Life in the Crystal Palace was slowly starting to get back to normal. The fact that supporters of Sombra had slipped through the cracks had left everypony with a feeling of unease, but it seemed to be wearing off now. For the most part.
It still meant that the guards were more jumpy than usual. They shone their lights up and down the hallways three times before moving forward. They jumped at every little noise, and always traveled in pairs.
And yet, somehow, they still managed to miss the two shadowy figures that passed above them.
Black restrained his usual snicker as he slipped in behind his employer. “Come on,” he said through his silent laugh. “Just let me ice one of them. Pretty please with a sugarcube on top?”
“Be silent. We’re here.”
“Here” happened to be an evidence room that held a few details from the previous week’s incident. Ruby’s cauldron, her spellbooks, and her notes. But there was one thing in particular that interested him.
“Yes,” the enigmatic stallion uttered as he knocked away the glass dome covering his prize. He picked up the broken crystal, examined it a moment, then sighed.
“Everything’s still in order, but one...”
He lit up his horn. A knife flew out from his cloak and, in one motion, cut his front leg. Seemingly unaffected by the pain, he held out the wounded appendage, letting his blood fall on the crystals.
The shards leapt to life instantly. They seemed to jump together, fusing back into the magnificent crystals they had been. They shook, glowing red and formed a sphere. The sphere began to levitate, as though it was being brought to life.
A pitch darker than night formed in the center, slowly growing as a body formed inside of it. Soon, two red eyes and a fangs began to appear from the darkness. What looked like armor began to form over the slowly materializing form.
Sombra was being reborn.
“No, no… we’ll have none of that!”
His horn lit up again, shooting a beam of white magic to the black orb floating above him and Black. The darkness soon faded from the sphere and was replaced by a blinding light, encircling the newly reborn dictator. It looked as though he was screaming, but no sound came from Sombra’s mouth as he was completely engulfed in light. In a few moments, the light began to blind Black and his superior, until it finally dissipated.
Opening his eyes slowly, Black looked down at where the crystals were. “Huh?” He cocked his brow, expecting to see the dark stallion Sombra. “Who's this guy?”
A white alicorn stallion, with long golden-brown mane and golden tipped hooves lay on the ground. His cutie mark was that of a sword, made of what looked to be light. He opened his eyes, revealing crystal-blue eyes. The stallion got up slowly, but his legs started to give way. He gasped as he fell, but he was caught in a white aura of magic.
“Do not strain yourself, for you have only just returned to your senses.”
With his ears perking and his eyes widening, the stallion looked to the mysterious pony. His breathing started to hasten as he looked away from the pony who was holding him in his magic.
The enigmatic pony started to trot slowly to the stallion he was holding, reaching out a hoof that caressed his cheek. “I will not harm you… please do not fear me, my son.”
“Woah woah!” Black butted into the conversation. His jaw agape, looking from his employer to the white stallion. “Son? Sombra’s your son?! That’s—” Before he could utter another word, Black felt a sharp pain to his muzzle and landed on his haunches. “Ow! What was that for?!”
Retracting his hoof, the unknown pony snarled at Black. “His name is not Sombra!” He then turned back to the stallion he was holding. “Please tell me you remember your true name…”
The stallion was placed back on his hooves, his brow furrowing as he frowned. “Yes, I do… Father.” He nodded and closed his eyes, opening them sharply as he looked up to his father’s eyes. “My name is Sol.”
“Yes… yes!” The mysterious stallion reached for Sol, holding him close as he chuckled. “Thank the Creator you have returned to me.”
“But…” Sol looked back to his wings, lifting them slowly before snapping them back down again. “I do not deserve this, all that I have done… my sins have—”
“A sin is pardoned by penance, and I have sinned by not being there for you in your hour of need…” The stallion sighed, looking away from his son.
Shaking his head, Sol’s expression started to sour as he formed a scowl on his face. “No… there is one other who must pay.”
“No. If she gets in the way...” he swallowed. “Well... we’ll have no choice. But you aren’t to touch her until it becomes necessary.”
“But...”
“No, my child. Listen to me.” The sound of hoof steps was heard outside the room the three stallions were in. Sol, Black looked to the other stallion who unfurled his wings. “Now, come on, we must escape.” With that, they flew off and exited the castle.
Once they were high in the air, Sol cleared his voice and turned to his father. “What now, Father?”
The stallion next to Sol narrowed his eyes as the sun was beginning to rise in the distance. “We have much work to do… but there is still one more pony we must find for our cause....”