Reel?” “Oh, right.” “What does any of this have to do with Sombra?” Trixie asked. “Hold on, I’m getting to that.” After everypony settled down and I managed to stop my ghostly laughter, I noticed something out of the corner of my vision. I turned to see a very faint red leave the room. Curious, I followed. As I approached it, I noticed it was actually a very dark red aura in the shape of a unicorn. Who do I know has dark red magic? I continued to follow him (I could tell it was a stallion from his shape) until I noticed his aura darken considerably, making him next to invisible in the black abyss I was floating in. If I hadn’t already known he was there, I would’ve easily missed him. How did he change colors anyways? Eventually he ended up not far from my room, which was strange since I lived at the very end of the corridor at the edge of the castle. The only reason somepony would be this close is if they wanted to… talk to… I mentally gasped and rushed ahead of him back to my body. I was still standing there, slumped over. Uh, how do I…? I turned and searched for him, but couldn’t find him anymore. Oh… Did he leave? I settled down again before I spotted something out of the corner of my vision again. Focusing, I saw the dark shape raise a hoof to knock on my bedroom door. Oh horsefeathers! I looked back at myself, trying to remember the reversal spell. I had it written in my notebook in front of my body, but it was invisible since it didn’t contain any magic. I had no idea where it was sitting. I looked back to see the stallion entering my room and approaching my study’s door. HOW THE HAY DID HE GET IN HERE?! Bedroom doors are supposed to be magically locked! The same couldn’t be said about the study’s door, as he just lit up the door handle to open it up. Out of panic, I lit up my magic and severed his hold on the door. He cocked his head in confusion before trying again and I cut him off again. He stepped back a moment before lifting his hoof to the door handle and twisted it. Shoot! I can’t stop him! My notebook is out in the open still! I focused again on trying to remember the spell as he opened the door. Crap, crap, crap! He froze at the sight of my body. After a moment, he approached it from behind and tapped it, sending it sideways to the floor. Ow. Gonna feel that in the morning. His attention turned toward where my notebook was left sitting and he lifted it. Think, think. I mentally kicked myself for poor planning. The stallion flipped through multiple pages before stopping and ripping out a couple of pages. That jerk! That’s my personal property! I should really come up with some way of preventing anypony from reading it… Wait! I realized he was holding it in a dark red aura, so I could see exactly where it was at the moment. I summoned my magic and grabbed the area around his aura, canceling his out, but not before he managed to grab a few more pages. He immediately backed up in panic and looked down to see my body’s horn glowing. I slammed the book shut as hard as possible, causing him to make a run for it. I let out a mental sigh of relief and turned my focus back on the book. Using my magic to scan its pages, I managed to find the reversal spell and casted it. My senses slowly returned to me and I regretted it immediately. I had a big headache from the fall that that stallion caused. “The Stallion!” I shot up and ran out the study, my book held tight against my side. I ran out the bedroom door to barely catch a glimpse of a dark grey Unicorn with a black mane and tail turn the corner at the end of the long hallway. “Shoot.” I stopped and looked through my notebook to see what was missing. “Uh, oh…” “HE TOOK WHAT!?” Everypony in the cabin yelled at the same time. I cowered back a little. “I said I’m sorry! I wasn’t prepared for that!” Tia put a hoof to the bridge of her muzzle and rubbed it. “You let Sombra get away with all your notes on pony transformation! Why didn’t you tell anypony?” “Because I had no proof!” I countered. “In case you didn’t notice, there were a lot of grey and black stallions in Canterlot Castle. And by the time I even remotely got something to pin him with a few weeks later, you and Luna became Princesses and the council, along with their close relatives, Sombra included, became part of the royal family! How was I supposed to accuse a prince?” Tia backed down, but Trixie spoke up. “If that was the case, how’d you know it was Sombra?” “One, I studied his magic and noticed it was a dark red, like the thief’s. It also got darker the angrier he grew about something,” I explained. “And two, he had been hounding me for weeks to reveal my research on the subject, but had stopped after the incident.” I suddenly remembered something and started rubbing my temples, mumbling something. “What was that?” Smith asked. I growled a little. “I may have heard from Starswirl that Sombra had also been trying to get his notes on time travel,” I muttered “Oh, well, is there anything else important you wish to share with the class?” Smith asked sarcastically. “Yes actually!” I said. “This also explains why I can still cast spells.” Everypony looked at each other in confusion before looking back at me. “What do you mean?” Tia asked. “My research on transformations was incomplete. I couldn’t figure out how to change somepony’s magic to reflect their form.” “But why would he try anyways?” Smith asked. “I don’t know!” I shot my hooves in the air. “He’s evil! What goes through his head is a mystery to anypony but him.” Tia put a hoof to her chin. “Well, you were becoming a very powerful mage. He might have seen you as a threat.” “But then what about me?” Smith asked. “Where do I fit into all this?” I thought a moment. “If I had to guess, I’d say you were an accident.” Smith suddenly got angry for some reason. “Hey! You take that back! I’ll have you know my parents planned me!” What? “What? No! Not what I meant,” I corrected him. “I mean, after we were attacked by Timberwolves, you tackled me and there was a flash of magic that wasn’t mine. My guess is that Sombra ended up teleporting the both of us by mistake.” “Teleport us?” Smith was confused. “He didn’t just send us to the future right then?” “No, I don’t believe so. What exactly happened is still fuzzy, but I do remember some dark figure standing over me after the flash of light.” I rolled my eyes. “Chances are, he told me his entire plan right then, but I can’t remember it now.” “Why would he tell you his whole plan before sending you away?” Trixie asked. I chuckled. “It’s a classic supervillain cliché. Discord did it. Nightmare Moon did it. Hay, even Chrysalis did it after she was found out!” “Don’t forget about back in the day!” Smith spoke up. “There was Discord then, Chief Biggs, that unicorn that tried to become a seapony. I think the only one that didn’t do that was the Invisible Bandit, but he really seemed like the strong, silent type.” Smith shrugged and Trixie let out a silent ‘Oh’. “More than likely,” I continued, “if we ever come face to face with him, he’ll do it again.” -------------------- Most of the rest of the train ride was spent in silence. When we finally arrived at the Canterlot Train Station, we found two identical Pegasi in guard armor waiting on us. They both saluted us. “At ease, gentlecolts,” Tia said. “Thank you, your highness.” The one on the left said, relaxing a bit. The one on the right was still standing at attention, however. “Princess Luna sent us to retrieve you but when we heard news of you returning by train instead, we opted to wait here for you and your companions.” He looked at me, then at Trixie. I could see a blush form on his cheeks and he turned to face Tia again, clearing his throat. “Thank you,” Tia nodded to them both. “What of the intruder I heard about?” “He was successfully detained by the Captain an hour ago, and taken to Princess Luna,” the right one said. “That was when she sent us to get you.” “Well, let us away then. I’m sure Luna would love to see us as soon as possible.” She smirked and glanced back to Smith. The guards also looked over at him and their eyes bulged. “It’s him! Get him!” “Wha-” was all Smith had time to say before the two guards practically dog-piled him. They lifted him up, a rope around his wings and legs. Wow, they could give AJ a run for her bits. Where’d they get the rope anyways? “What is the meaning of this?!” Tia asked. “This is the intruder,” the second guard explained. “He must have somehow escaped Princess Luna.” “He is not the intruder!” Tia almost yelled. She realized how ‘un-princesslike’ she was acting and calmed down a little. “He is Silver Smith, a friend of mine, and he has been with me for the last day and a half.” The two guards looked at each other in confusion before looking up at Smith, who was glaring at them. They quickly put him down and untied him. “We’re so sorry, sir. You just looked exactly like him. You wouldn’t happen to have a twin would you?” The first guard asked. “Not that I’m aware,” Smith hissed. The guards backed up a few steps. Trixie snickered and the first guard turned red again. I chuckled at him and looked around at all the ponies that were glancing in our direction, most of them at Tia. “Now,” Tia spoke up again, “are you two going to lead us to the castle?” The two bowed their heads, ashamed. “Yes, your majesty,” the firs- no, seco- wait… Shoot, I forgot which was which… Oh yeah! Duh! The others started to walk off. Tia turned to see me standing in the same spot, my entire body aglow. “Are you coming, Za- Blast?” “Yeah,” I nodded. “I’m just casting my usual passive spells. I totally forgot to yesterday.” After a few more seconds, I stopped glowing and looked at the guards again. They both looked confused and amazed at what I just did. Alright, time to test. I focused on one of the two guards to see his coat slowly fade from white to a pale green. I looked at the other for a moment before he turned a dark blue. “Alright, I’m good,” I said to Tia. She smiled at me and we started walking again, although the guards took a few moments to start back up. About 10 minutes into town, Trixie and Smith started to talk about something in the back. Tia and I were right behind the two guards, both of whom appeared their actual colors to me. I decided to strike up a conversation with the guards. “So, what are your names?” I asked. They didn’t respond and glanced at Tia. She giggled. “You two may speak. You are at ease, remember?” They looked at each other before the pale green one spoke up. “My name’s Harold Green.” “Green?” I thought about it. “Your family wouldn’t happen to have a long history with the royal guard, would it?” He looked surprised. “Yeah, all the way back to the founding of Equestria. How’d you know?” “I met a Green in the guard ages ago.” I looked at the blue one. “And your name?” He rolled his eyes and looked away from me. “Forest.” I chuckled. “Forest and Green, working together!” I ran in front of them and started walking backwards. “Although it seems a little weird for a blue Pegasus to be named ‘Forest’.” He looked at me, eyes wide, but before he could say anything, I continued. “My name’s Blast Shield, a close friend of the Princesses, and expert spellcaster.” They looked confused for a moment. “Don’t let my appearance fool you,” I told them, and lit my hoof to levitate a nearby flyer off the ground. “I know a few tricks.” Green was impressed and smiled, but Forest rolled his eyes again and looked straight ahead. “In fact,” I dropped the flyer in a nearby trash can and pointed at Trixie past Tia in the back, “that pretty mare right there is my apprentice.” Green turned to see Trixie still talking with Smith. I turned and stepped next to Green, elbowing him. “She’s single, by the way.” He suddenly blushed and turned back facing forward. I laughed and stepped back next to Tia. The walk to the castle remained uneventful. Smith told Trixie about his time in the guard, more specifically an exaggerated version of our encounter with Chief Biggs, making him sound more heroic than he actually was. I caught Green glancing back at Trixie a couple times. Tia and I tried to keep some space between us, following Rarity’s advice. Forest remained a sourpuss. We entered the castle and headed towards the throne room, where Luna was said to be waiting for us. After a lot of corridors, and Smith being tackled two more times, we made it to our destination. I turned to our two escorts. “Thank you, Green,” I nodded at the pale guard, “Forest,” I nodded to him as well. They appeared surprised I could still decipher between the two. “This is as far as we need you. I guess I’ll see you two later,” I smiled. They looked at Tia, who nodded as well, and they left to go do… Pegasus… guard… stuff. Tia was about to open the throne room doors when I stopped her. “What’s the problem?” she asked me. I turned to Smith. “Come on, dude. She hasn’t seen you in years! We have to do this right!” Smith grinned. “You’re right! How should we do it?” Tia groaned and facehoofed. “I’m not sure… How about we-” I was cut off by Tia slamming the doors open. “We’re here, sister!” She smirked back at me and Smith. I’ll get you for that. We stepped into the large room, where we saw Luna sitting at the throne with somepony right next to her. That must be the intruder. “Oh, Sister! We are glad thou hast finally returned!” “Guess who I found bumbling around in the forest, Lulu.” I said as we got closer. “Silver… Smith?” I looked at the short grey Pegasus sitting next to Luna, who looked remarkably like Smith. Wow. Those guards weren’t kidding. “We know,” Luna said happily. “We were just… discussing…” she trailed off as she saw Smith walking up behind me. “What’s going on?” She looked back and forth between the two grey Pegasi in confusion. A closer look revealed that the pony next to Luna didn’t just look like Smith… It was Smith…