As the last visible patch of the casket's wood was covered, Salvator turned away from the grave and set his shovel down. More than two hundred were in attendance at Fluttershy's cottage on that cold bright morning. Twilight and Luna stood together. Their faces were scarred by grief. Not far from them were Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Applejack stayed with her brother and tried vainly to comfort him as he quietly sobbed. The poor stallion could barely hold himself together. Cadance stood by herself, cradling her baby. The rest of the mourners were troops that had decided to pay respects. Only Neeson had opted to stay behind to search for his missing grandson.
King Salvator breathed deeply. He felt the urge to speak but couldn't find the words. No one offered a eulogy. The only noises at all were the gentle morning breeze and the calls of birdsong. Salvator shoveled again at an even pace.
Twilight stepped forward toward the grave and knelt down in the dirt. “I wish it was me. I'd rather it be me.”
“I know the feelin',” said Salvator with a grunt.
“It's not right.”
“No, it's not.”
“It doesn't make sense. It's not fair.”
“You're right. It ain't.”
She cried again. “It's just so unfair. She didn't even have a chance.” She looked into the earth where her friend lay. “I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. I wish it was me...”
Salvator stopped shoveling. “Is this the first time you've had to deal with somethin' like this?”
“Yeah,” sputtered Twilight. “I mean, I've had distant relatives pass away before. Nopony this close.”
“I understand. Listen, kid. We'll never forget her. From what ya tell me, she had the kindest heart in all of Equestria. She'll always be with us. Her spirit still lives on in each and every one of us. In every random act of kindness between two strangers, in the eyes of every newborn, each time somepony has the urge to reach out and help. She's there. Her body has commended to the ages, but she's still very much a part of us. She used her life as a guidin' light for others to find peace, and she'd want us to do the same. Continue her legacy. Take heart, Twilight. Remember her as she was and keep her message alive through your kindness. It's what she'd want.”
Twilight sniffled and for the very first time, looked at Salvator as something more than evil. “That's beautiful.”
He smiled sadly. “We ain't too different. I've also been to a couple funerals that shouldn't have happened.”
Princess Luna approached the two. “Thank you for giving Fluttershy a proper burial, brother. Are you sure you can't speak on her behalf?”
“Oh, I don't know any of that official ashes-to-ashes stuff. I don't think I could do this sweet soul any justice.”
Twilight was slightly uplifted by what Salvator told her. “We can still keep her memory alive.”
“Quite right,” agreed Luna softly.
Pinkie Pie looked at them. Her voice was on the verge of breaking. “She's in a place where everything is fine, right? A place where nothing bad happens?”
“Yes. She's in Heaven,” said Salvator.
“You know you shouldn't be talking about that...” Luna voiced quietly.
Salvator looked at her. “Why?”
Luna just shook her head, unable to offer a feasible reason. “I don't know.”
“At least I believe in something, Luna. At least I believe in something.”
She stifled a sob. “Not now. Please.”
He conceded. “I'm sorry. You're right. Have ya gotten through to Celestia at all?”
“No,” Luna replied. “I told her that we had complications in getting to the castle, and she stopped responding to me after that.”
“Alright then. That's that,” said Salvator. He finished filling in the grave. “We'll have to use a wooden cross here until we find ourselves a proper gravestone. Is that alright with you, Luna? Does that count as offensive imagery?”
“Salvator...”
He called a soldier to bring the marker over, where they planted it at the head of the tomb. Twilight watched. When it seemed the procession had reached another standstill, Salvator beckoned to her. “Come here.”
She approached him and was handed a leaf of parchment. The sloppily scrawled words read: In memory of the pegasus Fluttershy. A kinder soul never walked the earth. May her light guide us all.
“Her epitaph,” explained Salvator. “I wanted to make sure ya approved.”
Twilight nodded. “Of course.”
“Okay.” He knelt down beside the grave and nailed the paper to the small cross. “I'm gonna head back to camp. Twilight, Luna, you three.” He glanced at Pinkie and the rest. “You're all welcome to stay with us if ya want. We'll feed ya and keep ya warm. I'd really like to stay with ya a bit longer, but I need to get movin'. I'm going to make sure no more innocent lives are lost. Fluttershy didn't have to die. We'll make sure nopony else does either. Come on, boys.”
The soldiers all shuffled away from the site after Salvator. Twilight made her way to her friends and Cadance. “How's everypony holding up?”
Rainbow Dash passively brushed her mane out of her eyes. “My whole life has been ripped away from me. I'm stuck at the castle for over a week doing absolutely nothing while invaders lurk just outside, and now one of my best friends in the entire world is gone forever. Why would Salvator do this to us? We never asked for this...”
“I hate him,” Rarity mumbled. “Fluttershy would still be alive if he hadn't shown up and destroyed everything.”
Twilight wasn't sure what to think anymore. “Could Celestia really have done this?”
“Apparently she does a lot in secret. Maybe all the unopposed power has really overtaken her,” said Cadance. “That's why I left the castle. I overheard the guards talking amongst themselves. They said that she did something to my husband that left him in surgery.”
Twilight gasped. “What? My brother is in surgery? Why didn't you tell me!?”
“I was in labor.”
She blushed. “Oh, that's right. Sorry. Is Shining Armor going to be okay?”
Cadance stroked Skyla. “I don't know any details.” The baby started to squirm and make noises of protest. “Skyla is getting cold,” Cadance said. “I need to go back to camp. I'm deeply sorry about Fluttershy. I miss her immensely. If what Salvator said is true, maybe we'll all see her again one day.”
“I hope so,” said Pinkie Pie. “I hope they have parties wherever she is.”
“I'm sure they do, darling,” said Rarity, cracking a smile. “I'm sure they do.”
Princess Cadance trotted away from the cottage with a cranky Skyla in tow.
“I'm gonna stay here with Fluttershy a bit longer,” said Pinkie.
“Me too,” said Dash. “I'll come back to camp later.”
“I need to head back to Ponyville. Sweetie Belle is still in that bunker under the town and I need to find her,” Rarity explained.
Twilight hadn't considered where many of her other friends were. “Oh no, you're right. I'll bet Spike is down there too. He's probably scared out of his mind. Poor little guy.”
“Mac and I will go with ya, Rarity,” said Applejack, just joining the conversation. “We know what it's like to worry about a sister. We'll look for Spike too. That way Twilight can focus on getting to Celestia.”
“Will Applebloom be alright by herself at the farm?” asked Rarity.
“Sure. She's with Granny. Those two keep 'emselves busy enough on their own.”
Rarity smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate the gesture. I wasn't too keen on going by myself.”
“No need to thank us,” said AJ. “Are you two both ready to take off?”
Big Mac trotted over to Fluttershy's grave and sat down in the dirt beside it.
“I think he may need a minute,” Rarity said. “He loved her more than anything in the world. This isn't exactly easy for him.”
“He did?” asked Twilight.
Rarity wiped her nose. “Anypony with eyes could see that.”
Applejack scratched her head. “I shouldn't have rushed him.”
“I don't think it made much difference, honestly.” Luna said. “He's still pretty shocked. He'll need some time. Just let him grieve. As for me, I'm going to head back to the camp and talk to Salvator a bit more.”
“I'll go with you,” said Twilight.
“We'll see you guys soon, then.” said Pinkie, with a nod from Dash.
The friends hugged each other before parting ways once more. They all felt surreal. Any minute they thought they'd find themselves asleep in their beds, awake from nothing more than a nightmare. Any minute Fluttershy would be back. Without her, every step felt meaningless. Every breath hollow.
Twilight waved behind her as Fluttershy's cottage disappears on the horizon. “Good luck,” she whispered to her friends. “We'll be back together soon, when this is all over.” She looked at Luna. “Do you think they'll be okay?”
“No.”
“I'm not okay either...”
Luna tried to remain strong.“We've been scarred. Now it's up to us to go on.”
Twilight started asking her something else but stopped.
“Hm?” said Luna.
“Do you think what Salvator is saying and doing is right?”
She kicked a rock off the path. “Do you mean right as in morally correct?”
“Yeah.”
Luna sighed. “No. In my mind, there isn't a single justifiable reason for one pony to take the life of another. I think Salvator is going about this in a completely inappropriate manner and shouldn't be allowed to continue. On the other hand, Celestia is guilty of the same crimes. The throne has done things to her mind. She loves her citizens dearly, but will kill to keep them safe and happy. That isn't right either. I honestly don't know what to do. Both my siblings are acting childish and they're forcing me to play as the mediator.”
“I need to talk to Celestia,” said Twilight. “I know she's the one that killed Fluttershy.”
“That very well may be. I fear her mind may already be lost.”
“I wholeheartedly love Princess Celestia. She's been my mentor, ruler, and friend ever since I was a filly. To murder, though... I can't forgive that...”
“Change is coming, Twilight. I don't want to see anypony die, and I'm going to try and dissuade Salvator from continuing his conquest, but change is coming.”
Twilight quickened her pace. “You're right. I need to ask Salvator a few things. I'll see you back at camp.” She left Luna behind and cantered past the lengthy lines of soldiers in hot pursuit of the gray King. She spotted his flank at the head of the line. “Salvator!” she called.
He glanced over his shoulder as she caught up.
“I have a few questions for you. I want answers.”
“So do I.”
She asked him anyway. “Earlier you said that the black magic spellbook influenced Celestia's actions, right?”
He decided to humor her. “Aye. Black magic corrodes the mind. Nopony stays the same after they bathe in the darkness for long enough. That's where Celestia got the power to curse me.”
“Well, I need to know something about the book.”
“Okay.”
“...Does it have a resurrection spell?”
Salvator glared at her and snorted. “Are ya deaf, kid? We're talkin' about black magic! It's evil! Against the law!”
Twilight was scared of the feeling inside her. “I know. That's... not what I asked...”
Salvator looked at the ground. “...No. Resurrection is impossible. Not with black magic, or even the most advanced science. When the soul leaves the body, it ain't comin' back. No matter how much we cry and plead and promise.”
“When what leaves the body?”
“Nothin'. Luna doesn't want me talkin' about that kinda stuff. You got any more questions?”
“Yes, one,” she said. “What happened to Sombra the first time? What really happened in the Crystal Empire?”
Salvator reached into his tunic and extracted Sombra's journal. “I can read it to ya on the way to camp. As it turns out, the last two entries he wrote detail what happened. We'll see vicariously. Through his eyes.” He turned to the penultimate pages of the ancient journal. “Sombra's last mission, as ordained by yours truly. It's been about a thousand years since then. Here's what happened.”
---
We all fought the sickness as long and valiantly as we could. Salvator pumped millions of bits into the hospitals and medicinal sciences. He made sure panic throughout the country was kept to an absolute minimum. Nationwide healthcare was laid in place and for a small little while, it looked like an end was in sight.
Yet, the amplitude of the scourge steadily continued to rise. More and more ponies shut themselves away in their homes and quietly suffered. Everypony suspected their neighbor of carrying the plague, even though they themselves concealed it deep in their chests. It wasn't long after the first deaths started occurring that the sharpest medical minds in Halcyon discovered the plague wasn't borne of any wayward pathogen or viral outbreak. It wasn't genetic either. What they discovered threw a blanket of alarm over us. It was synthetic. Particularly, magic. Never before in the recorded history of ponykind had any of us bore witness to magical sickness. It was almost impossible to study in the labs. How can you look at magic under a microscope? During those months, I saw many a heathen turn an eye to Heaven in a visceral attempt at fleeing to salvation.
Salvator and I had a discussion in solitude about our various theories about the sickness. One of my claims was that it might have been something far outside our control – such as the innate and profound magic of cutie marks, or the fact that unicorns are born with the ability to harness magic at all. These things were simply accepted as universal law. Not quite scientific, yet not quite theoretical. Some things just are. Of course, the King wouldn't have any of that. He disagreed wholeheartedly and insisted that a creator must have been present at some point. A creator who's identity yielded painfully obvious.
I questioned him about her possible motives. What could she gain? To what extent would she go? The answers were inconceivable. After conditions worsened for several weeks, Salvator summoned me to his side. Far to the north, just inside Equestria, was an opulent empire with extremely powerful magic and a vast knowledge of how to use it. The Crystal Empire, to be exact. Salvator told me to go. I was to journey north and ask the empire for any assistance they could offer. We'd heard whispers of their grace and generosity for years. The most promising aspect of the empire was the one that most influenced Salvator to send me – they were above Celestia's influence. Independent. In fact, Celestia herself may not have known any more than we did about them. They were situated inside Equestrian borders. Right on the northern cusp.
Salvator gave me the choice of taking anypony in the country with me. I asked him why he couldn't make the voyage himself, as surely this was a diplomatic matter to be handled by officials. Simply put, he couldn't risk it. He couldn't leave his people behind in pursuit of a slim chance, even if success lay at the end. His name was a curse in Equestria and he dare not set a single hoof on their soil. I chose to go alone. Fear gripped me tightly on the last day at home. I spent it with Salvator making preparations. The King found no relief in sending me away. He apologized to me dozens of times and said he wished he could do it himself. I trusted and believed him. Nothing in the world could have forced me to turn down an order from Salvator. He was my best friend. Is my best friend. With only my magic, wits, and an enormous hiking bag keeping me alive, I departed from Halcyon. I felt as if I were running away. Chasing a trail of hope.
That was days ago. I'm still alive, but I don't feel like it. The Crystal Empire's magic tugs at me like it's trying to get my attention. Its presence is grand, and it's near. I suspect that tomorrow I will at long last find it. I sailed up the entirety of Equestria to minimize conflict. There was never a time I was closer than two hundred miles to shore. Just as the water became clogged with ice and prohibited further travel, I beached and started the next leg of my journey on hoof. Deplorable conditions plagued ever step. Howling blizzards gnawed at me for days on end. Just as my will had all but faltered, a tiny settlement appeared high up on a mountainside. It took the very last of my energy, but I made it up. There was nowhere to seek shelter but a measly storage shed used by the native folk. This is where I currently reside.
Let me first begin by stating that my hooves have become little more than leaden weights. My magic has all gone to keeping my core warm. I can't bear to use any on my extremities. In lieu of this, I possess an enduring eagerness to keep writing. Documenting my next moves is of paramount importance. Right now I shall try to quell both my giddiness and my chills and attempt to turn in for the night. Tomorrow I will find the Crystal Empire.
---
So much has happened. So much has changed. I can feel myself slipping away. I'm sinking ever further. Madness is smoldering at the very borders of my mind. My intense hatred continues to swell with savage intent. Even now I can barely contain my urge to simply shore something in twixt. My puny journal threatens to rip from the heavy poundings of my quill as I bleed these words onto it. I will extract my revenge. Oh, such a thought sends tremors of glee through my charred heart. My vindication will be paid in full, by mine own doing. Let me say that Celestia's only mistake was leaving me alive. She should have ripped me out of this wretched world when she had the chance. I digress.
Yesterday was the day I died. At least, it would have been. Should have been. I found the Crystal Empire. It was breathtaking. The spindly architecture of their slender spires stretched far into the sky as if taunting God Himself. In the heart of the city sat the largest spire - a new Tower of Babel.
As for the ponies who lived amongst the jeweled buildings, one might think them straight from a child's storybook. They are crystalline. Each pony glitters lustrously with every hoofstep. I was awestruck as soon as I set hoof inside their border. The expansive infrastructure could be likened to a dreamscape – surreal and unfathomably gorgeous. I wandered about for at least an hour, drinking in all the rich new culture. The place is unreal! Young fillies run about and play frivolously with no adult supervision. There's no fear. Everypony is joyous and prideful. The very air inside the Empire tastes of utopian perfection.
After asking around for a few minutes, the local authorities approached me and questioned my motives. I informed them of my critical mission and that we desperately needed their assistance back home. They knew at once that I was indeed serious and took me into the central tower, where the Queen presided. By some miracle, Her Majesty agreed to personally meet me. She was beautiful. She was the color of burning ruby and accessorized with gemstones. I explained my situation and let her take it in. Honestly, I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her stoic professionalism did nothing to betray her personal feelings. She was extremely intelligent, from what I could tell. Whatever she thought of Princess Celestia was locked away. She told me that she needed to confer with her advisers and would absolutely have a solution by the next morning's light. I was advised to stay the night at a local inn and relax. So, I complied. I spent the evening roaming the city and sightseeing, never suspecting for a moment that my demise was already upon me, waiting like a stalking butler. When the sun went down, I checked into an inn and rested my weary head. Slumber came at once to my ragged body. That's when the earth split open and Hell leaked out. I thought firstly that I was having a nightmare.
My door creaked open. Thinking this odd, I squinted in the darkness and sat up. The clock on the wall told me it was well into the next day's infant hours.
“Don't get up,” said somepony I hadn't heard in many many years.
A large form came into my room, tailed by two others. Princess Celestia and two of her royal Equestrian guards stared me down. I cannot possibly describe the harrowing fear that raced down my spine as I saw her. The guards stayed at the door, but she intruded upon me further by sitting at the foot of my bed. This was no nightmare.
“What is your name?” she asked me casually.
“Sombra,” I responded.
She produced an old book and leafed through the pages. “There is no need to be upset, Sombra. Would you mind telling me please what you are doing in this beautiful Empire?”
My gut knotted. “I'm sorry Princess, but it's official Halcyonic business. I'm not at liberty to discuss it with ya.”
She didn't glance up from the book. “I see. As it turns out, I'm here on official Equestrian business. How about we act diplomatically and exchange information?”
I tried to calm my hurried breathing. I felt like I was turning to stone.
“I'm here because of you,” Celestia continued. “You must be very special, Sombra. A little birdie told me that you came here with malicious intent against my nation. Is this true?”
“No, Your Highness,” I said while shaking my head. “There's a great plague in Halcyon. I've come here simply to ask assistance of these kind ponies. My people back home are dyin' and we need help.”
She asked, “Why didn't you come to me instead of sneaking into my country and bothering the crystal ponies?”
“The choice was not my own,” I said. “I was told to come here under direct order from my King.”
Celestia growled upon the mention of her brother. “Very well. Regretfully I must inform you that you are in this country illegally, and you will not be staying much longer. Since you are just the messenger, I will spare your life.”
I backed up against the headboard, shifting uncomfortably under the sheets. “I- I don't...”
“Do not give me reason to kill you. I will not hesitate,” she said. She found a spot in her book that seemed to captivate her. “Here we are.”
“What is that?” I dared to inquire.
“What, this book?”
“Yes.”
She levitated it to me. “It's a contingency plan.”
I stared at the ancient pages. The text was condensed tightly. “I've never seen any spells like this before,” I yammered nervously.
“I should hope not,” Celestia said. “It takes the might of an alicorn just to use them. A mere unicorn's body would simply give out.”
I handed the book back to her. “Are you going to curse me?”
“Somewhat. Only because I have to. I have decided to spare your life, because I am fair. However I must make an example out of you lest anypony endanger my county's safety again.”
At this point I was sweating bullets. “Isn't there anythin' I can do? Surely I will be of higher value unscathed by a curse.”
Celestia scooted closer to me. “I know. Believe me dear Sombra, this is not personal. I must act solely in the interest of my country and its safety.”
My eyes closed and I prayed to myself. Princess Celestia readied her magic.
“Wait,” I said. “Before ya do it, let me know one thing.”
She acknowledged my request.
“Let me know why ya issued the ban. Your citizens are runnin' around, lost in the dark like wayward sheep. Why have ya taken their shepherd away?”
The ruler looked at me with an almost motherly expression. “I couldn't take it anymore. The loss, the heartache. It mounted for years. I hoped vainly that the violence and tragedy would one day end, but it never did. I cried every time I saw one of my beloved ponies shot dead by another, or sacrificed in the name of God. There was so much evil polluting the land. It was sickening. My siblings and I were tortured by the vile corruptions that ponykind created for itself. For years I wondered about the sources of this evil. Then one day, it all became clear. There was news from a distant city about a doomsday cult. There were hundreds of them. Stallions, mares, and fillies alike. By the time I got to their temple, it was far too late to save them.”
“What did they do?” I whispered.
“They decided that their time for ascension had come. I saw their rapture firsthoof. It was...” She faltered, turned away and put a hoof over her face. She was crying softly. “They set their temple ablaze, sat down inside, and sang songs of praise as it burned to the ground with them inside.”
“Oh my dear sweet god...” I said breathlessly.
“That,” Celestia said bleakly. “Is why I issued the ban.”
She summoned her magic and sent a white beam into my chest. “Bring me the vessel,” she said with a sniffle.
One of the guards handed her a smooth cyan heart comprised of solid crystal.
“I'm not going to kill you,” she said. “but you may come to regret that.” The beam intensified, and my alarm quickly turned to terror. At first I didn't notice the change. I closed my eyes and winced as the magic flew into me. The cold seeped in soon after. Not a physical cold, but one of indescribable fear and loneliness. It was as if all my happiness was draining away, pulling up writhing tendrils of hatred to fill its place.
“I hate you!” I suddenly screamed at Celestia. “What are you doing!? Stop it! I hate you!”
The memories of my childhood, the warm nostalgia of my parents, it all iced over. It iced over and shattered. I felt a fissure of pure desperation opening somewhere deep inside me, filled only by waterfalls of endless rage. My dissent was changing me. It stretched up and over me, consuming me in my own self-loathing.
“You vile bitch!” I shouted at Celestia. “You're cursing me! Stop it!” I watched helplessly as the magic relayed past her horn, into the shining crystal heart.
“You will be a king, Sombra!” Celestia hollered over my own shouting. “You'll be a king of all you've lived for! Nothing! Dirt!
My horn started to puff a black aura. I could feel the evil ripping into my heart, latching onto the wound and seeding me with corruption. It sucked tightly, hellbent on stealing away every last drop of my compassion.
“You're in here now, Sombra!” she cried madly. “You're in the heart now!”
The last thing I remember before blacking out was a trembling urge for vengeance so deep that I can't describe it in words.
That was yesterday. Today I sit once more in my shed, lurking. I cradle my newly found lust for destruction and curse the God that could do this to his subject. Most of all, I curse Celestia. Repugnant, repulsive Celestia. She didn't just steal my happiness away. Oh no, she didn't stop there. She raped me of all my goodness and tore my very soul in half. She tore my soul. In half. Somehow I must have filched her infernal spellbook, as I find it now laying on the ground beside me. I cannot recall what happened. Maybe she gave it to me. I don't care if my body can't handle casting the black magic. I'll grow stronger. I'll find a way.
I can feel myself inside that heart. My love, my empathy. It's there. The crystal ponies have taken the artifact, believing it to be a token of Celestia's good will. I hate them. Every single one. They have no earthly knowledge of what they did to me. They're all sniveling cowards. They'd give the lives of their children for a promise of safety. I will look each and every one of them in the eye as I tighten the chains around their necks. They will pay dearly. As for the heart, my missing half, I will reclaim it. Then I will destroy it. I do not wish to be what I once was. Never again will I feel love. There is only fire in its place. I despise how oblivious I was. I couldn't think for myself. My whole life was guided and predetermined up until yesterday. Not anymore. Now I make my own decisions, and I will decimate the half of me that says otherwise. The Crystal Empire will pay. Celestia will pay. I will pour their black crystalline blood onto the fires of my insatiable rage. I will inflict upon them pain that reflects tenfold what they've done to me. They will be my slaves, for I am Sombra, king of the damned.