//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20: The Fall of Harmony 
// Story: Before the Dawn 
// by SilverMuse 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 20: The Fall of Harmony 

“The Empire has been too quiet. Surely Mother would have sent word by now,” Agate Shield said, not for the first time that week. The Prince sat at the dining table, partaking in a spring-like meal filled with a fresh salad, sparkling drink, and a strawberry dessert.
Luna yawned and took a bite of her meal. Celestia had asked her to frequent the dinner table to help her entertain the Prince, Princess, and their new son, Safyre. Luna glanced at the foal as he rested beside his mother, chewing on one of his hooves. She smiled to herself and reached out to pull his hoof away. “That’s not to eat…or gum,” she said with a chuckle. It was so nice to have some young life around the castle. 
Nebula grinned and scooped her son into her warm embrace. The colt flailed and fussed a bit until he realized he was against his mother. With a squeaky yawn, he settled and closed his eyes. “You need to stop your worrying,” Nebula told her husband. “The Princesses have been here for weeks; silence must be a good thing because it means there has been no more danger. Your mother will send news when it is necessary, and hopefully it will be true news rather than the falsified letter we received before.”
“I just do not like the idea of this Sombra roaming free in the woods,” Agate Shield argued before he picked up a goblet. “What if he should return?”
Celestia shook her head. “He was banished, and the shield will recognize his dark magic should he try to return. He will not be a threat so long as your mother’s subjects remain loyal and the heart burns with life.”
Luna tried not to feel offended. She knew they were concerned about Sombra’s transformation. In fact, she was as well, but she honestly still believed he wasn’t evil. Sombra was in there somewhere, she just had to find a way to free him from the Nightmist. It would have been so much easier had she been allowed to talk to Sombra in his dreams. He’d shut her out for nearly three weeks now, and it made her worry. What was he doing? Was he plotting or just trying to survive on his own? Did any of the old Sombra still remain? 
Luna sighed and took a tiny sip of the berry cordial. “You should not fear him so,” Luna replied, feeling she must at least say some kind words in favor of Sombra. “He…he may not be in his right mind at the moment, but he has a good heart. He wouldn’t do anything to endanger the Empire.” 
She was certain of that.
Celestia sighed. “As Nebula said, all we can do is wait and—oh!” Celestia suddenly grabbed her head and staggered away from the table. Her goblet toppled to the floor and splattered red liquid around her hooves. 
“Tia!” Luna cried and was at her side in an instant. Luna touched her side, trying to steady her. “Tia, what is it? Why—ah!” Luna cried out next as splitting pain tore through her horn and her head. She sat down quickly and held her face, willing the agony to go away.
It was Nebula’s scream of horror that gave her the strength to open her eyes to see what the commotion was about. Her vision was blurred at first, but she quickly found Agate Shield and Nebula standing at the window with the squalling Safyre in her arms. “Look at the sky!” she screeched. 
Luna shook the pain away as best she could and hobbled to Nebula’s side, Celestia just on her tail. Luna frowned, not quite understanding what was wrong until she noticed a tremendous black cloud—if that was what she could call it—form in the distance where the Crystal Empire stood. It churned in the sky and started to stretch out ebony tendrils towards Canterlot.
Luna’s stomach and heart dropped.
“Gemfyre?” she whispered to Celestia.
Celestia nodded gravely and stepped away. “Something has happened.”
“What?” Agate Shield asked anxiously and looked back at the Princesses. “What is it? What did you feel?”
Celestia raised a hoof and took a deep breath. “Something has happened in the Empire. We should…” She hesitated. “We will have to wait until we receive word. I do not want any of us walking into a trap.”
Agate Shield looked appalled. “If my mother is in danger, you can’t just leave her like that!” 
But Luna knew in her heart that the danger had passed for Gemfyre. As an alicorn, she could sense Celestia’s presence, as well as Gemfyre’s, but now…there was emptiness where Gemfyre used to glow warmly in the back of her mind. She had never really noticed just how prominent Gemfyre’s essence had been until now. The hole that remained made her heart ache for the fallen alicorn. 
“You feel it?” she asked Celestia, who nodded without asking what she meant. 
“Feel what?” Agate Shield demanded. “What is happening?!” 
Luna did not have the heart to tell him, so it was Celestia who turned and reached out with a wing and settled it upon his shoulder. “Whatever has happened, we are too late to help your mother. The essence that we felt from her while she was with us has been extinguished.”
Nebula gasped and Agate Shield stared blankly at Celestia for a long time.
“She’s not dead...” he whispered.
Celestia lowered her head. “Somehow, she is not among us any longer. I do not know what has transpired, but I imagine that news will come to us soon, and if it does not, then I will go and see for myself what has happened.”
“Tia,” Luna whispered. “They need you here. I can go.”
“No,” Celestia replied sternly. “This is not negotiable, Luna. You can protect them here as well. If there was enough magic to destroy Gemfyre, then I think it would be best if I went.” Her face softened. “I’m sorry, Sister, but I am older and stronger. If something were to attack, I would have a better chance of standing against it.”
Celestia was only looking out for her own good, but the rebuke still stung. Though Luna wanted to make a sharp retort, the horrified look on Agate Shield’s face was enough to temper her own inner anger. 
Luna swallowed. “Agate Shield...I’m sorry. We will do everything we can to at least defend the Empire.”
Agate Shield breathed sharply through his nose. There were no tears in his eyes, yet, just a cold resolve to do what he thought was right. “If my mother is dead, then it is my duty as the crowned Prince to defend my ponies. I cannot ask you to put your lives at risk and do it instead. It is my duty.” He puffed out his chest stubbornly and raised his chin, looking ever the regal pony. 
Celestia shook her head. “You can’t leave here, Prince, not until we know what has occurred.”
“I will avenge her!” Agate Shield shouted, causing Safyre to resume wailing. “I will not let this darkness claim the Empire or the ponies. I will go, Princess, with or without your blessing, and I will give my life to defend them and stop this madness from spreading.”
Nebula tried to hush her son while she reached for her husband. “Agate, you can’t...You wouldn’t survive, especially not if your mother was...if she’s...”
“I have to try,” Agate Shield told her sadly. He tried to keep his proud pose, but when he saw the grief on his wife’s face, he pressed his head to hers. “I have to…”
Nebula frowned, tears sparkling in her eyes. “What about us? What about your son?”
Agate Shield hesitated, but only for a moment. “I have to make sure that we all will have a home to return to.” He sucked in a sharp breath. “I love you and Safyre more than life itself, but I still have a duty, Nebula. We cannot let our ponies fall.” He turned to Celestia. “I will go with you.”
Celestia lowered her eyes, and Luna felt the power build in her sister’s horn.
“I’m sorry,” Celestia said and a golden flicker of magic touched Agate Shield’s brow.
He blinked then slowly crumbled to the ground.
Nebula gasped. She dropped to the ground and nuzzled his cheek, but Agate Shield did not awaken. “What did you do?!” she screamed which caused her son to sob again. 
“Be at peace,” Celestia told her gently. “I sent him to sleep for now. I cannot allow him to follow, Princess. I swear that he is unharmed.”
Nebula’s shoulders fell in relief as she stroked her husband’s brow tenderly. “Thank you...I know he would have fought. He says he’s not ready to lead, but he really is. I only wish he could see that.”
Celestia nodded. “As do I. For now, you three need to remain safe.” She glanced at Luna. “Come, Sister. We will wait for news.”
Celestia stepped past her and headed for the balcony. 
Luna looked at Nebula and Agate Shield where he lay on the ground. She stepped towards the sleeping Prince and scooped him up gently with her magic. “Follow me,” she told Nebula and walked out of the room. The Princess followed on her hooves as Luna brought them to their quarters. Luna set Agate Shield down on a bed and draped a blanket over his sleeping form. 
Nebula curled around him and set their son down beside her husband.
“Thank you, Princess Luna,” Nebula said.
Luna tipped her head. “We will tell you once we receive news.” She turned to go, paused, and looked back at Nebula. “I am so…so sorry, Nebula.”
Tears filled the earth pony’s eyes. “You cannot fathom how much he loved his mother. Gemfyre has always been there for us, and we thought she always would be. She…she didn’t even get to hold her grandcolt.”
“It is not easy to lose a loved one, I know,” Luna told her. “We will restore the Empire, and I swear I will discover what happened to the Queen.”
“That is all I can ask of you,” Nebula spoke quietly.
Luna bowed her head. “Rest, Nebula.” With that, she left the room and joined her sister on the balcony. Luna’s steps faltered a little as she stared at the darkness that started to spread across the sky. 
“If the Empire is filled with hope and love, they are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold then darkness will reign,” Celestia murmured.
Luna stared at the ebony streaks and swallowed hard. “What, or who, could have this much power?”
Celestia glanced sideways at her. “I wonder.”


~*~


The hours passed slowly while Luna and Celestia waited anxiously for news. The sun was put to rest and the moon awakened. Beneath the starlight and glowing orb, Luna began to fear that they would never receive information about what had happened and who was responsible. Celestia’s comment had left a bitter taste in her mouth, for she knew what her sister had implied.
Sombra would not do such a thing, nor would he have the power, she assured herself. The unicorns must have returned and caught Gemfyre unaware. But if it was Sombra...Luna did not want to entertain the idea.
Celestia suddenly moved. “Luna, look.”
Luna peered into the darkness until she could make out a tiny, light blue shape flying towards them. It took her a moment to realize who it was, and her eyes flew wide. “Blue Belle!” she called and hopped onto the railing of the balcony.
The young pegasus looked around until she spotted Luna’s glowing horn. Blue Belle flapped awkwardly towards her and nearly crashed into Luna out of exhaustion. Luna caught the floundering pony and set her gently onto the balcony. “Blue Belle, what happened?”
“It…it was horrible,” Blue Belle panted, her face streaked with sweat. “Quill went to the crystal heart and kicked it out of place…and then Sombra…Sombra and all those unicorns showed up and attacked Queen Gemfyre.”
Luna’s heart skipped a beat, but Celestia spoke before she could.
“Quill?” she asked.
Blue Belle whimpered and nodded. “Yes, she was a traitor this entire time. They…they attacked the Queen and Sombra…” She hid her face in her hooves. “He broke her horn and then he destroyed her. He turned her into a crystal. When…when the ponies didn’t bow to him, he wrapped them in black crystal chains. Had it not been for Ambersong, I wouldn’t have escaped to tell you.” She cried and looked between them. “It wasn’t our Sombra. That…that thing that attacked the Queen was a demon.” Blue Belle dissolved in a fit of tears and wrapped herself up in her trembling wings. The young pegasus began to rock back and forth as the stress fully took hold. 
Luna was stunned. She knew the Nightmist had been working its way into Sombra’s mind, but she had never thought it would make him do this. Why would he attack the Crystal Empire…unless he wanted to exact his revenge on Gemfyre for banishing him? No…it had to be for something more.
Her breath caught.
“He promised he would give me a kingdom,” she told Celestia. “I-I didn’t think he meant by taking control of one that already existed!”
“This has to stop,” Celestia growled and looked at the dark streaks across the sky. “Stay with Agate Shield and Nebula. I’ll—”
“No!” Luna shouted and moved in front of her sister. “You can’t. He won’t listen to you; he doesn’t like you, but he may listen to me. Let me go and talk some sense into him, or at least make him release his captives.”
Celestia stomped her hoof firmly. “That is out of the question. The last time you ventured there, you were almost destroyed. If this is no longer the Sombra you knew, then you are no safer than I am, Luna. Stay. Here.”
“I will not!” Luna yelled back. She stood before her sister, wings flared, and heart resolute. “Something has made him more powerful. He was able to destroy Gemfyre, and he may do the same to you without question. He’ll give pause for me.” She looked at Blue Belle. “I know the Nightmist has attacked him and leant him magic, but was there anything else that may have given him more power?”
Blue Belle swallowed and nodded. She tapped her chest. “He wore an amulet that looked like an alicorn.”
Luna frowned in confusion. “But that amulet is meant to drain alicorns of their magic.”
“I don’t think so any more,” Blue Belle whispered. “That amulet glowed bright red and attacked Gemfyre. It gave him more magic.”
He must have somehow transformed it. That’s going to complicate things, especially if Celestia doesn’t listen to me. 
Luna glanced at her sister and saw the same determination in Celestia’s eyes that Luna felt. 
This was not going to end well.
Celestia took a step forward, and Luna saw the tip of her horn glow.
“I am sorry, Luna.”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “As am I.” 
The moon Princess ducked as golden light tried to strike her in the head as it had done to Agate Shield. The blow barely missed the tips of her ears. Luna rose sharply and hit Celestia on the side of the face with blue magic, a spell that would send her into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Celestia staggered and collapsed in a heap on the balcony beside Blue Belle who released a frightened squeak. Luna stepped over her sister and brushed her pink mane gently out of her face. “It is night, Sister. My powers are stronger than yours.” She looked at Blue Belle. “She will wake in time. Watch over her.”
“Ye-ye-yes, Princess. Please, help him.”
“I will try, Blue Belle. I promise.” 
Luna went to the railing and leapt over the side of it without any preamble. The wind carried her into the sky, and she set her eyes on the origin of the darkness that snarled across Equestria, hoping to reach it, and Sombra, before the dawn.